TIME AND TIME AGAIN: SCREENPLAY ~ SWC November 2023 Writing Competition Fan-fiction Entry (2000 words) Use the left/right arrow keys, space bar, or tap on the left/right of the screen to move to the previous or next page. Story is all inside of project, below is the optional Author's Note (not part of word count) ---------------- FILM TERMINOLOGY (not part of word count): INT: Internal — scene takes place INSIDE EXT: External — scene takes place OUTSIDE (V.O.) Voice over — lines are auditory (not in initial recording); added in post-production OTS Camera Shot: Over-the-shoulder camera shot. Self-explanatory. Two-Shot: Two characters in frame. MCU Camera Shot: Medium Closeup camera shot on character(s). ---------------- CREDITS ROLL (AUTHOR’S NOTE): I’ve always wanted to write a SWC fan-fiction, but I’ve never been able to come up with a decent idea to warrant an entire writing competition entry. A few months ago, Cara told me how she felt about the absence of Sini, and that gave me the idea of this concept. With Cara’s permission to write a Cara x Sini fan-fiction (and with Cara giving me Sini’s permission by proxy), I sought out Alba’s permission to use her character and song lyrics in this piece. I didn’t want this entry to be too depressing, so I mixed elements of humor into this screenplay to juxtapose the subject matter. If you didn’t catch it, Esdubelusi is a rough reference to SWC. Younee is a rough reference to Uni (university). Sini gets on a boat to Younee (Uni) because, in the canon world, Sini is currently in university and hasn’t checked back into SWC because of that. This entry was originally going to be a work of prose. I had written the majority of this work as prose, and I wasn’t planning on doing any quirky writing types this session. However, after countless rewatches of my favorite fan films (Detroit: Evolution & Detroit: Reawakening) and upon reading the 128-page script of Detroit: Absolution, the sheer awe I had for screenwriters inspired me to transform my fan-fiction entry into a screenplay. I learned so much about the structure of screenplays (which are formatted differently from regular scripts!) during the process of writing this piece; for the sake of reducing my word count and the limits of the Scratch Forums, I could not fully format this entry as a traditional screenplay. However, I attempted to maintain the core aspects of a screenplay throughout this piece.
(continuation of Author's Note here) It was extremely difficult for me to cut out the pieces of exposition and imagery that were present in my prose version, but I had to stick with the constraints of a screenplay. In a screenplay, it’s the character dynamic and dialogue that really becomes elevated when you remove everything else that is normally found in a traditional story. Upon reflection, I realized how similar the “storm” disaster in this piece was to the storm that hits Arcadia Bay in the game, Life Is Strange (an amazing game with queer representation; would highly recommend it for mature audiences!). Life Is Strange also has a storyline in which the main character goes back in time to try to save another character. Additionally, the time traveling in this piece is loosely inspired by a short film I watched called “Exit Strategy”; in both this screenplay and the short film, the main character repeatedly goes back in time to try to “save” an important character, but fails every time (in hindsight, time traveling to save somebody is quite the motif xD). I’ve always wanted to write fan-fiction based on these two works, and I’m so glad I was able to combine them into the piece you find here! (Psst, in hindsight, it’s ironic that Cara has a time-traveling workshop shared). All the current hosts make cameos in this piece, either in dialogue or through “product placement.” Moonlit appears as “product placement” when Sini is munching on Moonlit Crisps in the car. Moss appears as the newspaper publisher when Cara looks at the headlines. Robin is mentioned through her “Wala Wala Masks” (Robin knows what this is. Go ahead, ask her). Sun appears as “product placement” when Sini finds only Sunachables Very Trustable in Alba’s underground bunker. Starr is mentioned through her “helicopter” when Alba is suggesting alternatives to Cara. Luna appears as “product placement” when Cara grabs Alba’s cup of Luna’s Yorkshire Tea during a witch hut scene. Throughout this screenplay, many of Alba’s lyrics (with her permission) have been scattered throughout the dialogues between Alba and Cara. In fact, I managed to include a lyric from every single song she’s published. Besides the obvious excerpts of “Chlorine” (which is used as our time-traveling device), here are all the cameos (that I remember writing), in order of appearance: Scene 1: I’ve given you the chance— once, twice, three times –Alba (from “Symphony”) You make my promises impossible to keep —Cara (from “Pinky Promise”) Scene 5: That’s easy for you to say —Cara (from “Line in the Sand” (unshared)) Scene 7: Cara, the time is running out —Alba (from “None”) This is how it’s supposed to end —Alba (adapted from “None”; original lyric: “I thought we knew how it ends”) In vintage glow, time can’t touch me —Cara (from “Ethereal”) We still got time —Cara (reference to “Still Got Time”) You cast me aside as if Sini wasn’t my friend too —Alba (adapted from “Daisies”; original lyric: “So you forgot that I’m real and you cast me aside”) You don’t get to stand here and tell me I haven’t been trying —Alba (adapted from “Eternity”; original lyric: “I’m imperfect and I’m trying”) It seems like you’ve given up —Cara (adapted from “None”; original lyric: “I’ve given up hoping”) I don’t know where I am going or what to do —Alba (from “Face in the Crowd”) Seven days a week, four weeks a month —Alba (from “Starstudded Catastrophe”) I still can’t feel anything at all. I’m too tired of everything —Alba (adapted from “Irreplaceable” (unshared); original lyric: “But I’m too tired of everything, I can’t feel anything at all”) It was so easy when we were younger. We thought we had all the time in the world —Cara (adapted from “Eternity” and “Still Got Time”; original lyric (Eternity): “You don’t have all the time in the world”; original lyric (Still Got Time): “It was so easy when I was younger, thought I had all the time in the world”) If you love her, then you should love her enough to let go —Alba (adapted from “Symphony”; original lyric: “I love you, I love you – I love you enough to let go”) Special thanks to @Sunclaw68, @pages-of-ink, and @Imacreamoo for critiquing this entry! and lots of love to @caramelize and @-Alocasia for giving me their blessing to post this entry <33
