Courage. Third Draft. 2/26/10

Part Two:
Courage
-Panel One, Page One.
A bright white light is shining directly at us in the middle of the panel.
-Panel Two, Page One
We open on a young adult, male (I’ll leave what he actually looks like to you, just know that it should come through on his look and mannerisms that he is weathered and world-weary). He is smoking a cigarette. The air is cold, you can tell by the way he is dressed, and the occasional fog that will come from his breath. This man’s name is Wil. It’s nighttime.
-Panel Three, Page One
Shot looking at Wil from behind. He is looking out at a small lake (i.e. Celebration Lakefront). Try and make this panel the largest on the page. Basically, I just want a wide-angle shot of a bleak and dramatic moment. Off-panel a familiar voice calls out to him.
Off-Panel Voice: Hey there, stranger.
-Panel Four, Page One
Wil turns around to see the origin of the voice. Panel encompasses both the male, and the origin of the voice (If possible I’d like it if her face was not shown until the next panel). A girl, roughly the same age, stands about 5 feet behind the male. The girl's name is Allison (again I’ll leave the actual look of the character to you, though it should probably go without saying, she is “the girl” to Wil, so stunningly beautiful) and she represents everything to our protagonist. Pain, Hope, Love, the whole spectrum.
Wil: Hey, Ali.
-Panel Five, Page One
We see Allison’s face for the first time in an extreme close-up. She has a slight sarcastic smirk on her face.
Allison: Thought you were quitting.
-Panel One, Page Two
Close-Up of Wil as he looks at his cigarette.
Wil: Yeah…
-Panel Two, Page Two
Close-up of Allison directly across from him, still wearing that same smirk. (Alex: These two panels are technically the same. It should be one horizontal panel across the top of the page with a break in the middle, so that the shot is at the same height but it pans over to her face. Let me know if this is unclear).
-Panel Three, Page Two
This panel will take up the rest of the page. It encompasses both characters head to foot. The tiles will be at the bottom right of the page. If you can, try to add some “dreamy intimacy” to the background. Wil is looking down as he stomps out his cigarette with his shoe. Allison is looking over at him, now with a more serious face.
Wil: It’s good to see you again.
Allison: Yeah- It’s good to see you too.
Titles:
Courage
Words by Mike Donohue
Pictures by Alex Berki
-Panel One, Page Three
Wil and Allison are walking around the small town that surrounds the lake (again I.E. Celebration). Allison has her arm locked in his. The angle is looking at them far away from the other side of the street. A car is just about to block our view.
Allison: So what are you doing down in my neck of the woods?
Wil: I don't know, I come down here some nights, you know, just to think.
Allison: And what do you think about?
-Panel Two, Page Three
Close-up of Wil, looking over at Allison, who is off-panel.
Male: Life, death, the past, all that “stuff”.

-Panel Three, Page Three
Close up of Allison looking forward, smiling.
Allison: Always the drama queen.

-Panel Four, Page Three
Wil, looking up at the sky, same angle as last panel with him in it. His face tells us he is flustered, hoping to get a more serious reaction from Allison to what he just told her.
Wil: Yep that's me.
-Panel Five, Page Three
Two-Shot, Allison is messing up Wil’s hair. Wil is making a face like he is disgusted by what is happening on the top of his head.
Allison: Oh lighten up will ya, I'm just kidding.
Male: alright alright
-Panel One, Page Four
Two-Shot, much like the first panel we see of them walking together, but theyt are obviously further down the road. They are now holding hands.
Allison: So whats on the agenda for tonight’s “Wil’s Epic Brooding Session”
-Panel Two, Page Four
Frontal close-up of Wil, he is flattening the top of his hair. With the hand opposite he is using to hold hers.
Wil: I was just thinking about when I went to school here.
-Panel Three, Page Four
Close-Up Allison, her opposite hand is outstreched off-panel.
Allison: You know, I always forget you went here.
-Panel Four, Page Four
Close-Up Wil, Talking as Allison fixes his hair.
Male: Yeah I guess I never brought it up
a lot. Always made me kind of upset.
-Panel Five, Page Four
Two-shot, Wil is looking up at his hair.
Wil:.. Thanks.
Allison: Why would that make you upset?
-Panel One, Page Five
Far shot the two stand below a fancy city hall. they seem overshadowed by its size. Almost swallowed whole beneath its monolithic appearance. There hands still firmly gripped together.
Male: I wanted to graduate here. In this stupid eiltist town. I wanted to belong here. In seventh grade I had had my whole future planned out. I was going to have the same friends I had then, we would talk about how awesome it was going to be in high school, how great prom would have been, how we wanted to drive, hang out with girls, how we would all go to the same college.
-Panel Two, Page Five
Far shot looking down at Wil and Allison, as if we were on top of the city hall. Maybe throw some scaffolding or a flagpole in the foregorund to further show this. They are both looking up.
Wil: I firmly believed that the people I knew then would be lifelong friends. Like this town was the place where stars aligned.
Allison: But it didn't end up that way…
-Panel One, Page Six
Close up profile of Wil from Allison’s perspective, the angle is slightly tilted up at his face. He is still looking up
Wil: Nope, my mom pulled me out the end of that year. I had been so focused on the stars, I didn't worry about my grades. She couldn't afford to bring me to a school so far away if I wasn't even going to make an effort.
-Panel Two, Page Six
Two-Shot, both look up
Allison: Must have been hard
Wil: -At first. But I got over it, you know, figured it out.

-Panel Three, Page Six
Same as last panel, but Allison looks at Wil
Allison: Figured what out?
-Panel Four, Page Six
Two shot, shows both Wil and Allison from the knees up. Wil is lighting another cigarette. Allison’s hand is outstreched as if his hand was still in hers.
Wil: That the dreams I have are always going to better than real life.
-Panel Five, Page Six
Allison hugs Wil and he is taken aback. The arm with the cigarette is kept outstreched as far away from her as possible. The force of the hug sends ash everywhere.
-Panel Six, Page Six
Same angle as last panel, Wil has settled slightly, Allison is still tightly wound around him.
Wil: What’s this for?
Allison: I need a reason to hug you now?
-Panel Seven, Page Six
Same angle, Wil embraces the.... embrace.

-Panel One, Page One
Close up of Wil's face, still in the embrace.
Wil: You know speaking of dreams, I was thinking about that dream of yours.
-Panel Two, Page Seven
Close up of Allison in hug.
Allison: What dream?

-Panel Three, Page Seven
Two-shot, the embrace is over. Wil points at Allison.
Wil: I knew it!
Allison: What?
Wil: I FUCKING knew it!
-Panel Four, Page Seven
Close-up, Wil. His hands over his head, bewildered.
Mike: I knew you made it up. I wanted to believe it, but I knew there was no way it was real, you were just trying to fucking coddle me. Make me feel better about the whole situation!
-Panel Five, Page Seven
Allison.
Allison: Just because I can't remember some dream I had, doesn't mean I made it up, Wil.
-Panel Six, Page Seven
Will.
Matt: Oh no, you'd remember this one, Allison.
Allison(off panel): Remind me.
-Panel Seven, Page Seven
Two-Shot, Wil has both hands sweeping through his hair, Allison looks at him, waiting for what hes going to say.
Wil: Five or six months ago, right after.. well you know that whole mess with us..you text me and say you've had a dream about me.
-Panel One, Page Eight
Allison close-up, she stares blankly.
Wil (off-panel): You said you had a dream that you found out I was in prison…
-Panel Two, Page Eight
Same as previous panel, Allison realizes, finally, what Wil is talking about.
Allison: I had a dream you were in prison. So in the dream, I went to go visit you. And when I finally saw you, I started to cry.

-Panel Three, Page Eight
Wil.
Allison(off-panel): And you held me.
-Panel Three, Page Eight
Allison.
Allison: And then we kissed. and you told me-
-Panel Four, Page Eight
Wil.
Wil: -And I told you that, “everything is going to be all right.”
-Panel Five, Page Eight
Allison. Her hand over her face.
Allison: -Yeah.
-Panel Six, Page Eight
Two-Shot, they look at each other.
Wil: Was it true?
Allison: Of course it was true! You think I would, or even could make something like that up?
Wil: I'm sorry, its just…
-Panel One, Page Nine
Wil goes to sit down on a bench nearby
Wil: It meant a lot to me.
-Panel Two, Page Nine
Allison goes to sit with Wil on the bench.
Allison: Well it meant a lot to me too. Thus why I told you.
-Panel Three, Page Nine
Two-shot. Wil and Allison stare at each other.
Wil: Yeah, but probably not in the same way.
-Panel Four, Page Nine
Same panel as before, Wil has his hands between his knees, looking at the ground.
Wil: Sorry.
Allison: for what?
-Panel Five, Page Nine
Wil.
Wil: For making every time we talk, a revisiting of how badly I fucked up with you and how sorry I am.
-Panel Six, Page Nine
Allison.
Allison: You didn't fuck up, and you've never had to apologize. it meant a lot to me.
Allison: It meant a lot to me too.
Wil: No, I meant it.
Allison: Then you have nothing to apologize for.
-Panel Six, Page Nine
Profile two-shot. Wil in the foreground.
Wil: But I so do, it wasn't fair, you had a boyfriend, and it wasn't right for me to put you in that position, trying to have you all to myself.
Allison: I never asked you to stop texting me. But if you knew it was unfair, why would you put me through that?
-Panel One, Page Ten
Wil, further back, his arms around the back of the bench, looks over at an off-panel Allison
-Panel Two, Page Ten
Wil, same angle. Looking up at the sky.
Wil: Because, at the time… I wished I was dead.
-Panel Three, Page Ten
Side profile Wil, still looking up.
Matt: The same night I found out we weren't getting back together, I tried to kill myself. Obviously, it didn't work, but after that I had made plans to go take care of my grandma so I put my suicide attempts on hold, at least until I got back into town.
-Panel Four, Page Ten
Two-shot, from above, looking down. Allison is nestled in Wil’s and arm they are both looking up.
Allison: I remember one of the messages you sent me on the plane going up there:
-Panel Five, Page Ten
A sea of homes at night, as if viewed from the window of an aircraft. The dialogue is in a caption.
"I'm seeing all these bright lights. but they all feel so dim. Looking down from this high up, I see all these thousands of homes, millions of people. and i don't even care-“

-Panel Six, Page Ten
Same panel as before, but all the lights are gone save for one house.
“The only light that I can see worth living for-“

-Panel One, Page Ten
Close-up of Wil’s face looking out an aircraft window.
Wil:- Is you.
-Panel Two, Page Ten
We are back to Earth, this panel is a close-up of Allison.
Allison: Jesus, Matt, I knew you were depressed, but really?
-Panel Three, Page Ten
Two-shot. Wil Stands up and talks down to Allison still sitting down on the bench
Wil: I had every intention of killing myself, and not letting anyone know. But it was important to me that you knew how I felt before I was gone.

-Panel One, Page Eleven
Allison now standing up.
Allison: So what changed, I mean, what happened so that we’re able to have this conversation?
-Panel Two, Page Eleven
Wil.
Wil: Dunno
-Panel Three, Page Eleven
Wil.
Wil: I guess I decided to give myself another chance.
-Panel Four, Page Eleven
Allison.
Allison: Bullshit.


-Panel Five, Page Eleven
Wil
Wil: What? Not bullshit, I'm standing right here aren't I?
-Panel Six, Page Eleven
Allison.
Allison: In a matter of speaking, yeah, but I'm not stupid Wil. Someone who is so depressed and apparently suicidal, as you were, does not just snap out of it.
-Panel One, Page Twelve
Allison.
Allison: We may not see each other a much anymore, but that doesn’t mean I don't know what you've been up to.
Matt (off-panel): Oh what you keep tabs on me?
Allison: No, but I ask about you.
-Panel Two, Page Twelve
Two-Shot. Allison pointing at Matt.
Allison: I know all about how your not working. How you do nothing with your days. You just sit there and do jack shit.
Wil: Allison-
Allison: And sometimes. Sometimes I hear, you don't even have the fucking COURAGE to get out of bed. You just lay there all day.
-Panel Three, Page Twelve
Allison.
Allison: You may not be trying to kill yourself anymore. But you sure as hell not any better.
-Panel Four, Page Twelve
Wil.
Wil: You know what fuck you, you don't know what’s going on. It's not like your ever the first one to call anymore, every time we talk its larger distances in between until we talk again, what the fuck do you know?
-Panel Five, Page Twelve
Allison, enraged, about to cry.
Allison: Do you not even see it? The only thing thats changed-
-Panel Six, Page Twelve
Wil.
Allison(off-panel): Is the method your using to destroy your life.
-Panel Seven, Page Twelve
Allison. It hits her and shes unable to hold back the tears.
Allison: And I'm the one that did this to you.
Wil (off-panel): No you're not.
-Panel Eight, Page Twelve
Two-Shot Matt and Allison are close. Allison Still crying



Allison: Yes I am.
Wil: Look what happened between us was just a last straw. Things weren't going well for me for a long time. I didn't like who I was becoming, or how much time I had wasted. I got hope back when you came back into my life. If anything I should thank you.
-Panel One, Page Thirteen
Wil.
Wil: Yeah you were the final push, but you weren't the cause, and like I said in those texts, you were in a lot of ways what kept me going. What made me brave enough to face another day, give this shit another chance.
-Panel Two, Page Thirteen
Wil.
Wil: I don't know, maybe your right about how I've been lately, maybe I'm just lying to myself about being a hundred percent, but it doesn't mean I've given up. I'm not going to do that.
-Panel Three, Page Thirteen
Allison.
Allison: You better not, I can't keep worrying over you.
-Panel Four, Page Thirteen
Wil.
Wil: Being a prisoner to my own emotions was for some reason a sentence I gave myself. I don't want to feel like I'm trapped anymore.
-Panel Five, Page Thirteen
Two-Shot. Allison wiping the tears from her eyes.
Allison: I'm glad we talked face to face. It's been too long.
Wil: Yeah, it really is a shame
-Panel Six, Page Thirteen
Wide Shot of characters and the town around them

Wil: - Too bad this isn’t real.
-Panel One, Page Fourteen
Allison, smiling
Allison: When did you figure it out?
-Panel Two, Page Fourteen
Wil.
Wil: Haven't you been listening? 7th grade. My dreams will always be better than real life. This conversation could never have happened when I'm awake. I'd never be able to carry it this far with you and you would never be able to be this honest to me.
-Panel Three, Page Fourteen
Allison, still smiling
Allison: Give me a little credit.
-Panel Four, Page Fourteen
Wil.
Wil: Yeah you’re right. I would be the one to keep it to small talk.
-Panel Five, Page Fourteen
Allison, listening
Wil: (off panel): You know when I was younger I would be really awkward and it would be hard for me to even look a girl in the face. So if i had a crush on a girl in class, I would choose a seat as far away from her as possible. So I could look at her all I wanted without it being really hard for me.
Allison: Why are you telling me this?
-Panel Six, Page Fourteen
Two-Shot, they are close.
Wil: Because technically what 80, 90 miles away from here in real life?
Allison: like a hundred something I think..
Wil: Right well you’re like really far from where I'm standing right now-
-Panel One, Page Fifteen
Two-Shot, they are face to face
Wil: And its still hard for me to look at you.
-Panel Two, Page Fifteen
Wil kisses Allison on her nose
-Panel Three, Page Fifteen
Then her forehead
-Panel Four, Page Fifteen
Same as panel one
Allison: You're still the only boy whose ever done that.
-Panel Five, Page Fifteen
Close-up, Wil.
Wil: So you have this dream that I'm in prison...
-Panel Six, Page Fifteen
An extreme close up of Allison smiling.
-Panel One, Page Sixteen
Same face and angle as panel five on last page except behind him is a bed.
-Panel Two, Page Sixteen
Side shot of Wil, with legs on floor over bed.
Wil: And I tell you that everything’s going to be ok.
-Panel Three, Page Sixteen
Same angle, but just a shot of the bed. In the lower right hand corner reads: Courage