DRAFT EIGHT
EXT. PLAYGROUND, DAY
CLOSE UP SHOT ON MARINA’S SHOES
Marina slips and falls on the playground, landing on her teeth. She immediately blacks out, as her vision fades she sees flashing sirens and a sharp ringing noise.
CUT TO:
INT: HOSPITAL ROOM, DAY (BEGIN ACT 1)
Marina awakens in a hospital room missing her front four teeth, unsure about her injuries or how she got there. Her mom and sister walk in and sit down next to her on the bed.
PAM
MARINA!?
MARINA!?
Marina goes to open her mouth and speak, immediately revealing the large gap in her teeth.
PAM
OH MY GOD. WHAT DID YOU DO TO YOURSELF.
MARINA
I.. FELL?
PAM
UGH, COME ON?!? YOU’RE ALWAYS OFF BEING RECKLESS, GETTING YOURSELF INTO TROUBLE. JUST TWO MONTHS AGO YOU PUT YOUR BEST PINK DRESS IN THE SHREDDER. THAT DRESS WAS SO PRETTY, YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO WEAR IT TO WILL AND CATE’S WEDDING, BUT NO. YOU HAD TO DO YOUR OWN THING. YOU SPEND ALL OF YOUR ALLOWANCE ON JUST THE UGLIEST THINGS, BOUNCING FROM OUTFIT TO OUTFIT BUT NEVER STICKING WITH ANYTHING. THEN, YOU BREAK MY CAMERA - *THE* CAMERA THAT I GOT WHEN I WENT ON A BIKE TOUR OF SAN FRANCISO. THAT CAMERA COST ME AN ARM AND A LEG!
MARINA
MOM I KNOWWWW ALL THIS. WHY ARE YOU BRINGING IT UP AGAIN AND AGAIN
PAM
ITS PLOT EXPOSITION, NOW SHUT UP AND LISTEN.
THE DENTISTS ARE ON THEIR WAY TO FIX THIS.
OH MY GOD. WHAT DID YOU DO TO YOURSELF.
MARINA
I.. FELL?
PAM
UGH, COME ON?!? YOU’RE ALWAYS OFF BEING RECKLESS, GETTING YOURSELF INTO TROUBLE. JUST TWO MONTHS AGO YOU PUT YOUR BEST PINK DRESS IN THE SHREDDER. THAT DRESS WAS SO PRETTY, YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO WEAR IT TO WILL AND CATE’S WEDDING, BUT NO. YOU HAD TO DO YOUR OWN THING. YOU SPEND ALL OF YOUR ALLOWANCE ON JUST THE UGLIEST THINGS, BOUNCING FROM OUTFIT TO OUTFIT BUT NEVER STICKING WITH ANYTHING. THEN, YOU BREAK MY CAMERA - *THE* CAMERA THAT I GOT WHEN I WENT ON A BIKE TOUR OF SAN FRANCISO. THAT CAMERA COST ME AN ARM AND A LEG!
MARINA
MOM I KNOWWWW ALL THIS. WHY ARE YOU BRINGING IT UP AGAIN AND AGAIN
PAM
ITS PLOT EXPOSITION, NOW SHUT UP AND LISTEN.
THE DENTISTS ARE ON THEIR WAY TO FIX THIS.
Pam vaguely gestures at Marina’s face.
MARINA
WAIT, LET ME SEE WHAT I LOOK LIKE FIRST
PAM
NO, I WONT LET YOU SEE YOURSELF. ITS TOO DEPRESSING.
MARINA
PLEASE??
PAM
NO!
MARINA
GIVE ME A MIRROR!
PAM + SONIA
NO!! NO!!
MARINA
JUST ONE LOOK? WHAT IF I LIKE IT?
PAM
...
MARINA
PLEASE??
SONIA
MOM JUST GIVE HER A MIRROR; THERES NO WAY SHE’S GONNA LIKE IT.
PAM
FINE. BUT DON’T COME CRYING TO ME IF YOU’RE UPSET.
WAIT, LET ME SEE WHAT I LOOK LIKE FIRST
PAM
NO, I WONT LET YOU SEE YOURSELF. ITS TOO DEPRESSING.
MARINA
PLEASE??
PAM
NO!
MARINA
GIVE ME A MIRROR!
PAM + SONIA
NO!! NO!!
MARINA
JUST ONE LOOK? WHAT IF I LIKE IT?
PAM
...
MARINA
PLEASE??
SONIA
MOM JUST GIVE HER A MIRROR; THERES NO WAY SHE’S GONNA LIKE IT.
PAM
FINE. BUT DON’T COME CRYING TO ME IF YOU’RE UPSET.
Reluctantly, Pam gives Marina a hand mirror.
MARINA
OH MY…
PAM
I know.
MARINA
I LOOK…????
SONIA
…hideous?
PAM
SONIA!
Pam whips around and hits Sonia on the shoulder. OH MY…
PAM
I know.
MARINA
I LOOK…????
SONIA
…hideous?
PAM
SONIA!
MARINA
NO?! I’M…
MARINA
BEAUTIFUL!!!!
Marina rips off her hospital gown, and the entire scene changes. Her outfit now consists of pink sunglasses, a summery wrap dress, a tiara, and a fluffy yellow feather boa draped over her shoulders. A dance mashup of several Donna Summer songs begins playing.
The camera pulls back, revealing the entire room. The walls have transformed into a web of masks and fabric, glowing from behind. The objects centered aroun Moments later, to the beat, Marina runs to take center stage in front of the camera. The hospital bed is quickly pulled out of frame behind her.
DANCE SECTION ONE!!!
Eventually, dentists begin to swarm the room, trying to hold her down and put their dental equipment in her mouth. She evades them, runs to the door and out into the hallway. The camera follows her.
PAN LEFT TO:
INT. HALLWAY: DAY (BEGIN ACT 2)
Marina is now in a long, slightly wonky hallway, with six doors on each side. The dentists begin to follow her, and she runs into the first door on the left. As Marina goes deeper into the hallway, the camera dollies in.
DOOR ONE
She exits the next door carrying several shopping bags, the dentists following her also carrying stacks of things. They both immediately drop everything, annoyed/confused at to why they were holding her bags at the first place. She places down her bags, twirls around to show off her outfit, and runs off into the next door.DOOR TWO
Through the door you hear the flashes of cameras, and the door swings open with massive flashes of light. She exits the room, followed by dentists dressed as paparazzi with massive cameras. They take a few flash photos of Marina, but when Marina starts to dance their motions match hers. They do another section of choreography, framing Marina in the center of the frame with their cameras.MINI DANCE SECTION!!
DOOR THREE
The following door blasts open, and a massive confetti explosion launches her back into the hallway, knocking Marina to the ground. Falling confetti fills the scene for a couple seconds, while she continues to dance around. She runs off into the last doorMINI DANCE SECTION!!
DOOR FOUR
She leaves the last door now dressed in a large diamond encrusted wedding gown. Her necklace has four teeth on it, sparkling in the light. The dentists do not follow her through the door this time, but the two puppets who were carrying her earlier. The three of them dance around a bit. A spotlight lands on her as the camera pulls up close on her face and she sings her solo, the two puppets dropping out of the frame.MEDIUM DANCE/SONG SECTION!!
CUT TO:
A quick cut to the end of the hallway reveals two large shoulders coming after her, blocking off the doors and limiting Marina’s escape. She is unfazed by this, still dancing around and enjoying her own world. When they are close, she finishes off her verse and a rope ladder drops from the ceiling. She grabs hold, and is pulled upwards away from the dentists as they swipe at her
CUT TO:
INT. TUNNEL:Marina is quickly pulled upwards, through a ethereal tunnel. The tunnel seems to be glowing from the outside, the colored lights coming from outside are diffused through layers of fabric, the tube warbles and distorts as she flies through it. After flying through the tunnel, she is launched out of a giant set of dentures.
MATCH (?) CUT TO:
INT. MOUTH: (BEGIN ACT 3)
Immediately upon entering the mouth, Marina begins to dance around the mouth, overflowing with confidence in her new tooth-fit. A spider of sparkly dentist gloves appear behind her, framing her in the center of the mouth. They reach up towards her, grabbing onto the gown and ripping it off from behind. The gown splits in half down the middle, and reveals to an outfit that she can dance better in.
BIG DANCE SECTION 2!!
Eventually, the dentists are fed up and giant gloved hands reach in to detain her. She swats them away, after evading a couple hands she finds a sledgehammer within the mouth. She swings, hitting one of the hands and knocking it out of the scene. She swings again and misses the hand - hitting two of the top teeth on the set, shattering them. When they break, pink and red glitter/confetti erupt from the teeth. The confetti breaking scares off the dentists for a moment.
She continues dodging hands, and swings back a few more times – this time intentionally knocking out the last of the front four top teeth and hitting the dentist’s hands out of the frame. Thinking the dentists have given up, she prepares for the grand finale. She is fully embodying the song, having a blast, pink and warm white spotlights center on her + the reflections from the disco ball return. She finishes the song off strong.
She’s showered in roses, and accepts her applause, takes a bow, and jumps back down the throat. The teeth snap shut, and a cough of confetti is launched out of the hole left in the dentures.
END.
i’m. unsure about how this monologue works. i like the idea but i’m going to revise the wording of it, it doesn’t feel natural right now.