BLUES IN EXISTENCE

A short film by
Megan Darlow

PRODUCTION SCRIPT
May 7th, 2024
© 2024 Megan Darlow
All rights reserved
 Blues in Existence
2.

BLUES IN EXISTENCE

CAST

NOAH AINSLEY A teenage boy struggling

I. with a drug addiction.

PETER AINSLEY The father of Noah.

 Blues in Existence

1.

SCENE ONE: INT. DINING ROOM – DAY (FLASHBACK)

The shot opens with a close-up of a birthday cake candle being

lit by a middle-aged blonde WOMAN.

The CAMERA trails in front of the woman as she ambles, holding

a bright green cake with ‘Happy Birthday’ written across the
centre. The CAMERA zooms to a medium shot of YOUNG NOAH sat at
the dining table wearing a colourful party hat. Behind him,
there is a wall of bunting reading ‘Happy Birthday Noah!’.

The WOMAN places the perfect cake on the wooden dining table,
in front of YOUNG NOAH. A big smile is drawn across YOUNG
NOAH’s face as his family begin chanting and cheering in
synchronization.

ALL

Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you!

I Happy Birthday dear Noah! Happy Birthday to I
ii you!

The crowd cheer and clap loudly. YOUNG NOAH takes a deep
breath in and releases it, turning his head slightly as he
begins blowing out every candle on the cake. The cheering
fades out.

INT. DINING ROOM – DAY

The shot transitions into the modern-day NOAH blowing out the
candles on his dull, plain seventeenth birthday cake. His dad
claps softly.

NOAH AINSLEY is a newly seventeen-year-old boy, a quiet kid

most of the time. He has a drug addiction, hidden from his
dad. NOAH is the kind of boy that would always put others
before himself – he is not his own priority. The lack of self-
care from the boy has always been present, from a young age he
had been sharing his favourite toys and snacks with his
friends.

PETER walks behind him, gently brushing a smooth hand on his

shoulder.
 Blues in Existence
2.

PETER

(softly) Happy Birthday mate.

He walks slowly out of the door to the right of NOAH. NOAH

stays frozen for a second, peering over his shoulder to the
door.

PETER AINSLEY is a fairly small, kind man in his mid 50s. A

father to NOAH, he is a caring soul. Despite this, his
determination for his work is often overpowering, making him
oblivious to his sons hidden addiction.

The CAMERA remains stationary as NOAH shoves his chair out of

the way and exits the room in anger.

INT. NOAH’S ROOM – DAY

Rock music plays loudly.

NOAH enters his room and grabs a large, green handheld bag,
frantically shoving handfuls of clothing inside. He stops
momentarily, staring at an old photograph of his parents and
him, laced with a wooden frame.

The CAMERA switches to a close-up of the wholesome picture.

The CAMERA then moves to a POV shot of NOAH looking upset.

He places the picture in his bag softly and drops his bag to
the floor beside his bed. NOAH hovers over the desk in front
of him, picking up a pen and scribbling a note to his father.

The CAMERA shows a close-up shot of the pen tracing along the
paper. The CAMERA tracks the boy in a medium shot.

NOAH scoops up his full bag once again, and hurries along out
of the doorway, slamming the door carelessly behind him.
 Blues in Existence
3.

INT. DOWNSTAIRS HALLWAY – DAY

The CAMERA shows a close-up of NOAH feet dragging down the

bottom of the stairs. The CAMERA switches to a long stationary
shot displaying the well-lit hallway. Beams of light can be
seen, sparking from the side.

NOAH walks vastly towards the plain front-door. PETER peers

around the corner of a door to the right, as his son heads
towards the front-door.

PETER

Where are you going?

NOAH remains turned towards the door.

NOAH

(bitterly) Out.

PETER holds his hands out in a shrugging motion. The CAMERA

switches to a medium shot of PETER as he looks disheartened.

PETER

(confused) Where abouts? We were supposed to

iiiiii go out for dinner. Your friends can come
iiiiiii too.

NOAH spins around quickly, dodging eye contact with his

father.

NOAH

(interrupting) Don’t you get it?

PETER holds his shoulders high, shrugging. The CAMERA moves to

a medium shot of NOAH as he throws his hands out in front of
him.
 Blues in Existence
4.

NOAH (CONT’D)

(aggressively) I don’t want to be here, in

iii. this house.

NOAH shakes his head and begins walking out of the door again.
PETER begins walking towards him.

PETER

You could have told me, we are close,

iiiiiii aren’t we? Are you going to throw away your
iiiiii birthday over this?

NOAH whips around and points at PETER.

NOAH

See! You’re doing it again. Your always

iiiiiiiii. controlling me!

PETER

Can we talk it out, at least?

His words fizzle out and PETER is left there standing

motionless. The door slams loudly behind NOAH.

EXT. NOAH’S CAR – DAY

The CAMERA displays a side view medium shot of NOAH as he

drives vastly down country lanes, one fragile hand stuck out
of the window and the other placed centrally at the top of the
steering wheel.

The CAMERA then fades to an exterior shot of only the boy’s

hand flying out of the window. A cigarette can be seen
clutched within his hand.

The CAMERA moves to a still, establishing/birds eye view shot

of the car driving.
 Blues in Existence
5.

The CAMERA fades to a close-up of the boys eyeline through the

car’s rear-view mirror.

INT. AINSLEY’S LIVING ROOM – DUSK

PETER is staring remorsefully at picture of NOAH spread over

the smooth green wall in front of him. Each picture frame is
sat in a puzzle-like position, a neat display of nostalgic
images.

The CAMERA presents a medium shot of the back of PETER’s head

amongst the carefully placed picture frames.

The CAMERA then shows close-ups of each of the images

individually, with a steady zoom in. The CAMERA fades into a
long shot.

PETER preciously takes a seat on the plain sofa chair behind

him and carefully places his thin reading glasses at the base
of his nose. The man cautiously picks up the screwed up note
that sat on the table beside where he lay.

NOAH (V.O.)

I have to leave town for a while, it won’t

iiiiiiii. be forever. I need some time alone.

The CAMERA moves to a close-up of the written note being held

tight in his hands. This transitions into an over the shoulder
shot.

NOAH (V.O.)(CONT’D)

I need help and I’m not getting any here.

Iiiii. Don’t blame it on yourself. Be back soon.
Iiii. Love you dad.

The CAMERA moves to a POV shot of the man’s face in a

centralised frame.

PETER takes off his glasses and wipes his eyes softly with his
thumb and index finger.
 Blues in Existence
6.

The CAMERA moves to a medium shot as he places the piece of

paper beside him.

PETER stares in the direction of the door remorsefully.

INT. AINSLEY’S HALLWAY – DAY (FLASHBACK)

The CAMERA pans to a long shot of the full and patterned

hallway, with the white door stood central. The shot has a
soft nostalgic glow.

YOUNG NOAH leaps passionately through the doorway with a big

smile drawn along his face. His dad trails behind him, placing
a gentle hand across YOUNG NOAH’s back, guiding him forwards.
PETER closes the door and the two walk down the hallway, out
of shot. Soft giggles fade out as the two disappear.

INT. AINSLEY’S HALLWAY - DUSK

The CAMERA fades to a similar shot of the centralised door,

but this time the hallway is bare and lifeless, with the door
remaining closed.

The CAMERA switches back to a medium shot. PETER is slouched

on the sofa chair with an emotional expression.

EXT: EMPTY PETROL STATION. - NIGHT

NOAH is filling up his grey car with petrol, his forest green
bag can be seen through the back window - stuffed in the back
of the boot.

The CAMERA presents a medium/cowboy shot, subtly zooming into

NOAH as he holds the handle of the pump with one hand.

NOAH turns his shoulder confidently and stares at the screen.

He raises his hand and pushes the machine with an aggressive
look settled on his face. NOAH takes out the pump and returns
it to its original position, closing the petrol door quickly.
 Blues in Existence
7.

NOAH jumps in the car without paying and speeds into the
distance. A worker can be seen running out of the shop,
attempting to stop the boy. The worker eventually stops a few
paces from the petrol tanks, waving his hands in the air
erratically before placing them on his hips.

EXT. SIDE OF THE ROAD - NIGHT

The bright headlights of NOAH’s car can be seen lighting the

pavement ahead of them. Music is playing loudly out of his
car. NOAH is laying carelessly on the bonnet of his car,
smoking once again. He takes a big exhale and laughs, throwing
the cigarette to the side.

The CAMERA presents a medium shot.

NOAH reaches for his phone to the side, sitting up slightly.

He glances at the number of messages and missed calls from
friends and family.

The CAMERA shows a close-up of the phone as he scrolls through

the relentless messages. Then, switches to a medium shot.

NOAH lifts his phone to his ear and leans back to the car. A
voicemail from his day plays.

PETER (V.O.)

(a heavy breath) Hi Noah. It’s your dad.

The shot fades out to a black screen.

INT. NOAH’S ROOM - NIGHT

The darkness is lit as PETER clicks the main light switch in

his son’s bland room.

PETER (V.O.)(CONT’D)

I know that you don’t want to speak with

iii. me. Or anyone really. But please, call me
----- back. I need to know that you are safe.
 Blues in Existence
8.

PETER looks to the left, staring at the messy bed covers

spread across the mattress in disappointment. He is missing
his son’s presence, shadowed in guilt.

PETER takes a seat on the bed, placing his hands either side
of him. Looking to the side, he uncovers several tiny plastic
bags from the bedsheets. They are filled with colourless
powders.

The CAMERA pans to a close-up of the bags spread along the

sheets. Emotional music plays. The CAMERA fades to a medium,
tracking shot of PETER.

PETER has a brief sense of realisation, before pinching a bag

between his fingers and clutching it in the palm of his hand.
His eyes tear up as he stands up and storms out of the room.

INT. STUDY ROOM - NIGHT

PETER’s face is lit by the brightness of the old laptop sat in

front of him – his reddened face laced with teary eyes. He is
scrolling through the search engine with a determined look on
his face.

The CAMERA briefly shows a centralised close-up of PETER’s

face with a shot of his small computer screen fading through.
Fast tempo music fades in. The scrolling gets progressively
faster until the mouse settles on the link to a recovery
website. The phone number can be seen in big writing in the
centre of the screen.

The CAMERA switches to a long shot, slowly zooming in, of the

man sat solitary in a blank room, with the only source of
light being from his laptop. The music silences.

PETER picks up the small phone to the right of him, comforted

in a black leather case, and dials the number on the screen.
Quiet ringing can be heard, accompanied by a faint voice.

The CAMERA fades out. The screen turns black for multiple
seconds. A note trails across the screen.

ON-SCREEN TEXT

Three weeks later.

 Blues in Existence

9.
INT. AINSLEY’S DINING ROOM - DAWN

There is a long shot of the endless hills at dawn. Trees are

leaning from the gentle breeze. The sky is a blanket of blue,
not a cloud in sight. The birds can be heard chirping loudly.

The CAMERA fades into a medium shot.

PETER is slouched at the wooden dining table. He is not his

normal self - with thick stains painted across his shirt,
scruffy hair and odd socks, almost as though he had not left
his seat for weeks. Dirty dishes can be spotted beside the
sink in the distance.

Yellow flecks of light burst through the gaps in the blinds,

lighting a silhouette of PETER. The man is sat with an empty
plate in front of him. The doorbell rings.

The CAMERA remain stationary as PETER edges from his seat,

reluctant to stand up. He walks out of frame.

INT: AINSLEY’S HALLWAY - DAWN

The CAMERA displays a long shot of PETER moving briskly down

the hallway. As he reaches the door, the CAMERA shows an
extreme close-up/POV shot of the door’s peephole, as the cover
is brushed out of the way.

NOAH can be seen standing motionless, his arms held low. A big
bag, a quarter full peeks over his shoulder.

The CAMERA turns to a long shot of the doorway.

PETER whips open the doorway, stepping a foot outside to help

his son in. He places one arm around NOAH’s lower back, and
the other on the door beside him. He is met with an
unfathomable stench.

NOAH is dressed in half-ripped clothes, with numerous stains.

He is shoeless. The boy’s face is painted with bruises and
dirt. His navy-blue t-shirt is holding on by a thread, torn
with holes.

PETER and NOAH stumble into the house limping. They plod down
the hallway.
 Blues in Existence
10.

INT. AINSLEY’S DINING ROOM/KITCHEN - DAWN

The CAMERA presents a medium shot of the table.

The room is struck by silence. There is a yellow silhouette of

NOAH sat at the right side of the dining table. A gentle tread
of footsteps pierces the silence.

PETER ambles into the frame, holding two full green mugs. He
places the first mug ahead of NOAH, with the second following
him to his own seat. They both slump in silence for a few
seconds, taking sips of tea every now and then.

The CAMERA moves to a medium shot of PETER sat to the left.

PETER

(taking a deep breath) So…

There is an echo of silence. NOAH looks down at the table,

shadowed in guilt. PETER moves his head from side to side,
aiming to make eye contact.

The CAMERA switches to a long shot of NOAH and PETER sat

opposite each other.

PETER (CONT’D)

Are you back for good, now?

The CAMERA displays a medium shot of NOAH

NOAH lifts his head for a brief moment, before returning it

back to its position.

PETER (CONT’D)

(stumbling for words) Listen, I…

NOAH

(interrupting) Dad, I want to go to rehab.

 Blues in Existence

11.

The CAMERA moves to a long shot of the two sat left and right
of the frame.

A sympathetic smile forms along PETER’s face. The two hold eye
contact.

THE END