Still-Signal ~ Screenplay

SCREEN BLACK

POP IN

EXT. FOREST CLEARING - NIGHT

Dead of night. An old 1980's Silver Cadillac rests away from a FLOWING RIVER: Driver's door swung wide open, TURN-SIGNAL BLINKING. The radio antenna to the car is visibly broken off.

A stone-toss away lies TRAVIS, a young man (20) wearing a black leather coat and corduroy pants; he lies on his back, staring up into the stars with a blank expression. His arm dips into the river.

Travis finally sits up. He stares into the forest with a tired expression for a beat. He then turns his head towards his Cadillac, revealing the radio antenna embedded in the back of his head, a little blood trickling down his neck.

Travis gets up and staggers toward the Cadillac.

As Travis finally reaches his car, he pauses for a moment and looks up into the sky. There’s a faint red/blue light from an AIRPLANE SOARING OVERHEAD. Travis gets inside the car and slams the door shut.

The Cadillac ROARS TO LIFE. Travis' hands rest on the steering wheel, his eyes widened and unsure. Travis then tilts his head as he brings his fingers up to his temple, head throbbing in a subtle pain. A DISTANT SIGNAL is slowly being TRANSMITTED to him, sounding like a soft, garbled static.

DISTANT SIGNAL

(creeping in)

Returning to you, caller... 

Don't lose track of... The way...

Travis' expression shifts; becoming stern and focused. His grip on the steering wheel gets tighter. He steps on the accelerator and pulls back onto the road.

EXT. LONE ROAD - NIGHT

CAMERA POINTS OVERHEAD AS tiny slivers of a full moon peer through the branches of trees passing by.

Beside Travis, on the passenger's seat, lies the car radio; ripped straight off from the dash, dead. Travis' gaze remains fixed on the road ahead.

EXT. RADIO STATION PARKING LOT - NIGHT

Travis coasts into the parking lot of a local radio station. A large radio tower looms over the building. It's pitch black inside. No one's home. 

Travis cuts the engine, pushes the car door open, and stumbles out of the Cadillac before moving towards the entrance of the station, the sound of garbled radio static following him.

EXT. RADIO STATION ROOF - NIGHT

Travis climbs to the top of the radio station's roof, where he finds a seat by a lowly ventilation unit. He looks up to the night sky, where the stars flicker above him, and a large, bold full moon stares down on him.

A DOG has managed to find his way up on the roof. The Dog prances toward Travis with a goofy, joyful bounce. Travis scooches over to allow the Dog to lay down by his side.

TRAVIS

I'm late. Sorry.

The Dog gets it. The Dog wags his tail as Travis scratches behind his ears.

TRAVIS (cont'd)

Tomorrow's going to be the day. Everything happens tomorrow. The universe happens tomorrow. I'm excited to finally see it.

Okay, the Dog doesn't get that part, but they're happy that he's happy. Travis scratches the back of his head, near where a radio antenna is sticking out.

TRAVIS (cont'd)

But... That's not until tomorrow, though. I just want to enjoy tonight.

The Dog definitely gets that part though.

The garbled, distant signal becomes clearer. Shifting sharply from WHITE NOISE into OLD FOLK MUSIC. Travis and the Dog sit together for a while longer, watching the night sky.

FADE TO BLACK.

    Okay, it's not, like, a real screenplay -- The formating's all wrong -- but I still like it. The inspiration's a little dry and obvious but who cares? A short little vignette and not much else, it doesn't need anything else really. I have no intentions of shooting this script or turning it into a reality as of writing.