Hi-diddly-ho. Here's the first part of a script for what I imagine to be an American version of Godzilla - as in a story where a creature created by the atomic bomb comes to haunt America rather than Japan. I thought presenting it as a film script might be an interesting alternate way of doing things - hopefully it's relatively easy to visualise (I'm not a pro screenwriter so please do forgive errors in formatting and such!) Anyways, here's Nemesis. I'll update periodically - please do leave a comment if you can but if you don't wanna that's cool!
...
FADE IN, hovering just above the surface of a sparkling blue ocean. It could only be paradise. Colourful tropical fish pass by just beneath the surface. Then.
EXT. SOUTH PACIFIC OCEAN. KORTU ATOLL. HIGH NOON.
In the wake of the fish, a proa sailboat manned by six tattooed male natives passes by in the same direction. We pan up, following them, and see spread out ahead the island paradise of KORTU ATOLL. Other sailboats are heading home too, a whole fleet of them, seeming so flimsy yet piloted so confidently.
SUPERIMPOSE: KORTU ATOLL, PACIFIC OCEAN – 1 MARCH 1954
We cut to a bright red crab scuttling along the golden sand. A dainty female hand plucks it from the ground and lifts it to her face – it is LYNN, aged about nineteen and heavily pregnant. She examines the crab with a gentle curiosity before glancing up and spotting the men returning. We see from the ground as she carefully places the crab back down and it continues on its way – in the blurry background we see LYNN running for the shoreline as quickly as her pregnancy will allow.
LYNN runs into the water up to her knees, hitching up her hibiscus leaf skirt, grinning at the sight of the boats returning. We see the man who must be her husband, heavily built and a veteran of these journeys, as he spots her and jumps into the water up to his neck. LYNN laughs as his crew chastise him. He swims before hurrying through the peaceful water.
They embrace tightly and converse in Marshallese.
They laugh and embrace again as the husband’s boat passes by beside them.
One of the husband’s sailors retorts from the boat.
EXT. KORTU ATOLL VILLAGE. THAT NIGHT.
It is all festivities in the village. Torches are lit and drums beaten as people dance and children chase each other around the beach. The haul of fish and crabs has been good and people are eating well. Laughter and song fills the village.
LYNN is sat watching the celebration, just taking it all in. It all seems so peaceful and perfect. She smiles and closes her eyes.
Suddenly, silence. Simultaneously, LYNN’s face is lit orange as some colossal source of light erupts offscreen. The same light bathes the whole island. All heads turn in surprise down the beach and across the water. LYNN stands and steps forward, her face twisted into shock. We now look from over the shoulders of the natives. To see…
A fireball blossoming silently on the horizon like a new sun. It is the Castle Bravo nuclear test. The whole sky has turned scarlet. It is eerie and haunting. Natives gather on the beach to stare. LYNN’s husband appears at her side.
The staring continues – until the shockwave hits.
The shockwave is like a thunderclap which knocks everyone off their feet and shakes the palm trees hard enough that you’d think they could be uprooted. LYNN is among those on the ground, groaning, before her husband hurries to help her up.
LYNN pauses, afraid of what the answer could be.
Their gaze inevitably goes back to the horizon – as the fireball of Castle Bravo fades away like a dimming bulb and night returns.
INT. LYNN’S HUT. MORNING.
We look down on LYNN and her husband lying asleep on the mat in their hut. They are not alone – multiple generations share this hut.
From outside, we can hear screams. LYNN blinks awake and, concerned, gets to her feet and tiptoes past others who are sleeping through the noise.
LYNN steps out of her hut and finds the screams are not of fear but of children playing. She is bewildered to find what appears to be grey snow raining on the atoll. In truth, it is radioactive fallout. Children run around playing in the snow, trying to catch at flakes as they fall, while others stand around confused and fascinated.
LYNN snatches some ash from the air and smells it. There’s then a shout and she looks in its direction.
A trio of figures, silhouettes not quite human, appear from between the palm trees. LYNN squints and, as they step closer, their images sharpen. They are American soldiers dressed in plastic biohazard suits, there to evacuate the islanders. One holds up a hand in greeting.
LYNN looks up and we look up with her, into the maelstrom of raining ash.
EXT. AN AMERICAN BALTIMORE-CLASS HEAVY CRUISER. AT SEA. NIGHT
The cruiser cuts gracefully through the dark Pacific water.
INT. WITHIN THE BOWELS OF THE SHIP.
The entire population of the atoll, it seems, are belowdecks and sleeping on thin mattresses upon the hard metal floor. All wear baggy grey clothes. We track a patrolling sailor’s foot as he walks between them. The tracking shot stops at LYNN’s face. She is pretending to sleep – her eyes open and she rolls over, watching as two sailors, DAWKINS and FORD, converse.
DAWKINS shrugs.
The two disappear down a corridor, leaving the natives all alone. LYNN sits up, watching after them, before slowly getting to her feet.
LYNN mistakenly nudges her neighbour awake, her sister LINA, who grabs her by the ankle. They converse in whispers.
LYNN doesn’t answer – she just carries on down a dark, drab metal corridor. Slowly, nervously, holding her belly, she ventures through the catacombs until coming upon a metal door. Unsure about the mechanism, she tries pushing and pulling it at first, before twisting it and pushing the door open. The sea air pours in and she steps outside.
EXT. THE DECK OF THE CRUISER.
LYNN walks along the edge of the deck near the stern. She hides behind a wall at one point to avoid a pair of chattering sailors before reaching the stern.
Peering over the railings, LYNN spies the atoll vanishing into the dark distance. A warship is anchored just offshore. LYNN’s face is full of wistfulness and sadness. And then…
LYNN’s face shifts to one of pain. She gasps and clutches at her belly – the baby is coming. She falls onto her back, writhing, the pain too much to take. Her back arches. Gasping still, LYNN pulls up her grey sweater and stares at her belly. A handprint appears pressed against it. We get one last shot of LYNN’s horrified face before we cut.
EXT. ANOTHER PART OF THE CRUISER’S DECK.
We view the open door which LYNN came through, as LINA sheepishly follows.
LINA steps gingerly along the deck, spooked by all the strange sights, and we watch as she walks away from the camera and in the direction of LYNN.
Now we view the two sailors from before, leaning over the deck and smoking.
Flicking their cigarettes into the sea, the pair hurry down the deck.
We see the two sailors jogging towards the camera, and the camera pans down to view LINA, who is stock-still and petrified, staring at something unseen by us. Whatever it is, DAWKINS clearly sees it too, but FORD only has eyes for LINA. He marches up to her like a stern schoolteacher.
FORD looks to DAWKINS – he, too, is staring with horror etched across his face. FORD looks – and inhales deeply.
LYNN is lying dead on the deck where she fell. Her belly is ripped apart and, leading away, is an ominous bloodstain which vanishes off the edge of the ship’s deck.
In blind disbelief, FORD steps closer and looks down at LYNN’s body, then at the bloodstain. He follows it to the edge of the deck and, as other investigating sailors appear behind him, stares down into the bubbling surf. So do we – and, like FORD, we see nothing.
FADE TO BLACK.
...
FADE IN, hovering just above the surface of a sparkling blue ocean. It could only be paradise. Colourful tropical fish pass by just beneath the surface. Then.
EXT. SOUTH PACIFIC OCEAN. KORTU ATOLL. HIGH NOON.
In the wake of the fish, a proa sailboat manned by six tattooed male natives passes by in the same direction. We pan up, following them, and see spread out ahead the island paradise of KORTU ATOLL. Other sailboats are heading home too, a whole fleet of them, seeming so flimsy yet piloted so confidently.
SUPERIMPOSE: KORTU ATOLL, PACIFIC OCEAN – 1 MARCH 1954
We cut to a bright red crab scuttling along the golden sand. A dainty female hand plucks it from the ground and lifts it to her face – it is LYNN, aged about nineteen and heavily pregnant. She examines the crab with a gentle curiosity before glancing up and spotting the men returning. We see from the ground as she carefully places the crab back down and it continues on its way – in the blurry background we see LYNN running for the shoreline as quickly as her pregnancy will allow.
LYNN runs into the water up to her knees, hitching up her hibiscus leaf skirt, grinning at the sight of the boats returning. We see the man who must be her husband, heavily built and a veteran of these journeys, as he spots her and jumps into the water up to his neck. LYNN laughs as his crew chastise him. He swims before hurrying through the peaceful water.
They embrace tightly and converse in Marshallese.
HUSBAND
My sun and stars.
LYNN
We missed you.
HUSBAND
I missed you far more. How can a day feel like a lifetime?
LYNN
Sometimes I worry you love me too much.
HUSBAND
So do I.
My sun and stars.
LYNN
We missed you.
HUSBAND
I missed you far more. How can a day feel like a lifetime?
LYNN
Sometimes I worry you love me too much.
HUSBAND
So do I.
They laugh and embrace again as the husband’s boat passes by beside them.
HUSBAND
How is our child?
LYNN
Well fed, thanks to you.
How is our child?
LYNN
Well fed, thanks to you.
One of the husband’s sailors retorts from the boat.
SAILOR
Only him, huh?
The couple laugh again.Only him, huh?
EXT. KORTU ATOLL VILLAGE. THAT NIGHT.
It is all festivities in the village. Torches are lit and drums beaten as people dance and children chase each other around the beach. The haul of fish and crabs has been good and people are eating well. Laughter and song fills the village.
LYNN is sat watching the celebration, just taking it all in. It all seems so peaceful and perfect. She smiles and closes her eyes.
Suddenly, silence. Simultaneously, LYNN’s face is lit orange as some colossal source of light erupts offscreen. The same light bathes the whole island. All heads turn in surprise down the beach and across the water. LYNN stands and steps forward, her face twisted into shock. We now look from over the shoulders of the natives. To see…
A fireball blossoming silently on the horizon like a new sun. It is the Castle Bravo nuclear test. The whole sky has turned scarlet. It is eerie and haunting. Natives gather on the beach to stare. LYNN’s husband appears at her side.
HUSBAND
What is it?
LYNN
I don’t know.
What is it?
LYNN
I don’t know.
The staring continues – until the shockwave hits.
The shockwave is like a thunderclap which knocks everyone off their feet and shakes the palm trees hard enough that you’d think they could be uprooted. LYNN is among those on the ground, groaning, before her husband hurries to help her up.
HUSBAND
My stars! Are you hurt!
LYNN
No, I don’t think so…
HUSBAND
And the baby?
My stars! Are you hurt!
LYNN
No, I don’t think so…
HUSBAND
And the baby?
LYNN pauses, afraid of what the answer could be.
LYNN
We are okay.
HUSBAND
Are you sure?
LYNN
I’m sure.
We are okay.
HUSBAND
Are you sure?
LYNN
I’m sure.
Their gaze inevitably goes back to the horizon – as the fireball of Castle Bravo fades away like a dimming bulb and night returns.
INT. LYNN’S HUT. MORNING.
We look down on LYNN and her husband lying asleep on the mat in their hut. They are not alone – multiple generations share this hut.
From outside, we can hear screams. LYNN blinks awake and, concerned, gets to her feet and tiptoes past others who are sleeping through the noise.
LYNN steps out of her hut and finds the screams are not of fear but of children playing. She is bewildered to find what appears to be grey snow raining on the atoll. In truth, it is radioactive fallout. Children run around playing in the snow, trying to catch at flakes as they fall, while others stand around confused and fascinated.
LYNN snatches some ash from the air and smells it. There’s then a shout and she looks in its direction.
A trio of figures, silhouettes not quite human, appear from between the palm trees. LYNN squints and, as they step closer, their images sharpen. They are American soldiers dressed in plastic biohazard suits, there to evacuate the islanders. One holds up a hand in greeting.
SOLDIER
It’s okay – we’re getting you out of here.
It’s okay – we’re getting you out of here.
LYNN looks up and we look up with her, into the maelstrom of raining ash.
EXT. AN AMERICAN BALTIMORE-CLASS HEAVY CRUISER. AT SEA. NIGHT
The cruiser cuts gracefully through the dark Pacific water.
INT. WITHIN THE BOWELS OF THE SHIP.
The entire population of the atoll, it seems, are belowdecks and sleeping on thin mattresses upon the hard metal floor. All wear baggy grey clothes. We track a patrolling sailor’s foot as he walks between them. The tracking shot stops at LYNN’s face. She is pretending to sleep – her eyes open and she rolls over, watching as two sailors, DAWKINS and FORD, converse.
DAWKINS
Yeah, they’re all still here.
FORD
Dunno where else they’d go.
Yeah, they’re all still here.
FORD
Dunno where else they’d go.
DAWKINS shrugs.
DAWKINS
Hopefully they like their new island, I guess. Thank God they washed ‘em before they got on.
FORD
Smoke?
DAWKINS
Smoke.
Hopefully they like their new island, I guess. Thank God they washed ‘em before they got on.
FORD
Smoke?
DAWKINS
Smoke.
The two disappear down a corridor, leaving the natives all alone. LYNN sits up, watching after them, before slowly getting to her feet.
LYNN mistakenly nudges her neighbour awake, her sister LINA, who grabs her by the ankle. They converse in whispers.
LINA
What are you doing, sister? You’ll get us in trouble!
LYNN
I just want to see home one last time.
LINA
What makes you think it’ll be the last time?
What are you doing, sister? You’ll get us in trouble!
LYNN
I just want to see home one last time.
LINA
What makes you think it’ll be the last time?
LYNN doesn’t answer – she just carries on down a dark, drab metal corridor. Slowly, nervously, holding her belly, she ventures through the catacombs until coming upon a metal door. Unsure about the mechanism, she tries pushing and pulling it at first, before twisting it and pushing the door open. The sea air pours in and she steps outside.
EXT. THE DECK OF THE CRUISER.
LYNN walks along the edge of the deck near the stern. She hides behind a wall at one point to avoid a pair of chattering sailors before reaching the stern.
Peering over the railings, LYNN spies the atoll vanishing into the dark distance. A warship is anchored just offshore. LYNN’s face is full of wistfulness and sadness. And then…
LYNN’s face shifts to one of pain. She gasps and clutches at her belly – the baby is coming. She falls onto her back, writhing, the pain too much to take. Her back arches. Gasping still, LYNN pulls up her grey sweater and stares at her belly. A handprint appears pressed against it. We get one last shot of LYNN’s horrified face before we cut.
EXT. ANOTHER PART OF THE CRUISER’S DECK.
We view the open door which LYNN came through, as LINA sheepishly follows.
LINA
Sister? Where are you?
Sister? Where are you?
LINA steps gingerly along the deck, spooked by all the strange sights, and we watch as she walks away from the camera and in the direction of LYNN.
Now we view the two sailors from before, leaning over the deck and smoking.
DAWKINS
Not a chance. Not with their defence.
FORD
You ain’t never gonna give the 49ers a chance, are ya?
DAWKINS
Not while I’ve still got my strength.
FORD
You ever gonna start a sentence with something other than “not”?
DAWKINS
Not… today.
They chuckle together – and then an ear-piercing scream sweeps over them. Both whip their heads in its direction.Not a chance. Not with their defence.
FORD
You ain’t never gonna give the 49ers a chance, are ya?
DAWKINS
Not while I’ve still got my strength.
FORD
You ever gonna start a sentence with something other than “not”?
DAWKINS
Not… today.
FORD
That didn’t sound good.
DAWKINS
Not really.
That didn’t sound good.
DAWKINS
Not really.
Flicking their cigarettes into the sea, the pair hurry down the deck.
We see the two sailors jogging towards the camera, and the camera pans down to view LINA, who is stock-still and petrified, staring at something unseen by us. Whatever it is, DAWKINS clearly sees it too, but FORD only has eyes for LINA. He marches up to her like a stern schoolteacher.
FORD
Hey, little miss, you can’t be out here, why don’t you get back belowdecks?
LINA is unresponsive. Utterly catatonic.Hey, little miss, you can’t be out here, why don’t you get back belowdecks?
FORD
Miss? Anyone home?
DAWKINS
Ford…
Miss? Anyone home?
DAWKINS
Ford…
FORD looks to DAWKINS – he, too, is staring with horror etched across his face. FORD looks – and inhales deeply.
LYNN is lying dead on the deck where she fell. Her belly is ripped apart and, leading away, is an ominous bloodstain which vanishes off the edge of the ship’s deck.
In blind disbelief, FORD steps closer and looks down at LYNN’s body, then at the bloodstain. He follows it to the edge of the deck and, as other investigating sailors appear behind him, stares down into the bubbling surf. So do we – and, like FORD, we see nothing.
FADE TO BLACK.