A man walking through the woods minding his own business, touching the bark of the trees, running his hands through the bushes with a smile on his face. This person is likeable, there is nothing strange or out of place about him.
He see’s a child sitting happily on there own scratching into the moss with a stick. The child smiles at him and the man nearly smiles back while the child runs out of shot. We know this is not real, almost dream-like as lighting is bright with a soft focus. With this he begins to describe his childhood… loving happily married parents and never too much trouble in school. Details would be picked out to bring the audience into a more personal level.
He finds an interesting location within the woods and decides that this is a good place to lie down. All is peaceful, shots give of the idea of calmness yet close-ups of his expressions suggest otherwise. There is something noticeably bothering him.
“What was she thinking?” – he thinks to himself, “she didn’t know where she was, and certainly had no one to look after her”.. Flashbacks/visuals of two drinks on the bar, one a beer, the other a cocktail. “Why else would she be like that?”
While laying down and staring upwards the man turns his head to the side, only to see another dream-like figure. A middle-aged woman is watching him, smiling. This time the man sits up and looks ashamed of himself. The woman’s expression quickly changes to a resentful one and turns away from him, walks and disappears.
The man then looks back up into the sky as a tear rolls down the side of his face. “Maybe I could have just got her number…” (vision of a hand sliding over a number on a napkin)…
“Please..(a woman’s voice)” – a soft but powerful word that he replays in his mind hits him like a sudden headache. The audience begin to work out maybe what the problem is. Voices in his head get stronger and more painful to contain, he is now tense and presses his hands against his head until he begins to run. Rushing through the forest he has no idea where he is heading, he just wants to escape his thoughts somehow. He continues to run and appears out from the woods and up onto a bridge. Standing in the middle looking down towards the road below he contemplates. Its all calm again as he pears ahead preparing to jump. He looks down again and there is a woman standing in the road, where there was nothing before. Shaking with tears pouring down his face, he whispers “what was I thinking…”
Pro’s -
Chances to experiment with flashbacks, visions etc.
Fairly simple to find locations
Could be a powerful narrative
Con’s -
1 main actor, 3 other small roles
Finding a suitable bridge
Needs developement
Always a bit risky doing something on suicide, rape etc. however the audience interpret it
