RoCKiTcZa
06-29-2007, 07:22 AM
What do you think of this as an outline of a play?
By the way, this is for an academic requirement (high school).:)
1. A guy moves in to a rented apartment.
(The apartment looks somehow like this--take note, the setting is in the Philippines, in an old yet not-so-popular subdivision. It's situated at the deadest end of a dark alley filled with trees, trees and vegetation--therefore the air is province-y, although it's located in the city. It's said to be ten years old, but looks a lot older; it has two bedrooms upstairs and a lonely dark laundry room downstairs (see drawing), and is somewhat big (on account of the huge living and dining room). There is no gate, and all the windows both upstairs and downstairs are covered with black metal railings from the inside, thus allowing our audience to draw that the house is not entirely safe. Since it's not possible to replicate this kind of scene using only props, we can make use of language to express these things. The only most important thing is the kitchen window, which can be drawn anyway. By the way, the laundry area is right behind the kitchen. Bathroom is beside it.)
Take note that some parts of this story are based on true events, and there is indeed an apartment like this in real life.
2. He's happy but for some reason he finds that he cannot settle down.
3. One day while he is washing the dishes he sees SIGN #1 (The metal railings of the kitchen window have cuts, and have obviously been welded together in a very sloppy way, indicating that some bad guys probably penetrated that house and stole from the past lessees) This ought to be some sort of creepy scene. Maybe it doesn't sound like one, but it can depending on the way it's written--after all this is just an outline anyway.
4. Setting aside the idea from his conscious mind, he opens a cupboard where he plans to stack the dishes, one he had never paid any special attention to before. He sees a book mysteriously sitting there.
5. Reluctantly, he opens it and sees the name of a girl he does not know and feels suddenly compelled to find her
6. In the search of this unknown person he meets several strange personalities who eventually (coincidentally) lead him to her
7. He finds that she isn't that beautiful, but somehow he finds himself strangely attracted to her.
8. He applies for a regular workout in the gym (stupidest thing he probably would've done in this story--you would agree--but don't worry, it's just meant for comedy, so not to make the whole thing too serious. "I wanna do abs first!ü") and goes to see her everyday but for some odd reason they would never get so close
9. Finally she agrees to go with him to have dinner in his house, and together they try to decipher the mystery of the Kitchen Window
Involved: a big guy and his partner/s in crime (it's up to you to build them up as characters)
both of them belonged to a popular "invincible" neighborhood gang
How it Happened: The members of this gang usually attack at night, so obviously this happened during one of their dreadful midnight attack, while a harsh downpour was going on outside.
Why: it's up to you. Whatever happened among them in the gang etc.
The Big Steal: The bad guys climbed up the roof of the laundry area and smashed the second-floor window. Upon learning that there were metal railings, the leader called on one of his members to rush for some equipment. (You think of the conflicts between these guys.) Anyway, so basically they passed through this gap between the two roofs of the laundry area & the bathroom and patiently sawed on the metal railings of the kitchen window from the laundry area. Smashing the window, they went inside the house and took everything valuable within reach, not sparing a thing. One of the dwellers of the apartment woke up to find gangsters stealing stuff from his house and angrily charged at them armed with nothing but rotten martial arts skills... and so he got killed in the middle of the dining room. It's up to you to make it as morbid as possible. If you wanna kill, kill as much as you want!)
10. Meanwhile the bad guys from this gang are planning to attack the same apartment once more, after a heated competition with the reigning rival gang. They plan to steal again, wipe out everything and take over the dark place.
11. Back to the apartment again with our characters. There already is a spark between the two (you know what I mean), when all of a sudden, the girl reveals herself as a policewoman, opens her logbook of recorded crimes and tells the exact story of that apartment. (I think all the stuff above "Involved, How, Why, etc." should fit in this part.) Afterwards she puts him under arrest. Then she soberly but bravely states about equal rights and stuff and about how she is competing for a position against a politically-strong male rival.
12. While she is hauling him to the station, the gangsters ATTACK!!!
13. But before these meanies could ever get to the apartment, some of the guy's odd acquaintances (the ones he met in the search for the girl) catch him, and they slowly increase in number as they progress to the station. Note that all these people are the ones the guy met.
14. In the station, the story is fixed up, and the real story finally takes shape. The gang members are jailed, and later on they find out that these odd acquaintances were actually former gang members who had not been very happy with their life in the gang--and in fact, some had already perished. Some were only ghosts. Some were hardened criminals who had repented and been killed in past attacks. Some were tarnished by aged, some worn out by drugs. Diff. stories.
15. Now the policewoman's job is in trouble, but then they all (especially the guy) convince her to give it up. She admits that life is hard and it is not easy to find new work, but agrees that this might not be the right one for her, so she gives up herself to the guy instead.
16. Later on the guy sees the book again, this time on his dining table, rereads it, and finds to his horror that this girl he had found and had come to love so much was not the girl stated there, but a mere namesake upon disregarding one supposedly-insignificant letter.
17. He goes to the middle of the dining room and lays the book down on the floor. Uttering words of love and satisfaction, he exits, fulfilled.
I'd love to hear your opinion!
By the way, this is for an academic requirement (high school).:)
1. A guy moves in to a rented apartment.
(The apartment looks somehow like this--take note, the setting is in the Philippines, in an old yet not-so-popular subdivision. It's situated at the deadest end of a dark alley filled with trees, trees and vegetation--therefore the air is province-y, although it's located in the city. It's said to be ten years old, but looks a lot older; it has two bedrooms upstairs and a lonely dark laundry room downstairs (see drawing), and is somewhat big (on account of the huge living and dining room). There is no gate, and all the windows both upstairs and downstairs are covered with black metal railings from the inside, thus allowing our audience to draw that the house is not entirely safe. Since it's not possible to replicate this kind of scene using only props, we can make use of language to express these things. The only most important thing is the kitchen window, which can be drawn anyway. By the way, the laundry area is right behind the kitchen. Bathroom is beside it.)
Take note that some parts of this story are based on true events, and there is indeed an apartment like this in real life.
2. He's happy but for some reason he finds that he cannot settle down.
3. One day while he is washing the dishes he sees SIGN #1 (The metal railings of the kitchen window have cuts, and have obviously been welded together in a very sloppy way, indicating that some bad guys probably penetrated that house and stole from the past lessees) This ought to be some sort of creepy scene. Maybe it doesn't sound like one, but it can depending on the way it's written--after all this is just an outline anyway.
4. Setting aside the idea from his conscious mind, he opens a cupboard where he plans to stack the dishes, one he had never paid any special attention to before. He sees a book mysteriously sitting there.
5. Reluctantly, he opens it and sees the name of a girl he does not know and feels suddenly compelled to find her
6. In the search of this unknown person he meets several strange personalities who eventually (coincidentally) lead him to her
7. He finds that she isn't that beautiful, but somehow he finds himself strangely attracted to her.
8. He applies for a regular workout in the gym (stupidest thing he probably would've done in this story--you would agree--but don't worry, it's just meant for comedy, so not to make the whole thing too serious. "I wanna do abs first!ü") and goes to see her everyday but for some odd reason they would never get so close
9. Finally she agrees to go with him to have dinner in his house, and together they try to decipher the mystery of the Kitchen Window
Involved: a big guy and his partner/s in crime (it's up to you to build them up as characters)
both of them belonged to a popular "invincible" neighborhood gang
How it Happened: The members of this gang usually attack at night, so obviously this happened during one of their dreadful midnight attack, while a harsh downpour was going on outside.
Why: it's up to you. Whatever happened among them in the gang etc.
The Big Steal: The bad guys climbed up the roof of the laundry area and smashed the second-floor window. Upon learning that there were metal railings, the leader called on one of his members to rush for some equipment. (You think of the conflicts between these guys.) Anyway, so basically they passed through this gap between the two roofs of the laundry area & the bathroom and patiently sawed on the metal railings of the kitchen window from the laundry area. Smashing the window, they went inside the house and took everything valuable within reach, not sparing a thing. One of the dwellers of the apartment woke up to find gangsters stealing stuff from his house and angrily charged at them armed with nothing but rotten martial arts skills... and so he got killed in the middle of the dining room. It's up to you to make it as morbid as possible. If you wanna kill, kill as much as you want!)
10. Meanwhile the bad guys from this gang are planning to attack the same apartment once more, after a heated competition with the reigning rival gang. They plan to steal again, wipe out everything and take over the dark place.
11. Back to the apartment again with our characters. There already is a spark between the two (you know what I mean), when all of a sudden, the girl reveals herself as a policewoman, opens her logbook of recorded crimes and tells the exact story of that apartment. (I think all the stuff above "Involved, How, Why, etc." should fit in this part.) Afterwards she puts him under arrest. Then she soberly but bravely states about equal rights and stuff and about how she is competing for a position against a politically-strong male rival.
12. While she is hauling him to the station, the gangsters ATTACK!!!
13. But before these meanies could ever get to the apartment, some of the guy's odd acquaintances (the ones he met in the search for the girl) catch him, and they slowly increase in number as they progress to the station. Note that all these people are the ones the guy met.
14. In the station, the story is fixed up, and the real story finally takes shape. The gang members are jailed, and later on they find out that these odd acquaintances were actually former gang members who had not been very happy with their life in the gang--and in fact, some had already perished. Some were only ghosts. Some were hardened criminals who had repented and been killed in past attacks. Some were tarnished by aged, some worn out by drugs. Diff. stories.
15. Now the policewoman's job is in trouble, but then they all (especially the guy) convince her to give it up. She admits that life is hard and it is not easy to find new work, but agrees that this might not be the right one for her, so she gives up herself to the guy instead.
16. Later on the guy sees the book again, this time on his dining table, rereads it, and finds to his horror that this girl he had found and had come to love so much was not the girl stated there, but a mere namesake upon disregarding one supposedly-insignificant letter.
17. He goes to the middle of the dining room and lays the book down on the floor. Uttering words of love and satisfaction, he exits, fulfilled.
I'd love to hear your opinion!