The Fourth Wall
THE FOURTH WALL
SCENE ONE
Black. Title. A sledgehammer goes through the title, “breaking the fourth wall.” The camera follows the Narrator out on stage to the podium.
Narrator begins to walk on Stage Left but a cut is made and he is suddenly behind the podium. He is flustered.
Narrator: (nervously) Sorry, we’re a bit choppy. Well, I should say I am. It’s my first time hosting a motion picture. Naturally, I’m nervous so any slack you could cut me would be immensely appreciated.
Narrator: (now into a rhythm) But what’s important is the story.
A pop-up ad appears in the corner of the screen. The narrator gets slightly distracted by it but continues speaking.
Narrator: I, as your narrator, am here to…
He becomes more distracted.
Narrator: …with whatever I…
He becomes completely entranced by it.
Narrator: (to audience) Excuse me for one moment.
He looks to the booth.
Narrator: (slightly panicked) Hey Nick?
There is no response.
Narrator: (slightly louder) Nick!
Nick, in the booth, jolts awake and waves down to the Narrator.
Narrator: Do you think we could do something about this pop-up ad?
Nick fumbles around and hits a button. The ad gets bigger.
Narrator: (again flustered) Yeah now it’s just getting bigger.
Another button. It is bigger still.
Narrator: Still bigger.
Nick triumphantly hits a button. There is a delay and then music begins to play from the ad.
Narrator: Yeah, no, now it’s playing music.
Nick hits a final button and it all disappears.
Narrator: (back to the audience) I guess we just better move along with the story.
SCENE TWO
Stock footage of Paris.
Narrator VO: Ah, yes, much better. We set our scene in Paris in the spring, where…
Cut back to the theatre.
Nick: We don’t have the budget for Paris!
Narrator: What’s that?
Nick: We don’t have the budget for Paris!
Narrator: Where do we have the budget for then?
Nick holds up a copy of the script and points to it. The Narrator holds up his own and reads it.
Narrator: (slightly less enthused) We set our scene in…suburban Illinois.
Cut to footage of suburban Illinois.
Narrator VO: …still in the spring I suppose. It is here we meet our hero.
Fade to a shot of a parked car. It is empty.
Narrator VO: He is…coming. You betcha. I’m sure he’s just tying his shoes. I’m sure he wears high tops or something.
There is an awkward few seconds until a figure approaches the car. He gets into the drivers seat and puts his backpack in the passengers seat.
Narrator VO: He was a man apart.
The Man yawns.
Narrator VO: A high schooler who loved the feeling of danger.
The Man buckles his seatbelt.
Narrator: With a sick hot rod to match.
The Man puts his key in the ignition and the engine falters multiple times before finally starting.
WIDE SHOT: The car begins to pull away. FREEZE.
Nick VO: Stay on script please.
Narrator VO: Just trying to be immersive.
UNFREEZE. The car pulls away.
SCENE THREE
The Man is driving down the road in his car.
Narrator VO: Okay, okay, on script.
He clears his throat.
Narrator VO: He knew the roads from his home to the school better than any cartographer or city planner to date. The speed bump…
The car goes over a speed bump.
Narrator VO: The tunnel…
The car goes through a tunnel.
Narrator VO: And the Girl with the Orange Hat walking down Cypress.
Cut to the Girl walking down the street. The Man in his car passes her.
Narrator VO: A few other twists and turns and there at school he was.
The Man runs into a high school. Fade to the school at a later time.
Narrator VO: Until he emerged and went straight home several hours later.
The Man emerges from the school.
Narrator VO: This was his routine, his rhythm. His whole life swayed to the beat of this drum.
Fast cut montage of him doing his routine.
Narrator VO: Every step of his day meant something to him, every object an assigned value. His backpack was his schoolwork, what he slaved away at day after day, a crippling responsibility to be upheld. His car was his independence. It was his freedom to blah blah blah.
SCENE FOUR
Cut back to the theatre. The Narrator is holding his script again.
Narrator: Ugh, this is so stagnant. Where is…
CUT TO TITLE: The Inciting Incident
Narrator: Well now we’re talking.
SCENE FIVE
The Girl is walking down Cypress. She is struggling to carry a large poster board. The Man’s car passes, but then comes to a quick stop slightly up ahead.
Narrator VO: An extra beat in the rhythm.
The car backs up next to her. The Man rolls down his window. The two begin to talk but we cannot hear what they are saying.
Narrator VO: (as if speaking for the Man) Would she like a ride?
Narrator VO: (in reply as the Girl) She would love one.
She comes over and loads the poster into the back seat. She opens the passenger door and looks down at it where his backpack is sitting. After a moment the Man throws his backpack to the back seat. She gets in and smiles.
Narrator VO: Now it’s a story of boy meets girl.
The Girl extends her hand.
Narrator VO: Her name was…
Cut back to the theatre. The Narrator is flipping through his script.
Narrator: Her name was…
Nick: I don’t see it in here!
Narrator: Neither do I!
Nick: Just move on then.
Cut back to the car. The Man takes her hand.
Narrator VO: He was pleased to meet her. His name was…
Cut back to theatre. The Narrator is again flipping through the script.
Nick: Just keep moving!
Narrator: I can’t!
Nick: Why not?
Narrator: It’s my job to tell the audience everything there is to know. I need to choose every word I say and every intonation I use in order to saturate the story.
Cut back to the car. It pulls away.
Narrator VO: I guess I’ll just move along.
SCENE SIX
Cut to the high school parking lot. The Man parks his car. He gets out and hands the Girl her backpack and her poster. Their talking is muffled but we can hear it slightly still. She leaves and he begins to put on his own backpack. He walks towards the school.
SCENE SEVEN
The Man does his daily routine, only now he picks up the girl. He still leaves school alone though.
Narrator VO: Their carpool became an agreement of convenience and company. But no matter what the gain was it still meant adapting. It still meant more beats in the rhythm.
The montage changes as the two get to know each other more and become more friendly. Their voices become more audible as they become more friendly. He still leaves school alone.
Narrator VO: It was the same baseline, it just became more complex. The drive home alone remained as simple as before, and for a while it seemed it would stay that way. Some days on his way home, he would think to himself that maybe he would like to see her beyond their morning drive together. But he knew himself, and how stuck in his ways he could be. However much he wanted to continue moving forward, he found himself too afraid to make any motion. She was daunting, and the fact that she might be something more than what she meant to him was a much more concrete reality than the one he was used to.
Cut back to the theatre. Pop-up ads surround the Narrator.
Nick: Aren’t those pop-up ads annoying you?
Narrator: Only if I let them.
He snaps. They disappear.
Nick: Well…what happened next?
Narrator (fade into VO): His routine continued as it had been, and he still remained too afraid to make the progress he wanted. But while he may have been too afraid, not all people are.
On the last daily routine the Man comes out to his car and finds the Girl sitting on his hood.
The Man: Hello.
The Girl: Hi.
The Man: Well this isn’t very much like you.
The Girl: What isn’t?
The Man: Being here after school.
The Girl: Just because you don’t see me here, doesn’t mean it’s not like me.
She stands up and steps towards him. She puts the Orange Hat on his head.
The Girl: You think I could get a ride home?
He smiles.
SCENE EIGHT
Back in the theatre. The Narrator stands silent for a moment.
Narrator: Nick! Come on down, we’re going.
Nick: Wait! What about…
TITLE: The Epilogue
Nick VO: Yeah, that.
The Narrator tears the title away from the screen like a piece of paper.
Narrator: Look at your script, there’s nothing there. It’s just a blank page.
Nick: Then make something up!
Narrator: That’s not my job.
Nick: Bu-uh. I’m coming.
There is the sound of Nick’s footsteps making his way to the front of the theatre.
Narrator: (to audience) I’d like to thank you all for being such a good audience. I’m sorry for how jumpy I was at the beginning. Nerves, I suppose. You really were a great audience, though, with one exception. Look around. Between people there are all of those little, um, island seats. Don’t leave those, be courteous.
Nick comes onto the stage and the two begin to leave. The Narrator thinks for a moment then goes back.
Narrator: There’s a void there. Fill it.
The camera turns to reveal the house is full of empty seats.
Roll credits.