(Untrained in this sort of project; I have put together this "rough-out" of what I am calling my story board for the movie script I am working on.)
(notes to self: Okay, I will need to introduce, at least briefly, the characters; perhaps in revision two.)
I've also done something, no doubt very amateurish; I've placed known actors in character roles, using the actor's names. This helps me "flesh" out my characters until a future revision.
last updated: 2/27/06
Killers Of Land And Sea
Movie opens with Viggo spying and taking pics of Sheen in compromising situation.
Near the end of the scene he is discovered by body guards; brief scuffle; manages to escape with the goods. The powers that be (unknown to us yet) with considerable resource are able to identify Viggo via security camera footage from scene of scuffle.
Disillusioned photo/journalist - relegated to paparazzi work (played by Viggo Mortensen) is ordered by his boss to leave his current assignment pursuing some dirty old politician (played my Charlie Sheen) in San Fran (fill in the kinky part as you like; please try to keep similar to tone of rest of film - please don't start out too "silly" and comedic, prefer slightly dark and cynical. Would like to shoot for PG-13.).
What Viggo doesn't know is that the rag has been bought off by Charlie's rich and powerful handlers. And the plan is to send Viggo far, far away. (The viewer is not privy to the identity or position of Sheen's character, yet.)
[Will have to develop Viggo's persona, background etc]
[camera cuts to Viggo on long, long flight to Australia.]
So, Viggo is a little angry, but doesn't care; his life is meaningless, it just doesn't matter. He is sent to Australia to follow up a report that some big star (make somebody up like Russell Crowe - we'll call him Crewe) is once again cheating on his wife with another big name.
Viggo, in Australia, learns that Crewe is on a yacht off the coast; some remote area. He learns this on arrival at airport; immediately hires a plane from same airport; shows up just in time to see Crewe leave yacht and board speedboat with beautiful famous star. Viggo, constantly orders the reluctant pilot to dive-bomb the speeding boat, closer and closer; getting some swell pictures. Crewe intentionally drives his boat into a large flock of birds sitting on the water; they fly up; pilot can't react quickly enough; birds crash thru windshield and "fowl" plane engine; plane goes down. Crewe speeds away very pleased.
Plane nose dives and sinks quickly. Viggo comes to senses under water (small pocket of air); pilot is dead; lots of blood; Viggo has head injury and bleeding.
Viggo takes deep breath from pocket; fights way out of cockpit and discovers he is 100feet down with great white sharks circling; plane continues sinking into dark abyss below. Because of his head injury (and that sometimes "he just doesn't care") the moment becomes surreal. He knows the situation is hopeless as he watches a great white rip the pilot's arm out of the cockpit window; swimming away with its prize.
Maybe he flashes back (replays his life, as they say some do before they die - little more insight into his character; where did things go wrong for him?); such a wasted life.
Just as the largest shark comes in for the kill, a much greater, dark shadow shoots out of the depths and rips the sharks belly open. Then this same, huge, black "shark" comes at, and grabs Viggo. And, that's it, "lights out"; Viggo passes out.
In dream time we (and perhaps somehow Viggo) witness a huge killer "shark" bring Viggo to the surface (held by the collar of his jacket), take him to shore and beach him (photographic evidence/documentation - killer whales will follow prey just beyond the edge of the water - so this is do-able.).
Hours later, he is found on an isolated beach by a beautiful (part aboriginal, part caucasian) woman (fill in actress here); (Hey it's a movie! It works for me.). Of course she can't just let him die and they are many miles from anyone/anywhere - so she has no choice but to nurse him back to health (there is a little smattering of the "old" ways, "dream time", healing plants etc as influenced by the girl's aboriginal great-grandmother). In the weeks that follow he learns something about the aboriginal relationship with nature (including the creatures of the sea).
He doesn't remember anything about how he survived the crash (nothing of the ordeal underwater); he doesn't remember the sharks. But, nearly every night, he has nightmares - of blood and great shark teeth coming at him, in the blackness of the deep. He dismisses the odd holes in the collar of his jacket. After a few weeks he is healed; at least to the point at which he can walk to the nearest town.
Beautiful woman guides him to Eden. The nearest town is practically a ghost town. The town is called Eden (this is real place, see links below). She takes him to the edge of town, but oddly - she won't go into town with him; she is silent when he asks for an explanation. With a tear and a kiss on the cheek; she disappears back into the brush.
The brush is no place for this fellow; he walks into Eden.
Tourists still visit occasionally to tour the old museum and listen to the old timers talk about the legend of "Tom" the killer whale. But, most of the residents have died off; the young moved away.
Viggo has been thru hell-and-back and now he just wants to go home. But, of course there is the girl who saved his life. Okay, he's conflicted - maybe he will allow himself to care about something/someone again. But, he is falling back into his old ways, and begins trying to find someone that will help him get back to "civilization". So, he goes from one odd old character to another trying to find a way out (love those old Aussies). And in the process, unintentionally at first, begins peeling back the layers of the story of The Killers Of Eden (see links below to the actual story). He begins to realize that it's not just a story to lure in the tourists to an old defunct whaling town. Could the legend be true?
Having no luck finding a way out and still recovering form the crash, he stays a couple nights in a primitive bead & breakfast. Every night his dream of the shark becomes a little more detailed. That greatest "shark" which finally gets him (in his dream), he notices, has a large scar above the left eye.
Well, he finally finds someone (a crafty old fisherman who wants to get this bloody Yank "to hell out of his Eden"). The fisherman, for a fee, agrees to take him up the coast to a mining operation.
They set off, up coast; beautiful calm day. Half way there, Viggo hears the skipper curse beneath his breath, "Bloody bastards!" Looking in the direction of the man's brief gaze, he sees 3 small beached whales; gulls circling and ripping apart their bloated flesh.
Viggo turns to the skipper with a questioning look. But the brooding skipper says nothing and tosses Viggo a bottle of liquor, and before long, Viggo dozes off. Again he dreams, yet more clearly. This time, in his dream, he is oddly unafraid of the great black beast with the scar above its left eye. Something like a strange singing, causes him to softly open his eyes, still feeling the dream state. He hears the "chug chug" of the boat engine; feels the warmth of the sun; sees fluffy clouds reflected on the glassy surface of the water. Then, his eyes come more into focus. There, just below the surface; is that the shadow of the boat? And that white, the white of the clouds; beneath the surface? He watches transfixed as the shadow rises; slips out of the glass veil of water and with a most extraordinary eye, looks - as if into his soul. Just above that left eye is a scar.
With a loud exclamation, he leaps to his feet, stiff as a board and shaking he turns to the skipper at his wheel, "LOOK!" he shouts.
"Look at what mate?"
Viggo turns back; there's nothing. "You must have seen it!?!!"
"It was nothing mate. The sea can be a trickster; it's just the booze. No worries mate, we're almost there - look ahead. You've been thru a lot; you'll be okay once you leave this place."
(Of course the old fisherman saw everything.)
He doesn't know what to think; is he losing his mind?
[Moving right along]
Viggo is waiting at the mining station (This could be mining, oil, chemical, etc) - for the next ship out to where he can take a flight back to the states. (The ship won't be here until tomorrow, but he has no place else to go.)
While nosing around (instinctive journalist that he is) he discovers this is a front for a private research facility performing experiments with the use of high powered sonar.
[Now, let this author state right here that I am not anti-military. But, I am anti-bad science that does not respect the other inhabitants of this planet.]
He meets a scientist (Kim Basinger; a favorite of mine, so be nice. I just have a lot of respect for her and I'd like to see the chemistry between her and Viggo.)
Basinger has been brought here from the states to "rubber stamp" an environmental report for the Australian govt. In fact; she is not even a qualified ocean biologist. She's a "no non-sense" pragmatist - just there to do a job and get out. There is some connection between she and Viggo, but on the surface they don't seem to like each other (What's to like; they both seem unredeemable).
The next day Viggo is sitting at the dock waiting for the ship to take him away, daydreaming as usual when the same killer whale appears again, just ten feet away. This time he's stone sober. They stare into each other's eyes and Viggo begins to understand the astonishing truth. Now he remembers the great white sharks; and he remembers this creature saving his life.
Just at that moment there is a loud "bang" and a "thud"! Viggo turns, as the killer whale sinks, to see a man standing on a moored fishing boat with a gun, cursing, "No wonder my nets are always empty!!"
[Moving right along]
Viggo gets into an argument, there's a fight; gets beat up; misses his ship out.
During convalescence he starts to hook up with Basinger (Little Ms, I'm all about hard science and doing what I'm told.).
Viggo convinces Basinger they both deserve a holiday (all work; no play) and they take a little excursion to visit Eden. But, his real agenda was to have her meet the old timers, hear the stories and explore the archives of the museum.
He takes her to meet a person of interest, someone he heard stories about when he was last here; the 110 year old recluse who lives in a dilapidated mansion at the edge of town. Her family had been ostracized by the whaling village; nearly 100 years ago.
She would now share, in the last days of her life, with this young couple "the rest of the story"; what really happened - what defiled the sacred relationship between man and beast.
She recounted the history known well by a few. She told of the origins of the unique relationship; how the aborigines befriended the killer whales. And how the killer whales extended that friendship; in partnership with the whalers of Eden.
And then, the great lady shared the dark secret for the first and last time of her life. With tears, she explained why the aborigines moved away from this beautiful bay. They moved away, never to return, because of the betrayal of her father.
You see, one tragic day, her father arrogantly and violently - broke the covenant between creatures of land and creatures of sea.
At first captive and then captivated; they listened in that darkened parlor as her voice carried them all, back in time:
"I was a wild one back then . . ." (Voice trails into a camera shot; a "tomboy" of about age ten standing behind a low rock wall set on a rise overlooking the bay.)
The sun is just going down (just a burning tip of red light remains; sliding into the ocean on the horizon). A slight wind blows her unruly hair back from her face. We hear her mother calling her to dinner in the background, but she stands, with great intensity; very still, for an excited little girl. She is watching for a movement in the twilight, in the water below (maybe 300 feet away). Mother is still calling; now more agitated. Nora's sharp young eyes see a movement in the water; convinced, she leaps onto the rock wall and begins waving both arms above her head.
She is silent, though ready to explode with excitement. She seems to be trying to get the attention of "something" in the bay; as she hovers above the rock wall waving; a big smile of anticipation.
Now, directly below her, about 100 feet away a killer rises above the surface of the waves, nearly clearing the water. The whale turns ninety degrees away from her so that when he re-enters the water his great fluke tail is directed toward her and as the whale disappears the tail comes down hard with an explosive clap. So as, not to be ignored, the whale repeats this noisy display as it very slowly swims back toward the sea.
The first "clap" was enough for Nora; releasing a pent up "WHUO-EEEEE!" she races into the house.
Rocketing into the dining room amid a scolding mother and a father trying to remain "dignified"; Nora rattles on with unbearable excitement, "Father he's here!! Tom is in the bay signaling us!"
Mother tries to head off what she sees coming; "Now Colonel, we've just set the table . . ."
"Father you said that I could go the next time you went at night!"
"That's correct", he agrees, "but your mother has made this lovely din . . . ."
"Mother I've been plenty of times in the daylight! . . . Please! . . . . . ."
Mother tries to put her foot down, but she knows it is useless. She was not able to give her husband a son; their only child, Nora, would have to do.
"My dear lady, we have not brought a whale in for three weeks; we can't afford to pass this by. And Nora knows her business on the boat; she'll be fine. Fix us some dinner in the basket while we make ready."
Her father, a retired colonel in the British Army is the wealthiest man in the village; their boat, the finest. The boat is white; 52 feet long; with a small gas engine and sail. It is even especially equipped with a hand-crank winch to pull the whale in close, once it is harpooned. But, the real marvel of his rig was the latest invention; a swivel mounted, canon-propelled harpoon.
The Colonel moved here 6 months ago; not well received or well liked; either for his arrogant behavior or his introduction of new fangled, whale killing technology.
[Cut to scene - arrival at location of whales being attacked by killer whales. Another whaling boat has arrived just ahead of them; an open boat with four men. It is dark and chaotic; the winds have picked up; white caps; there is some shouting heard above the wind, but most of the sound is that of the killer whale pod attacking the whales (several) and their cries of slow tortured death.]
Nora is told by her father to stay by the main mast at the center of the boat. This type of event is nothing new to Nora. She is at the same time horrified and intrigued by this study of survival in nature. As a carnivore, she sides with the killer whale; this was the way of her world and she would not shy away from it. She possessed a true hunter's heart. She also understood the agreement; the hunting partnership that existed between the killers of land and sea.
The first boat was waiting for a sign; for the killers to pull back a little so they could go in and finish the whale; in time honored fashion. Once the whalers harpooned and killed the whale, they would wait and allow the killer whales to move back in and feast on the whale's tongue - the prize they were most after. After the pod was finished feeding then, and only then, would the whalers haul their prize back home.
The Colonel ignored the sentiments of the other boat. With his modern ship, equipped with the latest tools of the trade, he needn't bother with this superstitious lot. And too hell with these killer whales; he was king of the food chain and this was about survival of the fittest; competition, not cooperation!
He piloted his craft past the angry shouts and warnings and into the fray of white water; coming along side the weakened whale. He aimed the stern mounted harpoon canon and fired! The whale ceased to struggle. He quickly pulled the slack out of the thick hemp rope and began cranking the wench to pull the dead whale closer to his boat.
Furious words shot thru the wind from the other boat, "Damn you man! You'll ruin it for us all!!"
Nora watched it all unfold; holding fast to the mast. She knew in her heart that her father was wrong.
Winching the carcass within twenty feet of the stern; the Colonel ignored them all.
But he would not ignore Tom.
Tom, the largest, and king of the pod, rose vengefully out of the water and, with the weight of his great body, clamped down on the hemp rope; just two feet from the stern.
The white boat lurched with a cracking sound and began to capsize. As Tom rose again to gain a final leverage to roll the boat, he saw Nora, holding tight to the mast. Their eyes locked.
Tom, still fixed on Nora, slowly began to release his grip.
The Colonel, now mad with terror, grabbed a heavy oak spar and charged; hammering at the killer whale. Nora screamed and ran forward, grabbing at her father; pleading for him to stop.
Tom withdrew. Nora collapsed; sobbing with remorse.
[Camera fades; and we come back to dark sitting room in current time; and final narration by Nora.]
"The next morning the aborigine crew did not show up to help us process the carcass. We spent the whole day doing all the work ourselves.
Some time later the king of the killer whale pod, 'Tom', was found dead on the shore. And the killers stopped herding the whales into the bay to share with the whalers.
My father was never forgiven and the town has slowly gone to the ghosts.
I never went near the water again and have remained in this small dying village, as penance to my father's sin."
Basinger was very moved, but - breaking the heavy silence - she said, "It's late and we really need to get back."
"Wait, I want you to take this with you", as she handed Basinger a small black lacquered box.
Basinger, very uncomfortable with this situation, "You are so kind mam, but I just can't …."
"Please, it would mean so much to me!" the lady exhorted, "Please make an old lady happy."
"And the only thing I ask in return" she said sternly; slipping it into Basinger's bag, "… is that you not open this box until you find a time when you are not in such a hurry."
Basinger, a little stung by that last, gave the best smile she could, "Yes mam."
"You promise?"
"Yes, mam. I will wait until I can give it my full attention."
The great lady sank back into her old English chair, "You both have made me very happy. I wish you the very best."
They showed themselves out. Viggo was more convinced than ever; his life was saved for a reason, though yet unclear - and for the first time in many years "life" began to take on meaning; a promise of purpose.
As they walked down the pier to board the boat, a killer whale appeared in the bay. They watched in amazement as it swam toward them.
It was the great killer whale (scar above the left eye) that had saved him from a certain bloody death; he had not been murdered by the sniper.
And now Viggo, desperate to prove to Basinger how wrong her science was, in a leap of faith, jumped into Eden harbor with the killer whale that he owed his life to.
Basinger screamed, as the man she had come to love (poor fellow had been hit in the head one too many times) dove, like a madman, to certain death by the jaws of this killing machine.
Basinger watched on as the two creatures, one of land, one of sea - shared a most exquisite communion.
Her barriers of skepticism and denial of life, fell away and she began to remember why she became a scientist; out of - not only fascination - but reverence for all creation.
Basinger is now truly changed in this moment. The Killer disappears and Viggo climbs up a ladder back onto the pier.
**************************************
They begin their trip back to the research facility. The killer whale is no where in sight.
They both sit quietly; near each other, but each in their own "space". They take in the beauty of everything around them; traveling close to shore. The boat jolts slightly as it rolls with a small wave; and the black box slides out of Basinger's bag. Sitting cross legged on the deck, she ponders for a moment the story told to her by the elderly lady. She carefully picks up the shiny box and leans back against the wheel house. Stretching her legs out in front; she rests the box in her lap. Embossed into the lid of the box is an etching of the distinctive dorsal fin of the killer whale. She slowly pries the stiff hinged box open, revealing to the bright sun a great gleaming ivory tooth. Her eyes fill with tears, "Bless, that poor woman; what she must have endured; to hold such a sad secret."
Viggo turns, at her troubled voice, and comes to sit beside her in silence.
"That's Tom's tooth!" declares the boatman from the wheel house window above, "I've seen far more of these than I should like to admit; that's the largest killer whale tooth I've ever seen. The stories about the old ladies father 'are' true! She found this tooth in the rope they used to pull the whale in that night."
Basinger shuts the box between them and they both close their eyes; holding each other in a timeless moment
Later, on the return trip back up the coast, Basinger orders the boatman (local, hired by company) to stop the boat and they wade ashore (looking for sharks first) to examine a small whale they had past earlier from the trip down. Preliminary inspection shows no sign of any sort of attack or injury. It's a small rare whale. She and Viggo attach the whale to a rope and tow it back to the research facility.
Back at the dock; a winch brings the whale up and a crew carries it into a boat shed. Basinger is perplexed; still no sign of cause for beaching; discusses the phenomenon of whale beaching (and her limited knowledge of it).
A company man barges in and cautions her to not stir anything up. She takes him aside and explains Viggo is a reporter, so she is just trying to give the impression of being thorough. A final ominous warning by company guy; he then leaves.
Then she remembers an old school friend was researching just such a thing in Hawaii. She calls him via satellite phone. He confirms that he has been working on this same issue for the past 8 years. He feels he has some pretty compelling evidence that it is caused by some types of sonar. But, he is having great difficulty getting anyone to listen to him.
*************************
[Scene - back in states]
Next we cut to Basinger and Viggo sitting on a bench in a some-what ornate hallway. An aide comes and tells them, "He will see you now.". They move past an outer office and into a chamber. There we see a silhouette of a man standing; looking out a window.
Viggo, "Senator, it's so nice to see you again." The Senator turns "limply" and moves slowly toward them. "Senator, I was telling my friend, Dr Basinger . . ."
The Senator turns to Basinger and nods, "Madam." His dismissive greeting is cut short, by the beauty in her eyes - lit from afternoon sun thru the window.
"Senator (a little louder), I was telling my friend, that when you heard about this problem, you were the first in Congress to step up?"
Viggo, drawing the Senator's attention back with an outstretched hand, "Senator, is it really true? You are going to clear your agenda and make this your priority?"
Senator extends a limp hand (attempting to hide his resignation).
Viggo tightens his grip ever so slightly and gets the Senator's attention with a slight forward and backwards movement of the tightening handshake.
"Senator," tightening his grip, just a little more; the Senator's eyes come more into focus and meet with Viggo's, "the people are going to love you for this!" The Senator's grip gains strength.
"My constituents,", regaining his senatorial bearing, "have always been great protectors of the environment. And after all, it is a small world; and it needs protecting."
"Well spoken Senator Sheen. It is a small world." (A subtle exchange of eyes in acknowledgment.).
Eyes and hands still locked; we fade out to Basinger and Viggo walking down the steps of the US Capital building. Basinger is almost giddy from the "total experience". When they get to the bottom of steps she asks Viggo, "How did you do that!?"
"I could tell you . . . but . . ."
"You'd have to kill me!" she finishes with a laugh and gives him a peck and a hug.
********************************
[Two months later, a 60 foot schooner moored in Sydney Harbor; beautiful evening; wonderful lighting from city lights]
Basinger, "Have you got everything?"
Viggo, "Yes, for the 4th time. Look there's the limo at the end of the pier; we better get a move on before somebody car-jacks it.
(They are dressed as for a formal dinner. Thru all of this exchange we can hear the news on the radio; fading / weaving in and out of their conversation.)
Radio announcer in background bits and pieces, ". . . here in Sydney tonight . . . the international community will be in attendance this evening for a discussion on establishing . . . the use of and experimentation with sonar . . . Some believe this group may be able to exercise some real clout now that the United States is onboard. . . . (Fades in/out) . . . A moratorium on Sonar experimentation in the US went into effect last week . . . 'I firmly believe we have a shared responsibility . . .' Senator Sheen went on to say . . . ".
"Click" sound as Basinger turns radio off. Basinger, high heels in one hand, grabs her purse (next to the radio) and pushes it into Viggo's hand; "Silly man." she shoves him onto the floating dock. He loses his balance and reaches toward her.
She grabs his hand; steadied, he pulls her onto the dock and he says, "That 'silly man' may be the next president." (He doesn't understand that she wasn't referring to Sheen.)
He with purse; she with shoes in hand, walk down the moving dock toward the limo.
Viggo slowly stops; an old feeling, like sensing the presence of an old friend. He turns and looks back at the water lit up by thousands of city lights. He pauses for 5 (long) seconds, his eyes searching the light-speckled water. She patiently waits and then lovingly turns his face to hers and gives him a tender kiss.
They resume up the dock to the limo; as she says, "Silly man."
"What?" still a little lost in thought.
She pinches his behind; surprised, he shouts, "Hey!" They laugh and tease their way up the dock.
The camera remains at same point, next to boat as they fade out of focus.
Camera cuts to a reflection of city lights in a macro shot.
The camera pulls slowly back and we discover that it is the reflection of the city in our killer whale's eye.
After a second, the eye disappears beneath the surface amid a powerful swirl of water.
The End
Might throw a little text just before credits roll at end such as:
The true value of the things of the sea and of the land are still being discovered! How little man knows about the life on this planet. Do we know enough now, to cease its destruction?
My writing here, is inspired by the numerous writings and stories, documentary footage and other history of the people and killer whales of Eden.
I've included links below.
Please make my movie (or publish my novel).
And remember, you saw it here first.
Written by Will Kelley
Links:
PBS - "Killers In Eden"
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/killers/
"Killers Of Eden"
http://www.killersofeden.com/index.htm
more links
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/killers/resources.html