Please note - this is how I write full-script. I prefer full-script (although I don't work full-script on The Silver Bullet) but you may find something else works better for you.
PAGE ONE
(Small panel upper right, surrounded by a larger panel, surrounded by a splash panel.)
SMALL PANEL
A shadowy close-up of an amp cord being plugged into a black guitar.
QUARTER PANEL
Pull back to a wider shot of the same shadowy image. The cord is plugged in. The guitar is fully in view. The chest of the man holding the guitar is visible. He is wearing a yellow tee shirt with red script reading “DUNGEON & DRAGONS International Convention, 1984”. A microphone stand sits in front of him.
SPLASH PANEL
Pull back even further to reveal the entire stage as the lights come up. A large crowd (large for a club, not a stadium) throngs about the foot of the stage. The man holding the guitar, GABE, is center stage. He is wearing the above-described tee shirt and a pair of fashionable jeans. His hair is brown, brushed forward and spiked up at his forehead and he is sporting three or four days of stubble. His boxy black glasses have slid down his nose a bit. Center stage, set back a bit, a slightly shorter, stockier man, DEX, sits behind a drum kit, arms raised, ready to bring his sticks down for the first beat of the first song. He wears a SLAYER tee shirt and faded boot-cut jeans (we probably can’t see his pants yet, though). His head is shaved clean, he has a thick, silver hoop in each ear, and wire-rimmed glasses perched on his nose. On the left side of the stage stands a taller man with close-cropped dark hair and small glasses. This is NEIL. He’s wearing a light blue polo shirt and khakis. His bass is set high against his chest on its strap and his microphone stand is set even higher, with the microphone tilted back down toward his mouth.
F/X: The roar of the crowd.
CAP: Chicago, IL – September 19th, 2003 – 8:03 p.m.
PAGE TWO
(Four panels – a row of two square panels on top of two full-page width panels.)PANEL ONE
A close-up of GABE’S PROFILE at the far right of the frame. He is speaking into a microphone on the stand in front of him. He is genuinely excited to be here.
GABE: Thanks for coming out tonight, everyone!
F/X: More crowd roaring.
PANEL TWO
A close-up of a scary DEMON’S PROFILE at the far left of the frame (“back-to-back” with GABE’S PROFILE in PANEL ONE). This demon has a bull-dog like face with horns that jut out from above his ears, curve back and down around the back of his head, and follow his jaw line to his mouth, where the horns end in sharp points (sort of like a ram, but scarier). He, too, is genuinely excited to be here (which is far creepier than GABE’S excitement, since the DEMON is here to kill everyone).
DEMON: (Shouting) Yes, thank you all for coming! It makes our hunt so much easier!
F/X: Abrupt end to the crowd roaring
PANEL THREE
Pull-back to a wider shot of PANEL ONE showing DEX, GABE, and NEIL in profile from the waist up at the far right of the panel (DEX is out from behind the drum kit already, standing between GABE and NEIL). They hold their instruments (or, you know, drumsticks) with steely resolve. It’s going to look like those old SUPERFRIENDS shots of the group lined up to fight. The crowd, visible to the left, stares in wonder.
GABE: Most bands only worry about broken strings…
PANEL FOUR
Pull back to a wider shot of PANEL TWO showing the DEMON and various other MONSTERS at the far left of the panel. This is the Injustice League half of the old SUPERFRIENDS image, the baddies in the same sort of line, raring to go. The crowd is visible on the right, staring at the DEMON and his MONSTERS in wonder. Not fear, mind you. The crowd looks expectant, if anything.
DEMON: Kill the others, but leave the angel-spawn to me.
PANEL FIVE
A shot of GABE, DEX, and NEIL from in the center of the crowd. Arcane energy crackles around DEX’S HANDS. NEIL has changed into some sort of bear-beast. GABE holds his guitar by the neck (it's starting to glow) and large glowing wings have spread out from his back. Between our position and the stage are the backs of many heads, watching in rapt attention.
PANEL SIX
A shot of the DEMON and his MONSTERS from the same point in the crowd. The MONSTERS hang from the walls and ceiling, all razor-sharp claws and slavering jaws. The DEMON has spread huge, leathery wings and rises in the air above the audience. Again, the space between our position and the DEMON is full of backs of heads as the people in the crowd stare at the display.
PAGE THREE
(Splash page.)
SPLASH
A shot from almost directly above the stage, looking down. In the foreground, flying high above the crowd, GABE slices the DEMON almost in half with an oversized, glowing broadsword. Below them, in the background, DEX is firing energy blasts at MONSTERS on one side of the stage while NEIL is mixing it up with some MONSTERS beastie-style on the other side of the stage. The crowd is looking every which way, trying to follow all of the action.
PAGE FOUR
(Four full-page wide panels.)
PANEL ONE
An establishing shot of the alley behind the club. A tour bus waits at the far side of the alley.
CAP: Chicago, IL – September 19th, 2003 – 11:47 p.m.
PANEL TWO
Two sweaty and exhausted young men, LUKE and TONY, slouch near the alley wall. TONY smokes a cigarette while LUKE writes in a notebook.
LUKE: …can't believe they played County Fair! The whole set list was like a dream…
TONY: I thought that opening was WAY overdone, though. That demon guy's make-up wasn't even that good.
LUKE: I don't know. It seemed almost…REAL to me.
PANEL THREE
A reverse angle over LUKE and TONY'S shoulders showing a tour bus. Three shadowy figures, GABE, DEX, and NEIL, are about to board the bus. They are carrying the body of the DEMON between them.
LUKE: I heard when they played St. Louis, a dragon showed up. My friend says it was real.
TONY: No way, dude. See? They're packing up the demon costume now.
LUKE: I guess…
PANEL FOUR
A tight shot of the bus pulling away.
GABE: (O.P., inside the bus) Hey Dex, any idea how to unsummon a demon corpse?
GABE: (Connected) And have you seen my extra strings?
It's interesting to see how things get interpreted from script to image - in this case Wil was spot-on with what was in my head (part of the reason I wanted to work with him).
No comments:
Post a Comment