A Glimpse Into The Past (Reflection)

Critical Reflection Link: Link To Critical Reflection Document

The social group my product represents is teenagers and how they are in a difficult stage of life where making friends isn’t as easy anymore because socializing can be awkward. For teenagers making friends can be a challenging task. You don’t want someone you just met to think you’re weird, so you must watch what you say and be mindful of how you dress, etc. Our film focuses on two random girls meeting in an elevator for the first time and deciding to go on an adventure together. That’s not something you’d do regularly. Most of our dialogue, especially in the elevator scene, plays into that awkwardness and shows that it’s okay not to know how to talk to people. At first, Riley is a little cold to Sam, and based on her facial reaction, you can see that she was only asking her what floor she was going to so she could click the button for her, common courtesy. Sam also displays awkwardness by asking Riley if she is going to the beach despite her being in a swimsuit top and having clicked the floor to the beach, which is where Sam was initially headed. There is also an awkward sappy moment when they discover the last clue that Sam brushes off. The point is that teenagers are awkward people. Our production takes note of that and uses it to help them showcase the awkwardness in everyone. Our message, in the end, tells them to take risks and do what they usually wouldn’t because you only get one life, so you might as well live it.

The face of our brand was the name. Chance Encounter is short, sweet, and straightforward. It’s catchy and easy to remember. My team and I made it extra memorable by making it a cute neon blue wiggly font that glows on a black background. It wasn’t overdramatic, but you’re automatically drawn to it when you see something glowing. We used this logo on all of our social media so that we were easy to find. We kept the bio description consistent too. An essential part of branding is having a target audience. Our target audience is people who enjoy the thrill of life and love a good adventure. These are the people who would enjoy a treasure hunt. We kept this consistent on our postcard by giving it a vintage feel similar to a treasure map and adding small images of a treasure chest and compass. We also target teenage girls or girls who struggle to make friends. Our film deals with strangers discovering friendship over time, so I felt that this could help encourage them to be bolder and more outspoken, which would help overcome their shyness and anxiety. Girl Boss Studios is an all-female-led studio, so empowering women is a massive part of our brand. The overall look of our product was very vibrant and youthful. From the fonts, we used to the color scheme of our media pages. It is meant to attract a younger audience. Which fully encompasses the audience of our film. 

Making the short film engaging was the most important part of the filmmaking process. No one wants to watch a boring film. The first step in engaging with the audience is creating relatable characters. Sam, the main character, is the bubbly, outspoken one. She’s the one who starts up the small talk and invites Riley to go on the treasure hunt with her. Generally, extroverted people will relate to Sam and are more likely to favor her character because they can see themselves in her. Talking to new people and ultimately making friends is what they do. Riley, on the other hand, is the quiet, sarcastic one. She didn’t want to go on a treasure hunt but tagged along for fun. More introverted people will relate to Riley and are most likely to favor her because they can relate to not being talkative but accepting an invite from an extrovert for a moment of fun. I also engaged with the audience by being active on many platforms to inform and entertain them until the film premiered. The film took a while to premiere, so I had to find a way to keep the audience interested and keep the film relevant so that when it did premiere, it’d attract viewers. These platforms included social media pages such as Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and even a website. Here we posted things such as behind-the-scenes pictures, posters, and trailers. It wasn’t long before people started following us and liking our content, so I knew our film was being seen. 

Our product follows a lot of the typical conventions of an adventure film. The girls pushed themselves out of their comfort zones and went on a once-in-a-lifetime treasure hunt. There were a lot of wide shots and panning shots, which showed the location and created a fast pace. Our mis-en-scene was also very important to creating that adventure aspect. We had a mix of lighting which showed that the day progressed as the journey did. The costumes were also accurate because many of the adventures occur on or at the beach, and the girls were both in beach wear until it started getting darker and colder when they wore jackets. The film challenged the typical adventure genre because there was no protagonist. The protagonist is what makes the adventure so action-packed, but because there was none, it wasn’t as exciting as a typical adventure film. There were no weapons or fighting scenes because there was no villain to fight. The soundtrack was also very lackluster adventure-wise because it lacked suspense and the edge that you need to think the characters were at some unexplored place. There was no imminent danger or risk to their lives, so the journey wasn’t much of an adventure. Our plot also had nothing to do with our genre, making the film more wholesome and lighthearted instead of nerve-wracking. The only anticipation was waiting for what was in the treasure box.

Short Film Package for Chance Encounter

Website Link: https://chanceencounterthe.wixsite.com/chanceencounter

Screenshot of Homepage:

Postcard Link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZXdr5jsx3zRFfPJ45ehYERiqL_5vhXNQLfiLBWyCsbs/edit

Front:                                                            

Back:

Short Film Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Q5HLcv8uvs

Short Film: 

Production Blog: The Opening Act

 The first step in the opening sequence is adding your studio name and production company. We agreed to keep the ones we created last year, so it was time for Girl Boss Studios and Dagger Production to reappear. I found the video we made last year and cut off the opening clip from there, and attached it to this video. So it's a total of three seconds more to our time. Next, we had to decide what font, color, and size we wanted the other titles to be. Capcut has saved font styles, so we reviewed those to see which one we liked best. Ash and I picked out eight and then sent them to Siena to pick her favorite. Out of the eight, I liked Mokgech, Playfairdisplay, and Wargod. Ash also Liked Mokgech and Wargod, but she liked Rackham as well. Siena favored Mokgech but said we should go with whatever font closest to the poster. In the end, we decided on Mokgech because of its medieval look. It felt right for an adventure film.

Next, we needed a size that would be big enough to see but not too big where it's distracting. CapCut doesn't do sizing by number, so we had to drag or pinch the words to the size we liked. We also needed a color that would stand out from the background but not become the scene's focal point. I thought of pink since our studio name is pink, but I figured black was more subtle yet still visible, so we went with that. The words will wipe in from the bottom right corner of the screen for transitions. For the movie title, I thought we could have the words come off the paper to spell out the name. Easier said than done because as hard as I tried, I couldn't get it to look less tacky. We found a better spot for the title anyway, so it was okay. After finalizing the editing, I couldn't be happier with the film. It's indeed come a long way, especially with all the problems we had initially, but we're finally finished, and I'm so excited to show you the final copy. 

Production Blog: Putting out the flames

 After our film review, I realized there's still work to do before we can call the film finished. One thing we needed to work on was the lighting. Going back into CapCut, I started playing with filters until I found some that made the clips brighter. I had to choose between Sunlit, One Day, and Oasis. I'm leaning towards One Day. It makes the scene brighter, looks natural, and doesn't have as drastic of a hue as the others. We also turned down the brightness in the places where the sun was causing a glare. Then we tackled audio once more. We decided to do voiceovers for the garage to eliminate the background noises.

We couldn't turn the siren down low enough and still be able to hear Siena, so that wasn't working. We fought long and hard to separate the wind even more from the dialect in the beach scenes. It was hard because there was only so much we could do without switching to a voiceover here. Lastly, we turned to CapCut transitions to help smooth out the passage between scenes. The only one that wasn't drastically obnoxious was called mix. It's a subtle fade, so the scene will easily flow from one to the other without showing that we actually used a transition. It'll look like we did it all in one take. We've exhausted all our options, and there's truly nothing else we can do editing-wise without enlisting the help of a professional. Since we don't know any, we'll have to trust ourselves and make do with what we have. We managed to cut the film to a near-perfect time which shocked me because I felt we were so far from it. We're missing the titles and the end quote, and then we're finished. These are relatively easy to add, so we saved them until the end. I can't believe we're almost there. 

Production Blog: Friendly Fire

Every good movie needs a good review team. So I chose two of my friends who I trusted to be honest with me, and honest they were. A few seconds in, Karine paused to tell me how corny it was. I reminded her we're high schoolers in Media Studies, not professional actors. This convinced her to continue watching. Asia finished first and gave really good criticism. She said it was hard to hear Siena talking right after she answered the call. We can do a voiceover here since her back is turned, so we won't need to match facial reactions. We killed the background noise, but she was talking too low.  She also gave positive remarks. She mentioned how she noticed we used a lot of angles, and it's good to show the actors from different perspectives. She also noted how well done the clues were and praised our creativity. Unfortunately, Karine only had negative things to say. Despite our attempts to perfect the audio, she says there were times when it could have flowed more nicely. For example, you can tell where we muted it to remove the sirens and add wind sounds.  She also noted that some scenes' lighting glared or was dull. She took a stab at the acting, saying it's a bit lackluster and could've been better. Lastly, she mentioned that the transitions are jumpy. I assume she means the clips don't flow together as well as they should. I would've loved for them to elaborate further, but they said this is all the current criticism and that they'd love to see it again after we've made edits. I would've loved to hear more positive reviews, but everything is never perfect on the first try. So, back to the drawing board we go.  

Production Blog: When in doubt, YouTube it out

This next part of editing is not my favorite, especially not with this film. Editing sound has never been my strong suit. I've always worked with visuals. Extracting audio is easy. It gets complicated when you must overlay them and ensure everything is lined up perfectly. Still, I tried my absolute best to help Ash. Ash is our main audio person, and she always does a great job. I told her about areas that I thought needed fixing. This includes places where the sirens were too loud, or the wind was too strong, and you just couldn't hear the actors. I also told her about sounds we could add. For example, the closing clip is a voiceover of an inspiring quote at the end. We could use an inspiring song but the instrumental version as background noise so that it's a little more interesting. After listening to several inspiring instrumentals, I decided they needed to be more exciting and ventured into Hip Hop instead.

I found a song by Rihanna that would make an excellent outro, mainly since our quote deals with not letting life pass you by. It's upbeat and gets you pumped up. That's a great way to end an adventure film. We needed to ask for the rights to use the song, so I contacted Rihanna through social media, asking her the best way to contact her regarding permission. We'll likely have to find an uncopyrighted YouTube song if she doesn't respond. I hope it doesn't come to this because the piece is perfect. As of right now, the movie has really come together, and I'm happy with our progress.

Production Blog: Working Overtime

The day after filming, I decided to put all the clips together. The three days' worth of clips increased the video from one minute and 41 seconds to seven and 42 seconds. Some scenes overlapped, so I cropped them and other clips that I thought could be shortened, bringing it down to six minutes and 54 seconds. I still had to take into account the opening scenes, which would need a few extra seconds for the production company, and the closing scene, which also needed a few extra seconds for the quote. In total, it would probably go back up to seven seconds. We need to go down to five, so this is an issue. As I watch the video, I notice a lot of the audio has really harsh wind overshadowing it. I'm not usually in charge of audio, but even I can tell this will be hard to isolate. As an alternative, Ash and Siena could individually do voiceovers, and we can mute the audio of the original clips and replace it with the voiceovers. Then we could add a softer wind sound in the background so you can tell we're on the beach, but it's not overshadowing the talking. We can also add walking and birds in the background to make it more natural. My only concern is that their voices won't match up with the emotion on their face. In the moment, they were acting, but at home, they were alone and not in the moment, so it might be hard to recreate their original emotions.

Another thing that needs fixing is the lighting. In the parking garage and the hallway, it's a little dimmer than I would like it. Since it was supposed to be set mid-day, I can make those scenes a lot brighter, so the day doesn't look as murky. I can also make the night scenes darker, so it looks like the hunt went on for longer than it did. Overall, I need to go back and crop out a lot more filler clips. I will try to bring the time to around four minutes and 50 seconds so that we have a 10-second wiggle room for the opening and closing. It will be tricky to cut that much off because I didn't see that much that needed cropping on my first two run-throughs. However, I like a good challenge, so I'm ready. 

Production Blog: Elevator Endeavors

 Today was our last day of filming, and I have never felt so relieved. Ironically, this was the most crucial scene in the whole film, and we saved it until the end. After our last heated debate, we got Siena to agree on the residential elevator. Filming went smoothly. When we were there, we weren't interrupted even once. The elevator was great. Since it was outdoors, the concrete was a great transition from the parking garage, so it looks like we filmed both scenes in the same place. Unfortunately, one of the light tiles was out of place, so we pushed it around until it looked presentable enough for the video.

The poster fits perfectly above the buttons, precisely where we wanted it. It took a few takes, but we wrapped up filming after about half an hour. I was a little disappointed in the acting. Siena was doing okay, but Ash wasn't giving me the energy I wanted. Her argument was that Riley is supposed to be more nonchalant, and while I agree, she wasn't giving enough energy to be someone who just decided to go on a treasure hunt with a random stranger. Siena said she was doing fine, which means I was outnumbered, so we didn't redo the scenes. At one point, I thought we broke the elevator because I was standing in the doorway so it wouldn't close to get a shot, and I guess I had it open for too long because it started beeping. I quickly moved out of the way because I don't know what I'd do if I broke an elevator in a neighborhood I didn't even live in. I noticed that everyone looked a little happier when we were leaving. The movie was taking a toll on them more than I realized. I'm just glad we have all the shots now, so I can start editing.  We were way under time, but I am satisfied with the number of clips we have now. Here's a behind the scene picture of the girls in the elevator:

Production Blog: Journey Downtown

 Today might be the easiest day of filming we've had all year. We went downtown Fort Lauderdale, known to the locals as The Downtowner, to film our last clue. It wasn't super busy, but there were still enough people to count as background characters so that the film looked more natural. Many people were walking puppies, and I had to fight the urge to pet them. We first filmed the scene of the girls walking across the bridge and then stopping to search for the water taxi sign. I had to walk backward to get this shot, and they were walking so quickly I was practically running. I probably looked ridiculous to onlookers, but it was super funny. In the next shot, I filmed a high-angle shot of the girls running down the ramp. I thought I looked ridiculous until I had to film this. Rather than run, they did a weird soccer mom jog that was so perfectly in sync. Hilarious. Next, I tried to sneak shots of the water taxi without looking like a stalker to the people on it. The hardest part of today was trying to get a low-angle shot of Siena putting on her jacket. She had it on in the last clip we filmed, so we needed to show her putting it on. I sat on the ground for this shot. I was utterly disgusted, but I got the clip. I was a little disappointed with the trashcan scene because I don't think they searched for the lucky ticket long enough, but I was outnumbered, so we kept it. After this, we tried to go home but got caught in rush-hour traffic. Ash managed to cut some of the time to get home by detours through random neighborhoods. We saw the most beautiful lakeside two-story houses one could only imagine living in. Here's a cute picture I took downtown that looks like it belongs on a postcard.

Production Blog: Beach Babes

 As a new day of filming arises, so do a new set of problems. We agreed to film today after school since we were all free. The problem was deciding where to film. We still needed the elevator scene since we couldn't get it at the parking garage. It was super busy, and we would need the elevator for a minimum of 20 minutes to get all our shots, and 20 minutes was pushing it. Holding the elevator for that long felt wrong, so we opted against it. We needed a new elevator, and Ash and Siena argued about which elevator would be better to film in. Siena wanted to film at Galleria mall, arguing that it would be emptier during the week, so we could continue using it. Ash argued that Galleria mall was always busy, so we'd be blocking someone regardless. Ash found another location with an older elevator that would transition well enough to look like we filmed it at the parking garage. It was a residential elevator, too, so it wouldn't be as busy as the other two locations. Siena hated this idea. The mall was down the road, and she just wanted to get it over with. Ash didn't want it to be rushed because it'd result in crappy scenes. Evidently, I sided with Ash. Why wouldn't we film in the less busy elevator? It seemed like the obvious choice, but Siena angrily stormed off, so I guess she disagreed. Did I mention this whole argument was happening in class? It was super embarrassing.

After the whole debacle, we decided to save the elevator scene for another day, leading us to the beach again. We needed the seawall scene and search for the seashell. There were children on the playground, and we didn't want to interrupt them, so we decided to take it out of the script. Despite the argument, the scenes went well, with us only interrupted by the wind howling in the background. Isolating audio from that is going to be a pain. We might have to do a voiceover for today's clips. It should be easier because many of the dialogue scenes were close-up shots, so you can see the face clearly enough to reenact the emotions in their voices. But that's another day's problem. Here's a behind-the-scenes picture of getting the exact position right for the next scene. 

Production Blog: Connections In CapCut

 After two days of filming, I decided to do some editing. I redownloaded CapCut since it's the only editing app I can use. It's gotten some new updates since I last used it, which were kind of annoying, but it didn't take long for me to get back into the swing of things. Since it was updated, we were hoping they would add a collaborative feature. That way, Ash and I could edit simultaneously rather than her having to wait until I've finished visuals to start on sound. Unfortunately, they didn't add this feature. We just got TikTok templates. Yay. We didn't have a lot of content at this point but seeing it in numbers really put things into perspective. We had only one minute and 41 seconds worth of content. And this was before I cropped out bloopers, which means we had even less. This worried me because we only had three days of filming left. Would we have enough to make a five-minute film? One thing I noticed that would need serious editing throughout the clips is the brightness. It's really dull and icky, which isn't what we were going for in this film. Another thing that needs serious editing is the sound. Since most of our scenes are filmed on different parts of the beach, the wind is incredibly strong, making it hard to hear the actors. We could mute the sound and do a voiceover instead, but it won't match up well, and I'd rather not do that. Ash is usually in charge of audio, so I'm hoping she'll be able to somehow lower the wind sounds a little bit. Other than that, it's going okay so far. We managed to get good scenes that transition well, so we don't need a lot of filler scenes. I'm not feeling the adventure aspect yet, but I'm hoping that'll change once we actually have all the clips.

 

Production Blog: Adventures of Big Red

We decided to film in Downtown Las Olas on our second day of filming. We were going straight from school, so we stopped for food first. Nothing like French fries and a McFlurry to give you the strength to tackle another day of filming. I wasn't surprised when our first problem arose. We hardly ever have problem-free filming days. Ash and I decided to park in a parking garage rather than parallel park in front of our filming spot. We got our parking ticket and went inside, but it was a really suspicious-looking area. There were hardly any cars in there; it was dimly lit and looked like something straight out of a horror film. It would've been great if we were filming a horror movie, but since it was an adventure film, we decided to leave and live to see another day. Then we couldn't find the exit. It was as if we were stuck in a giant circle. We pulled over to gather our bearings when Ash noticed she didn't have the ticket to get out. We searched the whole car checking every little slip of white paper we encountered. We even returned to the parking spot, but it wasn't there. At this point, everyone was frustrated. Siena had been waiting outside and started calling, Ash was angrily yelling at everyone, and I wanted to go home. Eventually, we decided to pay for the lost ticket and met up with Siena. The chest didn't blend in with the chair as much as we thought, so it was obvious when we set it down. Still, the show must go on, so we just went with it. The only other problem we encountered was the need for more people in the area. We needed a crowd; only about three people were passing at a time. Once again, we just went with it. People were very entertained by what we were doing, stopping to stare at us. I made friends with a little boy who wanted to take a picture on the chair I named Big Red. I also saw more adorable puppies. I'd rate the day overall a 5/10. Here's a picture of me on Big Red:

Production Blog: Garage Grouchiness

Today was our first day of filming, and it was an adventure. At first, I was worried it wouldn't happen because our main two actors had problems aligning their schedules. We switched one of them out, and Ashleigh took her place. That means our two actors are now Ashleigh and Siena. It wasn't a big deal because we had already decided that if Siena's friend couldn't film, Ash would take her place. We started a little later than the time we agreed on because traffic was terrible, but we still had more than enough time to film. We decided to film at a parking garage near the beach, but when we got there, it said it was packed.

Regardless, we went inside anyways and found an excellent spot on the third floor. It was a corner spot, so we wouldn't have to worry about cars switching next to us and causing inconsistency in the clips. It was also super close to the elevator which is exactly what we planned in the script. It took several hours, and several takes to get the clip right. We faced many difficulties, from the wind being too loud, to constant honking and sirens in the background, but eventually, we got clips that we could work with and moved on to the next scene. This one was easier to do because there was no dialogue, so we could mute the background. The only problem was waiting for the crowds to pass by since we were right in front of the elevator. On our way out of the garage is when the trouble really started. The line to the exit was so incredibly long, and it wasn't moving. And as if everyone wasn't grouchy enough, a large group of kids on bikes thought it would be a great idea to do wheelies through traffic. There we sat in a seemingly endless line of cars watching about 20 children on bikes zooming in between the cars and laughing as they go by. Playing in a busy parking lot is not how I'd spend my free time but to each their own I suppose. One of them bumped Siena's car and. continued as if nothing had happened. Luckily it didn't scratch. 20 minutes later we finally exited the parking lot and boy was I glad to go home. 

Here's a picture of an iguana we saw on a house we passed that scared Ash:

Production Blog: Color Confusion

Filming is about to begin, and we're already off to a bad start. A few days before filming, we were still determining whether we'd be filming. As a result, none of our props were in order. We didn't have a treasure box. The most crucial prop, and we didn't have it. Siena said she had a box, but we found out it was yellow on the day of filming, and she didn't have enough time to paint it red. So I started frantically searching my house for any red box so we'd at least have something to film with. Something that would blend in with Big Red. I came across red watch boxes but was told they were too small.  I ultimately went with a red see-through jewelry box I borrowed from my cousin. It opened like a treasure box, so it was perfect. Then I went to postermywall.com to help Ash work on the treasure hunt poster and the water taxi tickets. She was out with her parents and didn't have Wi-Fi, but she had picked a template already, so I continued to work on that. I didn't have a printer; although Ash had one, she insisted we go to Walgreens to print them. Siena said she'd have her dad print them at work to save money, and then she'd pick them up from there. We agreed that would be better. While I helped Ash with the digital stuff, she worked on painting the shell. She made it white and then painted stripes on it so it'd match the clue. To get the paint to dry faster, I held it in front of the ac in the car on the way there. When we arrived, my fingers were freezing, and I almost got hyperthermia, but the shell was perfectly dry. That's when Siena presented us with the printed goods; the poster, which turned out perfectly, and the ticket that was as large as a flag. At that moment, I knew our filming journies were about to be an adventure. 

The Vision

SAM exits the car and walks toward the elevator. She is talking to her mom on the phone. And she runs to catch the elevator before the door closes.

SAM enters the elevators and greets RYLIE, who is leaning against the wall. They gesture to the buttons, see the poster above them, and express interest.

The scene shows the girls walking away from the closing elevators and looking at the poster, which shows their first clue.

The girls sit on the seawall and discuss the clue they got from the elevator. They are bouncing ideas off each other, trying to decipher the clue.

Time-lapse of the two girls searching the playground for the seashell. They settle on the playground equipment expressing their frustration when they look down and discover the striped shell.

The girls walk up the bridge path coming from the beach. They're on a mission to find the clue and look around for it near the dock. They walk down from the bridge.

The girls found the water taxi sign in front of the dock and began to search the area for the ticket. They find it under the trashcan and then read it aloud to find the next clue.

The girls walk to the trash can full of yellow tickets, where they see one sticking out from underneath it. Sam picks it up and turns it over to read the clue.

The girls weave down Las Olas Blvd., trying to make their way to the big red chair. They find it with a small treasure box sitting on top.

SAM exits the car and walks toward the elevator. She is talking to her mom on the phone and hesitates, which causes her to miss the elevator. The girls are shown walking off in separate directions, RILEY ahead of Sam, and they never meet nor go on their adventure.

Operation Prep Is A Go!

Schedule

 

Locations

Parking Garage

Elevator

Corridor

 

Seawall

Playground

The Bridge & The Dock

Las Olas Blvd.

Participants

Actors:

Siena Zimmerman

Lindsay White 

Filming:

Britanique Simpson

Editing:

Ashleigh Miller

Health and Safety

We will have a first aid kit nearby in case anything should happen. In addition, we will have a person on standby who is not involved in acting or filming in charge of the safety kit to act efficiently at their job. So if something is to go wrong, they will be focused and able to take the best course of action.

Near the water, we will take extreme caution on the dock to ensure no actor should fall. The location has rails, and we will have phones on standby should an emergency happen. 

On Las Olas Blvd, we will be farther away from the street. When we are walking to get to the location, we will check for cars and use the crosswalk. 

When traveling to each scene, we will have a licensed driver taking us to the scenes. We will avoid filming in the rain to ensure the health of our crew so no one will get sick.

Props

Treasure Chest 

Large Seashell 

Small Seashell

Backpack 

Satchel 

Yellow Ticket 

Headphones (AirPods and over ears)

Phones

Notes

Costumes

Sam: Swimsuit top and shorts with a backpack and AirPods. 

Riley: Swimsuit top and shorts with a satchel and over ears headphones.

Backup Plans

We have a backup plan in place for filming days and editing days. We implemented these in case of poor weather on filming days or an unknown obligation that we cannot film or edit. We know we all have busy and changing schedules, so it's essential to plan for these situations well in advance. 

We also have a backup for our actor Lindsay White. She has an extremely difficult schedule we believe she will be able to work in our schedule. However, we planned so we wouldn’t have to worry about that on the day of filming. Should she not be able to do that, we will have our editor act in her place. 

Adventures In Script Writing

 FADE IN:

EXT. PARKING GARAGE - DAY

SAM exits the car and walks toward the elevator. She is talking to her mom on the phone. And she runs to catch the elevator before the door closes. 

SAM V.O

Yes, mom, I just parked the car. I'm heading down to the beach now. I just need a relaxing day by myself. Yes, I’ll be safe. There’s the elevator; got to go bye.

FADE OUT.

FADE TO:

INT. ELEVATOR - DAY

SAM enters the elevators and greets RYLIE, who is leaning against the wall. They gesture to the buttons, see the poster above them, and express interest.

SAM

Nearly missed it

RILEY

What floor?

SAM

Oh, the same. Are you going down to the beach too?

RILEY

yep

(SAM looks up and sees the poster on the wall. Riley removes her headphones.)

SAM

Oh, that looks interesting. I’ve always wanted to go on a treasure hunt.

RILEY

(Looks up at the poster)

Yeah saw that when I got on...big prize awaits.

(Says the big prize part with sarcasm)

It does look interesting, though.

SAM

Are you doing anything right now?

RILEY

Um... going down to the beach?

SAM

Yeah, I meant would you want to go on this treasure hunt with me?

RILEY

Uhm, sure, why not

(The bell dings and the door opens. RILEY grabs the poster)

FADE OUT.

JUMP CUT TO:

EXT. CORRIDOR - DAY

The scene shows the girls walking away from the closing elevators and looking at the poster, which shows their first clue.

EXT. SEAWALL - DAY

The girls sit on the seawall and discuss the clue they got from the elevator. They are bouncing ideas off each other, trying to decipher the clue.

RILEY

(over-the-shoulder shot)

I don't even know what this means! Friend of the sea? Whisper? You know what? Forget it!

SAM

Give me the paper; let me just read it one more time.

(Sam grabs the paper from Riley.)

The first clue is so common it’s easy to miss her. A friend of the sea just listen to her whisper. Many different patterns, but this one is striped. Seek out the spot where imagination takes flight. It comes in all sizes and shapes. Don’t overlook her, and you’ll find the next place.

Riley gets up from the seawall and stomps over, kicking sand in her path

RILEY

It's got to be right in front of us!

(Angrily kicks sand and uncovers shell.)

SAM & RILEY

SEASHELL!

FADE TO:

EXT. PLAYGROUND - DAY

Time-lapse of the two girls searching the playground for the seashell. They settle on the playground equipment expressing their frustration when they look down and discover the striped shell.

RILEY

I haven't seen a striped shell anywhere!

The girls both look down, and the camera pans down.

SAM

How did we miss that?

RILEY

(Picks up shell)

Sigh

SAM

There's a note inside... what's it say?

RILEY

If you’re reading this paper, then you’ve found the next clue. It’s really quite simple, not something taboo. This next means of travel does not come for free. Look down from the bridge and the dock you will see. Afloat is the tour move fast or you'll miss it. Bright, yellow, and bold look for the ticket.

SAM

Hmmm, the bridge like the one downtown that I always get stuck for.

RILEY

The bridge, yeah, let's go!

The girls run off toward the next location.

MATCH CUT TO:

EXT. BRIDGE - SAME DAY

The girls walk up the bridge path coming from the beach. They're on a mission to find the clue and look around for it near the dock. They walk down from the bridge.

RILEY V.O 

Now what? 

SAM V.O

Well, I see boats docked down there.

DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. ON DOCK - IMMEDIATELY AFTER

The girls found the water taxi sign in front of the dock and began to search the area for the ticket. They find it under the trashcan and then read it aloud to find the next clue.

SAM 

These boats look expensive.

RILEY 

There's no way we're getting on any of those.

SAM

Look, a water taxi sign that must be it! It's a floating tour around the city. That's probably what the clue meant.

RILEY 

Wait, do we have to get on? 

SAM 

We might just need a ticket. The next clue is probably on the back of that.

RILEY 

I’m not paying for that.

SAM 

RILEY, be smart it’s probably somewhere around here.

RILEY 

Like where, the trash can?

SAM

Actually...

EXT. BY TRASH CAN NEAR DOCK - DAY

The girls walk to the trash can full of yellow tickets, where they see one sticking out from underneath it. Sam picks it up and turns it over to read the clue.

RILEY

(Picks up yellow stubs around trash)

Not this one.

SAM

Found it!

(Turns the paper over to read the back)

It says... You’ve found the next clue, and this is the last. This next place is busy; the people move fast. This day has been long, have a seat on Big Red. Amongst all the craze, he sticks out like a thread. 

Your grand prize is near; locate the chest. As the creator of this hunt, I wish you my best!

RILEY

One that I actually know, it's that red sculpture thing on Las Olas Blvd.

SAM

This feels like it's getting easier as we go on.

RILEY

I can’t believe we actually made it to the last clue. 

SAM

Yeah, I definitely expected it to take longer.

RILEY

This was kind of nice.

SAM

Don't get all sappy on me now.

FADE TO

EXT. LAS OLAS BLVD - DUSK

The girls weave down Las Olas Blvd., trying to make their way to the big red chair. They find it with a small treasure box sitting on top.

SAM

They weren't lying, huh?

(The girls are weaving.)

They stop in their tracks, spotting it at the same time.

SAM & RILEY

Finally!

(Breathes sigh of relief)

SAM grabs the box staring at it with pride. Both girls bask in the glory of the accomplishment.

RILEY

What do you think it's going to be?

SAM

I don't know, open it!

Sam begins to open it when an elevator ding is heard.

FADE TO BLACK.

EXT. PARKING GARAGE - DAY

SAM exits the car and walks toward the elevator. She is talking to her mom on the phone and hesitates, which causes her to miss the elevator.

SAM V.O

Yes, mom, I just parked the car. I'm heading down to the beach now. I just need a relaxing day by myself. Yes, I’ll be safe. Dang it, I missed the elevator. It’s fine; I’ll just take the stairs.  

SAM walks past the elevator down the stairs, and a shot of the elevator appears where we see Riley looking down at her phone with her headphones in, never meeting Sam.

DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. CORRIDOR - DAY

The girls are shown walking off in separate directions, RILEY ahead of Sam, and they never meet nor go on their adventure.

NARRATOR V.O

Don't hesitate on living life because life doesn't hesitate on passing you by!

FADE OUT