"Over Your Head"
by Dan Goldwasser, Marc Gordon, Jim Akiba
Revision 3
Act I: Inside Beaver
CREDITS BEGIN
*1. Many different shots of Beaver. Wahoo.
*2. JIM, LORNE, and MARC enter the school, and walk down the main corridor.
*3. A shot looking UP the stairwell as JIM, LORNE, and MARC walk upstairs.
*4. A shot from high up as the three walk down a dimly lit hallway.
CREDITS END
*5. A door, which is not marked. (dolly into from exterior)
*6. JIM, LORNE, MARC notice door.
*7. CLOSE on JIM’s hand grasping knob/handle and opening door.
8. vfx PULL BACK from door, revealing a large military installation. We can see
JIM, LORNE, and MARC looking through a door.
9. vfx A shot of the security camera; a red light blinks on and off.
*10. CLOSE on JIM, LORNE, and MARC, looking in astonishment.
JIM
My god! A secret military base!
VOICE (off camera)
Hey you! Halt!
MARC
Shit!
*11. JIM slams the door shut, blacking out the camera.
*12. Track the three as they run down the hallway, towards the camera.
*13. A shot looking UP the stairwell as the three run DOWN the stairs.
*13.1 Feet hit the ground
*14. vfx And run out the back door, as seen from a Security Camera view (B&W).
*15. All three run out the door and by the camera.
*15.1 EXTERIOR of the three running to their cars.
*16. CLOSE on JIM’s hand as he turns ignition
*17. CLOSE on LORNE’s hand as he turns ignition
*18. CLOSE on MARC’s hand as he turns ignition. But it doesn’t work. It works on the
second try.
*19. The three cars roar to life, and leave towards the "exit".
20. The cars drive by the camera, and head up the road (past the loading dock) towards the
tennis courts.
Act II: BCDS
*1. It is a dark room, the blinds are closed. There is a person in a chair, but we cannot see
him, since he is not facing us. The phone rings once. Calmly, a hand reaches for the
phone, and holds it to his ear.
MAN
Yes?
VOICE
Sir, we’ve tracked them. They’re at the tennis courts.
Should I have them taken out?
MAN
Yes. Stop them at any cost.
PHONE VOICE
Not a problem.
MAN
Good.
2. The three cars drive by the camera near the dumpster
*3. As the three cars drive by again, a man in camouflage appears in front of the camera.
He aims his gun at MARC’s car.
4. CLOSE on the trigger slowly being squeezed.
5. vfx CLOSE on the barrel of the gun as it flashes.
6. MARC’s car swerves LEFT into the driveway of BCDS.
7. CLOSE on MARC, he is very nervous and upset.
MARC
Shit!
8. vfx BACKGROUND PLATE for 8a, b, c.
8a. vfx MARC’s car drives up to the front circle
8b. vfx MARC’s car drives over the front circle
8c. vfx MARC’s car hits the steps, flies up, and smashes in-between the columns at BCDS.
(for a complete vfx breakdown of this shot, look at the end of the script)
9. CLOSE on a tire rolling down the steps, and coming to rest in the driveway.
*10. The dark room again. The phone rings again.
PHONE VOICE
Sir? We’ve eliminated one of the targets. Further instructions?
MAN
Yes. Take out the other intruders. Use extreme prejudice.
Call in the Harriers.
11. vfx Two harriers take off (vertically) from within Beaver, or near there (the cemetary)?
Act III: The Bridge
1. A shot of JIM’s and LORNE’s cars as they head down the street, past the camera (don’t
follow)
2. Another shot of JIM’s and LORNE’s cars as they go off into the distance.
3. vfx A harrier flies over the Boston skyline
4. A shot of the bridge.
5. A shot of JIM’s and LORNE’s cars as they approach the bridge.
6 Traveling with the cars, as they near the bridge.
7 CLOSE on JIM’s face.
8 In front of JIM’s car, looking back, we can see him driving behind us with LORNE
behind him
9 vfx The harriers spot the bridge, and the cars.
10 vfx The harriers launch their missiles
11. vfx (on the bridge) JIM drives by us as we see a missile heading towards us, and a harrier banking left.
12. vfx EXT. shot of the cars as they drive over the bridge and the missile blows up a section far
ahead of JIM’s car. We can see the CITGO sign from this vantage point.
*13. CLOSE on JIM’s foot hitting brakes.
14. JIM’s car stops in front of camera.
15. vfx JIM’s car is stopped on the bridge; we can see the gap. LORNE is moving fast towards
JIM.
16. vfx LORNE’s car hits JIM’s car, pushing it over the edge of the bridge.
17. CLOSE on JIM screaming.
18. vfx JIM’s car falls towards the camera, we just see the underside of the bridge, and sky. (ala
Braveheart)
19. LORNE gets out of the car, and runs towards the camera.
20. vfx LORNE looking into the water, through the gap in the bridge.
21. vfx A harrier comes around, and aims towards the bridge.
22. vfx Another missile is launched.
23. vfx (from behind LORNE) we see a missile coming at the camera.
24. CLOSE on LORNE
LORNE
Oh, shi-
25. vfx The missile slams into the car, blowing it into tiny pieces. The CITGO sign is still
there, blinking away happily.
Act. IV: The Finale
*1. The dark room. Again. The phone rings. Again.
MAN
Report?
PHONE VOICE
We’ve eliminated all three intruders, sir.
No other casualties reported.
MAN
Good.
*2. CLOSE on receiver as MAN hangs up phone.
3. MAN begins to laugh, but suddenly light switches on.
4. CLOSE on Elaine McGovern
ELAINE
Peter, your wife is on line 1...
5. DOLLY into Peter’s face
PETER (jovially)
Thanks. I’ll take it here.
FOLLOW down to phone, and we fade to next scene as we hear him begin to talk on the phone.
6. A scene of BCDS as the camera pulls up and we see the Boston Skyline (if possible).
FADE to BLACK
END CREDITS
SUMMARY of V.F.X. shots for
"Over Your Head"
Act I: The Mall
8. vfx PULL BACK from door, revealing a large military installation. We can see
JIM, LORNE, and MARC looking through a door.
We need a shot of the three guys looking through a rectangular door, towards the camera. Using a Matte created in photoshop, put the door in a warehouse which is filled with a bunch of scanned pictures of aircraft, but done convincingly enough to make it look like they’re all in the same room.
9. vfx A shot of the security camera; a red light blinks on and off.
A simple still shot will do. The light flashing is even easier.
Act II: BCDS
5. vfx CLOSE on the barrel of the gun as it flashes.
Another easy shot. A video image of the gun recoiling is needed, and photoshop will add in the white "blast".
8. vfx BACKGROUND PLATE for 8a, b, c.
8a. vfx MARC’s car drives up to the front circle
The first of the tough shots, we need Marc to drive up to the front circle, and stop just before going on the grass. The camera will KEEP MOVING, and "follow" the car as it "smashes" into Beaver.
8b. vfx MARC’s car drives over the front circle
This is done using the background plate from 8., and combine it with footage of Marc driving over grass the same distance from the camera.
8c. vfx MARC’s car hits the steps, flies up, and smashes in-between the columns at BCDS.
Another use of the background plate, a green-screen, and the model car will be used. Smoke will probably be added digitally.
11. vfx Two harriers take off (vertically) from within the Chestnut Hill Mall (or near there)
Taken from my Dorothy Blank’s apartment OR the roof of the Parking Gararge, this is a rather easy shot to do. A panel will open in the roof of the mall, and two harriers (green-screened) will fly up and away. Use the ripple filter in photoshop on a FILMSTRIP file to add heat effects.
Act III: The Bridge
3. vfx A harrier flies over the Boston skyline
A simple green-screen effect done with a background of Boston taken from a high building (John Hancock?)
9 vfx The harriers spot the bridge, and the cars.
This shot might not be possible; I think we’d need a helicopter. Hmm....
10 vfx The harriers launch their missiles.
Taken (probably) directly from "True Lies"
11. vfx (on the bridge) JIM drives by us as we see a missile heading towards us, and a harrier banking left.
Using Jim driving by us as the background, it should be rather easy to green-screen a harrier banking and a missile coming at us. I think.
12. vfx EXT. shot of the cars as they drive over the bridge and the missile blows up a section far ahead of JIM’s car. We can see the CITGO sign from this vantage point.
This is another painful shot. First, I need to get a background plate (still) created from shot 4. I’ll remove the cars in this shot. Then, I have to add in Jim’s car (model) and the Bridge section that gets blown up. But I need to keep the CITGO sign moving.
15. vfx JIM’s car is stopped on the bridge; we can see the gap. LORNE is moving fast towards JIM.
Taken from in FRONT of Jim’s car, we can simply add in a "destroyed" bridge end in front of the camera, and "below" Jim’s car.
16. vfx LORNE’s car hits JIM’s car, pushing it over the edge of the bridge.
Done with Models against a green-screen so that we can have Boston in the background. But it can be from a STILL shot.
18. vfx JIM’s falls towards the camera, we just see the underside of the bridge, and sky.
Rather simple, it’s purely the Model outside. Slowed down, it should be rather convincing, I think.
20. vfx LORNE looking into the water, through the gap in the bridge.
I don’t know yet; I need to work on a graphic representation of the angle for this one....
21. vfx A harrier comes around, and aims towards the bridge.
Just snag something from "True Lies" again.
22. vfx Another missile is launched.
Same as above!
23. vfx (from behind LORNE) we see a missile coming at the camera.
Simply green-screen the missile into the picture. Shouldn’t be a long shot at all.
25. vfx The missile slams into the car, blowing it into tiny pieces. The CITGO sign is still there, blinking away happily.
This (again!) uses the same Background plate as 12. and 16. Boom!!