Fourth Draft
The Beautiful Jail - script
A Dark screen emerges
Through the dust of the vast yellow desert, a jail Building is seen in the distance, it has large fortress like walls surrounding it.
EXT: SLOW ZOOM IN (whilst being narrated)
The dust settles and we see the outside of the large walls surrounding the prison building, standing alone in the arid landscape. The narrator is introducing the program and the prison.
NARRATOR; “ Our journey begins in this Prison, set in the barren desert of Central Asia, we begin to unveil the mystery that occurred on that magical summers night.”
INT:Inside of the prison
Slow pan up the inside of the Cell Room, to the Animals lying around inside, panting from the heat.
We view the inside of the Dark and Humid Prison building, and the few jail cells that it has within it, The Animal inmates are in their shared cell, They have a simple existence and the viewer is led to believe on first glance do these harmless looking animals deserve to be here for their petty crimes?.
NARRATOR; “ Some say it began with a herd of animals flourishing the land, others tell their children the stories of the bright light that came from the sky, but one thing is for certain, no one can remember the exact date the fateful events took place or how they began? ”
INT, Cut To;
We focus on 3 animals an axolotl a squid like creature, Bush Baby and a Cockrell, all of these animals are deeply unhappy in this horrid place and feel their living conditions need to be improved greatly, the Axolotl has no water to bathe in, he needs this for his skin which in the humid desert landscape is becoming dry and cracked and his scales are filling with the sand. The Cockrell hasn’t any food to eat and is hungry and unstable on its legs, he seems to be becoming weak and his coat is a dull colour. The Bush baby is crawling with fleas and itchy in his skin.
They are miserable in this place, it is dark, humid and depressing, and they long for a new home, to have freedom just once again.
INT; CUT TO
They are lying around in their cells the Axolotl is staring out of the cell window in awe of the beautiful daylight, wanting to be free once again, the Cockrell is sat on the floor in the corner of the room, hiding in the shadows and staring at the wall in a depressed manner, he has a very sad expression on his face.
The bush baby is scratching the floor in a frantic manner trying to dig a hole and escape. His short legs start to kick up the sand that has blown in through the window and creates a small cloud of dust around him; he eventually stops in exhaustion and rests.
INT, CLOSE UP; of the Bush baby’s legs frantically digging and scratching the floor in frustration.
INT;
The Axolotl is standing at the window still gazing at the landscape he acts as if he is glued to the ground. The bush baby slowly approaches him and starts to lick his dry and cracked skin, in a vain attempt to keep the squid moist from the harsh and humid climate.
INT, CLOSE UP; up of the Axototl’s face looking happy.
A plate of food is pushed under the door; the animals hurry towards it and start to eat it.
NOISE; we hear the Prison guards footsteps walking away and the jingling of his keys.
INT, CLOSE UP; of the cockerels face pecking at the food.
INT, MEDUIM SHOT; of the animals sat together eating; the Bush baby is using his hands, and the squid is reaching for the food with his dry/cracked tentacles.
NOISE; The sound of the animals eating.
INT, CUT TO;Dusk
The sun is setting on the desert landscape and two of our animal inmates are preparing their cells for sleeping, the axolotl is gazing out of his barred window into the night sky and watching the desert animals crawling away into their holes in the ground for the night.
EXT, CUT TO; long shot of the Desert insects crawling underground.
He glances at the only plant that he has seen in a long time a small flower that is growing out of the wall, close to the cell window.
EXT, Medium Shot; of the Axolotl and the cell window, Pan down to the flower.
CUT TO, MEDIUM SHOT;
The Bush baby and chicken are in their cell they are going through the daily grooming routine of picking and eating the fleas from each others fur, the Bush baby carefully parts the chicken’s feathers with his fingers and continues to clean.
CUT TO, MEDIUM SHOT;
The chicken starts to slowly scratch around on the floor searching for any scraps of leftover food.
CUT TO, MEDIUM SHOT;
The sun is beginning to set and the Bush Baby settles down for the night and curls up in himself to keep warm.
CUT TO, CLOSE UP; The Bush Baby shivers slightly from the cold.
CUT TO, MEDIUM SHOT; the cockerel also puffs up his feathers in an attempt to preserve his body heat
.
EXT, CUT TO; The Desert.
The Axolotl is staring at the moon, and suddenly spots some fast moving objects in the sky, shining brightly and making the desert glow in the distance, the falling objects are creating some beautiful luminous colours in the night sky. They become faster as he watches and more of them start to glow, until they stop all of a sudden.
INT, CUT TO; inside of the cell
The Axolotl turns in astonishment at what he has just seen to tell the other two inmates of this marvel, but they are asleep, curled up on the floor; they look uncomfortable and cold.
INT; CLOSE UP; The Axolotl face; his eyes start to shut as he sleeps standing up. Lights in the distance start to shine over his face.
NARRATION; “ Meanwhile; in the vast solar system we follow a Shooting Star as it speeds through Outer space, it is heading towards Planet Earth and carrying an ancient source known as the gift of life…..”
EXT, CUT TO;Outer space (after effects used for this scene?)
The great outer space where all the action starts to happen, a large Star is speeding its way along the vast solar system a brightly coloured Star that is glowing with a strong beam of light, the force of this Star is so great it is attracting the pull of other space objects and debris.
The Star is travelling at a great speed and soon makes its way through the Earths thick atmosphere and into the sky.
The star is burning brightly and shines up the night sky it is travelling towards the ground and making a large rumbling noise from its great speed and strength.
EXT, CUT TO;A long shot of the Prison
The prison is covered by the night sky the large star is falling towards the building and just misses a collision, shaking the earth beneath it and moving the building. The final resting place of the star is the group of trees that are close to the prison it is burning brightly and creating a large glow through the trees, the glow starts to dim gradually.
NOISE; The star falling through the sky and hitting the trees.
EXT, CUT TO;Dawn
The sun is rising over the desert and creating its shadows, the prison is still standing and has a certain glow about it, as the sun rises we are shown the stars real power there has been a transformation of the desert there are small trees and plants flourishing the landscape, the prison building has ivy and plants engrossing it, the desert has become alive.
EXT, CLOSE UP; of the plants growing up through the ground at a fast rate .
NOISE; The ground is cracking, plants growing.
The plants slowly start to grow larger the trees push through the ground and fill the sky, they are soon fighting for space as more and more of them flourish the landscape, all the different varieties of plants and flowers come into sight, the noises of new insects and hints of butterfly wings are hidden under the large leaves.
INT, CUT TO; The inside of the prison
There has been a transformation and our 3 heroes are awoken to the noises of movement around their paws, the plants are growing inside the cells, they watch in disbelief at the miracle, the walls of the prison are starting to vibrate and become weak, the bricks loosen from their place and start to fall away.
EXT, CUT TO; the Prison Courtyard
The 3 Animals are gazing in amazement at the jungle that has grown around them, they stare at the large Prison wall in front of them, that has vines and beautiful flowers growing on it, they feel a sense of joy and relief as they cautiously approach the wall; They grasp onto the vines and start to climb.
EXT, CLOSE UP; the Bush Baby climbing the wall.
EXT, MEDIUM SHOT; the three animals are sat on top of the wall staring out at the large jungle around them.
They start to eat the vines and leaves from the trees around them.
They gaze into the jungle that has erupted from almost nowhere and breathe the fresh air, there is still some sand covering the ground, the rest has become rich in greenery and life the sun is shining through the large leaves above their heads they gaze into the endless jungle in amazement, they can hear the faint sound of a waterfall.
CUT TO BLACK