His Hiding Place

I was commissioned to write a super-duper-short comedic script by an amateur filmmaker named Jeremy Creek. I envisioned this tiny story during halftime of a Green Bay Packers' game, so with very little malice aforethought I whipped this story out.

A Hollywood tidbit: You'll notice that every scene is labelled "(MOS)". This is an indication that the film is to be silent. The acronym MOS stands for "Mitt-Out Sound", a butchered pronunciation by a long-forgotten German director.

This script just wrote itself. I was amazed at how quickly it came together in a first draft.

His Hiding Place by Kyle Patrick Johnson An Original Screenplay KyleJohnsonScripts@gmail.com KylePatrickJohnson.blogspot.com FADE IN: EXT. BACK YARD - DAY (MOS) Two COOL GUYS, each holding a bottled beer, talk and gesture, reliving a recent football game. Cool Guy #1 pretends to throw a pass. Cool Guy #2 waves his arms above his head, pretending to cheer wildly. They laugh and slap each other on the back. A NERD approaches, wants to get in the conversation. Cool Guys give him a withering look. Nerd smiles, simpering, wheedling. Cool Guys sneer. Cool Guy #1 arrogantly makes a sweeping hand gesture, telling the Nerd to go away. Nerd’s face falls. Cool Guy #2 puts up a finger. game. Aha! He has an idea for a Nerd looks up like a happy hunting dog, eyes wide. Cool Guy #2 starts counting with his fingers. One, two... Nerd runs away excitedly, looking for somewhere to hide... Three, four... Nerd looks in a large garbage can. Five, six... Nerd starts to go in the house. Cool Guy #1. Seven, eight... Nerd runs around the front of the house, out of the backyard. Nine, ten. Ready or not, here we come! Stopped by a cold look from No. 2. But the Cool Guys make no move to go anywhere. They stand still, laughing under their breaths at the Nerd. What an idiot, they say. EXT. FRONT YARD - BEHIND A BUSH - CONTINUOUS (MOS) Nerd hunkers down in front of the house, on the dirty ground, out of sight of everyone. Nerd smiles gleefully, knowing he won’t be found. FADE OUT & IN: EXT. FRONT YARD - SAME (MOS) Nerd is still there. to look bored. Lots of time has passed. Nerd starts FADE OUT & IN: EXT. FRONT YARD - SAME (MOS) In his complete boredom, Nerd tastes a shiny red berry from the bush in front of him. YUCK! He spits it back out. FADE OUT & IN: EXT. FRONT YARD - SAME (MOS) Nerd idly starts poking in the dirt around him, bored out of his skull. Nerd checks his watch, exasperated at the Cool Guys’ idiocy at not finding him. Nerd digs harder. Nerd hits something under the dirt! He pulls it up. It’s an expensive, solid gold necklace! Nerd is ecstatic, overjoyed. He starts to stand up, to run off with his treasure, but sits down suddenly. He’s still hiding, remember? What a find! 3. He rolls his eyes, waiting impatiently for the Cool Guys to come find him. His leg twitches uncontrollably, his impatience out of control. FADE OUT & IN: EXT. FRONT YARD - SAME - NIGHT (MOS) Nerd is still there behind the bush, starving, thirsty, stubbornly committed to the rules of the game. FADE OUT & IN: EXT. FRONT YARD - BEHIND THE BUSH - DAY (MOS) SUPER: ONE WEEK LATER Nerd lies behind the bush, dead. The gold necklace dangles from his limp hand. EXT. BACK YARD - CONTINUOUS (MOS) The two Cool Guys, wearing different clothes, each holding a bottled beer, talk and gesture, reliving a recent football game. Cool Guy #2 pretends to throw a pass. Cool Guy #1 waves his arms above his head, pretending to cheer wildly. They laugh and slap each other on the back. FADE OUT. THE END