(Printed with the demonstration version of Fade In)
READY, SET, GO! By Grace Raufer SCENE ONE: RAIN Each of the following appear as nearly still shots, like photographs. Rain patters and slides down a large glass window in a basketball gym. A few basketballs lay idle in the corner. Ellie, (14 y/o) sits with her knees to her chest against a wall, reading. In the first non-static shot thus far, Sam, (14 y/o) walks over. When she sees him, Ellie puts her book down. Sam sits next to her, his back sliding against the wall. His legs are extended straight in front of him. Close up, they sit next to each other. Sam has blonde hair to his shoulders, it is wet and rung out, slightly tangled. Ellie has long brown hair, and we can tell it also has been wet. SAM You ready? ELLIE Yeah. SAM You're sure you don't want to change? ELLIE I'm sure. SAM Okay. ELLIE I kinda liked the rain. It was nice. Harder to row in, but exhilarating. SAM Yeah. ELLIE And cooling, really. Here, turn around.
(Printed with the demonstration version of Fade In)
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Sam turns so that we see his profile sitting. His back is now to her side, his one side to the wall, the other to the camera. Ellie takes a hair tie off of her wrist and places it on the gym floor next to him. Close up, we see her begin to run her fingers through his hair, lightly working out the tangles. She does this for a few seconds. He winces for a second, but it is barely visible. Even closer now, she pulls back his hair and begins to form a ponytail. ELLIE (cont'd) Do you want a braid or a ponytail? SAM A pony tail's fine. Thank you. Ellie finishes, pulling his hair into a low ponytail. He gets up. SAM (cont'd) Alright, are you ready? CUT TO BLACK. SCENE TWO: IN THE CAR A car winds through a twisting road, lined with trees, passing by the river. We see the road from the perspective of Ellie, sitting in the front seat. Text on the screen: Five Days Earlier We see Ellie now, she is listening to music with headphones on. Only a little sound is heard, it's tinny. The car is silent. They round a corner, her mom pulls up in front of a tan building by the river, by a paved path. ELLIE'S MOM There, and with three minutes to spare. Ellie does not notice her. ELLIE'S MOM (cont'd) Ellie? She takes out one earphone. ELLIE'S MOM (cont'd) Do you have your keys?
(Printed with the demonstration version of Fade In)
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ELLIE Yeah. ELLIE'S MOM Well, I'll see you at home at around 4:30. Have a good day. ELLIE I'll try to. ELLIE'S MOM Good luck! ELLIE See you. Ellie puts her earphone back in. She gets out of the car, slings a backpack over her shoulder, and as the door slams, her music gets louder. She walks into a room, and gets to a folding table with forms. The camera pans around the room to kids in clusters, it's slightly noisy. She approaches the table, and takes out her headphones. The music stops. CAMP COUNSELOR Name? ELLIE Ellie Vorhees. CAMP COUNSELOR How are you coming here and how are you getting home? ELLIE My mom gave me a ride today, but normally I bike. The camp counselor looks at the sheet. CAMP COUNSELOR Oh, Gatestown, that's not too far from here. Well, let me know if you need anything. Here's your T-shirt. The counselor hands Ellie a T-shirt and she swings it over her arm. ELLIE Thanks. Ellie walks away, the camera follows her.
(Printed with the demonstration version of Fade In)
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CAMP COUNSELOR (in the distance, we can only hear it slightly) Next? Ellie sits on a bench and picks up a book from her backpack, opens it and starts to read. CUT TO: SCENE THREE: IN THE GYM A bunch of campers sitting in a circle. There is an open space next to Ellie, and Sam slides in right as the coach begins to speak. Ellie looks over and they smile at each other. Next is a close up of the coach's face to about her shoulders, the shot follows as she turns and addresses the circle. COACH CARLY Hello everyone, and welcome to River's End bootcamp. I'm sure you all know me, I'm Coach Carly. As she says the next words, a montage begins, with upbeat music underneath. First there is a sweeping shot of a river, a few teenagers rowing, and then a few teenagers biking. These next two weeks will be a mixture of rowing, cycling, running, There is a shot of some running, and a basketball going through a hoop as the speech ends. COACH CARLY (cont'd) (voice-over) and pickup games of basketball if you so dare. Back to a shot of the circle, with closeups of individuals when they speak. Anna is sitting next to Ellie, they are friends. ANNA I'm Anna. Mercer Catholic. SAM Uh, I'll go. I'm Sam.
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Anna and Ellie make eye contact, Anna raises her eyebrows and they smile at each other. As he continues talking there is a shot of Sam shooting a basketball from the three point line. It goes in. In the background, Ellie is sitting on a bench drinking water. SAM (cont'd) Williams Prep. ELLIE (voice-over) I'm Ellie, James Street School. Sam walks over to Ellie and sits down next to her. He is visibly taller. The music from the voice-over/introduction section stops. SAM You're sure you don't want to play? ELLIE I'm sure. SAM C'mon - why not? ELLIE I'm not good at basketball. SAM I'll help you. Sam jumps up and reaches out a hand and then pulls Ellie up. SAM (cont'd) (to the others) Guys! Ellie's on my team now! Ellie laughs and the camera fades to black. SCENE FOUR: ICE CREAM Ellie swings her backpack over her shoulder, Anna grabs her bag from off a table and follows her. They pass by the original sign in table. CAMP COUNSELOR See you tomorrow! ELLIE Bye.
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ANNA See you! Ellie and Anna mount their bikes. CUT TO: Further down the trail, which connects to an empty square for gathering in front of a grand building. ELLIE It's so hot out today. ANNA Yeah, but it's nice. ELLIE Yeah, the wind feels good. ANNA Here? ELLIE Sure. Anna and Ellie pull over their bikes to an ice cream cart. Ellie pays. The ice cream man hands over two soft serves. ELLIE (cont'd) (to the ice cream man) Thanks. Ellie hands one to Anna, and they walk their bikes over to a dried out fountain at the foot of the steps. They lick their ice creams as they speak. ANNA It's so bad for me but tastes so good. ELLIE Same. I try not to feel guilty though. ANNA Yeah. There's a brief pause. They watch as in the distance a couple releases a set of balloons into the sky, with the skyline as a backdrop. ELLIE Sam's so nice.
(Printed with the demonstration version of Fade In)
ANNA Yeah I saw you guys talking. ELLIE He made me play basketball with him. I think I know him from somewhere. ANNA I heard once that people you like justification for or thinking about
just happens with you want why you're talking him.
ELLIE Hm. ANNA I can't believe Maggie didn't say hi. We ate lunch together every day last year at school. ELLIE I know, I'm sorry. A woman jogs by in the distance. ANNA In the mean time, I can't believe we have to do this all again tomorrow. More basketball too, and that running game. ELLIE I know right. I'm not the one destined for sport, my brother is. ANNA My brother's so naturally skinny. ELLIE Mine too, I wish. I think it's about testosterone or something. I read it in a parenting book my mom had on female body image. ANNA (making fun) My mom thinks it's a "destiny of God" that I be here. That I get the scholarship - you know. I'm just trying to go with it because it makes her happy. (MORE)
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(Printed with the demonstration version of Fade In) ANNA (cont'd) But it's my personal opinion that if I was supposed to be in the Olympics, God would have done it by now. There is silence
for a moment.
ELLIE (re: the sunset) It's so pretty. ANNA Yeah. ELLIE I wish we could stay and watch it. ANNA My mom would kill me if I got back late. ELLIE Me too, she'd think I'd been abducted. ANNA Well, see you. ELLIE See you. The girls wave goodbye we see Ellie ride her bike into the distance. SCENE FIVE: RUNNING GAME There is silence, the camera pans down from the window, to the rafters of the gym, to campers in a row on the center line. COACH CARLY (from the sidelines) Three, two, one! Coach Carly passes a ball that was in her hands to one kid standing on the center line. The campers begin running between the middle line and the end lines, and the person with the ball starts to throw it and tries to hit people. Ellie is hit and sits on the sidelines, out of breath. After a few more laps back and forth, Sam is hit and sits down next to her.
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(Printed with the demonstration version of Fade In)
SAM It wasn't a good run for me. ELLIE I thought you did just fine. I got out first. They are both panting, out of breath. Ellie takes a sip of water. SAM (re: the water bottle) Can I see that? Ellie puts the cap on and hands it over. SAM (cont'd) (he sees a sticker) Orchestra Camp? What instrument do you play? ELLIE Oh, piano. SAM Nice. I've always admired piano players - I could never do that. ELLIE And you? SAM I play double bass. ELLIE That's cool. SAM Most people don't peg me as the kind of person to play any instrument. But, you know, when I said I wanted to be in band the teacher took one look at me and said "double bass." So here I am. ELLIE Ah, The struggles of tall people. Did you know I've been average height my whole life. Like always, right in the middle of the percentile? Brown hair, brown eyes too. (MORE)
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ELLIE (cont'd) I always used to find it annoying how in books the main characters always had green eyes, or red hair or whatever. Either tall or short too, never really in-between. SAM Well, tall people die earlier so, I guess you've got the advantage.
SCENE SIX: THE GYM AT LUNCH Ellie and Anna sit on the side of the gym on a bench. Sam and 5-7 others spread in a circle on the other side of the gym, laughing and talking. Ellie and Anna eat mostly in silence. Ellie and Sam make eye contact. ANNA (unaware that Ellie is in her own world stuck in thoughts) God, I can't believe we have to run again after lunch. ELLIE (absent-mindedly) I wish we did cycling more. After a moment, Sam, puts down his lunch and gets up, almost as if he is walking towards her. But he isn't. He walks to the side, a begins playing a pickup game of basketball with a few other campers he was eating with. Anna and Elliie watch from the opposite side of the gym. Eventually he gets to near where they are. The ball goes out of bounds, Ellie rolls it back. Sam and Ellie make eye contact from across the room again.
SCENE SEVEN: ANOTHER RACE The camera follows Anna and Ellie first from behind, showing their bobbing ponytails, and then switching to show their faces as they run with a few others across a field approaching Coach Carly, who is at the end with another group of kids. Sam is in this group by Coach Carly. Anna and Ellie approach her and stop. Coach Carly makes a mark on her clipboard and then looks up.
(Printed with the demonstration version of Fade In)
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COACH CARLY Anna, Ellie, nice work. You guys are free to sit down. Jamie I saw you cutting corners, so stay with me. (to the kids under the tree) Group two, come on group two! As Anna and Ellie walk to and sit down under a tree in the background some other campers, including Sam, get up from under the tree and stand in a line (Jamie included in the line) near Coach Carly. COACH CARLY (cont'd) Ready, set, go! The students begin running, in the same course that Anna and Ellie's group ran. Anna and Ellie watch them. Most of the runners are tired, and Sam and one other kid are well ahead of most of them. The runners make it back. COACH CARLY (cont'd) Sam, you're good, Aiden, you're good. Jamie, you're still cutting corners so I can't mark you as completed. You'll have to go again. Sam and Aiden, another camper, join Anna and Ellie under the tree. COACH CARLY (cont'd) (to the campers that are just running back now) Again, please, again. Coach Carly sighs. The running continues as the other campers watch. Sam and Aiden walk back to under the tree. Ellie is working on a friendship bracelet attached to her water bottle. Sam sits next to Ellie. SAM (noticing the friendship bracelet) That's pretty. ELLIE Thanks. SAM Can you make me one?
(Printed with the demonstration version of Fade In)
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ELLIE You can have mine. She takes one that is on her wrist off. SAM Are you sure? ELLIE Yes. Can I see your wrist? Sam extends his hand, and Ellie tries to tie the bracelet. It doesn't fit. ELLIE (cont'd) Hand me your backpack. Sam reaches behind him and grabs his backpack, which is black with various key-chains and patches attached. As Ellie begins to fasten the bracelet to a zipper pull, she takes notice of a patch on the backpack, placed right near where she is attaching the friendship bracelet to the zipper. ELLIE (cont'd) Wait wait wait- you used to play for The Red Team? At Pickett Field? SAM I think so, like, a million years ago. How did you know that? ELLIE The patch, The Red Team got one, I remember. We won, I was so proud. SAM (the memory is coming back to him now) You were there? ELLIE Yeah! SAM Did you used to have short hair? ELLIE Yeah, all messy. SAM That was you then. Crazy.
(Printed with the demonstration version of Fade In)
ELLIE The Reds won that year. I was so proud of myself. SAM So was I. ELLIE Remember, after games, we would go and get bubblegum from the snack bar? For like, a quarter each? SAM Yeah, and I remember, I felt so bad once, you were goalieELLIE They made everyone try it outSAM The ball hit you right in the chest but I swear it was an accident. I'm sorry. ELLIE It's okay, I remember that. SAM I hated being goalie, I liked offense better. ELLIE Me too. SAM I just can't believe we used to play together. ELLIE I can't believe I used to play soccer in the first place. SAM You were good, I remember. It didn't matter how much you got the ball or whatever, when you got your chance, you always went full out. Even when you somehow busted your lip once.
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ELLIE I remember that, in baseball, in the spring. SAM Your lip was bleeding, and you kept on playing. You still went up to bat. ELLIE I wasn't going to pass up on a chance- it beat sitting in the field all day, picking dandelions, counting the stones on the church wall. SAM I don't know, I was always pitcher. But I remember that church. ELLIE So weird, that the field backed right up to it. SAM Right- I don't go much anymore, but I was there last Easter. ELLIE I could have sworn that was you when I first saw you here, but I didn't want to be weird. SAM It's not weird, you were right. I saw you on Easter too, and I was like, "that girl is most certainly on her phone during mass," not that I cared, I just thought that no one could be looking that intensely at the floor. ELLIE I don't have a phone. SAM Then a book? ELLIE Close, I was reading the sheet music inside the hymn book. I learned to play piano at that church. SAM Oh.
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ELLIE Well, um, you'll be back here? SAM What? ELLIE You'll be back here next year? SAM Not unless my legs give out. Even then, I'd probably come anyway. Fade to Black. SCENE SEVEN: THE NEXT DAY Coach John, a burly man in workout clothes is standing over three kids on rowing machines, ready and waiting, while other kids watch. COACH JOHN (voice-over) 3, 2, 1. They begin rowing on the machines, and people begin cheering. Someone turns on upbeat workout music. COACH JOHN (cont'd) (loud, almost shouting) Faster! Faster! Faster! Faster! Unlock the beast inside you, let's go, let's go! The workout music gets louder and louder, as the scene becomes more overwhelming. Ellie, who is spectating, is seen, sitting still, as the other campers around her shout and jump. Watching this all unfold, and becoming overwhelmed, she suddenly gets up (Sam is on one of the machines, and he notices and turns his head subtlety while still rowing.) Ellie walks outside and the camera follows her. The door slams shut, and suddenly, all the noise is muted. SCENE EIGHT: THE DOCK The camera follows Ellie rush over to a pile of backpacks underneath an awning. She grabs hers, brings it to the edge of the dock, and sits down.
(Printed with the demonstration version of Fade In)
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She pulls out a book and her water bottle and takes a few large gulps. Geese congregate on the other end, she watches the other rowers on boats in the distance. She stays here for a few more moments, catching her breath, and trying to calm herself. In the distance we Sam walks downhill towards the dock. He approaches her. SAM (noticing the book next to her on the dock) You always have a book with you, I'm not surprised. Ellie looks up, she is pulled out of her thoughts and this overwhelmed state. Her breathing begins to even out. SAM (cont'd) Why aren't you reading it? ELLIE I'm too dizzy right now. SAM Oh, are you okay? ELLIE I'm fine, it was just too loud and too hot. I'm feeling a little better now, I just needed some fresh air. SAM Oh, well, I've been meaning to say this but...if you take one thing with you, know that I wish I could read as much as you do. ELLIE I wish I could run like you. SAM I'm serious. I have really bad dyslexia so I've always found it really hard. ELLIE I'm sorry. SAM I mean, sports are great but they don't last that long. I get the sense you'll still be reading when you're like, 40.
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ELLIE More like until when I'm 70. I'd read to you if I could, but my eyes aren't really working right now. There is a brief silence. ELLIE (cont'd) You're done on the machines? SAM Yeah, but John will probably call me back in there at some point. He was yelling at me the whole time I was on the machine. Yesterday, he told me I have potential, but I don't know. ELLIE Why not? SAM A lot of people are good at sports. a lot of people "have potential," and more importantly, Nothing's guaranteed. One slip on a wet gym floor or something and any potential I had would be gone. In a way, "having potential" is just a nicer way of saying I have a chance, but a lot of other people do too. ELLIE You have perseverance, and you have ability, and if sports are what you want to do with your life, then I think you should go for it. If you don't, then you'll live your whole life like you would if you had slipped on the floor, even if in reality that never happens. You'd spend your time wondering what you could have become. They are both silent for a moment. SAM Thank you. I'll think about that. Ellie opens the lunch box next to her and pulls out a piece of candy.
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ELLIE In the mean time, do you want one? SAM I really shouldn't, but yes. SCENE EIGHT: THE WEEKEND Music begins as Ellie signs out on a sheet on a paper labeled "Thursday sign out" at the top. The camera follows her out as she mounts her bike and leaves. The sun is setting as she rides home. The music continues as Sam climbs into a car, holding a basketball. Sam's dad is at the wheel, leaned over in the backseat trying to stop Sam's younger brothers from arguing SAM'S DAD (to the brothers) Shut up! He sees Sam and takes a breath. SAM'S DAD (cont'd) (to Sam) Did you win that rowing race thing you were talking about? SAM That's tomorrow, Dad. SAM'S DAD Oh. A basketball hits concrete. Sam is home now, in his driveway (which has a basketball hoop where he has been practicing). He sits on concrete and watches the sunset. As it fades to black, the music stops. There is a second or two of silence with this black screen. SCENE NINE: THE FINAL DAY Music plays. Ellie rides her bike by the river, and is suddenly aware of the scenery. She passes by the tree and field of a few days prior, when her and Sam figured out that they knew each other as kids. There is a general sense of finality, as well as brilliance, about the day. It is the last day of camp.
(Printed with the demonstration version of Fade In)
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The music continues as a few vignettes roll: the whole camp taking a photo, a few kids, including Ellie and Sam, begin to carry boats down to the dock. As this is happening, Coach Carly begins to speak, and finishes as a camp counselor shuts the gate door to where the boats are kept (with a close up shot of the lock) and locks it. COACH CARLY (sarcastically, with fake sincerity) I know you all will miss the sprinting. I know you all will miss this heat. And most of all, I know I will sure miss the those piercing cries that reverberate around the gym during lunchtime. By now, the previous collection of vignettes ends and students are all in boats on the river. Coach Carly and the Camp Counselor are on a small motorized boat. COACH CARLY (cont'd) Maybe you'll miss the friends you've made. Maybe you'll miss theThe camp counselor leans over. CAMP COUNSELOR (quietly) Let's get on with it. Remember, 80% chance? COACH KATHY Right, uh, get ready. Get set. Go! Upbeat music starts, and the boats begin moving forward as the students begin rowing. The camera transitions to a more raw, shaky follow of the boats, as if the camera-person is in the boat for some of the shots. COACH CARLY Go go go! The camera then pans up to show a dark gray sky. It starts to drizzle. COACH CARLY (cont'd) Keep going! Keep going!
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The rain picks up quickly. The boats continue onward. Rain streaks the camper's faces, people's clothes are starting to get wet. COACH CARLY (cont'd) Finish line or nothing! The boat with Sam nears a bridge, the finish line. When they get underneath, the rain has stopped because they are under cover, and they catch their breath. On the other side of the bridge, not under cover, the rain pours down in sheets. The boat with Ellie boat pulls in, and another, and then the boat with Anna. Ellie and Sam make eye contact, they both smile. CUT TO: The music fades as the boats pull into the dock, and although it is raining a little less now it is still raining at a steady pace. The campers hurriedly grab their things, water-bottles are passed from hand to outstretched hand, and people rush inside they grab their backpacks from under the awning by the door to the gym. Sam opens the door for Ellie as they hurry in, and he says something inaudible to her. In the girls locker room, campers frantically change into clean clothes, Ellie grabs a towel and her backpack and walks out. Near the doorway she towel dries her hair and her clothes. She drops her bag and her stuff by the door. In the vestibule, Coach Carly is waiting, shaking hands and giving pats on the backs as people emerge from the locker rooms and walk to the door. She doesn't notice that Ellie has stayed behind in the gym. The gym is cool and dark. The rain still pelts on outside. Ellie gets up and walks to the other end and sits down against a wall. The only person in the gym, she begins to read. The stillness from the beginning of has returned, and the music from the very first scene begins to play. Sam walks out of the boys locker room to across the gym where she is sitting down. He and looks at her as she looks up from her book towards him. We have ended up at the beginning. Cut to black. Credits roll.
(Printed with the demonstration version of Fade In)