SAMPLE OUTLINE WRITING FOR FILM SPRING 2007
Vehicle: 1 min short Title: HYPERVENTILATION
THE WORLD OF THE STORY
A fleet of starships of varying size and function are caravanning through space. They carry with them 17,000 refugees of varying social and political background who have lost their homes to an intergalactic territory grab. This fleet is occasionally attacked by space-pirates, who are fought off by a small militia/police group made up of ex-military and volunteers. The story focuses on one refugee, a musician, lying in a tiny bunk looking out an 8″ oval porthole watching a starfighter dogfight between raiding pirates and the militia.
THE CHARACTER
Julius Kaddo (27) – the man in the bunk, is scared. Being a musician he is essentially helpless in this circumstance. This is not the first time he has had to deal with a fear of raiders; he treats panic like a form of stage-freight. He rolls the brass mouthpiece of a trumpet in his hands intermittently placing it to his lips and blowing; it seems to soothe him as he watches this fight through the porthole.
ACT I
Julius sits up in his bunk writing on a musical staff with a nub of a pencil. His stomach growls and he smacks his lips acknowledging hunger pangs.
Inciting Incident:
A loud THUD occurs and the lights in the tiny room become a dim blue, a bright red flash shins through a tiny port hole in the ceiling of the room.
Progressive Complications:
Julius recoils into a fetal position in his bunk as the lights flicker and further THUDS occur.
ACT II
Explosions from the firefight occurring outside lighten Julius’ face, his eyes are frozen like a deer in headlights watching the beautiful but deadly dance of the fighters in the cold vastness of space.
Crisis:
Julius, his face sweaty from panicked convolutions begins to hyperventilate.
Crisis Continued:
His body begins to enter a more intense convulsion and his breathing becomes more labored, his vision becomes blurry.
ACT III
Climax:
About to lose consciousness he pulls himself to clarity his vision sharpens and in the dim light of his room he frantically scans for something. He sees the item shining on a small table next to his bunk. He lunges from his bunk and grabs the item falling back into his bunk.
Resolution:
He allows the item to roll around in his hand for a moment watching the space battle escalate. He places the item, the mouthpiece of a trumpet to his lips and blows through it, in so doing he controls and calms his hyperventilation. His breathing is normal as the final light from the battle ceases and the light in the room brightens.
THEME
The plot’s crisis/climax express the idea of how a civilian might be forced to deal with a military situation that is out of his control. Julius is a musician, as such he is not a fighter nor do his skills lie in tactical strategy or anything that might benefit the fleet in avoiding pirates. As such when the fleet comes under attack he is forced to face his helplessness and accept his mortality a thought which elicits panic. He has found that the best way for him to deal with this panic is to rely on that which he does know, his musical training. So like many horn players who practice blowing through mouthpieces to keep their lips and lungs in shape Julius does it to calm himself with something familiar.