8mm Page #5

INT. MISSING PERSONS ARCHIVE, FILE ROOM -- DAY

Director leads Welles into this RESEARCH ROOM, a small

library with long tables, old COMPUTERS, lots of FILE

CABINETS and CARD CATALOGS. Secretaries tend to the files.

DIRECTOR:

This is it. It's not much.

(points at computers)

We've got less than five percent on

computer and we lose that funding in

December. I'll have someone show it

to you anyway. Other than that, I'm

afraid it's the wet thumb method.

Welles looks to the many, many file drawers.

DIRECTOR:

Files are mostly by state and year

of disappearance. We try to keep

the children and adults separate.

No eating or smoking in here, but

there's a coffee machine in the hall.

WELLES:

Any good?

DIRECTOR:

It's horrible, but it'll be your

best friend after a few days. I

hope you realize what kind of long

shot you're chasing after.

WELLES:

You're gonna be seeing a lot of me.

You're sure you don't mind?

DIRECTOR:

It's good what you're doing.

The director puts out his hand. Welles looks, shakes.

INT. MISSING PERSONS ARCHIVE, FILE ROOM -- DAY -- MONTAGE

ON A COMPUTER SCREEN: files open and close -- PICTURE after

PICTURE of a MISSING CHILDREN, mostly teenagers, each with

physical description, age, date of disappearance, etc. Lost

souls, although these are posed portraits, high school

yearbook photos and vacation photos, so the children are

mostly smiling, happy and healthy. But, all "MISSING."

Welles works the computer keyboard and mouse...

ON THE SCREEN:
the FACES of TEENAGERS, boys and girls, one

after the other, MISSING... MISSING... MISSING...

INT. CLEVELAND PUBLIC LIBRARY -- DAY -- MONTAGE

Welles searches the SHELVES of the LIBRARY. He begins

taking down various books...

"Motion Picture Photography." "Film Stocks and Physical

Characteristics." "Super 8 Filmmaking."

INT. CLEVELAND PUBLIC LIBRARY -- LATER -- MONTAGE

In Welles' notepad: "SUPRAlux 544."

Welles sits paging through technical photography books.

INT. WELLES' ROOM -- NIGHT -- MONTAGE

Welles has the 8MM FILM threaded through the projector. He

turns the CLATTERING projector on and sits, watching.

ON THE WALL:
FLASH FRAMES, then... the skinny GIRL in a

negligee, sitting on the bed. The CAMERA'S SPOTLIGHT casts

long shadows. The girl stares, oblivious...

ON THE WALL:
a door opens behind the girl, looks like a

bathroom, and the MASKED MAN enters, wearing the ghastly

WRESTLING MASK. The man goes to stand in front of the

girl. He seems to be saying something. The FILM halts.

Welles sits forward, hand on the projector. He's seen

something. He PLAYS the FILM in REVERSE...

ON THE WALL:
the Masked Man walks backwards, away from the

girl, backwards into the bathroom, door shutting...

Welles stops the projector, not taking his eyes from the

image. He ADVANCES the film FRAME BY FRAME...

FRAME BY FRAME... as the bathroom door opens, and the Masked

Man enters... FRAME BY FRAME... as the Masked Man moves

forward... door closing behind him... STOP...

FREEZE FRAME:
a THIRD MAN is reflected in the bathroom

mirror. Grainy and blurred, but he's in the room with the

girl, standing there, captured in the mirror in this one

brief instant just before the bathroom door closes.

Welles walks to take a closer look, studying the almost

ethereal image of the Third Man.

EXT. CLEVELAND STREET CORNER -- DAY -- MONTAGE

Welles is in a PHONE BOOTH, feeds many quarters into the

phone, waiting, looking at his notepad.

WELLES:

(into PHONE)

Hello, Mrs. Christian? Tom Welles.

Here's where we stand. I checked

the film stock and it's called Supra-

lux 544. The company that made that

stock discontinued it in '92...

(listens)

Yeah, about five or six years ago.

Anyway, do what you can to dig up

your husband's old financial

records, look for anything out of

the ordinary...

INT. MISSING PERSONS ARCHIVE, FILE ROOM -- DAY -- MONTAGE

Welles is back at the computer, alone, drinking coffee.

ON THE COMPUTER:
endless PHOTOS of MISSING CHILDREN.

The PHONE CALL CONTINUES in VOICE OVER:

WELLES (V.O., cont)

Nobody really uses eight millimeter

film anymore, so we can assume there

are reasons our guys did. First,

they could develop it themselves if

they had any sort of expertise.

Obviously, this isn't the kind of

movie you can just drop off at the

one-hour photo...

INT. WELLES' ROOM -- NIGHT -- MONTAGE

Welles just stands, staring at the PHOTO of the GIRL.

WELLES (V.O., cont)

Second, the film that went through

the camera is what we've got.

There's no negative. Unlike video,

it wasn't meant to be duplicated.

No reason for them to risk having

more than one copy of their murder

floating around...

INT. CLEVELAND BAR -- NIGHT -- MONTAGE

Local bar. Welles sits drinking with the archive's

director, talking, smiling at something the director said.

WELLES (V.O., cont)

There don't seen to be many

fingerprints on the film itself, but

I'm going to have to be careful to

leave them intact...

INT. MISSING PERSON ARCHIVE, FILE ROOM -- DAY -- MONTAGE

Welles is tired, unshaven. He's moved on to the physical

files, at one table, looking through HUNDREDS of MISSING

PERSON BULLETINS. Secretaries tend to other files.

WELLES (V.O., cont)

It's okay for yours and your

husbands fingerprints to be on the

film, but you'll have to use me as

a middleman if you go to the police.

That way I don't have to explain why

my prints are on it...

INT. WELLES' ROOM -- DAY -- MONTAGE

Welles sits with the PROJECTOR ON, watching the film again.

WELLES (V.O., cont)

There were three men. Two are

obvious; the man in the mask and the

man running the camera, but I caught

a glimpse of a third man in a

mirror. It's nothing that can be

used for identification, but he was

there, watching...

ON THE WALL:
Masked Man touches the girl's mouth, presses

his lips to hers. Masked Man backs away, leaving frame,

till the CAMERA MOVES to find Masked Man standing at a table

with THREE large BOWIE KNIFES laid out...

Welles notices something, puts the projector on FREEZE FRAME.

WELLES (V.O., cont)

So, there were three. They would

have kept it small, wouldn't have

let anyone in on it they didn't have

to. That's all for now... except,

I feel I should tell you... with

this looking like it happened at

least five or six years ago...

Welles walks to the frozen IMAGE on the wall. It shows the

Masked Man's hands in frame, fingering the blades.

WELLES (V.O., cont)

Well, it's not very likely we'll

ever find out who this girl was.

(listens)

I will, I'll keep trying. Goodbye.

V.O. PHONE CALL ends with the SOUND of the PHONE HANGING UP.

ON THE WALL:
there's a DARK SPOT on Masked Man's hand, on

the arch between his index finger and thumb. Grainy and

hard to make out, but looks like a small TATTOO.

INT. WELLES ROOM, BATHROOM -- NIGHT -- END MONTAGE

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