Sandcastle

By
Tom Gilligan
LOG LINE
A man is no longer able to find meaning in the world, after
he loses that which matters most.
SYNOPSIS
Michael is a man disconnected from his own existence. He
perceives a featureless world, devoid of any life or colour.
He wants nothing more than to leave and to go away, to
somehow escape.
Michael is suffering, perpetually trapped in a raincloud of
his own making, he is unable to come to terms with the death
of his wife. Only in his mind can he find refuge, living
within the memories he once shared with her, escaping into a
happier reality.
EXEGESIS
The story of Sandcastle emerged from a melting pot of
influences.
Firstly, it draws off the "Everything is Connected"
stimulus, exploring what drives a person, and how a single
powerful event can affect them so greatly that it changes
their whole life.
Secondly, a couple of key conceptual themes influenced the
writing. The first being an image of a sand castle being
slowly eroded by the sea. An idea that features within the
narrative itself. Another is the quote below by Rumi, which
is featured in the storys opening:
"Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a
field. Ill meet you there. When the soul lies down in that
grass the world is too full to talk about" - Rumi
At its core the story is about impermanence. Things dont
last forever, and sometimes it can be difficult to come to
terms with loss. The main character is struggling with this,
his grief is destroying him but he cant move on. Hes
addicted to the memory of happiness, rather than the pursuit
of it.
The structure of the story is in a semi-surrealist style.
The perception of the protagonist is not reflective of
reality, but of his own image of reality. Predominately the
story is introspective, and firmly centred around the
character of Michael and his emotional turmoil, which is so
profound that it distorts the world around him.
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 2.
The feedback from Lucy was quite helpful, she accurately
pointed out that MICHAEL needed a bit more characterisation
to really show the difference from his own reality, and when
hes in the memory. I took it on board and tried to adjust
accordingly. The rest of her feedback was mostly positive
which helped me to feel I was on the right track with the
story.
TITLE SCREEN
FADE IN FROM BLACK
"Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a
field. Ill meet you there. When the soul lies down in that
grass the world is too full to talk about" - Rumi
FADE TO BLACK
EXT. BEACH RAINING MORNING
FADE IN
MICHAEL is sitting on a deserted beach in a suit and tie,
staring out to sea. The pouring rain is drenching him,
running down his face.
There is the sound of faint music, and buzzing. MICHAEL
reaches into his pocket and takes out his phone. The caller
ID reads office. MICHAEL lets the call ring out before
putting the phone back into his pocket.
MICHAEL stays sitting, staring out to sea in the rain for a
while longer. Watching the waves come in and crash against
the shore. The water droplets cluster and hang off of his
eyelashes before dropping down onto his cheeks. His hair
sticks messily to his face, darkened by the water.
MICHAELs face remains blank as the world seems to fade out
around him.
INT. OFFICE DAY
MICHAEL remains unmoved while the world fades in. He is
standing in a generic office in front of a secretary. The
flourescent lights buzz quietly overhead. Both MICHAEL and
the SECRETARY stare at each other in silence. MICHAEL is
dripping, causing a small puddle to form on the carpet
beneath him. MICHAEL blinks disinterestedly at the placard
on the reception. It reads Bensen & Jensen Insurance.
MICHAEL turns and walks down the carpeted hallway, his shoes
3.
squelching with each step. As he walks away the SECRETARYs
phone immediately rings and she answers.
INT. OFFICE AFTERNOON
MICHAEL is seated; slumped at a desk in a cubicle staring at
a computer screen. There is an empty photo frame to the
right of his monitor. His screen shows the computer desktop
and the background reads "Bensen & Jensen: Caring is what we
do". In the corner is a little weather widget, showing a
sun. From the surrounding cubicles the sounds of people
working can be heard. There is a constant background of
phones ringing, people answering, and typing. MICHAEL sits
absent mindedly playing with the ring on his finger as he
stares at the blank computer. His cubicle phone remains
silent. MICHAEL swivels around in his chair to look back out
through the doorway to his cubicle. Rain is streaking down
the buildings windows. You can see into a cubicle to the
left of the window, where there is a worker on their phone.
WORKER
"Huh? Whats that honey? Oh yeah I
know, its a beauty of a day. Hmm?
Yes we should totally go fishing
this weekend. Uh huh. Uh huh. Can
we not invite Diane and Rob? Well I
want it to be the two of us. Then
just dont tell her about it then,
jesus. Alrighty. Yeah ive got to
go. See you tonight. Love you,
bye."
The workers voice is slightly muffled by the pouring rain
and the general din of the office. MICHAEL turns back to his
blank screen. He glances at the clock.
While MICHAEL sits motionless at the desk, the minute hand
of the clock slowly ticks around.
MICHAEL abruptly stands up in his cubicle and pulling on his
jacket, he exits. Despite the din of the office every
cubicle that he walks past is empty. On his way out the
front he passes the now empty reception. Someone has put a
Caution: Wet Floor sign over the puddle on the floor.
MICHAEL leaves the office.
4.
EXT. STREET LATE AFTERNOON
MICHAEL exits a featureless grey building and now stands on
the edge of an empty street. The rain is still falling,
albeit now lighter. He pauses to pull his jacket closer
around him, before continuing down the sidewalk, shoulders
hunched against the cold.
When looking ahead of MICHAEL the sidewalk appears empty,
but looking behind, people can be seen walking along the
street and past MICHAEL.
Looking off down the street there is a seemingly endless
line of identical grey concrete buildings. MICHAEL stops at
an intersection. He looks both directions down the road. Yet
more grey buildings stretch off into the distance. As he is
standing there the rain begins to fall heavier again.
Across the road a taxi is parked.
MICHAEL crosses over and approaches the taxi. He peers
through the window, before opening the door and getting in.
The taxis lights turn on as it pulls away from the curb,
setting off down the street.
INT. TAXI LATE AFTERNOON RAINING
The interior of the taxi is gloomy and poorly lit. MICHAEL
is sitting in the back on the opposite side to the DRIVER.
MICHAEL
"Braeburn Street please. About
halfway up."
He settles back into his seat, looking out the window.
Suddenly he sits forward again, leaning in between the front
seats;
MICHAEL
"Wait. Actually Parkview. Yeah,
Parkview Road, please. Sorry."
The DRIVER is silent. There is a dull glow from the
dashboard illuminating his face; staring resolutely forward.
He reaches out his hand and clicks on the radio. Bad pop
music fills the cab.
MICHAEL is again gazing out of the window. The rain courses
down the pane, giving a distorted view of the passing
buildings. Lights from passing cars periodically cast light
across his blank face.
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 5.
No cars can be seen through the windows of the cab, however.
The street still seems to be empty.
The music gently fades out. A happy little jingle plays
before a voice begins speaking:
RADIO ANNOUNCER
"Hi there, have you been a recent
victim of theft or property damage?
Well dont worry! Here at Perry &
Kerry Consulting we value our
customer and always do whats right
by you. It can be easy to despair
when something you care about is
violently ripped away from you,
leaving you hollow and broken, but
well do our very best to get you
patched up and back on your feet as
soon as possible. Our services come
at affordable prices, tailored for
your needs, because here at Perry &
Kerry: youre family."
The voice fades away as the taxi comes to a stop. MICHAEL
snaps out of his reverie and hurriedly pulls his wallet out
from his pocket.
He counts out a couple of bills, before just grabbing them
all and handing them to the driver.
He pops open the door and steps out into the rain.
EXT. STREET DUSK RAINING
MICHAEL stands on the edge of the street. As soon as he
exits the taxi, the car pulls away and drives off.
MICHAEL sets off down the sidewalk, eyes down at his feet.
The grey buildings have given way to smaller free standing
houses. Trees grow in the front yards, with their branches
drooping down over the path, heavy with rain. A line of
street lights stretch along the road, and begin to flick on
in the gathering dusk. A large puddle has accumulated a few
metres down the sidewalk.
As MICHAEL walks there is a ringing and buzzing from his
pocket. MICHAEL pulls out his phone. The caller ID again
reads office. As he goes to put it back into his pocket he
stops. Water droplets are falling onto the screen, and
running down over his hand. Slowly he holds out the phone
and lets it slip out of his palm and fall into the puddle.
The phones screen is briefly illuminated before it sinks
down into the darkness.
6.
The rain finally stops as MICHAEL walks briskly down the
street.
EXT. CEMETERY DUSK
MICHAEL rounds the corner and stands in front of a large
wrought iron entrance.
A sign is affixed to the top and reads Parkview Cemetery.
MICHAEL hesitates, before walking beneath the iron work and
proceeding down the paved path.
The path winds its way through the centre of the cemetery,
with large grass fields on either side stretching out.
Lights on the right of the path cast pale, dancing shadows
across the stone as MICHAEL walks past. Lines of plaques lay
embedded into the soft earth, marking the rows of graves.
MICHAEL continues on until three quarters through the
cemetery he turns right and sets off into the field.
The soft padding of his shoes on the grass is the only sound
in the growing darkness. He walks on.
Finally MICHAEL stops in front of a plaque. A bunch of
colourful flowers lay nestled against the bronze.
The plaque reads: "Alice Taylor. A beacon of light in the
dark. Beloved wife of Michael Taylor. Taken too soon."
MICHAEL eases himself onto the grass, and sits in silence.
After a while he lays down, head resting next to the plaque.
His face softens as he clears his throat.
MICHAEL
"You know... this is almost rainier
than that time we went camping. It
took me all week to convince you it
was a good idea, and then when we
finally got there it rained all
weekend. Do you remember that?"
The field around MICHAEL seems to stretch on forever. The
grass sea is only interrupted by his prone figure.
7.
EXT. PADDOCK DAY RAINING
There is a large camp ground being drenched in the pouring
rain. The roads leading in and out are rutted with deep tyre
tracks. There are brown puddles pockmarking the surface.
MICHAEL and ALICE peek out of a tent at the pouring rain.
MICHAEL glances at her, a faint smile in the corners of his
mouth.
MICHAEL
"And all you said was.."
ALICE turns to MICHAEL. He waits expectantly. Finally she
breaks the silence,
ALICE
"I told you so."
MICHAEL groans and zips the tent back up. The rain grows
heavier, obscuring the tent behind a dense curtain of water.
EXT. BEACH DAY
The sun shines down on a glittering beach. People are
frolicking in the surf and kids are running around and
playing. MICHAEL and ALICE are sitting together in the sand,
letting the water rush up and over their legs.
ALICE begins to make little mounds of sand in front of them.
Forming them into mini parapets.
MICHAEL lazes back, happy to sit and watch. He turns to
ALICE.
MICHAEL
"Then there was that time at the
beach though. I dont think it
could have been more perfect.
Remember you just sat there and
made those little castles in the
sand. Totally content."
ALICE
"You wanted to take a photo of
them. But by the time you had gone
and got the camera a wave had come
and washed them away."
MICHAEL
"I think I prefer it this way. Its
so perfect in my memory."
8.
EXT. CEMETERY DUSK
MICHAEL lies in the grass. Large shadows creep their way
across the open field, silhouettes due to the setting sun.
There is a long silence.
MICHAEL eventually murmurs;
MICHAEL
"Oh god I miss you."
This time the grave stays silent.
MICHAEL remains. Lying in the cold grass as the shadows
finally overtake him, cold now as the sun finally dips below
the horizon.
FADE TO BLACK