Script for Photostory

CHARACTERS:

Johnny Tan, Student

Johnny’s Mom

Johnny’s Friends

Narrator

FADE IN

LONG SHOT OF HOSPITAL ENTRANCE

It is nighttime. There is an ambulance in front of a hospital with a few people waiting outside. We head the sound of a siren and people shouting.

DIP TO BLACK

FADE IN

ECU of FLOWER PETALS

It is day time. Flower petals are falling from trees indicating the end of a season. SAD MUSIC PLAYS.

NARRATOR (V.O.)

It was over. Johnny Tan was no more.

ZOOM OUT to show narrator standing below a tree facing the camera. He is looking somewhere to his front left. Hesitation and restraint mark his eyes.

NARRATOR (V.O.)

I nervously took off my hat and gently

placed my hand over his mom’s shoulder.

ZOOM OUT to show that the narrator had his left hand placed on the mother’s shoulder. The mother had her face covered with a handkerchief. We can tell that she is crying.

            NARRATOR (V.O.)

She was crying like there was no tomorrow.

But I couldn’t bring myself to say a word.

To make any kind of sense out of it, we

need to go back six years, back to the day

I first met “him”.

DIP TO WHITE

BEGIN FLASHBACK:

FADE IN

MS of a group photo of Johnny surrounded by his friends. They are all smiling and look as if they are having fun. PAN camera from left to right, stop at Johnny’s face in the center.

XFADE to LS of Johnny playing sports

NARRATOR (V.O.)

Johnny was nothing short of a comedian,

always playing pranks on students and

teachers alike. Not a particularly bright

student but he knew what he wanted in life.

XFADE to MS of Johnny giving inspirational speech. He looks as if he is displaying great leadership skills and all the people watching are impressed and/or inspired.

JOHNNY

My dream is to become a DOCTOR!

NARRATOR (V.O.)

I admired his sheer determination and

now looking back; watching Johnny

putting up with his studies always cheered

me up. All I wanted was to see him smile

again.

CUT TO

BLACK FRAME

NARRATOR (V.O.)

But dreams can easily turn into a nightmare.

SPLITSCREEN in the CENTER

LEFT HALF FADE IN

ECU of F grade from an assignment.

NARRATOR (V.O.)

Reality hit him like a point blank shot

straight in the face. Johnny simply wasn’t

cut out to become a neurosurgeon.

RIGHT HALF FADE IN

CU of Johnny in a depressed state. His head facing down gritting his teeth. We hear people are whispering behind his back.

            JOHNNY

           There’s got to be a mistake!

DISSOLVE

LEFT HALF XFADE

Johnny gets pushed away by the classmates who shun him because he is a failure.

NARRATOR (V.O.)

People around him told him that he

did not belong here. Even his advisor

urged him to try something else as

a career.

RIGHT HALF XFADE

Johnny gets refused a seat at the canteen by his classmates.

CUT TO

Textbooks which have accumulated on the table. On the wall, there is a calendar. It is visible from the calendar that almost all the dates are taken up with several tasks or project work. PAN RIGHT to reveal Johnny grabbing his head in frustration.

NARRATOR (V.O.)

Sometimes you feel that school is just

being mean and before you had time

to sort out your personal problems, projects,

assignments and your duties as a student

leader had piled up at your doorsteps.

Bad grades followed by depression.

Almost sounded like a cliché.

FADE OUT

NARRATOR (V.O.) (CONT’D)

But the truth is nothing is a cliché

when it’s happening to you.

FADE IN

CU of suicide notes. Torn pieces of paper on the table. Notes and books in a mess. There are scribbles on the table top. On a piece of paper, the words “I GIVE UP!” are clearly written with a stickman being hanged.

NARRATOR (V.O.)

One thing was certain, you push a

man too far and sooner or later

he’d reach the end of the rope.

Sound of a chair falling on the ground. Then silence.

SPLITSCREEN 1/3 VERTICAL

LEFT FADE IN

MS of left hand holding a rope. Chair toppled over in the background. Uplifting music starts.

CENTER FADE IN

MS of right hand holding a NUS mascot or jacket.

RIGHT FADE IN

MS of Johnny with a reflexive look on his face. ZOOM IN the face until photo takes the full screen.

NARRATOR (V.O.)

For a brief moment back then,

Johnny remembered why he came

here in the first place…

XFADE

Multiple shots of the recounts of Johnny’s memorable times quickly fade in and out of the screen with the CU shot of his reflexive face still in the background. Sounds of laughter play in the background with high level of reverberation. Sounds of himself saying out loud “My dream is to become a doctor” also plays.

XFADE

Expression on Johnny’s face changes to one with determination.

NARRATOR (V.O.)

Legend has it there was a place in

this world where thousands of dreams

came true every year.

FADE OUT

BLACK FRAME. Music ends.

NARRATOR (V.O.) (CONT’D)

And Johnny chose to trust this place.

FADE IN

REVERSE SHOT of narrator with left hand on mom’s shoulder. From the back they seem to be looking upwards. TILT UP to show the UCC. Then CUT TO same shot with mom crying. Finale music starts playing.

                NARRATOR

                Let’s go, he’s waiting for us inside.

FADE OUT

BLACK FRAME

                NARRATOR

                Johnny Tan was no more. He had finally found where he belonged.

    Starting today, he is Dr. Tan.

The same music keeps playing throughout the logo/credits.