48 Hour Film Festival 2009
submission by
Stick Shaker Studios
- The Genre we drew is: “Horror!”
- The required character is: “Ashton Brown, an expert.”
- The required prop – A picture of a mother and/or father…
- The required line of dialog is: “Have you ever seen anything like it?”
Here’s the movie. Run time 7 mins 50 secs –
This is the script we wrote for our Stick Shaker Studios submission to this year’s event. Lisa Ebert, Cleveland Brown, and Mark L Berry had from 6pm when we drew “Horror” as our genre until our actors arrived at 10pm to create this and write it up. Meanwhile, we received our required character, “Ashley or Ashton Brown, an expert,” our required prop, “a picture of mom and/or dad,” and our required line of dialog, “Have you ever seen anything like it?” from Annett who attended the kick-off meeting.
Reflected Relections
Working Title: MIRRORS
A 48 Hour horror film
CHARACTERS
Wife
Husband
Dr. Ashton Brown, a paranormal professional
Ghosts, miscellaneous improvised characters
SETTING
The home of the husband and wife
SCENE ONE
Open on dining room where wife is standing at the dining room table, rummaging through her purse. She pulls out her liptick (or some other item) and holds up an antique mirror while applying it.
Her back is to the fireplace, over which is an antique mirror. Through the reflection in the hand mirror, she sees a shadow move across the large mirror behind her. She turn in surprise, but cannot see it when she stares at the large mirror directly.
Cut to her placing a large mirror on the buffet on the other side of the room. She performs a few angle tricks to try to replicate the occurrence. It is successful and she begins seeing shapes rather than just shadows.
SCENE TWO
Several hours later the husband returns home.
HUSBAND: Honey, I’m home.
His wife does not answer. He comes into the dining room where she sits. The room is filled with mirrors. His wife is staring at the different mirrors.
WIFE: Have you ever seen anything like it?
HUSBAND: What are you talking about? What have you done?
WIFE: Sit here. Yes. Right there. Now look this way.
The husband looks, following her directions. He begins to see the shadows moving from mirror to mirror.
HUSBAND: Holy shit.
WIFE: Yeah.
HUSBAND: What do we do? Who do we call?
WIFE: I already called someone. He’s on his way.
The doorbell rings.
WIFE: That’s him!
They run to the door and let in Dr. Ashton Brown, a creepy man.
WIFE: Dr. Ashton Brown? Thank you so much for coming on such short notice.
DR. BROWN: Show me the mirrors.
They bring him into the dining room.
DR. BROWN: I’ve been looking for these for a long time. Where did you get these mirrors?
HUSBAND: They came with the house.
DR. BROWN: Are there any more?
WIFE: Funny you should ask… the last owners left behind only mirrors.
HUSBAND: There are more in the basement. They always bothered me, so I left them there.
DR. BROWN: I must see the other mirrors.
SCENE THREE
They are carrying the mirrors up from the basement and setting them up in the dining room, adding to the many other mirrors.
DR. BROWN: This should do it. Haven’t you ever noticed these papers on the back of this mirror?
HUSBAND: No. I never moved them.
They glance at a stack of old cryptic notes.
DR. BROWN: (At this point, actor improvises mumbo jumbo about the history of the mirrors and the danger they pose to the uninitiated. He demonstrates the different angles, and everyone oohs and aahhs over the visions of ghosts that begin appearing, a different face in each mirror.)
WIFE: (reading from a sheet) (Actor improvises mumbo jumbo)
Suddenly a face in one of the mirrors begins talking to them, making dire predictions, threatening them. The wife moves away to another mirror and ends up by the fireplace. In this one she sees her mother, who is also on the photo in the mirror.
MOTHER: Destroy the mirrors before it’s too late.
Cut to a quick scene in the hallway of a struggle. Dr. Brown is strangling the husband. He collapses.
Cut back to the hypnotized wife’s face. Dr. Brown’s face appears close to hers.
DR. BROWN: (whispering) Have you ever seen anything like it?
WIFE: No. (Tight shot on her face as she steps away horrified. Go to long shot of a ghost standing behind her. She turns and sees the ghost.)
WIFE: How did you do that?
DR. BROWN: The sacrifice, of course.
GHOST #1: The first sacrifice brings us out.
WIFE: Us? Us? Sacrifice? What sacrifice?
She looks around the room in a panic. Ghosts appear throughout the room, each speaking at her, some in foreign tongues. She calls out for her husband. She moves backward away from them. She finally looks into the hallway and sees her husband’s feet on the floor. His body is obscured by the wall.
GHOST #2: The second sacrifice keeps us out here.
WIFE: What second sacrifice? No!
She smashes the mirror. It shatters.
GHOST #3: You shouldn’t have done that.
They all descend upon her. Her scream is the last thing we hear and the scene fades.