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Insomnia
by Christian Pascual (impactred520@gmail.com)

Rated: PG-13   Genre: Miscellaneous   User Review: ***
A short film about a young man who is having trouble getting to sleep for at first unknown reasons.


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:

INT. THE INSOMNIAC'S HOUSE - NIGHT
                                                            
THE INSOMNIAC'S BEDROOM
                                                            
The film opens in black and white with a shot from above THE
INSOMNIAC's bed. He is tossing and turning, obviously trying
to get to sleep. After about a minute, he gets up out of his
bed and walks out of his bedroom.
                                                            
THE INSOMNIAC'S KITCHEN
                                                            
The Insomniac walks to his refrigerator and pulls out a
carton of milk. He pours the milk into a mug that has a
picture of a raven on it. He then proceeds to put the mug
into the microwave and waits anxiously for it to finish
warming. After its done, he takes out the mug, drinks the
milk, puts the mug in the sink, and walks away.
                                                            
THE INSOMNIAC'S BEDROOM
                                                            
The Insomniac returns to bed and continues to try and sleep.
The Insomniac tosses and turns again. A clock fades in to
the right side of the screen. The split screen plays in fast
forward to show the Insomniac still struggling to get to
sleep and one hour passing on the clock. He then gets out of
bed again and walks out of the room.
                                                            
THE INSOMNIAC'S BATHROOM
                                                            
The Insomniac walks into his bathroom and turns on the
shower.The Camera is focused on his face as he walks in the
shower. The camera slowly pulls back from the shower and
then begins to shoot from outside the bathroom door with the
sound of the shower running the only thing that is audible.
After some time, we see the Insomniac walk out of the
bathroom and walk away.
                                                            
THE INSOMNIAC'S LIVING ROOM
                                                            
The Insomniac walks into his living room and sits down at
his grand piano and begins to play "Moonlight Sonata." On
top of the piano, under a pile of sheet music is a copy of
"The Tell Tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe. On the left side
of the piano is the Insomniac's cell phone. As he plays the
song, the camera is slowly cross fading around and above
him. Suddenly, after about 2 minutes, his cell phone begins
to ring and the screen is now in color. Only the Insomniac's
voice is audible.
                                                            

2.

                       THE INSOMNIAC
Hello?
Yo, dude what's going on?
Can't sleep.
Yeah, what's up?
Right Now?
Yeah man,no problem.
Yeah, I'll see you in a bit.
Okay, Bye.
                                                            
The Insomniac puts his phone in his pocket, closes the piano
over the keys and walks away.
                                                            
 
EXT. OUTSIDE THE INSOMNIAC'S HOUSE - NIGHT
                                                            
We see the Insomniac walk outside, lock the door of his
house, walk out to his driveway, get in his car, back out,
and drive away.
                                                            
 
EXT. OUTSIDE A MOVIE THEATER - NIGHT
                                                            
We see the Insomniac's car pull up in front of a movie
theater in a mall parking lot. Standing in front of the
theater is TOPHER, he is wearing a movie theater uniform. As
the Insomniac stops in front of the theater, Topher gets in,
then we see the car drive away.
                                                            
 
INT. THE INSOMNIAC'S CAR - NIGHT
                                                            
                       THE INSOMNIAC
How is it that you always manage
to get these really late hours?
                                                            
                       TOPHER
      (Laughing)
I'm a supervisor, I need to
supervise 'til late at night.
                                                            
                       THE INSOMNIAC
      (Sarcastically)
Yeah, you work soooo hard, and
you're welcome for the ride by the
way.
                                                            
                       TOPHER
Hey, all the movies you get for
free, that is thanks enough okay,
and I do work really hard, thank
you very much.
                                                            

3.

                       THE INSOMNIAC
Fair enough.
                                                            
                       TOPHER
      (Excited)
Oh my God!
                                                            
                       THE INSOMNIAC
      (Surprised)
What the fuck was that about?
                                                            
                       TOPHER
Guess what happened at work today.
                                                            
                       THE INSOMNIAC
      (Shrugs)
What?
                                                            
                       TOPHER
So I'm at work right, and I'm just
minding my own business doing who
knows what right? Then, all of a
sudden, we see 2 paramedics come
rushing into the theater and no
one knows what the hell is going
on.
                                                            
                       THE INSOMNIAC
Wait, what happened? Is everyone
cool?
                                                            
                       TOPHER
Yeah, apparently. There were these
2 chicks, who were looking really
fuckin' hot, if I do say so
myself. And they were watching a
scary movie and apparently, they
got really shocked by something
and had a panic attack. So when
the paramedics came and asked what
happened, they said that they got
really scared and got short of
breath.
                                                            
                       THE INSOMNIAC
Uh huh... and?
                                                            
                       TOPHER
And then, they said, "And we were
high."
                                                            
The two start laughing a little bit.
                                                            

4.

                       THE INSOMNIAC
Can't you get arrested or fined
for doing that shit in public?
                                                            
                       TOPHER
You would think that now wouldn't
you? But like I said earlier,
these 2 girls were lookin' really
fuckin' hot. So the way I hear it,
the paramedics didn't report
anything because they got some
special attention from the girls.
If you catch my drift.
                                                            
                       THE INSOMNIAC
Wow. So exactly what did that have
to do with anything?
                                                            
                       TOPHER
Well, nothing really, I just
thought that you might care how my
day went asshole.
                                                            
                       THE INSOMNIAC
Well, to be honest, I could really
care less.
                                                            
                       TOPHER
Thanks, a lot. But what the hell
are you still doing up anyways?
                                                            
The Insomniac's mood changes drastically, he is no longer
smiling or laughing.
                                                            
                       THE INSOMNIAC
You know exactly why I can't
sleep.
                                                            
                       TOPHER
Look man, I thought we went over
this. What happened the other day
was a complete accident.
                                                            
The Insomniac shakes his head in disagreement.
                                                            
                       THE INSOMNIAC
I know what we said but
                                                            
Topher interrupts the Insomniac before he can finish.
                                                            

5.

                       TOPHER
No "buts" man. Look, that guy we
ran over was probably a homeless
drunk.
                                                            
The Insomniac tries to interrupt Topher, but he continues to
talk.
                                                            
                       TOPHER (cont'd)
And I know this sounds horrible
and heartless and all that shit,
but he probably wasn't someone
that anyone is gonna miss.
                                                            
                       THE INSOMNIAC
I know, I know, we went over this
already. All I'm saying is that
running someone over with a car
and killing them, is not the kind
of thing that someone just "gets
over."
                                                            
                       TOPHER
And all I'm saying is that this is
not the kind of thing that you
need to lose sleep over.
                                                            
                       THE INSOMNIAC
      (Shaking Head)
Maybe we should just turn
ourselves in man. I just have a
bad feeling about this whole
thing.
                                                            
                       TOPHER
No way man. There was no one
there, we wore gloves when we
moved the body. There's no
evidence of us ever being there
okay? And like I said before, it's
not like there are gonna be people
looking for him. So trust me,
everything's gonna be fine.
                                                            
                       THE INSOMNIAC
I guess.
                                                            
                       TOPHER
Look, I know okay? Could you stop
over here really quick man, all
this shit makes me need to take a
smoke.
                                                            

6.

Topher points outside the car.
                                                            
The Insomniac still obviously disagrees with Topher's
rationalization, but agrees to stop.
                                                            
                       THE INSOMNIAC
Yeah man, whatever.
                                                            
 
EXT. OUTSIDE A 7 - ELEVEN - NIGHT
                                                            
Topher gets out of the car, but leans his head in and looks
at the Insomniac.
                                                            
                       TOPHER
Trust me man, in a few years,
we're gonna look back at this
whole thing and laugh.
                                                            
Topher closes the door, but the Insomniac rolls down the
window and screams out.
                                                            
                       THE INSOMNIAC
      (Sarcastically)
The fact that you think we can
look back at this and laugh is
really morbid and disturbing by
the way.
                                                            
Topher continues to walk but shouts back.
                                                            
                       TOPHER
That's how I roll.
                                                            
The camera, from inside the car, shows Topher walking into
the store. Suddenly, he stops, puts his hands up, and starts
to slowly back away towards the door. The Insomniac looks
puzzled. Suddenly, we see Topher turn and run. We hear
gunshots, and Topher falls down.
                                                            
                       THE INSOMNIAC
Holy shit!
                                                            
We see the Insomniac struggle to start his car. As he is
doing so, we see a pair of robbers wearing black ski masks
run out of the 7 - Eleven. They see the Insomniac, point at
him and start running towards him. The Insomniac drops his
keys, and after he picks them up, he looks to his right to
see one of the robbers pointing a gun at him. We hear a
gunshot.
                                                            
 

7.

INT. THE INSOMNIAC'S HOUSE - NIGHT
                                                            
THE INSOMNIAC'S BEDROOM
                                                            
We see the Insomniac sit up in bed. He is sweating and in
shock. We can hear the doorbell ringing in the background.
                                                            
THE INSOMNIAC'S LIVING ROOM
                                                            
We see the Insomniac putting on a robe as he walks to the
door.
                                                            
                       THE INSOMNIAC
I'm coming, I'm coming.
                                                            
He opens the door and the POLICE OFFICER is outside. The red
lights of the sirens can be seen bouncing off of the
Insomniac's face. The camera is shooting over the shoulder
of the Police Officer at the Insomniac.
                                                            
                       POLICE OFFICER
Excuse me sir, are you Fred
Parmelee?
                                                            
The Insomniac is obviously in shock.
                                                            
                       THE INSOMNIAC
Y-Yes?
                                                            
                       POLICE OFFICER
Fred Scott Parmelee?
                                                            
                       THE INSOMNIAC
Yes.
                                                            
                       POLICE OFFICER
Sir, I'm afraid you're under
arrest. You have the right to
remain silent, anything you say
can, and will be used against you
in a court of law. You have the
right to an attorney, if you
cannot afford, one will be
provided for you.
                                                            


FADE OUT.


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From David Eby Date 4/20/2009 ***
I thought the idea, and how you executed it were excellent. However, you were kind of losing me with all the camera directions in the beginning. Also, when your scene heading is, EXT. wherever, you don't need to write outside in the description, EXT. implies that the scene takes place outside.


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