Thursday, January 18, 2007

...

EXT. TYPICAL SMALL TOWN MAIN STREET, CIRCA 1962, DAY

A malt shop with a young soda jerk wearing white apron and hat out front, sweeping the sidewalk; next door a pair of old men lounge out in front of a barber shop, chewing the fat; kids race down the street on bicycles, a pet dog joyfully in pursuit; a young couple moving down the sidewalk filly back and forth flirtatiously. It is a beautiful day. The camera pulls back and pans over to a sparrow which has alighted on a nearby branch. The sudden, rude intrusion of the distinctive sound of several Harley Davidsons sends the bird to flight. Refocusing into the distance we see scores of bikers streaming into the town.

A SERIES OF QUICK CUTS THROUGH SEVERAL CLOSE SHOTS

The soda jerk looking over his shoulder at the sound;
The old timers, one lowers his pipe, the other reaches for his glasses as they turn toward the commotion;
The dog that was chasing the children, stops and looks, gives a yelp and scurries off;
The young couple turns to look, the girl drawing in close to her boyfriend.

ORIGINAL SHOT

Now a biker gang fills the street, countless modern day Visigoths pouring into the town center on their choppers raising a cloud of dust. The racket grows, drowning out everything in a bone rattling commotion. The bikers start to park their bikes with disciplined precision, two and three at a time pulling up to and gently backing up against the curb, each giving a defiant, noisy twist or two of the throttle before shutting down.

CLOSE SHOT, THE LEADER OF THE GANG

He is forty-something, wearing an old leather bomber’s helmet. Removing his goggles he reveals heavy, weather beaten slits for eyes. A misshapen nose bears an old scar across its bridge. He scans back and forth, with the air of someone who's about to devour a meal. He gets up from his bike and turns away from the camera, revealing his "colors", stitched across the back of his weatherbeaten cut-off denim vest, reading:
UNTETHERED

4 comments:

Black Sea said...

Frightened, but intrigued, Natalie
Woodesque teenager:

"What're you rebelling against?"

Grizzled biker, a cross between the younger Marlon Brando and the more mature Dennis Dale:

"What'da ya got . . . tethered?"

Dennis Dale said...

I was picturing Lee Marvin. Now I'm picturing Natalie Wood.

ziel said...

COMMERCIAL BREAK.
ANNOUNCER OVER LOUD CRACKING SOUND EFFECT:
Stay tuned for some scenes from an all-new episode of UNTETHERED...

Dennis Dale said...

INT OFFICE WORKDAY
With exagerrated movements, a man sitting at a disorganized desk is struggling, and failing, to fold a newspaper, he knocks over his coffee before throwing his hands up in frustration.

VOICE OVER:
Tired of messing with awkward, difficult to understand, environmentally harmful newspapers and magazines?

CUT TO:
Wastebasket overflowing with old newspapers.

VOICE OVER:
Tired of getting caught reading at work?

CUT TO:
The man is startled at his desk by a glowering, stern-looking authority figure, his copy of Field & Stream going airborne, once again he knocks over his coffee.

VOICE OVER:
Well those days are over.

CUT TO:
Same man, now reading from a computer monitor on his now uncluttered desk, on which Untethered appears. He is smiling broadly, sipping his coffee, nodding in delight...

VOICE OVER:
With Untethered, using the magic of the inter-net (emphasis here, as if speaking of a novelty), there's no more struggling with big, bulky newspapers, no more squinting to read tiny print--and Untethered is environmentally friendly!

CUT TO:
Stock footage of a mountain stream.

CUT TO:
...an attractive female co-worker has joined our protagonist, leaning in close to read along with him. He points out something, as they nod enthusiastically in unison (oddly, neither actually speaks).

VOICE OVER:
Untethered, it's what you're reading now!

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