Leaving (script)

This mini script is another one that I wrote a while ago. It experiments with showing actions and parentheticals through dialog (although not all of them).

Enjoy,
- Reece

        FADE IN:


INT. DAVID'S WORK - OFFICE - EVENING


DAVID is hard at work.


MICHELLE approaches him.


   MICHELLE

 Last one to leave again, huh?


   DAVID

 Yeah.


   MICHELLE

 Look... I don't mean to pry, but you're working
 yourself too hard. You need to relax, enjoy
 yourself.


   DAVID

 I guess.


   MICHELLE

 When was the last time you and Jessica went out?


   DAVID

 I don't know.


   MICHELLE

  (touching his shoulder)

 Exactly. So take her out for a meal. She's your
 wife for God's sake.


Michelle turns to leave.


   MICHELLE (CONT'D)

 Trust me on this. Ask her.


He pauses, looking back at the empty office, before turning off the
light.


INT. DAVID'S HOUSE - EVENING


DAVID comes home to JESSICA, his beautiful wife. He kisses her on the
cheek.


   JESSICA

 Where have you been?


   DAVID

 At work... you know how much this means to me.


   JESSICA

 I made us dinner.


   DAVID

 Great! I'm starving.


   JESSICA

 You were late, so I threw it out!


   DAVID

 Fine, I'll get something myself.


INT. DAVID'S HOUSE - STUDY - EVENING


DAVID settles down amongst piles of paper work.


JESSICA is standing in the doorway.


   JESSICA

 Goodnight.


   DAVID

  (absorbed in his work)

 Night. I'll be right up.


   JESSICA

 Sure.


Jessica turns and heads upstairs.


INT. DAVID'S HOUSE - STUDY - NIGHT


DAVID is still at work -- it is now past midnight.


INT. DAVID'S HOUSE - BEDROOM - NIGHT


JESSICA is fast asleep, her arm around David's side of the bed -- it
is empty.


INT. DAVID'S HOUSE - KITCHEN - MORNING


DAVID and JESSICA have an argument while making breakfast. JESSICA
storms off.


INT. DAVID'S HOUSE - BEDROOM - MORNING


There are empty suitcases, some clothes and personal items of Jessica's
scattered across the bed. JESSICA is searching the room for her personal
things, placing them on the bed.


DAVID enters.


   DAVID

 So that's it, you're leaving!


   JESSICA

 Like you care!


   DAVID

 Jessie, please...


   JESSICA

 Please what?!


   DAVID

 I don't want you to leave.


Jessica stops what she is doing and turns to David.


   JESSICA

 Since when did you give a damn about me?


   DAVID

 Since forever: I've always been there for you --
 you know that, right?


   JESSICA

 I... I don't know anymore.


   DAVID

 What's that supposed to mean?


   JESSICA

 We've drifted apart. Ever since you got that
 job, you've been distant, wrapped up in the work.


Jessica resumes her packing.


   JESSICA (CONT'D)

 I can't take it anymore.


   DAVID

 We can work this out.


   JESSICA

 It's too late for that, now!


   DAVID

 It's never too late; look, I... I don't want to
 loose you.


   JESSICA

 You should have though about that before -- can
 you pass me that blouse -- before you put work
 first.


   DAVID

 This is not a good time to talk about this,
 Jessica. Here, have your damn blouse!


   JESSICA

 It's always the wrong time.

  (sighs)

 What happened to us?


   DAVID

 I... I don't know.


   JESSICA

 We used to be so happy.


   DAVID

 I just... I... I want this to work. I want _us_
 to work.


   JESSICA

 Great! _Now_ is the time you choose to care!


   DAVID

 I've always cared. I'm sorry if you feel like my
 work has gotten in the way of our relationship,
 but I like what I do and I want to support you,
 take care of you. Where do you think that
 necklace came from?


   JESSICA

 You want it back? Fine!


   DAVID

 No... no... that's not what I mean. It's yours,
 so keep it.


   JESSICA

 What do you mean? Are you implying that I can't
 take care of myself?


   DAVID

 I...


   JESSICA

 That is so typical!


   DAVID

 Wait! That's not what I'm saying. You are a
 strong, beautiful woman. I have no doubts that
 you could take care of yourself. But do you
 want that life? To struggle to make money when
 you could have that here?


   JESSICA

 But I need more! The money is great, don't get
 me wrong, but money isn't everything. I want to
 be loved. I want to curl up in your arms when
 things are too much to handle. I want you to be
 here for me, but you are too caught up in your
 work to even notice I'm here!


Jessica closes her suitcase, then storms over to the door. She pauses
at the doorway, turning towards David.


   JESSICA (CONT'D)

 I hope you find what you want.


   DAVID

 I want you!


   JESSICA

 No. You don't. If you did, we wouldn't be in
 this mess.


Jessica exits.


David collapses on the bed.


        FADE OUT.

Goodbye My Love (script)

I wrote this a while back. It is an experiment at showing narrative on screen and an attempt at foreshadowing, despite it's short nature.

Enjoy,

- Reece

---

        FADE IN:

EXT. HILL - DAY

MARIA looked out across the valley, standing on the rocky edge.

Her hair billows in the wind.

   MARIA
 Josephine, my love, I hope you can hear this
 wherever you may be. I fell in love again
 today. She's not as beautiful as you were...
  (smiling)
 Although she does have your eyes. I told her
 about you and how we would go to the beach
 together...

EXT. BEACH - DAY

MARIA and JOSEPHINE are walking down the sand dunes together, carrying
beach towels and other beach equipment. They are laughing.

   MARIA (V.O.)
 And lie on the sand for hours and hours.

They come to a fairly secluded area of the beach and spread the
blanket out.

   MARIA (V.O.)
 She said she would have liked to have met you.

Josephine takes out some Strawberries and proceeds to feed them to
Maria.

   JOSEPHINE
 So, what are they like?

   MARIA
 Delicious.

   JOSEPHINE
  (smiling)
 Good.

   MARIA (V.O.)
 I think she would have liked you.

   JOSEPHINE
 I'm going to lie here for a while. I don't
 have the energy for swimming at the moment.

Maria leans over Josephine's stretched out body and kisses her.

   MARIA
 Okay honey, I'll try not to take too long.

   JOSEPHINE
 You don't have to hurry on my part.

   MARIA
 Are you sure? You don't mind?

   JOSEPHINE
 Of course I don't.
  (smiling)
 Besides, it'll give me a chance to get some
 sleep. I've been so tired lately.

Maria brushes Josephine's cheek. She gets up.

   MARIA
 Okay, sleepy head. I'll try not to wake you.

Josephine closes her eyes.

   JOSEPHINE
 Have fun, my darling Maria.

   MARIA
 Will do.

And with that, Maria runs off into the sea.

   MARIA (V.O.)
 Neither of us noticed it then, but your body
 was pulling all of its resources into staying
 alive.

INT. MARIA AND JOSEPHINE'S BEDROOM - MORNING

MARIA is lying next to JOSEPHINE, the dawn sun shining through the
window.

   MARIA (V.O.)
 Finally, it lost it's battle and you just let go.

Maria rolls over next to Josephine, cupping her hand on her cheek.

Maria gently kisses Josephine on the forehead... then the lips.

   MARIA
 Wake up, sleepy head.

Josephine does not stir.

   MARIA
 Joe?... Joe?...

Maria runs her fingers through Josephine's hair, a tear running down
her cheek.

   MARIA
 Wake up, my sweet Josephine.

        DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. CEMETARY - DAY

MARIA is kneeling next to a tombstone that reads:

 IN LOVING MEMORY
 JOSEPHINE KATERINA ADAMS
 1988 - 2010

Maria is holding a single red rose.

   MARIA (V.O.)
 Eventually, everything dies. From the Earth we
 came and to the Earth we return.

Maria kisses the rose and places it over Josephine's grave.

   MARIA (V.O.)
 I just wish...

        DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. HILL - DAY

MARIA is standing on the hill.

   MARIA
  (breaking down)
 I just wish I had known you for longer.

In her hand is a single red rose.

   MARIA
 Goodbye my love.

And with that, she throws the rose over the rocky overhang to the
valley bellow.

Collapsing to the floor, she breaks down in tears.

        FADE OUT.

Why Choice Matters: Music Formats

I read Paul Thurott's article One True Music Format: MP3 and have to say I disagree.

There are many different things that affect what music formats you will use, just like when buying anything else.

Lossy or Lossless?

Lossy formats (such as mp3, ogg and wmv) sacrifice being exact matches to the audio data for greater compression ratios. Lossless formats (e.g. wav and flac) reproduce the original audio data exactly at the price of consuming more space and download bandwidth.

This to me is the most important aspect of a music format. To other people, it will be less important. It also depends on what you are using the format for. For example, when storing your music collection, it is better to go for a lossless compression as hard disk space is cheap, however, when listening to podcasts, a lossy format is better as bandwidth is more important here than fidelity.

Proprietary or Free?

This boils down to personal choice. Do you want to go with a format from Microsoft (wma), Apple (aac) or another company, and depend on them for supporting that format in the future? Or do you go with a format that is freely available (e.g. ogg), with source code if you need it?

Patented or Unpatented?

One of the problems with the MP3 format is that it is covered by a patent, which makes it harder to distribute and use. This is more of an issue if you want to use Linux, FreeBSD, RockBox or an open source media player to listen to your music. This is the reason why the major Linux distributions don't automatically offer MP3 support in their media players.

DRM or non-DRM?

This is another consideration you will need to make and one that depends on how you use the music. This is important if you want to listen to the music on a device that has support for WMV or similar format, but not the DRM part of it, preventing you from listening to music that have DRM enabled.

Your Favorite Media Player

This is an important factor in deciding what formats to use. For example, if you exclusively use an iPod or Windows Media Player, that limits your choice of formats.

Why You Should Consider FLAC and OGG

Paul's article advises people to avoid FLAC and OGG formats. My advice is to evaluate their advantages and disadvantages yourself and choose the format (even if it is not flac or ogg) that suites your needs, usage and requirements.

Paul says that they have "vague technical advantages over other formats". While this may be true for OGG, which is a lossy format, FLAC is a lossless format.

Paul says that they are "less compatible than AAC and WMA". The format specifications of FLAC and OGG are freely available, along with reference implementations. You can get plugins for winamp, mplayer and other media players. These formats are even being supported by some portable media devices, and if they don't, then rockbox (a free replacement for the firmware on a growing number of devices, including iPods). Support and availability is not good, but is getting better.

Paul says that "people who do use (and advocate) these formats are generally more concerned with religious issues surrounding their disliking of proprietary technologies or products made by companies like Apple and Microsoft." While being proprietary (or patented) are issues, these are choices that each person has to make individually. I will not advocate any way: choice, and freedom to make that choice, is always a good thing.

I personally choose FLAC, not because of a religious hatred of Microsoft or Apple, but because it is a lossless audio format - a must have for me - and it works on Windows, Linux and my media player device. Whatever you choose is entirely up to you.

I will start buying music online when FLAC (or even WAV!) is an available option. For now, I'll stick to buying music CDs.