Free Will: Script

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F r e e W i l l

*Script*
Scene 1 Scene 2 Scene 3 Scene 4 Scene 5	Scene 6 Scene 7 Scene 8 Scene 9

FREE WILL

1-EXT-DAY, STOREFRONT, SECOND-HAND STORE, CLOSE ON OLD TV SITTING IN
WINDOW.

1.1 Animated commercial for Chunky-Lou Tuna plays on TV set.

COMMERCIAL JINGLE

³Dolphins are free in the great blue sea, just like we are free to be. Be a
hero, remember Chunky-Lou Tuna the one in the red can.²

1.2 Close on red tuna can in commercial.

DISSOLVE

2-EXT-DAY, ALLEYWAY, CLOSE ON AN OLD SHOPPING CART WITH A WORN RED
SIGN ON
THE FRONT.

2.1 Close on the worn sign. Once an advertisement for Chunky-Lou,
all that can be read on it
are the words ³it¹s in the can.² Off-camera, the rustling of papers
can be heard, as well as a
man humming happily.

2.2 Bottles and cans are thrown into the scene. Some land in the cart,
but most of them end up on the ground next to the cart.

2.3 WILL

³Did you catch that one Free Will? Hey now, here¹s a beauty!²

2.4 An old bottle flies into the scene. The cart quickly rolls forward
to catch it before it can land
on the ground.

2.5 WILL
(WITH PRIDE)

³Good catch!²
CUT TO

2.6 Close on garbage dumpster. The very top of Will¹s head can be
seen as he digs in the
dumpster; the rest of him remains hidden.

2.7 WILL

³Whoa! Here we goŠ100% dolphin free!²

An old can flies out of the dumpster.

CUT TO

2.8 Shopping cart. The can flies into the scene. The cart dashes to
the right, going up on two wheels to catch it in time.

CUT TO

2.9 Garbage dumpster.

2.10 Will climbs out of the dumpster to the ground. He puts a hand on
the cart.

2.11 WILL
(WITH PRIDE)

³Atta boy! That¹s my Free Will it¹s in the can.²

He pushes cart out of scene.

3-EXT-DAY, SAME ALLEYWAY, LINED WITH DUMPSTERS AND TRASH CANS.

3.1 (Will¹s POV) Will cruises the alley with his cart, looking for
anything that can be recycled.

CUT TO

3.2 Full view of Will and his cart.

3.3 Will leans into the cart to survey his findings.

3.4 WILL

³What do we got hereŠa buck, two-fifty? Need to fill er up, eh Will?

3.5 Will leans into a garbage can that looks promising.

3.6 ALLEY RESIDENT
(OFF-CAMERA. ANGRY)

³Get out of my trash!²

3.7 Will scurries off sheepishly with his cart, out of the scene.

DISSOLVE

4-EXT-DAY, A FEW HOURS LATER, IN FRONT OF SECOND-HAND STORE.

4.1 Will is standing in front of the second hand store. He tries to
persuade passers-by to
contribute to his recycling collection.

4.2 WILL

³We recycle everything. It all comes around again. I don¹t drink
neither does my friend
here.² (Indicating cart)

4.3 PASSERBY
(OFF-CAMERA, VERY RUDE)

³Get a job!²

4.4 WILL
(SPEAKS TO HIS CART, ANGRILY, DEJECTED)

³Zeros and ones. Zeros and ones. I tell ya Free Will, the world
aint nothin¹ but a bunch of
zeros and ones. The ones say you¹re trash, and the zeros say
you¹re nothin¹. None of
Œem are worth a damn, but being somethin¹ s better than being
nothin, so I¹ll take the
ones.²

4.5 Will appears lost in thought when the sound of a clock chime is
heard off-camera. It breaks
his train of thought. He perks up, smiles.

4.6 WILL

³Whoa! High noon already! Come on Will we gotta fill Œer up!²

4.7 Will pushes his cart and they exit the scene.

5-EXT-DAY, A FEW MINUTES LATER, A CROWDED CITY STREET, WILL¹S POVŠZEROS
& ONES SEQUENCEŠSIDEWALK MOVING.

5.1 Will¹s POV. Will and his cart make their way down the sidewalk.
We see a parade of
people passing by them, each person taking the form of a ZERO or
ONE through his eyes.

5.2 Will bumps into a woman, a ONE.

5.3 WOMAN/ONE

³Stay away from me!²
CUT TO

5.4 WILL
(WITH EXAGGERATED POLITENESS)

³With pleasure, my dear.²

He bows melodramatically, with his tattered baseball hat in his
hand.

5.5 Will passes two businessmen carrying briefcases. They¹re both
ZEROS.

5.6 ZEROS
(ONE TO ANOTHER, EXASPERRATED)

³My broker said Œsell, sell everything.¹ Of course, I didn¹t listen.²

5.7 Will passes two construction workers with hard hats. One is a
ZERO, the other a ONE.

5.8 CONSTRUCTION WORKER (ONE)

³Get out of my way, you loser!²

CUT TO

5.9 WILL

³I count blessings sir, not losses. I got my Free Will.²

CUT TO

5.10 CONSTRUCTION WORKER (ONE)

³You don¹t have anything! What the hell are you talking about?²

CONSTRUCTION WORKER (ZERO)
(UNEASY, EMBARASSED)

³Come on, just ignore him²

CUT TO

5.11 WILL
(UNDER HIS BREATH, DISGUSTED)

³That¹s right, ZERO.

6-EXT-DAY, A FEW MINUTES LATERŠIN TOWN SQUARE BENEATH CLOCK.

6.1 Town square is crowded with people having lunch. Will pushes
his cart into scene.

6.2 WILL
(WITH MISCHIEF)

³Come on Will, let¹s make us some ONES.²

6.3 Will begins to perform a tap-dance for some stiff looking state-
worker types.

CUT TO

6.4 Workers. Being true ZEROS, they glance at Will, then quickly look
away.

CUT TO

6.5 Will. He suddenly throws his arms in the air and grabs his
crotch.

6.6 WILL
(SHOUTING)

³You can¹t touch this Bozo! I am free! FREE!²

CUT TO

6.7 State workers/ZEROS. They can¹t help bursting into laughter.
They turn into ONES.

CUT TO

6.8 WILL
(WITH SATISFACTION)

³Better somethin¹ than nothin¹.²

6.9 Will begins his campaign for recycling material.

WILL
(WITH GUSTO)

³Hero or zero, all cans are recycled, the old is new again, etc. and
soforth. Plastic, bottles and glass. No dolphins please, thank you.²

(TO STATE WORKER/ONE)

³I¹ll recycle that for you, sir. Be a hero.²

CUT TO

6.10 State worker/ONE, who is still laughing. He surrenders his
empty soda can to Will.

CUT TO

6.11 WILL
(WITH A BOWING GESTURE)

³I appreciate it.²

DISSOLVE

7-EXT-DAY-HOUR OR SO LATERŠSTREET CORNER NEAR SIDEWALKŠACCIDENT
SEQUENCE.

7.1 Will stands on street corner with his cart.

CUT TO

7.2 Will¹s POV. Will sees a row of recycling boxes across the street.

7.3 Will crosses street, heading for the boxes. Sound of a horn
blasting sounds off-camera.

CUT TO

7.4 3RD PERSON. Will stops, turns around. Look of fear on his face.

CUT TO

7.5 Will¹s POV. He sees a large truck heading straight for him. It
changes into a raging bull.

CUT TO

7.6 3RD PERSON. Truck slams into cart, destroying it. It¹s contents are
thrown all over the place. Will is thrown several feet.

CUT TO

7.7 Close on Will as he falls to the ground, hitting his head on the
curb. He opens his eyes, squints.

CUT TO

7.8 Will¹s POV. (CAMERA IS SIDEWAYS) Everything is blurry.
Mangled cart can barely be
made out, along with the figure of a man, who can be heard
screaming incoherently.

7.9 WILL
(GROANING)

³AhhhhŠmy Free Will.²

He points a finger at the mangled cart.

CUT TO

7.10 Close on screaming man. He¹s the driver of the truck, and
obviously a ONE.

7.11 TRUCK DRIVER
(SCREAMING)

³You good for nothing son-of-a-bitch! Look at what did you did to my
truck! You god damn scabs are all the same pains in the ass! You lazy
bastards should try getting jobs like real people! But no, all you do is
scrounge in our garbage cans...stealing our food, stealing our garbage
and polluting our streets!²

CUT TO

7.12 WILL
(FRIGHTENED, STUTTERING)

³I, I ...re...recycle. I¹m sorry...²

CUT TO

7.13 TRUCK DRIVER
(ANGRY, WITH SCORN)

³You like to recycle, old man? Well now, let me recycle this for you!²

7.14 He grabs what¹s left of the cart and throws it into the back of his
truck, labeled ³Centerville
Recycling.

CUT TO

7.15 Close on Will. He reaches his hand out.

WILL
(LOUDLY, UPSET)

³No! Not my Free Will!)

(SOFTLY, SADLY)

³Please don¹t take my Free Will.²

DISSOLVE

8-DAY-EXT-A YEAR OR SO LATER, SAME ALLEYWAYŠSAME UGLY DUMPSTER,
ONLY COVERED WITH MORE GRAPHITTI NOW, REFLECTING THE
PASSAGE OF TIME.

8.1 Close on dumpster. Will is inside, only the top of his head can be
seen. No humming this
time, only the rustling of papers and cans can be heard.

CUT TO

8.2 Will (inside dumpster). His eyes are drawn to something. He
reaches for it.

CUT TO

8.3 Close on Will¹s hand, which is holding a can with a red label.

CUT TO

8.4 Close on Will¹s face. He brings can up to read it. His eyes move back
and forth as
reads the words on the can. As if in slow motion, a smile forms on
his face.

CUT TO

8.5 Downward, full-length shot of Will inside dumpster. He holds the
can in the air.

WILL
(OVERJOYED)

³MY FREE WILL!! It¹s in the can!²

CUT TO

8.6 View of dumpster. Will jumps out and runs out of scene.

CUT TO

8.7 Will running down the alley with the can held over his head. Two
teens, dressed in T-shirts
ball caps and shorts, are seen at the end of the alley heading
towards Will. One of them is
carrying a baseball bat, the other a catchers glove.

WILL

³Yeah! I got my Free Will!²

CUT TO

8.8 Close on the two teens.

TEEN WITH GLOVE

³What¹s his problem?²

CUT TO

8.9 Will, eager to share his joy with someone, runs up to the two teens
while waving the can.

CUT TO

8.10 Close on teen with bat.

TEEN WITH BAT
(DEFENSIVELY)

³Hey! Back off man!²

He backs away from the jagged edge of the tuna can which Will is waving in
his face.

CUT TO

8.11 Close on Will, still waving the can.

WILL

³I got my Free Will!²

CUT TO

8.12 Close on two teens.

TEEN WITH BAT
(ANGRY AT WILL)

³You¹re a bum. You don¹t got nothing. Get that damn can out of my face!²

CUT TO

8.13 Will tries to convince the teens that the can is significant.

WILL
(WITH EMOTION)

³It¹s in the can!²

CUT TO

8.14 Teen with bat, still dodging the jagged edge of the tuna which Will
is waving.

TEEN WITH BAT
(IMPATIENT, ANGRY)

³I said get out of my face!²

CUT TO

8.15 Teen with glove. He appears uneasy and wants to get going.

TEEN WITH GLOVE

³Come on man, he¹s just an old nut. Let¹s split.²

CUT TO

8.16 Teen with bat, now very agitated.

TEEN WITH BAT
(VERY LOUD, ANGRY)

³I said BACK OFF!!²

He lifts the bat over his head.

CUT TO

8.17 Close on baseball bat as it comes swinging down. A whoosh sound
is heard, then the
sound of flesh and bones being struck by a blunt object.

CUT TO

8.18 Back view of Will as he drops from view of camera. The can flies
out of his hand.

CUT TO

8.19 Close on tuna can. It flies through the air with the camera
following it. Screams and
sounds of a skirmish can be heard off camera. The sound fades as
can continues to
fly. Background behind the can is a dark blur.

8.20 Tuna can lands on the ground. Camera pulls back and the
backround slowly focuses,
revealing the same second hand storefront with the old TV in the
window. There
are different items in the display windows now, and trash is
strewn in front.

9-EXT-EARLY EVENING...CLOSE ON TV SCREEN IN STORE WINDOW...EPILOGUE.

9.1 Lowell Glance, newscaster, has just taken a ³toss² from Beverly
Hillyard, the weather girl.

9.2 LOWELL
(CHEERFULLY)

³Let the sunshine in, thanks, Beverly...and the sun is hining on two
Centerville youths. They are celebrating their release tonight, the verdict,
innocent by way of self-defense in the killing of a John Doe, a Centrville
homeless man. Authorities believe the man was obviously insane and a
threat to society. When People¹s Eywitness News returns, our financial
advisor will show you how to lower your yearly taxes while making your
savings grow. Stay tuned!²

9.3 TV screen pops to a white horizontal bar, then it shrinks to a white
dot in the center of the
screen, then slowly fades out.

9.4 Hold for two seconds, then slowly FADE TO BLACK.