Nadia Tholance
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Hi Rob,
Happy to exchange feedback on our outlines!
I have sent you an invitation to connect.
Best,
Nadia
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ASSIGNMENT 16 – NADIA’S OUTLINE VERSION 1
Title: “GRAHAMSTOWN”
Logline: Grahamstown, a dead quiet small college town with an unusually old population and young people terrified to go out at night.
HORROR OUTLINE OF “GRAHAMSTOWN”
1- INT. ROOM – NIGHT FALL
A computer screen shines in the darkness, a girl’s face reflecting in the monitor screen. She is reading a headline “GRAHAMSTOWN, OLDEST TOWN IN AMERICA – by Matthias Smith”.
2- INT. ROOM – CONTINUOUS
The horror situation: A young woman is alone at home in the dark, a, untouched birthday cake on the table; there’s a knock on the door, then a frail voice starts singing ‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, MIA!’; Mia screams hysterically.
NOTE: ON SCREEN – TITLE ROLLS IN: “GRAHAMSTOWN”
3- EXT. STREET – NIGHTFALL
The horror situation: It’s getting dark and a young man seems to be in a hurry, he decides to take a short cut through the park, goes through a dark tunnel and never comes out the other side.
4- EXT/ INT. IMPOSING BUILDING ON WELL KEPT GROUNDS – DAY
Establishing shot of upmarket old age home.
ANNA – early 20’s with the face of an angel – is reading to some old folks who look at her in awe.
STEPHEN – 20’s and typical geek – also volunteers at the establishment, looking at Mia, loved struck.
5- INT. COFFEE SHOP – DAY
NAOMI & JAMES – a beautiful young couple in their twenties – are at a table, gazing in each other’s eyes.
JOANNA – plain and lonely – is at another table, alone, making notes and eavesdropping at the couple’s conversation.
The WAITRESS –woman in her 60’s – comes to chat to the couple; Joanna is eavesdropping; When the waitress walks away, Joanna quickly gets up and whispers “THEY’ cannot be trusted, they’re dangerous” to the couple and leaves; they shrug it off, thinking she’s just a loony lonely girl seeking attention.
6- EXT. STREET, DOWNTOWN – NIGHT
There’s an eerie atmosphere: the streets are deserted, doors locked. Somewhere, a dog’s bark dies in a painful whine.
7- INT. BEDROOM – NIGHT
JOANNA is peering into the street from behind her bedroom’s curtain, behind her the dim light of the bedside lamp; A dog barks then whines and silence; as she looks down she sees an old man breaking a dog’s neck; she gasps as he looks up, straight at her.
8- INT. NEWSPAPER ROOM/ EDITOR IN CHIEF OFFICE – DAY
MATTHIAS – striking looking, thirties but looking much younger – storms in the Editor’s office without bothering to knocking; a smart business looking middle age woman is sitting behind the desk; He threatens to resign if he doesn’t get to cover real stories. She smiles, throws his way a police report about strange cases of MISSING YOUNG PERSONS in GRAHAMSTOWN and tells him to go get the story.
9- EXT/INT. MATTHIAS RUSTY OLD CAR – DAY
The car hiccups then stalls, smoke coming out from under the hood. Matthias exits, opens the hood and swears; he looks around at the deserted road and starts walking towards a sign down the road that reads “GRAHAMSTOWN WELCOMES YOU!”
10- EXT – ROAD – LATER
Matthias is walking, sweat marks on his shirt. Ahead of him, a DINNER with a squad of few Harley Davidson a couple of old cars parked outside.
11- EXT./ INT. DINNER – CONTINUOUS
Matthias walks in, the brouhaha stops and the oldest bikers he has ever seen check him out. He walks to the bar to order a beer and the bartender asks to see his ID, all eyes on her as she does so; she shakes her head and the brouhaha returns. Matthias want to call a tow truck but is told that there is no towing company in town.
Matthias downs his beer quickly and exits.
12- INT/EXT. DINNER – CONTINUOUS
A young man built like an ox – ANDREW – comes out of the Dinner’s outside toilet and gets in his pick-up truck; He sees Matthias walking alongside the road and offers to give him a lift into town. During the driver Andrew offers to take care of his car in the morning before dropping him at the town’s only hotel.
13- EXT. DOWNTOWN, HOTEL – NIGHT
Matthias notices a young woman – JOANNA –hurrying on the other side of the street and some HOMELESS GUY further down the street, holding an empty wine bottle.
14- INT. HOTEL SMALL RECEPTION ROOM – CONTINUOUS
A nervous looking teenage girl stands behind the check-in counter; she hands him the key to ROOM 21.
15- EXT/INT. ROOM 21
Matthias drops his bag, walks to the window; he sees JOANNA disappearing around the corner, the homeless guy in tow.
16- EXT. MAIN ROAD – NIGHT
The horror situation: Isolated/ Pursued: Joanna is walking in the street alone when night falls, she sees someone get up from behind a trash bin that starts following her; she thinks it’s one of the monsters!
· Dread: As Joanna hears some noise behind her down the road and sees a dark shape rise from behind the trash bin.
· Release: It’s just a homeless guy.
· Surprise/ Fear: The homeless guy is an OLD man AND that there’s no one else but her in the street.
· Panic: As she homeless guy starts following her; she picks up the pace and he hurries after her.
· Surprise/ Release: She runs into MARY, the elderly friendly coffee shop owner; she is relieved as she is no longer alone and she sees a friendly face, a familiar trusted person.
· Surprise: Joanna realizes they are not alone in the coffee shop.
· Release: The people in the coffee shop are all familiar faces.
· Dread/ Shock: Joanna realises the people inside the place are all old and grinning at her; when she turns around towards Mary, she is busy locking the door behind her: she is trapped!
17- INT. COFFEE SHOP – DAY
Matthias is sitting at a table, reading the headlines: ‘Joanna Templar, another missing person in the quiet student town of Grahamstown!’
Andrew walks in and calls for him to join him at a table and meet his friends: NAOMI, JAMES, STEPHEN and ANNA; Matthias and Anna share a moment.
They talk about Joanna’s and other disappearances of young people and the gruesome murders – mutilated young bodies – but they seem to believe it’s a urban legend although they look uncomfortable talking about it; Matthias feels there’s something going on in the town and sees his chance at getting the Pulitzer price; he decides to investigate.
18- EXT/INT. COLLEGE LIBRARY – LATER
Matthias is sitting at a computer, going through the town’s archives, going through murder articles that took place in the town.
19- EXT – VARIOUS STREETS IN TOWN – NIGHT FALL
Young people, nervous and with dark cycles under their eyes, are rushing back from classes into their homes; old people, full of energy and loud, are walking the streets, spilling into bars and shops after dark.
20- EXT/ INT. DINNER AT THE EDGE OF TOWN – NIGHT
The horror situation: A group of young guys from out of town are in the dinner, having a few drinks to celebrate their friends’ 21<sup>st</sup>; the old bikers come into the dinner and turn on them.
· Dread: A stretch limo with out of town plates is parked in the parking lot. A group of Harley motorcycles pulls in and park right behind it.
· Suspense: The group of old bikers walk inside the bar, checking out the surroundings, their eyes set on a large table where a small group of loud young guys are drinking profusely. The old folks signal the waitress who nods; they settle at tables all around the drinking buddies.
· Surprise: One of the oldies approaches the group with a large pitcher of beer, asking ‘you guys have something to celebrate?’; one of drunks slurs ‘Here to birthday boy!’ pointing at his friend;
· Release: The old folk smiles and puts the pitcher down in front of the birthday boy with a ‘Happy 21<sup>st</sup>!’ The young guy smiles and slurs a ‘thank you’.
· Creepy moment: The old biker turns towards the other, nods, and they slowly get up and start circling the small group of celebrating friends.
· Fear: The guys notice something is not quite right as the oldies are breathing down their neck, chanting ‘Happy Birthday’.
· Horror: One of the biker lifts his helmet and, with incredible force, SMASHES THE SKULL OF BIRTHDAY BOY with it, repeatedly.
· Panic: The guys try to make an escape, stumbling, trapped and surrounded. One of young guys who managed to escape is pursued and killed viciously.
21- EXT./ INT. VERY UPMARKET BUILDING – DAY
MIA walks in the building, carrying a large box and takes the lift to the penthouse level; a YOUNG SECURITY GUARD in uniform is guarding the front door of her apartment; as she passes, he says ‘happy 21st miss!’; Mia looks around in panic before rushing inside her lavish apartment, triple locking the door behind her.
22- INT. MIA’S APPARTMENT – LATER
The horror situation: Mia is spending her 21<sup>st</sup> birthday alone and quiet in her apartment; suddenly, someone knocks at the door and she is terrified.
· Releases: Mia looks through the peephole and is relieved when she hears Brian says that he is delivering flowers; she thinks they are from her father and is both relieved and happy.
· Creepy Moments: Mia opens the door and realises it’s not Brian but some old folk but it’s already too late as some more old folks were hiding and are now invading the apartment; simultaneously, she realizes what was wrong with the flowers: she only liked white roses and her father always used to tease her about it!
· Panic: Mia freaks out and runs through the apartment, away from the monsters and onto the terraces; they follow her, sniffing around like animals, chanting with an evil grin on their face, hysterical, she jumps from the terrace, plummeting to her death.
23- EXT/ INT. – OLD AGE HOME – DAWN
A storm is in process.
The horror situation: Anna is working at the old age home; they are preparing a surprise party for her 21<sup>st</sup> but it’s a deadly trap.
· Auguish: Some of the residents in the old age home are gathering and acting increasingly aggressively and there is an ominous atmosphere about the place, like the presence of evil.
· Suspense: There’s something secret happening in the reception room; something organised by the elderly and they are guarding the room and will only let Anna in; it’s a surprise party for her birthday but there’s definitely something not quite right going on.
· Anguish: Anna enters the room and soon is surrounded by a mob and the door is blocked. She can feel the danger looming everywhere but she doesn’t scream for help; instead, she chose to kneel and pray.
· Creepy moment: Stephen sees Anna kneeling down and the oldies surrounding her; one of the men is gently stroking her hair;
· Horror: Suddenly, Anna is out of his sight as the old man stops stroking her hair and falls on top of her, ripping out her dress and mounting her, fast and hard;
· Panic: Stephen shouts and screams, grabs at a chair and CRASHES THROUGH THE DOOR WINDOW;
· Suspense: Stephen rushes in and grabs Anna into his arms and walks back through the door;
· Fear: He screams in pain as an old woman in a wheel chair drives a piece of glass through his thighs, sectioning an artery; blood spurs and he drops Anna to the floor while shouting for her to ‘Run!’
· Panic: She runs away as he is dragged back inside the room and massacred.
· Release: She escapes into the pouring rain, sees a car is parked on the ground, it’s unlocked and the keys are inside; she gets in and speeds towards town to warn the others.
24- INT. NAOMI’S BEDROOM – NIGHT
Naomi is lying on her bed reading a text ‘meet me by the football field in 30mn, you won’t regret it. PS: I love U!’;
25- EXT. STREET – LATER
Naomi is cycling down the road and reaches an empty field; James’ car is already parked there.
26- EXT/ INT. JAMES’ CAR – CONTINUOUS
The horror situation: Naomi and James are on a romantic meeting on the football field at night; each one think the idea came from the other but none of them sent the message, so who did?!
· Fear: They start freaking out and James tries to start the car but it won’t start. He tells her to lock the doors while he goes check out under the hood; all look normal so he decides to look all around the car;
· Shock: He finds out that the petrol tank has been pierced; he then gets hit over the head and is knocked out.
· Panic: Naomi can’s see James in the rear mirror; she cranks the window open and calls out for him; there’s no answer.
· Dread: She is scared to leave the car but worried about James; she decides to unlock the doors and slowly starts getting out;
· Monster revealed: Naomi is pulled by the hair and dragged towards the rear of the car where James is lying unconscious and bleeding from a big gash on his head;
· Monster revealed: MR JONES, the butcher– a jovial man in his 60’s – is holding butcher’s knife to his throat; She is about to scream when MARY – from the coffee shop – shuts her up with duct tape and ties her hands behind her back, while ordering her to get on her knees.
· Horror James mouths ‘I love you’ as Mr Jones starts slicing his throat, slowly, leaving him alive while cutting his chest open, pulling his beating heart out and showing Naomi with a ‘his heart is yours forever’.
· Hysteria: Naomi cannot scream but tries to close her eyes but Mary threatens to blind her with an ice peak if she closes her eyes.
· Hysteria: Naomi faints.
When she wakes up and struggles to her feet; she is alone and James’ body is gone, only a pool of blood and his car testify that it wasn’t a nightmare. Suddenly, the car bright lights blind her and she sees Mary’s face poke out the passenger’s seat window as Mr Jones revs up the engine and chases her.
· Release: Naomi sees the road coming ahead; finds some energy out of desperation and reaches the road;
· Suspense: The car stops right before the road, switching its headlights off;
· Release: Naomi, standing in the middle of the empty road, is breathing hard but is now less hysterical, she starts looking around for help;
· Horror: Just as a HUGE TRUCK coming out of nowhere HITS HER HEAD ON, sending her body fly like a puppet in the bushes by the road; the truck doesn’t stop.
.
27- EXT. DOWNTOWN – NIGHT
Anna is driving through town, a vision of horror spread in front of her: a form of hysteria has taken over the town as young people get dragged out of their homes and massacred right into the streets by old people with evil smile and unusual strength and ferocity;
28- EXT/ INT. MATTHIAS’ HOTEL
She stops in front of Matthias’ hotel and runs in; she tells him about the horror happening in town and that she believes it has some religious meaning and is linked to the biblical numbers and that anyone of the age of 21 is not safe and will be killed and mutilated.
Anna convinces Matthias to come to the church, the only safe place; he calls Andrew on the way to meet them there.
29- EXT/ INT. CHURCH – LATER
Anna and Matthias arrive at the church where terrified young people are hiding. They run to the back of the church, a small office with shelves full of old biblical books; Anna starts paging through one and she tells Matthias it contains the key to the town’s killings: a group of fanatics religious elderlies believe that the number 21 is the key to youth and longer life and symbolizes the extreme sinfulness of sin and therefore must be killed and their organs consumed to regenerate their aging weakening bodies;
· Dread: Matthias points out that, if religion is behind all the killings then maybe the church is not a safe place but quite the opposite! The run to the nearest window in time to see Elderlies converging towards the church.
From the edge of the woods, ANDREW is hiding and sees the mob moving towards the church, soon his friends will be trapped;
· Suspense: Andrew comes out of the woods, shouting and screaming; the monsters turn around and come towards him;
· Release: As Andrew runs back into the woods he glances back and sees Anna and Matthias making a run for the car;
· Shock: Andrew picks up speed and, suddenly, falls with a painful scream – his right foot has been caught by a BEAR TRAP!
· Monster revealed: Andrew is on the ground; he sees a thick wooden stick, grabs it and as he looks up, a GRINNING OLD MAN looms above him.
30- INT./ EXT CAR – CONTINUOUS
Anna is driving, Matthias trying unsuccessfully to reach out Andrew on his mobile. Suddenly, something just jumps out of a curve of the road, Anna swerves and just avoids hitting Andrew, injured but alive!
· Dread: Matthias gets out of the car to help his friend to get in the back; he notices his right foot, injured by the bear trap, then only sees the soaked in blood cloth that Andrew is pressing on the side of his neck; they exchange a look, Andrew nods and explain that ‘they’ tried to make him their meal!
· Release: Anna hits the gaz and they speed away on the road leading them out of town.
· Surprise: She breaks so suddenly that Matthias nearly hits the windscreen.
31- EXT. TOWN LIMITS – CONTINUOUS
The horror situation: A mob armed with sticks, walking canes, knives are blocking the road, gathering next to the sign “GRAHAMSTOWN WILL MISS YOU!”
· Panic: Matthias shouts at Anna to put her foot on the gaz and ‘squash the mother fuckers!’
· Anna strong refuses to kill human beings, even if most of them are evil; while she and Matthias argue, Andrew quietly leaves the car and, still holding the stick that saved his life in the woods, limps towards the mob;
· Dread: Anna and Matthias finally notice Andrew, he is half way between the car and the mob; Matthias shouts at him and tries to get out of the car to go get him but Anna holds him back.
Using the gap, they speed pass the mob as they overtake Andrew, fighting like an ox but obviously losing his final battle, and pass the sign indicating the town limits.
32- EXT/ INT. CAR – LATER
They drive out of town in heavy silence; they come to a bus stop and Anna stops the car, instructing Matthias to take the next bus to the train station where he can catch a train back home; She tells him she has to go back to fulfil her calling and make sure the good that is left amongst the elderly prevails against evil.
Exchange their very first kiss, Matthias exits and watches helplessly as Anna drives back and pass the sign ‘GRAHAMSTOWN WELCOMES YOU!”
33- INT. CAR – CONTINUOUS
A single tear slides down Anna’s cheek as her hand
moves towards her stomach. -
ASSIGNMENT 15 – NADIA’S HORROR OUTLINE VERSION 1
What I learned from this assignment: I learned to focus on the horror scenes to make sure the genre is very clear and efficient; the non-horror bits being there just to carry the story.
OUTLINE OF “GRAHAMSTOWN”
1- INT. ROOM – NIGHT FALL
A computer screen shines in the darkness, a girl’s face reflecting in the monitor screen. She is reading a headline “GRAHAMSTOWN, OLDEST TOWN IN AMERICA – by Matthias Smith”.
2- INT. ROOM – CONTINUOUS
The horror situation: A young woman is alone at home in the dark, a, untouched birthday cake on the table; there’s a knock on the door, she goes hysterical.
· Apprehension: Mia, 21, is home alone at night when there’s a knock at the door; she freezes.
· Fear: She stares at the birthday cake on the table; the 2 candles with number 21 on it; she fears whoever is behind the door.
· Creepy moment: A frail voice starts singing ‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, MIA!’
· Hysteria: Mia screams hysterically.
NOTE: ON SCREEN – TITLE ROLLS IN: “GRAHAMSTOWN”
3- EXT. STREET – NIGHTFALL
The horror situation: It’s getting dark and a young man seems to be in a hurry, he decides to take a short cut through the park.
· Apprehension/ anxiety: It’s getting dark and the guy is checking out his watch and looking around nervously as it’s getting dark out there.
· Surprise: A black cat jumps out of the bushes, giving him a fright; we can see the guy is edgy.
· Shock: The guy decides to cut through the park and has to walk through a dark tunnel; he shakes his feeling of danger and goes for it but never makes it to the other side; whatever or whoever was in there was evil!
4- EXT/ INT. IMPOSING BUILDING ON WELL KEPT GROUNDS – DAY
Establishing shot of upmarket old age home.
ANNA – early 20’s with the face of an angel – is reading to some old folks who look at her in awe.
STEPHEN – 20’s and typical geek – also volunteers at the establishment, looking at Mia, loved struck.
5- INT. COFFEE SHOP – DAY
NAOMI & JAMES – a beautiful young couple in their twenties – are at a table, gazing in each other’s eyes.
JOANNA – plain and lonely – is at another table, alone, making notes and eavesdropping at the couple’s conversation.
The WAITRESS –woman in her 60’s – come and talk to the couple.
· Dread: Joanna overhears a question the waitress asked the young couple and fears for their safety.
· Susprise: Joanna discretely warns the couple not to go out after dark as ‘THEY’ cannot be trusted and are dangerous.
· Fear: Joanna sees some old folks walk in and quickly leaves.
· Release: The young couple laugh it off, thinking she’s just a crazy lonely girl.
6- EXT. STREET, DOWNTOWN – NIGHT
There’s an eerie atmosphere: the streets are deserted, doors are being slammed, locks bolted and shutters closed.
Somewhere, a dog’s barking die in a painful whine.
7- INT. BEDROOM – NIGHT
JOANNA is peering outside from behind her curtain, behind her the dim light of the bedside lamp; she is watching the street.
· Apprehension: She sees the deserted street, hear doors and shutters being locked.
· Dread: A dog is barking and suddenly stops with a painful whine; what or who shut him up.
· Horror: In the street’s shadow she sees an old man breaking a dog’s neck; the whining stops.
· Creepy moment: The old man looks up at her window, as if he sensed her presence.
· Fear: She retreats in her room and switches the light off.
8- INT. NEWSPAPER ROOM – DAY
Establishing shot of a busy newspaper room.
9- INT. EDITOR IN CHIEF OFFICE – CONTINUOUS
: lots of noise and people typing furiously on keyboards and shouting over phones; in a far corner, between the toilets and the coffee machine is a tiny desk, strangely tidy and a good looking but gloomy guy, much younger looking than his early thirties, slams down the phone and spins out of his chair to march purposefully towards a closed door with a sign ‘Editor in Chief’.
MATTHIAS – striking looking, thirties but looking much younger – storms in the office without bothering to knock and confronts the editor in chief, a smart business looking middle age woman, about wanting to cover real stories.
The Editor throws him a police report about MISSING PERSONS and sends him to write a story about GRAHAMSTOWN, a small college’s town with the oldest living population in the country.
Matthias is thrilled, packs his old rusty car and hits the road.
10- EXT/INT. MATTHIAS CAR – DAY
The car starts hiccupping then halts, smoke coming out from under the hood.
11- EXT. MATTHIAS’ CAR – CONTINUOUS
Matthias exits, opens the hood, more smoke escapes; he swears, looks around, no car in sight so he picks up his bag from the boot and starts walking towards a sign down the road that reads “GRAHAMSTOWN WELCOMES YOU!”
12- EXT – ROAD – LATER
Matthias is walking at a slower pace, sweat mark marking his shirt.
Ahead of him appears a DINNER with a squad of few Harley Davidson a couple of old cars parked outside.
13- INT. DINNER – CONTINUOUS
Matthias walks in, the brouhaha stops and the old bikers look him up and down.
· Apprehension: Matthias senses hostility when he walks in the bar.
· Surprise: The place is full with old bikers, not a young face in sight.
· Shock: He walks to the bar to order a beer and the bartender asks for his ID.
· Creepy moment: The bartender has a strange behaviour when she sees his ID.
· Release: After she’s checked his ID, the atmosphere in the bar changes and the brouhaha returns, everyone stops paying him attention.
· Surprise: Matthias is told that there is no towing company in town.
Matthias downs his beer quickly and exits the dinner.
14- INT/EXT. DINNER – CONTINUOUS
A young man built like an ox – ANDREW – comes out of the Dinner’s outside toilet as Matthias exits.
15- EXT. DINNER/ ROAD – CONTINUOUS
Andrew gets in an old pickup truck, pulls onto the road and drives pass Matthias.
He looks at him in his rear mirror, shakes his head and reluctantly reverses to stop next to him, ordering him to ‘Get in!’
Matthias gets on the passenger’s side and tells him about the break down just outside town and that he is coming to Grahamstown to write a story for a newspaper. Andrew offers to come back in the day to fix his car as it can’t be done now because it will be dark soon.
16- EXT. DOWNTOWN – NIGHT
Andrew drops Matthias in front of a small hotel on Main Street and drives off.
As Matthias watches Andrew drives off and is about to step in the hotel, he notices a young woman – JOANNA –hurrying on the other side of the street, she walks close to the walls and keeps glancing back; further down, some HOMELESS GUY gets up from behind a rubbish bin, holding on to an empty bottle.
Matthias shrugs and steps inside –
17- INT. HOTEL SMALL RECEPTION ROOM – CONTINUOUS
A nervous looking teenage girl stands behind the check-in counter;
Matthias checks in and she hands him the key to ROOM 21.
18- EXT/INT. ROOM 21
Establishing shot of a plain but cosy room with en-suite bathroom.
Matthias drops his bag and walks to the window, in time to see JOANNA disappearing around the corner, the homeless guy in tow.
19- EXT. MAIN ROAD – NIGHT
The horror situation: Isolated/ Pursued: Joanna is walking in the street alone when night falls, she sees someone get up from behind a trash bin that starts following her; she thinks it’s one of the monsters!
· Dread: As Joanna hears some noise behind her down the road and sees a dark shape rise from behind the trash bin.
· Release: It’s just a homeless guy.
· Surprise/ Fear: The homeless guy is an OLD man AND that there’s no one else but her in the street.
· Panic: As she homeless guy starts following her; she picks up the pace and he hurries after her.
· Surprise/ Release: She runs into MARY, the elderly friendly coffee shop owner; she is relieved as she is no longer alone and she sees a friendly face, a familiar trusted person.
· Surprise: Joanna realizes they are not alone in the coffee shop.
· Release: The people in the coffee shop are all familiar faces.
· Dread/ Shock: Joanna realises the people inside the place are all old and grinning at her; when she turns around towards Mary, she is busy locking the door behind her: she is trapped!
20- INT. COFFEE SHOP – DAY
Matthias is sitting at a table, reading the headlines: ‘Joanna Templar, another missing person in the quiet student town of Grahamstown!’
Andrew walks in and calls for him to join him at a table with his friends; Matthias accepts and meets the young couple, NAOMI and JAMES, the aloof STEPHEN and ANNA; Matthias and Anna share a moment, this doesn’t go unnoticed and displeases Stephen.
They talk about Joanna’s and other disappearances of young people and the gruesome murders – mutilated young bodies – but they seem to believe it’s a urban legend although they look uncomfortable talking about it, especially when thy notice that the owner, old Mary, has been eavesdropping on their conversation.
Matthias is convinced there’s something going on in the town and sees his chance at getting the Pulitzer price
21- EXT. COFFEE SHOP/ STREET – LATER
Matthias leaves the coffee shop, followed by Andrew; they are bonding and Andrew offers to help him in his investigations to write his paper; Matthias accepts, glad to have a strong sidekick who knows the town.
22- EXT/INT. COLLEGE LIBRARY – LATER
Matthias is sitting at a computer, going through the town’s archives, going through murder articles that took place in the town.
He pulls out his phone and texts: ‘I have a story for you… Pulitzer price on my desk!’ followed by a smiley emoji.
23- INT. HOTEL ROOM/ INT. BAR
Sequence of TV news over the next few days; Matthias is watching them alone on the TV in his room; Matthias watching them in a sports bar with the others from the small group he has formed a bond with: Andrew, Naomi and James, Mia, Stephen and Anna who he is getting closer to everytime.
24- EXT. PARK/ PARKING LOT
Sequence of some young guy being chased by an unseen monster though the park; another young woman is attacked trying to get in her car, always alone and always at night.
25- EXT – VARIOUS STREETS IN TOWN – NIGHT FALL
Young people, nervous and with dark cycles under their eyes, are rushing back from classes into their homes; old people, full of energy and loud, are walking the streets, spilling into bars and shops after dark.
26- EXT/ INT. DINNER AT THE EDGE OF TOWN – NIGHT
The horror situation: A group of young guys from out of town are in the dinner, having a few drinks to celebrate their friends’ 21<sup>st</sup>; the old bikers come into the dinner and turn on them.
· Dread: A stretch limo with out of town plates is parked in the parking lot. A group of Harley motorcycles pulls in and park right behind it.
· Suspense: The group of old bikers walk inside the bar, checking out the surroundings, their eyes set on a large table where a small group of loud young guys are drinking profusely. The old folks signal the waitress who nods; they settle at tables all around the drinking buddies.
· Surprise: One of the oldies approaches the group with a large pitcher of beer, asking ‘you guys have something to celebrate?’; one of drunks slurs ‘Here to birthday boy!’ pointing at his friend;
· Release: The old folk smiles and puts the pitcher down in front of the birthday boy with a ‘Happy 21<sup>st</sup>!’ The young guy smiles and slurs a ‘thank you’.
· Creepy moment: The old biker turns towards the other, nods, and they slowly get up and start circling the small group of celebrating friends.
· Fear: The guys notice something is not quite right as the oldies are breathing down their neck, chanting ‘Happy Birthday’.
· Horror: One of the biker lifts his helmet and with an incredible force SMASHES THE SKULL OF BIRTHDAY BOY with it, repeatedly.
· Panic: The guys try to make an escape, stumbling, trapped and surrounded.
27- EXT. DINNER – CONTINUOUS
The horror situation: One of young guys who managed to escape is pursued and killed.
· Dread: We overhear dreadful screams mixed with hysterical laughers coming from inside.
· Shock: Suddenly, the door bursts open on one of the young guy, covered in blood, comes running out.
· Apprehension: He stumbles, falls and gets back onto his feet, looking back towards the door.
· Release: He makes it to the Limo and, with shaky hands, removes the car keys;
· Anguish: He drops the keys and kneels to search for them as the dinner’s door opens;
· Release: He finds the keys, gets up and puts the key in the door.
· Fear: A voice behind him says ‘let me give you a hand’;
· Horror: He turns around and sees one of the old bikers handing him a severed hand with his university ring.
· Hysteria: The young guy screams hysterically as the old man opens up a switch blade with his free hand.
28- EXT./ INT. VERY UPMARKET BUILDING – DAY
MIA walks in the building, carrying a large box and takes the lift to the penthouse level; a YOUNG SECURITY GUARD in uniform is guarding the front door of her apartment; as she passes, he says ‘happy 21st miss!’; Mia looks around in panic before rushing inside and triple locking the door behind her.
29- INT. MIA’S APPARTMENT – LATER
Mia walks through a lavish apartment; there’s an untouched birthday cake with a single candle on a table. She is sitting in a luxurious living room, staring absently at a huge wall plasma TV, the only light in the room.
The horror situation: Mia is spending her 21<sup>st</sup> birthday alone and quiet in her apartment; suddenly, someone knocks at the door and she is terrified.
· Scares: Mia freaks out when there is a knock at the door; straight away she thinks danger is at her doorstep and that the monster is coming for her, has been watching her, and somehow overhead Brian – the security guard – say that it’s her 21<sup>st</sup> birthday.
· Releases: Mia is relieved when she hears Brian says that he is delivering flowers; she thinks they are from her father and is both relieved and happy.
· Creepy Moments: Mia first only sees the flowers and opens the door; then she realises it’s not Brian but some old folk but it’s already too late as some more old folks were hiding and are now invading the apartment; simultaneously, she realizes what was wrong with the flowers: she only liked white roses and her father always used to tease her about it!
· Panic: Mia freaks out and runs through the apartment, away from the monsters and onto the terraces; they follow her, sniffing around like animals, chanting with an evil grin on their face, at this point she is in total hysteria and choses to jump from the terrace – plummeting to her death – over facing the monsters.
30- EXT/ INT. – OLD AGE HOME – DAWN
A storm is breaking over the grounds.
The horror situation: Anna is working at the old age home; they are preparing a surprise party for her 21<sup>st</sup> but it’s a deadly trap.
· Fear: Some of the residents in the old age home are gathering and acting increasingly aggressively and there is an ominous atmosphere about the place, like the presence of evil.
· Suspense: There’s something secret happening in the reception room; something organised by the elderly and they are guarding the room and will only let Anna in; it’s a surprise party for her birthday but there’s definitely something not quite right going on.
· Anguish: Anna enters the room and soon is surrounded by a mob and the door is blocked. She can feel the danger looming everywhere but she doesn’t scream for help; instead, she chose to kneel and pray.
· Creepy moment: Stephen sees Anna kneeling down and the oldies surrounding her; one of the men is gently stroking her hair;
· Horror: Suddenly, Anna is out of his sight as the old man stop stroking her hair and falls on top of her, ripping out her dress and mounting her, fast and hard;
· Panic: Stephen shouts and screams, grabs at a chair and CRASHES THROUGH THE DOOR WINDOW;
· Suspense: Stephen rushes in, fighting his way through, grabs Anna into his arms and walks back through the door;
· Fear: He screams in pain as an old woman in a wheel chair drives a piece of glass through his thighs, sectioning an artery; blood spurs!
· Panic: He gently drops Anna, shouting for her to ‘Run!’
· Dread: Anna starts running, still in shock, glancing back as Stephen is being pulled back inside the room.
· Hysteria: She looks away and runs for her life.
31- EXT. OLD AGE HOME – CONTINOUS
Anna comes running in the pouring rain; a car is parked on the ground, she tries the door, it’s unlocked and the keys are inside; she speeds out towards the centre of town to warn the others.
32- INT. NAOMI’S BEDROOM – NIGHT
Naomi is lying on her bed in her underwear; she is reading a text ‘meet me by the football field in 30mn, you won’t regret it. PS: I love U!’; She quickly gets dressed.
33- EXT. STREET – LATER
Naomi is cycling down the road and reaches an empty field; James’ car is already parked there.
34- EXT/ INT. JAMES’ CAR – CONTINUOUS
The horror situation: Naomi and James are on a romantic meeting on the football field at night; each one think the idea came from the other but none of them sent the message, so who did?!
· Surprise: Naomi knocks at the driver’s window, startling James.
· Release: It’s Naomi, James is happy to see her; they make out for a while; he tells she had a great idea to meet here where they can be alone, without roommates in the way.
· Surprise: Naomi tells him it was his idea, he texted her.
· Anguish: They both realise that it was neither of them and that they are alone, at night, with no one in sight.
· Fear: They start freaking out and James tries to start the car but it won’t start.
· Dread: James tells Naomi to lock the doors while he goes check out under the hood;
· Suspense: James gets out, looks under the hood; everything looks normal, he shows Naomi the thumb up.
· Release: James signals Naomi that everything looks normal; she is relieved as James is now coming back towards her;
· Dread: James decides to look all around the car;
· Shock: He finds out that the petrol tank has been pierced and the car has been leaking petrol for a while, explaining why it won’t start.
· Surprise: Somebody hits James over the head, knocking him out.
· Panic: Naomi can’s see James in the rear mirror; she cranks the window open and calls out for him; there’s no answer.
· Dread: She is scared to leave the car but worried to death about James; she decides to unlock the doors and slowly starts getting out;
· Monster revealed: Naomi is being dragged by the hair towards the rear of the car;
· Shock: James is lying unconscious and bleeding from a big gash on his head;
· Monster revealed: MR JONES, the butcher– a jovial man in his 60’s – is holding butcher’s knife to his throat; She is about to scream when MARY – from the coffee shop – shuts her up with duct tape and ties her hands behind her back, while ordering her to get on her knees.
· Anguish: James is urging her with his eyes not to panic; he mouths ‘I love you’;
· Horror: She can only watch in horror as Mr Jones starts slicing his throat, slowly, leaving him alive while cutting his chest open, pulling his beating heart out and showing Naomi with a ‘his heart is yours forever’.
· Hysteria: Naomi cannot scream but tries to close her eyes;
· Fear: Mary threatens to blind her with an ice peak if she closes her eyes.
· Hysteria: Naomi faints.
35- EXT. FOOTBALL FIELD – LATER
The horror situation:
· Apprehension/ surprise: Naomi wakes up; she is alone on the ground of the football field, James’ body is gone but a pool of blood confirms that it wasn’t a nightmare. She is no longer gaged but her hands are still tied behind her back.
· Suspense: She struggles to get on her feet, glancing nervously all around as she does. James’ car is still where the left it; she squints and looks in its direction;
· Anguish: The car bright lights blind her;
· Fear: She sees Mary’s face poke out the passenger’s seat window as Mr Jones revs up the engine.
· Hysteria: Naomi starts running, crying and laughing hysterically, the headlights chasing her, teasing, accelerating and slowing down before making contact.
· Release: Naomi sees the road coming ahead; she finds some energy out of desperation and reaches the road;
· Suspense: The car stops right before the road, switching the headlights off;
· Release: Naomi, standing in the middle of the empty road, is breathing hard but is now less hysterical, she starts looking around for help;
· Horror: Just as a HUGE TRUCK coming out of nowhere HITS HER HEAD ON, sending her body fly like a puppet in the bushes by the road; the truck doesn’t stop.
The car headlights come back on and the car turns, driving back towards the football field.
36- EXT. DOWNTOWN – NIGHT
The horror situation: A form of hysteria has taken over the town as young people get dragged out of their homes and massacred right into the streets by old people with evil smile and unusual strength and ferocity;
· Shock: Anna drives through Main Street, watching as young people are chased down the road;
· Horror: She watches helpless as people get wounded and mutilated alive with ferocity while others are left alone;
· Dread: She shouts for them to run for safety, run to the church!
· Release: She sees people heading for the church; the monsters don’t seem to follow.
Anna’s car stops onto the curb, in front of Matthias’ hotel.
37- EXT/ INT. MATTHIAS’ HOTEL
Anna runs inside and bangs on his door until he unlocks it; she tells him what is going on in town and that old people have gone crazy and are killing young people for mysterious religious reasons but it’s all link to the biblical numbers and that anyone in the age of 21 is not safe and that some of the elderlies have been appointed as vengeful leaders.
Anna urges Matthias to come with her to the church; Matthias agrees and calls Andrew to warn him and ask him to meet them at the church.
38- EXT/ INT. CHURCH – LATER
Anna and Matthias arrive at the church; jump off the car and run into the church; inside, terrified young people are hiding there.
· Suspense: Anna and Matthias go to the back of the church, a small office with shelves full of old biblical books; Anna grabs one and starts paging though;
· Apprehension: As Anna progresses through the book, she gets increasingly anxious. She tells Matthias it contains the key to the town’s killings.
· Shock: Anna explains that a group of fanatics religious elderlies believe that biblical numbers are the key to youth and longer life and that the number 21 representing the extreme sinfulness of sin and therefore must be killed and their organs consumed to regenerate their aging weakening bodies;
· Dread: Matthias points out that, if religion is behind all the killings then maybe the church is not a safe place but quite the opposite!
· Panic: Anna drops the book and runs to the nearest window;
39- EXT. CHURCH – CONTINUOUS
· Apprehension: Elderlies are converging towards the church.
· Dread: From the woods behind the church where he is hiding, ANDREW sees the mob moving towards the church, soon his friends will be trapped;
· Suspense: Andrew comes out of the woods, shouting and screaming; the monsters turn around and come towards him;
· Release: As Andrew runs back into the woods he glances back and sees Anna and Matthias making a run for the car;
· Shock: Andrew picks up speed and, suddenly, falls with a painful scream – his right foot has been caught by a BEAR TRAP!
· Monster revealed: Andrew is on the ground; he sees a thick wooden stick, grabs it and as he looks up, a GRINNING OLD MAN looms above him.
40- INT./ EXT CAR – CONTINUOUS
· Dread: Anna is driving, Matthias trying unsuccessfully to reach out Andrew on his mobile; they exchange a worried look.
· Surprise: Something just jumps out of a curve of the road, Matthias shouts to Anna to ‘Watch out!’ as she swerves at the last moment to avoid hitting Andrew
· Release: Andrew is alive!
· Dread: Matthias gets out of the car to help his friend to get in the back; he notices his right foot, injured by the bear trap, then only sees the soaked in blood cloth that Andrew is pressing on the side of his neck; they exchange a look, Andrew nods and explain that ‘they’ tried to make him their meal!
· Release: Anna hits the gaz and they speed away on the road leading them out of town.
· Surprise: She breaks so suddenly that Matthias nearly hits the windscreen.
41- EXT. TOWN LIMITS – CONTINUOUS
The horror situation: An armed mob is blocking the only road that can take them out of town, to safety.
· Monster revealed: A mob armed with sticks, walking canes, knives are blocking the road, gathering next to the sign “GRAHAMSTOWN WILL MISS YOU!”
· Panic: Matthias shouts at Anna to put her foot on the gaz and ‘squash the mother fuckers!’
· Anna strong refuses to kill human beings, even if most of them are evil; while she and Matthias argue, Andrew quietly leaves the car and, still holding the stick that saved his life in the woods, limps towards the mob;
· Dread: Anna and Matthias finally notice Andrew, he is half way between the car and the mob; Matthias shouts at him and tries to get out of the car to go get him but Anna holds him back.
· Fear: The mob is already forming a circle around Andrew, leaving a gap on the road;
Anna sees a gap and hits the gaz and with Matthias shouting to ‘wait for him!’ they speed pass the mob as they overtake Andrew, fighting like an ox but obviously losing his final battle, and pass the sign indicating the town limits.
42- EXT/ INT. CAR – LATER
They drive in silence a while; when they pass a bus stop Anna stops the car and tells Matthias that the bus will take him to the train station where he can catch a train back home;
Matthias wants her to come with him but she replies that his purpose is to write the real story about the town and that her calling, as the graced one, is to go back to town and make sure the good that is left amongst the elderly prevails against evil.
They exchange their first kiss – Anna’s very first kiss – and Matthias exits and helplessly watches Anna drive pass the sign ‘GRAHAMSTOWN WELCOMES YOU!”
43- INT. CAR – CONTINUOUS
Anna sees Matthias disappearing in the rear mirror; a single tear slides down her cheek as her hand moves towards her stomach.
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ASSIGNMENT 14 – NADIA’S SCARY-AS-HELL SCENE
(Title: “GRAHAMSTOWN”)
What I learned from this assignment: I learned that there is an internal rhythm to a horror story, made of scares & releases and a wide array of horror emotions to keep the audience on the edge of their seats.
ACT 1— SET UP THE HORROR:
EXT – MAIN ROAD – MEANWHILE
Joanna hears some noise behind her and sees movement from behind a trash can; a homeless guy struggles to stand up, sees her and waves an empty wine bottle towards her.
She picks up the pace and he starts to follow.
She turns around and starts to panic; she trips, her bag falls, she quickly picks it up and hurries on while her eyes dart around at the otherwise empty street.
The homeless guy hurries after her; she is now running; he picks up something on the ground and calls out after her ‘hey, don’t go!’
Joanna – looks terrorized – runs around the corner and bumps with full force onto sweet old MARY, the coffee shop owner. She explains to Mary that she is being pursued and Mary quickly hushes her to the safety of the dark coffee shop.
Joanna is so shaken that she doesn’t notice Mary putting the sign CLOSED on the door. When Mary turns on the lights, Joanna notices that they are not alone in the coffee shop which she was closed: a group of old people are standing there, motionless, staring at her and smiling.
Joanna looks at them, then at Mary who came standing right behind her, and closes her eyes as tears roll down her face and the group closes on her.
EXT – COFFEE SHOP, SAME TIME
The homeless guy arrives at the coffee shop, breathless and dragging his dead leg; he is holding Joanna’s thick notebook. He peers inside, his hand on the door handle and pauses. Pure horror spreads on his face; he slowly and quietly retreats and, when far enough, runs away, glancing back towards the coffee shop as he does so, till he reaches a dark narrow alley and stops long enough to throw up behind rubbish bins, still holding Joanna’s notebook.
THE HORROR MAP:
The horror situation: Isolated/ Pursued: Joanna is walking in the street alone when night falls, she sees someone get up from behind a trash bin that starts following her; she thinks it’s one of the monsters!
Sequence the horror emotions:
· Dread, fear, panic, surprise and shock.
The physical action that causes each emotion:
· Dread: As Joanna hears some noise behind her down the road and sees a dark shape rise from behind the trash bin.
· Fear: As she sees that it’s a homeless OLD man and that there’s no one else but her in the street.
· Panic: As she homeless guy starts following her; she picks up the pace and he hurries after her.
· Surprise: When she bumps into MARY, the elderly friendly coffee shop owner.
· Shock: When Joanna realizes that she is not alone in the coffee shop and that she has fallen into a trap – the monster wasn’t the homeless guy after all, the danger comes from inside the coffee shop.
Scares and releases:
· Dread: As Joanna hears some noise behind her down the road and sees a dark shape rise from behind the trash bin.
· Release: It’s just a homeless guy.
· Surprise/ Fear: The homeless guy is an OLD man AND that there’s no one else but her in the street.
· Panic: As she homeless guy starts following her; she picks up the pace and he hurries after her.
· Surprise/ Release: She runs into MARY, the elderly friendly coffee shop owner; she is relieved as she is no longer alone and she sees a friendly face, a familiar trusted person.
· Surprise: Joanna realizes they are not alone in the coffee shop.
· Release: The people in the coffee shop are all familiar faces.
· Dread/ Shock: Joanna realizes the people inside the place are all old and grinning at her; when she turns around towards Mary, she is busy locking the door behind her: she is trapped!
SCENE WRITEN AS 1st DRAFT TO INCLUDE SCARY-AS-HELL SCENES:
EXT – MAIN ROAD – NIGHTFALL
Joanna’s heels click and resonates in the empty street; it’s so silent she can hear her rapid breathing;
Suddenly, SOUND OF METAL CRASHING behind her, further down the street; she jumps at the noise and turns around: it’s only the lead of a large trash bin that fell and is rolling down;
She sighs of relief then she sees A DARK SHAPE RISE FROM BEHIND THE TRASH BIN; she squints in dimly light street; the lamp post light near the bin flickers on and off; she shudders involuntarily then realizes it’s only some homeless guy, probably drunk, who struggles to stand up; he spots her and waves an empty wine bottle towards her, struggling to keep on his feet.
Joanna smiles and starts to wave back at the lamp post light flickers back on and illuminate the GRINNING OLD MAN.
Joanna FREEZES then turns around, picking up the pace; the man’s slow heavy steps echoing hers;
She glances around; HE IS COMING AFTER HER;
Joanna starts to panic, SHE TRIPS TWISTING HER ANCKLE, her bag falling in the process; she quickly grabs the few items that fell, and hurries on, wincing in pain, while her eyes dart around at the otherwise empty street.
The homeless guy hurries after her; as she disappears around the corner, HE PICKS UP HER THICK NOTEBOOK FROM THE GROUND and calls out after her a ‘hey, don’t go!’
Joanna, now moving on in frantic panic and looking behind her, BUMPS FULL FORCE INTO THE ARMS OF SWEET OLD MARY, the coffee shop owner; she screams then laugh in relief when she recognizes the friendly familiar face.
As Joanna explains the situation to Mary, the old woman unlocks the coffee shop and hushes her inside; Mary sighs of relief and relaxes in the safety of the dark coffee shop.
As Mary turns on the lights, Joanna notices that they are not alone in the coffee shop: a group of familiar old town folks are standing there, motionless, grinning at her.
As Joanna turns around with an inquisitive look towards Mary, the grinning old woman is busy putting the sign CLOSED on the door.
Joanna looks back at the small group now narrowing on her and she catches the gleam of butcher knives in their hands; as she turns around towards the door, her only escape route, Mary is standing right behind her, grinning, her eyes shining strangely, she is holding a large BBQ fork;
As Joanna closes her eyes, she takes a glimpse of the old homeless face pressed on the other side of the shop window;
She mouths ‘PLEASE HELP ME’ just before the knives pierce her, again and again, and her screams get muffled.
EXT – COFFEE SHOP – SAME TIME
The homeless guy arrives at the coffee shop, breathless and dragging his dead leg; he is holding Joanna’s thick notebook.
He PEERS INSIDE, his hand on the door handle, about to open and pauses; A LOOK OF UTTER HORROR spreads over his face; he slowly and quietly retreats and, when passes the street corner, he runs as if the devil was chasing him, glancing back towards the coffee shop, till he reaches a dark narrow alley and STOPS TO THROW UP, still holding Joanna’s notebook in his shaky hand.
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ASSIGNMENT 13 – NADIA’S SCARES, RELEASES, AND CREEPY MOMENTS
(Title: “GRAHAMSTOWN”)
What I learned from this assignment: I learned that it’s important to take the viewers on a roller coaster ride of (horror) emotions to make sure that they never disconnect from the story and the experience.
ACT 2—THE POINT OF NO RETURN:
INT – MIA’S LAVISH APPARTMENT – NIGHT FALL
The apartment is in semi darkness, apart from the TV screen, now on mute, and a large computer screen that Mia is staring at, going through the recent press articles of disappearance and murders in the town.
The birthday cake is standing on the table behind her, the single candle consuming and dripping into the untouched cake.
There’s a KNOCK AT THE DOOR.
Mia jumps and asks ‘who is it?’
‘Brian miss, flowers for you’
She jumps off her seat with a ‘must be from my dad’ and rushes to the door, hand on the knob, about to unlock. Then she freezes, and slowly looks through the pipe hole. She sees Brian’s uniform and cap, his face hidden behind a huge stunning bouquet of red roses. As she unlocks the door and opens, something nags at the back of her mind, something to do with flowers then… as she open wide she recalls that her father used to tease her for only liking white roses and that’s when she sees simultaneously the BLADE STICKING OUT THE WALKING STICK and the face, not Brian’s, but a SMILING OLD MAN and the lift doors open up on a pack of walking and crawling oldies with eerie smiles and drooling.
Mia, hysterical, screams resonates through the apartment as she runs to the bay window, onto the terrace, looks back as the creatures progress through the apartment narrowing on her. She takes one last look, softly talking to herself ‘sorry daddy’ and JUMPS, crashing down 8 floors below and breaking her neck.
OUTLINE:
Scares: Mia freaks out when there is a knock at the door; straight away she thinks danger is at her doorstep and that the monster is coming for her, has been watching her, and somehow overhead Brian – the security guard – say that it’s her 21<sup>st</sup> birthday.
Releases: Mia is relieved when she hears Brian says that he is delivering flowers; she thinks they are from her father and is both relieved and happy.
Creepy Moments: Mia first only sees the flowers and opens the door; then she realises it’s not Brian but some old folk but it’s already too late as some more old folks were hiding and are now invading the apartment; simultaneously, she realizes what was wrong with the flowers: she only liked white roses and her father always used to tease her about it!
Mia freaks out and runs through the apartment, away from the monsters and onto the terraces; they follow her, sniffing around like animals, chanting with an evil grin on their face, at this point she is in total hysteria and choses to jump from the terrace – plummeting to her death – over facing the monsters.
SCENE WRITEN AS 1<sup>ST</sup> DRAFT TO INCLUDE SCARES, RELEASES & CREEPY MOMENTS:
INT – MIA’S LAVISH APPARTMENT – NIGHT FALL
The apartment is in semi darkness, apart from the TV screen, now on mute, and a large computer screen that Mia is staring at, going through the recent press articles of disappearance and murders in the town.
The birthday cake is standing on the table behind her, the single candle consuming and dripping into the untouched cake.
There’s a KNOCK AT THE DOOR.
Mia jumps out of her skin and, in a trembling little voice, asks ‘who is it?’
‘Brian miss, flower delivery for you’
She sighs of relief and springs off her seat with a ‘must be from my dad, am coming!’
Mia rushes to the door, put her hand on the knob and is about to unlock and lets her hand rest on it, a deep frown crossing her forehead.
She slowly and quietly puts her face to the door to look through the pipe hole; she can only see Brian’s uniform and cap, his face being hidden by a huge stunning bouquet of red roses. She smiles at the sights of the flowers, unlocks the door and, as she opens it wide, something nags at the back of her mind, something to do with flowers, and that’s when she sees them, as if crawling out of the walls, hiding on both sides of the door, the oldies and their grins.
Brian drops the bouquet away from his face – only it’s not Brian, it’s the old bus driver, she can’t remember his name and that’s when she realizes what’s wrong with the flowers: RED roses! She only likes WHITE roses, her father always used to tease her about it and how is always orders white roses on her birthday weeks ahead to make sure she’d never get any other color but white!
And now she sees the BLADE STICKING OUT THE WALKING STICK that the bus driver is holding, something red is dripping from it;
She recoils as she whines ‘what did you do to Brian?!’; the SMILING OLD MAN, with an eerie smile and drooling, lifts the stick and with a finger wipes some of the red stuff – Brian’s blood – licks his finger and smiles ‘he was a good boy’;
That’s when Mia, hysterical, takes off and runs, her shrilling scream resonating throughout the dark apartment, as she runs blindly to the terrace, knocking objects as the does, in hope of slowing the monster down.
Mia is now ON THE TERRACE, with nowhere to run; she takes one last look around her, then at the monsters closing in; they stopped at the threshold, their chanting getting stronger, urgency in their voices;
Mia, now dead calm, gets on the narrow ledge, glances down and with a sad smile, whispers to herself ‘sorry daddy’ and JUMPS!
Mia’s body comes crashing down 10 floors below, SPLASHING ON THE CONCRETE.
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ASSIGNMENT 12 – NADIA’S LEVEL 3 HORROR EMOTION SCENE
(Title: “GRAHAMSTOWN”)
What I learned from this assignment: I learned that to get the sequence of horror emotions right, I may have to move around some scenes from one Act to the other in order to get the crescendo in the horror experience going.
ACT 3—FULL OUT HORROR:
EXT – JAMES’ CAR – PITCH DARK
James lifts the hood, everything looks normal; as he walks around the car, he notices the petrol tank has been pierced and has been leaking petrol. He is then hit over the head with a stick violently and falls to the ground.
Naomi calls out his name and there’s no answer; she is terrified but slowly unlocks the door to go find James. The door is then yanked open and she screams as she is being dragged outside towards the rear of the car.
James is lying on the ground, unconscious and bleeding from a big gash on the head while MR JONES, the owner of the butcher shop – a jovial man in his sixties – holds a knife to his throat while smiling at her. She is about to scream when MARY, the nice coffee shop owner, puts duct tape on her mouth and tie her hands behind her back while ordering her to get on her knees.
Naomi can only watch in horror as James wakes up and seizes the situation in horror, trying not to panic for her sake, and gets Mr Jones starts slicing his throat, slowly, making him gurgle on his own blood, before slowly and methodically cutting his chest open, pulling his beating heart out and handing it over to Naomi , delivering sweetly ‘his heart is yours forever’.
Naomi tries to close her eyes but Mary brings an ice peak to her eyes, urging her to open them and not to even blink or she’ll be blind; Naomi as no other choice than watch James agonise and die in front of her.
After James is dead, they release Noami in the field and order her to run;
They get into James’ car and start chasing her, blinding her with the car lights.
EXT – FOOTBALL FIELD – NIGHT
Naomi runs, frantic and totally hysterical – it’s obvious that she has gone mad!
When she reached the end of the field she sees the road and hope gives her a new wind; she runs in the empty road as she glances behind her, the car has stopped, she starts laughing hysterically as she reached the middle of the road, screaming silently under the duct tape;
Out of nowhere, a DELIVERY TRUCK speeds down the street and HITS HER HEAD ON, sending her body fly like a puppet in the bushes by the road;
The driver doesn’t stop; the lights of James car switch off.
THE HORROR EMOTIONS IN THE SCENE:
Anguish: Naomi gets out of the car and sees that James has been attached and is lying on the ground, injured and passed out. Next to him, a man she knows well and never feared is now standing next to James and holding a big butcher knife.
Panic: She wants to scream but is quickly shut with duct tape by Mary, another familiar friendly face, and she is forced to get on her knees.
Horror: Naomi is forced to watch in horror as her boyfriend gets tortured and killed in front of her eyes; his beating heart being ripped out of his chest.
Hysteria: After watching James being tortured and die, she is being released and chased and, running away blindly, straight onto the road where she gets hit by a truck and dies.
SCENE WRITEN AS 1st DRAFT TO INCLUDE THE 3 EMOTIONS:
EXT – JAMES’ CAR – PITCH DARK
James lifts the hood, everything seems normal; as he walks around the car, he notices a puddle on the ground; he crouches to check it out: a knife has been stuck through the petrol tank, petrol has been leaking generously. Before James gets a chance to get up, a hard blow hits him over the head and he collapses to the ground.
Naomi is checking out the rear mirror, looking for James; it’s dark out there, she can’t see anything but she could swears she heard something. She calls out his name but there’s no answer; she calls again, louder this time, shouting ‘it’s not funny James, you’re scaring me… you know I don’t like it!’
SILENCE follows; she swears and reluctantly cracks the window open, calling his name again, this time more hesitantly. Terrified to get out but worried about James, she takes a deep breath and unlocks the door; very slowly opening the door, one leg comes out, lightly touches the ground and she stops and listens.
Nothing but a light breeze; the second leg comes out and she starts getting up and out when someone takes her by the arm to help her out; she smiles and says ‘James, where have you…’ but her words die and a look of total surprise spreads on her face when she sees sweet MARY from the coffee shop standing in front of her, smiling sweetly.
Naomi smiles back at her, out of reflex, then notices that she is holding something behind her back; before she can get to ask what it is Mary is telling her that James is waiting for her and leads to the back of the car, the grip on her arm getting stronger.
It’s very dark and Naomi has to squint to distinguish a dark shape on the ground: it’s James! unconscious and bleeding from a big gash on his forehead while MR JONES, the owner of the butcher shop – a jovial man in his sixties – holds a knife to his throat with a big smile.
Naomi is about to scream when Mary’s hidden hand swiftly comes out holding duct tape and in a flash roughly takes care of her mouth while a third person she can’t see tie her hands behind her back and a male’s voice whispers for her to get on her knees; shaking, she watches in horror as James wakes up and seizes the situation, dread and pure fear spread in his face as he quickly tries to put on a brave face and fighting away the panic, for her sake;
He smiles and whispers ‘I love you’ to Naomi as Mr Jones starts slicing his throat, slowly and methodically, while watching Naomi’s eyes go wide in horror while trying to scream though the tape; then Mary leans over and starts chanting ‘his heart, his heart…’ and that’s when James realises what they have in plan for her and urges Naomi to ‘close your eyes!’ but Mary brings an ice pick close to Naomi’s eyes saying ‘you close your eyes now and you’ll never see again!’;
Naomi as no other resort than watch as Mr Jones CUTS JAMES’ CHEST OPEN and REMOVES HIS BEATING HEART.
Naomi faints; when she wakes up, James dead body is gone, a pool of blood confirming that it wasn’t a nightmare and she is alone.
Still gaged and with her hands tied, she looks around and struggling to get up on her feet, she is blinded by James’ car headlights; then the driver’s window opens and Mr. Jones shouts ‘run for your life little Naomi, we’re coming for you!’
Terror sizes her as the car engine revs up.
EXT – FOOTBALL FIELD – NIGHT
Naomi starts running blandly, straight ahead of her, with the car behind, lights flashing, teasing her, driving her to total hysteria – it’s obvious that she has gone mad!
Naomi manages to reach the end of the field, she can see the road ahead and hope surges, giving her a new wind of energy;
Naomi runs in the empty road; she glances back: the car has stopped at the edge of the field; she starts laughing hysterically, tears running down the duct tape, a glimpse of hope in her eyes;
Out of nowhere, a DELIVERY TRUCK speeds down the street and HITS HER HEAD ON, sending her body fly like a puppet in the bushes, back onto the filed;
The driver doesn’t stop; the lights of James car switch off.
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ASSIGNMENT 11 – NADIA’S LEVEL 2 HORROR EMOTION SCENE
(Title: “GRAHAMSTOWN”)
What I learned from this assignment: I learned which horror emotions fit best in each act so that to intensify the horror experience.
PS: In this case, I couldn’t find a scene fitting these 3 emotions but I found it in MIDPOINT…
MIDPOINT—THE MONSTER IS WORSE THAN WHAT WE THOUGHT:
EXT – OLD AGE HOME – DAWN
A storm is breaking over the grounds.
INT – OLD AGE HOME
The atmosphere has changed and there is a perceptible effervescence among the residents; the nursing staff is edgy as incidents multiply to patients showing bad tempter and acts of violence as well as verbal abuse. The residents also start showing signs of moving in groups and display cunning abilities.
Anna carries on displaying kindness and patience while Stephen is wary and only keeps volunteering to be close to Anna, especially as she is showing more and more interest towards Matthias.
Something is going on in one of the reception room and the residents are blocking the entry to the nursing staff, saying they have a surprise for Anna. It’s Anna’s 21<sup>st</sup> birthday and she chose not to tell anyone but someone at the old age home check out throw the staff records and found out.
A surprise party is organised by some of the residents in her honour; when she finds out about it she is touched and walks into the reception room with tears of gratitude in her eyes. As she progresses through the room, she notices a huge birthday cake in the centre with 21 red candles; she searches the room and realizes that there is no staff member present at the exception of the female Director of the establishing and the residents; she searches for Stephen and sees his face behind the glass door, he looks scared. She notices some residents standing in front of the door, a chair leaning under the handle to prevent it from opening; she realizes something is wrong as everyone around her starts chanting ‘Happy Birthday!’
She looks all around and sees evil smiles getting closer.
Anna kneels down, closes her eyes and STARTS PRAYING; residents loom over her, unsettled on what to do, then one stretches his hand towards her long golden fair, stroking gently as if in awe;
A chair COMES CRASHING THE GLASS DOOR and Stephen storms inside, gets to Anna and carries her in his arms through the crows of flaying arms and chants.
THE HORROR EMOTIONS IN THE SCENE:
Fear: Some of the residents in the old age home are gathering and acting increasingly aggressively and there is an ominous atmosphere about the place, like the presence of evil.
Suspense: There’s something secret happening in the reception room; something organised by the elderly and they are guarding the room and will only let Anna in; it’s a surprise party for her birthday but there’s definitely something not quite right going on.
Dread: Anna enters the room and soon is surrounded by a mob and the door is blocked. She can feel the danger looming everywhere but she doesn’t scream for help; instead, she chose to kneel and pray.
Knowing Anna’s faith, when Stephen sees her, he knows she sees God as her only salvation; he then has no resort but play the role of the hero by crashing the glass door and storming in, at the peril of his life!
SCENE WRITEN AS 1st DRAFT TO INCLUDE THE 3 EMOTIONS:
EXT – OLD AGE HOME – DAWN
A storm is breaking over the grounds, making the place look ominous; cloud are rolling in the anthracite sky, announcing imminent storm and danger.
INT – OLD AGE HOME
The atmosphere has changed – there is an perceptible effervescence, like a bees nest buzz, among the residents; they move faster, more eagerly, moving into small packs, eyes darting everywhere, grins on all faces. The nursing staff, mostly young folks, seem edgy and trying to get out of the way as incidents multiply: patients showing unusual signs of bad tempter, small acts of violence against objects as well as verbal abuse with a profusion of swearing. The residents display cunning abilities mixed with childish behaviour.
Anna reacts by displaying accrued kindness and patience, while Stephen is wary and keeps his eyes on Anna as he noticed most old folks following her around and staring at her in a disturbing way when she is not watching, as well as whispering after her; he is more and more concerned for her safety and decides to hang around.
Something is going on in the main reception room: a group of residents are blocking the entrance to the nursing staff under the pretense that they are organizing a surprise party for Anna. It’s Anna’s 21<sup style=”font-weight: bold;”>st</sup> birthday but the fact that she hasn’t told anyone at work and that the residents know about it is worrisome and shows that they have been overly interested in her, checking staff records, showing their cunning abilities.
When Anna finds out about the surprise party, she has mixed emotion: surprised and touched at first, she will soon become wary as she will connect the dots and link the disappearances and murders of people in their 21<sup>st</sup> year with the fact that she will be celebrating her 21<sup>st</sup> birthday!
As Anna enters the room: she notices the huge birthday cake and the 21 blood red candles on it; when she realizes that she is the only staff member present in the room, at the exception of the female Director, and that the residents are surrounding her while chanting, peering and whispering all around her, she searches for support and sees Stephen’s terrified face on the other side of the glass door hopelessly trying to tell her something, his lips moving, saying the words ‘GET OUT!; She then notices the residents standing in front of the door, a chair blocking its entry; she imminent danger looms over as they start chanting ‘Happy Birthday!’
Evil grins all around, getting closer, arms slowly lifting, towards her face;
Anna kneels down, closes her eyes and STARTS TO PRAY;
The residents loom over her, slightly unsettled at first, then one stretches a hand and begins stroking her long golden fair hair, as if to pacify a child, looking in awe at her beautiful angel face… then, the following scene happens as fast as the lightning that broke through the sky and thunder that echoes in the room: someone reaping her dress open, someone forces her to lie down, another falls on top of her, forcing her legs open as he unzips and grunts like an animal and rolls off her so quickly that it makes the all horrible scene unreal; during the whole time, Anna kept her eyes shut and never stop praying.
A chair COMES CRASHING THE GLASS DOOR and Stephen storms inside, shouting, kicking and fighting his way through; he grabs into his arms a half-naked and shocked sobbing Anna.
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ASSIGNMENT 10 – NADIA’S LEVEL 1 HORROR EMOTION SCENE
(Title: “GRAHAMSTOWN”)
What I learned from this assignment: I learned about the various emotions associated to the horror genre and that they must be present during the whole story.
ACT 1—SET UP THE HORROR:
ON SCREEN – TITLE ROLLS IN: “GRAHAMSTOWN”
EXT – STREET – DAWN
A YOUNG GUY IN HIS TWENTIES is walking fast, checking his watch as he throws nervous glances behind him.
He takes a corner and a BLACK CAT runs out of a bush and in front of him with a wild screech; he swears and stops dead in his track.
On the right, a sign indicated a public park; he checks out his watch again and heads for the park.
EXT – PUBLIC PARK – DAWN
Shadows everywhere make the park appear much darker that the street.
The guy is now sweating profusely although steam coming out of his mouth indicates that it’s cold out there.
He starts jogging.
He reaches a crossroads, hesitates, takes a left and soon reaches a tunnel: total darkness in there!
He mumbles something, takes a deep breath and makes a sprint for it; we hear his footsteps as he disappears inside the dark tunnel then a shuffle of feet followed by…
A BLOOD CURLING SCREAM and the sound of a body being dragged slowly.
THE HORROR EMOTIONS IN THE SCENE:
Apprehension/ anxiety: It’s getting dark and the guy is checking out his watch and looking around nervously as it’s getting dark out there.
Surprise: A black cat jumps out of the bushes, giving him a fright; we can see the guy is edgy.
Shock: The guy decides to cut through the park and has to walk through a dark tunnel; he shakes his feeling of danger and goes for it but never makes it to the other side; whatever or whoever was in there was evil!
SCENE WRITEN AS 1st DRAFT TO INCLUDE THE 3 EMOTIONS:
EXT – STREET – DAWN
A YOUNG GUY IN HIS TWENTIES is walking in a fast pace, he keeps checking his watch as he throws nervous glances behind him. It’s getting dark and shadows are stretching everywhere. He picks up the pace, his breathing harder.
He takes a corner and suddenly a BLACK CAT runs out of a bush, coming out of nowhere, right in front of him with a wild screech, his hair standing up on his back as if it had just seen a ghost; the young guy swears profusely and stops dead in his track; he takes a minute to compose himself, exhales, hesitantly checks out behind the bush, shake his head and lets out a nervous laugh before moving on.
He walks down the road and, on his right, a sign indicates a public park, a short cut to town; he checks out his watch again and heads for the park.
EXT – PUBLIC PARK – DAWN
Shadows spread everywhere, giving an eerie atmosphere to the park; without street lights, the night appears much darker in the park that in the street; he looks back towards the street, hesitates, then moves further inside the park, leaving the last lamp post lights behind.
The guy is now moving in almost total darkness and sweating profusely, although the steam coming out of his mouth indicates that it’s a cold night.
Some noises startles him – sound of leaves being crushed, wind whistling through branches – he starts jogging, slowly at first then faster, his breathing becoming shorter as he picks up speed.
He reaches a crossroads, hesitates, takes a left and soon comes in view of a tunnel: it looks so dark that he can hardly see the end. He stops dead in his track, looking all around him at the dense trees surrounding the path; he can either go forward or go back to the way he came from; he squints to look at the time, then at the sky – clouds are hiding the moon – and says ‘fuck it!’.
He takes a deep breath and sprints towards the tunnel, swallowed by its darkness; we can hear his footsteps hitting the ground and throwing off little stones followed by the sound of feet shuffling and…
A MAN’S BLOOD CURLING SCREAM and sound of something heavy being dragged on the ground slowly.
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ASSIGNMENT 9 – NADIA’S HORROR OUTLINE VERSION 1
(Title: “GRAHAMSTOWN”)
What I learned from this assignment: I learned about building the foundations of the story first instead of rushing in blindly into the writing adventure. I also learned that, as the tags are removed, the outline may need some changes for the flow of the story and is not a fixed thing.
ACT 1—SET UP THE HORROR:
INT. ROOM – NIGHT FALL
A computer screen is shining in the darkness, a girl’s face reflecting in the monitor screen. Press articles appear and disappear rapidly with a click of the mouse: headlines show the number 21 repeatedly and young gruesome murders. A headline lingers on the screen “GRAHAMSTOWN, OLDEST TOWN IN AMERICA – by Matthias Smith”.
A sudden KNOCK ON THE DOOR and the hand that holds the mouse is taken with a sudden tremor.
In the computer screen we see the reflection of a young woman drawn out face with wide terrorized eyes; far back, a single candle burn and drips on a birthday cake.
The KNOCK GETS LOUDER; we hear the girl’s fast tense breathing.
MIA – 21, pale with pitch black hair and lots of black eye shadows that make her look like a ghost – turns around and stares at a birthday cake in pure terror, then a the front door.
SILENCE.
Mia slowly exhales then…
A succession of rapid successive little knock accompanied by a frail voice singing “happy birthday to you…”
MIA SCREAMS!
ON SCREEN – TITLE ROLLS IN: “GRAHAMSTOWN”
EXT – STREET – DAWN
A YOUNG GUY IN HIS TWENTIES is walking fast, checking his watch as he throws nervous glances behind him.
He takes a corner and a BLACK CAT runs out of a bush and in front of him with a wild screech; he swears and stops dead in his track.
On the right, a sign indicated a public park; he checks out his watch again and heads for the park.
EXT – PUBLIC PARK – DAWN
Shadows everywhere make the park appear much darker that the street.
The guy is now sweating profusely although steam coming out of his mouth indicates that it’s cold out there.
He starts jogging.
He reaches a crossroads, hesitates, takes a left and soon reaches a tunnel: total darkness in there!
He mumbles something, takes a deep breath and makes a sprint for it; we hear his footsteps as he disappears inside the dark tunnel then a shuffle of feet followed by…
A BLOOD CURLING SCREAM and the sound of a body being dragged slowly.
EXT – IMPOSING BUILDING ON WELL KEPT GROUNDS – DAY
INT – BUILDING – CONTINUOUS
Establishing shot of a top notch old age home: lots of very healthy looking old folks and tired looking young nurses. The old are all smiling and upbeat while the young look tense and drawn out.
ANNA – early 20’s, long blond hair, blue eyes reflecting innocence and empathy – the face of an angel; her beauty is understated by the absence of make-up and her plain loose clothing. She is in the living area, reading a thick book, surrounded by old folks who look captivated.
A tall and thin bland young man carrying a food tray is looking towards Anna with obvious longing; the nerd gets hit on the hip by some old man with a cane who yells at him to get out of his way. STEPHEN mumbles an apology as Anna looks up and meets his gaze; she smiles at him, he blushes and looks away.
INT – COFFEE SHOP – DAY
A young couple is their early twenties are gazing into each other’s eyes full of lust; NAOMI, a pretty girl who fits perfectly the pomp pomp girl profile whispers sweet nothings into JAMES’ ear, an athletic looking young man with a Colgate smile and pecks that trying to pierce out his tight T-shirt. They’re all over each other and oblivious of the rest of the world or their untouched cool drinks in front of them.
At a nearby table, sitting alone and her thin little mouse face peering over the rim of her hot chocolate is JOANNA, watching. She is so unremarkable that she almost blends in with the furniture. She looks flush as she franticly jolts down words in a thick worn out notebook in front of her, trying not to listen to the couple’s discussion.
The WAITRESS – a smiling woman in her sixties – ambles along to the couple’s table; Joanna stares at her while she asks the couple ‘got any plans for tonight you too lovebirds?’; she can’t hear their answers but the waitress adds ‘you too should take a romantic stroll through the park tonight, I hear the moon will be nearly full, should be as clear as daylight’.
Joanna waits for the waitress to walk away, throws a couple of notes on the table and quickly gets up; on her way out, she brushes pass the couple, drops her notebook and, as James bends over to pick it up she quickly urges him to ‘not to go out alone after dark, they’re dangerous, don’t trust them’; and as a couple of smiling old ladies come into the coffee shop, Joanna swiftly leaves.
Noami asks him what this was all about and when he tells her she laughs and says she is loony while he says that she is harmless, just a lonely broad.
EXT – STREETS, DOWNTOWN – NIGHT
There’s an eerie atmosphere in the deserted streets of the town.
Some doors are slamming shuts and locks bolted; young laughter’s spilling through cracks open windows then quickly shut.
Somewhere, the dog’s barking die in a painful whine.
From behind her bedroom window, JOANNA is peering outside in the street. She sees the old folks coming out, into the streets, filing the bars, spreading towards the park, in the shadows, moving surprisingly fast and quietly. She hears a dog whine and turns towards the sound just in time to see an old man break the dog’s neck; as she lets out a little scream, he looks up towards the lit window and smiles; she retreats in her room and switches the light off.
INT – A NEWSPAPER ROOM – DAY
Establishing shot of a busy newspaper room: lots of noise and people typing furiously on keyboards and shouting over phones; in a far corner, between the toilets and the coffee machine is a tiny desk, strangely tidy and a good looking but gloomy guy, much younger looking than his early thirties, slams down the phone and spins out of his chair to march purposefully towards a closed door with a sign ‘Editor in Chief’.
MATTHIAS doesn’t bother knocking and marches right in; the smart and snazzy looking middle age woman sitting in the editor’s seat doesn’t seem too frazzled to see him and points to the seat in front of her that he chooses to ignore.
As he is about to rant that his talent is wasted sitting behind a desk all day writing about missing cats instead of being out there chasing the real story, she surprises him by agreeing with him and throwing a police report across the desk; it shows a student town with the oldest population in the country: the editor decides to send Matthias write a story on GRAHAMSTOWN.
Matthias is thrilled about the opportunity, packs his old rusty car and gets on the road the following morning at the break of light.
EXT – ON THE ROAD, MATTHIAS CAR – DAY
INT – MATTHIAS’ CAR
His car starts hiccupping; he swears under his breath when he sees smoke coming out of the hood; the engine chucks some more as he pulls on the side of the road.
INT – MATTHIAS’ CAR – CONTINUOUS
He gets out of the car, looks around, no car in sight.
Matthias opens the hood, more smoke escapes; now his swearing is loud and clear. He looks around again, sees a post sign further down the road: “GRAHAMSTOWN WELCOMES YOU”; he laughs at the irony, retrieves a bag from the car and starts walking.
EXT – ROAD – SUN IS GOING DOWN ON THE HORIZON
Matthias walking pace has slowed down, sweat is damping his shirt and his shoulder is leaning on the side carrying the bag; he stops to rest, squints and sees a diner ahead with a squad of few Harley Davidson parked outside and a couple of old cars.
Relieves, he picks up the pace and enters the diner.
INT – DINNER – CONTINUOUS
The brouhaha that came from the diner as Matthias pushes the door is replaced by an eerie silence that only lasts a few seconds as the crowd takes note of the new comer; Matthias is taken aback by the attendance: the place is packed with old people with motorbike helmets by their side and leather lots of leather clothing; the ones who are not obvious bikers are also over the sixties mark and look him up and down.
Matthias walks to the bar and orders a beer; he is surprised when the waitress asks him for his ID; he gives it to her, she looks at it then hands it back to him; as he pockets it, he catches her looking behind him with a quick head shake; he glances the mirror reflecting a table behind him and catches a small group of elderly who look down at their glasses as soon as he quickly turns around.
Matthias downs his glass and asks the waitress for the number of a tow truck; when she says ‘there’s no tow truck company in town but downtown is less than half an hour walk from here’ he is startled but takes it they don’t like strangers.
Matthias sighs and leaves the dinner as ANDREW – a guy in his twenties build like an ox – comes out of the toilets and exits the place under the scrutiny of the patrons.
EXT – DINNER – DAWN
Andrew walks to an old pickup truck, pulls on the road, passes Matthias walking slowly on the side of the road.
Andrew sees Matthias in his rear mirror stops and puts the pickup in reverse, stopping next to Matthias. He rolls down the window and asks him if he needs a lift to town.
Matthias gratefully gets in and tells him about his car break down at the town limits and asks he it can be towed; Andrew confirms there’s no tow truck company in town and offers to have a look at his car tomorrow as he is good at fixing cars; when Matthias asks him if it could be done now as the car is not far, Andrew replies ‘it will be dark soon, best get back into town before dark, it’s safer; we’ll do it in the morning’; Matthias journalist curiosity is awaken.
EXT – DOWNTOWN – CONTINUOUS
Andrew drops Matthias in front of a small hotel on Main Street; as Matthias watches Andrew drives off and, he notices JOANNA walking briskly on the pavement opposite; she walks looking down and staying close to the walls; Matthias is puzzled by her body language but shrugs and gets in the hotel, just as an OLD HOMELESS MAN stands from behind a rubbish bin and starts following Joanna.
INT – HOTEL
Matthias checks in with a nervous looking teenage girl; she checks him in without uttering a single word and hands him the key for his room; as he takes the key, she glances around and quickly utters ‘make sure to look your door at night’ and she vanishes in the small office behind reception. Matthias is even more puzzled now and walks to his room on the 1<sup>st</sup> floor, stopping in front of room 21.
INT – ROOM 21
Establishing room of a plain but confortable enough room with en-suite bathroom. Matthias checks out the view from the only window giving on the street and he sees the same girl as earlier – JOANNA – disappearing around the corner, a homeless guy dragging his leg not far behind.
He drops his bag, turns around, and goes to lock his door.
EXT – MAIN ROAD – MEANWHILE
Joanna hears some noise behind her and sees movement from behind a trash can; a homeless guy struggles to stand up, sees her and waves an empty wine bottle towards her.
She picks up the pace and he starts to follow.
She turns around and starts to panic; she trips, her bag falls, she quickly picks it up and hurries on while her eyes dart around at the otherwise empty street.
The homeless guy hurries after her; she is now running; he picks up something on the ground and calls out after her ‘hey, don’t go!’
Joanna – looks terrorised – runs around the corner and bumps with full force onto sweet old MARY, the coffee shop owner. She explains to Mary that she is being pursued and Mary quickly hushes her to the safety of the dark coffee shop.
Joanna is so shaken that she doesn’t notice Mary putting the sign CLOSED on the door. When Mary turns on the lights, Joanna notices that they are not alone in the coffee shop which she was closed: a group of old people are standing there, motionless, staring at her and smiling.
Joanna looks at them, then at Mary who came standing right behind her, and closes her eyes as tears roll down her face and the group closes on her.
EXT – COFFEE SHOP, SAME TIME
The homeless guy arrives at the coffee shop, breathless and dragging his dead leg; he is holding Joanna’s thick notebook. He peers inside, his hand on the door handle and pauses. Pure horror spreads on his face; he slowly and quietly retreats and, when far enough, runs away, glancing back towards the coffee shop as he does so, till he reaches a dark narrow alley and stops long enough to throw up behind rubbish bins, still holding Joanna’s notebook.
INT – COFFEE SHOP – DAY
Matthias is sitting by himself at a table, reading through the headlines: ‘Joanna Templar, another missing person in the quiet student town of Grahamstown!’
He turns around when he hears someone calls out his name; Andrew just walked in and is standing next to a round table where 5 young people are sitting; he signals Matthias to join them.
Matthias folds his paper, takes his cup of coffee and joins the party; Andrew has already pulled out a chair for him and is making the introduction to his group of new friends, all freshmen and women: NAOMI and JAMES, love birds sitting close to each other, a rebel and gothic looking MIA who nods but doesn’t great him, STEPHEN who awkwardly shakes his hand and ANNA, whose large blue eyes lock on his and smiles the sweetest smile – they share a moment which nobody misses, especially Stephen who gets even gloomier.
Andrew picks up Matthias paper and seeing the headlines with the missing Joanna, comments that they kind of new the girl and that the rumour is that there has been a lot of young people vanishing of late, and a couple of gruesome murders about a year ago, probably done by some out of town psycho passing by as Grahamstown is a quiet little town of well-behaved students and friendly old folks.
They talk a bit more about Joanna, how she was kind of weird and kept telling to watch out for the old evils but nobody would listen to her; but when Matthias tries to probe some more about the gruesome murders – mutilated young bodies – nobody seems to know much and it looks more like a urban legend to the small group. Despite their disbelief of an evil residing in this town, they all admit that they don’t go out much at night but that’s because they’d rather study and that there isn’t much to do in a small town. Matthias is sceptical and, when he notices that Mary has been ear dropping on their conversation, he feels there is a story to be told and determined to do some discrete investigation.
EXT – EXITS COFFEE SHOP AND INTO THE STREET – CONTINUOUS
Matthias leaves the coffee shop, Andrew tags along. Matthias thanks him for having fixed his car the other day and the conversation goes back to Joanna disappearance; when Matthias tells him he’d like to do some investigation and see if there’s a story for his newspaper, Andrew is eager to help him, glad about the adventure; Matthias accepts and is glad to have a strong friend in a town that may not be as safe as it looks.
INT – COLLEGE LIBRARY – LATER THAT DAY
Matthias is sitting behind a computer, doing through the town’s archives. He is visualizing the same murder news articles and gruesome pics that we saw earlier on in the story, at the opening scene.
Matthias pulls out his mobile phone from his pocket, checks that he is alone, and texts to the chief editor ‘I have a story for you… hold on that Pullitzer price!’ followed by a smiley, then pockets his phone.
ACT 2—THE POINT OF NO RETURN:
INT – HOTEL ROOM/ BAR
Sequence of TV news over a few days; at times, Matthias is watching them alone on the TV in his hotel room, as times it’s on the TV in some sports bar where he meets up with the others from the small group he has formed a bond with: Naomi and James, Mia, Anna, Stephen and of course his new best buddy Andrew.
EXT – PARK/ PARKING LOT
We’ll see some young guy being chased by an unseen monster though the park; another will be attacked trying to get in his car, always alone and always at night.
As the news of strange disappearances pile up, the little group becomes more subdued and Matthias has convinced Andrew that something weird is going on in Grahamstown.
EXT – VARIOUS STREETS IN TOWN
We see more young people rushing back from classes straight home before dark and more and more old people out and about after dark; the all-natural balance is shifting with young people, tired looking, home early and double locking their doors, while old people are staying out later and later, full of energy and loud.
EXT – THE DINNER NEAR THE TOWN LIMITS – NIGHT
A stretch limo with out of town plates is parked in the parking lot. A group of Harley motorcycles pulls in, parking right behind the Limo.
The group of old bikers come in, removing their helmets as they do. Inside, a large table with a small group of young guys drinking profusely and being loud. The old folks look in their direction then towards the waitress who just nods then come and settle at various tables all around the group.
The young guys are already too drunk to notice the strange behaviour of the oldies and a couple of middle age people who swiftly leave the bar.
As alcohol keeps flowing, one of the old biker approaches the group with a large pitcher of beer and asks with the friendliest smile ‘you guys have something to celebrate am guessing, who’s the lucky one?’ when one of the young guys in the group points at his friend and slurs ‘here is the birthday boy! 21 today, you’re a real man now!’ the old folk smiles, puts the pitcher down in front of him and turns around the other old bikers who, one after the other, slowly get up and circle towards to small group of friends.
EXT – DINNER – CONTINUOUS
We hear dreadful screams mixed with hysterical laughers coming from inside.
Suddenly, the door bursts open on one of the young guy cover with blood who stumbles outside and falls; an oldie comes out and with a ‘let me give you a hand’ holds on a severed hand to the young guy who looks at his own missing member, screams and passes out in front of the smiling old man.
EXT – POSH BUILDING – DAY
MIA walks in the building, carrying a large box. She takes the lift and exits at the penthouse level; a YOUNG SECURITY GUARD in uniform is guarding the front door of her apartment. He smiles at her, she smiles back but the smile doesn’t reach the eyes; she looks terrible, as if she hadn’t slept in days. He moves over as she puts the key in to unlock the door, he says with a big smile ‘By the way, happy 21st miss!’. Mia drops her key and the box she was holding; confused, the young guard mutters some apologies while she shushes him, steps inside, slamming and locking the door behind her.
INT – MIA’S LAVISH APPARTMENT – CONTINUOUS
She walks through a lavish spacious apartment, into a gleaming chef kitchen and puts the box on the counter, retrieving a birthday cake with a single candle. With shaky hands she brings it to the living room, with one single spoon, settles on the large expensive looking couch in front of the wall plasma TV, switches it on and stares at the screen absently.
INT – MIA’S LAVISH APPARTMENT – NIGHT FALL
The apartment is in semi darkness, apart from the TV screen, now on mute, and a large computer screen that Mia is staring at, going through the recent press articles of disappearance and murders in the town.
The birthday cake is standing on the table behind her, the single candle consuming and dripping into the untouched cake.
There’s a KNOCK AT THE DOOR.
Mia jumps and asks ‘who is it?’
‘Brian miss, flowers for you’
She jumps off her seat with a ‘must be from my dad’ and rushes to the door, hand on the knob, about to unlock. Then she freezes, and slowly looks through the pipe hole. She sees Brian’s uniform and cap, his face hidden behind a huge stunning bouquet of red roses. As she unlocks the door and opens, something nags at the back of her mind, something to do with flowers then… as she open wide she recalls that her father used to tease her for only liking white roses and that’s when she sees simultaneously the BLADE STICKING OUT THE WALKING STICK and the face, not Brian’s, but a SMILING OLD MAN and the lift doors open up on a pack of walking and crawling oldies with eerie smiles and drooling.
Mia, hysterical, screams resonates through the apartment as she runs to the bay window, onto the terrace, looks back as the creatures progress through the apartment narrowing on her. She takes one last look, softly talking to herself ‘sorry daddy’ and JUMPS, crashing down 8 floors below and breaking her neck.
MIDPOINT—THE MONSTER IS WORSE THAN WHAT WE THOUGHT:
EXT – OLD AGE HOME – DAWN
A storm is breaking over the grounds.
INT – OLD AGE HOME
The atmosphere has changed and there is a perceptible effervescence among the residents; the nursing staff is edgy as incidents multiply to patients showing bad tempter and acts of violence as well as verbal abuse. The residents also start showing signs of moving in groups and display cunning abilities.
Anna carries on displaying kindness and patience while Stephen is wary and only keeps volunteering to be close to Anna, especially as she is showing more and more interest towards Matthias.
Something is going on in one of the reception room and the residents are blocking the entry to the nursing staff, saying they have a surprise for Anna. It’s Anna’s 21<sup>st</sup> birthday and she chose not to tell anyone but someone at the old age home check out throw the staff records and found out.
A surprise party is organised by some of the residents in her honour; when she finds out about it she is touched and walks into the reception room with tears of gratitude in her eyes. As she progresses through the room, she notices a huge birthday cake in the center with 21 red candles; she searches the room and realizes that there is no staff member present at the exception of the female Director of the establishing and the residents; she searches for Stephen and sees his face behind the glass door, he looks scared. She notices some residents standing in front of the door, a chair leaning under the handle to prevent it from opening; she realizes something is wrong as everyone around her starts chanting ‘Happy Birthday!’
She looks all around and sees evil smiles getting closer.
Anna kneels down, closes her eyes and STARTS PRAYING; residents loom over her, unsettled on what to do, then one stretches his hand towards her long golden fair, stroking gently as if in awe;
A chair COMES CRASHING THE GLASS DOOR and Stephen storms inside, gets to Anna and carries her in his arms through the crows of flaying arms and chants.
As he reaches the door and broken panel of glass he SCREAMS IN PAIN, an old woman in a wheel chair has driven a large piece of glass through his thighs, sectioning an artery; blood spurs!
He drops Anna who quickly gets to her feet and on the other side of the door; as Stephen shouts for her to ‘run!’, she takes off, glancing back in disbelief and horror as he gets ripped to shred with broken glass by other residents who joined the old lady in a wheel chair.
EXT – OLD AGE HOME – CONTINOUS
Anna comes running under the pouring rain; a car is parked on the ground, she tries the door, it’s unlocked and the keys are inside; in a crises of tyres she speeds out of the grounds and it’s the road, nearly losing control of the vehicle and making a close recovery, heading towards the centre of town to warn the others.
ACT 3—FULL OUT HORROR:
INT – BEDROOM – SAME TIME
Naomi is lying on her bed in her underwear; she smiles as she reads a text ‘meet me by the football field in 30mn, you won’t regret it. PS: I love U!’ She quickly gets dressed and quietly exits the house.
EXT – STREET – CONTINUOUS
Naomi is cycling down to the college dark and empty field; James’ car is already parked there. She knocks hard at the window, making him jump.
INT – JAMES’ CAR – CONTINUOUS
He unlocks the door and she gets in, leaning in to kiss him full on the mouth. They make out for a while and when he pulls out for a breath he asks ‘that what a very nice idea you got here Naomi’; she is surprised and responds ‘but it was your idea James, you sent me a text’. As the reality draws on them that neither sent a text, James quickly locks the car doors while Naomi glances all around in the total darkness that surround them; they realize how totally isolated they are and James can see Naomi is about to panic so he tries to calm her down by saying he’ll drive her home immediately. The car won’t start and James decides to have a look under the hood, instructing Naomi to lock the doors as soon as he is out.
EXT – JAMES’ CAR – PITCH DARK
James lifts the hood, everything looks normal; as he walks around the car, he notices the petrol tank has been pierced and has been leaking petrol. He is then hit over the head with a stick violently and falls to the ground. Naomi calls out his name and there’s no answer; she is terrified but slowly unlocks the door to go find James. The door is then yanked open and she screams as she is being dragged outside towards the rear of the car where James is lying unconscious and bleeding from a big gash on the head while MR JONES, the owner of the butcher shop – a jovial man in his sixties – holds a knife to his throat while smiling at her. She is about to scream when MARY, the nice coffee shop owner, puts duct tape on her mouth and tie her hands behind her back while ordering her to get on her knees. She can only watch in horror as James wakes up and seizes the situation in horror, trying not to panic for her sake, and gets Mr Jones starts slicing his throat, slowly, making him gurgle on his own blood, before cutting his chest open, pulling his beating heart out and handing it over to Naomi with a sweet ‘his heart is yours forever’. Naomi tries to close her eyes but Mary bring an ice peak close to her eye and threatens her to blind her is she dares even blink. After James is dead, they release Noami and order her to run then start chasing her with James’ car, blinding her with the lights.
EXT – FOOTBALL FIELD – NIGHT
Naomi runs and runs, it’s obvious that she has gone mad, and she runs in the middle of the road, standing there and screaming silently under the duct tape, as a DELIVERY TRUCK speeds down the street and HITS HER HEAD ON, sending her body fly like a puppet in the bushes by the road; the driver didn’t stop.
Meanwhile, all over town, isolated young people are being chased by old people with evil smile and unusual strength and ferocity; their harmless appearance making them all the more dangerous as they strike fast and hard and chase in group.
A form of hysteria has taken over the town as some people get massacred right into the streets.
EXT – DOWNTOWN
Anna drives through the main street, watching some of the scenes in horror; she opens her window and shouts at the top of her lungs ‘get to the church! You’ll be safe there! Run for the church!’
Some people head on for the church; Anna’s car stops onto the curb in front of Matthias’ hotel.
INT – MATTHIAS’ HOTEL
Anna runs inside and bangs on his door until he unlocks it, sleepy face.
She is shouting and speaking fast but he doesn’t seem to understand; then he removes his ear plugs and she frantically tells him what is going on in town right now and that it seems that old people have gone crazy and are killing young people are being killed religious reasons and that anyone under the age of 21 is not safe.
Anna urges Matthias to come with her to the church.
Matthias agrees but calls Andrew to warn him and ask him to meet them there.
EXT – CHURCH
A few young people are running into the church; down the road, a car is speeding towards it.
INT – CAR
Anna is driving fast, Matthias on the passenger side; she explained her theory behind the killings; he is shocked.
INT – CHURCH
Anna and Matthias are now in the church, with a few other young people, lost and terrified. Anna explains her theory of old people basing their killings upon biblical number, the number 21 representing the extreme sinfulness of sin and therefore must be killed. Matthias points out that the unusual strength and vitality of the killers – all in their sixties – must also have some religious meaning and the way people are killed – mutilated – must give them strength.
As they bounce ideas back, they have the dreaded feeling that the church may not be a safe place but quite the opposite!
They tell the others who refuse to leave this shelter; Anna looks outside and sees movement all around; Her and Matthias retreat behind the altar.
EXT – OUTSIDE THE CHURCH
The old monsters are converging towards the church.
From his vintage point in the woods, he can see a mob of old folks moving towards the church, soon his friends will be trapped;
Andrew thinks fast and acts even faster, making lots of noise to create a diversion; it works and the monsters turn around and come towards him;
Andrew turns back into the woods, followed by the mob, leaving a way for Anna and Matthias to escape and run back to the car.
Andrew runs deeper into the woods, he can hear branches cracking behind him, getting closer; suddenly, he falls with a painful scream – his right foot has been caught by a BEAR TRAP – he is on the ground, sees a thick wood stick, grabs it and looks up as a GRINNING OLD MAN looms above him.
INT – CAR – SAME TIME
Anna is behind the wheel, Matthias busy on his phone tells her that ‘Andrew is not picking up’; they look at each other, unable to state the obvious, that Andrew sacrificed himself for them.
EXT – ROAD BORDERING THE WOODS – CONTINOUS
Something just jumps out of a curve of the road, Matthias shouts to Anna to ‘Watch out!’ as she swerves at the last seconds to avoid Andrew, bleeding profusely from his right leg and holding the side of his neck with a bloody piece of cloth.
Anna reversed quickly and Matthias helps his friend to get in the back then they take off.
Andrew explains how he fell into a bear trap and managed to escape fighting a creature with a stick, but not before the monster took a chunk out of his neck ‘he was trying to eat me!’ he explains and gently moves the cloth from his neck so that Matthias can see the blood rushing out an artery;
Andrew and Matthias exchange a meaningful look which means they know Andrew hasn’t got much time left; Anna doesn’t notice the exchange, her concentration on the road, she puts her foot on the break so abruptly that Matthias nearly kisses the windscreen.
EXT – FURTHER AHEAD ON THE ROAD – CONTINUOUS
A mob armed with sticks, walking canes, knives are blocking the only escape route out of town; behind them, the sign “GRAHAMSTOWN WILL MISS YOU” is taunting them.
Matthias shouts at Anna to ‘put her foot on the gaz and squash the mother fuckers!’ but she can’t find in her to kill old folks, even if most of them are monsters.
While they are busy arguing, Andrew quietly leaves the car and, still holding the stick that saved his life in the woods, moves slowly towards the mob;
By the time Anna and Matthias notice what he is doing and scream for him to get back in the car, Andrew is already half way to the group who is already moving in to circle him;
Anna sees a gap in the road and hitting the gaz pedal with Matthias screaming for her to ‘wait for him!’; rushing pass the mob as they overtake Andrew, fighting like an ox but obviously losing his final battle.
Matthias looks in the rear mirror as his friend made the ultimate sacrifice so that he could escape and write his story; the Pullitzer price taking on a bitter taste.
EXT – POST SIGN INDICATING THEY’VE LEFT ‘GRAHAMSTOWN’
INT – CAR
Anna drives for a little while – they’re both silent – then she stops at a bus stop and asks Matthias to ‘get out, you’re safe now’. As he doesn’t understand, she tells him the bus will take him to the train station and he can catch a train back home; that he has a story to write.
She tells him she is the graced one, that they will never harm her, and therefore her duty is to go back to town and make sure the good that is left amongst the elderly prevail against evil; showing her unshakable faith to Matthias who understand that she will not change her mind and believe it’s her fate.
They exchange their first kiss – Anna’s very first kiss – and Matthias slowly gets out the car.
EXT – POST SIGN INDICATING ‘GRAHAMSTOWN WELCOMES YOU!”’
Matthias watches as Anna drives back into town.
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ASSIGNMENT 8 – NADIA’S CHARACTER’S JOURNEY TRACK
(Title: “GRAHAMSTOWN”)
What I learned from this assignment: I learned that by creating a character profile the audience will be able to relate more to a character or the other and will be more invested when the horror strikes the character they are feeling most connected to… or might enjoy seeing a character they dislike die in the movie!
MATTHIAS CHARACTER PROFILE:
1. Role: leader/ outsider who comes to seek the truth
2. Traits: inquisitive. Intelligent. Mature.
3. Fears: to fail in the big city and newspaper he works for and to end up in a small town.
4. Wants/needs: to write a great story; to get the Pulitzer price at a young age.
5. Likability/rooting factors: his willingness to dig out the truth no matter what; his strong sense of ethic.
6. How he reacts under stress: level headed; keeps calm and reassures others.
7. Relationship with other characters: admired; seen as a natural leader; trusted.
MATTHIAS CHARACTER JOURNEY:
1- Character intro: arrives in Grahamstown with a purpose, a mission: to write a great story.
2- Denial: he is intellectually curious and doesn’t reject any possibility.
3- his reaction at first horror: excited by the opportunity to write a story that could help him reach his career goal (winning the Pullitzer price!).
4- Relation to group after first horror: stays calm, takes charge.
5- How he fights back: uses his brain. Tries to be cleverer than the monster.
6- End point: survives by teaming up and using Anna’s love for him and Andrew’s strength; he makes it out of town and free to go and write his great story!
7- What insight does his survival bring to the others/audience? To what extent would you go to reach out your goal?!
ANNA CHARACTER PROFILE:
1. Role: the blessed one; pure and untouched, she’ll be the vector of everything good.
2. Traits: naïve, believes in the good in everyone; has a deep faith and radiates goodness. Strong principles and disciplined.
3. Fears: not fulfilling her destiny.
4. Wants/needs: to be a good person, always and under all circumstances.
5. Likability/rooting factors: kindness, empathy.
6. How she reacts under stress: finds comfort in praying.
7. Relationship with other characters: want to convert them to her faith and sense of righteousness.
ANNA CHARACTER JOURNEY:
1. Character intro: she is doing voluntary work at an old age home and enjoying every minute of it.
2. Denial: she doesn’t want to believe that goodness cannot attract goodness and that evil can win; her faith leads her to total denial.
3. her reaction at first horror: she kneels down and prays.
4. Relation to group after first horror: her extreme faith and denial makes her irritating to the rest of the group; male lust for her beauty and females are jealous of her.
5. How she fights back: by letting others sacrifice themselves to pursue her sense of duty.
6. End point: she’ll survive but will accomplish the ultimate sacrifice by going back to Grahamstown to save future generations.
7. What insight does her survival bring to the others/audience? That her role in the story is not over (A SEQUEL?!)
MIA CHARACTER PROFILE:
1- Role: The rebel; wild and spoiled.
2- Traits: she acts like a spoiled brat to hide her insecurity; selfish and self-absorbed.
3- Fears: not to be liked for whom she is so she flaunts her father’s money in people’s face.
4- Wants/needs: she wants to be the centre of attention and wants people to envy her; she is jealous of every girl who has a man who loves her (Anna – Matthias will fall for her and Stephen who secretly worships her; Naomi – James who is her devoted puppy dog).
5- Likability/rooting factors: we feel sorry for her because all she wants is daddy’s attention, not money.
6- How she react under stress: she lashes out but flies in front of real danger.
7- Relationship with other characters: she thinks she can buy her popularity and everything is a fight; people either avoid her or feel sorry for her.
MIA CHARACTER JOURNEY:
1- Character intro: she is about to celebrate her birthday, alone and scared.
2- Denial: she thinks that by hiding she’ll be safe.
3- her reaction at first horror: she is terrified and hides.
4- Relation to group after first horror: she panics and lashes out.
5- How she fights back: she doesn’t; she tries to escape.
6- End point: jumps through the window trying to escape and dies.
7- What insight does her death bring to the others/audience? You can’t escape the monster!
NAOMI CHARACTER PROFILE:
1- Role: Popular girl; not too bright but street wise.
2- Traits: easy going and used to getting what she wants.
3- Fears: not to be the prettiest girl around.
4- Wants/needs: she wants guys to find her attractive and want other girls to envy her for going out with the best looking boy in college: James.
5- Likability/rooting factors: deep down she has very conservative values and want the white picket fence and 2 children happy ending, with James!
6- How she reacts under stress: she gets hysterical.
7- Relationship with other characters: they don’t take her too seriously as with Naomi ‘what you see if what you get’ and she is pretty harmless.
NAOMI CHARACTER JOURNEY:
1- Character intro: she is making out with James but doesn’t sleep with him, teasing him and keeping him wanting more.
2- Denial: she doesn’t believe at all there is any danger and makes fun of Joanna who is the first to warn them.
3- Her reaction at first horror: denial; believes it can’t happen to her.
4- Relation to group after first horror: doesn’t feel concerned; her and James are in their own little love bubble.
5- How she fights back: she’ll get hysterical; she was never equipped to fight and didn’t have a chance once James wasn’t there to defend her.
6- End point: she gets killed just after having had to watch James be tortured and killed before her eyes; she loses her mind, gets released and will be hit by a truck.
7- What insight does her death bring to the others/audience? That the monster likes to torture mentally as well as physically.
JAMES CHARACTER PROFILE:
1- Role: lover boy; popular and good at sports: your typical American college boy who has everything going for him: the girl, the sports scholarship, the looks, the buddies.
2- Traits: confident but not pretentious.
3- Fears: ???
4- Wants/needs: to play professional football but also level headed enough to get good enough marks.
5- Likability/rooting factors: comes from a poor hard working background and works hard at everything he does, doesn’t take anything for granted.
6- How he reacts under stress: fights hard.
7- Relationship with other characters: easy going so gets on with everyone; Naomi is his only weakness: he can’t say no to her!
JAMESCHARACTER JOURNEY:
1- Character intro: the make out scene with Naomi; from the get go the audience can see that she has him twisted in her little fingers.
2- Denial: he thinks Joanna is a lonely girl who is paranoid; he doesn’t believe there is any real danger out there.
3- his reaction at first horror: he believes there must be a logical explanation and that it is an isolated event.
4- Relation to group after first horror: doesn’t feel concerned and is confident that he is strong enough to defend Naomi from whichever danger.
5- How he fights back: with all his strength, like a tiger, and his only thought will be to protect Naomi.
6- End point: gets caught by the monsters (surrounded) and will be tortured to death in front of Naomi. His last words will be to tell her that he loves her.
7- What insight does his death bring to the others/audience? That the monster can get you, no matter how fit, young and strong you are!
STEPHEN CHARACTER PROFILE:
1- Role: Sacrificing lamb. A bit of a nerd.
2- Traits: introvert and totally smitten with Anna whom he loves from a distance.
3- Fears: girls in general and Anna in particular who he puts on a pedestal.
4- Wants/needs: he wants to be seen as a hero.
5- Likability/rooting factors: we feel sorry for him as he hasn’t got much going on for him.
6- How he reacts under stress: he steps up.
7- Relationship with other characters: he gets easily bullied or ignored.
STEPHEN CHARACTER JOURNEY:
1- Character intro: volunteers in the same old age home as Anna, to be closer to her; gets verbally abused by old people.
2- Denial: indifferent to the danger as is used to being victimised.
3- his reaction at first horror: wants to be seen as a hero in Anna’s eyes.
4- Relation to group after first horror: they underestimate him.
5- How he fights back: will take the monster by surprised as he always acted like a victim, never fighting back, until the danger was directed to Anna and then he put his life on the line to save her.
6- End point: he sacrifices himself so that Anna can realise how dangerous the monster is. He will die as a hero for her.
7- What insight does his death bring to the others/audience? That sacrificing himself won’t shake Anna’s face in good versus evil; it should also show that, by being spared by the monster when praying, Anna has a special role in the story!
JOANNA CHARACTER PROFILE:
1- Role: the loner. The observer. Plain and very sensitive.
2- Traits: lonely girl. Very acute sense of danger. She is the one who will send clues to Matthias that there is a story to tell in this town and that not everything is what it appears to be
3- Fears: that her life be meaningless.
4- Wants/needs: she wants to be meaningful.
5- Likability/rooting factors: we feel for her, for the constant loneliness she experiences.
6- How she reacts under stress: she accepts it as fate.
7- Relationship with other characters: she keeps a low profile; is not good at verbal communication, prefers to write.
JOANNA CHARACTER JOURNEY:
1- Character intro: she is alone, observing people around her, taking notes into a very thick and warn out note book.
2- Denial: she senses and believes in the evil all along; she was never in denial, very tuned to her spirituality.
3- Her reaction at first horror: she is not surprised, as if expecting it all along.
4- Relation to group after first horror: she warned them that it was going to happen; still, they don’t take her seriously, she is hurt by their behaviour.
5- How she fights back: she surrenders to the monster.
6- End point: she will be misled and be tricked by the monster who will lure her in a place that she thought safe; when she realises the imminent danger, she accepts her fatality without resisting.
7- What insight does her death bring to the others/audience? That she accepts to dies if it proves to the others that she was right and that they should have paid attention to her.
ANDREW CHARACTER PROFILE:
1- Role: Strong like an ox. Kind. Loyal. He will be Matthias’ side kick.
2- Traits: loyal. Team player.
3- Fears: ???
4- Wants/needs: to help Matthias with his story. To participate to the research. Likes to be useful.
5- Likability/rooting factors: a team player; puts the ‘we’ above the ‘I’.
6- How he reacts under stress: he rallies up and marches on.
7- Relationship with other characters: everybody likes him.
ANDREW CHARACTER JOURNEY:
1- Character intro: he is the first one to meet Matthias; will help him out when his car broke down in the rain. This first encounter will show his strength and character (helpful; altruist).
2- Denial: is very logical and down to earth; believes in what is sees.
3- his reaction at first horror: Follows Matthias lead.
4- Relation to group after first horror: will back up Matthias and show his loyalty and trust.
5- How he fights back: he uses physical strength and misdirection to fights the monster and lead him away from the survivors.
· End point: will survive once but not twice; at the end, he is outnumbered and knows it yet he will go down bravely and fighting like a lion.
6- What insight does his death bring to the others/audience? That some people are born prepared to sacrifice themselves for the survival of others.
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ACT 1—SET UP THE HORROR:
· Atmosphere of evil established: Press articles with graphic photos on a computer screen showing gruesome young people murdered or vanished; the number 21 comes back again and again on the screen, at the end, a town’s name appears – GRAHAMSTOWN. The computer screen reflects the strained face of a young woman and, in the background, we see the reflection of candles burning on a birthday cake on a table then we see the terror in her wide bulging eyes followed by her shrilling scream as someone keeps knocking, harder and harder, at the door in the background while humming in faint frail and soft voice “happy birthday to you”!
Horror situation: monster trying to get to you – a girl is spending her birthday quietly, all alone and in the dark; in front of her on the table, a cake with 2 candles forming the number 21. A little knock at the door, she is holding her breath and as the knock gets louder we see her eyes widening with fear.
Reaction – she quietly blows the candles and closes her eyes.
· Character intro: MIA is about to celebrate her birthday, alone and scared.
1- Demand: Intrigue: why is this young woman celebrating her 21<sup>st</sup> alone, quietly and in the dark?
Monster reveal: There is something about having her birthday that terrifies her!
Horror situation: lost – a character takes a short cut through the park and gets lost.
Reaction – He starts panicking then is relieved when he sees a sign, not knowing it’s a trap.
· Connect with the characters: A group of new students; we discover each character, their personalities, their struggle, their attempts to fit in, in a college where other students behave strangely and in a town with a secret.
· Character intro: ANNA is doing voluntary work at an old age home and enjoying every minute of it.
· Character intro: volunteers in the same old age home as Anna, to be closer to her; gets verbally abused by old people.
· Character intro: NAOMI is making out with James but doesn’t sleep with him, teasing him and keeping him wanting more.
· Character intro: JAMES is in the make out scene with Naomi; from the get go the audience can see that she has him twisted in her little fingers.
· Character intro: JOANNA is alone, observing people around her, taking notes into a very thick and warn out note book.
· The characters are warned not to do it: The new students to the college are told to never go out alone after dark and if they must then to stay in pack and never to mix with the friendly old people.
· Denial: JOANNA senses and believes in the evil all along; she was never in denial, very tuned to her spirituality.
· Denial: ANNA doesn’t want to believe that goodness cannot attract goodness and that evil can win; her faith leads her to total denial.
· Denial: STEPHEN is indifferent to the danger as is used to being victimised.
· Denial: NAOMI doesn’t believe at all there is any danger and makes fun of Joanna who is the first to warn them.
· Denial: JAMES thinks Joanna is a lonely girl who is paranoid; he doesn’t believe there is any real danger out there.
2- Demand: To solve the mystery, we have to come to Grahamstown and discover what is wrong with the town.
Monster reveal: At night fall, young people barricade themselves indoors.
· Denial of horror: The new students will brush off the advice as plain silly and paranoid and mean; they are young and strong, why should they be afraid of some old folks even if they are the only ones walking in the dark streets of the small town!
· Relation to group after first horror: JOANNA warned them that it was going to happen; still, they don’t take her seriously, she is hurt by their behaviour.
3- Demand: Young people warn the new students in town not to go out at night and not to tell anyone when it’s their birthday.
Monster reveal: Somehow, young people in their 21<sup>st</sup> year are vanishing or found dead and horribly mutilated.
· Her reaction at first horror: JOANNA is not surprised, as if expecting it all along.
· Safety taken away: When young people are stranded as cars strangely break down, buses don’t show and taxis don’t stop, being home before dark becomes an impossible mission.
· his reaction at first horror: JAMES just wants to be seen as a hero in Anna’s eyes.
· his reaction at first horror: JAMES believes there must be a logical explanation and that it is an isolated event.
· Her reaction at first horror: NAOMI is in denial; believes it can’t happen to her.
· Character intro: MATTHIAS arrives in Grahamstown with a purpose, a mission: to write a great story.
Horror situation: forced into a dangerous environment – when Matthias’ car breaks down and he has to walk back into the rain, he arrives into the town at night and walks into a bar to call a tow car, only to find that the bar is packed with old people only.
Reaction – he is surprised then senses (his journalist instincts!) that something is not quite right in that setting.
· Denial: MATTHIAS is intellectually curious and doesn’t reject any possibility.
· Character intro: ANDREW is the first one to meet Matthias; will help him out when his car broke down in the rain. This first encounter will show his strength and character (helpful; altruist).
4- Demand: Public places at night time are full of old people who behave with energy far above their biological age.
Monster reveal: Some mysterious purpose is making the elderly come out at night in pack
· Denial: ANDREW is very logical and down to earth; believes in what is sees.
· Monster- the nature of the beast: With old people infiltrated in all areas of the small town’s life, knowing who the monster is and whom to trust is a matter of life and death.
Horror situation: not knowing who is possessed – the characters don’t know which ones of the elderly are monsters.
Reaction – they don’t know who to trust and are suspicious of everyone around, feeling even more isolated.
Horror situation: unknown motive – the group hasn’t a clue why some young people vanish or get killed.
· Relation to group after first horror: NAOMI doesn’t feel concerned; her and James are in their own little love bubble.
· Relation to group after first horror: JAMES doesn’t feel concerned and is confident that he is strong enough to defend Naomi from whichever danger.
Reaction – Some take action and decide to investigate (Matthias, Andrew), while some will go in total denial (Anna, Naomi, James).
· Relation to group after first horror: ANNA’S extreme faith and denial makes her irritating to the rest of the group; male lust for her beauty and females are jealous of her.
· Relation to group after first horror: MIA panics and lashes out.
· Relation to group after first horror: they all underestimate STEPHEN.
· his reaction at first horror: MATTHIAS is excited by the opportunity to write a story that could help him reach his career goal (winning the Pullitzer price!).
· his reaction at first horror: ANDREW follows Matthias lead.
Horror situation: menacing stranger – JOANNA followed by an old homeless guy, scaring her by shouting that her end is near and to be careful of ‘the smiling ones’!
Reaction – she gets scared, thinks he is just scary why he was trying to warn her, and warns straight into what the arms of the monster, thinking she’ll be safe.
· How she fights back: JOANNA surrenders to the monster.
5- Demand: Paranoia: a young woman is terrified by an old homeless man who follows her at dawn.
Monster reveal: The elderly are perceived as a menace.
Character death 1: JOANNA
· Why: she is the one in the group who suspects there is some form of evil amongst the elderly; she represents a threat which needs to be eliminated when she starts sending clues to a newspaper.
· How: she is blindsided, fooled by the homeless guy who follows her and she takes him as a threat, walking straight into the safety of her favourite bakery where she’ll be poisoned with her favourite cake.
· End point: JOANNA will be misled and be tricked by the monster who will lure her in a place that she thought safe; when she realises the imminent danger, she accepts her fatality without resisting.
ACT 2—THE POINT OF NO RETURN:
· Isolated/trapped/abducted: Young people are no longer even safe in doors as the monsters try to break in or to lure them outside in desperation to get what they need.
Horror situation: attacked – a character will be attacked by the monster.
Reaction – total disbelief, then shock at the strength of the attacker.
Horror situation: chased – a character will be chased by the monster.
Reaction – fear mixed with disbelief.
· Relation to group after first horror: MATTHIAS stays calm, takes charge.
· Relation to group after first horror: ANDREW will back up Matthias and show his loyalty and trust.
Horror situation: mentally tortures – Mia will keep receiving anonymous phone calls before her 21<sup>st</sup>, counting down the number of days she has left to live.
Reaction – she’ll go through different stage of emotions as the date of her birthday gets closer and strange deaths occur: from annoyance, to anger to dread and finally hysteria.
· Denial: MIA thinks that by hiding she’ll be safe.
· her reaction at first horror: MIA is terrified and hides.
6- Demand: A girl needs a bodyguard on her 21<sup>st</sup> birthday and will jump through a window to her death when an old man in a bodyguard uniform walks in.
Monster reveal: Why is she so terrified of this old man that she would prefer jump to her death than whichever fate he could bring.
· How she fights back: MIA doesn’t fight back; she tries to escape.
Character death 2: MIA
· Why: it’s her 21<sup>st</sup> and she believes to be untouchable because of her father’s wealth; the fact that she has a bodyguard won’t save her.
· How: the monster will impersonate her bodyguard and penetrate in the safety of her home. She’ll try to escape and jump through a window, plummeting to her death.
· End point: MIA jumps through the window trying to escape and dies.
Horror situation: environment changing around them – A couple of drinking buddies are at the local bar at night, suddenly one of them shouts “cheers, birthday boy, happy 21<sup>st</sup>!”; then the bar goes dead silent for a few seconds, all eyes on them, and the sound resume but the atmosphere has changed.
Reaction – a few young people will discretely leave the bar while some elderly will get closer to the drinking buddies offering to buy a round to the birthday boy.
· One of us killed: Naomi and James – the lovers – will be the first to go. Lust and romance will led them outside after dark and cause their death.
Horror situation: lured into danger – the monster is cunning and lures the lovers into a meeting after dark with the promise of intimacy.
Reaction – When the couple realizes that the message didn’t come from one of them and that they are out at night in an isolated place, they start experiencing an overwhelming fear.
7- Demand: A couple gets lured out at night, trapped and will be tortured and killed by some elderly.
Monster reveal: What brings these harmless looking old people to act like total monsters!
· End point: JAMES gets caught by the monsters (surrounded) and will be tortured to death in front of Naomi. His last words will be to tell her that he loves her.
· How he fights back: JAMES fits with all his strength, like a tiger, and his only thought will be to protect Naomi.
Horror situation: see another killed – Naomi will see watch her boyfriend, James, get tortured and killed before her eyes.
Reaction – she freezes and watch in horror then throws up.
· How she fights back: NAOMI gets hysterical; she was never equipped to fight and didn’t have a chance once James wasn’t there to defend her.
Character death 3: JAMES
· Why: because, with Naomi, he represents the ‘sinfulness of sin’ as they disobey the rules by meeting outside at night and to have sex without being married.
· How: James will be tortured to death in front of Naomi who will have to watch him, both stark naked.
Character death 4: NAOMI
· Why: just like James, she has sinned in the eyes of the monster. She’ll have to endure mental torture by having to watch her lover die.
· How: she’ll go insane and even though the monster releases her (still naked), she’ll wonder aimlessly on the road at night in a daze and get hit by a truck.
· End point: NAOMI gets killed just after having had to watch James be tortured and killed before her eyes; she loses her mind, gets released and will be hit by a truck.
MIDPOINT—THE MONSTER IS WORSE THAN WHAT WE THOUGHT:
Full pursuit by the killer: They must now do whatever they can to protect themselves at night from the monsters who try to break in and become increasingly aggressive and cunning.
Horror situation: threatened– at the old age home, some elderly start showing signs of increasing strange behaviour and unusual strength.
Reaction – the staff will ignore the signs, not seeing imminent danger.
Horror situation: walking into a trap – at the old age home, a surprise birthday party has been organised for ANNA, who is turning 21.
Reaction – she is overwhelmed by the elderly kindness, then starts sensing something are not quite right and as fear start to increase she’ll feel trapped.
· How he fights back: STEPHEN will take the monster by surprised as he always acted like a victim, never fighting back, until the danger was directed to Anna and then he put his life on the line to save her.
Character death 5: STEPHEN
· Why: wanting to save Anna from the elderly in the old age home surrounding her.
· How: he is the sacrificed lamb; the audience need to see a character willing to die for love and to the premise of Anna’s special ‘connection’ to the monster.
· End point: STEPHEN sacrifices himself so that Anna can realise how dangerous the monster is. He will die as a hero for her.
· Horror situation: face to face with the monster –the monster shows his true face to Anna by killing STEPHEN in front of her own eyes.
· Reaction – she unsettled the monster by calmly getting down on her knees and starting to pray.
· her reaction at first horror: ANNA kneels down and prays.
8- Demand: Apprehension: Elderly people in an old age home are behaving very strangely towards a young woman celebrating her 21<sup>st</sup>.
Monster reveal: We need to find out what triggers the monster in the elderly when someone turns 21!
ACT 3—FULL OUT HORROR:
· Fight to the death: Some of the characters won’t make it and will be massacred; some will sacrifice themselves to save others. The monsters are now seen for who they are and no longer underestimated: there’s nothing vulnerable, friendly or innocent about them anymore, they are wolves in lambs’ clothing!
Horror situation: wounded – one of the characters is wounded by a blow on the head with a walking stick.
Reaction – he is stunned, shocked and looks in total dismay at the blood pouring profusely from his forehead while the monster looks at him with a sweet smile.
· Terrorized: The characters find themselves increasingly isolated, unable to leave town, and terrified as night falls.
· Hysteria: It’s now a war between the young terrified desperate to survive characters against the old determined to get what they need (blood & flesh) to regain their youth.
9- Demand: There is a surge of aggression and killings from Elderly people on young people (all 21) all over town.
Monster reveal: The targeted young people are no longer safe indoors at night and look for shelter in churches, where they will not find protection but the answer to behind the killings and the monsters’ mad motivations.
· The thrilling escape from death: Some will manage to escape, to find momentary safety in one of the many churches… only to realize they have stepped in the belly of the beast!
· How he fights back: MATTHIAS uses his brain. Tries to be cleverer than the monster.
10- Demand: ANNA finds out about the connection between the bible and the ‘death by nos’ and why “21” is the target of all killings. She then urges others to leave the church with her as she realizes it’s the monster of the beast, but they won’t listen, apart from MATTHIAS.
Monster reveal: The reason why the monsters kill has been revealed by Anna! We now know the why and the who!
Horror situation: trapped – some characters seek refuge in a church at night, only to realize this may not be a safe place after all.
Reaction – they start panicking, looking for somewhere to hide or an escape route.
Horror situation: dilemma- who to save – Andrew (the strong as an ox guy) finds out that a group of students are trapped in the church and surrounded by the monster(s); he can either create a diversion and risk being captured and killed or watch them being taken and killed.
Reaction – he takes a deep breath and makes a choice.
· How he fights back: ANDREW uses physical strength and misdirection to fights the monster and lead him away from the survivors.
Horror situation: a character becomes a liability – Andrew will be seriously injured by the monster and, when trying to escape through the woods, will slow down his friends’ escape and jeopardize their only chance of making it through the woods to reach the edge of the town limits.
Reaction – he will pretend to take a rest break, letting his friends get a bit ahead, then will take off in the opposite direction shouting at the monsters to create a diversion and save his friends, sacrificing his own life.
· End point: MATTHIAS survives by teaming up and using Anna’s love for him and Andrew’s strength; he makes it out of town and free to go and write his great story!
· How she fights back: ANNA lets others sacrifice themselves to pursue her sense of duty.
Character “ near” death 6: ANDREW
· Why: the audience needs to get a glimpse of hope by seeing the strongest character save the day; then their hope gets crushed as he falls and gets caught.
· How: when the group has taken refuge in the church and surrounded, he’ll create a diversion to allow them to escape but will fall into a bear trap running into the woods and the elderly will close in on him; the audience will think he died but he’ll escape… only to be sacrificed later by ANNA!!!
· Death returns to take one or more: More will need to die before they can unify and overcome the monsters.
Horror situation: escape route cut off – the only road out of town is blocked by the monster(s), preventing the car with a group of characters to escape.
Reaction – MATTHIAS urges ANNA to step on the gas and run over the monster(s) but the driver is not willing to do so, as she still can’t face the idea that the harmless looking creatures on the road are monster(s).
Horror situation: character refuses to take action – Anna is reluctant to run over the monster, she is forced to make a choice between risking killing innocent people in the process of running over the elderly blocking the road or risking the lives of the people in the car with her (Andrew and Matthias).
Reaction – she’ll choose to sacrifice Andrew, he’ll understand that it’s their only chance and will not leave Matthias (who is against seeing his friend going to a certain death) a choice in the matter.
· End point: ANDREW will survive once but not twice; at the end, he is outnumbered and knows it yet he will go down bravely and fighting like a lion.
Character death 7: ANDREW
· Why: the audience needs to understand that this character’s role is to save the day (twice!) but also that he is doomed.
· How: he’ll be killed by the pack when he charges upon them with a baseball bat, making a breach for the car with Anna and Matthias to squeeze in and drive to the outskirts of town, and pull over just after the town limit indicating they are no longer in GRAHAMSTOWN!
· End point: ANNA will survive but will accomplish the ultimate sacrifice by going back to Grahamstown to save future generations.
11- Demand: The survivors manage to make it to the edge of town, killing some monsters on the way, but ANNA (the graced one) decides she has to go back to make sure the monster never returns.
Monster reveal: Although the monsters within the elderly have been killed, evil may return when its number comes up! (FOR THE SEQUEL!!!)
· Resolution: When Anna’s deep unshakable faith and innocence bring her to the ultimate decision: to leave Matthias (whom she has fallen in love with and is pregnant from, which he doesn’t know) and choses what she sees as her calling; she chooses to go back to Grahamstown to make sure evil never returns to the elderly and that the words of God are never again misused for evil purposes.
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ASSIGNMENT 7 – NADIA’S MONSTER REVEAL TRACK
(Title: “GRAHAMSTOWN”)
What I learned from this assignment: I learned about the importance of following a sequence of events to obtain a gradient of horrific events… a bit like turning the pages of a book to discover ‘what’s next’!
A- COMPONENTS OF THE MONSTER:
· Powers: The appearance and age group of the monster(s) make it seem harmless; they are cunning, move in pack and isolate their victim and take them by surprise. They use unexpected weapons.
· Limitations: They can only choose their victims during their 21<sup>st</sup> year and only in the limit of the town (Grahamstown).
· Weaknesses: The monster finds its strength in the group/pack and will not attack alone. It cannot kill outside the town limits.
· Plan/Purpose/Appetite: The Monster believes to be designated by God to purify the young on their 21<sup>st</sup> year (biblical no representing the ‘exceedingly sinfulness of sin’) which will give them a second youth (by consuming organs & blood which are failing their elderly bodies). The act of purification can only be accomplished by the ones who fit the ‘biblical nos 65 & 77’.
· Who/ what is the monster(s): The ones amongst the elderly believers who are marked by the nos ‘65’ and ‘77’: they have the no 8 tattooed on their body as biblical symbol of ‘New Birth’ .
B- SEQUENCE THE REVEALS & CREATE DEMAND FOR EACH REVEAL:
1- Demand: Intrigue: why is this young woman celebrating her 21<sup>st</sup> alone, quietly and in the dark?
Monster reveal: There is something about having her birthday that terrifies her!
2- Demand: To solve the mystery, we have to come to Grahamstown and discover what is wrong with the town.
Monster reveal: At night fall, young people barricade themselves indoors.
3- Demand: Young people warn the new students in town not to go out at night and not to tell anyone when it’s their birthday.
Monster reveal: Somehow, young people in their 21<sup>st</sup> year are vanishing or found dead and horribly mutilated.
4- Demand: Public places at night time are full of old people who behave with energy far above their biological age.
Monster reveal: Some mysterious purpose is making the elderly come out at night in pack
5- Demand: Paranoia: a young woman is terrified by an old homeless man who follows her at dawn.
Monster reveal: The elderly are perceived as a menace.
6- Demand: A girl needs a bodyguard on her 21<sup>st</sup> birthday and will jump through a window to her death when an old man in a bodyguard uniform walks in.
Monster reveal: Why is she so terrified of this old man that she would prefer jump to her death than whichever fate he could bring.
7- Demand: A couple gets lured out at night, trapped and will be tortured and killed by some elderly.
Monster reveal: What brings these harmless looking old people to act like total monsters!
8- Demand: Apprehension: Elderly people in an old age home are behaving very strangely towards a young woman celebrating her 21<sup>st</sup>.
Monster reveal: We need to find out what triggers the monster in the elderly when someone turns 21!
9- Demand: There is a surge of aggression and killings from Elderly people on young people (all 21) all over town.
Monster reveal: The targeted young people are no longer safe indoors at night and look for shelter in churches, where they will not find protection but the answer to behind the killings and the monsters’ mad motivations.
10- Demand: ANNA finds out about the connection between the bible and the ‘death by nos’ and why “21” is the target of all killings. She then urges others to leave the church with her as she realizes it’s the monster of the beast, but they won’t listen, apart from MATTHIAS.
Monster reveal: The reason why the monsters kill has been revealed by Anna! We now know the why and the who!
11- Demand: The survivors manage to make it to the edge of town, killing some monsters on the way, but ANNA (the graced one) decides she has to go back to make sure the monster never returns.
Monster reveal: Although the monsters within the elderly have been killed, evil may return when its number comes up! (FOR THE SEQUEL!!!)
ACT 1—SET UP THE HORROR:
· Atmosphere of evil established: Press articles with graphic photos on a computer screen showing gruesome young people murdered or vanished; the number 21 comes back again and again on the screen, at the end, a town’s name appears – GRAHAMSTOWN. The computer screen reflects the strained face of a young woman and, in the background, we see the reflection of candles burning on a birthday cake on a table then we see the terror in her wide bulging eyes followed by her shrilling scream as someone keeps knocking, harder and harder, at the door in the background while humming in faint frail and soft voice “happy birthday to you”!
Horror situation: monster trying to get to you – a girl is spending her birthday quietly, all alone and in the dark; in front of her on the table, a cake with 2 candles forming the number 21. A little knock at the door, she is holding her breath and as the knock gets louder we see her eyes widening with fear.
Reaction – she quietly blows the candles and closes her eyes.
1- Demand: Intrigue: why is this young woman celebrating her 21<sup>st</sup> alone, quietly and in the dark?
Monster reveal: There is something about having her birthday that terrifies her!
Horror situation: lost – a character takes a short cut through the park and gets lost.
Reaction – He starts panicking then is relieved when he sees a sign, not knowing it’s a trap.
· Connect with the characters: A group of new students; we discover each character, their personalities, their struggle, their attempts to fit in, in a college where other students behave strangely and in a town with a secret.
· The characters are warned not to do it: The new students to the college are told to never go out alone after dark and if they must then to stay in pack and never to mix with the friendly old people.
2- Demand: To solve the mystery, we have to come to Grahamstown and discover what is wrong with the town.
Monster reveal: At night fall, young people barricade themselves indoors.
· Denial of horror: The new students will brush off the advice as plain silly and paranoid and mean; they are young and strong, why should they be afraid of some old folks even if they are the only ones walking in the dark streets of the small town!
3- Demand: Young people warn the new students in town not to go out at night and not to tell anyone when it’s their birthday.
Monster reveal: Somehow, young people in their 21<sup>st</sup> year are vanishing or found dead and horribly mutilated.
· Safety taken away: When young people are stranded as cars strangely break down, buses don’t show and taxis don’t stop, being home before dark becomes an impossible mission.
Horror situation: forced into a dangerous environment – when Matthias’ car breaks down and he has to walk back into the rain, he arrives into the town at night and walks into a bar to call a tow car, only to find that the bar is packed with old people only.
Reaction – he is surprised then senses (his journalist instincts!) that something is not quite right in that setting.
4- Demand: Public places at night time are full of old people who behave with energy far above their biological age.
Monster reveal: Some mysterious purpose is making the elderly come out at night in pack
· Monster- the nature of the beast: With old people infiltrated in all areas of the small town’s life, knowing who the monster is and whom to trust is a matter of life and death.
Horror situation: not knowing who is possessed – the characters don’t know which ones of the elderly are monsters.
Reaction – they don’t know who to trust and are suspicious of everyone around, feeling even more isolated.
Horror situation: unknown motive – the group hasn’t a clue why some young people vanish or get killed.
Reaction – Some take action and decide to investigate (Matthias, Andrew), while some will go in total denial (Anna, Naomi, James).
Horror situation: menacing stranger – JOANNA followed by an old homeless guy, scaring her by shouting that her end is near and to be careful of ‘the smiling ones’!
Reaction – she gets scared, thinks he is just scary why he was trying to warn her, and warns straight into what the arms of the monster, thinking she’ll be safe.
5- Demand: Paranoia: a young woman is terrified by an old homeless man who follows her at dawn.
Monster reveal: The elderly are perceived as a menace.
Character death 1: JOANNA
· Why: she is the one in the group who suspects there is some form of evil amongst the elderly; she represents a threat which needs to be eliminated when she starts sending clues to a newspaper.
· How: she is blindsided, fooled by the homeless guy who follows her and she takes him as a threat, walking straight into the safety of her favourite bakery where she’ll be poisoned with her favourite cake.
ACT 2—THE POINT OF NO RETURN:
· Isolated/trapped/abducted: Young people are no longer even safe in doors as the monsters try to break in or to lure them outside in desperation to get what they need.
Horror situation: attacked – a character will be attacked by the monster.
Reaction – total disbelief, then shock at the strength of the attacker.
Horror situation: chased – a character will be chased by the monster.
Reaction – fear mixed with disbelief.
Horror situation: mentally tortures – Mia will keep receiving anonymous phone calls before her 21<sup>st</sup>, counting down the number of days she has left to live.
Reaction – she’ll go through different stage of emotions as the date of her birthday gets closer and strange deaths occur: from annoyance, to anger to dread and finally hysteria.
6- Demand: A girl needs a bodyguard on her 21<sup>st</sup> birthday and will jump through a window to her death when an old man in a bodyguard uniform walks in.
Monster reveal: Why is she so terrified of this old man that she would prefer jump to her death than whichever fate he could bring.
Character death 2: MIA
· Why: it’s her 21<sup>st</sup> and she believes to be untouchable because of her father’s wealth; the fact that she has a bodyguard won’t save her.
· How: the monster will impersonate her bodyguard and penetrate in the safety of her home. She’ll try to escape and jump through a window, plummeting to her death.
Horror situation: environment changing around them – A couple of drinking buddies are at the local bar at night, suddenly one of them shouts “cheers, birthday boy, happy 21<sup>st</sup>!”; then the bar goes dead silent for a few seconds, all eyes on them, and the sound resume but the atmosphere has changed.
Reaction – a few young people will discretely leave the bar while some elderly will get closer to the drinking buddies offering to buy a round to the birthday boy.
· One of us killed: Naomi and James – the lovers – will be the first to go. Lust and romance will led them outside after dark and cause their death.
Horror situation: lured into danger – the monster is cunning and lures the lovers into a meeting after dark with the promise of intimacy.
Reaction – When the couple realizes that the message didn’t come from one of them and that they are out at night in an isolated place, they start experiencing an overwhelming fear.
7- Demand: A couple gets lured out at night, trapped and will be tortured and killed by some elderly.
Monster reveal: What brings these harmless looking old people to act like total monsters!
Horror situation: see another killed – Naomi will see watch her boyfriend, James, get tortured and killed before her eyes.
Reaction – she freezes and watch in horror then throws up.
Character death 3: JAMES
· Why: because, with Naomi, he represents the ‘sinfulness of sin’ as they disobey the rules by meeting outside at night and to have sex without being married.
· How: James will be tortured to death in front of Naomi who will have to watch him, both stark naked.
Character death 4: NAOMI
· Why: just like James, she has sinned in the eyes of the monster. She’ll have to endure mental torture by having to watch her lover die.
· How: she’ll go insane and even though the monster releases her (still naked), she’ll wonder aimlessly on the road at night in a daze and get hit by a truck.
MIDPOINT—THE MONSTER IS WORSE THAN WHAT WE THOUGHT:
Full pursuit by the killer: They must now do whatever they can to protect themselves at night from the monsters who try to break in and become increasingly aggressive and cunning.
Horror situation: threatened– at the old age home, some elderly start showing signs of increasing strange behaviour and unusual strength.
Reaction – the staff will ignore the signs, not seeing imminent danger.
Horror situation: walking into a trap – at the old age home, a surprise birthday party has been organised for ANNA, who is turning 21.
Reaction – she is overwhelmed by the elderly kindness, then starts sensing something are not quite right and as fear start to increase she’ll feel trapped.
Character death 5: STEPHEN
· Why: wanting to save Anna from the elderly in the old age home surrounding her.
· How: he is the sacrificed lamb; the audience need to see a character willing to die for love and to the premise of Anna’s special ‘connection’ to the monster.
· Horror situation: face to face with the monster –the monster shows his true face to Anna by killing STEPHEN in front of her own eyes.
· Reaction – she unsettled the monster by calmly getting down on her knees and starting to pray.
8- Demand: Apprehension: Elderly people in an old age home are behaving very strangely towards a young woman celebrating her 21<sup>st</sup>.
Monster reveal: We need to find out what triggers the monster in the elderly when someone turns 21!
ACT 3—FULL OUT HORROR:
· Fight to the death: Some of the characters won’t make it and will be massacred; some will sacrifice themselves to save others. The monsters are now seen for who they are and no longer underestimated: there’s nothing vulnerable, friendly or innocent about them anymore, they are wolves in lambs’ clothing!
Horror situation: wounded – one of the characters is wounded by a blow on the head with a walking stick.
Reaction – he is stunned, shocked and looks in total dismay at the blood pouring profusely from his forehead while the monster looks at him with a sweet smile.
· Terrorized: The characters find themselves increasingly isolated, unable to leave town, and terrified as night falls.
· Hysteria: It’s now a war between the young terrified desperate to survive characters against the old determined to get what they need (blood & flesh) to regain their youth.
9- Demand: There is a surge of aggression and killings from Elderly people on young people (all 21) all over town.
Monster reveal: The targeted young people are no longer safe indoors at night and look for shelter in churches, where they will not find protection but the answer to behind the killings and the monsters’ mad motivations.
· The thrilling escape from death: Some will manage to escape, to find momentary safety in one of the many churches… only to realize they have stepped in the belly of the beast!
10- Demand: ANNA finds out about the connection between the bible and the ‘death by nos’ and why “21” is the target of all killings. She then urges others to leave the church with her as she realizes it’s the monster of the beast, but they won’t listen, apart from MATTHIAS.
Monster reveal: The reason why the monsters kill has been revealed by Anna! We now know the why and the who!
Horror situation: trapped – some characters seek refuge in a church at night, only to realize this may not be a safe place after all.
Reaction – they start panicking, looking for somewhere to hide or an escape route.
Horror situation: dilemma- who to save – Andrew (the strong as an ox guy) finds out that a group of students are trapped in the church and surrounded by the monster(s); he can either create a diversion and risk being captured and killed or watch them being taken and killed.
Reaction – he takes a deep breath and makes a choice.
Horror situation: a character becomes a liability – Andrew will be seriously injured by the monster and, when trying to escape through the woods, will slow down his friends’ escape and jeopardize their only chance of making it through the woods to reach the edge of the town limits.
Reaction – he will pretend to take a rest break, letting his friends get a bit ahead, then will take off in the opposite direction shouting at the monsters to create a diversion and save his friends, sacrificing his own life.
Character “ near” death 6: ANDREW
· Why: the audience needs to get a glimpse of hope by seeing the strongest character save the day; then their hope gets crushed as he falls and gets caught.
· How: when the group has taken refuge in the church and surrounded, he’ll create a diversion to allow them to escape but will fall into a bear trap running into the woods and the elderly will close in on him; the audience will think he died but he’ll escape… only to be sacrificed later by ANNA!!!
· Death returns to take one or more: More will need to die before they can unify and overcome the monsters.
Horror situation: escape route cut off – the only road out of town is blocked by the monster(s), preventing the car with a group of characters to escape.
Reaction – MATTHIAS urges ANNA to step on the gas and run over the monster(s) but the driver is not willing to do so, as she still can’t face the idea that the harmless looking creatures on the road are monster(s).
Horror situation: character refuses to take action – Anna is reluctant to run over the monster, she is forced to make a choice between risking killing innocent people in the process of running over the elderly blocking the road or risking the lives of the people in the car with her (Andrew and Matthias).
Reaction – she’ll choose to sacrifice Andrew, he’ll understand that it’s their only chance and will not leave Matthias (who is against seeing his friend going to a certain death) a choice in the matter.
Character death 7: ANDREW
· Why: the audience needs to understand that this character’s role is to save the day (twice!) but also that he is doomed.
· How: he’ll be killed by the pack when he charges upon them with a baseball bat, making a breach for the car with Anna and Matthias to squeeze in and drive to the outskirts of town, and pull over just after the town limit indicating they are no longer in GRAHAMSTOWN!
11- Demand: The survivors manage to make it to the edge of town, killing some monsters on the way, but ANNA (the graced one) decides she has to go back to make sure the monster never returns.
Monster reveal: Although the monsters within the elderly have been killed, evil may return when its number comes up! (FOR THE SEQUEL!!!)
· Resolution: When Anna’s deep unshakable faith and innocence bring her to the ultimate decision: to leave Matthias (whom she has fallen in love with and is pregnant from, which he doesn’t know) and choses what she sees as her calling; she chooses to go back to Grahamstown to make sure evil never returns to the elderly and that the words of God are never again misused for evil purposes.
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Hi Cheryl,
Where can I post assignment 7 ?!
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NADIA’S CHARACTER DEATH TRACK
(Title: “GRAHAMSTOWN”)
What I learned from this assignment: That when killing off a character the ‘why’ is as important as the ‘how’ to give substance to the story otherwise it’s just random killing. I think it is even more important to focus on who dies first and who survives and why; whoever gets ‘in the way’ in between may be secondary characters to the story.
Character death 1: JOANNA
· Why: she is the one in the group who suspects there is some form of evil amongst the elderly; she represents a threat which needs to be eliminated when she starts sending clues to a newspaper.
· How: she is blindsided, fooled by the homeless guy who follows her and she takes him as a threat, walking straight into the safety of her favourite bakery where she’ll be poisoned with her favourite cake.
Character death 2: MIA
· Why: it’s her 21<sup>st</sup> and she believes to be untouchable because of her father’s wealth; the fact that she has a bodyguard won’t save her.
· How: the monster will impersonate her bodyguard and penetrate in the safety of her home. She’ll try to escape and jump through a window, plummeting to her death.
Character death 3: JAMES
· Why: because, with Naomi, he represents the ‘sinfulness of sin’ as they disobey the rules by meeting outside at night and to have sex without being married.
· How: James will be tortured to death in front of Naomi who will have to watch him, both stark naked.
Character death 4: NAOMI
· Why: just like James, she has sinned in the eyes of the monster. She’ll have to endure mental torture by having to watch her lover die.
· How: she’ll go insane and even though the monster releases her (still naked), she’ll wonder aimlessly on the road at night in a daze and get hit by a truck.
Character death 5: STEPHEN
· Why: wanting to save Anna from the elderly in the old age home surrounding her.
· How: he is the sacrificed lamb; the audience need to see a character willing to die for love and to the premise of Anna’s special ‘connection’ to the monster.
Character death 6: ANDREW
· Why: the audience needs to get a glimpse of hope by seeing the strongest character save the day; then their hope gets crushed as he falls and gets caught.
· How: when the group has taken refuge in the church and surrounded, he’ll create a diversion to allow them to escape but will fall into a bear trap running into the woods and the elderly will close in on him; the audience will think he died but he’ll escape… only to be killed later by ANNA!!!
Character death 6: MATTHIAS ???
Not sure if Matthias must die in the hands of Anna or be spared as she drives him at the edge of town to safety, while she returns to the town to warn other generations… FOR THE SEQUEL!!!
ACT 1—SET UP THE HORROR:
· Atmosphere of evil established: Press articles with graphic photos on a computer screen showing gruesome young people murdered or vanished; the number 21 comes back again and again on the screen, at the end, a town’s name appears – GRAHAMSTOWN. The computer screen reflects the strained face of a young woman and, in the background, we see the reflection of candles burning on a birthday cake on a table then we see the terror in her wide bulging eyes followed by her shrilling scream as someone keeps knocking, harder and harder, at the door in the background while humming in faint frail and soft voice “happy birthday to you”!
Horror situation: monster trying to get to you – a girl is spending her birthday quietly, all alone and in the dark; in front of her on the table, a cake with 2 candles forming the number 21. A little knock at the door, she is holding her breath and as the knock gets louder we see her eyes widening with fear.
Reaction – she quietly blows the candles and closes her eyes.
Horror situation: lost – a character takes a short cut through the park and gets lost.
Reaction – He starts panicking then is relieved when he sees a sign, not knowing it’s a trap.
· Connect with the characters: A group of new students; we discover each character, their personalities, their struggle, their attempts to fit in, in a college where other students behave strangely and in a town with a secret.
· The characters are warned not to do it: The new students to the college are told to never go out alone after dark and if they must then to stay in pack and never to mix with the friendly old people.
· Denial of horror: The new students will brush off the advice as plain silly and paranoid and mean; they are young and strong, why should they be afraid of some old folks even if they are the only ones walking in the dark streets of the small town!
· Safety taken away: When young people are stranded as cars strangely break down, buses don’t show and taxis don’t stop, being home before dark becomes an impossible mission.
Horror situation: forced into a dangerous environment – when Matthias’ car breaks down and he has to walk back into the rain, he arrives into the town at night and walks into a bar to call a tow car, only to find that the bar is packed with old people only.
Reaction – he is surprised then senses (his journalist instincts!) that something is not quite right in that setting.
· Monster- the nature of the beast: With old people infiltrated in all areas of the small town’s life, knowing who the monster is and whom to trust is a matter of life and death.
Horror situation: not knowing who is possessed – the characters don’t know which ones of the elderly are monsters.
Reaction – they don’t know who to trust and are suspicious of everyone around, feeling even more isolated.
Horror situation: unknown motive – the group hasn’t a clue why some young people vanish or get killed.
Reaction – Some take action and decide to investigate (Matthias, Andrew), while some will go in total denial (Anna, Naomi, James).
Horror situation: menacing stranger – JOANNA followed by an old homeless guy, scaring her by shouting that her end is near and to be careful of ‘the smiling ones’!
Reaction – she gets scared, thinks he is just scary why he was trying to warn her, and warns straight into what the arms of the monster, thinking she’ll be safe.
Character death 1: JOANNA
· Why: she is the one in the group who suspects there is some form of evil amongst the elderly; she represents a threat which needs to be eliminated when she starts sending clues to a newspaper.
· How: she is blindsided, fooled by the homeless guy who follows her and she takes him as a threat, walking straight into the safety of her favourite bakery where she’ll be poisoned with her favourite cake.
ACT 2—THE POINT OF NO RETURN:
· Isolated/trapped/abducted: Young people are no longer even safe in doors as the monsters try to break in or to lure them outside in desperation to get what they need.
Horror situation: attacked – a character will be attacked by the monster.
Reaction – total disbelief, then shock at the strength of the attacker.
Horror situation: chased – a character will be chased by the monster.
Reaction – fear mixed with disbelief.
Horror situation: mentally tortures – Mia will keep receiving anonymous phone calls before her 21<sup>st</sup>, counting down the number of days she has left to live.
Reaction – she’ll go through different stage of emotions as the date of her birthday gets closer and strange deaths occur: from annoyance, to anger to dread and finally hysteria.
Character death 2: MIA
· Why: it’s her 21<sup>st</sup> and she believes to be untouchable because of her father’s wealth; the fact that she has a bodyguard won’t save her.
· How: the monster will impersonate her bodyguard and penetrate in the safety of her home. She’ll try to escape and jump through a window, plummeting to her death.
Horror situation: environment changing around them – A couple of drinking buddies are at the local bar at night, suddenly one of them shouts “cheers, birthday boy, happy 21<sup>st</sup>!”; then the bar goes dead silent for a few seconds, all eyes on them, and the sound resume but the atmosphere has changed.
Reaction – a few young people will discretely leave the bar while some elderly will get closer to the drinking buddies offering to buy a round to the birthday boy.
· One of us killed: Naomi and James – the lovers – will be the first to go. Lust and romance will led them outside after dark and cause their death.
Horror situation: lured into danger – the monster is cunning and lures the lovers into a meeting after dark with the promise of intimacy.
Reaction – When the couple realizes that the message didn’t come from one of them and that they are out at night in an isolated place, they start experiencing an overwhelming fear.
Character death 3: JAMES
· Why: because, with Naomi, he represents the ‘sinfulness of sin’ as they disobey the rules by meeting outside at night and to have sex without being married.
· How: James will be tortured to death in front of Naomi who will have to watch him, both stark naked.
Character death 4: NAOMI
· Why: just like James, she has sinned in the eyes of the monster. She’ll have to endure mental torture by having to watch her lover die.
· How: she’ll go insane and even though the monster releases her (still naked), she’ll wonder aimlessly on the road at night in a daze and get hit by a truck.
MIDPOINT—THE MONSTER IS WORSE THAN WHAT WE THOUGHT:
· Full pursuit by the killer: They must now do whatever they can to protect themselves at night from the monsters who try to break in and become increasingly aggressive and cunning.
Horror situation: threatened– at the old age home, some elderly start showing signs of increasing strange behaviour and unusual strength.
Reaction – the staff will ignore the signs, not seeing imminent danger.
Horror situation: walking into a trap – at the old age home, a surprise birthday party has been organised for ANNA, who is turning 21.
Reaction – she is overwhelmed by the elderly kindness, then starts sensing something are not quite right and as fear start to increase she’ll feel trapped.
Character death 5: STEPHEN
· Why: wanting to save Anna from the elderly in the old age home surrounding her.
· How: he is the sacrificed lamb; the audience need to see a character willing to die for love and to the premise of Anna’s special ‘connection’ to the monster.
· Terrorized: The characters find themselves increasingly isolated, unable to leave town, and terrified as night falls.
ACT 3—FULL OUT HORROR:
· Fight to the death: Some of the characters won’t make it and will be massacred; some will sacrifice themselves to save others. The monsters are now seen for who they are and no longer underestimated: there’s nothing vulnerable, friendly or innocent about them anymore, they are wolves in lambs’ clothing!
Horror situation: wounded – one of the characters is wounded by a blow on the head with a walking stick.
Reaction – he is stunned, shocked and looks in total dismay at the blood pouring profusely from his forehead while the monster looks at him with a sweet smile.
Horror situation: face to face with the monster –the monster shows his true face to Anna by killing STEPHEN in front of her own eyes.
Reaction – she unsettled the monster by calmly getting down on her knees and starting to pray.
· Hysteria: It’s now a war between the young terrified desperate to survive characters against the old determined to get what they need (blood & flesh) to regain their youth.
Horror situation: see another killed – Naomi will see watch her boyfriend, James, get tortured and killed before her eyes.
Reaction – she freezes and watch in horror then throws up.
Horror situation: another character loses it – Mia will get hysterical when she finds out the nature of the meals the monsters are sharing.
Reaction – she’ll scream and finally pass out.
· The thrilling escape from death: Some will manage to escape, to find momentary safety in one of the many churches… only to realize they have stepped in the belly of the beast!
Horror situation: trapped – some characters seek refuge in a church at night, only to realize this may not be a safe place after all.
Reaction – they start panicking, looking for somewhere to hide or an escape route.
Horror situation: dilemma- who to save – Andrew (the strong as an ox guy) finds out that a group of students are trapped in the church and surrounded by the monster(s); he can either create a diversion and risk being captured and killed or watch them being taken and killed.
Reaction – he takes a deep breath and makes a choice.
Horror situation: a character becomes a liability – Andrew will be seriously injured by the monster and, when trying to escape through the woods, will slow down his friends’ escape and jeopardize their only chance of making it through the woods to reach the edge of the town limits.
Reaction – he will pretend to take a rest break, letting his friends get a bit ahead, then will take off in the opposite direction shouting at the monsters to create a diversion and save his friends, sacrificing his own life.
Character “ near” death 6: ANDREW
· Why: the audience needs to get a glimpse of hope by seeing the strongest character save the day; then their hope gets crushed as he falls and gets caught.
· How: when the group has taken refuge in the church and surrounded, he’ll create a diversion to allow them to escape but will fall into a bear trap running into the woods and the elderly will close in on him; the audience will think he died but he’ll escape… only to be sacrificed later by ANNA!!!
· Death returns to take one or more: More will need to die before they can unify and overcome the monsters.
Horror situation: escape route cut off – the only road out of town is blocked by the monster(s), preventing the car with a group of characters to escape.
Reaction – MATTHIAS urges ANNA to step on the gas and run over the monster(s) but the driver is not willing to do so, as she still can’t face the idea that the harmless looking creatures on the road are monster(s).
Horror situation: character refuses to take action – Anna is reluctant to run over the monster, she is forced to make a choice between risking killing innocent people in the process of running over the elderly blocking the road or risking the lives of the people in the car with her (Andrew and Matthias).
Reaction – she’ll choose to sacrifice Andrew, he’ll understand that it’s their only chance and will not leave Matthias (who is against seeing his friend going to a certain death) a choice in the matter.
Character death 7: ANDREW
· Why: the audience needs to understand that this character’s role is to save the day (twice!) but also that he is doomed.
· How: he’ll be killed by the pack when he charges upon them with a baseball bat, making a breach for the car with Anna and Matthias to squeeze in and drive to the outskirts of town, and pull over just after the town limit indicating they are no longer in GRAHAMSTOWN!
· Resolution: When Anna’s deep unshakable faith and innocence bring her to the ultimate decision: to leave Matthias (whom she has fallen in love with and is pregnant from, which he doesn’t know) and choses what she sees as her calling; she chooses to go back to Grahamstown to make sure evil never returns to the elderly and that the words of God are never again misused for evil purposes.
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What I learned from this assignment: That a horror story is a bit like playing with lego, building the story block by block. Also, the list of horror situations given was very useful and showed me the necessity to brainstorm the classic horror situation but also to take it a step further. However, not having a clear vision of who my characters are at this stage, I wasn’t sure in most instances who would have to face which horrific situations…
Am going to follow Jaye’s example and also list my main characters, it will be helpful for me as the story develops.
Main characters: MATTHIAS/ ANNA/ MIA/ NAOMI & JAMES/ ANDREW/ JOANNA/ STEPHEN
ACT 1—SET UP THE HORROR:
· Atmosphere of evil established: Press articles with graphic photos on a computer screen showing gruesome young people murdered or vanished; the number 21 comes back again and again on the screen, at the end, a town’s name appears – GRAHAMSTOWN. The computer screen reflects the strained face of a young woman and, in the background, we see the reflection of candles burning on a birthday cake on a table then we see the terror in her wide bulging eyes followed by her shrilling scream as someone keeps knocking, harder and harder, at the door in the background while humming in faint frail and soft voice “happy birthday to you”!
Horror situation: monster trying to get to you – a girl is spending her birthday quietly, all alone and in the dark; in front of her on the table, a cake with 2 candles forming the number 21. A little knock at the door, she is holding her breath and as the knock gets louder we see her eyes widening with fear.
Reaction – she quietly blows the candles and closes her eyes.
Horror situation: lost – a character takes a short cut through the park and gets lost.
Reaction – He starts panicking then is relieved when he sees a sign, not knowing it’s a trap.
· Connect with the characters: A group of new students; we discover each character, their personalities, their struggle, their attempts to fit in, in a college where other students behave strangely and in a town with a secret.
· The characters are warned not to do it: The new students to the college are told to never go out alone after dark and if they must then to stay in pack and never to mix with the friendly old people.
· Denial of horror: The new students will brush off the advice as plain silly and paranoid and mean; they are young and strong, why should they be afraid of some old folks even if they are the only ones walking in the dark streets of the small town!
· Safety taken away: When young people are stranded as cars strangely break down, buses don’t show and taxis don’t stop, being home before dark becomes an impossible mission.
Horror situation: forced into a dangerous environment – when Matthias’ car breaks down and he has to walk back into the rain, he arrives into the town at night and walks into a bar to call a tow car, only to find that the bar is packed with old people only.
Reaction – he is surprised then senses (his journalist instincts!) that something is not quite right in that setting.
· Monster- the nature of the beast: With old people infiltrated in all areas of the small town’s life, knowing who the monster is and whom to trust is a matter of life and death.
Horror situation: not knowing who is possessed – the characters don’t know which ones of the elderly are monsters.
Reaction – they don’t know who to trust and are suspicious of everyone around, feeling even more isolated.
Horror situation: unknown motive – the group hasn’t a clue why some young people vanish or get killed.
Reaction – Some take action and decide to investigate (Matthias, Andrew), while some will go in total denial (Anna, Naomi, James).
Horror situation: menacing stranger – One of the girls will be followed by an old homeless guy, scaring her by shouting that her end is near and to be careful of ‘the smiling ones’!
Reaction – she gets scared, thinks he is just scary why he was trying to warn her, and warns straight into what the arms of the monster, thinking she’ll be safe.
ACT 2—THE POINT OF NO RETURN:
· Isolated/trapped/abducted: Young people are no longer even safe in doors as the monsters try to break in or to lure them outside in desperation to get what they need.
Horror situation: lost – a character takes a short cut through the park and gets lost.
Reaction – He starts panicking then is relieved when he sees a sign, not knowing it’s a trap.
Horror situation: attacked – a character will be attacked by the monster.
Reaction – total disbelief, then shock at the strength of the attacker.
Horror situation: chased – a character will be chased by the monster.
Reaction – fear mixed with disbelief.
Horror situation: mentally tortures – Mia will keep receiving anonymous phone calls before her 21<sup>st</sup>, counting down the number of days she has left to live.
Reaction – she’ll go through different stage of emotions as the date of her birthday gets closer and strange deaths occur: from annoyance, to anger to dread and finally hysteria.
Horror situation: environment changing around them – A couple of drinking buddies are at the local bar at night, suddenly one of them shouts “cheers, birthday boy, happy 21<sup>st</sup>!”; then the bar goes dead silent for a few seconds, all eyes on them, and the sound resume but the atmosphere has changed.
Reaction – a few young people will discretely leave the bar while some elderly will get closer to the drinking buddies offering to buy a round to the birthday boy.
· One of us killed: Naomi and James – the lovers – will be the first to go. Lust and romance will led them outside after dark and cause their death.
Horror situation: lured into danger – the monster is cunning and lures the lovers into a meeting after dark with the promise of intimacy.
Reaction – When the couple realizes that the message didn’t come from one of them and that they are out at night in an isolated place, they start experiencing an overwhelming fear.
MIDPOINT—THE MONSTER IS WORSE THAN WHAT WE THOUGHT:
· Full pursuit by the killer: They must now do whatever they can to protect themselves at night from the monsters who try to break in and become increasingly aggressive and cunning.
Horror situation: threatened– at the old age home, some elderly start showing signs of increasing strange behaviour and unusual strength.
Reaction – the staff will ignore the signs, not seeing imminent danger.
Horror situation: walking into a trap – at the old age home, a surprise birthday party has been organised for one of the nurses turning 21.
Reaction – she is overwhelmed by the elderly kindness, then starts sensing something are not quite right and as fear start to increase she’ll feel trapped.
· Terrorized: The characters find themselves increasingly isolated, unable to leave town, and terrified as night falls.
ACT 3—FULL OUT HORROR:
· Fight to the death: Some of the characters won’t make it and will be massacred; some will sacrifice themselves to save others. The monsters are now seen for who they are and no longer underestimated: there’s nothing vulnerable, friendly or innocent about them anymore, they are wolves in lambs’ clothing!
Horror situation: wounded – one of the characters is wounded by a blow on the head with a walking stick.
Reaction – he is stunned, shocked and looks in total dismay at the blood pouring profusely from his forehead while the monster looks at him with a sweet smile.
Horror situation: face to face with the monster –the monster shows his true face to Anna by killing someone in front of her own eyes.
Reaction – she unsettled the monster by calmly getting down on her knees and starting to pray.
· Hysteria: It’s now a war between the young terrified desperate to survive characters against the old determined to get what they need (blood & flesh) to regain their youth.
Horror situation: see another killed – Naomi will see watch her boyfriend, James, get tortured and killed before her eyes.
Reaction – she freezes and watch in horror then throws up.
Horror situation: another character loses it – Mia will get hysterical when she finds out the nature of the meals the monsters are sharing.
Reaction – she’ll scream and finally pass out.
· The thrilling escape from death: Some will manage to escape, to find momentary safety in one of the many churches… only to realize they have stepped in the belly of the beast!
Horror situation: trapped – some characters seek refuge in a church at night, only to realize this may not be a safe place after all.
Reaction – they start panicking, looking for somewhere to hide or an escape route.
Horror situation: dilemma- who to save – Andrew (the strong as an ox guy) finds out that a group of students are trapped in the church and surrounded by the monster(s); he can either create a diversion and risk being captured and killed or watch them being taken and killed.
Reaction – he takes a deep breath and makes a choice.
Horror situation: a character becomes a liability – Andrew will be seriously injured by the monster and, when trying to escape through the woods, will slow down his friends’ escape and jeopardize their only chance of making it through the woods to reach the edge of the town limits.
Reaction – he will pretend to take a rest break, letting his friends get a bit ahead, then will take off in the opposite direction shouting at the monsters to create a diversion and save his friends, sacrificing his own life.
· Death returns to take one or more: More will need to die before they can unify and overcome the monsters.
Horror situation: escape route cut off – the only road out of town is blocked by the monster(s), preventing the car with a group of characters to escape.
Reaction – one of the characters urges the driver to step on the gas and run over the monster(s) but the driver is not willing to do so, as she still can’t face the idea that the harmless looking creatures on the road are monster(s).
Horror situation: character refuses to take action – Anna will refuse to run over the monster when she has to make a choice.
Reaction – her refusal will put others in harm’s way.
· Resolution: When Anna’s faith and innocence (despite being an old soul) breaks through some of the elderly and that the monsters within the group them find themselves isolated, the killing is reversed and the elderly monsters are in turn massacred.
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ASSIGNMENT 4 – THE HORROR PLOT TRACK
(Title: “GRAHAMSTOWN”)
What I learned from this assignment: That there is a ‘recipe’ to follow to construct a horror story and that it’s essential to put all the right ingredients in the right order for the horror to rise. I also realized that creating an outline is essential as it can reveal the weaknesses in the story.
ACT 1—SET UP THE HORROR:
· Atmosphere of evil established: Press articles with graphic photos on a computer screen showing gruesome young people murdered or vanished; the number 21 comes back again and again on the screen, at the end, a town’s name appears – GRAHAMSTOWN. The computer screen reflects the strained face of a young woman and, in the background, we see the reflection of candles burning on a birthday cake on a table then we see the terror in her wide bulging eyes followed by her shrilling scream as someone keeps knocking, harder and harder, at the door in the background while humming in faint frail and soft voice “happy birthday to you”!
· Connect with the characters: A group of new students; we discover each character, their personalities, their struggle, their attempts to fit in, in a college where other students behave strangely and in a town with a secret.
· The characters are warned not to do it: The new students to the college are told to never go out alone after dark and if they must then to stay in pack and never to mix with the friendly old people.
· Denial of horror: The new students will brush off the advice as plain silly and paranoid and mean; they are young and strong, why should they be afraid of some old folks even if they are the only ones walking in the dark streets of the small town!
· Safety taken away: When young people are stranded as cars strangely break down, buses don’t show and taxis don’t stop, being back home before dark becomes an impossible mission.
· Monster- the nature of the beast: With old people infiltrated in all areas of the small town’s life, knowing who the monster is and whom to trust is a matter of life and death.
ACT 2—THE POINT OF NO RETURN:
· Isolated/trapped/abducted: Young people are no longer even safe in doors as the monsters try to break in or to lure them outside in desperation to get what they need.
· One of us killed: Naomi and James – the lovers – will be the first to go. Lust and romance will led them outside after dark and cause their death.
MIDPOINT—THE MONSTER IS WORSE THAN WHAT WE THOUGHT:
· Full pursuit by the killer: They must now do whatever they can to protect themselves at night from the monsters who try to break in and become increasingly aggressive and cunning.
· Terrorized: The characters find themselves increasingly isolated, unable to leave town, and terrified as night falls.
ACT 3—FULL OUT HORROR:
· Fight to the death: Some of the characters won’t make it and will be massacred; some will scarify themselves to save others. The monsters are now seen for who they are and no longer underestimated: there’s nothing vulnerable, friendly or innocent about them anymore, they are wolves in lambs’ clothing!
· Hysteria: It’s now a war between the young terrified desperate to survive characters against the old determined to get what they need (blood & flesh) to regain their youth.
· The thrilling escape from death: Some will manage to escape, to find momentary safety in one of the many churches… only to realize they have stepped in the belly of the beast!
· Death returns to take one or more: More will need to die before they can unify and overcome the monsters.
· Resolution: When Anna’s faith and innocence (despite being an old soul) breaks through some of the elderly and that the monsters within the group them find themselves isolated, the killing is reversed and the elderly monsters are in turn massacred.
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ASSIGNMENT 3 – SURVIVORS & VICTIMS
(Title: “GRAHAMSTOWN”)
What I learned from this assignment: That there is a method/pattern in choosing the characters to reach a specific audience; this can facilitate the Producer’s (and Casting Director’s) job when marketing the film.
1- The concept and the group I have chosen: The elderly who turn into monsters at night target young people selected by their age biblical meaning (the no 21 = exceedingly sinfulness of sin) and who are isolated. The monster(s) are also responding to a secret code to choose their leader(s) (the no 77 = vengeance).
2- The dying pattern: A (the characters are killed off one by one)
3- The identity (in 1 sentence) of each character that makes up the group:
· Rescuer: MATTHIAS (biblical meaning = the gift of the Lord) – A journalist in his thirties who comes to Grahamstown to write an article for a newspaper on the small town’s unusual people longevity. While doing his research, he will uncover another disturbing story: the town’s equally unusual number of young deaths and disappearances. He is clever, inquisitive and persistent: he keeps digging for the truth.
· Innocent: ANNA (biblical meaning = favour, grace) – A student in theology. A good person, pure, a bit gullible: she only sees the good in people and does volunteering work (reading stories) at the only old age home of the town.
· Out of control/obnoxious: MIA (biblical meaning = bitterness, rebellion) – has rich folks; spoiled; keeps on changing majors, she is awkward and not very gifted in the looks department; likes to rock the boat and put others in trouble. Manipulative, her lies will cause the death of one of her fellow students and the one who she has a crush on (Stephen).
· Lovers: NAOMI (biblical meaning = pleasant) + JAMES (biblical meaning = supplanter, the one who comes after). She: very pretty, popular and not too bright but streetwise, she has James eating in the palm of her hand. She senses that there is something not quite right with the old people of the town and steers away from them as much as possible. He: on a football scholarship, your typical good looking boy who falls for the prom Queen. They are in love and very romantic, this will be their downfall.
· Rebel/Rule breaker: ANDREW (biblical meaning = manly) – Student in architecture and a wrestling regional champion. Very strong physically and he will form a friendship with Matthias, becoming his side kick in his investigations. His strength will become his weakness as he will underestimate the elderly’s strength and die a horrible death.
· Introvert/Loner: JOANNA (biblical meaning = God is gracious) – A student in literature she is the introvert and loner of the group. She never goes out at night and writes poetry. She talks little but is a keen observer; she makes notes of unusual behaviours in the elderly and will send anonymous notes to Matthias to guide him towards the ‘real story’ of the town.
· Sacrificial lamb: STEPHEN (biblical meaning = was Christianity’s 1<sup>st</sup> martyr) – A ‘good boy’ in all aspects, a bit of a geek, he is secretly in love with Anna; he also does some volunteer work at the old age home just to be near her. He will sacrifice himself to save her and will die in front of her own eyes.
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NADIA’S TERRIFYING MONSTER:
What I learned from this assignment: That giving thought to the monster adds substance to the story; thinking of the monster as the lead character could change the whole story angle.
1- My monster is: Your friendly elderly next door neighbour by day could rip you apart by night.
2- About my monster:
· Their terror: Anyone of age 21 (Bible number symbolizing Sin) in Grahamstown can be massacred and mutilated if caught out after dark. The monster is everywhere as there is more than one monster, it cannot be trusted yet it has the face of kindness and wisdom. Do not tell anyone your real age as it could be the death of you, literally! If they catch you, they will drink your blood and steal your organs, you will die a horrible death and your dead body will be marked by the number 8.
· Their mystery: The monster hides in bright day light: it can be anyone as long as it fits the “number” and is a true believer; but what is the “number” and who believes enough to kill for it?
· Their fear provoking appearance: They look weak yet they become strong just before the kill; their signs of weakness are their weapons and you won’t see them until they strike but by then, it’s too late. They always smile and thank you just before they kill you.
· Their rules: It will get your trust then it will get the rest of you. If you are one of the chosen ones, it will find a way to lure you outside after dark and then kill you. If you have what it needs, then nobody can save you.
· Their mythology: Their twisted and fanatical interpretation of the bible is the key to their killings. The monster(s) lives in a twisted world of biblical symbolism and denial where certain ‘numbers’ have to be killed while other ‘numbers’ have to do the killings, all for the quest of eternal youth.
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Film picked for the study:
· Title/Concept: “A Quiet Place 2”
· Terrorize the characters: A family must live in total silence if they don’t want to be massacred by sound attracted creatures.
· Isolation: Here the isolation is total – isolated house, isolated family with no other humans around, isolated amongst them as they cannot use words or sound to communicate.
· Death: Death can be sudden, brutal and terrifying and happen the second they make a noise.
· Monster/Villain: Deadly creatures/ monsters that appeared one day, we don’t really know where, most likely aliens and their intentions were immediately deadly.
· High Tension: Every second in their lives must be lived in a way to avoid making any sound that could be heard by the monsters. One mistake means instant and brutal death.
· Departure from reality: This is an extreme situation that implies immediate acceptance from the audience that the sudden appearance of aliens on earth whose only objective is to kill is believable enough to be drawn into the story.
· Moral Statement: Life as we know it (!) could disappear at the blink of an eye and adaptation is the key to survival.
My film project for the class:
(Title: “GRAHAMSTOWN”)
· Concept: Old people who turn into killing monsters at night in their quest for eternal youth.
· Terrorize the characters: Any young person who is not locked in at home by night fall is not safe.
· Isolation: A small insular student’s town where no one can be trusted.
· Death: Anyone unlucky enough to turn 21 in Grahamstown can die a horrible death.
· Monster/Villain: Harmless looking old people by day can be killing monsters by night.
· High Tension: Don’t trust anyone and be home with your door locked before it gets dark.
· Departure from reality: Getting old is part of life’s natural cycle; people don’t go around killing young people in an attempt to stay young forever.
· Moral Statement: What is the ultimate act a person would be prepared to do to live longer?!
What I learned in the 1st assignment: the difference between “thrillers” and “horrors”… which led me to put aside 2 out of the 3 concepts/ideas I had for the class as they were obvious thrillers. It also made me realize that I have a strong inclination for thrillers 🙂