127 Hours Page #7

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BIG C/U:
VARIOUS.

... of all these elements - these are now his only companions

and their POV of him reflects that as he tests each one for

its potential, opening all the blades and laying them out to

look at them; sunglasses - scratched, bike Ulok key, rock

climbing harness, cloth goggles bag, rapelling equipment,

water bottle, car keys, plastic grocery bag, empty de-

hydration pack, money, credit cards, green and yellow

climbing rope in black zippers bag, a stick, stones and sand.

Everything.

Pause. He stares at it all and it all stares back at him.

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C/U:
DIGITAL NUMERALS.

3.28, changes to 3.29

HARD ENERGY CUT:

TO:

INT. CANYON FLOOR. DAY.

Inside the tiny gap we see... his headlamp flick on to let

him assess the rock and the wall and his hand in between it.

He picks a point and begins to chip away with the knife.

He's back - energy, movement, purpose, action makes him

happy. He occasionally stops to look at his left hand,

swollen and puffy and constantly in need of flexing. He gets

into a rhythm of 'tick,tick,tick', flex and back again,

`tick,tick,tick'

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TIGHTER C/U:
DIGITAL NUMERALS.

4.19pm, changes to 4.20

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23.

INT. CANYON FLOOR. DAY.

In a huge close up of this eye he can see in the foreground

that there's a pile of steel filings from the knife itself,

almost as big as the dust from the ground -

ARON:

Not good.

He blows the whole lot into our face with a mighty gust.

ARON (CONT'D)

When in a hole....

Alternative; he starts digging away at the wall instead, same

result.

ARON (CONT'D)

F***. It's hard as iron.

Pause.

You're gonna have to cut your arm

off.

As if to answer that idea we...

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INT. CANYON FLOOR. DAY.

Tapping a rock in his hand onto the top of the knife as he

balances it against the wall or with his mouth. Weird close

angles as he almost taps the side of his eye socket.

Suddenly, he hammers down with ten times more force onto the

handle of the knife, the rock explodes in his hand, showering

pick dust over everything, and bouncing the knife off the

rock. Once again, gravity takes over. The knife hits his

shorts and as he moves to grab it, he misses it and knocks it

further round the back of his leg. He pivots and turns to try

and catch it but gravity is quicker than his restricted twist

and it falls into a hole between the rounded rocks near his

left foot -

ARON:

NO, NO!

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INT. CANYON FLOOR. DAY.

The knife is visible in the crack below and behind his right

leg but he can't twist to get anywhere near it. He tries to

pull the canyon wall off balance to get closer. No chance.

24.

ARON:

Sh*t!

He pulls off his right sock and shoe and tries to squeeze his

foot into the hole. Too big. Size 10. He looks upward. He

can't believe he's done it.

ARON (CONT'D)

Sh*t!!!

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INT. BENEATH CANYON FLOOR.

We're on a level with the knife in the little hole beneath

his feet. An enormous overhead light switches on (Aron's

headlamp placed above to let him see). The stick enters from

top of screen and nudges the knife in a semi circle. It's a

bit Punch and Judy if it wasn't so f***ing serious. Huge

shadows. No success. The knife remains where it is. Maybe an

ant races across it.

Pause.

The stick withdraws.

PAUSE:

The stick re-enters with the top of it almost broken off,

acting like a hook, we push in on the knife as the stick

hooks through the little ring at the end of the knife. It

lifts.

CUT TO:

INT. ARON IN CANYON. DAY.

Looking down onto the ground, around his leg, his toes

holding the stick like a chopstick lift the knife out and up

tremulously, breathlessly, towards his good arm. He picks it

off the stick gently. Big smile. First one.

ARON:

Sweet.

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25.

TITLE OVER WIDE INT CANYON. NIGHT:

" SATURDAY NIGHT ":

We pass through the transparent title on our way along the

canyon. Half dark. We're on a wind blowing dust through the

canyon walls, to find a miner in the distance digging into

the rock. It's Aron of course, and his head-lamp is filled

with the dust swirling through. He's using the shorter file

from the multi tool and has tied a shoe lace to his wrist and

looped through the ring at the end of the tool. He pulls his

cap down, to keep most of the dust out of his eyes. His lips

are caked but he keeps blowing on his arm, to keep it clear.

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