NAME DELETED.
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Set in a future world of political correctness gone mad.
This short 10 minute script was written for a competition run by the Sci-Fi channel run in 2000. It finished in the top 50 winning me a T-shirt and glow in the dark mini alien.
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FADE IN
INT. PRISON CELL
PRISONER is sitting on a bunk in a cell; the cell is an 8-foot cube. The walls are a light grey, there's a strip light recessed into the centre of the ceiling. It lights the whole room, it's quite bright so there isn't much shadow in the room. The door is in the foreground, on the left-hand side.
The bunk is in the background, set into the right wall, so PRISONER'S head is touching the right corner wall. Unless written as otherwise, all PRISONER'S lines are spoken as narrative. When the CENSOR speaks, it is as a voice off-camera, to drown out what PRISONER is saying. PRISONER is wearing a grey one-piece tunic.
PRISONER (SPOKEN AS NARRATIVE)
I've been sitting in this cell
for nine days now. What did I
do? They must have detected
some violation against the codes.
I couldn't even begin to guess what
I might have done.
PRISONER has been sitting on the bunk while saying this.
PRISONER
They took me on Zone day and
today is Zenith day because I
heard the Zenith bell ringing
from Latin Square, so I think it
must be at least about nine days
by now. It's hard to be sure.
PRISONER moves his head and now looks toward the cell door, then slowly around the cell.
PRISONER
I must be in the Judgement
Building. When I heard the
Zenith bell it was very close
by. Latin Square is only two
blocks from the Judgement
Building and the bell sounded
very loud.
PRISONER gets up from the bunk in the corner, which he is sitting on. It's a cross between a bunk bed and a bench; there are no visible blankets or pillows. He walks toward the cell door, and his narrative continues as he paces between the door and the bunk.
PRISONER
When the officers spoke to me they
asked me about a man called
CENSOR (AS A DISEMBODIED VOICE)
NAME DELETED!
PRISONER
And where I had first heard him
mentioned. The big one with the
ugly face had asked me that.
PRISONER walks back to the bunk and sits facing the door, with his back against the wall. His feet are in the air and he's looking down at his shoes. They're shiny and he's miserable.
PRISONER
I told him that I knew no one of
that name. I don't think he really
cared if I was telling the truth.
The skinny one asked when I had
first met
CENSOR
NAME DELETED!
PRISONER
And had I met him directly or did
I have another contact, A
CENSOR
NAME DELETED!
PRISONER
I told SKINNY that I had not heard
of this man either. This was the
first time I had heard those
names. SKINNY just sneered at me
and I was taken back to the cell.
PRISONER is nodding to himself as he says the next lines.
PRISONER
That was my first interview, but I
knew they'd want to speak to me
again. And real soon.
PRISONER lies on the bed and sleeps facing the wall, He is dreaming. We enter his dream. This is a flashback.
FADE OUT.
EXT. A STREET WITH TERRACED HOUSES, DAYTIME.
FADE IN
The houses are beautiful, it looks like small-town America. A lot like the street used in Edward Scissorhands, but only one of the gardens has grass. There are no cars to be seen.
As the steadi-cam camera pans down the street, we pass a big blue van with the words FedPol Patrol Stencilled in white on the side. We stop in front of two houses; the house with the grass is on our left. There is a man mowing the grass. PRISONER is watching through the front window of the house on the right.
PRISONER
As I slept in the cell I
Remembered about the day they had
taken my neighbour away, It was
the day before they took me.
INT. INSIDE PRISONERS HOUSE, LOOKING THROUGH THE WINDOW TO THE GARDENS
We are behind PRISONER, looking over his shoulder at his POV. He is watching the mowing man, and shaking his head in a negative way. The window is slightly ajar; the mower engine can be heard.
PRISONER
I was thinking to myself how
ridiculous the FedPols had got,
that they were changing the codes
every other day.
PRISONER sees the FedPol van stop in front of mowing mans garden. 2 men in grey uniforms get out. They are wearing full body armour; their helmet visors are smoked glass so you don't see their faces.
PRISONER
So many trivial things had now
become punishable by adjustment.
He was out there, mowing his lawn.
He'd paid more than fifty thou'
for that two square metres of
turf.
As PRISONER looks through the window at the mowing man, you can also see the reflection of his own face on the glass.
PRISONER
I'd always said it'd never grow,
but he proved me wrong. But
still, all that time he'd put in
suddenly didn't matter to the
FedPols.
The two officers approach the mowing man; He turns off the mower and looks at both of the Officers.
FEDPOL OFFICERS (SPEAKING TO
MOWING MAN)
Sorry, but that's against the code
Citizen! You'll have to come with
us I'm afraid.
The FedPol Officers take Mowing Man and his mower to their van, he goes with them peacefully. PRISONER watches them take him and put both him and the mower inside the van and close the van doors.
PRISONER
That's what they said to him, as
he was put into the Peace Wagon.
PRISONER pauses for a moment, a few seconds pass. He is watching the van front doors closing as the officers get back in.
PRISONER
He went quietly. Everyone does.
Is there any other way?
FADE OUT.
INT. PRISON CELL
FADE IN
PRISONER awakes. Time has passed. He sits up on the bed facing the door, recalling another memory.
PRISONER
I was taken to be questioned again
earlier today.
CROSS FADE TO
INT. INTERVIEW ROOM
CROSS FADE IN
We are in a darkened room with a small rectangular table large enough to seat PRISONER on one side and two guards opposite him.
We are shooting from behind the guards with occasionally glances from PRISONERS POV, looking briefly at the guards who are interviewing him. There is a wall visible behind PRISONER; it's the same grey colour as the cell. When we see from PRISONER'S POV, the wall behind the guards looks almost identical.
The room is dark enough to use parts of the cell set. There is never a time when the whole room is seen, so this can be a partial set. This initial shot is over the shoulders of the guards, looking at PRISONER. When the guards speak, it is aloud.
PRISONER (STILL AS A NARRATIVE)
The two guards continued to
question me relentlessly. They
asked me who had told me about
CENSOR
NAME DELETED!
PRISONER
And where had I heard of him, they
wanted to know everything. I just
couldn't remember, but I was
desperately trying to help like a
good Citizen should do.
The guards are now viewed from PRISONERS POV. The guard sitting on the left (UGLY) is balding and obese; he has a scar on his right cheek. The guard sitting on the right (SKINNY) is skinny and wiry looking. He is wearing steel rimmed glasses. They don't fit very well, so he keeps pushing them back up on his nose. They are both wearing similar grey uniforms.
PRISONER
UGLY had asked me
UGLY
Where were you on Xavier's day?
PRISONER
I told him that I always spent
that holiday having a meal in the
same cafe.
SKINNY
Yeah, Zelo's Cafe. WE know!
PRISONER
This really surprised me. UGLY
then played a tape of my
conversation with the waiter.
Running in the background is a recording being played from somewhere, UGLY will gesture with his right hand and the recording starts. We hear the recording, playing in the background as a muffled conversation running parallel to PRISONER'S narrative about it.
WAITER (MUFFLED LIKE A RECORDING)
Happy Xavier's day sir, may I take
your order?
PRISONER
I heard my order
PRISONER (ALSO MUFFLED LIKE A
RECORDING)
I'll have a salad and a cold beer
please.
PRISONER
And the waiter's response.
WAITER (RECORDING)
Certainly sir, I'll bring your
drink directly and the food will
take a short while. Enjoy your
meal, and thank you for eating at
Zelo's on Xavier's day!
PRISONER
I then heard myself start to speak
and then I heard my own voice say
CENSOR
NAME DELETED!
UGLY
Was that your voice on the tape?
As PRISONER nods his head in affirmation, he speaks this line as narrative.
PRISONER
I could only nod in the
affirmative, the detectors in the
room would have known if I were
lying anyway. SKINNY was enjoying
the moment of glory and made sure
the detectors knew as well.
SKINNY
Let the record show that the
prisoner has nodded his head in
the affirmative. This has been
visually observed by both myself
and my partner.
SKINNY turns to UGLY and grins, gleefully.
SKINNY
Yeah, He's telling the truth
UGLY sneers at PRISONER, he is gloating.
UGLY
There you are, little man.
Condemned by your own words.
UGLY draws the thumb of his right hand across his throat in the familiar throat slitting gesture. The two guards stand and escort PRISONER into the darkness.
CROSS FADE TO
INT. PRISON CELL
The door opens and PRISONER is propelled into the room and onto the floor by UGLY and SKINNY. PRISONER is in the middle of the room, kneeling on the floor. He turns and SKINNY is closing the cell door. SKINNY smiles like a shark and flips a fake salute at PRISONER as he closes the cell door.
SKINNY
Now don't you go nowhere, we'll
be back real soon. So play nice!
PRISONER clambers to his feet and walks over to the bunk. He stands at the foot of the bunk with his back to the door, he's clenching his fists.
PRISONER
I went through the conversation
I'd had with the waiter at Zelo's,
and suddenly, I remembered.
PRISONER sits on the bunk and puts his hands to his temple in a moment of realisation. He holds his head in his hands and shakes his head.
PRISONER
I HAD said that name! I called out
to the ever present, but invisible
detectors.
PRISONER removes his hands from his head and looks up to the ceiling. He places his hands together in front, as if praying.
PRISONER (SPEAKING ALOUD)
Wait! Now I remember! I DID say
it. I did say
CENSOR
NAME DELETED!
PRISONER raises his hands to the ceiling, in expectation.
PRISONER (SPEAKING ALOUD)
I'm guilty! Adjust me!
The room fills with a thick cloud of gas, eventually obscuring PRISONER from sight
FADE OUT.
EXT. PRISONERS HOUSE
PRISONER is standing outside his front door, there is no longer any grass next door as the house is boarded up; we are seeing him from the POV behind a FedPol van. We also see two FedPol Officers, one is dictating into a handheld device.
FEDPOL OFFICER 1
Federal log record 5327-Alpha. The
Prisoner has woken after his
adjustment, returned to his
domicile. Any other incidents in
the vicinity, control?
CONTROLLERS VOICE (OVER THE RADIO)
That's an affirm Peace Wagon Lambda
20. Report to Sector 26, Block 12.
Code Violation Three twenty seven,
Ten offenders. Seize all offenders
and bring them in. Use all
necessary force as you see fit.
The use of lethal force has been
approved by the FedPolMarshal.
The officer punches in something on a console in the van.
FEDPOL OFFICER 1
Offenders, they never learn!
He and his partner shake their heads in disbelief.
FEDPOL OFFICER 2
Guess not. At least we're on overtime
again though.
FEDPOL OFFICER 1
Roger control, on our way. Lambda
20 out.
The van drives away, we see PRISONER enter his house and the front door closes behind him.
FADE TO BLACK.
NARRATIVE OVER VDU SCREEN
As these lines are spoken, they appear as if typed onto the screen. They are a large font and easily visible. They are spoken by a female voice.
OPERATOR 97643B
This concludes the statement of
Prisoner Kappa 271398. Prisoner
Kappa 271398 pleaded guilty to
code violation twelve sixty three,
formally speaking his own given
birth name. He has been adjusted
to level four in accordance with
regulation nine of the official
code. This record is to be erased
under statute twelve of the
official code, constituting a
danger to FedPol security.
Termination of entry by Operator
97643B.
The screen blinks for a few seconds as a cursor blinks on and off. The following entry then appears.
OPERATOR 97643B
After deletion of these entries
Operator 97643B will be adjusted
to level two in accordance with
FedPol statutes governing security
policies. Termination of entry by
Operator 97643B.
Another pause as the cursor flashes.
OPERATOR 97643B
Addendum. Prisoner Kappa 271398 was
later charged with code violation
eighty nine twenty four, using
descriptive names which are not
politically correct, to whit names
used to describe FedPol Officer
Quebec 73 and FedPol Officer Delta
15. Prisoner Kappa 271398 will
require further adjustment,
possibly up to level ninety-four.
OPERATOR 97643B
A hearing has been set to decide
if Prisoner Kappa 271398 is a
persistent offender. Permanent
adjustment may be required.
Termination of entry by Operator
97643B.
The cursor flashes several more times.
VOICE
ENTRIES DELETED, ADJUSTMENT TO
OPERATOR PERFORMED. SECURITY
STATUS NORMAL. TERMINATION OF
ENTRY.
The screen flashes the words ENTRIES DELETED, five times. The screen then flashes the words STATUS NORMAL five times. The screen flashes the words TERMINATION OF ENTRY five times. The screen changes to show the FedPol Logo.
FADE TO BLACK.
