Animation Pre-Production - Story Script

The Soldier

By

Rebekah Perez

1.    EXT. MAIN TITLE

The Main Title Soldier appears. Then a fanfare sounds off when the World War I propaganda poster is displayed next with a stamp sound. It begins to tear in half, revealing the next scene.

2.    INT. RECRUITMENT OFFICE – BRIGHTNESS

There is a queue of men leading up to a desk. The table sheet displays the words JOIN TODAY! In the front of the queue, someone is ready join the army. He signs his name in the register book. Then he reveals himself, standing up straight and proudly saluted. He wanted to be heroic.

3.     EXT. BATTLEFIELD – BLACKNESS

The scene cuts to reveal the ugly truth of the war. In sudden shots, there was a mushroom cloud of an explosion in the desolated land. Planes flew in and began bombarding the battlefield in multiple flashes. Across a barbed wired hill, silhouetted soldiers were marching down. Up close, the enemy soldiers wore gasmasks and opened fire. The camera cuts to a dead landscape. The war sounded distant, but it is quiet as a grave.

4.    INT. BUNKER – FLASHING EXPLOSIONS

The young soldier is resting against the wall where the hole is above his head. He was frozen stiff and shaking so badly. He was suffering from shellshock. Hearing a nearby explosion, the soldier grits his teeth and snaps his eyes shut. He is panting heavily. He shakily reaches for his pistol in his belt. But then he stops. He couldn’t make his hand move. He curled it into a tight, shaking fist. As the shooting and exploding sounds grew louder and louder, the soldier blacks out. The sounds ends abruptly.

5.    INT. CAVE – BLACKNESS – TUNNEL

Slowly, the soldier comes to and found himself inside a cave. He was confused. He does not remember coming here. He stands up and began his journey down the dark tunnel.

6.    INT. CAVE – TUNNEL – CONTINUOUS

The soldier was wandering down the dark tunnel that seems to go on forever. He stops to rest, despairing that he may never find a way out.

Then the soldier heard a child laughing.

The soldier began running down the dark tunnel. The voice grew louder the closer he came. He can finally see a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. It was a way out!

Motivated with hope, the soldier ran faster. He was panting hard and is determined to escape. He can see the tunnel is growing brighter. He was blind as he steps into the light of the outside.

7.    EXT. FOREST – BRIGHTNESS

As his vision clears, the soldier saw that he was outside the cave and is in the middle of an immense forest. As he nervously checks his surroundings, he hears the girl’s voice again. He follows the sound into the forest.

8.    INT. FOREST

The soldier ran deeper in the forest. The sunlight looked beautiful through the treetops. He saw a clearing ahead.

When the soldier arrived, he saw a little girl in a poppy dress being dragged by a monster. She is scared and struggling to wrestle free from its bite.

The soldier knew that she is in danger. He receives a flashback of a family photo and realises the little girl is his daughter. He pulls out his pistol and takes aim. He had to be careful not to shoot the little girl

Meanwhile, the little girl grabs a rock. She thrusts it at the creature’s eye, unexpectedly cracking like glass.

The monster is forced to drop her as it rears back and howled in pain. With his daughter safely out of the way, the soldier fires at the monster.

The bullet moves closer toward the monster, its face morphs into an enemy soldier wearing a gasmask. Upon impact, the monster is disintegrated entirely.

Now that danger has passed, the soldier and the little girl embraced each other as daughter and father.

As the soldier hugs his daughter, the damaged monster strikes from behind.

9. INT. BUNKER – FLASHING EXPLOSIONS

Snapping his eyes open, the soldier has returned back to the real world. He was exactly where he was: inside the bunker and fighting for his life. He was scared but he takes in a deep breath. The loud sounds dim as he takes a moment to focus.

When the soldier opens his eyes, he looked determined. He stands up and takes aim to fire through the bunker hole, letting out a shot.

CREDITS ROLL…