'Revelations' - A short film script.

Okay so for my film making course, we had to create a short film script which could be between five and ten minutes long. There are some Silent Hill references thrown in, mainly due to the fact I was listening to the soundtracks while writing this. I figured that I may as well get as much feedback as possible before it's due, I may polish it with one last draft.

Note, I know the story is very dark. It's what I'm best at writing.

Quote :

1. INT. DARK ROOM. (MONTAGE)

We are in a dark, cold room. WIDE SHOT, The only thing illuminating it is a small lamp on a table. Numerous FLASHES from crime scene cameras light up sections of the room, as the number of flashes intensify, we see more and more of the room. TITLE APPEARS: 'REVELATIONS' after half a dozen flashes. A dark figure sitting at a metallic table can be seen at various points, we do not see the figure fully illuminated yet, only a portion of the side of her face. We hear HEAVY FOOTSTEPS that start from the right of the screen and continue to the left. They stop for a second and then we hear a heavy electrical stuggle as an overhead light bursts to life. The room is very similar to an interrogating room, there are white tiles on the wall that are stained with dirt. We gradually MOVE TOWARDS the figure at the table, they have their head in their hands, breathing heavily. A MALE HAND places a glass of water on the table. The figure raises its head and reveals itself to be a young girl, HEATHER BURKE, a sixteen year old teenager with a blond ponytail and a sense of resilience about her character. Her eyes are heavy and her face is dirty, we can tell from the offset that she's went through something traumatic, she has small bruises and cuts around her face and hands. HEATHER looks around the room, a panicked expression on her face as she's unfamiliar with her surroundings.

HEATHER

Where...Where am I? What's happening?

HEATHER desperately starts to search her pockets and pulls out a MOBILE PHONE, however it is destroyed beyond use.

HEAHTER

SHIT! What the fuck is going on? Do my parents know I'm here? Has something happened?

A heavy metallic door SLAMS from the left of the shot. HEATHER looks up to the figure, a look of confusion on her face. The same HEAVY FOOTSTEPS as before can be heard, as the intimidating figure steps into the left of the shot. He pulls up a chair and takes a seat, We only see up to the neck of this mysterious person, but from what we can make up he is an athletically built male. He is RYAN SULLIVAN, a 33 year old intimidating male.

HEATHER

Who are you?

RYAN

Why don't you tell me what you can remember?

HEAHTER

Remember?

RYAN

You've been through a lot, haven't you?

HEAHTEr

The last...the last thing I can remember is walking through Toluca Woods, I had just finished school. My parents don't like me using that route but it's the fastest way and I never see any else walking it.

RYAN

Go on.

HEATHER

Are you a policeman?

RYAN

That's not important, what's important is that you tell me what happened in detail.

CUT TO

2. EXT. TOLuca woods. day. (flashback)

The October month has taken its toll on TOLUCA WOODS, the foliage is CRUSTY and dark, the trees have fallen victim and stand like a macabre display of death and a THICK COLD WIND fills the air.

As HEATHER narrates us through the the events taking place a few hours before, they are portrayed on screen.

HEATHER (V.O)

I...I remember walking through the woods, it's the fastest way to get home, my parents don't like me using this route because it's the place where underage kids go to drink and cause trouble. Of course, I don't tell my parents that I use this route to walk home regularly, or even that me and my friends will hang out here at the weekends. The woods is almost always empty when I walk through them, but today there was someone else walking through them..

HEATHER walks down a small vertical path, dead tress extend their limbs towards her from the heavens. Ahead of her we see a dark figure, we cannot make out the face of this person. It's almost as if he is a human shadow, or a repressed memory waiting to be unearthed.

CUT TO

3. INT. DARK ROOM.

HEATHER sitting at the table. A quizzical look on her face as she tries to decypher who the figure was. One stream of blood starts to drip from the top left of her face, past her right eye and down the right side of her face. HEATHER seems unaware of this, as if it isn't happening to her. A sudden expression of horror comes over her.

HEATHER

You...

Ryan

Remember.

The lights in the room snap to black once more, the small lamp once again being the only thing that illuminates the room. HEATHER terrified screams echo in the room, we hear the HEAVY FOOTSTEPS all around the room once again. HEATHER finds herself unable to get up, her legs are chained to the table literally chained to the ties that bind her. The camera stays with the chains as HEATHER frantically tugs at the chains to try and remove them, but to no avail. When she see's that it is doing no good and stops, as do the footsteps. We cut back to her face. Several deep violet bruises have appeared on her face, again, HEATHER does not seem to be under any pain or knowledge of these markings. HEATHER looks directly into the camera.

HEATHER

His name is Ryan Sullivan.

CUT TO

4. EXT. STREET. NIGHT. (MONTAGE)


We see quick flashes of HEATHER when she was nine years old, and a house at the end of a street with a small group of children outside it. They are THROWING stones at the house and yelling. One of the curtains opens..

HEATHER (V.O)

He was a neighbour from my old house, there was a big rumor that he was crazy or something. He had spent time in a mental hospital some years ago..

A face appears behind the curtains giving a cold, evil stare to those outside. Fury and evil are fueling this person.

CUT BACK TO

5. EXT. TOLUCA WOODS. DAY. (FLASHBACK)

The shadow like figure is now visible to us, we can see that it is the same person we just saw in Heather's childhood memory, he has the same body dimensions of the male from the opening scene.

RYAN

Hey there, could you give me a hand?

HEATHER

Hi. What do you want?

Ryan

I just lost my dog somewhere in these woods, could you come help me look for him?

HEATHER

Umm, I should really be getting home mister.

Ryan

Please? Just five minutes then if we can't find her, you can head home.

HEATHER

Okay, sure. I can help for five minutes. What's his name?

RYAN

Thanks, he's called Freddy. I'm Ryan by the way.


HEATHER

Heather.

RYAN

Well Heather, I last saw him over there.

HEATHER and RYAN head off-path together, Heather scouts ahead calling the dogs name. She notices something in a small ditch, as she draws closer she notices the dead body of a relatively large dog. HEATHER crashes to the floor, RYAN on top of her, attacking her viciously. HEATHER screams for help and struggles as RYAN hits her with tremendous force, blow after blow.

FADE TO BLACK

6. INT. DARK ROOM.

The camera sits on HEATHER, she stares into the camera, tears filling up her eyes. Most of her face is now a collage of blood and bruising. HEATHER continues to stare into the audience, we gradually see her tragedy turn into an expression of rage.


HEATHER

He...he fucking raped me! That disgusting pig! I hope he dies, I hope that someone castrates that sick bastard. I'm the only one of my friends who actually saved herself for someone I cared about and he...he goes and does this! He's turned me into a victim, a weak little plaything for him. I can't believe this is happening to me, I've never hurt anyone in my whole life, I'm not a bad person. The sight of his face will haunt me until my final breath, those cold eyes, there was nothing beyond them, no soul. He's not human. Of all the evil individuals out there, why am I stuck in this situation? Why not someone who deserves it? I've never hurt anyone in my life. Is this some sort of punishment god? I know I've not particularly been a religious person, but this is a real fucked up way of proving your existence if it is. You've proved your point.

HEATHER has a look of regret and repentance in her eyes.

HEATHER (COT'D)

I just want to see my family again, I miss them so much.

Blood from HEATHERS face drips onto the table, it is only then that she notices it. She wipes her face, seeing the damage that her body has undergone, she finally realises.

HEATHER

This is it. It's really over, no one is coming to help me. I spent a lot of my life fearing death, wondering if it would be painful, how I would leave this world... And now that it has arrived, I'm not scared any more. I want to stay with my family and friends, but they'll go on without me. They have each other, united in grief they'll get through this and forget about me soon enough. I'll fade away from this world and remain as a memory. A ghost in photographs and home movies, an apparition who is forced to repeat the same motions for an eternity. I...I feel it now. The pain numbing, the warm glow of an eternal sleep. I'm...I'm ready.

The chains that have bound HEATHER's feet now fall to the floor, limp and lifeless. Her revelation releases the ties that bind her. HEATHER stands up from her seat, as the room bursts into artificial light, we can see it for what it truly is now.

The glass and lamp that were on the table disappear infront of her, manifestations of her last cling to hope. HEATHER lays on the table as we gradually ZOOM out, Heather closes her eyes and accepts her fate. As we ZOOM out we see that the room she is in was a hospital morgue, other bodies lay around her covered by sheets.

FADE OUT.

6. Epilogue

The following text appears on screen. 'Heather's body was found a few days after her disappearance. Her murderer was caught and received a life sentence. Heather's death caught the attention of the nation, and her funeral was met with a massive outpour of grief.'

Roll credits.

End.

Very professional and rather well written, I might add. Script writing is a passion of mine and I really enjoyed this.