Now that I’ve finalized my film openings plot and familiarized myself with the main character I am now able to finally write my script.
CONSUMED
Script by Veronica Castillo
EXT. HOUSE – EARLY MORNING / DAWN
Darkness. Stillness.
A phone alarm suddenly blares from inside, too loud in the silence.
INT. BEDROOM – CONTINUOUS
A hand slams the alarm off.
Clare (17) sits up, hair messy, face exhausted.
She looks at the phone for the time, 3 AM.
She stares out the window. It’s still pitch black, the world hasn’t woken up yet.
She forces herself out of bed.
She sits at her cluttered desk and turns on a lamp. A harsh, unforgiving white light.
The light reveals chaos:
Textbooks. Notes. Flashcards. Pens. Highlighters. Sticky notes.
She opens a textbook.
Highlights. Underlines. Rewrites the same line.
Her hand shakes.
A clock ticks loudly, every tick sharp, almost violent.
She rubs her eyes, breaths shaky, then forces herself to continue.
Another alarm sounds, a gentler tone.
Time for school.
INT. LIVING ROOM / DOORWAY – EARLY MORNING
She puts on her backpack.
On a small table:
Past due bills.
Urgent notices.
She stops.
Her eyes fill with tears for just a moment.
She leaves.
INT. SCHOOL HALLWAY – MORNING
Students flood past laughing, chatting, all muffled.
The main character walks through them like a ghost, hunching over her textbook.
Someone nearly knocks her over.
She doesn’t react.
Her best friend waves from down the hall, hopeful.
The main character walks right past without seeing.
The friend’s hand drops.
The hallway around her begins to blur, overwhelming movement, overwhelming noise but she remains unnervingly still.
INT. CLASSROOM – LATER
A test paper lands in front of her.
B+.
Her breath falters.
Her fingers tighten around her pencil until it snaps.
CRACK.
She flips the paper over, hiding the grade like a bruise.
INT. BEDROOM – LATE AFTERNOON
Back at her desk.
More studying.
The desk lamp turns on automatically as the sun sets.
The clock ticks beside her.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
Her eyes blur.
She blinks hard and keeps going.
Time speeds up around her, the light outside fading, her posture sinking, her hand cramping, but the metronome stays steady.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
INT. BEDROOM – NIGHT
She works until her body gives out.
Her head drops onto the desk.
The highlighter slips from her hand and rolls slowly across the table.
Hours pass in a time-lapse.
She never moves.
INT. BATHROOM – EARLY DAWN
She stares at her reflection again.
Swollen eyes. Trembling hands.
She barely recognizes herself.
A few tears fell.
She wipes it away immediately, ashamed of the weakness.
MAIN CHARACTER (Through the tears); “You are fine. Stop being so lazy.”
She forces herself back to the desk.
MONTAGE — HER LIFE FALLING APART
— Ignoring texts from her best friend.
— Eating cold leftovers at midnight while reading.
— Crossed-out assignments.
— The “B+” test crumpled in the trash.
— A calendar filled with deadlines.
— Her parents are asleep at the table after late shifts.
— Her alone, studying under the lamp.
The world spins around her.
She doesn’t stop.
INT. BEDROOM – MORNING (BEFORE SCHOOL)
She reaches for her backpack but something on the shelf catches her eye.
An old sketchbook.
Dusty. Forgotten.
She slowly pulls it down.
Her fingers hesitate on the cover before she finally opens it.
FLASHBACK BEGINS — WARM, SOFT, GOLDEN LIGHT
INT. BEDROOM – YEARS EARLIER – AFTERNOON (FLASHBACK)
Clare (13) lies on her stomach on the floor, sketchbook in front of her.
Colored pencils scattered everywhere.
She’s laughing under her breath, humming as she draws.
She flips to a new page, excited, doodling without fear or pressure.
The room around her is bright, relaxed, alive.
She adds final touches to a drawing, proud.
She signs her name at the bottom with bubbly handwriting, carefree.
FLASHBACK ENDS — RETURN TO PRESENT (COLDER, HARSHER LIGHT)
INT. BEDROOM – MORNING (PRESENT)
The main character sits on the edge of her bed, staring hard at the drawing.
The sunlight isn’t warm anymore, it’s sterile, blinding, cold.
She flips to another page.
A happier drawing.
Then another.
And another.
Each one is more painful than the last.
Her breath starts to shake.
She flips faster, drawings of characters, flowers, doodles, half-finished ideas.
All filled with color.
All filled with life.
Her eyes fill.
Her hand curls around the edge of a page.
Then—
RIP.
She tears the drawing out.
The sound is sharp in the quiet room.
She stares at the torn page in her hand.
Her jaw tightens.
Another page.
RIP.
Her breathing gets uneven.
Another.
RIP.
Another.
RIP. RIP. RIP.
Fragments of her old self scatter across the floor.
She reaches the last drawing, a self-portrait, smiling.
Her hand trembles violently.
She rips it out slower this time.
Painfully slow.
Almost like it hurts.
She closes the now-empty sketchbook, the cover limp, hollow.
She sets it back on the shelf.
She wipes her face.
Grabs her backpack.
And walks out, stepping over the torn pieces without looking down.
INT. LIVING ROOM – CONTINUOUS
She stops.
There on the table near the doorway.
A college envelope.
Thick. Official. Heavy.
She freezes.
Slowly, she kneels.
Picks it up.
Her hands shake violently.
She clutches the envelope like it contains her entire future because it does.
She breathes in.
She slides her finger under the tab.
Just as she opens it—
CUT TO BLACK.
After much overthinking about what I wanted my story to be and what I wanted to show with my script, I’m finally able to say I’m satisfied with my current script. After conducting all the research and applying it to my polished film opening idea, it took me a lot of time to think of what exactly I wanted to show and how I could even show it. Thankfully I’ve come to figure out most of it and my next blog will be my shot list so I can know exactly how to capture the scene. When completing my script I researched the script of two of my favorite movies, “Kill Bill. Vol.1” and “Kill Bill. Vol.2”. https://imsdb.com/scripts/Kill-Bill-Volume-1-%2526-2.html .
Despite both movies being action movies I studied their format since the dialogue is limited in the film as most of the film is filled with fighting sequences. I picked them specifically since my own film opening only has one line so I knew I should at least look at that scripts format and how it’s professionally done.
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