Emotional Ties: First Short Script

This is a short script that I have come up with. I started with the story and then worked around it, mainly looking at where we should be taken back to the scene around the campfire and where we should be seeing the story. Also to know how the characters are reacting to the story and what they say. 

Family Portraits

The four children and Rob are all sitting round the campfire

Rob: Are you all ready for a scary story?

Ryan: Yeah, tell us a realllly scary story Dad!

Jess: Yeah, a really really scary story!

Ellie gasps… ‘Not too scary!’

Ryan: Chicken!

Rob: Hey, that’s enough Ryan, ok Ellie. Connor, Are you ok for a scary story?

Connor: Mmm ok then.  

Rob: Right…

….A long time ago, there was a man who went out hunting in the woods. As night fell, he found himself in an unfamiliar part of the forest. He walked and walked, but he couldn't find his way home. Wandering aimlessly in the dark, he eventually came to a small clearing where an old, ramshackle cabin stood. Tired and weary, he decided to see if he could stay there for the night.

When he came close to the cabin, he saw that the door was standing ajar.

Goes back to campfire to capture childrens reactions. Connor is asleep, the other three are concentrating hard on Rob telling the story.

Poking his head inside, he could see that the little cabin was completely empty, but there was a bed and a fire burning in the fireplace. The hunter threw himself on the bed and decided to sleep there for the night. If the owner came back, he would ask for permission in the morning.

Lying on the bed, half asleep, he looked around and was surprised to see the walls were covered with paintings.

Back to the campfire, Connor is still asleep, Ellie is starting to get scared and Ryan and Jess are still concentrating.

They appeared to be family portraits, all framed and painted in incredible detail. They seemed very life-like and, without exception each family portrait was uglier than the next. The hideous faces in the paintings made him incredibly uneasy. The way they were painted made it seem as if the eyes were

staring directly at him. It was incredibly unnerving.

Ryan and Jess are getting really nervously excited. Ellie has her hands up to her face. Connor is still asleep.

He decided that the only way he was going to get any sleep was to ignore the hideous faces staring at him. So he turned on his side, facing the wall, pulled the blanket over his head and drifted off to sleep. 

Ryan: What happens next Dad?!

Jess: Yes, what happens next?!

Ellie: I don’t think I want to know…

Connor is still asleep.

Well, in the morning, the hunter woke up to find the cabin bathed in sunlight. When he looked up, he discovered there were no family portraits on the walls of the cabin, only windows.

Connor remains asleep, the other  three children gasp. Connor wakes up startled

Connor: Where did that funny looking lady standing behind Rob go?

I'm quite happy with this as an idea, I may change it/ adapt it. And then when I make the storyboard I'll probably adapt it then too as I may have some new ideas etc.