Scenarios/Screenwriting Exercises By Alex Newman
INT. KITCHEN, NIGHT It’s raining outside, and the kitchen is lit by only an overhead lamp over the circular table in the middle. An older man is sitting alone on the table, doing some form of work. There are papers scattered across the table. A younger boy, around 15 or 16, slowly shuffles into the room. He’s almost visibly shaking with nerves. He’s terrified. Slowly, he walks up to the table and forces his hands onto the table, despite every fibre of his being telling him to run and give up. He takes a deep, shaky breath in. BOY Dad. The father continues writing; and doesn’t look up from his work. DAD (Absent-mindedly) Hm? The boy hesitates over his words some more. He runs a hand through his hair through stress. BOY I, uh... I need to tell you something. DAD (still working; not looking up) What’s that? Thinking extremely hard about every word he says has an effect on the boy’s speech akin to him stretching every word out, almost in slow motion. BOY I am... Uh... DAD Yeah? The boy closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. BOY I’m gay. There. At this point the father stops writing. After a beat, he sits back in his chair to make eye contact with his son for the first time in this conversation. He moves his reading glasses down to the tip of his nose. For a long while the two stare at each other. (CONTINUED)
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2.
DAD You’re gay. BOY Yes. The father takes off his reading glasses and sighs. He looks up again at his son. DAD I’m not angry, I’m not disappointed. I’m surprised. The boy looks slightly confused. He was expecting worse. DAD (CONT’D) What about Elise? The father cracks a smile, which then elicits one in the boy too. BOY She has a boyfriend. We were never together. The father stands up, and walks over to his son. He hugs him. DAD I understand. This is just gonna take some getting used to, okay? The boy reciprocates the hug, loosening his body language as he does so. The hug seems quite cathartic for the boy. DAD (CONT’D) ...Does your mother know? The boy tightens again. BOY ...No. DAD It’s fine, we’ll tell her together. FADE OUT
3.
INT. COFFEE SHOP, EVENING A boy and a girl, both around 18, sit opposite each other at a small table. They aren’t talking, but the usual coffee shop rabble continues around them. They are wearing coats and winter wear. The girl is fidgeting nervously while the boy sits still, arms folded. BOY Wanna tell me why you’re acting so off today? The girl never makes eye contact with him. GIRL (mumbling) I have bad news. While authoritative before, the boy seems a little taken aback already. BOY What’s up? Are you okay? The boy takes the girl’s hand, and she reluctantly lets him. She seems conflicted. GIRL I’m moving. The boy looks around the room. It’s not great news, but it could have been far worse. The boy smiles nervously, perhaps with disbelief. BOY Moving? Wh- How far? The girl is obviously struggling to tell him. She looks on the brink of tears. GIRL Europe. The boy lets go of the girl’s hand and sits back in his chair, a defeated look on his face. BOY That’s... That’s quite far. The boy is internalizing his options. Will he ever see his girlfriend again?
(CONTINUED)
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4. BOY (CONT’D) What are we gonna do? About us?
The girl sighs. GIRL I don’t think there is anything we can do. It’s halfway across the world. BOY So... It’s over? The boy picks up her hand again, and holds it tight. GIRL ...For now. Yes. The two lean in and touch foreheads. GIRL (whispering) I’m so sorry. BOY (also whispering) It’s okay, I guess. I understand. They lean out and sit, looking despondent. The boy tries to attempt small-talk. BOY So, when are you leaving? GIRL Couple weeks. The boy nods nonchalantly, although his face betrays that that is all but what he is feeling. BOY I’m going to head off. GIRL (sighs) Okay. The boy leaves. camera. After a
grabs his bag, stands up, buttons his coat, and The tinkle of the coffee shop door can be heard off The girl sighs, holding her head up with her hand. beat she holds her head in her hands. FADE OUT
5.
EXT. STREET CORNER, NIGHT A woman in a simple but elegant dress walks out of a small off-license as a man stumbles behind her, clearly not entirely sober. MAN Hey! Uh, Alana! ALANA turns around, clearly a tad exasperated with this man’s efforts. ALANA I think you should go home, Steve, you’re a little drunk. STEVE seems a tad offended at this assumption, despite the evidence making it a fairly safe assumption. He straightens up a bit, and puts on his best ’sober’ face. STEVE I’m not that drink! I just... STEVE takes a moment to compose himself and his words, then continues. STEVE (CONT’D) I wanted to ask you something. ALANA seems surprised. ALANA You wanted to... Ask me something? STEVE Yeah! Yeah... Um... Do you wanna go, uh... Grab coffee sometime? ALANA is now genuinely surprised. She wasn’t expecting this. She takes a turn to compose herself. ALANA Coffee? Like a, like a date? STEVE Well, not really, more like a... STEVE searches himself for a replacement term. STEVE (CONT’D) Yeah. Yeah, a date. (CONTINUED)
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6.
ALANA is still shocked. ALANA I, uh... Okay. Sure. A long beat occurs while STEVE and ALANA just stare at each other. STEVE Cool. See you tomorrow? Neither of them know quite how to act, it’s going to take them a bit to process this. ALANA Sure. FADE OUT EXT. PLAYGROUND, DAY It’s breaktime, and the playground is in its usual, comfortable chaos. Amidst the screaming and laughing, a young JACK stands alone in the middle of the playground, looking a little sad with his arms crossed. A young GEORGE sheepishly walks up to him. GEORGE Um. Jack. JACK Go away. GEORGE, now severely discouraged, turns to look at his teacher, who is watching from a distance. She gives him a thumbs up for encouragement. GEORGE Jack, Ms. Dunnett says we have to start playing with each other again. JACK turns away and knots his arms together a little tighter. Clearly he is not having any of it. JACK Say sorry. GEORGE looks even more discouraged at this. He didn’t like saying sorry. He pouts and walks away. After a short while he comes back, still pouting.
(CONTINUED)
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7.
GEORGE (mumbling) Sorry. JACK is actually beginning to enjoy this turning of the metaphorical tables. JACK What did you say? GEORGE (louder) Sorry! Now GEORGE is in a severely grumpy mood at having been humiliated like this. He in turn crosses his arms. JACK Thanks. GEORGE is still too grumpy to say anything when MS. DUNNETT walks up to the two holding a football. MS. DUNNETT Are we all friends again? Yeah? Here, go kick this about for a bit. She throws the ball in between the boys. GEORGE picks it up and they both shuffle off. FADE OUT
INT. BACKSTAGE, NIGHT It’s dark backstage, stage hands are walking about sorting things out. The only lighting is leftover from the stage, so there are lots of reds, purples, and blues. JAMES is looking awfully nervous. He’s about to go out and perform a song to an audience of around 80. DENISE is there giving him moral support. DENISE Come on James, you’ll be great! You’ve rehearsed a million times and you’ve barely gone wrong, what could be different this time? JAMES (sighing heavily, with nerves) There’s people there! DENISE is beginning to look slightly exasperated. She has been trying to calm JAMES down for 20 minutes now, and is approaching her wit’s end. DENISE Look, this is something you’ve been practising for for ages! She takes a second to think of her next piece of encouragement. DENISE (CONT’D) Sometimes... Sometimes you just gotta swallow your nerves and just DO something, right? Sometimes you just have to say ’fuck it’ and go for it, regardless of how you’re feeling. Right? JAMES (nearly hyperventilating) I guess... DENISE looks hopeful. A breakthrough! She looks at her watch. 5 minutes ’til showtime. She can do this. DENISE Yeah, right! And, and, and, and... And what’s the worst that could truly happen?
(CONTINUED)
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2.
JAMES (looking up a bit) Yeah, I guess you’re right... JAMES looks like he is trying to reassure himself. JAMES (CONT’D) Eh, I dunno... With this, DENISE has finally reached her wit’s end. DENISE Oh come on, it’ll be fine! It’s literally 3 minutes of your time. It’ll be over before you know it. JAMES takes a deep breath. JAMES Okay. Alright, here we go. A stage hand approaches JAMES and politely tells him that it’s his turn to go on. JAMES takes another deep breath and walks out on stage to mild cheering and applause. FADE OUT