10/1/12

Today, I finally worked on my script in chronological order, and started the next scene from where I left off.

INT- MIDDLESEX COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL-CLASSROOM-MORNING.

Austin is reading Dani’s diary from the very beginning. Her first entry was from the first day of Freshman year, which was the first day they met.

FLASHBACK

The hallways of Middlesex County High School are filled with people. Austin is looking around for someone that he may know, but there are no farmiliar faces. Everyone seems to have a friend but him. Someone taps him on the shoulder suddenly.

DANI

Hi. You’re Austin, right?

AUSTIN

Um, yeah.

DANI

I recognized you from freshman orientation. I’m Danielle.

AUSTIN

Oh yeah. You added me on Facebook, right?

DANI

Yep. I noticed we have the same schedule. You want to attempt to find Grade 9 Theater together?

AUSTIN

Uh, yeah. Why not?

Dani and Austin begin walking down the hallway together.

DANI

You’re eyes are gorgeous, by the way.

Austin smiles.

END OF FLASHBACK.

Austin has the same faint smile on his face.

JESSICA

Austin?

Austin looks up. In front of him is Jessica, the girl who made his best friend miserable for months.

AUSTIN

What do you want?

JESSICA

I just wanted to see how you were doing, that’s all.

Austin rolls his eyes, and continues to read Dani’s journal. Jessica opens her mouth to say something, but holds back and walks away. Austin’s teacher calls him from the doorway.

TEACHER

Austin, can you come here please?

Austin tucks the notebook under his arm and walks to the teacher.

TEACHER

This is Mr. Beantly, he’s a grief counselor that the school has called in. He wants to speak with you.

AUSTIN

Um, that’s really not necessary.

MR. BEANTLY

I just want to help, Austin.

AUSTIN

And I appreciate it, but i’m fine.

MR. BEANTLY

Please just come talk to me for five minutes, and if you want to leave, you can leave.

CUT.

INT-MIDDLESEX COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL-MORNING-CLASSROOM

Austin and Mr. Beantly are sitting on chairs across from eachother.

MR. BEANTLY

So, I hear you and Danielle were close.

AUSTIN

DANI and I are best friends.

MR. BEANTLY

I see. You guys spent a lot of time together?

AUSTIN

As much time as humanly possible.

MR. BEANTLY

It sounds like you guys had something great. Friends like that are hard to come by. You were very lucky.

AUSTIN

Look as much as I love awkward small talk, I have classes to attend.

MR. BEANTLY

You promised me five minutes. It has been less than two.

Austin lets out a sigh.

Reflection: I think I deserve a 100 for the day. I have has a block for a while now when it  comes to continuing my screenplay from where I left off, causing me to write random parts. It was good in a way, because I have major points that I know I will have to write around when I get there, but it was also bad because I couldn't focus on the next scene after the restaurant scene. Now i'm very content with where this next scene is going. It gives me a way to bring in Austin's monologue in the near future.

9/28/12

Today, I continued the scene that I edited in yesterday's post, and pieced it together with the other day's post.

Austin walks through his front door after returing from Dani's wake. His eyes are red and puffy, and his hair is messed up. The tie from his suit is coming undone. He rips it off and throws it on the floor. He walks into his kitchen and opens the fridge. It is close to empty, except for a carton of milk, eggs, some leftovers, and 2 six packs of beer.

AUSTIN: You know what? Fuck it.

Austin takes both six packs of beers and walks out of the kitchen

INT-KRATNER FAMILY HOME- AUSTIN'S BEDROOM- NIGHT

"Drunk" by Ed Sheeran begins to play as Austin rushes into his bedroom. He pauses for a few seconds and looks around the room. His eyes reach a picture frame on his bedside table of him and Dani, the same one that she had on her dresser.

FLASHBACK

INT-KRATNER FAMILY HOME- LIVING ROOM- NIGHT

Austin's doorbell rings. He opens the door revealing a crying Dani, who is dressed like she was just at a party. She runs in and hugs him.

DANI: . I should have listened to you.

TRANSITION

Dani and Austin are sitting on Austin's couch. He puts a blanket around her shoulders and hands her a mug. He sits down next to her.

DANI: I need to learn not to put myself in awkward situations.

AUSTIN: That's hardly what that was. (Pause) What happened?

DANI: I....

Dani stops

AUSTIN: Dani? What happened?

DANI: Jimmy was there. He was drinking. 

AUSTIN: And you stayed far away from him, Right?

Dani doesn't respond.

AUSTIN: Answer me.

DANI: He wanted to dance. I didn't see any harm in it.

AUSTIN: So that's it? You made a fool out of yourself attempting to dance?

DANI: No! 

AUSTIN: Then what got you so worked up?

DANI: He told me he wanted to talk about what happened between us. So we went upstars and..

AUSTIN: Dani. You didnt.

DANI: Calm down. Almost nothing happened.

AUSTIN: Almost?

DANI: I knew he was way to drunk to mean anything that he said, but he was really close to me and I guess in the heat of the moment I didn't really know what was true, so we kissed. The kissing turned into making out and then he tried getting me to have sex with him but I didn't do it. I kicked him square in the balls and I got out of there.

AUSTIN: Well good. He's had it coming.

DANI: Yeah I know. I just really wanted to believe that he was sober when he was talking to me.

AUSTIN: Well he wasn't. He was a drunken mess and felt powerful in the heat of the moment. 

END OF FLASHBACK

Austin sets the beers down onto the table next to the picture frame. He takes one, opens it up and begins chugging. One by one, he drinks each of them. 

DANI: Austin? 

Austin turns toward his doorway, having a hard time standing up. Although everything else around him is blurred, Dani's image is crystal clear. He stands there in amazement for the moment.

AUSTIN: I knew there was no way you could be dead!

He runs up to her and hugs her tightly

DANI: Did you seriously think i'd leave? Your life would be so boring without me you loser!

Austin smiles at her. He grabs her hand and runs out of the room. Austin runs into his parent's room, Holding Dani's hand. His parents wake up at the sight of the lights being turned on.

MR. KRATER: Austin, what's going on?

AUSTIN: Look who I found! She's here I knew it!

MRS. KRATNER: Hun what are you talking about? Are you okay?

Austin looks beside him. Dani has disappeared.

Austin: She was here! She probably just went back to my room! 

Austin stumbles out of his parents room, and into his. Both of his parents follow behind him.

AUSTIN: Dani? Where did you go?

MRS. KRATNER: Have you been drinking?

AUSTIN: She was here! I know it!

MR. KRATER: I told you we shouldn't be leaving him alone at a time like this!

AUSTIN: Dani? Come on this isn't funny anymore!

MRS. KRATNER: Hunny, do you think Dani's here right now?

AUSTIN: She is! I saw her! She...

Austin collapses onto the floor

END.

Reflection: I think I deserved a 100 for this post. I finished the last scene of the script (for now) and hopefully now I can work from bottom to top, adding in the little sections I have already written. I am happy with it. I am not exactly sure if I want it to end like that, or maybe add a small part after where I ended it tonight. For now, I am going to work on finishing the entire play. 

9/27/12

Today I edited the scene that I wrote for yesterday's blog post.

FLASHBACK

INT-KRATNER FAMILY HOME- LIVING ROOM- NIGHT

Austin's doorbell rings. He opens the door revealing a crying Dani, who is dressed like she was just at a party. She runs in and hugs him.

DANI: . I should have listened to you.

TRANSITION

Dani and Austin are sitting on Austin's couch. He puts a blanket around her shoulders and hands her a mug. He sits down next to her.

DANI: I need to learn not to put myself in awkward situations.

AUSTIN: That's hardly what that was. (Pause) What happened?

DANI: I....

Dani stops

AUSTIN: Dani? What happened?

DANI: Jimmy was there. He was drinking. 

AUSTIN: And you stayed far away from him, Right?

Dani doesn't respond.

AUSTIN: Answer me.

DANI: He wanted to dance. I didn't see any harm in it.

AUSTIN: So that's it? You made a fool out of yourself attempting to dance?

DANI: No! 

AUSTIN: Then what got you so worked up?

DANI: He told me he wanted to talk about what happened between us. So we went upstars and..

AUSTIN: Dani. You didnt.

DANI: Calm down. Almost nothing happened.

AUSTIN: Almost?

DANI: I knew he was way to drunk to mean anything that he said, but he was really close to me and I guess in the heat of the moment I didn't really know what was true, so we kissed. The kissing turned into making out and then he tried getting me to have sex with him but I didn't do it. I kicked him square in the balls and I got out of there.

AUSTIN: Well good. He's had it coming.

DANI: Yeah I know. I just really wanted to believe that he was sober when he was talking to me.

AUSTIN: Well he wasn't. He was a drunken mess and felt powerful in the heat of the moment. 

END OF FLASHBACK

Reflection: I think I deserve a 100 for the day. I wasn't satisfied with where I left off yesterday. The dialogue just seemed extremely unrealistic to me, and sounded cheesy. I am much happier with the changes I made today, which was basically the whole chunk of the scene. I feel comfortable continuing the scene after tonight's changes.

9/25/12

Today, I am going to attempt to get the closing scene out in writing. I have had this idea as the ending for a while, and hopefully being able to get it into words will help me visualize it better.

So here we go :D

INT- KRATNER FAMILY HOME- KITCHEN-NIGHT

Austin walks through his front door after returing from Dani's wake. His eyes are red and puffy, and his hair is messed up. The tie from his suit is coming undone. He rips it off and throws it on the floor. He walks into his kitchen and opens the fridge. It is close to empty, except for a carton of milk, eggs, some leftovers, and 2 six packs of beer.

AUSTIN: You know what? Fuck it.

Austin takes both six packs of beers and walks out of the kitchen

INT-KRATNER FAMILY HOME- AUSTIN'S BEDROOM- NIGHT

"Drunk" by Ed Sheeran begins to play as Austin rushes into his bedroom. He pauses for a few seconds and looks around the room. His eyes reach a picture frame on his bedside table of him and Dani, the same one that she had on her dresser.

FLASHBACK

INT-KRATNER FAMILY HOME- LIVING ROOM- NIGHT

Austin's doorbell rings. He opens the door revealing a crying Dani, who is dressed like she was just at a party. She runs in and hugs him.

DANI: . I should have listened to you.

Dani let's go of the embrace.

AUSTIN: Whoa, what happened?

DANI: The party. It was awful. Everyone was drinking and getting high and I just felt so out of place, and Jimmy was really drunk and he...

AUSTIN: and he what? Dani did he hurt you..?

Dani doesn't answer.

AUSTIN: Dani you better answer me right now.

DANI: He almost did. He wanted me to sleep with him and I refused, and he put his hands on me but I got myself out of there before he could. I know he's not the best person but I never thought he would do that.

AUSTIN: He was drunk, people do things they normally wouldn't do.




Reflection: I think I deserve a 100 for this blog post. I was not expecting this scene to have a flashback, but once I got into it, it seemed to fit. Who knows if i'm going to keep it, but as of now it's here to stay. I may even end up adding more dialogue to it. After the last line, I was thinking about having Dani and Austin talk about how drinking in high school is bad, but I don't want this to turn into some cheesy after school special about how drinking is bad. I just wanted something to tie together to make Austin's drinking experience related to something that happened with Dani in the past, and this may not even be it, but it's a start.

9/24/12

Today, I added onto and edited the scene that I started Thursday that came from the SOC:

In this scene, Dani has just finished yelling at Jimmy. It happened in the middle of the mall, so Dani is filled with many emotions, starting with embarrassment.

EXT- BRUNSWICK SQUARE MALL -BACK OF BUILDING- AFTERNOON

Dani runs out of the mall, mortified. She sits down on a bench and puts her head in his hands. Austin runs after her, looking very excited and hyper. He notices her expression, and he tones down his excitement. He sits down next to her. There is a long pause before anyone speaks up.

AUSTIN: So, how's it goin?
DANI: Frustrated. Happy. Mostly frustrated.
AUSTIN: Be happy! You finally stood up to that asswhipe!
DANI: I guess.
AUSTIN: You guess what?
DANI: I don't know. I feel like I was a little harsh.
AUSTIN: Compared to what he did to you? He got what he deserved, but hey,  that is why you gotta stop keeping things bottled up inside like you do. Then you just blow up, like that.
DANI: I guess.
AUSTIN: That was pretty bad ass though. (Pause) I'm proud of you.
DANI: Thanks.

There is another long pause.

AUSTIN: So it's over I guess.
Dani chuckles slightly

DANI: It was over before it started.
AUSTIN: You really think so?
DANI: Have you seen our "Relationship" She puts air quotes around the last word.
AUSTIN: Well for what it's worth, I think he's an idiot for doing what he did. You deserve so much better.

Dani smiles at Austin. She looks at him for a while, and leans in to kiss him. Austin sees what she is about to do, and pushes her face away.

AUSTIN: Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
DANI: I'm sorry! I don't know what i'm doing right now!
AUSTIN: Uhmm, yeah, I can see that.
DANI: I got caught up in the moment! Oh my god I am so sorry. So, so sorry. I'm not in the right state of mind right now, I would have kissed my dog if it was sitting next to me. Oh my god.
AUSTIN: Dani. Breathe. You didn't actually kiss me. It's fine. Let's just forget it happened, okay?

CUT.


Reflection: I think I deserve a 100 for today. I am extremely happy with my progress today. I took the crap that I wrote on Thursday while I was having a writers block, and turned it into a scene that is going to be very beneficial to the main relationship in my screenplay.  One thing I am noticing that I do need to work on is the tone. For the most part, the lines are flowing, but I feel like some of it is very cliche. I know that when I read other peoples work and there are to many cliche's, I feel like vomiting. I think that I will need to get another point of view on the script very soon.

9/21/12

Went to go see "As You Like It" at Mason Gross this night.

9/20/12

I am going to use parts of the SOC that I wrote on Thursday to write a possible scene for my screenplay.

As I said, these are the parts that stuck out to me:

- nothing is funny so i dont know why im laughing
-Im actually frustrated and happy at the same time
-People are stupid. Like really stupid. I hate people. Why do that have to be so annoying.
-You know those people who can just breathe and it'll piss you off? There are a few of those in my life. What about the people who you can't hate no matter how much you want to? I hate that even more.
-Woah, im such a pessimist. Hate, hate, hate, hate. What about love? I love my family, I love my friends, my dog is pretty cool, I love my dog.

From these phrases, this is what I have come up with for a possible part of a scene:

Dani pacing back and fourth in the hallway alone. Austin runs out of the cafeteria. He walks over to Dani, who is clearly at war with herself at the moment. He sits on a bench infront of where she is. There is a long pause before someone speaks up

Austin: So... How's it goin?
Dani: I'm actually frustrated and happy at the same time.
Austin: You should be happy. You finally stood up for yourself.
Dani: I guess.
Austin: You guess what?
Dani: I don't know, I feel like I was a little harsh.
Austin: That's why you shouldn't keep things so bottled up inside like you do. Cause then that happens.
Dani: I guess.
Austin: That was pretty badass though.
Dani: I can't help it! She's one of those people who could breathe and it would piss me off. 




Reflection:
 I think that I deserve a 100 for this blog post. Although it may not seem like it, I spent a lot of time trying to piece a part of a scene together using a part of my SOC. It will definatly need to become stronger, and I will eventually need to add more length to it, but I am happy with what I have written today.