Day 12 Assignments

[Cameron Martin]

Cameron Martin’s Level 3 Horror Emotion Scene

What I learned doing this assignment is…If Level 1 is about establishing the lethal unknown, and Level 2 is about shining a light on that unknown and the consequences that follow, then Level 3 is about “the cornered animal” on both sides. The monster wants to remain unknown and will act erratically now that its identity has been revealed. By extension, those fortunate enough to have survived thus far are also cornered and will act erratically to survive the monster’s wrath. There’s a dance in that third act that involves the survivors and the monster reflecting each other, whether that be through theme, literal imagery, or comparable actions. Naturally, not every horror film seems to fit this motif perfectly at face value, but when I consider the ending of ALIENS (two mothers), IT (survival), DAWN OF THE DEAD (we’re all zombies in a way), the horror, hysteria, panic and anguish are rooted to the greater thematic story being told, which is what makes those films stand out to me. Tying the carnage of the third act to theme may not be a requirement for inducing terror in an audience, but I do believe it elevates it to a lasting image, rather than simply offering a cheap moment of thrill to forgotten with the next horror romp.

In addition, as I write this, I consider the phrase “acting is reacting” and the differences between the two video games, DOOM and THE LAST OF US. Both are action games that delve into horror elements, but one only listen to the soundtrack of each respective gave to immediately distinguish the tone between the two. However, as different as the tone and themes might be, both utilize the concept of “the monster of monsters.” DOOM presents the player as a biblical force of nature which horrifying demons fear (the design of which is used less to scare the player and more to establish the scale of horror and fury the player is meant to embody). Meanwhile, THE LAST OF US presents the player as a monster in a more nuanced, contemplative sense. Both achieve their goals through characters reacting to the player. In DOOM, the demons flee in terror from you at certain points. In THE LAST OF US, Ellie and the rest of the characters in the world respond to Joel’s path of destruction with horror and disgust. The point being that not only do the actions of the monster have to be terror inducing, but that the reactions from the characters will inform the audience how we should be feeling. Does a character run stoically into the maw of death, or does a character plead for mercy from a force that delights in that character’s surrender.

To achieve Level 3 horror, the characters must be trapped and forced to fight with the same ferocity that the monster fights with. If they’re unwilling to match the monster’s nature, they will pay with their life. It’s a savage bar to meet, and while the characters may have been prepared for their moment, if one will not answer the call, then that character’s demise will spread fear amongst the rest of the group, and all are at risk of losing the fortitude needed to survive.

INT. SPACE COLONY – HALLWAYS – NIGHT

MARKUS leads the team of four down the hell hall. The screams and subsequent silencing by some THING forced down throats chokes out the sound of the individual members’ own staccato hearts pounding in their ears.

One of the team members, LUIS, takes point.

LUIS

(convincing himself)

There’s more of us than there are of them.

Markus, hearing the words like the wail of some revenant come to claim him.

TEAM MEMBER

He’s right—

CHOMP!

THE TEETH TEAR INTO THE TEAM MEMBER!

TEAM MEMBER

AAAAARRRRGH!!!

BOOOM! BOOOM!!

Each member fires a volley, blasting off sections of the team member’s body and part of the monster’s ARM! The alabaster space suit now maroon and spraying blood all over the walls.

The monster leaps out from behind what was the team member…

Rearing back its arm with the exposed shards of bone unsheathed from the flesh of its forelimb…

SSSHHHNNNGG!!

THE BONE JUTS OUT THE BACK OF LUIS’ SHOULDER.

LUIS

AHHHH!! HELP ME!!

Luis, out of ammo, swings the axe blade fixed to the butt of his gun into the monster’s gut…

The pink and bloody intestines spill out of the monster…

And it DOESN’T EVEN CARE as the mouth reaches from its skull…

AND BITES INTO LUIS’ TEXTILE HELMET!!

LUIS

SOMEBODY! HELP ME!

Markus watches, frozen, at the blood pooling around the dull human teeth of the monster.

The remaining team member, CHARLOTTE, flees, instinct overwhelming her senses.

CHARLOTTE

Momma! Momma! I don’t wanna die, Momma! Please don’t let me die, Momma!

She races past the wrong door—

WHAM!

THREE MORE MONSTERS TACKLE HER!

Markus is between Luis getting his grey matter chewed up like gum, and Charlotte who’s guttural wails signal that she isn’t dying fast enough from being torn to shreds.

MARKUS

GOD, WHY!? WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS!?

What was once a colonist pulls back from Luis’ twitching corpse. The lazy eyes rolling around, but the smile tells Markus he’s next.

He swings his axe…

Through the neck of the monster!

IT’S MOUTH LUNGES FOR MARKUS’ THROAT!

Markus’ axe swings with the ferocity of a lumberjack, chopping up the mouth, the neck, everything to do with the damned upper body.

He looks up from the carnage…

And catches the three gorging on Charlotte, her body still warm and getting pulled this way and that.

She looks right at Markus, tears streaming from her eyes.

CHARLOTTE

(Mouthing)

End me.

[Scott Kaplan]

Scott Kaplan’s Level 3 Horror Emotion Scene

What I learned doing this assignment was … to create the most intense fear in Act III. There needs to be varying levels of horror emotions. I did my best to build on the emotions of Acts I and II. It’s challenging because many of these emotions can appear in all acts.

INT. CHURCH – CONFESSIONAL – DAY

Stacy, a reluctant member of the cult, discovers that his ancestors were responsible for numerous Native Americans being buried alive. He expresses his regrets to Father Bob.

INTERCUT: Shwin is giving Max a history lesson. A flashback shows the massacre in the 1860’s – the suffering of the Marsapeaques – she is a descendent of the tribe blown up and buried alive, just so the contractors could build their own town.

CUT TO: Stacy finishes his confession. Unbeknownst to him, Clen and Piper are waiting outside. Stacy plans to join Max and Shwin, a.k.a., the “Revolt Against The Cult.” His plans are thwarted, as his cult mebers wait outside.

EXT. WOODS – LATER THAT NIGHT

Clen and Piper lure Stacy to the boatyard. They ‘insist’ on showung him a new model boat they purchased for him. As Clen shows him, Piper clobbers him from behind with a shovel. Stacy is dragged to an abandoned area in the woods. Piper shoots him, point blank. A grave awaits, already dug out. Stacy is buried alive, gasping for his last breath …

EXT. CHURCH – SAME

Father Bob listens to Max and Shwin; agrees to perform an exorcism on the cult. The pastor is successfully able to summon the spirits, trying to set them free, when Piper and Clen appear.

Father Bob is spliced in half, then fed to the spirits … Max witnesses this despicable act. He feels ANGUISH.

EXT. TOWN – MOMENTS LATER

Townies attempt to flee the small town … only to discover it’s been locked down by the sheriff. There is chaos, as cars stop short, crashes abound. PANIC abounds.

INT. SHACK

Max and Shwin are the only remaining members of the Revolt. They retreat to the remote cabin they held meetings. Shwin shows Max the gory details of her ancestor’s death … once Max sees the carnage of the Marsapeaques, he is HORRIFIED. This leads to …

EXT. SEMINOLE STEET -NIGHT

A full moon brightens the war zone that has become his hometown. Max is watching innocent neighbors being slaughtered. He has been pushed past his ‘breaking point.’ He turns to Shwin in his state of helplessness and HYSTERIA. He implores her to use whatever power she has left to command the undead spirits to turn on the cult. She closes her eyes, as a flash of light stuns the ghosts. Suddenly, these spirits who have been decaying for centuries, slaughter Piper and Clen … The fog has now passed. Calm has been restored. The Marsapeaques’ Native American spirits can finally rest in peace.

EXT. SUNRISE

The endgame which started ay dusk has carried over until dawn. Max and Shwin embrace, and finally kiss, a magical moment until … a hand reaches up through the sewer grate, as Shwin is being pulled down … Max grabs her hand(manages to hold her postion), but slips through, as she disappears into the abyss … Max is stunned!

FADE OUT

• This reply was modified 3 years, 1 month ago by  Scott Kaplan.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 1 month ago by  Scott Kaplan.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 1 month ago by  Scott Kaplan.

[Alfred Green Green]

Alfred’s Level 3 Horror Emotions

I learned to think about using the ante with my horror scenes in the third act.

INT. MEGA CHURCH – DAY

This place is more like a stadium than a mega church. At the center of the stage stands Pastor Charles Rutherford. He preaches to the assembled crowds.

UPPER SEATS

Gabriel, Sierra, Omar and Sara duck below seats.

GABRIEL: “Keep an eye out for the kids.”

RUTHERFORD: “It is time for the sacrifice.”

Twelve children are ushered on to the stage, among them are Eboni and Quintavius.

SARA: “There’s my son!”

The others shush her.

The assembly begin singing “Jesus Loves Me”. White Jesus appears.

SARA: “What’s the plan?”

GABRIEL: “I don’t know.”

SARA: “Figure out something fast.”

White Jesus approaches a child, smiles at him. His jaw unhinges and reveals rows and rows of teeth. He lunges at the child and devours him. The other children, now chained to the stage, pull against their chains.

SARA: “No!”

Sara runs to the stairs leading downstairs. Omar grabs for her but she pushes his arm away.

SARA: “Let Go.”

On the first floor Sara runs down the aisle to the stage. Pastor Rutherford points at her. The assembly stands and rushes her. The hold her down. White Jesus wipes the blood off his mouth as he stare at her and approaches her son. He smiles at her and devours her son. In front of her eyes.

[Marc KOENIG]

Marc KOENIG’s level 3 of Horror emotions

What I’ve learned doing this assignment is how to include many types of horror emotions in the same confined, with only 2/3 characters, and escalate to the hysteria level that I thought I would not be able to reach. And I had fun with it! (Do I need a shrink, at this stage?)

Here’s the scene I chose from ACT III:

INT. EXPERIMENT CONTROL ROOM – DAY

Bill rushes in. Searches the desk, throwing objects all over the place. He opens a drawer and takes out stuff from it. A small box hits a screen and spreads staples on the desk.

Bill finds a big cutter and slides its blade out. He whips the air with it, whimpering with fear.

Through the opening of the door, he sees Jennifer walking toward him through the corridor and staring at him.

BILL

LET ME GO!

Bill runs to a glass door at the back of the room. He frantically presses digits on a digital keyboard. It buzzes negatively and a red light shows.

BILL

Don’t fuck with me!

Bill looks back. Jennifer closes in.

Bill tries the combination again. His fingers quiver.

BILL

C’mon, open up!

Jennifer walks through the door.

A green light shows with a friendly buzz and the door slides open. Bill hits a red button on the keyboard and rushes into the room. The door closes again with a hiss and locks up just as Jennifer hits the window with a shriek of fury.

Jennifer looks at the keyboard and types the combination.

Bill steps backward and kicks the digital keyboard hanging on his side. The housing breaks and sparkles fly out from it.

INT. EXPERIMENT ROOM – DAY

The lights on the digital keyboards turn off.

Jennifer hits the door. Her hands leave a trail of blood on the glass. She stares at Bill with burning rage. She’s dead pale, with black eyelids. Her teeshirt is stained with blood.

Bill steps backward, pointing the cutter at Jennifer.

BILL

GO AWAY! LEAVE ME ALONE!

Jennifer keeps staring at him but her face relaxes. She speaks to him with a sweet voice.

JENNIFER

Open the door, Bill. Please.

BILL

I WON’T! YOU’RE INSANE!

JENNIFER

I know, Bill. I know. But you said you can heal me. I want to be healed. I want it badly.

A tear runs down Jennifer’s cheek. She whines.

JENNIFER

I need you to take care of me. I feel so sick. Please, help me.

Bill looks confused. He makes a step toward the door.

BILL

What’s going on, Jen? Why are you trying to kill me? What the hell happened to you?

JENNIFER

I don’t know. But I feel better, now. I feel better when I’m with you. You’re my cure. Oh, Bill…

Jennifer slowly draws a heart with blood on the glass.

JENNIFER

Bill, I love you.

Bill lowers the cutter, turns around, and cries.

BILL

I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…

Jennifer’s face gets cold again.

JENNIFER

Then open the door.

Bill breathes deeply. He seems to put himself together again.

BILL

I’m sorry. I don’t believe you.

Jennifer violently hits the glass, startling him.

JENNIFER

OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR, ASSHOLE!

INT. SALLY’S OFFICE – DAY

Through the glass door, Bill steps backward to the back of the room. Jennifer puts her forehead against the door and closes her eyes.

SALLY (O.S.)

Did you at least inoculate him?

Sally stands in the doorway. She walks in.

Jennifer stumbles and lets herself on a chair.

JENNIFER

I’m tired.

Jennifer spots the staples on the desk. She reaches out to them but Sally pushes her hand and picks up the staples.

SALLY

Forget it. Your body’s drained.

Sally stops at the glass door and stares coldly at Bill, who tries to hide in the darkness. She puts the staples in her mouth, crunches them, and swallows them.

JENNIFER (O.S.)

I’m still… making one more seed.

Sally doesn’t even turn around.

SALLY

Expel it now.

Jennifer gets on all fours and opens her mouth. Her body is shaken by spasms. She pukes a small egg wrapped in glass and metal sprinkles and covered with yellow mucus.

Sally turns around and picks it up.

SALLY

That small?

JENNIFER

Best I can do.

INT. EXPERIMENT ROOM – DAY

Bill scans the room, panting. He spots a ventilation grid on the ceiling.

Sally walks back against the door and their eyes meet. She swallows the stone and leaks her fingers covered with mucus.

BILL

Oh my God…

INT. EXPERIMENT CONTROL ROOM – DAY

Sally keeps her eyes on Bill.

SALLY

I need a fill-up, sweetheart.

Jennifer draws the knife from her belt and hands it to Sally.

SALLY

Wait.

Sally takes a vase from the desk. It’s broad and low. She throws the flowers out and empties the water on the floor.

JENNIFER

This one? It’s gonna spill over.

Sally puts the vase under Jennifer’s neck.

SALLY

Are you kidding? Look at you. You’re fucking dry.

JENNIFER

Fuck you.

Sally takes the knife from Jennifer’s hand. She straddles Jennifer still on all fours, grabs her hair, and pulls back her head, exposing her throat.

BILL (O.S.)

Hey! HEY! NO!

Bill stands behind the door, hitting it.

BILL

WHAT ARE YOU DOING? DON’T HURT HER!

SALLY

Look at the valiant knight. So cute.

Sally places the blade against Jennifer’s throat.

BILL (O.S.)

STOP IT! SALLY! DON’T DO THAT!

JENNIFER

Just one more thing.

SALLY

What? Don’t waste my time.

BILL (O.S.)

NO! PLEASE! SALLY! LISTEN TO ME!

JENNIFER

I never liked you, bitch.

Sally scoffs, and grunts as she cuts Jennifer’s throat in a slow motion.

INT. EXPERIMENT ROOM – DAY

Bill punches the glass.

BILL (O.S.)

NO! OH GOD, NOOOOO!

He gets down on his knees and bursts into tears.

INT. EXPERIMENT CONTROL ROOM – DAY

Jennifer’s blood pours into the vase. Her eyes roll back.

SALLY

Feeling’s mutual, slut.

The vase fills up to its half with Jennifer’s blood. Sally shakes Jennifer’s head and throws her body aside. She drops the knife, picks up the vase, and stares at its content.

SALLY

Never matched the level.

Sally drinks the blood to the end from the vase. She wipes her mouth and throws the vase that shatters on the floor.

SALLY

Hmm. Feels better.

INT. EXPERIMENT ROOM – DAY

She turns her face stained with blood to Bill and gives him a cruel smile through the glass.

SALLY

I’m all yours, now, love.

Sally grabs an extinguisher hanging on the wall. She raises it and hits it against the door. THUMP! – It bounces on the armored glass without causing damage.

SALLY

Shit!

BILL

GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!

THUMP! THUMP! Sally keeps hitting the door, uttering a raging shriek on every blow. – CRACK – The glass suddenly cracks a bit. Bill steps backward. She pauses. Panting.

SALLY

Bill Bill Bill… You’ve always been a piece of work.

THUMP! CRACK! She hits the door again. Bill screams.

BILL

NO! I DON’T WANNA DIE! I’LL DO WHATEVER YOU WANT!

Sally shouts furiously with every blow. – CRACK! – The glass buckles and breaks, throwing splinters inside.

BILL

I KNOW WHERE THEY ARE! I CAN TELL YOU! I CAN BRING YOU TO THEM!

SALLY

Of course, you will!

CRACK! BANG! The extinguisher cracks the glass more and more.

Bill turns around. He drops the cutter on a table on wheels that he pushes to the middle of the room. He climbs on it, grips the ventilation grid, and tries to yank it out with all his strength.

Sally stops the hitting and gazes at him.

SALLY

I can’t believe it! You’re such a smart ass!

She gets back hitting the door again – CRACK! THUMP!

Bill screams with despair and terror until the grid breaks out. He loses balance and falls from the table, hitting hard the floor. He utters a loud scream of pain.

He painfully gets up, whipping. The cutter is stuck inside his waist. He grabs it and pulls the long blade out of his flesh with a long cry of suffering. He throws it away and squeezes his hands on the wound severely bleeding.

He gets up and brings the table back under the hole in the ceiling.

CRASH! – The extinguisher goes through the glass. Sally pulls it back and drops it on the floor. She sneaks her face through the hole.

SALLY

Little pig, little pig, let me come in!

Bill climbs on the table again. He hangs to the frame of the ventilation grid and jumps with a cry.

INT. VENTILATION DUCT – DAY

Bill has his chest almost in. He tries to hang on to something but the blood on his hands makes them slip.

SALLY (O.S.)

I’m gonna huff, I’m gonna puke, I’m gonna fuck your house in!

INT. EXPERIMENT CONTROL ROOM – DAY

Sally gasps and gulps. She bends over as her belly has spasms. She opens her mouth, she looks about to puke.

INT. VENTILATION DUCT – DAY

Bill cries and struggles to crawl his way inside the duct. The more he puts his hands everywhere, the more the surface gets slippy with blood. He slowly slides backward.

BILL

NOOO! PLEASE NOOO!

INT. EXPERIMENT ROOM – DAY

Sally stretches her neck and belches forth a black egg that she holds between her teeth. A yellow mucus runs down from her mouth to her chin.

She inhales deeply and spits it as far as she can.

The black metal egg bounces and rolls on the floor. It stops at the feet of the table on wheels.

INT. EXPERIMENT ROOM – DAY

Bill loses his struggle against gravity and slips out of the hole. He tries to hang on to the frame but it breaks. Bill falls from the ceiling height and hits his head on the floor.

Groggy, Bill tries to recover his senses.

SALLY

(muffled voice)

My time to screw you, motherfucker.

Lying on the floor, Bill turns around. And finds the black metal egg just a few inches from his face.

The egg cracks and makes a high-pitched whistle, while Bill lets out a loud yell of terror.

INT. EXPERIMENT CONTROL ROOM – DAY

Sally stands at the door. A brief flash of light illuminates the room with a muffled blowing noise. Thousands of tiny needles hit the glass like a tinkling cascade.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 1 month ago by  Marc KOENIG.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 1 month ago by  Marc KOENIG.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 1 month ago by  Marc KOENIG.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 1 month ago by  Marc KOENIG.

[Eric Humble]

Eric Humble’s Level 3 Horror Emotion Scene

What I learned doing this assignment is how I can elevate the third act horror scenes/situations to a level that contrasts with what came before. I’ve struggled in the past with horror scenes, either because I raise everything to hysteria too early in the story or because I tend to keep the scenes at the same level of tension and emotion between acts two and three. By holding these Level 3 horror emotions off until the third act, I’m able to significantly increase the intensity of the scares as story heads into the climax, which gives the whole structure some momentum which has been missing in my previous horror scripts.

INT. WINO’S LAIR – NIGHT

Noah is hurt… and Rachel has to go in after him to save him, even though it’s down there somewhere.

There’s a rancid smell – The Wino is in here with them, but they can’t see it or pinpoint it… and they’re on its turf, a whole mazelike lair to navigate to get to the stairs.

Weird stuff everywhere – portraits, remnants from centuries past. It has been here a long time. An altar with a strange statue – onyx, a mollusk-like, twisted creature with glowering emerald eyes.

Noah sobers up for a moment, his leg broken with an open fracture… but Rachel can’t get to him.

Noah spots The Wino lurking in the dark, but the acid is making him morph in and out of reality and it disappears.

He focuses in on a gun on a table. Crawls toward it. Grasps it – knows it’s really there.

The Wino is suddenly just a few feet away from him. Disappears as he comes back to reality. He shoots…

But the gun is empty.

He searches the table… finds bullets.

His hands shake and the acid takes him in and out of reality. He tries again to load it…

…he can’t do it in his trippy state.

The Wino reappears… and he’s able to focus on it, in and out of the LSD.

Opts to take a bullet and a hammer —

Approaches it slowly… hammers the nail. BLAM. The gun goes off, but the corpse remains motionless. Because it isn’t the Wino. It’s Veronica’s corpse, nailed up to the wall.

Rachel watches as The real Wino comes up behind him (but she can’t see it), kills him with the bottle…

…and gnaws the base of his brain at his neck.

Mac finds a bottle of whiskey, urges Rachel to drink so they can see it –

But Rachel is thinking, based on Noah’s death – getting drunk or high allows you to see it, but hinders your ability to fight it… she gets an idea and looks to Veronica’s body.

INT. DOORWAY – NIGHT

The Wino lets Bremmer in, like it’s open to the deal he’s making by offering him the others… but instead of rewarding him…

The Wino ties him up.

He struggles against the Wino to no avail.

He breaks his own limbs to try and get free.

The Wino opens a cabinet revealing a plethora of alcohol bottles, drugs, drug paraphernalia – all old, dusty, the syringes blood- or rust-encrusted. Recovered or retrieved from gutters.

The Wino grabs Bremmer’s cheeks. Forces his mouth open. Pours an entire bottle of whiskey down his throat. Bremmer chokes, gags, fights it. Tears stream down his face as The Wino then cracks an amyl nitrate capsule under his nose. Bremmer’s body reacts to the hit even as his eyes show panic…

…as the Wino now draws raw heroin into a blood-crusted syringe. Bremmer, high, drunk, and terrified, starts sobbing – or perhaps cackling… as the Wino probes his arm for a vein… now his shoulder, now his neck…

…and finally settles on Bremmer’s carotid. Injects the full syringe into the vein. Bremmer seizes… eyes rolling into his head… his system shutting down…