Day 12 Assignments

[jeffrey jeff glatz glatz]

ASSIGNMENT 12:

What I learned doing this assignment is…? All these emotional action elements are important and important and should not be taken for granted. Need the audience on the edge of their seats, palms sweating.

Setup – Trevor was captured and has already escaped his cell and taken out two guards.

INT. HALL – LATER

SUSPENSE…

Trevor, clad in the guard’s uniform, cautiously moves down the hall. He carries the guards machine gun. His ears prone for any sound.

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. FOYER – LATER

A large hall, grand staircase, tapestries hang from the walls. A large chandelier illuminates the room. A guard sits by the front door, his chair leans propped against the wall. He reads a magazine. At ease.

A side door opens just a crack. Trevor sticks his head in and scans the room. He glances at his weapon, too loud. He slings the weapon over his shoulder. He prepares to attack.

SURPRISE… ADRENALINE…

The door opens. Trevor saunters toward the guard, his head held low. The guard glances at the approaching Trevor. He squints. Recognition. Trevor sprints toward the guard. The guard’s eyes open wide and are filled with the sight of a charging bull. Panic. He attempts to jump to his feet. Trevor leaps into the air in a flying kick. He connects with the guard’s chin, snapping the head back, connecting with the wall. CRACK. The guard slumps to the floor, a red smear follows him down.

Trevor drops the machine gun and reaches for the guard’s handgun. A figure appears at the top of the stairs. He raises his gun.

GUARD

(yelling)

What’s going on?

The guard takes in the seen. Trevor appears calm as he swings toward the guard. The guard senses something is amiss.

GUARD (CONT’D)

Halt.

Trevor dives to the side clutching at the guard’s weapon. The guard fires, the bullets rip apart the unconscious guard where Trevor once stood. Trevor lets loose off a shot. It connects with the guard’s shoulder. The guard spins. Trevor fires again. The guard clutches at his chest tumbling down the great staircase. An alarm sounds, its bell ringing.

EXCITEMENT…

TREVOR

I guess tiptoeing out is no longer an option.

Trevor runs to the front door… a guard bursts in… right into Trevor. Trevor grabs the guard’s wrist and twists.

GUARD

AAHH.

The gun drops to the ground. Trevor delivers a series of viscous liver kites. The guard slumps. He takes a swing at Trevor. Trevor spins. The guard’s aim goes wide. Trevor slams a roundhouse kick into the guard’s groin. The man doubles over. Trevor hits the man on the back of the head with his gun. Out cold, the man flops to the cold marble.

EXT. ESTATE – DAY

Trevor cautiously steps out the door. The guard’s convertible jeep rests at the base of the stairs. Trevor scans the horizon. He hears commotion from within the castle.

Trevor barrels down the steps and hops into the jeep. It starts with a roar. He spins the wheel and the jeep lurches toward the front gate.

The Earl comes storming out the front door with two guards at his side.

DANGER…

EARL STANLEY

Fuck. Stop him, stop him!

The two guards sprint off in pursuit.

EXT. GATE

A large Mercedes barricades the gates. Two guards take up position behind it. Trevor barrels down the drive toward the gate. The guards unleash a lethal spray of lead.

TREVOR

It had to be a convertible.

He pulls hard on the wheel and the jeep pounces onto the great lawn. He tears across, bullets fly after him, buzzing like mosquitos. A hundred yards away is an old cattle entrance. A small metal gate the only obstacle. Wind rushes through Trevor’s hair.

TREVOR (CONT’D)

What the hell.

The jeep bears down on the gate. Crash. Metal screeches, sparks fly. The jeep lurches through. Trevor wrenches the wheel to turn down the road. The jeep comes up on two wheels, protesting the turn. It almost rolls. Trevor fights for control and screeches off down the road

EXT. ESTATE – DAY

EXCITEMENT…

INTERCUT CHASE SCENE

At the grand entrance gate, the two guards jump into the car blocking the drive and peel off in pursuit of Trevor careening down the road.

Stephan comes soaring out the massive front door and past the Earl shouting orders to no one in particular. Stephan rounds the corner of the garage and comes sailing out on a fast-looking Ducati motorcycle. Spinning gravel as the rear wheel takes traction and sends him off in pursuit of Trevor. The Earl must shield his face from the flying gravel.

EXT. ENGLAND COUNTRY LANE – DAY

CONTINUE INTERCUT CHASE SCENE

Trevor drives the Jeep as fast as it will go through the beautiful winding back lanes of England’s countryside.

He glances over his shoulder to see the big Mercedes in pursuit. It’s eight-cylinder engine overpowering his Jeep.

It wouldn’t be long before the Mercedes is upon him. Both cars screech around corners dangerously fast. A lorry must dive off the road into a ditch as Trevor and his pursuers sail around a corner. Horns blare. Expletive’s fly.

TREVOR

Sorry chap, it’s not my fault.

Bullet shots can now be heard. The passenger in the car is leaning out the window, 9mm in hand.

Stephan, on the motorcycle, flies down the windy road after the two vehicles. He is going excessively fast.

EXT. SMALL ENGLISH VILLAGE

CONTINUE INTERCUT CHASE SCENE

Trevor sees an approaching village. He’s about to wake up this sleepy little picturesque town. People scurry about as he lands on the horn piercing suburbia. Shoppers must dive out of the way. Chickens scatter.

A milkman, with bottles in hand, leaps out of the way in the nick of time. Bottles of milk breaking and spilling over the street. Trevor raises his hand in an apology.

The Mercedes doesn’t slow.

Just as quickly, in a blur they’re out of the village and into the countryside.

EXT. ENGLAND COUNTRY LANE – DAY

CONTINUE INTERCUT CHASE SCENE

Trevor has had just about enough of this. He reaches frantically about the jeep in search of the gun he stole as he tries to maintain speed. He searches the floorboards and finds it.

He looks over his shoulder one more time and sees he’s made a little distance between he and the Mercedes about fifty yards away. He grabs for the hand-brake and slams the brake pedals at the same time he pulls. The jeep fishtails 90 degrees to a screeching dead stop blocking the road.

Trevor jumps out and takes a classic marksman’s stance.

He stares down the length of the glistening barrel of his 9 MM as the Mercedes barrels down on him. The gunman is leaning out the window firing frantically at Trevor.

Trevor waits patiently, oblivious to the bullets whizzing inches from him. He fingers the trigger at about thirty yards. He first takes out the gunman who crumbles out the window to the tarmac below and bounces like a drunk. He immediately shifts his attention to the driver.

He perforates the windscreen with his fire. The driver yanks the wheel hard and careens off the road. The Mercedes hits an old stone wall and cartwheels end over end tearing the cars to shreds in an amazing fireball. The flames reflect off Trevor’s face.

TREVOR

I learned that watching westerns.

Trevor’s ears are peaked to the high-pitched whining of a fast-approaching motorcycle. In the distance he sees a speck approaching at 100 m.p.h.

TREVOR (CONT’D)

Ah, come on guys, enough’s enough.

He jumps back in the Jeep and takes off down the lane.

The motorcycle is catching Trevor quickly. The Jeep is no match for the speed and agility of the bike with Stephan at the helm.

Trevor raises his gun to fire at Stephan. He pulls the trigger. Click. Empty. He throws the gun at the approaching Stephan. Stephan nimbly steers around the airborne gun. No problem. A smile on his face.

Trevor is fast approaching a semi-truck on the tight lane.

Stephan is almost upon him. He reaches for his gun. He can’t miss Trevor in the open-air Jeep. He brings his gun to bear.

Trevor swings the jeep out to pass the semi. A tiny Austin Mini Cooper car is coming down the other side. A teenage couple in the car. It’s going to be close. The kid’s eyes go wide.

Stephan swerves out as well, only concentrating on getting a bead on Trevor.

RELIEF…

The mini cooper’s tiny horn wails. Trevor jerks the wheel to the left. The Jeep cuts in front of the semi. Stephan’s ghostly smile vanishes. He slices to the left. The mini cooper clips his back wheel sending Stephan and his motorcycle flying in the air and into a small rambling creek at the side of the road. The motorcycle flips on landing and comes to a rest on top of Stephan in about two feet of water.

Trevor looks back. A glint to his eye.

TREVOR (CONT’D)

These country lanes can be murder.

[BG]

Action Lesson 12: Level 3 Action Emotions

ASSIGNMENT

BG’s Level 3 Action Emotions

What I learned doing this assignment: This one really, really helped me write the initial draft of a scene I was feeling I would never be able to write.

3. Write the scene as a first draft, highlighting danger, excitement, and adrenaline.

SETUP: Scottish moors. Moonless, windless night. REPORTER, HOSTESS, and 3 TEAM MEMBERS (TM#1, TM#2, TM#3) lie on the ground, wearing night vision goggles and small oxygen masks, crawling slowly toward the Safe House 50 feet away. Low light in the windows. TM#4 sits in one of the two cars behind them.
REPORTER operates, using a hand-held control device, a small drone going from window to window.
REPORTER (whispering): Okay, I’ve injected all the gas I had. It’ll disperse and everyone be sound asleep in minutes, if not already. Security cameras are off, everything is jammed —
DANGER: HOSTESS: Can’t believe I said yes to this thing. We can all be killed–
The drone lands silently like a trained bird next to the cars as REPORTER springs forward.
TM#1 is already there, opening the door with his lock picks, revealing a shabby, dark hallway.
ADRENALINE: REPORTER enters, holding a spray can, breathing fast, adrenaline pumping. The control device has been tucked into one of the large pockets hanging around his torso.
RELIEF: No sounds. Everybody is asleep. He heads straight into the sleeping quarters of the STATION CHIEF – seems like he has a floor-plan in his brain.
HOSTESS (to TM#1): Get the damn package!
TM#1 and TM#2 hustle to the ‘surgery’ dragging a large bag with air-holes, TM#1 looking at a small piece of paper.
SUSPENSE: Just outside DOCTOR’s quarters, HOSTESS stops short, listening — not sure everybody is asleep!
Fight / Flight / Freeze: She freezes — everybody is not asleep! She creeps in —
SURPRISE: DOCTOR is getting up, frazzled, but holding a gun! Her arm shoots out — lifting and pulling him to herself with one hand, holding his gun arm with the other — turning toward the door with him in front of her, as —
SHOCK: — a groggy GUARD#1 shoots at them from the doorway. As DOCTOR slumps, HOSTESS catches his gun and shoots GUARD#1 dead.
TM#3 comes up behind GUARD#1, takes his gun and makes sure DOCTOR is dead.
As HOSTESS and TM#3 arrange the bodies and the guns to make it look like a shoot-out took place, REPORTER rushes in.
REPORTER: Oh, crap! You said there was only one guard.
HOSTESS (huffy): And you said everyone would be asleep! Just go make sure yours is truly asleep!
REPORTER rushes back to spray more sleeping gas on the sleeping STATION CHIEF and GUARD#2.
TM#1 and TM#2 hustle the large bag, with HACKER in it now, out.
RELIEF: Everybody is out the door in less than 2 minutes.
EXCITEMENT: It has worked!
REPORTER: Phew! That could have gone down a whole lot worse!
TM1 lays out the bag containing HACKER on the backseat. TM#1, TM#2, and TM#3 drive off.
REPORTER and HOSTESS walk to the second car. HOSTESS drives.
HOSTESS: You’re gonna hang all this on that poor woman, aren’t you?
(beat)
HOSTESS: I saw you hiding financial reports among her papers.
REPORTER: You’re not the only one who can frame people, you know.
(beat)
REPORTER: Did you have to kill the doctor?
HOSTESS: Hey, I wasn’t the one. Besides, he tortures people.
(beat)
HOSTESS: So. What’s she gonna do now?
REPORTER: Well, I don’t think she’ll be ordering any more ‘extreme interrogation sessions’! She’ll probably say her doctor was paid off to spring the prisoner, there was a shoot-out with security guys —
HOSTESS: And she slept through it all? And where is the prisoner supposed to be now?
REPORTER: Loose? Maybe they’ll ‘question’ her on what kind of transport she arranged for him?
HOSTESS: And then they’ll find the incriminating evidence in her files… Why is it always the woman who has to do the heavy lifting?

• This reply was modified 3 years, 1 month ago by  BG ERENGIL.