”TOM” - SAMPLE SCRIPT
Version 3.0 - 'Final' Version

PAGE ONE:

Panel 1: The view from a bedroom, out onto the balcony. Our main character, Major Tom, is standing with his back to us, but is standing in the room, not out on the balcony. His wife, in quite a glamorous dress, stands on the balcony, looking up at the stars. I leave her ‘look’ up to you.

    TITLE: 'TOM' by M Tingle and B Hunter

    CAPTION: I always thought you understood.

Panel 2: A closer shot. We see over Tom's shoulder as his wife turns, crying. Her makeup runs down her face.

    CAPTION: Apparently not.

Panel 3: Almost exactly the same frame; Tom put his hand out to touch her, comfort her - she has turned, her bare shoulders shutting him out.

    CAPTION: How did it ever come to this?

Panel 4: Alternative viewpoint, this time. We basically see things from the opposite side; this time both characters face us. She stands at the balcony, toying with her necklace - or if that's difficult to draw, staring up at the stars. First time we see tom, and he's bewildered, crestfallen, heartbroken.

    CAPTION: I never thought I would be the one to make you cry.

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PAGE TWO:

Panel 1: A park, with a limousine parked nearby on the road. The couple stand beneath an autumn tree, shedding its leaves in fluttering waves. The sky is grey, stormy, cataclysmic, warning of darker things to come.

    CAPTION: Our last goodbyes -

Panel 2: A close shot on the couple as they embrace, the leaves falling around them. A very romantic, and yet bittersweet image.

    CAPTION: - we were both weighed down with aching regret.

Panel 3: Back to the same shot as panel one - the couple have parted, Tom is walking to the limousine, his wife holding a hand out as though she could touch him, if she just concentrated hard enough.

Panel 4: A Space-rocket just about to launch. A moment full of power and promise, though a little ominous, perhaps?

    CAPTION: The burden of duty seemed overwhelming.


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PAGE THREE:

Panel 1: The Space capsule. Tom floats in zero-gravity, at the window to his capsule. His back is to the viewer. Through the window, we can see Earth. The swirls of cloud, the jagged shape of land beneath. Perhaps one of his hands is reaching out, to touch the glass.

    CAPTION: The endless rhythm; the orbit. I've screamed until I lost my voice and my eyes were raw from the tears. It all seemed so futile. Sound can't travel here, but I wish more than anything that the echoes could belong to someone else. I was constantly moving, yet ever looking back. There are sights here that can bring a man to his knees, yet I always come back to this.

Panel 2: A close-in of Tom's gloved hand, holding a crumpled photograph of his wife.

    CAPTION: To you.