ELEVATOR

(Watch the film on the "My Work" section of this site before reading. Script attached below.)

I wrote this script for my Fundamentals of Production class at John Paul The Great Catholic University. Luckily, I actually got to make it into a movie with my team. My team member, Chris Sanchez, gave me some notes on the writing to really help me refine the script, and he even gave me the idea to set the scene in an elevator, which made it much simpler to shoot and smaller in scope.

Regarding the writing, I really enjoy this script, though it has some flaws, and some of it did not translate perfectly into the final cut of the movie, it has an imperfect charm to it. At its core, the movie is about the uncertainty of life, and the way we choose to look at the world. If we see sadness and despair at every corner, we can never truly live. Though Elias and Dan are thrown into the midst of a deadly storm surge while they are trying to make it back home after a late work night, these two previous work associates become close friends as they near the end together. Knowing they will likely die soon, they open up to each other and recount their regrets.

The theme of the movie is tied up in that final line, delivered by Elias: "Life's not fair I guess." No, life is not fair, but if we choose to look at ourselves as victims for undergoing the unfortunate sufferings of life, we will all live a sad existence. To tie it all up with a quote:

"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us." -J.R.R. Tolkien

ELEVATOR.pdf

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