“Grow”
by
Lily Gist
Draft 4
2/11/2010
by
Lily Gist
Draft 4
2/11/2010
1. EXT. FOREST – NIGHT
THE DANCER is broken down on the ground. She is surrounded by large topiaries: plants shaped in human form, in various poses expressing different emotional states. They are still. The ground is covered in black grass. A blanket of quiet solemnity and blue moonlight drapes over the forest.
The Dancer is a wreck; she is lost, confused and alone. She stands cautiously and takes in her surroundings, in awe of the large topiaries looming over her.
CUT TO:
2. EXT. GLEN – NIGHT
A WIREFRAME figure, a topiary structure without any vines on it, lies alone in the darkness. It is bound to the ground by five ropes: one to each arm, one to each leg, and one to its neck. It tries to move, resisting its ties, but is too limited.
CUT TO:
3. EXT. FOREST – NIGHT
The Dancer explores the area with increasing desperation, seeking a topiary she can identify with. She tries to communicate with them, mimicking their poses and reacting to their frozen emotional states.
She finds an angry one and jumps back in fear, slipping and landing back-first into a black viscous liquid.
The liquid starts to ooze upward, with little bursts of ink raising up and swirling around her. A light pierces through the ink and flashes at the Dancer. It is the face of THE MENACE.
The Dancer panics and tries to escape but the menace is everywhere. It ravages her, taking her to the brink of death, then dissipates.
The Dancer takes a moment, trying to collect herself. She is riddled with anxiety, standing shakily and watching the area for any sign of the Menace’s return.
She sees a spotlight in the distance, deep in the forest of figures. She moves toward it.
FADE TO:
4. EXT. FOREST – NIGHT
The Dancer passes by a series of topiaries and shrubs.
She passes a waterfall of black viscous liquid.
FADE TO:
5. EXT. FOREST OUTSIDE GLEN – NIGHT
The Dancer passes more topiaries and comes up to a wall of vines. She is hesitant, but she pushes them aside and steps through.
CUT TO:
6. EXT. GLEN – NIGHT
A wall of branches and trees surrounds THE WIREFRAME, illuminated by a spotlight.
The Wireframe is scared by her, and she by it. Their movements mirror each other’s. The Dancer circles The Wireframe, reaching to touch it.
An anxious knot forms in the Dancer’s stomach, and she steps in a viscous black liquid. It is suddenly dark.
The Menace oozes from the ground, exploding into a swirling hurricane of inky water. It forms into wing-like blankets that envelop the pair. It is colossal, asserting its dominance over The Dancer, who writhes in abject terror.
The Wireframe pits all its strength against the ropes that bind it, trying desperately to free itself.
The Menace approaches The Wireframe and looms over it. The Dancer stands, her panic replaced by a quivering anxiety. She bursts through the menace and tries to help the Wireframe pull free. The Menace pours itself over the Dancer, thrusting her underwater.
CUT TO:
7. EXT. UNDERWATER – NIGHT
A stunned silence washes over the Dancer. She is shell-shocked. She is reduced to a small ball, curled up in the fetal position, with her eyes clenched together.
The inky Menace seeps down from the ground above in small contained bursts, its color inverted to a cool white. It forms little tendrils that start seeking out The Dancer.
CUT TO:
8.1 EXT. GLEN – NIGHT
The ground is muddy, with flashes of light emanating from below.
The Wireframe wraps a rope around an arm and pulls, trying to pull it out of the ground. It slips and the rope goes slack.
CUT TO:
8.2 EXT. UNDERWATER – NIGHT
A rope drifts by the Dancer, brushing against her. She opens her eyes and watches it, her body slowly unfurling.
She swims around the rope, with a calm curiosity.
CUT TO:
8.3 EXT. GLEN – NIGHT
The Wireframe pulls on the rope again.
CUT TO:
8.4 EXT. UNDERWATER – NIGHT
The rope goes taut underwater. She touches it and follows it, climbing downward.
She reaches the base of the rope. It is being held by the menace’s tendrils. More ropes are seen in the distance.
CUT TO:
8.5 EXT. GLEN – NIGHT
The Wireframe stops pulling and collapses to the ground, breathing heavily. The Menace starts to rise up around it.
CUT TO:
8.6 EXT. UNDERWATER – NIGHT
The Dancer pulls on the rope.
CUT TO:
8.7 EXT. GLEN – NIGHT
The Wireframe is jerked forward by her tug, dragged toward the menace. It reacts in fear, standing and pulling back with all its strength.
CUT TO:
8.8 EXT. UNDERWATER – NIGHT
The Dancer sees the rope go taut and reaches into the tendril, tugging on the rope’s end and undoing the knot that is keeping it bound. The rope slips out from the tendril.
CUT TO:
8.9 EXT. GLEN – NIGHT
The Wireframe falls backward, the rope suddenly slack. It stands and pulls on another rope.
CUT TO:
8.10 EXT. UNDERWATER – NIGHT
The Dancer reaches for another rope, pulls on it and frees it.
CUT TO: 8.11 EXT. GLEN – NIGHT
The ropes are slowly being freed, one by one, slackening as the Wireframe pulls on them.
CUT TO:
8.12 EXT. UNDERWATER – NIGHT
The Dancer takes a rope in hand after removing it from a tendril.
CUT TO:
8.13 EXT. GLEN – NIGHT
The Wireframe pulls on the rope.
CUT TO:
8.14 EXT. UNDERWATER – NIGHT
The Dancer is pulled upward by the rope.
CUT TO:
9. EXT. GLEN – NIGHT
The Dancer bursts up through the grass, pulled out by the Wireframe.
The two embrace, as the Menace rises up around them, a milky white. It fills the sky as the dancer moves away, dancing confidently. As she moves, the menace expands and fades until it is just the sky.
Light shines down from the Menace. Night turns to day, and as sunlight washes over the dancer she starts to sprout leaves and vines from her limbs. She dashes toward the Wireframe and leaps into the air, disintegrating into leaves and vines which wrap around the wireframe and it takes on an exultant pose.
