The Ghost and the Darkness Page #16

PATTERSON:

How many do you think they've

killed?

REDBEARD:

(reluctantly)

The most of any lions... a

hundred...?

(beat)

Probably more.

(Now Redbeard looks

up at the younger man)

Johnny...?

They study each other in the gathering darkness. They've been

through a lot together, these two. They're not what they were when

they first met. An emotional moment clearly is at hand.

REDBEARD:

Don't f*** up.

(And he turns, never

looks back, just goes)

CUT TO:

PATTERSON. He is alone now.

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SHADOWS. Growing longer.

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SAMUEL. On top of the water tower. The remaining men are with him.

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THE DONKEY. It peers around.

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PATTERSON. His fingers move slowly along his rifle barrel-

-there is no noise- but you have the sense that, at any second,

the world could explode.

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THE EDGE OF THE CLEARING, a good distance away. A bunch of trees.

Nothing unusual.

MOVE IN CLOSER:

Redbeard, motionless, rifle in hand, is high in the branches.

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THE SUN. About to die.

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PATTERSON, trying to get comfortable. It's not possible.

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THE DONKEY, tethered, but able to move.

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PATTERSON, testing the machan- not a good idea- it trembles. He

stops, stares out at the setting sun, the light hitting his skin,

giving it color.

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THE SUN and here's the thing about Africa- the sun doesn't just

set, it literally drops out of the sky. Suddenly it's bright and

in a blink it isn't. As it drops-

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PATTERSON. CLOSE UP. It's madness that he's up here. And he knows

it. And that shows.

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THE SKY. No moon. Just thick cloud.

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THE DONKEY. Quiet.

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PATTERSON. On his precarious perch. He scans constantly ahead of

him past the donkey.

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THE THICK BUSH BEYOND THE DONKEY. Nothing moves-

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PATTERSON. He swallows, moistening his throat. He stares down at

the donkey.

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THE DONKEY. LATER. MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT. DARK.

And now, just the beginning of a mist.

CUT TO:

THE SKY. THICKER AND THICKER CLOUDS. LATER STILL. GETTING TOWARD

MORNING.

CUT TO:

PATTERSON sitting there twelve feet up as the silence extends,

listening for something, anything-

-but all there is is silence.

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THE DONKEY. It lies still and quiet.

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PATTERSON, looking around- you get the feeling he'd like to

scream.

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THE BUSHES AROUND HIM. The mist is getting stronger.

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REDBEARD in his tree, cursing, trying to see through the growing

mist.

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PATTERSON, listening, listening-

-and then there is a sound and it's so quiet you can barely hear

it but to Patterson it might as well be thunder-

-from behind the donkey there has come this: the snapping of a

twig.

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THE DONKEY, and it's eyes widen-

HOLD ON THE DONKEY.

Because now something happens that hasn't happened before:

suddenly there are no colors, only tones-

-because lions can't see colors, only tones, and that's what's

happening- we are looking at the donkey from the point of view of

the lion-

PULL BACK TO REVEAL

THE EYES OF THE GHOST. Watching the donkey.

And from now on, when we are using PATTERSON'S POINT OF VIEW,

everything is clouded and thick with mist, and sounds are muted.

When we are using THE GHOST'S POINT OF VIEW, everything is totally

clear- and sounds are thunderous.

CUT TO:

WHAT PATTERSON SEES: just mist and vaguely, bushes.

CUT TO:

WHAT THE GHOST SEES: The donkey. And CAMERA begins to move closer

as The Ghost moves, just the barest few steps closer.

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PATTERSON. Still no sound- but beyond the donkey there seems to be

some movement in the bushes.

CUT TO:

WHAT THE GHOST SEES: The donkey, very, very close-

CUT TO:

PATTERSON. Squinting desperately at the area beyond the donkey but

the mist is so thick, he can't make certain of anything.

CUT TO:

WHAT THE GHOST SEES: THE DONKEY.

HOLD.

Now there is something else visible, something behind the donkey:

the four legs of the platform.

HOLD.

Now we travel up the platform- the four legs grow closer together.

HOLD AS THE GHOST AT LAST SEES PATTERSON.

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THE EYES OF THE GHOST. NARROWING.

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PATTERSON. Involuntarily, a shiver.

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WHAT THE GHOST SEES: PATTERSON, but the angle shifts-

-what's happening of course is this: The Ghost is circling around

the platform in the safety of the bushes and the mist.

CUT TO:

PATTERSON, following the whispered sound of the bushes moving. He

half turns the other way quickly, making sure that nothing is

behind him.

CUT TO:

WHAT THE GHOST SEES: PATTERSON shifting as the angle continues to

change.

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PATTERSON as the realization hits: the beast doesn't care about

the donkey anymore, it's stalking him.

CUT TO:

REDBEARD. In the tree. The mist obscures everything.

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WHAT THE GHOST SEES: PATTERSON. Still circling, still closer.

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PATTERSON, and it's scary now, this thing circling and circling,

always closer, never visible and his throat is dry and you know

he's just dying to blast it with his weapon or scream for it to do

anything but this constantly circling movement. (In truth, the

lion circled him for two hours, always coming closer, never quite

seen.)

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WHAT THE GHOST SEES: PATTERSON, always the circling around.

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PATTERSON, trying to turn on his shaky plank, trying to never to

let the animal's position out of his sight.

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WHAT THE GHOST SEES: PATTERSON. Closer...

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PATTERSON, staring, staring at the goddamn mist, about to come

apart now with the tension as it builds and builds and builds and

CUT TO:

WHAT THE GHOST SEES: PATTERSON. Closer.

CUT TO:

PATTERSON, gripping his weapon tightly as his head keeps on

turning.

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WHAT THE GHOST SEES: PATTERSON. Closer.

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PATTERSON, suddenly yelling out loud as an owl lands on him-

that's right, a goddamn owl landed on him, thinking he was a tree,

almost knocking him off the plank and

CUT TO:

WHAT THE GHOST SEES: PATTERSON, starting to slip off the platform

and

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PATTERSON, fighting the owl away, but his balance is going and

he's trying not to fall and

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WHAT THE GHOST SEES: PATTERSON, beginning to topple off and

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PATTERSON, helpless, balance going, going-

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THE GHOST, starting to charge forward and Christ he can move and

as he starts his leap-

CUT TO:

REDBEARD, racing from the tree to the edge of the clearing, firing

his rifle, firing again and

CUT TO:

THE GHOST, as this incredible roar comes from him, and he spins,

lands, and sure, he's been hit but he's gone, back into the bushes

and the night has him and

CUT TO:

SUDDEN DAWN AND PATTERSON AND REDBEARD, running, stopping, staring

at the ground-

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THE GROUND. Blood.

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PATTERSON AND REDBEARD, moving quickly forward again-

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THE GROUND. More blood and...

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THE TWO OF THEM, starting to slow-

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STRANGE TERRAIN- huge anthills all over, the tallest we've seen,

some of them fifteen feet high, some even higher.

CUT TO:

PATTERSON AND REDBEARD. They separate, take different paths

through the anthills.

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