ROTTEN REMAINS

By Oscar McRobbie & Harvey Smith

SCRIPT
EXT.STREET - NIGHT

THE CAMERA immediately cuts to a top down shot of a bloody

corpse laying down on the street floor. There are two
detectives standing by the lifeless corpse; GARETH FIELDS and
JEBIDIAH MCALLY. GARETH FIELDS steps forwards, grimacing
slightly as he peaks at the body.

Gareth
Man, I hate Mondays.

Jebidiah looks at Gareth with a slight look of confusion

before he gives up trying to understand.

Jeb
Looks like severe trauma on the face, a lot of dried blood.
Remains look rotten to me. My guess is that they were hit in
the face by something and then stabbed across the whole body.

Gareth
Jesus, what kind of psycho does this?

Jebidiah looks at Gareth once again, before looking down at

the corpse.

Jeb
I don’t know, but whoever did this seems unprovoked. It’s too
early to tell right now, but once we get samples we might have
a better chance of getting to the bottom of this one.

Gareth looks up at Jeb at the mention of “this one”.

Gareth
You reckon it’s the same guy? The one who did the other eight?

Jeb
My guess is as good as yours, but the technique seems to be
the same; so either we got a copy-cat scenario, or we’re
looking at fresh evidence for a cold-case.

Gareth’s mouth curls into a smug smile, satisfied that he

might finally catch the culprit to eight murders.

Jeb
Let’s let the forensics guys finish this one up and head back
to the station, we’ll check to see if they’ve found anything
in a week.
Gareth and Jebidiah walk away from the corpse as THE CAMERA
lingers on the body.

INT.STATION - NIGHT

THE CAMERA focuses on a desk which is adorned in little

ornaments. There is a briefcase. JEBIDIAH is packing his
things, done for the night as GARETH walks in and he jumps
slightly as he trunks his head and spots him.

Jeb
Gareth, Christ, could you maybe knock next time?

Gareth smiles, nods, then knocks on the open door which he has
just come from. Jebidiah shakes his head in annoyance.

Jeb
Right, what did you want then?

Gareth
I was wondering what you were gonna be doing after this.
Wanted to know if you needed a lift.

Jeb
Nah, I’m all good. Probably just gonna go have some sushi and
maybe hang back and do some paperwork.

Gareth lets out a half-hearted laugh.

Gareth
Ha, my ex used to call me sushi.

Jebidiah looks at Gareth, amused at his statement. He turns

back to his briefcase as Gareth walks out of the room.

Gareth
Night, Jebidiah.

THE CAMERA follows Gareth leaving the room, eventually leaving

the building in which it pans back to show the building
itself. He takes one final look back to the building as if
he’d forgotten something, he shakes his head and walks away.

INT.ABANDONED HOUSE - NIGHT

We see a room bathed in a cold-blue light, some hands

belonging to an unseen PERPETRATOR come into frame as they pin
up a photo of the victim seen earlier on their wall. THE
CAMERA reveals that there are over 8 other photos on the wall.
The unseen perpetrator is breathing heavily through the whole
ordeal. Their hands shift over to another photograph, this one
is of a victim we haven’t seen yet.

EXT.PARKING LOT - DAY

THE CAMERA cuts to MATTHEW walking through an almost empty

parking lot, we see that he’s alone. It’s apparent that
Matthew isn’t alone. We hear a crash come from somewhere in
the distance, and Matthew’s head jolts to the direction of the
sound.

Matt
Hello? Who’s there? Are you alright?

Matthew fails to get any response from anyone. He slowly and

carefully approaches the direction of the sound as THE CAMERA
follows him. Suddenly the audio goes silent and the screen
cuts to black.

INT.STATION - DAY

GARETH sits at his table, looking through documents marked as

“forensic work”. Suddenly JEBIDIAH walks in and slams a folder
on Gareth’s desk.

Jeb
Missing person - hasn’t been home in five days. Reckon it
might be linked to the killings.

Gareth looks suitably shocked, and quickly attempts to compose

himself.

Jeb
So, you get anything from the forensics team?

They both stare at the folder briefly before Gareth sighs and
opens it up, flipping through a few pages.

Gareth
Nothing yet, just the things we already knew; same killing
method as the other eight we found, been dead for a few weeks,
showed signs of struggle- also missing a tooth.

Jeb
A tooth?

Gareth
 Yeah, best guess is that it either got lost when the victim
was hit in the head, or our killer wanted something to
remember the occasion with.

Jeb
That makes sense, the finger was missing off that one girl,
right? And then those two kids with one of their toes removed
too.

Gareth
Right.

Jeb
So all we’ve got to do to find this guy is to just find the
house that’s got a bunch of human body parts in it? You never
know, the guy might confess- that’s usually the case.

Jebidiah lets out a somewhat forced laugh, before turning back

to the door to leave. He turns back around to Gareth. Before
walking back out.

Jeb
Let me know if you find anything.

Gareth goes back to flicking through the folders, his

attention turning to the missing persons folder. He flicks
through the pages, muttering to himself.

Gareth
Right, let’s see what we’re up against…

He pauses briefly to read the name, trying to memorise it in

his head.

Gareth
“Matthew Altruda”; man, let’s hope you’re still kicking…

He continues to flick through the pages, flicking past a few

different pages, before flicking back a few pages to make note
of something he skimmed past. His eyes appear to get a little
more wide as he realises he’s got something.

Gareth, walks over to a separate piece of paper on his desk,

carrying the folder with him. It’s a map of the city they live
in, and on there are eight separate red dots circled into the
paper, showing the different locations the bodies were found
in and where the people went missing, with dates next to them.
As the dates become more recent(2004-ish) the bodies'
locations appear to be moving in a fairly straight line.
He plots a point on the map where Matthew went missing,
noticing it’s also moved in a fairly straight line.

Gareth
I think our guy is getting sloppy.

Gareth seems pleased with himself.

Gareth
Don’t worry, Matthew, we’ll get you out of this one.

INT.ABANDONED HOUSE - NIGHT

We cut back to MATTHEW who is now squirming in a chair, his

hands are bound behind the chair and a piece of gaffa-tape is
covering his mouth.

We watch as the KILLER begins to trail a knife across

Matthew’s arm, causing him to scream in fear, though his
screams are muffled by the tape. THE CAMERA lingers as Matthew
continues to cry for a while.

INT.CINEMA - DAY

We watch as GARETH approaches JEBIDIAH in a cinema, Jebidiah

is sitting alone watching a movie, the movie is the classic
“Autophobia”, though that’s not made obvious.

Gareth
Hey, you know what I said two days ago?

Jeb
You say a lot of things. Can you be more specific?

Gareth
About the killer's location.

Jeb
Yeah, I remember. What about it?

Gareth
Well, the team reckon they’ve found the house the killer’s
been using. Old place. No-one’s been in there for ages.
Rumoured to be haunted by the local kids-

Jeb
(face palming)
Garth, don’t tell me you think ghosts are behind the killings
- please.

Gareth
No, no, no; listen. We reckon he could be living there.

Jeb looks shocked and tries to compose himself. Blinking

rapidly.

Jeb
Right, well we haven’t got time to waste. Let’s go; I’ll call
for backup when we get there.

They both begin to hurry out of the door to the cinema, now
no-one is watching the much beloved classic “Autophobia”.

INT.ABANDONED HOUSE - DAY

MATTHEW is still sitting in the same chair; he appears much

worse for wear, there’s a lot of blood coating the floor and
his own person - he looks a little droopy and tired.

He’s lost all of his fight, and has given up hope. It’s at
this point a door opens up, causing the once blue room to be
bathed in a warm yellow light, a FIGURE’S shadow is cast upon
Matthew, who hopefully looks up from the floor, before his
face immediately loses all hope and a knife comes into frame.
The figure walks into frame, only their legs are shown.

THE CAMERA follows them as they approach Matthew, who has been
left a whimpering mess.

The figure raises their knife and stabs Matthew in the stomach
a plethora of times, the tape on Matthew’s mouth doing a great
job at silencing his pained screams.

INT.ABANDONED HOUSE - DAY

THE CAMERA immediately cuts to GARETH kicking the door open,

startling the audience to think that Gareth might’ve made it
just in time, but little do they know that Gareth is too late.

Gareth
Police! Hands where I can…
We see the rotting corpse of MATTHEW on the floor, he’s been
here for some time. The sound of flies buzzing all around his
foul corpse is loud.

Gareth stares at the body before leaning against a wall.

Gareth
(under breath)
Shit.

He picks himself up off the wall and walks over to the corpse.

Gareth
God damn it. God fuckin’ damn it.

Moving his hand to close Matthew’s eye-lids, Gareth loudly

sighs.
Gareth
(under breath)
I’m sorry, kid.

Gareth looks away from the corpse and over to a seperate door
that’s ajar, a light seems to flicker from inside of it.
Quietly, he approaches the door, trying to cautiously get a
glimpse of what's inside before getting to the door.

When he does reach the door, he slowly creeks it open, the

whole house is silent, besides the buzzing of the flies that
can be heard in the other room.

The first thing he spots is a wall, adorned by photographs. A

small lock box sits next to a very old chair. Gareth, unsure
of what to properly do, walks over to the lock box and opens
it. Upon seeing the contents of the box, Gareth’s face morphs
into one of shock.

We’re not able to see the full contents of the box, but we do
see Gareth pull out a tooth and a finger from inside, then
immediately dropping them to the floor in disgust.

Looking under the chair, Gareth realises that there's a

briefcase - a very familiar briefcase. It’s Jebidiah’s
briefcase.

He’s still in denial at this point, just thinking they have

similar briefcases. He opens it and sees a knife covered in
blood inside the case, as well as a photograph of himself and
Jebidah, among other things he doesn’t look at.
He looks like he’s going to be sick.

Gareth
(under breath)
Oh shit…

It’s at this point that Gareth hears footsteps approaching, he

quickly closes the briefcase and stands up, turning to face
the door.

JEBIDIAH stands in the doorway menacingly. Gareth tries to act

natural.

Gareth
When's the backup gonna be here?

Jeb
So we’ve found the place the guy lives in then?

Gareth
Yep.

Jebidiah shuffles past Gareth and in front of the briefcase.

He looks at the wall.

Jeb
It looks like he had a lot more than eight…

Gareth
Backups not coming, is it?

Jeb
What makes you say that?

Gareth
It’s you, isn’t it? You’re the one behind it all…

Gareth gestures to the whole room, shock and fear quickly

turning into anger.

Gareth
… This!

Jebidiah’s demeanour immediately drops.

Jeb
I confess. It was me.
Gareth is left frozen in place by the confession, watching as
Jebidiah opens the case and takes out the knife and the
picture of them both.

Gareth
Why?

Jeb
I don’t know to be honest. Sometimes I think it’s not worth
it, but other times, I feel the call to harm. And I’ll answer
that call. It pains me to do this, Garth, it really does. But
I can’t have you ruin this for me. Do you know how much effort
I put into tampering with evidence?

Gareth
Yet you still gave me the missing persons report, I think some
part of you wanted me to find out.

Gareth’s face shifts to a stoic, almost apathetic expression.

Gareth
Jebidiah McAlly, you are under arrest for multiple accounts of
first degree murder.

Jeb
Well, Gareth Fields, I would like to see you try.

Gareth pulls out his gun and points it at Jebidiah

Gareth
Please. Don’t make me do this.

Jeb
I’m a menace to society and a hypocrite, I’m sure God won’t be
upset at my downfall. But you will. And I’ve said this before
but I’ll say it again, I’m sorry for what I’m about to do.
Jebidiah lunges at Gareth, stabbing him in the stomach. Gareth
loudly grunts through gritted teeth; Jebidiah pulls the knife
from out of Gareth’s body, causing the man to slump to the
floor and clutch at his wound.

Jebidiah walks closer to Gareth as he tries to push himself

further and further away. It’s at this point that he remembers
he’s got a gun, and points it at Jebidiah before firing three
shots into him.

The two are now both on the floor, Jebidiah dead and Gareth
bleeding.

Gareth
 Jesus Christ.

He sits his back against the wall and chuckles to himself at

the realisation that he’s alive. He’s heavily breathing, but
alive. The credits start to roll, THE CAMERA lingers on the
shot of them both on the floor; no music accompanies the
credits. When they’re finished, the screen fades to black.

STORYBOARDS
 LOCATION RECCE

Location Recce
Please produce a location recce for EVERY location used

Site contact name and Availabiliy

contact Phone: 0345 222 24/7
4224
Permissions
Only costs money to park, public place to film if you don’t get in anyone’s way.

Suitability/shots for production (scene numbers)

There’s one scene in which the car park is used. Approximately six shots.
Lighting Information: Solutions:
Dark, moody lighting (what we want), but could be Bring lights so cameras can take light in.
too dark for the camera.

Sound Information: Solutions:

Lots of reverb, possible cars driving through – Bring microphone, only film when no cars are
loud. driving past.

Power Information Solutions:

No easy access to power (is a generator thing, Bring spare batteries, for both microphone
but not allowed to access that). and camera.

Hazards Solutions:
Cars, also located in Reading. Don’t upset anyone, and also try to avoid cars
moving.
Location Recce
Please produce a location recce for EVERY location used

Site contact name and contact Availability

The Henley College 8:00 - 16:30

Permissions

Permissions given by on-site staff.

Suitability/shots for production (scene numbers)

Only one scene is shot in this area, that being the opening scene, which will consist of roughly eight
separate shots, the count is still up in the air.
Lighting Information: Solutions:
The occasional tree could cause problems with Setup camera to deal with white-balance issues.
shadows and white balance.

Sound Information: Solutions:

Possible people, could be loud, needs to be quiet. Filming later in the day, when no one is
out and about.

Power Information Solutions:

No power, outside. Bring spare, freshly charged batteries.

Hazards Solutions:
Big dip in the land, could get hurt by falling in, as Watch where you’re stepping, keep eyes alert and
well as low hanging branches. stay a safe distance away from the gap.
Location Recce
Please produce a location recce for EVERY location used

Site contact name and contact The Availability

Henley College 01491 579988 8:00 – 16:30

Permissions

Henley College staff

Suitability / shots for production (scene numbers)

Only one scene takes place in this location with a presumed eight different shots.
Lighting Information: Solutions:
Lights available, also very flatly lit from the top Use external lights for directional lighting if
down, can change colour – though how to do that required, though it’s likely that the projection will
is unknown. Light from projector also likely. create directional lighting for us.

Sound Information: Solutions:

Padded room, little to no sound coming in or Bring a microphone to capture all the noises
exiting. Though it is rather large, so capturing wanted.
all noise you want could be difficult.

Power Information Solutions:

A few plug sockets are located around the Spare batteries for all equipment.
premises. Though they may be utilized by other
things.

Hazards Solutions:
Expensive equipment, literal projector, staircase, Only really move around when lights are on,
rows of chairs could be seen as tripping hazard. attempt to not damage anything that’s being used.
Site contact name and contact Availability

Public area. 24/7

Suitability/ shots for production (scene numbers)

Technically speaking, 4 scenes take place in this location; the most throughout the whole production.
Lighting Inform ati on: Solutions:
In the middle of nowhere, under a lot of trees. NEED extra lights, just so the camera can
Will also be shot at night so very limited lights. actually see through the lens; and so people
can make out what ' s going on.

Sound Information: Solution s:

Possibility of Crickets and other nocturnal Bring a microphone to focus on the noises in
animals being loud, possible wind as well due this one area; also have that microphone be
to it being outside. protected by a dead-cat .

Power Information Solution s:

Nature - doesn't have any power, and a place Bring extra batteries for camera, microphones
that'll be open at the time of recording will be and charge pre-used batteries.
unlikely.

Hazards Solution s:
Lots of broken wood from the trees; same with Be very careful around areas -watch ste p.
foliage, also night-time so hard to see. Always light up what's in front of you when
cameras aren't rolling.
Location Recce
Please produce a location recce for EVERY location used

Site contact name and contact Availability

The Henley College - 01491 579988 8:00 – 4:30

Permissions

Henley College staff

Suitability/shots for production (scene numbers)

Two scenes take place in this location.

Lighting Information: Solutions:
Lots of lights, all of which are powered by the Ask someone who knows how to use the
board in a separate room, could be hard to board how to use the board and set it up
get the lighting just right. accordingly.

Sound Information: Solutions:

Possibility of people being in there, as the sound Use a microphone and forcefully tell loud people to
recording booth is right next door, not even a be quiet when it’s needed.
hallway away. Rather big room, if no mic is used
could be poor quality.

Power Information Solutions:

Lots of plug sockets in ergonomic locations. Don’t be in there after closing time.
Assume that power gets turned off after closing
time.

Hazards Solutions:
Lots of expensive equipment in the building, as Be careful, or film away from, expensive
well as (as previously mentioned) people. equipment. Film when there are less people in
the room.
 PROP LIST

Prop name / description: Where it appears in the script:

Briefcase (standard briefcase) Scene 2 – page 3 | Scene 9 – page 10

Victims’ photographs (pictures of the killers’ Scene 3 – page 4 | Scene 9 – page 10

victims) – more than 10 needed in total)

Matthew’s photo (picture of Matthew) Scene 3 – page 4 | Scene 9 – page 10

Documents in a folder (Just random documents Scene 5 – page 5

in a folder, marked “forensics”)

Documents in a folder again (this time with Scene 5 – page 5

the missing persons information)

Piece of paper documenting Matthew (needs Scene 5 – page 6

basic information like address and full name)

City map (needs to have points plotted on it Scene 5 – page 7

with dates in the 2004 area; the points move
in a straight line)

Chair (needs to look decrepit and dirty) Scene 6 – page 7 | Scene 8/9 – page 7/9

Gaff-tape (to cover Matthew’s mouth to block Scene 6 – page 7 | Scene 8/9 – page 7/9
his screams)

A knife (belonging to the killer) Scene 8 – page 9 | Scene 9 – page 10

Intestines (belonging to Matthew, because he’s Scene 9 – page 9

dead – spoiler)

Lock box (for containing souvenirs) Scene 9 – page 10

Another chair (this one looking even more Scene 9 – page 10

decrepit)

Tooth (a rotting tooth) Scene 9 – page 10

Two fingers (rotting fingers) Scene 9 – page 10

Photograph of Gareth and Jedidiah (black and Scene 9 – page 10

white photo of the two main characters)

Gun (Gareth’s gun during the final Scene 9 – page 12

confrontation)
Blood (for the entire production – if counted as Scene 1 – page 2 | Scene 7 – page 8 | Scene 9 –
a prop) page 9/13
 AUDITION ANALYSIS

Who auditioned for What was good What could be Why I think they
what character: about their improved: suit/don’t suit the
performance: role:

Tiberius I enjoyed the rather I think one aspect While I think our
Simon (Gareth laxed performance that Ti could improve Tiberius did a fine job
Fields) that Ti put on, I feel upon is the corpsing with the character, I
like it did fit the he does as someone felt like the corpsing
character's coughs. You need to did bring it down a
personality. be able to hold in notch, as well as the
laughter when we’re other performance I
shooting. I feel like it felt was better (as you
hinders his will read later)
performance.

David Didziulis I feel like David The only real problem I believe that David is
(Jebidiah encompasses I had with this perfect casting for the
McAlly) everything performance was that role, as his general
authoritative about David’s range was a vibe when portraying
the character as well little flat – something the character is
as slipping in a bit of which can be exactly what we’re
uncomfortable improved easily. looking for – a little
untrust. stilted, but a stilted
you chose to trust.

Hayden Paul I feel like Hayden also Once again, I feel like As stated previously, I
(Gareth Fields) managed to match Ti’s the vocal range feel as though
performance when it could be improved Hayden’s lax attitude
comes to portraying slightly, but that’s and physical stature
the character – easy. actually match the
though Hayden is character, elevating
much more physically him further.
resembling what I
imagine the character
looks like.
CREW LIST
CONFIRMATION EMAILS
 CONTINGENCY PLAN

If an actor fails to turn up, we have our backup actor/extra Ethan Malha to fill in, who has told us
that he is available for most of the production, and we have worked around his schedule. And if
he is unavailable for a particular shoot day we will have our extra Tiberius Simon fill in for the
role (who is less flexible, but still there for most days- seeing as he is our sound guy for a fair bit
of the production).
If we are denied entry to a location, despite being allowed there, we will simply go
somewhere else that works just as fine.
If our batteries run out while shooting, we shall use backup batteries, freshly charged – so
that everything goes smooth.
If our actors are unable to get the costumes needed, costumes can (under linear
circumstances) be provided.
If it’s raining – that’s fine, shoot in the rain, a lovely aesthetic can be created from the rain. If
someone gets seriously injured then, again, just use Ethan Malha and if he gets seriously
injured then use Tiberius Simon; and if he gets hurt, The production is cursed.
If the audio is too loud, wait for noise to die down then shoot again. Keep doing this until it
works.
If darkness is a problem, we shall use external lights to aid us in creating the production.
If wind is strong, just block it with a big coat/persons.