127 Hours Page #5

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EXT. C/U ARON'S EARS. DAY.

Suddenly, louder than loud, the sound of fanatical 5,000

strong applause at the Phish live concert in Las Vegas, fills

his head and ours.

He's heard it many times as he alternatively

anticipates/answers all the dialogue preamble mixed over the

applause...

CD RECORDING:

Good evening Las Vegas... are you

having a good time? Are you ready

for PHISH!

Whether we are or not, the first song begins on a wave of

adoration from his fellow Phish fans. He sings along.

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16.

EXT. BLUE JOHN CANYON. SHORT SLOT ENTRY. DAY.

Aron keeps descending, the canyon walls growing taller and

closer, into the narrowing slot canyon.

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EXT. BLUE JOHN CANYON. S-SHAPED LOG. DAY.

A dry waterfall, many months since it's seen rain. A drop of

maybe 12/15 ft with no obvious climb down. Way beyond his

reach and jammed into the walls of the canyon is an enormous

S-shaped log, sand bleached and wind dried it looks like a

massive reptile making its way down the canyon. Beyond it,

Aron can see his route down disappearing into narrowing

darkness.

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EXT. CANYON WALL. DAY.

To reduce the drop he scrambles down clinging to the edge,

pushes away and drops the final 6 feet or so landing in a

fine cloud of sand. Nothing to it, second nature.

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EXT. S-SHAPED LOG. DAY.

PHOTOTIME:

He snaps the log now arching above him well out of reach.

TITLE.

" 2:
41pm. Sat April 26th. 2003 "

ARON:

Won't be coming back this way.

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INT. SLOT CANYON. DAY (NOTE: FROM HERE ON CANYON SHOTS INT.)

He spins and continues, seeing the first huge chockstones,

the size of vans, their noses buried in the floor of the

canyon like unexploded bombs. He easily scrambles over one

and around another-tight fit but he's skinny.

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17.

INT. DEEPER INTO THE CANYON. DAY.

The slot is now just 4ft wide and as he stops to look at

massive tree logs jammed at strange angles high above him and

silhouetted against the blue cloudless sky, he drinks deeply

from his water bottle.

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INT. CANYON RIM. LOOKING DOWN. DAY.

On we go and so does the concert. He pumps the air unaware

as we track above him - it's like the canyon in Star Wars and

he's Anakin feeling the force. One set of chockstones leads

to another and he rapidly negotiates them like an obstacle

race - until there's one the size of a big refrigerator which

has been stopped by the walls 18 inches from the floor.

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INT. CANYON. CHOCKSTONES. DAY.

Over or under? He drops to his belly and squeezes

underneath, rucking the sandy floor in front of him. He's

halfway, his chest rising out the far side when suddenly he

can't move. The music jams and loops on 2 notes like bad

techno. He pushes but nothing.

He reaches back with his hand and releases a part of his

rucksack strap that's snagged. And the music releases too.

He squat-jumps out and brushes off the sand.

No panic -a nothing moment.

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INT. SLOT CANYON. DAY.

Now it's steeper. We're already 60ft below ground level and

it's falling away further in front of us. Another drink and

the map is out.

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INT/EXT. SILHOUETTE PROFILE. CROSS SECTION OF CANYON. DAY.

We see a section of the canyon and the tiny figure of Aron

moving within it. We track in and elide into a graphic view

of him chimneying his way along the canyon now only 3 ft wide

at most. It's a chance to see his skill and thirst for

climbing. And to see how deep he's going.

18.

He uses his legs, back and natural body weight to body walk

along and down the towering walls.

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INT. SLOT CANYON. DAY.

He's moving towards a final chockstone below him jammed in

the gap. You can see the way he's thinking: it's about the

size of a bus wheel and used as a platform will help him

reduce the 10 foot drop and get quickly down into the next

section.

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INT. SLOT CANYON. DAY.

He reaches it at the same time we do and kicks fiercely,

automatically, to make sure it's solid.

ARON:

Yep.

And across he steps onto it. It holds.

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INT. CANYON FROM UNDERNEATH SILHOUETTED AGAINST SKY. DAY.

As before he squats and clambers down the back side of the

stone to reduce his drop down.

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INT. CANYON. DAY. C/U TIGHT ON ARON.

Just as he dangles there's a scraping sound, small but close,

too close and the stone judders towards him, pulled by the

torque of his weight on his side, rotating.

Instantly and instinctively he lets go and drops. Like he's

trying to detach a mine dragging him to the sea floor.

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