This is the official script I created for our title sequence! We’re one step closer to actually filming something! It is worth noting that things are subject to change and onset changes or difficulties with certain shots might divert the way we go with the opening. However, this is the projected idea and what we plan to cohere to.
If the text in this post is too hard to read, a link to a Google Document housing the same text will be provided at the end. Enjoy!
Screenplay
FADE IN:
EXT. MOTEL – EVENING
A two-story, brick motel stands against an urban landscape, the setting sun gleaming from behind the building
INT. MOTEL ROOM 1 – EVENING
We see the windows, the faint light of the fading sun peeking in. It is almost night. The television is on, the sound of a static-filled news report droning on in the background.
CUT TO:
Corners of the plain, beige room. The air conditioner, magazines spread across a table. The droning of the news station grows quieter. In its place, the sound of a water droplet falling against a body of water emerges.
A push in towards the face of a young adult who is sleeping in a bed in the middle of the bedroom. He is LIONEL. The dripping grows to a crescendo, stopping abruptly with an echo as we see Lionel open his eyes. He gazes around the room for a brief moment before sitting up in bed. He is dressed in his pajamas.
Lionel reaches over to the nightstand to his right, grasping for the remote. Instead, he grabs a bright red cloth. Slightly confused, he glimpses downward at the cloth before shifting it to his other hand, reaching again for the remote. He glances at the remote briefly, searching for the power button, before shutting the television off. The room is silent, except for a faint dripping.
Lionel swings his feet off of the bed, placing his bare feet onto the deep blue carpet. A mid shot of Lionel. We see a blurry image of a figure dressed in a red gown appear behind him on the opposite side of the bed, their face and figure obscured by his. He swivels his head quickly, only to see nothing there.
Unmoved, Lionel stands up and walks forward, his attention recaptured by the dripping.
INT. MOTEL ROOM 2 – NIGHT
Lionel opens the door to his room, following the sound. He finds himself in a separate room, as plain and beige as the first. This room is filled with furniture: a table, a couch, a sink. This sink is not dripping.
Lionel walks further into the room, still clutching the cloth.
INT. MOTEL BATHROOM – CONTINUOUS
A wide shot. We see Lionel walk and stop in the frame of the bathroom door. In the foreground, a faucet that is out of focus. Lionel turns his head towards the faucet. The focus shifts. The dripping faucet is now in focus. Lionel walks into bathroom, looming over the bathroom sink. We are looking up at him. He twists the handle, stopping the drip.
CUT TO:
We are now above Lionel, looking into the sink with him. The sink is full of water. A phone is submerged in it. Lionel looks harder, slightly confused. The phone begins to ring, garbled and distorted beneath the water. Only slightly surprised, Lionel lifts the phone out of the water and shakes it slightly.
He looks to his left, towards the innards of the bathroom. All seems normal. The towels and rags are neatly placed. The bathtub is empty.
Lionel picks up the phone. A young man’s voice says over the line:
VOICE
(over phone)
Do you remember… anything?
The voice pauses at odd intervals and is dull and hushed. His voice is distorted and full of static. Lionel stares blankly. He does not reply.
There is an uncomfortable pause. Silence, except for the unsecure phone line, which is crackling slightly.
VOICE
(over phone)
It is of utmost importance… that you remember… what happened.
There is a slight pause.
VOICE
(over phone)
Do not fear. I will help you… remember. I will heal you.
The dripping sound begins once again. We see Lionel from the right. He turns to the left, looking into the bathroom once again. A faucet is dripping slowly into the bathtub. It is full of water.
The voice continues.
VOICE
(over phone)
Step in.
The call ends abruptly. The disconnect tone sounds loudly in Lionel’s ear. He releases the phone, the handset dropping rapidly to the floor.
CUT TO:
We see the phone hanging in the foreground, dripping water. Lionel is walking towards the bathtub. He is mesmerized by the water.
Lionel walks slowly into the bathroom, the disconnect tone fading. His feet stop just before the tub and he peers down into the tub of water. He slowly lifts his right foot and steps in.
CUT TO:
We see Lionel from outside the door of the bathroom as he puts his feet into the bathtub and sits down in the water. Some water spills out of the side of the tub and splashes onto the floor.
Lionel slowly lowers himself into the water, short, small, bodiless whispers rising in volume in the background. These seem to encourage his actions, all merging together into an overwhelming mass of sound. He is still clutching the red cloth.
He finally lowers his head into the water, continuing to hold the red cloth as he submerges himself completely. The whispers grow to a crescendo, now sounding more like soft yelling. A close-up of his hand holding the cloth is seen, being the last part of his body to enter the tub.
Silence. The sound of bubbles.
TITLE CARD:
“Lucid Elucidations”
Link:
Lucid Elucidation's Explanations 