Violet T.
5.26.20
PAGE 1-
Three panel spread, each taking up an unequal third of the page. Panel 1 is an irregular pentagon that takes up the top (and largely left) side of the page, panel 2 is an upright rectangle just below panel 1 in the bottom left corner, and panel 3 is similarly shaped to the first, but is a quadrilateral and in the bottom right corner of the page.
1- Int. Room- Night
A random room in a house--there is no furniture that defines it as a kitchen, bedroom, etc. Only detail goes into the people within it. There’s a baby (Violet) in the center of the panel in her mother’s arms. All that is seen of the mother is her back (this is a close up over-the-shoulder shot). The father is pictured only in the hand he has on the mother’s shoulder.
Baby Violet is wrapped up (very tightly, Dad was the swaddle master) in a white blanket. Think: blank-slate.
NARRATOR
When I was one year old, my father achieved his childhood dream of buying a sailboat.
2- Ext. Yard- Early Morning (Sunrise)
A very small, private wood dock shot from the view from a hill, with an expanse of grass between. A boat (ketch: two masts, single hulled) is tied up to it with right side visible. "Someday Came" is painted in gold letters beneath the bow. The sun is rising right behind it, casting a back glow on the sails (don’t know how I’ll draw that). There are numerous crisp new boxes stacked neatly at the end of the dock. No people are visible, perhaps they are out of view grabbing more belongings from inside.
The bay is a very deep navy blue, but no other colors are shown.
NARRATOR
We left for a circumnavigation when I was two, after he spent a year refitting the boat.
3- Ext. Bay- Late Morning
Viewed from the dock, about two or three people above the ground. There are two silhouettes of elderly people with arms up waving in unison at a boat in the distance. They’re centered on the panel, standing on a dock. It overlooks a bay, so some land and houses form a ring around the water, which is a little brighter in color than before. The sun is higher in the sky, so this panel is much brighter than the last with more contrast. All that can be seen of Someday Came is it’s stern, sails, and mast.
The day is cloudless. Everything besides the bay is black or white.
NARRATOR
...Then we tied off and left.
PA and GRAMMY
(In unison) Bon Voyage!
Come visit soon!
Be safe!
PAGE 2-
The page is broken into five rectangular panels. There are three rows. On the topmost one there are two evenly split rectangular panels, beneath that there is one large and thin rectangular panel, and another two on the bottom most part of the page. Panel three corresponds to the largest and centered panel on the page.
1- Ext. Bahamas- Afternoon
Teal blue ocean spreads out to the shore of an island. It’s deserted and tranquil--palm trees sprout up a few yards away from the white beach. Some of these hang down low onto the sand. There are a few clouds in the sky, but otherwise it is clear.
NARRATOR
So I grew up on the ocean and tropical islands that saw no people but the odd sailor. These places were all I knew.
2- Int. “Underwater” cavern- Day (exact time unknown)
Vibrant blue water under the high and open ceiling of a cavern. Sunlight streams through a large opening, like a natural skylight, in the center of the roof. Several snorkelers in black wetsuits and masks are arranged randomly around the room. On one of them, a female figure, sits a very, very small Violet in attire that is lighter in hue (so she stands out against her mom). Mom and Violet are in the direction of the bottom right corner of the panel.
NARRATOR
My earliest memory involves the sea. We’re in Thunderball Cave. I was only three, and though my mom carried me in on her back, I could already swim on my own.
CAROLINE (SISTER)
Wow, dad, do you see that? It’s so beautiful…
3- Ext. Various Scenes- All Around Noon
Rectangular panel divided into three separate (but related) scenes (they’re arranged like quesadilla slices: upward triangle, downward, upward).
First, half underwater, half below. Violet is snorkeling on the surface in a one-piece, centered on the surface line. Below her is a coral reef.
Second, there is a close up of Violet crawling up the main mast of the boat holding tightly to the ropes. She looks very determined and is smiling.
Third, a stubby little-kid hand is reaching for a large, dark colored cowrie shell on the beach. Nothing else is shown.
NARRATOR
Beaches were my yard, and the boat, my home...
I swam
I climbed
I collected shells
4- Ext. Beach- Late morning or noon (Just a sunny time of day I guess)
Violet, about three or four years old now, is squatting on the sand barefoot in a two-piece bathing suit. She has a stick in her hand and is extending it toward a huge coconut crab. We see her left side. In the background are two people, her parents, dramatically running toward her yelling.
The scene takes place right at the tree line on the beach, so everything is cloaked in a chilly shadow.
NARRATOR
But I was very brave, in that naïve sort of way, and I got into plenty of trouble while adventuring.
MOTHER
NO VIOLET STOP! GET AWAY FROM THE CRAB NOW!
FATHER
Drop the stick, Violet! Come over here!
5- Ext. Underwater- It’s sunny, does the exact time really matter?
Over the shoulder close up shot. Silhouette of 3-4 year old Violet’s back. She’s wearing a snorkel whose tube goes off panel. A man, her father, who’s a distance away and to the top left corner, is beckoning her with an outstretched hand. With the other he is pointing below. The back and the dorsal fin of a (nurse) shark can be seen to Violet’s right in the direction of her father’s pointing.
NARRATOR
I blame my dad for my lack of caution.
FATHER
Violet! Violet! come here. (Smaller text=whispering).
See that…
VIOLET
No what?!
FATHER
Look down there, you see it?
It’s a nurse shark!
VIOLET
What where? Dad, I don’t see it!
PAGE 3-
Nine panel spread. There is one long, skinny rectangular panel across the top of the page. Below this are three trapezoidal panels that split the row on which they are placed. Again, they are like quesadilla slices, with the centermost panel narrowing as it goes down (and vice versa for those to its left and right). Beneath this is a row of four very small squares, all equal in size. The bottommost panel is the same as the first--a long and skinny rectangle.
1- Words against a white background
NARRATOR
No matter how connected to the ocean and beaches I was, however, I had a desperation for the land and its people. I wanted to play with children, adults, and even with animals.
On occasions where my (introverted) family ventured into civilization, I didn’t waste my opportunity to meet people. From my young eyes I saw no social boundaries...
2- Ext. Park in rural village- Noon
Four girls stand together--the three on the left have dark skin and the last (my sister) is light-skinned. All of them are wearing warm-weather clothes (tank tops and the like). One girl has a white flower in her hair and a lollipop stick coming out of her mouth. In addition to these, she has a backpack slung over her left shoulder. This same girl is leaning against my sister (maybe they were friends?)
NARRATOR
Not appearance…
3- Ext. Woman- cloudy late day
Close up of a woman’s upper body. She is wearing a multicolored wrap (green, red, yellow) and her face is painted an orange-yellow with white designs along her cheeks, forehead, chin, and the ridge of her nose. Her eyelids are painted as well and she has dark skin. She’s standing against a tree.
NARRATOR
Or culture…
4- Ext. Village “Square-” Midmorning
Three children--a very young boy, an older girl (maybe seven?), and I--are in a circle holding hands. Some ramshackle buildings can be seen behind them. Every child is barefoot and humming a tune. The sun is hidden behind the clouds, so the whole scene should feel chilly and grey.
NARRATOR
Or language.
VIOLET
Ring around the rosie!
OLDER GIRL AND YOUNGER BOY
(Humming).
5- Ext. Savanna- Morning
Silhouette of a boy and Violet’s heads. One has short, brown hair (he’s on the left side), Violet has chin-length blonde (right side). Between them, through a windshield, an acacia tree can be seen.
BOY AND VIOLET
(In unison) twinkle… Twinkle… (🎶)
6- Ext. Jungle- Cloudy Morning
Closeup of Violet’s face and chest. She has blond hair (with disgustingly cut bangs: thank you so much, Caroline). There’s a lemur (ring-tailed) on her back. Its face is next to her cheek and its black and white tail curls around her neck.
7- Ext. Lawn- No visible time
Closeup of a soccer ball and a foot clad in crocs kicking it. The legs that the foot is attached to are very skinny--like little twigs about to snap--and come from the upper righthand corner. Some other, blurry, legs stand like mangroves in the background (on the top of the panel and mostly to the left).
8- Just a hand and a face in a white background
A hand holding a twisted and skinny vanilla bean with Violet’s tiny face looking at it as though she’s seen the recipe for Reese’s peanut butter cups and memorized every holy detail. She’s drooling.
The hand comes from the left side of the panel, the face in centered vertically to the right.
RICHARD (GUY HOLDING IT)
A vanilla bean for your sock drawer.
9- Words against a white background
Words… against a white background.
NARRATOR
All I wanted was someone to talk to, and this the land offered. In some contradictory way, visiting the populated land became a vacation for me.
PAGE 4-
Five rectangular panels. Two small ones on the top and bottom rows and a longer one that takes up the center of the page. It is two of the smaller panels combined in size.
1- Ext. Dock- Morning
Boxes on a dock. Behind them is a boat with barnacles and a waterline on the side. It’s midmorning, but no one is within the scene.
NARRATOR
Everything comes to an end at some point, however, and so too did my toddler years at sea.
2- Ext. Sign- Afternoon
By some asphalt is a white sign that simply reads in red lettering “FOR SALE (SOLD!).” A few weeds or sprigs of grass grow up around its base.
NARRATOR
After returning from our circumnavigation, my parents decided to leave Providence and move closer to my grandparents.
3- Ext. Front porch- Afternoon
The silhouettes of a Violet’s and her significantly taller sister’s backs are in front of a porch. It has white columns with cobwebs between them and large windows with only darkness beyond. Two bushes with empty planters in their centers are on either side of them.
The sisters are dead center, or just below dead center, on the panel.
NARRATOR
...And moved to the countryside in Virginia to start a lavender farm.
VIOLET
I hate it here! Let’s go back to the other house!
CAROLINE (SISTER)
Why? I think it’s super pretty, Violet.
VIOLET
NO! It’s gross.
And creepy too…
4- Ext. Hills- late day
Rolling hills surrounded by forest--the view is taken from an angled aerial shot, definitely higher than the roof in height, but lower than commercial airlines fly. Bird’s view, I suppose. There are clouds on the horizon.
NARRATOR
We were so far from the ocean...
4- Ext. Yard- Late Day
A large expanse of vibrant emerald grass with trees scattered at the far end of it. Violet stands, tugging her father’s arm, who is on her right.
Their backs are to us, and they’re mostly on the right of the panel.
VIOLET
Dad, why do we have grass?
NARRATOR
...And it was very different here.