Arts Leadership: Script Outline

Script Outline

EXT DAY, Canal side, sunny day, the birds are all singing. Main Character (MC), late teens to early twenties, is walking along the canal path. He’s wearing a light blue hoody. He is relaxed and enjoying the day. There are ducks on the water.

Two people are walking towards him down the path, a mother and a little child having a chat. As they walk past him they continue their conversation, don’t catch his eye. As they move past him he can see the path ahead. There is a dark shape on the floor at the side of the path.

MC glances over his shoulder at the two people, but they have carried on walking away chatting normally. They do not appear to have noticed the shape. He slows down his walk and continues towards the shape. As he gets closer, he can see that it is a body, fallen on its side with its back to MC. It is wearing a black hoody with the hood drawn up. MC cannot see the face.

He is wary, but for some reason he is drawn curiously towards the body. He is apprehensive. He crouches down and reaches out to nudge the body’s shoulder.

FLASHBACK, EXT Night? (Or in black and white?) There are two people, it’s the Body in the black hoody when he was alive and another, in a grey tracksuit. Both have hoods drawn over their faces. They are having a tussle, a fight and they are shoving each other. It is shocking and frantic and violent.

PRESENT, EXT DAY, Back at the canal, MC whips his hand away from the body. He looks shocked, apprehensive, suddenly afraid. He has seen the flashback in his mind, a forgotten memory and doesn’t understand what it means, but has a terrible feeling about the body. Against his better judgement, he leans in again. Reluctantly, he pulls the shoulder of the body so that it rolls over onto its back. He pulls the hood back from the face.

Shocking reveal, it’s MC’s own face. It’s MC’s dead body. He gasps.

FLASHBACK, return to previous flashback scene, back to the fight. The Body character’s black hood falls back during the shoving to reveal MC’s face, it’s him in the fight. The other character in grey pulls out a knife. You see MC’s expression as he is stabbed and starts to fall.

PRESENT, EXT DAY, MC is still crouching by the body. Suddenly shockingly the body opens its eyes. MC yells horrified and sprawls back away from it in terror. He looks forwards. It’s gone. Slowly MC starts to get to his feet. He’s horrified and afraid. As he slowly rises to standing he looks around and sees the colours have changed. It is no longer a bright day, but the world now looks grey and colourless and cold. The birdsong has stopped. The canal path is empty, there is no one in sight. It is eerily, deathly quiet. MC is alone. He is stood there, apprehensive, in dawning fear as he looks around. The body is gone. He is in an empty world. He is now wearing the black hoody.

Abrupt cut to black, there is a bust of radio static. END.