Lesson 10

[Kenneth Wood]

Ken Wood’s Level 1 Horror Emotion Scene

This lesson clarified for me how to keep my horror story momentum escalating by using the main “horror emotions” at the right times.

Outline

ACT 1, Scenes 1 and 2:

Scene 1

One of the five Crewmen on the Brazilian Cargo Boat encounters some sticky spider webbing among the bananas. Apprehension

We see only a spider’s leg among the banana crates. Apprehension/Anxiety and Surprise

Scene 2

As the boat reaches the American sea port, it slams into the dock over and over again and the Captain will not turn off the engine. Apprehension and Surprise

The spider has killed four people. Anxiety/Shock

The spider has also tried to break into the Captain’s room via the reinforced glass window, but has only broken it. <b style=”font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;”>Anxiety/Shock

The Captain is locked in his cabin, too hysterical to turn off the boat. all he can say is Aranha (Portuguese for Spider). Anxiety/Shock

The Port Supervisor decides to go down into the engine room to shut the engine off. Apprehension

______________

Actual Scenes:

Act 1, Pt. 1

EXT. SHIPPING PORT, BRAZIL – DAY

OLD CARGO BOAT

Four Brazilian CREWMEN(ages: 60, 40, and two 20s) and their CAPTAIN, CÉASAR ANDRADE(40s), load and stack by hand, CRATES OF GREEN BANANAS three-high onto the deck.

Crewman #1 heaves a final crate in place. He notice some light spider webbing close by. Alarmed he drops it and looks around for a spider.

Nothing. He wipes off the webbing. It’s unusually sticky and tough to get off his hands. He walks away down the plank.

We catch a glimpse of a large, hairy spider’s leg slipping in between bananas in another crate. Disappearing.

The Captain enters the cabin and starts the engine. Black smoke belches from the exhaust. The Crewmen drag a large canvas tarp over the produce, creating a black out.

EXT. SHIPPING PORT, U.S.A – DAY

DOCK

The Cargo Boat creeps toward the dock, ENGINE PUTTERING at low speed. The boat SLAMS into the dock. CRACK. Its motor continues to RAM the boat into the dock and bounce off.

The livid DOCK SUPERVISOR and a DOCK WORKER run and jump on board. No one is on deck. Strange. The Dock Supervisor shakes the cabin door handle. It’s locked. Frustrated, he pounds on the door.

DOCK SUPERVISOR

Captain. Turn off your engine. You’re damaging my dock.

He peers into the murky, reinforced glass window. He’s startled. The glass has been shattered with the pattern of a spider web.

DOCK SUPERVISOR

Captain. Turn off your engine and open this freakin’ door.

The Captain’s hysterical chants become audible.

CAPTAIN (O.S.)

Aranha. Aranha.

The Port Supervisor BANGS some more. The Captain’s shaking hand creeps up from the bottom of the window. His terrified face slowly rises and peers out the window left and right.

CAPTAIN

Aranha. Aranha.

DOCK SUPERVISOR

What’s he saying?

The Dock Worker approaches the door to listen and read lips.

DOCK WORKER

Aranha. He’s saying aranha. It’s Portuguese for spider.

DOCK SUPERVISOR

(to Captain)

Aranha. Where?

The Captain looks to the right and left again. Then shakes his head.

DOCK WORKER

He doesn’t know where it went.

PORT SUPERVISOR

I’m going down into the engine room to shut it off.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 1 month ago by  Kenneth Wood.

[Kris Kristensen]

Love the math between the first scene and the second scene. Really nice and simple. We put it all together in our heads. Great visual storytelling.

[Kris Kristensen]

INT. EMERGENCY ROOM – ADMISSIONS DESK – NIGHT

NURSE O’LEARY (35) and NURSE CLYBORN (late 50s) chat as they fill out administrative work. O’Leary checks the time.

O’LEARY
Donna’s running late.

CLYBORN
Don’t want to keep your hot bath waiting.

O’LEARY
Not tonight.

CLYBORN
Straight to bed?

O’LEARY (giggles)
Maybe a drink or two first.

CLYBORN (stops her work)
Mary O’Leary, what are you going on about?

O’LEARY
Pete Sullivan’s back in town.

CLYBORN
You don’t say.

As the nurses gossip, they don’t notice that at –

THE END OF THE HALL

The automated doors open, and the Quarterman drags himself inside, pulling himself forward with his lone arm.

The nurses feel a gust of wind and turn toward the doors, but not before the Quarterman has disappeared down a hallway.

O’LEARY
Did someone come in? I was hoping it was Donna.

CLYBORN (joking)
Must’ve been a ghost.

Donna enters through the doors and sprints down the hall toward the admissions desk.

DONNA
Sorry, I’m late.

O’Leary collects a tray of pills.

O’LEARY
Off to finish my rounds.

INT. HOSPITAL CORRIDOR – MOMENTS LATER

O’Leary turns the corner with tray of pills, most of them now deposited in patients.

INT. HOSPITAL ROOM – CONTINUOUS

O’Leary enters a room. Dark except for moonlight spilling in through the window. Two beds divided by a curtain, that wafts in the breeze from the cracked open window.

O’Leary walks past the empty bed, and quietly pulls back the curtain to reveal –

A second empty bed. Where’s her patient?

O’LEARY
Mr. Travis?

MR. TRAVIS (80ish) exits the restroom right behind her, the door handle making a loud metal sound.

Startled, O’Leary drops her pill tray to the floor in a loud CLANG.

The pills scatter.

O’LEARY
Mr. Travis, you know you’re not supposed to leave your bed.

MR. TRAVIS
Piss pot was full.

O’Leary crouches down to collect her pills, as Mr. Travis shuffles back to bed.

The Quarterman watches her from under the empty bed.

O’Leary wipes his pills clean on her frock. Pours a glass of water for Mr. Travis.

O’LEARY
Open wide.

She gives him his pills, followed by a sip of water.

MR. TRAVIS
How’s about a goodnight kiss?

O’LEARY
Now, Mr. Travis, we’ve been over this…

MR. TRAVIS
Then a goodnight story.

O’LEARY
There once was a man from Green Hill
Who’d taken a nasty spill
He consulted a proctor
Who said “Go get a doctor”
And now he has to take pills..

SNORE. The old man is sound asleep.

O’Leary gathers her things and turns toward the door. On her way out, she kicks an errant pill that skitters across the floor.

She pauses, searching for it in the dark.

There it is.

She stoops to pick it up.

Then continues on her merry way, when –

A chain, whips around her ankle, and yanks tight, sending her –

Headlong across the floor.

Her pill tray spills out into the hallway.

She lies on the floor. Eyes open. Motionless. Her cheek mashed against the floor.

Then she slides backwards.

Quarterman pulls the chain, inching O’Leary toward him under the bed.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 1 month ago by  Kris Kristensen.

[Rachelle Storti]

Rachelle’s level 1 horror emotion scene

What I learned: Again, putting the work in on past assignments; and there are always additions to be made to take the script to the next level.

INT. LATER – CAVE LEDGE

Zinnia and Pip find themselves on a ledge at the end of their tunnel. They can see a pool of water below.

“How deep do you think it is?” Zinnia wonders. “It’s our only exit,” Pip says just before he jumps.

He looks up at Zinnia, “I didn’t even hit bottom.” The water looks clean and clear, lit from below. Zinnia jumps in.

BEAT.

Zinnia notices the walls of stone surrounding the pool have bloody claw marks and shredded fingernails attached to them.

Enter the SIREN and their fight to survive.

INT. SAME – SAND PIT

Will and Olly work their way through the tunnel. There are traces of sand and discarded human limbs/bones.

Will and Olly find their tunnel ending in ever more sand until they are atop a pile of it.

“Look at these cute little prints,” Will says. Something skitters on their periphery. Olly is silent. Will is panicked, he can’t stop talking.

Olly scouts a ladder on the wall and makes his way there. Will is beside himself, and doesn’t notice what Olly is doing. The Kamaitachi bursts through the sand and cuts him limb from limb.

Olly escapes to the sound of Will’s screams.

[Mike Coste]

Mike’s Level 1 Horror Emotion Scene

What I learned doing this assignment is how relatively mundane scenes can be used to build suspense. How important it is to build the emotions of apprehension, surprise, and shock, and how they can play on each other.

EXT- OLD CLASSROOM BUILDING- EVENING

The camera watches from a distance as two sets of headlights pull up to the front of the building.The cars stop and the headlights go off. David, Jacob, and Emily get out of one car, and the rest get out of the other. The camera closes in as they walk to the building. They all stop outside the front entrance.

EMILY

Okay. We’re here. This is the creepy building. Let’s go.

DAVID

Emily’s right. I saw a pizza place a few miles back.

JACOB

Yeah, I’m hungry. Let’s get some food.

HEATHER

Are you kidding? We’re here. No one’s been in this building for years. Let’s explore.

BRAD

C’mon Heather. We don’t need to go in there. People died in there. Let’s go.

JACOB

I don’t really like school during the day. Why would I want to go there at night.

HEATHER

Jacob, this isn’t school. It’s an adventure. Don’t you want to know wheat’s in there? Do you think the Professor is waiting for use.

EMILY

It’s just a story. The is no Professor. Not now anyway. What happened then is in the past. Let’s just go.

BRAD

Emily’s right. There’s nothing in there except a bunch of dust. Let’s go.

HEATHER

You don’t believe these stories do you?

EMILY

(apprehensively)

No.

HEATHER

Then let’s go.

BRAD

Look, the door’s locked anyway. We won’t be able to get in. And those windows are locked up like a prison.

JACOB

Brad’s right. Let’s just go. I’m cold. Let’s get pizza. (beat) Can anyone lend me some money.

HEATHER

I’l buy you some pizza if you come in with me.

EMILY

I’ll buy pizza if we leave now.

BRAD

Let’s just go.

Brad starts walking to the car, Jacob, Emily, Madison, and David follow.

HEATHER

(yells)

You’r all a bunch of wimps. I can’t believe I hang out with cowards. You come back.

Heather turns and walks toward the door, and pushed on it. It opens.

Look it’s open. They’re waiting for us. All the ghosties are waiting for us.

Let’s go.

Brad turns around and starts jogging toward Heather. The others follow with Jacob at the rear.

BRAD

Heather, no. Don’t go in there. It’s dangerous. You don’t know. The place is falling apart. it could all collapse.

HEATHER

Let’s go in. Come on everyone.

Heather pushed the door and goes in. Brad goes in followed by David. Madison and Emily follow David in and bump into each other as they both try to enter at the same time.

JACOB

Come on guys. Let’s go. I’m hungry. Emily, you said we could get pizza.

Jacob looks around and realizes he’s alone. He runs into the building. The door shuts. We hear a click, like a lock.

[Bill Anderson]

Bill Anderson’s Level 1 Horror Emotion scene

What I learned doing this assignment is the value of the difference between surprise and shock in engaging the audience at a deeper level.

MOTHERLAND

From Outline:

EXT – GNARLY TREE – NIGHT

… the gnarled tree is blown over, to reveal a skeleton rising up out of the ground entwined in the bolus of its roots, and permeated by a mycelial web – torrential rain blasts its bones clean…

INT – FARM SHED – NIGHT

… Leah pulls the calf from the cow…the calf is horrifically deformed – and it has no eyes – Jeb drags its body out of the pen as Leah tries to save its dying mother – but Jeb sees the mother’s beyond help, returns with the captive bolt to put her out of her misery. Leah surprises herself how emotionally reluctant she is to give up on the mother, and Jeb acknowledge some history between Leah and himself over this before, with her tacit consent, he kills the cow.

Scripted scene:

INT. FARM SHED – NIGHT

The screaming wind drowns the pregnant cow’s excruciating bellowing as Leah and Jeb increase their efforts to help her.

Deafening thunder explodes directly above the shed. As a roof panel is ripped off by a violent gust, lightning strikes and causes a surge of electric current through the suspended lights – the chain holding the one above Leah and Jeb breaks and it swings down, hanging precariously by its electrical cable – only just missing their heads as Leah finally pulls the calf out of its mother.

In the swinging, fizzing light rain begins to fall on the calf they now see is horribly deformed. Leah checks it closely – it has no eyes. Sparks are falling from the swinging light onto the straw bedding as Jeb drags the calf away. Leah sees the mother cow is swiftly bleeding to death. Leah can only give comfort to her.

The lights go out and stop sparking. Leah keeps kindly whispering to the mother cow, ignoring a captive bolt firmly pressed against the cow’s head and fired. Leah knows it’s a kindness that Jeb’s put her out of her misery.

As the cow spasms Jeb extinguishes any lingering sparks in the straw bedding with his foot, but it’s Leah he’s watching closely.

He crouches beside Leah and touches her gently to reassure her that she did the best she could. But Leah is beyond consolation.

[Rachelle Storti]

Rachelle’s Level 1 Horror Emotion Scene

What I learned doing this assignment: I love my characters. I can’t wait to see this made into a movie.

INT. LATER – CAVE LEDGE

Zinnia and Pip find themselves on a ledge at the end of the tunnel. They can see a pool of water below.

“How deep do you think it is?” Zinnia wonders. She is scanning their surroundings and looks for potential dangers in the pool (apprehension).

“It’s our only exit,” Pip says just before he jumps in.

He looks up at Zinnia, “I didn’t even hit bottom.” The water looks clean and clear, lit from below. Pip encourages her to jump.

Zinnia jumps in.

BEAT.

Zinnia notices the walls of stone surrounding the pool have bloody claw marks and disembodied fingernails stuck to them (anxiety).

Zinnia turns to Pip, something pulls them under water. The water is bloody. Zinnia searches for Pip until they surface (surprise).

Pip gasps for air and whatever grabbed him before is flitting around both of them. Zinnia can see Pip’s leg is bleeding.

The SIREN surfaces and screams (shock).

[Andre]

– Andre’s Level 1 Horror Emotion Scene.
– Pick a Scene that I can write from the first Act of my Story.
– Create an outline of the scene that includes each of the emotions- Apprehension, Anxiety, Surprise, Shock.
– Write the scene as a first draft.
– What I learned doing this assignment is, writing maybe done in a silo, but filmmaking is a team sport. Just kidding, I already knew this.
Purpose of this assignment is to create an atmosphere for horror.

Apprehension and Anxiety
Apprehension- Anticipation of adversity or misfortune; suspicion of fear of future trouble or evil.
Anxiety- Distress or uneasiness of mind caused by fear of danger or misfortune.
How to: Foreshadow, hint to, create expectation of possible evil to come. Evil and or danger lurk around them.

Surprise
Surprise: To come upon or discover suddenly and unexpectedly: to elicit or bring out suddenly and without warning. Not usually a violent situation.
How to: Create an unexpected situation that startles.

Shock
Shock: A sudden or violent disturbance of the mind, emotions or sensibilities.
How to: Create a surprise that elevates the level of fear and has significant repercussions.

Difference between Surprise and Shock is that Shock has real impact. It changes the level of emotion from light fear to real fear. Something bad has happened that was delivered in a surprising way. It is sudden, but it is also lasting.

Apprehension- Conducted within a plan by the employer-sponsored doctor when he signed up many years prior, this aborted fetus is used as part of the ingredient in the serum gestated with anti-matter in creating the Anti-Christ.

Anxiety- Can a man be affected when his unborn child is fighting for its life during an abortion? In our biased matriarchal society, does it matter?

Surprise- Within the womb, a fetus attempts to dodge the medical instruments honing in on killing it. Imagine if fetus’ had Second Amendment Rights. There is no escape! Snip! Cut! Suction! Wash, rinse and repeat. Another successful “miscarriage”, albeit intentional aborting of human life.

Shock- Abortion is between a woman, her doctor and the government (but not the father).

INT – TURNSTYLE ABORTION CLINIC – DAY
Present Day…Inside an urban building eerily similar to the white house, vacuum suction sounds of another abortion take place. Within the womb, a fetus attempts to dodge the medical instruments honing in on killing it. Imagine if fetus’ had Second Amendment Rights. There is no escape! Snip! Cut! Suction! Wash, rinse and repeat. Another successful plan b “miscarriage”, albeit intentional aborting of human life as birth control.
During this particular abortion, performed by our Antagonist Human Asclepius, perfectly timed with an electrical storm, the Particle Accelerator is engaged, a séance for black lives matter is held, and utter chaos and confusion lines the streets, neighborhoods, and cities.
100,000 Bolts of Lightning strike! The ENTIRE STAFF (from 100 to 1000), of A WORLDRULER, The Fallen Planetary Prince, incorporate onto the planet. now corporeal.
With the raising of the Lucifer flag, sentient anti-matter is born as the Anti-Christ! The imperfection of humanity is now perfected.

INT – MEDICAL CLINIC – DAY
Meanwhile, as a form of retaliation from his former employer, an unnamed government sponsored entity with immense authoritative powers and no accountability nor oversite, our main Protagonist is essentially fired and forced to undergo psychological treatment in order to receive a meager pension.
But of course, his diagnosis was known before he walked through the door. The pre-funded "treatment" unbeknownst to him, includes his false diagnosis, labels and codes, concealing any information that may surface from his "mental health treatments". His experience is real, and that is part of the coverup and veil of power they have over society. Who and What truly runs the world.

It is revealed during one of the sessions, by a depth psychologist, a traumatic experience going back to a vehicle accident. But that memory is refuted and a focus on his mental instability is prioritized. Textbook ‘mental disorder not otherwise specified condition’ is the label- standard western medical bullshit speak for fuck this guy.
The institutionalized educated “doctor”, we learn is under the supervision of our Antagonist Ashkenazi, has already been given our protagonist’s diagnosis before he walked through the clinic doors. SCOP-Standard Corrupt Operating Procedures. This ultimately adds to levels of distrust our protagonist embodies throughout the film.

While pregnancy requires a male donor, "Abortion is between a woman, her doctor and the government (but not the father)" is a catchphrase slogan of our antagonist, and a marketing tool for lobbying big money (for both Science and power).

During a particularly electrical thunder-stormy day, our Protagonist’s girlfriend unbeknownst to him, undergoes an abortion. Can a man be affected when his unborn child is fighting for its life during an abortion? In our biased matriarchal society, does it matter?
Conducted within a plan by the employer-sponsored doctor when he signed up many years prior, this aborted fetus is used as part of the ingredient in the serum gestated with anti-matter in creating the Anti-Christ. Our Protagonist walked into a trap designed hundreds of thousands of years ago, maybe longer.

The next question to ponder is, was his accident an accident, or pre-destination obfuscating his freewill? Do humans have freewill, or a selection of choices with predetermined outcomes? A,B,C or D, but not E through Z and beyond.

End Andre’s Level 1 Horror Emotion Scene.