[CONCERNING]
TOCCATE
by Jason Arnett
PAGE ONE (four panels)
Panel 1. From a distance, though we can't see him, Stefan is driving his Lexus down
a wooded country road at night. The glare from the headlights should hit the reader
in the eye.
1. STEFAN (singing): '...IF YOU TRY WALKING IN MY SHOES..."
Panel 2. Stefan is in the driver's seat, unaccompanied, singing as he's driving home.
2. STEFAN (singing): "...YOU STUMBLE IN MY FOOT---"
Panel 3. From in front of him, Stefan cannot believe what he sees ahead.
3. STEFAN: ---steps...
Panel 4. The largest panel on the page, easily half to two-thirds of it. In the
middle of the road, illuminated by the headlights, stands a young woman in her mid
twenties, dressed in a flowing gown. Her body is sidewise to the oncoming car, but
she's turned her head to look at it and she's singularly unimpressed.
4. TITLE: TOCATTE
5. CREDITS: Written by Jason Arnett
TOCCATE
by Jason Arnett
PAGE TWO (six panels)
Panel 1. Close on Stefan's foot as he jams the break pedal to the floor.
1. STEFAN (OP): FUCK!
Panel 2. From above the road, the car squeals as it spins because of the turn Stefan
has made in an effort to avoid the woman, but she stands unmoving, impassive as this
happens. Watching.
2. SFX: SCRREEEEE!
Panel 3. (moving into the panel, from left to right...) From the hood of the car,
looking inside, Stefan is catching his breath as he leans towards the steering wheel,
looking at the side mirror at the woman who is still standing in the road, never
having moved.
3. STEFAN: HUH HUH HUN COUGH! KAFF!
Panel 4. He's opened his door and is getting out of the car as fast as he can.
4. STEFAN: HEY, LADY!
Panel 5. She has turned her body to face him as he stands less than three feet from
her. She appears serene, almost smiling at him. He looks concerned though his words
will betray his anger.
5. STEFAN: ARE YOU ALL RIGHT? WHAT'RE YOU DOING
IN THE MIDD---
Panel 6. Same shot, though she's turned to look off to her right, at the woods on
the other side of the road. Stefan is bewildered by the action.
6. STEFAN: HELLO? DO YOU HEAR ME?
TOCCATE
by Jason Arnett
PAGE THREE (nine panels)
NOTE: The first eight panels of this page take up the top half of it to leave the
bottom half for the massive panel 9... They are intended as quick cuts.)
Panel 1. Reversing angles, she has turned back to face him, but is holding out her
right hand to indicate the trees. He's still looking where she wants him to.
1. STEFAN: WHAT?
Panel 2. Reversing angles again, this time, though, the POV is from within the woods
lining the road and we can see the two figures against the glow of the taillights
from Stefan's car. She's still indicating the trees to him.
2. STEFAN: SOMETHING OUT THERE?
Panel 3. Close on the two of them, he's looking at her and she's looking at the trees
again.
3. STEFAN: IS THERE SOMETHING IN THE TREES?
Panel 4. She turns to look in his eyes, almost as quizzical as a child.
4. STEFAN: I DON'T UNDERST---
Panel 5. Close on him as she puts her left hand over his mouth and taps his left
ear with her right index finger.
Panel 6. Again from above, she's still holding her left hand over his mouth and has
pointed to the trees across the road again.
Panel 7. Close on her again, her expression has changed to one of concern and she
has begun to open her mouth.
Panel 8. Close on his right eye. So close that a tendril of electricity can be seen
floating in the iris of his eye.
Panel 9. She's on the left side of the panel, he's on the right. She's opened her
mouth as if to scream at full volume, but instead a bolt of lightning crackles out
and strikes the surprised and stumbling Stefan in the chest, over his heart. She's
holding her arms out, catching some of the lightning in her hands, and Stefan's arms are
flailing in an effort for him to keep his balance.
TOCCATE
by Jason Arnett
PAGE FOUR (five panels)
Panel 1. Stefan has been sleeping in the driver's seat of his car and is suddenly
jolted awake by a massive crack of thunder.
1. SFX: Krac - kooom!
2. STEFAN: JESUS!
Panel 2. The car is parked on the side of the same road he'd been dreaming of driving
on in the pouring rain. and lightning illuminates the surrounding forest.
3. SFX: BA - KOW!
Panel 3. Stefan is still groggy, but turns the key in the ignition while he talks
to himself.
4. STEFAN: WHAT A WEIRD DREAM. THAT'S THE LAST TIME I LET JODY TALK ME
INTO DRINKING THAT MANY ITALIAN MARGARITAS.
5. STEFAN: WONDER WHO THAT WOMAN WAS, THOUGH. SHE DIDN'T LOOK FAMILIAR...
Panel 4. Stefan has rolled the driver's window down and is holding his face out into
the rain in an effort to wake himself up enough to drive home.
6. STEFAN: AH....
Panel 5. He has begun the drive home again with his headlights on and the stereo
blasting.
7. STEFAN (singing): I'M NOT LOOKING FOR ABSOLUTION...
FORGIVENESS FOR THE THINGS I DO...
TOCCATE
by Jason Arnett
PAGE FIVE (five panels)
Panel 1. The woman is standing in the road again, straight ahead of him. Only this
time it's raining, though more lightly than before.
1. STEFAN (OP, singing): BUT BEFORE YOU COME
Panel 2. Close on the driver's side front wheel as it screeches to a stop on the
wet pavement.
2. SFX: SCRREE!
Panel 3. Close on Stefan as he is freaked out beyond belief.
3. STEFAN: conclusion...
4. STEFAN: IT'S --- THIS CAN'T BE REAL...
Panel 4. The two are silhouetted by the glare from the headlights as the car is driven
back out into the road.
5. STEFAN: I'M HEADING BACK TO DARROW AND I CAN DROP YOU ANY WHERE THERE
YOU WANT...
Panel 5. Interior of the car as Stefan looks far more sober and she is turned to
to watch him with serious, sad eyes.
6. STEFAN: JUST TELL ME. OTHERWISE, I'LL LET YOU OUT AT THE ELDREDGE HOTEL
AND YOU CAN ---
TOCCATE
by Jason Arnett
PAGE SIX (eight panels)
(NOTE: again the last panel on this page is the largest and all the others are meant
to be quick cuts again...)
Panel 1. Stefan relaxes just a little and sits up straight in his seat, with both
hands on the steering wheel.
1. STEFAN: THIS IS GOING TO SEEM WEIRD, BUT I DREAMED YOU A LITTLE WHILE
AGO.
Panel 2. Close on her as he tells his story. She's beautiful, but carries a lot
of sadness in her eyes.
2. STEFAN: MY FRIEND JODY AND I WERE DRINKING A LOT AND I DECIDED TO DRIVE
HOME, BUT HAD TO PULL OVER AND SLEEP SOME OF IT OFF...
Panel 3. The car is still traveling down the road but is riding the center line and
the rain is still coming down.
3. STEFAN (OP): AND I DON'T KNOW WHERE I'VE SEEN YOU BEFORE, BUT THERE YOU
WERE, JUST LIKE I FOUND YOU.
Panel 4. From the POV of the hood, she has leaned over and has put her right hand
under his chin. He's looking at her out of the corner of his eye, still facing forward.
4. STEFAN: AND ---
5. WOMAN: stefan, can you hear me?
Panel 5. She's turned his face to hers and is getting closer in order to kiss him.
He's trying to watch the road ahead of him.
6. STEFAN: UH, I'M TRYING TO ---
Panel 6. Her mouth is open and close to his and he's given up trying to look at the
road, leaning close to her.
Panel 7. Close on his eyes, closer than last time, and the iris is dominated by the
lightning bolt that his pupil has become.
7. GALEN (OP): CLEAR!
Panel 8. Stefan is laying on a gurney, looking up at the ceiling, and the POV is
from about where his stomach would be. In the center of his chest is the explosion
of electricity seen earlier coming from her and similar to the one just seen in his
eye.
8. GALEN (OP): WHAT'VE WE GOT?
9. JACKIE (OP): STILL FLAT, GALEN!
TOCCATE
by Jason Arnett
PAGE SEVEN (five panels)
Panel 1. In a brightly lit emergency room cubby, two doctors and a nurse are trying
to revive Stefan with the paddles from the defibrillator. The nurse (Jackie) is
a black woman in her late thirties who could be the older version of the woman in
Stefan's car. The doctor with the paddles (Galen) is about the same age and has a receding
hairline. His glasses are hanging on the tip of nose and he looks desperate. The
other doctor (Albert) is in his fifties with gray hair at his temples. He's been
helping but is now removing his latex gloves.
1. GALEN: CHARGING!
2. ALBERT: LET HIM GO, GALEN.
3. JACKIE: THREE HUNDRED!
Panel 2. The determination on Galen's face betrays how much he cares. He doesn't
want to lose Stefan.
4. GALEN: GET CLEAR, ALBERT. JACKIE?
5. JACKIE (OP): THREE FIFTY!
6. GALEN: CLEAR!
7. SFX: CHAK-POP!
Panel 3. The screen of the heart monitor is still flat lined on heartbeat and pulse,
both.
8. JACKIE (OP): STILL FLAT, GALEN.
9. JACKIE (OP): HE'S GONE.
Panel 4. Albert is pushing Galen back from the gurney, rather forcibly as Jackie
looks on.
10. ALBERT: WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU, GALEN?
11. GALEN: DON'T, ALBERT. JUST DON'T.
Panel 5. All three look down at Stefan on the gurney. Galen has set the paddles
down and is touching Stefan's right forearm. He looks the saddest of them all.
Jackie is looking at the clock on the wall.
12. ALBERT: TIME, JACKIE?
13. JACKIE: OH-FOUR-TWENTY-TWO.
14. GALEN: If you can hear me, Stefan, I'm sorry...
TOCCATE
by Jason Arnett
PAGE EIGHT (three panels)
Panel 1. The night is clear along the same road seen earlier. A new VW Beetle is
driving down the highway here.
1. CAPTION (ALBERT): "WHERE DID THEY FIND HIS CAR?"
2. CAP (JACKIE): "OUT ON 47 HIGHWAY, RIGHT AFTER BANNING'S CORNER."
Panel 2. Inside the car is a young woman who's talking on her cell phone. She's
surprised at what she sees in the road ahead of her.
3. CAP (ALBERT): "DO WE HAVE BLOOD ALCOHOL YET?"
4. WOMAN IN CAR: I TOLD HIM I WOULDN'T GO HOME WITH HIM...
5. WOMAN IN CAR: HOLD ON, GERI.
Panel 3. In her headlights, Stefan stands in the road, dressed in a jean jacket and
jeans, with his hands held easily at his sides. Leaves are blowing across the road
behind him.
6. WOMAN IN CAR (OP): THERE'S A GUY IN THE ROAD!
7. CAPTION: "CHOICES ARE THE REMNANTS OF THOUGHT, BLOWING DOWN LIKE A RAIN
OF BLOSSOMS FLECKING THE PATHWAY, CAUSING CLUTTER AND ILLUMINATION."
--- SAGE
END.