“It feels like I’m sinking.

”
A production by:
Leo Harling
 1.
INT: Small Bathroom – Morning
CUT TO:
ESTABLISHING SHOT – We see the back of a teenage girl. She is
leaning over a bathroom sink and is clenching the sides of it.
The camera slowly pans in towards the girl.
ECU LOWER ANGLE – We are looking up at a bathroom tap. We see
water droplets falling towards the camera. We hear the drops of
water echo in the sink.
CUT TO:
MWS – We see the Girl in the centre of frame. She is looking down
at the sink. She lifts her head up to face the camera. She stares
into the camera.
MALLORY (V.O.)
(Depressed)
You know, depression is a silent killer...
It gets to you before you even know you’ve
got it.
We hear a build-up sound effect and a small ringing sound. We see
a match cut to a variety of shots of Mallory in different
locations but still centred in the frame staring into the lens.
The first shot in her bathroom brushing her hair. Then back in
her bedroom placing her school backpack over her shoulder.
Another at the front door of her house. Again, at her local bus
stop.

INT: School classroom - Morning

MATCH CUT TO:
MS – Finally the last shot in this sequence. We see Mallory still
staring at the camera now in a classroom. She is sitting at her
desk with a notebook Infront of her. We hear a school
2.
bell ring and Mallory’s eye contact with the camera breaks. She
looks down at her desk and opens her notebook to a new page.
MALLORY (V.O.)
(Depressed)
Or at least that’s in my case.
CUT TO:
MS MALLORY’S POV – We are in Mallory’s point of view. We are
looking down at her hands on the desk. Mallory is drawing a scary
picture in her notebook.
MUFFLED VOICE
Mallory?...
We can hear a riser and a ringing sound effect. We see a small
hand gently grab Mallory’s left arm. The camera whip pans up.

INT: School cafeteria – early afternoon

WHIP PAN TO:
MWS MALLORY’S POV – The camera pans up to reveal another teenage
girl. She is looking directly into the camera.
TEENAGE GIRL
(Concerned)
Hey!... are you okay? You've barely said
anything.
MALLORY (V.O.)
That’s Gwen. She’s my best friend.
CUT TO:
WS PAN IN – We see the two girls sitting across from each other
on a table. Mallory is centred in frame. The camera slowly pans
in.

3.
 MALLORY
(Reassuring)
Yeah. Sorry, I’m fine.
GWEN
(Concerned)
Are you sure?
MALLORY
(Reassuring)
Yeah! I’m just tired that’s all.
CUT BACK TO:
MWS MALLORY’S POV – We see Gwen. The camera pans to the right to
reveal another teenage girl beginning to sit down at the table.
TEEN GIRL
(Embarrassed)
Guys! You will not believe who I just
bumped into.
MALLORY (V.O.)
And that’s Felicity. My other best friend.
CUT BACK TO:
WS PAN IN – We see all three girls sitting at the table. Felicity
is grabbing her lunch from her bag. Gwen is looking at Felicity
with disappointment. Felicity looks at Gwen with confusion and
slight irritation.
FELICITY
(confused & agitated)
What?!

4.
 GWEN
(Concerned)
Mallory’s upset.
Gwen nods her head towards Mallory. She turns back to Felicity
and looks at her with concern.
FELICITY
(Concerned)
Oh no, what’s wrong?!
Felicity looks at Mallory with concern.
MALLORY
(Reassuring)
Gwen I’m fine. I’m just tired.
Mallory rolls her eyes at Gwen and turns her head to Felicity
when she says this.
FELICITY
(Sarcastic)
See Gwen, she said Shes fine.
(All three girls laugh.)
Felicity continues her story, but her dialogue begins to muffle.
Mallory’s smile fades and she begins to stare down at the desk
with sadness. We hear the ringing sound once again.
MALLORY (V.O.)
(Depressed)
That was a lie. I wasn’t fine...
I think, after I turned 18, I realised
How much of my life I’ve spent running.

5.
INT: Dark room - Night
CUT TO:
MWS – We see a dark room. In the foreground there is a small
cupcake with a candle on top of it. Mallory is behind the cake in
the background. She leans forward and blows the candle out.
CUT TO BLACK:
CUT TO:
MALLORY (V.O.)
(Depressed)
Being afraid, battling with immense stress
And anxiety over things I don’t want to do
Or even care about.

INT: Mallory’s bedroom - Night

CUT TO:
OVERHEAD WS – We see Mallory fall backwards into her bed. She
rubs her face with her hands and appears stressed.
MALLORY (V.O.)
(Depressed)
School.

INT: School classroom - Day

CUT TO:
MWS – We see Mallory in a classroom sitting at her desk. She is
writing in her notebook and appears stressed.
MALLORY (V.O.)
(Depressed)

6.
 getting a job.

INT: Malory’s bedroom - Night

CUT TO:
CU – We see Mallory laying in her bed on her phone. We see the
light from her phone screen reflecting in her eyes.
CUT TO:
CU – We see Mallory’s phone in her hand. She is scrolling through
different jobs to apply for.
CUT BACK TO:
CU – We see Mallory laying in her bed on her phone. She drops the
phone on her bed and cups her face in her hands. She appears
stressed.
CUT TO BLACK:
MALLORY (V.O.)
(Depressed)
It felt like as each day went on it got worse
and worse.

INT: School classroom - Day

CUT TO:
CU LOWER ANGLE – We see a clock ticking.
MALLORY (V.O.)
(Depressed)
Time sped up for me. And I felt like I was
watching everyone else carry on like I didn’t
even exist.

7.
 CUT TO:
WS – We see Mallory sitting in her classroom in the centre of the
frame. She is emotionless as she stares into the camera. We see
people around her pass bye in a timelapse whilst Mallory remains
still.
MALLORY (V.O.)
(Depressed)
But then... Time began to slow.
CUT TO:
ECU HIGHER ANGLE – We see Mallory’s eyes look up in slow motion.
CUT TO:
CU LOWER ANGLE – We see the clock once again, but the ticking
hand begins to slow. We hear the ticking noises begin to slow and
distort.
MALLORY (V.O.)
(Depressed)
And all I could focus on is that void that
continued to swallow me whole. Drowning me
from the inside out.
CUT BACK TO:
WS – We cut back to Mallory at the desk. One by one the lights in
the room begin to shut off behind her until they reach the desk.
We hear echoey thuds as each line of lights switch off. A blue
spotlight slowly fades in above Mallory, coating her in blue
light. She looks up at the camera with fear. She exhales and
begins to fall backwards in her chair.
MALLORY (V.O.)
(shaky voice)
It’s hard to breathe, and... It just feels like I’m
sinking.
8.
 MATCH CUT TO:
WS – We switch to a side view of Mallory. She falls backwards in
her chair and the camera spins 90 degrees with her movement. She
hits the floor transitioning into the next shot.
(MUSIC: BITTERSUITE Instrumental by: Billie Eilish plays.)

INT: Mallory’s bedroom - Night

CUT TO:
WS – We transition to a shot of Mallory falling backwards into
her bed. The camera tracks Mallory until she hits the surface of
the bed. Mallory is being lit by the same blue spotlight from the
previous shot.
CUT TO:
OVERHEAD WS – Mallory is lying in bed coated in blue light. She
grabs her phone from her pocket and begins doom scrolling on
social media.
CUT TO:
HANDHELD MS HIGHER ANGLE – We see Mallory scrolling on her phone.
CUT BACK TO:
OVERHEAD WS – We see Mallory on her bed once again. The shot cuts
between Mallory lying in different positions on the bed to the
beat of the music.
CUT TO:
WS – We now see Mallory sitting in the centre of the bed. She is
lined up in the centre of the frame, backlit by the sunlight
coming through her bedroom window behind her.
MATCH CUT TO:
We see different points of different days to the beat of the
music. The lighting changes to night, day, dawn and dusk but
9.
Mallory is still in the same spot. Sat on her bed in the centre
of the frame.
CUT TO BLACK:

INT: Mallory’s bedroom – Morning

FADE TO:
ECU – We see a phone in the foreground resting on a nightstand.
We see a voice message notification pop up on the screen of the
phone. Mallory sits up in her bed in the background. She reaches
towards the camera and grabs the phone.
CUT TO:
OVERHEAD WS – We see Mallory pull the phone over her chest and
lean back into her pillow. There is a small ray of sunlight
coming through the blinds above her which covers the lower
section of her face and neck. Mallory plays the voice message. As
the message Plays, we realise it is from her friend Felicity
FELICITY:
(over voice mail)
Hey Malibu, it’s just me. I was calling to Ask
if you wanted to hang out? Me and Gwen Are going
on a walk in the forest tomorrow and would love
for you to come! It would just Be us three, like
we used to... I know you’re Struggling at the moment
so it’s no pressure! We really miss you... Just let
me know, okay? Alright, love you lots! Bye...

The message ends. Mallory places the phone beside her and
exhales. She rubs her palm over her mouth. She pulls the covers
off her and gets out of bed.
(MUSIC: From the Dust by: Mountain Boy plays)
10.
 MALLORY (V.O.)
(Depressed)
I hadn’t seen my friends in weeks. I’m not
even sure if I’m ready to see them again...
CUT TO:
MCU – We see Mallory’s hand grab a hoodie from a clothing rail.
CUT TO:
MWS – We see Mallory put on the hoodie and begin to tie her hair
up.
CUT TO:
OTS – We see Mallory looking at her reflection in the mirror. She
finishes tying her hair up and stares at herself for a moment. We
hear a knock on the door and Mallory turns to her head to the
right slightly.
MALLORY (V.O.)
(Depressed)
But I can’t stay in this room forever.
CUT TO:
OTS – We are outside of see Mallory’s front door. Mallory opens
the front door. Her friends are outside.
MATCH CUT TO:
OTS – We see are inside of the doorway from Mallory’s
perspective. The friend's wave and Gwen hugs Mallory.
BROLL - We see a variety of shots in the woods. We can see close
ups of leaves and flowers and the trees swaying as the sunlight
leaks through the tree leaves.
MALLORY (V.O.)
(Reassured)
Although I’ve struggled so much this year,
11.
 When I’m with the people I love... that pain
Is almost gone.
CUT TO:
HANDHELD MS MALLORY’S POV – We see Gwen and Felicity jumping up
and down with excitement looking into the camera as they walk
through the forest.
CUT TO:
HANDHELD CU – We see Mallory looking up at the sky. She begins to
smile.
MALLORY (V.O.)
(Reassured)
It feels like when I’m with Them I can breathe
again...
CUT TO:
HANDHELD MS – We pan between Mallory’s friends laughing and
talking whilst sitting on the ground.
EWS – We see all three friends run down a hill together. Felicity
and Gwen both split separate ways and run out of frame on either
side. Mallory stops running and stands in the centre of the
frame. She exhales with a smile. We hear her breath echo.
CUT TO BLACK:
MALLORY (V.O.)
(Confident)
And that’s worth living for.
THE END.