709

“709” is actually a reworking of a script I wrote in 1998 called “LOST On Highway 709”, which was produced by my company (it hasn’t been released yet, but soon will). The story is pretty typical: four teens get lost on a highway and are pursued by a masked man. If you’re looking for a typical story, with a solid setup and predictable conclusion, don’t read past the FOUR MONTHS LATER mark, because after that it “goes all to hell”. The first 100 or so pages follow the “beginning, middle, end” structure, which we’re all familiar with. The ending 30 or so pages are what I refer to as “the consequences”. I feel that the ending is very fast paced and quick, compared with the rest of the screenplay (the initial climax is still the climax – the ending is rather an elaborate spoof). I know that some people will not enjoy the conclusion, because it goes against the grain of what has become stereotypical – it’s an artistic statement in luex of Avant-Garde films.

I especially like the characters in this story, and a lot of the ways that they interact with each other is how the story progresses. The characters definitely add to the atmosphere: they seem to ‘push’ it along and we really get to see the extremities that they go to. Another thing that progresses the story along is the radio and reporter voice-overs. This element makes the script set in a post-modern world where things that are happening could easily be happening in actual reality, and it also saves the characters from having to introduce plot exposition (since the story is introduced where the characters are well aware of the set up), which usually ends up being corny anyway. I think that Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata really adds to the slow, stylish mood. The motif that surrounds the song really isn’t introduced until towards the end, in which a plethora of different attributes are introduced also. This is very much a script meant for the screen and that’s the way I wrote it. All of the characters portrayed have a face; a style of speaking; different character traits.

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