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The Chill Air (Short Film)
by Aaron Arizpe (blackscarletmage@hotmail.com)

Rated: PG-13   Genre: Drama   User Review: **
A mother loses her daughter and becomes distraught.


This screenplay is copyrighted to its author. All rights reserved. This screenplay may not be used or reproduced without the express written permission of the author.



FADE IN:

EXT. CEMETARY - DAY
                                                            
Winter. Grey, low hanging snow filled clouds cover the sky.
The camera is fixated on a large dead tree in the center of
the screen. It's probably the coldest day of the year.
                                                            
We are captivated by the beauty of the tree, staring at it
from the ground up. There is a chill to the air. Watching
the wind freeze the already naked limbs of the tree, we cut
to the next shot. We see we are in a cemetary. The camera is
focusing on a blade of wheat grass blowing in the wind. The
rest of the world is out of focus. To use the term, quiet as
a grave yard would be proper, except for the pneumatic wind.
                                                            
The camera is now shooting the sky agian, but there is
something fluttering in the bottom right hand corner of the
screen. The wind amplifies, and we see that it is hair.
Tiny, simplistic strands of it. We very slowly move down
twoards the directions of where the hair is coming from.
Before we see the face, the camera CUTS TO: An eye. An
exotic green eye. The eye closes for a moment then re-opens.
We see a tear run down. But there is still no sound. Silent
crying. More tears are slowly forming in the eye. The eye
shuts agian, pushing more tears out.
                                                            
We are now at a side angle with the girl's face in full
picture. Almost at once, we see the anguish in her face.
Just looking at her makes you feel her torment. The camera
cuts to a POV for the girl. She is staring downwards at a
grave.
                                                            
The camera moves from the left to the right very slowly so
we can read the headstone.

Here lies

Gwendalyn

May 14th, 2004 - March 10th, 2005

Beloved Daughter
                                                            
The camera cuts to Girl's hands. (Still at a side view) In
her hands she is holding a doll. A dingy doll. She reaches
out, and the camera follows her hand, as she places the doll
on the headstone. Her tears begin to come faster and harder.
She falls to her knees, clutching her head. Her fingers
grasping her head as her lungs grasp for air. Everything
begins to get brighter on the screen, until it is completely
white.
                                                            
 

2.

INT. HOUSE - DAY
                                                            
The camera has a soft filter on it. Everything we see seems
like it has sunlight shining directly on it. We are moving
fast up a stair case. The camera comes to the top of the
stairway and sees a door that is shut. We start to move
twoards the door, then the daughter runs in front of the
camera from behind. She runs to the door as fast as she can
and tries to open it. She cannot. But the door opens on its
own and her mother is there to scoop her into her arms. The
screen then starts to become white agian, and we can hear
child laughter and adult laughter fading out as the screen
becomes brighter. Then, once agian, turns completely white.
                                                            
 
EXT. CEMETARY - DAY
                                                            
We cut back to the mother. She looks she is choking on air.
She has just had the flashback. Her head falls to the
ground, and she begins to shake and cry uncontrollably. The
camera pulls back very slowly. We cut back to the blade of
wheat grass. We see Girl fuzzed out in the background, but
we can still hear her sobs.
                                                            
 
INT. HOUSE - DAY
                                                            
The camera is ground level with the floor. The front door
opens and Girl walks in. We see her feet come in, and turn
to lock the door. We cut to a wooden box on a bench. Girl
walks in front of the camera with her back to us, covering
up our view. We hear clicking, and finally she moves out of
the way. The box is open, but whatever was in there has
vanished.
                                                            
The camera is panning across and mantle, where photographs
of the mother, daughter, and father are. Showing all the
happy times they had in her short life. We cut to Girl. She
is sitting in an arm chair, with a picture in her hands. It
is a picture of her baby girl as a newborn. A tear drops
down onto the picture. The mother kisses the picture, while
more tears roll down her face. The camera is now a distance
away from Girl, but still pointing directly at her. We begin
to move sideways, extremely slowly. CUT TO:
                                                            
 
EXT. CEMETARY - DAY
                                                            
The gravestone of Gwendalyn. A close up of the doll her
mother placed on it. The wind picks up, and blows the doll
off the top of the stone. CUT TO:
                                                            
 

3.

INT. HOUSE - DAY
                                                            
We are still moving sideways. Just before the mother is out
of the frame, she holds her hand up to her head, but we do
not see what is in it. We realize the mother had retrieved a
gun from the wooden box.

We move until the mother is out of frame. Then we freeze.
There is a moment of complete silence. Then, blood hits the
wall. The mother has shot herself in the head. There are a
few more moments of silence. We hear a car outside the
house. We hear a car door shut. The front door opens agian.
It is the Husband.
                                                            
                       HUSBAND
      (Casually)
Honey, I'm home.
                                                            


FADE OUT.


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From Malcolm Date 9/7/2006 **1/2
Well, this was very straight forward. Could have been a number of any stories you read out of the paper. Kinda the first ten minuets of a film that has alot more story to it. Yeah, not supposed to mention the camera. I believe the main reason for this is that if you were to actually sell it, you don't necessarily have the power to tell the director where to place his camera. It's up toi him how hw intrerprets your script. Small detail. If you’re planning on directing it, no biggy. It’s really nice that you know exactly how you want it to look though. That's a very valuable skill.

From Brad Smith Date 9/2/2006 **
I agree with Zach on most things, but I think it's okay to address the camera as it can be helpful. I know you're not "supposed" to, but I don't see why.

From Zach Shevich Date 8/30/2006 **
It's all right. It is a short film, but still, there's not much to it. You address the camera, which a screenplay should not, and a couple of occasions you use 2nd person (you) instead of 3rd (one). I think you spelt "towards" incorrectly, using "twoards" twice. Still, it's not bad.


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