Wednesday 9 February 2011

Two boys walk into Big Moon Forest in the middle of winter

This is a scene from early in Big Moon Forest. After walking for miles, Rhys is finally able to show Tom what he's found in the forest. It's also a lesson in how not to format a screenplay. Click on the fancy 'read more' link to see the rest.

EXT. FOREST EDGE - DAY
RHYS and TOM have arrived at the forest's edge. The tall trees are just brown sticks without their leaves. Dead spikes from the ground. RHYS - Can you hear it?  TOM - No.  RHYS - I can't either. They listen but can only hear the breeze and their own breath. TOM slaps RHYS on the back of the head. TOM - Can you hear that?  RHYS - Be quiet. Another slap from TOM. Harder this time. RHYS - You need to be quiet. TOM doesn't respond, and they wait again. Listening to the breeze and staring into the forest. TOM- I come all the way out here for what? RHYS walks forward into the –
EXT. FOREST - CONTINUOUS
- and onto the crunching dead leaves. He can hear it straight away. A distant noise: like wood grinding and splintering, thundering and screaming. It's coming through the forest. After a moment TOM joins him. He can hear it too. They are both frozen, shivering, listening. It's thumping through the forest but still distant.
This time TOM takes the lead, walking forwards without saying a word. RHYS follows. As they walk into the forest, through the dense dead trees, the noise grows louder. It gets louder and louder, but still the boys walk forward. It comes in ten second bursts, starting and growing louder before switching back to silence and starting again. Eventually TOM stops and RHYS comes to his side, staring with him. Then RHYS sits down on a rock, and TOM walks on.

We stay with RHYS, alone in the forest, waiting for TOM to come back. The noise is still there: screaming and splintering, starting from nothing and growing up and up until it snaps back to silence. On repeat. RHYS looks up at the tops of the trees. Still light. Grey sky. Then he looks all around - there's nothing living, just the spikey winter forest. He puts his hands over his ears and the noise is muffled. He looks up at the sky again. He stares, for longer this time, with his hands over his ears. He looks back down and TOM and is standing in front him. The noise comes back.

RHYS - (drowned out by the noise) Okay? TOM nods, expressionless, and they walk out of the forest together, with the sound fading behind them.

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