The Death Artist Page #2

---

OLDER MAN:

I've heard you can find some

cutting edge pieces here if you

keep an eye out -

OLDER WOMAN:

I'd like to find something for

our den, something unusual -

CUFF:

Well maybe these works might

interest you -

Cuff shows the woman the photographs - she reacts to them with

disdain -

POV they are pictures of various ROAD KILLS - squirrels, skunks,

possums -

CUFF:

It's our road kill series. I take

the pictures.

LINK:

(proudly)

I do the research.

The woman hands back the photographs -

OLDER WOMAN:

Not quite what I was looking for.

OLDER MAN:

Yes, we're interested in something

with some investment potential -

CUFF:

Hey, this is no supermarket,

there are no aisles, it's all

in the attitude -

Walter approaches -

LINK:

Yeah that's a dead soul way to

look at it -

OLDER WOMAN:

Nonsense. We have developed many

a rapport with struggling artists -

we're very supportive -

WALTER:

"All that is comes through the eye

of the artist - the rest are blind

fish, swimming in the cave of

aloneness."

The four people stare at Walter -

OLDER WOMAN:

That's very deep, and coming from a

bus boy too -

WALTER:

"Feed them that you will be satisfied -

the artist is, all others are not -"

OLDER MAN:

Where have I heard that before?

OLDER WOMAN:

Are you a poet also?

WALTER:

Uh...no. No I'm not.

OLDER MAN:

What do you do?

WALTER:

Well, uh, I'm...working, I've

been working on something, it's

not ready yet.

CUFF:

What is it, a crying clown?

WALTER:

Huh?!

LINK:

Walter must have bought himself

some crayons.

Leonard approaches, looking exasperated -

CUFF:

Get out of here, man. We're

negotiating a deal.

WALTER:

I am working on something! I'm

going to show you soon!

LEONARD:

Walter!

Leonard gets close to him -

LEONARD:

(under his breath)

You're starting to try my

patience!

Walter sheepishly heads off - the two artists laugh -

The older woman looks at Leonard -

OLDER WOMAN:

Is he, uh?...

LEONARD:

About to be out of a job.

Walter returns to Maxwell's table, where Carla, Mayolia, and Charlie

are still sitting - he gestures to some empty glasses -

WALTER:

Are you done with these?

MAXWELL:

Yes, get rid of them...

In the split second when no one is looking, Walter snatches up one

of Carla's head shots, keeping it under his tray, as he cleans up

the empty glasses -

DISSOLVE TO:

EXT JABBERJAW - NIGHT

Walter passes an alley where a group of THUGS hastily strips down a

car parked on the street -

EXT STREET - NIGHT

Walter walks the streets alone - soon he stops and looks ahead -

There is a PARKED CAR with the windows open - A COUPLE is making out

in the front seat -

Walter smiles meekly -

Soon the man in the car, a mean-looking character spots Walter - the

two stop making out and the man stares at Walter -

MAN:

What are you looking at? You want

to get shot?

Walter's smile fades, and he stuffs his hands in his pockets, and

heads down the street, alone, inadvertently bumping into some

GARBAGE CANS -

EXT COURTYARD APARTMENTS - NIGHT

Walter unlocks a creaky iron gate covered with dead ivy -

EXT COURTYARD - NIGHT

As Walter heads in, he runs into MRS. SWICKER, the

landlady -

WALTER:

Oh, hello Mrs. Swicker.

MRS. SWICKER

Hello Walter. I want to tell

you the super fixed the leaky

pipes and sealed up that hole in

your wall.

WALTER:

Oh, OK.

MRS. SWICKER

Walter you look awful pale!

What did you have to eat today?

WALTER:

I had a salami sandwich, Mrs. Swicker.

MRS. SWICKER

If you were my son...why don't you

let me fix you a nice hot bowl of

soup, it won't take but a minute.

WALTER:

Oh no, that's OK, I can fix myself

something. Besides, I got something

important to do...

Walter goes to unlock his door -

MRS. SWICKER

Oh by the way did you happen to

see Frankie out here, by any

chance?

Walter thinks for a second -

WALTER:

Uh, no, I didn't see him at all.

MRS. SWICKER

What's got into that cat? Well if

you do see him, tell him I've got

a nice fat piece of ocean-fresh

halibut for him -

WALTER:

T-tell him that?

MRS. SWICKER

If you see him.

WALTER:

OK Mrs. Swicker.

Mrs. Swicker heads off -

MRS. SWICKER

Good night Walter...

WALTER:

Good night, Mrs. Swicker -

Walter opens his door and heads in -

INT WALTER'S ROOM - NIGHT

Walter closes the door and turns on a LIGHT hanging over a kitchen

TABLE - a CLOTH covers an object roughly the size of a bowling ball

on the table -

He removes Carla's head shot, tucked inside his shirt, and places it

on the table after looking at it for a beat -

Walter heads over to the STOVE, stopping to notice a freshly

plastered area on the wall, a bag of PLASTER still on the ground -

Walter opens himself up a can of BEANS - he looks around and finds

an old, dented metal POT, pouring the beans into the pot -

He throws the empty can in the direction of an overflowing GARBAGE

CAN, lights the stove and puts the pot on the

burner -

Walter then takes a seat at the table - he lifts the

cloth, revealing a mound of CLAY -

A cat meows in the distance as Walter looks at Carla's picture,

appreciating her beauty -

WALTER:

Now I have my muse...

Walter then turns and begins to mold the clay -

DISSOLVE TO:

INT WALTER'S ROOM

A half-hour later. Walter has attempted to sculpt a bust - he looks

at Carla's picture, then back at his sculpture -

Walter's POV it is a badly sculpted HEAD, that not only looks

nothing like Carla but has a hard time passing for anything human -

Walter looks at it, knowing that much work is needed on his creation

-

He grabs a blob of fresh clay from an adjacent pile and begins to

form a nose - the cat meows again - Walter looks around -

WALTER:

Frankie?

Walter continues enthusiastically sculpting the blob of

clay -

WALTER:

A canvas is a canvas or a painting.

A rock is a rock or a statue...a

sound is a sound or is music...

Walter looks at the sculpture -

Walter then attaches the nose - smoothing it on -

It looks RIDICULOUS, something out of grammar school art class -

he's having difficulty forming anything that resembles a nose -

WALTER:

Come on...you're supposed to be

a nose...

The malformed face stares dumbly back at him as he fights to shape

the nose -

The cat meows again - Walter is getting increasingly frustrated - he

backs up to look at the head -

PAN the photograph of Carla, over to the sculpture - one of the ears

falls off -

Walter squints at the head, failing to convince himself it's looking

better - frustrated, Walter yanks the nose off and grabs a little

more clay -

WALTER:

Why can't I make a nose!

On the stove, the beans begin to boil -

Walter shapes the clay and sticks the nose back on, his tongue

sticking out of his mouth as he fumbles with it -

The nose has changed shape and juts perpendicularly off the head,

resembling Pinocchio -

Walter begins to sculpt with increasing fury -

Rate this script:3.0 / 1 vote