Paranoia

(So I haven't posted for a while, and I'm thinking about some kind of a special blog post is in order to compensate...

*later*

Okay, so after much thought lets make it even more special - over the next week in my absence (going skiing in the Alps, so excited!!) I shall be posting online two of my pieces of coursework from my Creative Writing class - instead of the usual posting a piece that has had minimal editing, here's a treat that has been properly edited: my script that is as of yet unmarked. I tried to go for a psychological horror take on this, so without much further ado... enjoy!!)

Cast List

JOHNNY – Middle aged and good looking, married to MELISSA and father of JAKE

                     and AMY. A family man who enjoys the outdoors.

MELISSA –JOHNNY’s wife and a caring stay-at-home mother of JAKE and AMY.

JAKE – JOHNNY and MELISSA’s eight-year-old son. Keen footballer and very

close to his parents.

AMY – A shy and cautious six-year-old, JOHNNY and MELISSA’s daughter. She

dotes on her elder brother JAKE and treats him like a hero.

Paranoia 

FADE IN:

Montage..

Screen shows static, occasionally punctuated by home footage and stills taken by JOHNNY’s family.

Wedding footage of MELISSA and JOHNNY.

Photos taken at a christening.

Short videos of JAKE and AMY playing.

Johnny’s voiceover is heard over the top. On his final words, the screen cuts to black with the noise of a television shutting off.

JOHNNY (V/O)

Have you ever had an obsession so crazy that drove you straight to the brink of insanity? And then when you thought that it had reached a climax, it caught you unaware and pushed you straight off the edge?

(pause)

I have. My name is Johnny Brockman and this is my story.

EXT. FOREST - DAY

JOHNNY, MELISSA, JAKE and AMY are walking through a forest with their dog.

JOHNNY (V/O)

I can remember the exact date I first saw him – I was with my family taking a walk in our local forest. Nothing out of the ordinary there: the amount of times my wife and I had taken the kids down there to build dens and rope swings or go bird watching, you’d think we pretty much owned the place.

EXT. CLEARING – DAY

JOHNNY is bending down to take the lead off the dog. MELISSA roots around in her bag for something, finally pulling out a Frisbee. JAKE and AMY run around the clearing as children do playing tag.

JOHNNY (V/O)

I’ve always had the kind of life that many people would dream of. A home of my own. A beautiful wife. Two kids and a dog. A family.

            (beat)

I guess I always took it for granted though, never realised what I had until it was too late.

(beat)

I first saw the shadowy figure as we were about to play Frisbee with the dog. I bent down to take off his lead and as I stood up, he was there at the edge of the clearing, standing and watching me.

Shot of the shadowy figure standing at the edge of the clearing. Close up on JOHNNY’s face.

JOHNNY (V/O)

He didn’t move and even after I blinked, he was still there.

JAKE

Come on Daddy, throw us the Frisbee.

JOHNNY shakes his head and comes out of his trance. The man is still there unmoving. He readies himself to throw the Frisbee to JAKE.

JOHNNY

Okay then, watch out. Here it comes.

JOHNNY throws the Frisbee up into the air and the camera follows it. JAKE, AMY and the dog scrabble around to catch the Frisbee. JOHNNY moves over to MELISSA.

JOHNNY

         (whispering)

What do you think he wants?

MELISSA

What who wants?

JOHNNY

         (whispering)

Him. That guy over there at the edge of the trees. Look, just behind Amy back into the trees a bit.

MELISSA squints towards the trees. Looks confused.

MELISSA

I can’t see anyone Johnny. Are you sure it’s not just the shadows in the trees?

JOHNNY

Look, he’s right there. Standing still. How can you not see him?

                                    (beat)

JOHNNY (V/O)

That was the first day I saw him. And it wasn’t the last either. Melissa thought I was going mad in the clearing back then. I dreamed about him later that night too, and all the while, he was just standing there watching me. He didn’t move, I never got any closer to him than I was in the clearing – at least, not then I didn’t.

INT. JOHNNY AND MELISSA’S BEDROOM – NIGHT

JOHNNY and MELISSA are asleep in bed; MELISSA is sleeping peacefully however JOHNNY is tossing and turning, visibly unable to sleep. Flashes of the scene in the clearing are seen between shots of him trying to sleep and close ups of his anxiety-ridden face.

Johnny sits upright in bed suddenly, eyes wide open.

JOHNNY

He’s… he’s…

        (breathes out)

He’s not here. It’s just a dream. Just a dream.

MELISSA

(sleepily, just beginning to wake up)

Johnny? What’s going on?

JOHNNY

It’s… A bad dream. I’m okay.

MELISSA goes back to sleep, JOHNNY remains sat upright in bed.

JOHNNY (V/O)

But I wasn’t okay. He was still there, waiting for me. No matter where I went, no matter where I turned, he’d always find his way back into my head.

More film clips play in the style of home footage.

Montage..

JOHNNY, JAKE and AMY are playing outside with the dog.

JOHNNY is fixing the gate in the back garden.

MELISSA and JOHNNY driving through a well-lit town. 

JOHNNY (V/O)

Of course, I mentioned it to Melissa. How could I not, she’s my wife?

INT. JOHNNY AND MELISSA’S BEDROOM – NIGHT

Scene shows JOHNNY and MELISSA in bed together, sat upright watching the television.

MELISSA

I just don’t understand why he keeps on popping up in your dreams Johnny; maybe you should go and see someone.

JOHNNY

I’m telling you, it’s not just in my dreams. I’ve seen him in real life too – the other day when I was taking Jake to football practice, he was watching me from the other side of the pitch.

(beat)

And he was there when I was driving with you and the kids to your parents’ last week.

(beat)

I’m not making this up!

Short silence while camera switches from focus on JOHNNY to focus on MELISSA.

MELISSA

Johnny… Are you sure you’re not… on something, are you? I just- well, I mean it’s weird that you keep on seeing this figure whilst nobody else can. It’s like you’re hallucinating or something.

JOHNNY

                                                                      (astounded)

Are you being serious? He’s real, I swear. I keep on seeing him everywhere I go, why do you think I would make something like this up? It’s been nine years, and you can’t believe me when I’m genuinely telling the truth?

Scene pans out on the pair sitting in an awkward silence as JOHNNY’s voiceover begins.

JOHNNY (V/O)

So there you have it, my own wife thought that I was going mad. But I knew that I wasn’t, because I kept on seeing him. And no matter who I told, no matter how many people I pointed him out to, nobody saw him… or believed me. Then one day, things escalated so violently, that I realised the seriousness of the situation.

INT. LIVING ROOM – NIGHT

JOHNNY is sat downstairs at his computer. MELISSA can be heard in the kitchen tidying up. The clocks all indicate that it is late and that the children are already in bed. Everything seems peaceful.

JAKE

 (upstairs, upset)

Mummy? Daddy? Help!

JOHNNY gets up and runs upstairs, MELISSA some way behind. Camera shot from bottom of stairs of him running, panicked. Camera shot from top close up of his hands as he pushes on the door.

INT. JAKE’S ROOM - NIGHT

JOHNNY enters JAKE’s room frantically pushing open the door. Shot of JOHNNY’s face.

JOHNNY

Oh no. No. No. No. Not you.

(beat)

Jake? Jake!

(beat)

                         (angry)

What have you done with him?

MELISSA enters behind JOHNNY. MELISSA SCREAMS. Fade in of sirens and fade out of JOHNNY and MELISSA’s screams. Black screen.

Montage..

Police cars outside JOHNNY’s house.

JOHNNY and MELISSA crying.

Both JOHNNY and MELISSA crying in the police station.

JOHNNY (V/O)

I saw him there, closer than ever before. He was standing over Jake. Just standing there. Over Jake’s body. And then just as Melissa entered the room he disappeared. Faded away into nothing.

            (beat)

The police came. They questioned me. Questioned Melissa. They couldn’t find anything though. No fingerprints, nothing. I told them about him, about the man. They didn’t listen to me. They asked me what drugs I was on. I had tests, did all the questionnaires. They threw around words like hallucinations, schizophrenia, just like Melissa did. Prescribed drugs. Therapy. In the end, any kind of the charge against us was dropped due to a lack of evidence. I tried as hard as I could to convince them about the shadowy man. Nobody listened.

INT. LIVING ROOM – LATE AFTERNOON

Fade in of JOHNNY and MELISSA sat on sofa again, curled up with one another crying. Silence. JOHNNY stands up.

JOHNNY

Melissa. He’s there.

MELISSA

(sobbing)

Johnny stop this okay, you’re scaring me.

JOHNNY

You don’t believe me?

MELISSA

    (standing up to calm him down)

Johnny, don’t do this to me. Not now.

JOHNNY

Melissa, don’t do this to me. He took Jake!

            (beat)

Leave him to me. I’ll show you. I’ll show him. I’ll fucking kill him.

JOHNNY knocks MELISSA out of the way and runs towards the door. MELISSA falls to the floor hitting her head, but retaining consciousness. Camera angles change between following JOHNNY in a rage outside of the house to her crying on the floor, reaching for the phone. Her head is bleeding.

EXT. HOUSE – LATE AFTERNOON

JOHNNY

          (Screaming)

Okay, where are you? Where are you? Come out and fight me. Come on. You took my son. You took my son from me.

INT. LIVING ROOM – LATE AFTERNOON

MELISSA is shakily dialling the police. JOHNNY is still heard in the background screaming and smashing things up outside.

MELISSA

Hello? Police? I need you to come as quick as you can. It’s my husband. He’s gone mad.

Scene fades to black as MELISSA’s last line echoes over the top.

INT. WHITE ROOM – DAYTIME

JOHNNY’s face is seen close up on the camera, non-moving.

JOHNNY (V/O)

They took me away that afternoon. Said I was mad.

                        (beat)

The court ruled that I was criminally insane, accused me of Jake’s murder. I pleaded for my innocence but nobody listened. Melissa took Amy away, said she never wanted to see me again. She was scared.

(beat)

I stopped seeing him after that night. I knew he was there though. And when nobody believed me, I guess I just got pushed over the edge. He was real to me. I guess in a way, the figure had become a part of me, the very embodiment of my own paranoia. The shadowy figure was my own mind, a projection of a subconscious just waiting for something to go wrong with my perfect life.

(beat)

No wonder nobody believed me.

FADE OUT TO BLACK


(Check the blog again on Wednesday 4/4/13 for the next post - I'm not sure what the wi-fi connection is like at the top of a mountain, so it's probably easier if I schedule a post. ;) )

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Peace. x

Dave and Scott (Two Writing Bursts)

(In this piece, with the starting line "What the hell is t---!", I tried to emulate a piece of teenage/young adult fiction, in particular the tone of the narrative - taking a limited third person perspective. The ending - as much as I hate the whole idea - is ambiguous and is written with the intention of leaving the reader guessing as to what it is that is outside behind Dave.) 


"What the hell is t---!" Dave's mother yelled at him as soon as he stepped through the door. Quite the over-reaction he decided, it was only a tiny little bit of metal. It just happened to be pierced through his lip, that was all.

"Oh calm down Mum, it's only a tiny little bit of metal." Dave said to her. At this, his mum was still speechless. It was as if her mouth was moving and she was trying to formulate words, but no sound could quite come out.

"It didn't cost very much at all, Nick's cousin in the market did it for me, gave me a well good deal."

Shock. Horror. Silence.

"Okay, okay. I get it. You don't like it."

More silence as she stared towards him. He didn't say anything. Wait a second. He followed her noiseless gaze and realised that in fact, her silence was not directed towards him at all. He turned around, wondering what exactly could be worse in her eyes than her eldest teenage son coming home with his lip pierced. Then he saw it.


(This piece was intended to be the beginning of a short story with no specific theme or stimulus. Ideally, it would have been longer, however due to a lack of inspiration/concentration and a probable hangover from yours truly, the entire thing was only three quarters of  page. So I guess it still is the beginning, it's just the very beginning, that's all. :p)


Scott remembered the very first time he saw her. She was virtually covered, head to toe, in splatters of white Dulux paint - on her hands, arms, face and even her messy blonde hair had unintentional white highlights in it. The oversized mens shirt and sweat pants she was wearing were covered in paint too, a pair of distinct feminine handprints smeared down the sides of the trousers where she'd wiped her hands. Despite all this however, she was one of the most beautiful people that Scott had ever laid eyes on, and he couldn't help but notice how her warm eyes met his in a shy gaze and then moved away again, a small smile playing about her lips. She also happened to be his wife's first cousin.