1 - We're outside a dressing room, looking at its door. "Duncan Fairweather" is written across it. A conversation is occuring within the room, giving us some tailless balloons.
JERRY (within, tailless balloon): You're not actually going to do this, are you?
DUNCAN (within, tailless balloon): Of course I am.
2 - Interior. We see two men, Duncan and Jerry (both new characters, no reference). Duncan is sitting in a chair, putting on makeup, while Jerry stands behind him. Their backs are to the reader, but we can see their faces in the reflection of the mirror - Jerry is worried, while Duncan is concentrating on makeup, so he looks pretty nonchalant about the whole thing. For context, Duncan is wearing an undershirt and boxers, as he still hasn't put on his costume.
DUNCAN (1): I've put in far too much effort not to.
DUNCAN (2): Writing.
DUNCAN (3): Rehearsing.
DUNCAN (4): Promoting.
DUNCAN (5): Hell, finding a venue was damn near impossible.
3 - Jerry turns Duncan's chair around, forcing Duncan to look him in the eye (and potentially take this seriously).
DUNCAN: You'd be amazed at how many theatres turned me down.
JERRY: No, I wouldn't. I'm shocked that anyone was stupid enough to say yes.
4 - Duncan has stood up and is putting on a costume. It's a gaudy superhero outfit, with underwear on the outisde, a cape, and presumably some type of logo (which cannot be seen at present). Duncan is stepping into the costume, so it isn't completely on yet. Jerry stands with his arms crossed, perhaps turned away slightly from Duncan. Duncan appears to pay Jerry's words little mind.
JERRY (1): They're not going to like it.
JERRY (2) (quieter): He's not going to like it.
5 - Duncan, now with the costume fully on, turns to Jerry and pats him encouragingly on the cheek - he is too excited and assured to be swayed. Despite the warm action, Jerry's concern remains.
DUNCAN (1): Calm down, Jerry. Surely they have better things to police than art.
DUNCAN (2): Besides, some good old fashioned truth-to-power could do them some good.
6 - Outside the theatre. It's night time. The marquee reads "The Übermensch". Superman floats in the foreground, watching the theatre (maybe have it so you can only see his legs / feet, although his shadow could be visible on the ground - either way, his back is to the reader, so his expression cannot be seen). While the theatre and marquee are lit up in the night, Superman is shrouded in the darkness.
CAPTION (DUNCAN): Honestly, what's the worst that could happen?
Looks like the both of us decided to run with the same basic theme this week.
ReplyDeleteI was going to say the same thing. Amazing how artists are the first to go. Anyone get that Mel Brooks "To Be or Not to Be" vibe, when Mel has to do Funny Hitler in front of Real Hitler?
ReplyDeleteWhile MK went with dark meta humour, your script has a very natural and conversational cadence, and you just sense the real fear behind the concern. well done.