E.T. Page #11

EXT:
FOREST: NIGHT

"We have to go now E.T. It's so late already," Elliott says as both he and

E.T. sadly gaze into the sky.

[Their objective of receiving a return signal has not been achieved. Their

sadness at failure creates empathy for them in the audience.]

Elliott coughs from being out in the cold, damp air.

[This is a setup for the later scenes when both Elliott and E.T. are

deathly ill.]

Elliott repeats that they really have to go home, but E.T. ignores him and

has a sad expression on his face as he stares up to the sky. Elliott tells

them that he has to give them some time. E.T. responds by saying "ouch,"

signifying that he feels pain. A small fawn watches them from a distance.

[The jeopardy in the scene is due to their being so late. Mary will be very

angry and they face the obstacle of getting E.T. back into the house

without being discovered. The fawn generates feelings of sympathy in the

audience which is transferred to E.T. The audience also empathizes with the

sadness they feel at failing to make contact. For now, supposedly, E.T.

won't be able to go home.]

"You could be happy here. I could take care of you," says Elliott

tearfully. I wouldn't let anybody hurt you. We could grow up together,

E.T."

[Elliott states his primary objective: to always have E.T. with him.]

"Home, Home," says E.T.

[E.T. states his primary objective: to go home.]

Elliott sits down and cries. E.T. touches one of his tears.

[The audience empathizes with the sadness of both characters.]

EXT:
FOREST: NIGHT

It's morning. Elliott is asleep as he leans against a large rock. He is

covered with a blanket as the wet forest mist surrounds him. Next to him

lies E.T.'s communication device.

Elliott coughs, gets up, tugs on the rope which activates the device, then

looks around for E.T. but can't find him.

[The new objective: where is E.T. and what has happened to him? This is

also the new question that will maintain the audience's interest.]

INT:
ELLIOTT'S HOUSE: DAY

Mary opens the refrigerator door and puts back a carton of milk. Mike and

Gertie sit besides her. A policeman asks Mary how Elliott was dressed when

she last saw him. Mary tells him that he was dressed as a hunchback. The

policeman, whose face is not shown (I suppose so that the audience will

associate him as "one of them"), asks Mary if there is any indication that

he might have run away? Were there any family problems or recent arguments?

Mary explains that she and her husband had just separated and that this has

not been easy on the kids.

"My father is in Mexico," says Gertie.

[This scene generates empathy for the whole family.]

Mary slams the refrigerator door shut, thereby revealing Elliott standing

behind it. White light floods onto him making him look ghastly. Mary hugs

him as Mike and Gertie join them.

[The audience is relieved and overjoyed with Elliott's safe return.]

"Oh Elliott," she says as she hugs him. "Don't ever do this again, Elliott.

You're so hot."

Elliott is feverish from spending the night outside. Mary tells Gertie to

go upstairs and draw him a bath. Mary walks over to the policeman (whose

face is still unseen) and thanks him for his concern.

Elliott asks Mike if E.T. is in the house. Mike shakes his head, indicating

no. Elliot pleads with Mike to find him. He's somewhere in the forest near

the bald spot.

[This is the new objective: find E.T. and bring him back.]

EXT:
STREET: DAY

Mike rides the bicycle with the basket in front down the driveway and into

the street, past a car filled with waiting men. The car starts and follows

Mike. He looks behind and realizes that he is being pursued.

[This is a standard chase scene, with a friend who is trying to save the

life of the protagonist being pursued. Both he and the protagonist are in

jeopardy. Mike's new sub-objective is to lose those who are following him.]

Mike cuts through a backyard and into an alley behind some houses. The car

follows him. Mike then rides up an embankment and drives off in the

opposite direction, leaving the car stranded behind.

[He successfully accomplished his subobjective.]

EXT:
FOREST: DAY

Mike rides through the forest as he calls out E.T.'s name. He stops and

searches for E.T. Mike finds the abandoned communication device, then runs

up a path and discovers E.T.'s white sheet hanging from the open gate.

[The blue-orange colors of E.T.'s communication device are the same colors

that Spielberg chose the logo of his production company, AMBLIN

ENTERTAINMENT.]

[This is the same gate near the landing site that the characters ran past

in the opening sequence.]

In another part of the forest, Mike rides his bike on a ridge above a

stream. E.T lies in the water below, is skin discolored to that of sickly

white. Mike sees him, grabs the sheet, then runs down the embankment. A

raccoon wanders near E.T. Mike shouts him away, then covers E.T. Mike hears

the sounds of a helicopter above him and looks up at the sky.

[Mike has achieved his objective: he has found E.T. But, danger hovers

above him in the unseen presence of the ever observing antagonist.]

EXT:
ELLIOTT'S HOUSE: DAY

The shadow of a man falls on the driveway. The sound of keys jangling is

heard.

[High jeopardy:
the antagonist is about to invade the home of the

protagonist.]

INT:
ELLIOTT'S HOUSE: DAY

Mike is in the hallway as Mary walks up the stairs. She has a cup of coffee

in her hand.

[The cup is a prop which will be used to reveal Mary's emotions.]

He wants her to come with him. He asks her if she remembers the goblin. He

tries to get her to make a promise, but she is annoyed with him.

INT:
BATHROOM: DAY

Michael then opens the door to the bathroom. Elliott is sitting on the

floor as Gertie sits on the counter. They are both looking into the

bathtub. Mary smiles as she walks into the bathroom with the cup of coffee

in her hand. Then she sees E.T. on the floor. He is a sickly white. He

extends his arms out towards her. Mary is stunned, as she turns the cup

over and coffee pours out onto the floor.

[Here a character's non-verbal action with a prop reveals her true

emotional state. She has lost it.]

"He's sick. I think we're dying," says Elliott. Mary covers her mouth. Mike

tries to tell her that E.T. won't harm them, but she orders him to take

Gertie downstairs. Gertie cries that he's the man from the moon as Mike

picks her up and carries her downstairs.

[Elliott, clothed only in white long-john underwear, is visually almost

identical to the ghastly white-colored E.T.]

Mary picks up Elliott and carries him out of the room as E.T. groans and

reaches out for them.

[Mary's objective is to save her family from the alien in her home.]

INT:
ELLIOTT'S HOUSE: DAY

Mary carries Elliott down the stairs. He protests that she can't leave E.T.

alone. Michael runs down the stairs with Gertie on his back. He opens the

door, freezes, then backs away. Mary, with Elliott in her arms, approaches

the door and is confronted by a man in a spacesuit.

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