The Experiment
image source: wpclipart.com
This is short screenplay written by Ian Wallace, based on Frankenstein’s Omelet.
Opening Credits: Dream Sequence.
Characters: Main Character. Male. Mid-twenties to mid-thirties. Dressed in old-fashioned, but not period clothing.
Editing: The opening sequence will consist of a dream sequence that foreshadows the goings-on in the body of the film. It would be made up of several different shots (as described below) spliced together in an abstract narrative format. The order in which they are presented does not necessarily dictate their sequence.
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The main character runs through the woods as if being chased. He stumbles but doesn’t fall, and periodically looks back over his shoulder.
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Shot of the man’s feet running through the forest debris.
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Mob: Rather than bringing more cast members into the film, we could abstract farm implements and torches progressing through the woods. This would maintain the universal monster feel of this opening.
- Lightning Streaking across the sky.
- Design a makeshift lab. This doesn’t have to be anything overly elaborate, but should at least have the quintessential bubbling beakers. Easy as food coloring and dry ice. There would need to be a workbench and dissection tools.
- Man presses his back against a wooden door, with the classic mob push going on behind it. He looks panicked and winded.
- On the workbench is a tray about the size of a dinner plate, or just a dinner plate with a cloth over it. Upon closer inspection, it appears to rise and fall as if breathing. Or more like a pulse depending on the aesthetic.
- Slow dolly up to the kitchen refrigerator. Three shots from medium angle light for the night. Use green tape around the edge of the door so the glow can be composited in and motion tracked.
- As he watches the covered item on the workbench, a shot of blood soaking through the cloth. Lightning flash.
- These scenes will be inter-cut with the man sleeping fitfully, as if having a nightmare. Not over the top, but enough to get the point across. Camera angle and shot variety will create the tension leading up to the point where the man wakes up and it’s morning.
Scene two: Morning
Setting:
A bedroom with a big enough bed for two. He is alone, but the blankets on both sides are disheveled, implying that someone has been there. It’s morning and the room is relatively bright.
Action:
The man jerks awake from the nightmare he was having. He’s disoriented at first, but recovers and rubs his face.
Cut to the man walking into a brightly lit kitchen. He’s awake, but still a bit tired. A woman is busy at the stove. She’s wearing morning clothes and by her mannerisms, you can tell she’s been awake for awhile. At the middle of the space is a breakfast table setting. Burnt toast, coffee, and a large plate with a cloth over it.
He strolls over to the woman:
Man: “Good Morning” he says, still groggy: kisses her on the cheek.
Woman: “It’s about time you got up, sleepy head,” she says lightly.
Man: “Yeah. I was having the weirdest…” stops abruptly as he catches sight of the refrigerator from the dream. Just a normal fridge now. “…dream.” He finishes.
Woman: “You Okay?”
Man: Shakes his head as if to clear the image. “Yeah. I guess I’m just tired.”
Woman: “Awww… I’m sorry. But I have just what you need to feel better: some good old fashioned home cooking.”
Man: Sits down in front of the plate while rubbing his eyes, so that he hasn’t caught sight of the plate covered by the cloth. “Thanks babe,” he mumbles, “what are we having?”
Woman: “Well, it’s sitting right in front of you, silly. Take a look.”
Man: He opens his eyes, looks down and freezes. It looks just like the plate with the soaking blood from the dream. (cut to shot of cloth soaking through) He looks over his shoulder, obviously slightly rattled, then back at his plate.
Woman: “Well go on before it gets cold,” she says in a motherly way, standing by the table.
Man: Gingerly he pinches the cloth and pulls it away. A plume of steam rises up and he winces as if the smell was unpleasant. Before him sits the omelet in all its glory. A pool of liquid surrounds it on the plate. Strange marks, textures and folds in pale yellow and off white. What may be a mushroom slides down it. The man stares down at it. “It looks delicious (he feigns honesty) what is it?”
Woman: “What do you mean what is it?” (sounding slightly annoyed) “It’s a home style omelet.”
Man: (Hiding his bewilderment) “Well, of course it’s an omelet. It just doesn’t seem to be a conventional omelet, that’s all.”
Woman: “Well that’s the stoves fault isn’t it? It’s not level.” (sounding more frustrated)
Man: “Not level?” he replies. “Well yeah, that’ll do it.” (trying to sound confident) Cut to the man investigating the omelet. He lifts a fold of the body and more cloudy fluid trickles out. Under the fold is an 0ff-blue, bruise like patch. Maybe the look of coagulated blood underneath a membrane.
Woman: (Now looming behind the seated man) “Well? Are you going to try it, or just look at it all day?” (covering up aggravation with forced sweetness.)
Man: Looks up at her, makes a smile and laughs nervously. He turns back towards the plate. He cuts a portion from the side with his fork and holds it up, speared. More strange fluid leaks away from the limp morsel. The man grimaces, closes his eyes and shoves it in. At first it’s fine. A look of momentary relief crosses his face. He chews it like a rubber band. Then it hits him.
Scene three: Gastrological disaster.
This scene is a hallucinatory nightmare as the man struggles with the morsel.
- Footage of hydrogen peroxide being poured on red meat.
- Beads of sweat on his forehead.
- Eggs and omelet makings being smashed and mutilated.
- Close-up of man chewing. He looks up, red in the face, toward the woman with a facial expression of “why would you do this to me?” Some of the milky liquid runs out of the corner of his mouth.
- The omelet on the plate is starting to pump a foul black liquid that begins to fill the bottom of the plate.
- Unused shots of the mob scene. (pitch forks and torches.)
- Close-up of the man sweating and looking panicked.
- Woman dressed like lady Frankenstein or in some other nightmarish costume (think of the Ms. Shields/mother scene from A Christmas Story, where the two are dressed as a jester and a witch mocking Ralphie with, “You’ll shoot your eye out.” ) laughing maniacally
Man: He finally manages to swallow it. (close-up on his throat swallowing.)
- Egg falling on glass, seen from underneath, and bleeding black and green. (inject egg with food coloring and drop it from high enough that it spatters.)
- Fluid mixing and congealing. (jello and vegetable oil.)
- Stock footage of church burning or volcano erupting.
- Woman dressed as a devil with dramatic lighting. Perhaps several people dancing around the table dressed similarly.
The man finally gets it down. Tries to keep from vomiting. Horrible stomach noises can be heard. He looks sick. Back to reality.
Woman: “Well, what do you think?”
Man: (Still looking a little ill) “Well, I can’t say I’ve ever had anything like it before. Ever.”
Woman: “Great!” she says happily, totally oblivious. She turns to go about her day. “Eat up while I get dressed.”
Man: Looks around desperately for a way to dispose of the contents of the plate. Looks down. The woman’s dog is staring up with hopeful, hungry eyes. The man pauses, looks over his shoulder, and puts the plate on the floor. The dog gobbles the omelet down, licking up the fluid drippings from the omelet, and walks off into the other room. With trembling hands, the man grips his coffee cup and drinks.
Woman: The bathroom door opens and the woman walks out dressed. She pauses. From the other room the man hears the woman scream.
Man: Looks up with wide open, panicked eyes. “What’s wrong?”
Woman: “The (dog’s name) has vomited everywhere. It’s on my carpet. My freaking couch. It’s everywhere–I just stepped in it.”
Man: Still frozen until he hears the dog growling from underneath the table. The dog bites his leg. The shot is from above the table as you see the man gasping from the bite.
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