Script Take 5

Fifth Draft of Media Script.

1, EXT A car park next to a main road, surrounded by office type buildings, then to a reception office. 9:00AM.

The camera tracks along the front of a large grey building, zooming in on the peeling paintwork and the fading lettering on the front door.

Diegetic sound of high heeled shoes on pavement, a shot of the same feet walking, a smart, business looking woman walks into the building.

BUSINESS WOMAN:

[To receptionist, well-spoken tone]

 Good morning Mrs Greenford.

The receptionist looks up from her paperwork, immediately putting her papers aside and looking at her computer, then turning to smile at the business woman.

RECEPTIONIST:

Good morning Amanda, would you like me to fax

your days appointments to your office?

AMANDA:

[Smiling and nodding slightly] 

Yes, that would be excellent, thank you.

She walks down the corridor into an office, sits down at her desk and begins to scribble down a few notes on a piece of paper that is on her desk.

The camera returns to the front of the building where once more there is a diegetic sound of shoes, this time scuffing along the floor slightly, a man of around twenty one walks up to the building. Zoom in on his name badge, which reads ‘Ryan.’

RYAN:

[Grins cheerfully] Hey! Uh…

He peers at her name badge, which reads ‘Melody Greenford.’

…Melody!

MRS GREENFORD:

[Peers down her glasses at him, the camera changes to give her a power shot] 

That is MRS Greenford to you, Mr Valo.

RYAN:

[Smile fades] Ah, uh, yes, Good morning,

 Mrs Greenford.

MRS GREENFORD:

[Frowning]  That is much better. You’ve got some

 Reports that need to be filed [emphasis] IN alphabetical

Order this time; this will of course be the THIRD AND

 FINAL TIME.

She then turns away from him and picks up the phone, smirking slightly, and then suddenly becoming more upbeat.

RECEPTIONIST:

Why hello there Angela, how wonderful

 to hear from you!

RYAN shakes his head and walks into a small room to the left of the receptionist’s desk.

There are some shots of inside the building, of someone cleaning the floor, some people sat in a waiting room and some other general shots.

The camera tracks along the building, once more, diegetic sounds of more footsteps, then a long shot of a man of around twenty five, clad in a dress shirt, black jeans and converse, walking into the building.

The camera zooms in on the receptionist’s face, paying particular interest in the sudden change in her attitude and obvious change of her facial expression.

RECEPTIONIST:

Good morning Jon!

JON:

[Teasing Her]     Mornin' Mrs Greenford, hard

morning at the office?

RECEPTIONIST:

[Dramatically]    Ah! Only that utter buffoon

 of an assistant of yours!

JON:

[Sighs]     Cut him some slack, he’s only young

, Give him time... No doubt he’s in over his head

 for the time being, he’ll soon get the hang of it.

RECEPTIONIST:

[Purses her lips, seemingly unimpressed] Still, he should-

JON:

[Interrupts her, smiling apologetically]

 Well, it has been lovely,

 talking to you, but I really must

 get some work done.

RECEPTIONIST:

[A bit flustered, clearly not used to being talked to like that] 

Oh yes, of course, I’ll email you your

 appointments.

JON nods in response, then walks down the corridor, stopping at a door, and then poking his head round the door before walking into the room and leaning against the doorframe, where RYAN is sat at a desk, as JON walks into the room, he is on his phone, and upon seeing him, he hurriedly puts it back in his pocket, when he sees who it is, he is clearly relieved.

RYAN:

[Dramatically puts his hand on his chest]

 For god’s sake, do you have to creep up on

Me like that? I thought it was her coming to

 ‘inspect’ my working process again!

[When he says ‘inspect’ he turns his hands into inverted commas and has a sarcastic expression.]

JON:

[Smirking]  Ah, sorry man, I had no idea

 you were so.. On edge.

RYAN:

Hey, catch any of the game last night?

JON:

Pitiful. You joining me for lunch?

RYAN:

[Shrugs] Yeah, sure.

Jon nods, and then leaves the room, rhythmically tapping the doorframe as he goes. He walks even further down the corridor, and then goes into his office.

The door shuts with the camera on the outside of the door. The only diegetic sounds are the keys of the receptionist’s computer and muffled voices. The camera fades to black after showing shots of the waiting room and the corridor, then the outside of the building again.

2.INT Outside Jon’s office, 11:30AM.

There are diegetic sounds of muffled voices. Then, the door opens, revealing JON and a teenage boy. He walks him to the door, and then opens it for him, letting him past.

JON:

Right, well I’ll see you next week

, take care of yourself Spencer,

 yeah? [Smiles]

Spencer:

[His head bowed] Yeah, seeya.

He walks past him, and out of sight. JON walks back through to a room where some people in smart dress are, it is clear that they are having a meeting, there are notes and clipboards on the table. Jon takes a seat next to the top of the table, in front of the notes he had made on his and Spencer’s conversation. He places his elbow on the table, and fiddles with his pen with one hand.

MAN 1:

[Clears his throat]      So, has anybody come

 to any conclusions?

Man 2:

In my opinion, I think he needs

 to be kept on a much closer watch;

 to be sure he is not a danger to himself.

 If the problems increase, I think it may be

 time to introduce medication.

There is a collective murmur of agreement, and then MAN 1 turns to JON.

MAN 1:

What do you think Jon? It's your call after all,

 you are his case worker.

JON:

I’m not so sure if that’ll be necessary,

 he seems to be a lot more alert and able

 to cope with things than the last time I saw him-

MAN 1:

[Slightly disbelieving] You think he’s improved?

JON:

Yes, I really, really do. Last time we met,

 he was almost too shy to even look at me,

 now he’s talking almost freely,

 with a bit more work surely-

MAN 2:

[Calmly]     Surely they could be introduced to

 him though? Merely as a precaution

 a safety net if you like?

JON:

[Sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes]     

I-    I just really don’t think that this

 sort of action is needed.

[MAN 2 goes to interrupt him again, but JON silences him with a wave of his hand.]

JON:

[A little irritated]     No. Let me finish. We’re

 only just making some good progres,

 some real progress. It’s took so long

 to get this far, and I’m not going to

 throw all that hard work away, both

 from him and from me.

MAN 2:

[Puts both hands on the table, leaning a little more forward, in a slightly more defensive manner]  I should think that

 given my knowledge on the minds of [Patronizing tone] 

vulnerable young people,

my opinion should be respected and my views put to

action, rather than the likes of a man who is

 barely out of Childhood himself!

JON:

[Scoffs]    You can’t learn everything from a book.

 Sometimes you have to actually try to

 help them, instead of being in this

 job for yourself [mocking] Sir.

MAN 2:

[A bit flustered, putting his hands on the sides of his chair as if he’s about to stand]  I am NOT going to sit here

and let my respected opinion

be hacked down like this.

[Jon begins to make a snappy remark, but before he can, MAN 1 stops him.]

MAN 1:

[His tone stating a high level of authority]    Jon! Do what you think

 will be the best for the boy

, your opinion is most valued in this case.

 Not all by any means, but you do

 know him the best.

[The meeting finishes and various members of the congregation walk out of the room, making small talk at the same time, but JON beelines for the his office, and is shown putting on his coat, and meeting RYAN at the front door]

3.INT In the local coffee shop. 12:30

[JON and RYAN are sat in a booth in the back room of the coffee shop. The shop is mainly deserted; they are discussing the meeting that has happened previously]

RYAN:

[Curiously]       Who was the dude in the suit?

 He looked like well pissed off at you!

 What did you do this time?

[Jon sighs, and massages the sides of his temple before answering]

JON:

[Laughing ironically]   He was just another business

 type clone thinking he can read all the

 books in the world and understand people,

 and anyone who hasn’t is instantly below

 him- in fact

[A waitress comes over with their food; they thank her and begin eating, after a few minutes, JON soon picks up his rant from where he left off, clearly not going to let it go anytime soon.]

JON:

[Irritated]       He just… tries to fix things

that these people are going through with

 medication and other crap, he doesn't listen

 to them or try to help them himself, or try

to make them feel like they’re not alone, just

 uses them for his research!

[He pauses, waving his hands around, trying to find another lead to go off on a rant about]

JON:

He doesn’t respect the kid’s

privacy. Never mind anything else!

 He goes around, betraying their trust

 whenever he feels like it! AH.

[He stops, and seems to be more relaxed now all that’s out of his system, RYAN has sat there in silence the whole time, chewing thoughtfully]

RYAN:

[Simply, with no emotion} Dick.

[This sets the mood and atmosphere a lot more happy and humorous. Both men laugh, both seeming more at ease than previously.]

JON:

[Jokily]   

See Ry that is the reason I keep you around!

RYAN:

[Smirks]    I try. I try. So, when do

 you next meet up with him then?

JON:

[Pauses] Uhh… Friday I think, in the morning.

RYAN:

[Nods thoughtfully, and makes an affirmative noise]

      Ah, what’re you gonna do then?

JON:

[Sighs]     I have no idea. I cannot

just betray his trust like that, it’s taken

 so long for us to get this far, when we

 first met initially, and he would barely

 even talk to me for god’s sake.

RYAN:

Well, can you really blame him huh?

[Jon sighs, then the shot fades to black]