Wrote a couple of silent scenes for Kunal Sigtia, who posted a message in the Wasatch Film Group looking for suggestions. Kunal has an assignment to make two silent short films about 3-5 minutes long each. One of the films has to be completely edited in-camera.
I told Kunal that if no one responded with silent scripts I would be willing to write a couple. We exchanged a couple of emails off message board, and I sent over some story suggestions.
I suggested that one silent film could be a scene where no one talks because they are trying to be sneaky about the things they are doing. Since there is no dialogue, I just wrote it as a story outline, and I didn't bother putting the story in standardized screenplay format.
An office.
Character (A) is getting some papers off the printer. He looks around for something, but doesn't find what he's looking for. Character (B) is facing away from his desk, and (A) sneakily picks up (B)'s stapler and walks away stapling his papers.
(B) turns around with some papers of his own and reaches for the stapler, but it's gone. He looks around the office, and spots it on (A)'s desk while (A) is not there, so he takes it back and walks away very satisfied.
(A) comes back to his desk and notices the stapler is gone. He immediately knows what has happened. He goes back to (B)'s desk and starts to walk away with the stapler, but it won't budge. He looks closer and the stapler is duct taped to the desktop. (A) looks frustrated, but then he smiles with an idea.
(B) comes back to his desk and looks down, shocked by what he sees. The duct tape is flapping ribbons where the stapler has been cut free.
(A) returns to his own desk, looking very happy. He looks at the stapler and smiles, then he kisses a pair of scissors and puts them away. As he is putting the scissors away, he sees something else in the drawer that gives him an idea. He pulls out a bottle of super glue and smiles an evil grin.
(B) walks back to (A)'s desk when no one is there. He spots the stapler on the desk and tries to snatch it, but it won't budge. He pulls and pushes with no luck. He gives it an almighty tug with all his strength and . . . comes away with the top half of the stapler, while the bottom half is still firmly glued in place.
(A) comes back and finds (B) with the broken stapler in his hands. They both look at the pieces of the stapler, then look at each other.
Just then, character (C) walks by and smiles at (A). (A) watches him go, and then he gets an idea and looks back in the direction (C) just came from. (A) looks at (B), and they both rush off toward (C)'s desk to swipe his stapler.
I referred to (A) and (B) as "he" throughout the story, but they could just as easily both be women, and it might be even funnier, because everyone loves a good catfight.
For Kunal's second short film, there is no editing allowed, so any edits must be done in camera. I suggested taking the challenge one step further and not having any edits at all, like Alfred Hitchcock's film "Rope".
I suggested the story surround one item that we could follow as it moves through several people's hands, like for instance a teddy bear.
A young girl sits at the breakfast table with a teddy bear. She pretends to feed it cold cereal with a spoon. Suddenly her older brother steps in and grabs the teddy bear to taunt his sister. She tries to get it back from him but he holds it up out of her reach. She starts to push him and he dances off out of the kitchen, keeping it away from her. The camera moves ahead of them, watching them as they go from the kitchen to the front room. The camera moves all the way out the front door until the fighting children are framed in the doorway. When the camera is in position, the boy runs out the door at lightning speed and tosses the teddy bear into a trash can before his sister can get outside to see what he has done with it. When she gets outside, he pretends he is holding something behind his back, and runs off pretending he still has the bear, but the camera stays by the trash can.
Just then, the trash man comes. He throws the trash can's lid open and starts to haul it away, but all the while he is talking on a cell phone. He gesticulates wildly, in the middle of a heated argument. He lets go of the can and shouts into his phone, punctuating every word with a finger he waves in the air. He finishes his phone call with with a wild arm wave, hangs up his phone with a violent button push, and throws his phone off into the distance. He storms off camera and leaves the can where he set it down.
Two teenage girls walk by with school books in their arms. One girl does a double take as she realizes there is a teddy bear on top of the trash in the can. She pulls the bear out and shows it to her friend, who is equally surprised. The girls walk on, taking the bear with them. They pass it back and forth, inspecting it. One girl hugs it. She smiles and begins acting silly, pretending the bear is kissing her, which makes her blush and titter in mock giddiness. She looks around to make sure no one is watching, and then pretends to give the bear a deep, passionate make-out session, which sends her friend into fits of laughter.
Just then, the girls pass a homeless woman sleeping in a shop doorway. Their mood immediately turns somber and they stop walking. They look at the homeless woman, then at each other. The funny girl hands the bear to her friend and motions for her to give it to the homeless woman. Her friend agrees and quietly sets the bear down next to the sleeping woman. The girls walk away, leaving the bear there.
After they leave, the homeless woman opens one eye and checks to make sure they are gone. She is surprised to see the bear in front of her. She sits up and picks up the bear. As she looks the bear over, her expression melts from apprehension and confusion into a smile. She brushes the bear's fur with her hand, and presses its softness against her cheek. She lays back down and closes her eyes again, hugging the bear tightly.
Shooting a story like this would require a lot of preproduction planning, and serious rehearsing, because every person would have to get all their blocking and gestures choreographed and executed perfectly in the same take, and that includes the cameraman. The lighting would also pose a serious concern because you would be moving from room to room, from indoor to outdoor, and down the length of a street all without stopping the camera or changing settings.
On the other hand, taking on a project this serious would be an impressive move, and I think it would be graded highly.
Kunal seemed happy with the stories. I will be interested to see how they come out on film.
