1. THE UNKNOWN<br />By Hanan Mohamed<br />1st Draft<br />19/02/11<br />INT. – KRISSY’S BEDROOM – LONDON – EARLY MORNING<br />DISTURBING MUSIC begins to play. <br />The camera is focused on a window and as we watch, it slowly opens up of its own accord and the TITLE flows in like silvery gusts of smoke. We follow it, and as it passes through note that it’s an adolescent girls room. Clues are scattered around the room: the brightly coloured fashion bag of schoolbooks, slung to one side – a school tie trailing on the carpet – a rolled pair of tights, a hairbrush. <br />POV shot: we are looking through someone’s eyes as she is just waking up. The screen is dark, shaking – everything is blurred and fuzzy as if seen through a filter. We look right, left, straight on ahead-<br />FLASHBACK: A boy is in school uniform and he looks utterly terrified, making a stark picture of loneliness cornered into the wall. The camera ZOOMS in swiftly onto his face, and there’s a MATCHED CUT to a POV shot as we face his attacker. A typical school bully is leering at him, the kind that haunts you in your adolescent nightmares.<br />BULLY:<br />Thought you could run away from me, you little prick?<br />We watch as a fist comes for him centre frame closer and closer taking up the whole screen until-<br />MATCHED CUT to an extreme CLOSE UP of her face head on, as she gasps deeply and begins to hyperventilate. It is now that she has truly woken up and she seems panicked although it is unclear why. There’s a side profile of her face as she takes calmer breaths, and sighs deeply. She felt as if she were waking from a nightmare, but couldn’t remember the dream and even now the feelings of terror are beginning to subside. In ten minutes, she will remember nothing of any of this.<br />INT. – THE BATHROOM <br />Krissy has to get ready for school and so although she still feels a little groggy, she’s shuffling along walking up to the sink above which is a tall mirror. She bends downwards, splashing her face with cold water to wake her up – but the reflection doesn’t move. It merely stares down at her. She splashes-<br />FLASHBACK: The camera starts from a low level shot and tilts up as we see a woman’s hand on the boy’s neck, forcing his head down into the dirty dishwater of the sink. You see his head bob as he struggles and tries to move up, bubbles coming out of the water but she only forces him down further, snarling as he is running out of air.<br />MOTHER:<br />YOU’RE A MISTAKE!<br />-she looks up from the sink suddenly, eyes wide as she stares at her reflection and breathes deeply. That…what was that? Trying to shake it out of her head, she stands straight and starts to fix her hair, not noticing anything out of the usual as her reflection copies her actions until the second she turns her back to leave. Its arms drop, and gazes at her retreating back intensely. It mirrors her as her hand reaches for the doorknob, smacking on the cold glass of the mirror straining against it as if trying to get out. Trying to escape.<br />The camera ZOOMS IN on the whitest part of her hand on the mirror in an extreme close up shot, zooming in further and further then CUT-<br />EXT. – THE PARK – DUSK<br />-The camera ZOOMS OUT of Joanna’s eye, to a CLOSE UP of her face looking worried and motherly as she speaks. There are five girls in school uniforms, standing near the outskirts of what appears to be a forest and seem to be having a disagreement.<br />JOANNA:<br />Guys, you know it’s bad to go in there after dark!<br />ANNA:<br />It’s not me, tell her!<br />KRISSY:<br />What? Look I swear I just saw something in there, I want to go in!<br />OCTAVIA:<br />Krissy, that sounds even dumber than Kelly.<br />KELLY:<br />(was re-applying mascara in a pocket mirror)<br />OY! Shut up, Tav. Though she’s right you know, why do you wanna go through some dark forest for? <br />KRISSY: <br />Just to see what it was. And it’ll quicker and everything, c’mon guys! (starts bouncing) it’ll be like an adventure!<br />OCTAVIA:<br />I have a bad feeling about this.<br />JOANNA:<br />See? Octavia usually knows when something’s not right!<br />KELLY: <br />Yeah, right, I don’t have to be some crack medium to know that.<br />JOANNA:<br />You two, that’s enough of that!<br />ANNA: <br />Kris, listen to them, it’s a bad idea. There are stories about this place, you know that an-<br />KRISSY:<br />(interrupts)<br />And you need to live a little, babes. (pause) Well, I’m going in! Catch up if you can!<br />She suddenly sprints off into the forest, disappearing in between the trees. Cries of surprise rise from the girls and then all of them are running together following Krissy’s lead out of habit, out of worry and also because nobody wants to be that one girl who is left behind. The camera ZOOMS IN to the spot where all of them entered, and there is nothing heard for a few moments except the soft sounds of trees whispering to one another as the overhead skies darken.<br />Then there is a piercing abrupt scream, ringing sharply and unbearably loud disturbing the quiet as the view is tilted up to the dusky sky that the branches have in their grasp.<br />BLACK OUT<br />(The scream continues for a few moments over a black scream before dying out)<br />END TITLES<br />