Blogs » "La Sylphide" screenwriting contest
"La Sylphide" screenwriting contest
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FADE IN:
INT. BATHROOM - EARLY AFTERNOON
CLAUDIA (18, long curly brown hair, with perfect thin figure, and snobbish) stares at her reflection on the mirror and slouches.
CLAUDIA (V.O.)
I’m pretty. I’m smart. I am
perfect! But perfect is not enough.
The world wants more than perfect.
Hence this mask I need to wear day
by day.
Claudia stands up straight, lifts her chin up, and smirks. She slouches again.
CLAUDIA (V.O.) (CONT’D)
When can I end my life as a walking doll?
Claudia frowns as she touches her reflection and SIGHS. She stands straight again, lifts her chin up, and leaves the bathroom.
INT. BEDROOM - SAME
Claudia walks into her room that is brightened by the sunlight entering through the windows. On the walls, framed music awards hang; there are also several pictures of her playing the violin, and some more pictures on the dressing table across the room.
She walks towards her violin, picks it up, and plays a SONG. Her slim body dances gracefully along with the MUSIC. Her fingers press the notes with ease, occasionally creating a vibrato effect.
Suddenly, a MELODY, that seems to be originated from a piano, comes from a distance and stops Claudia from playing her violin. She quickly lowers her bow and violin. Her head snaps to the direction of her bedroom door.
The MUSIC sounds like a tune coming from a 3-year-old trying to play the piano. Claudia presses her palms firmly covering her ears so that she will not be able to hear it.
CLAUDIA
Must be Arabelle!
Annoyed, Claudia carefully places her violin on her bed and STOMPS to the room where the piano sits.
INT. PIANO ROOM - SAME
There sits ARABELLE (20, medium-length straight brown hair, short and chubby) PLAYING the piano.
Just like Claudia on her violin, Arabelle plays the piano gracefully. As she closes her eyes to enjoy her piece, Arabelle’s body sways smoothly left and right, tuning in with her own MELODY. However, Arabelle does not play the song well; the SONG turns out to be monotonously loud like as if she is only banging the piano keys, inharmoniously playing.
Like a bull with a red cloth, Claudia charges towards Arabelle menacingly and SLAMS her hand on the piano. Shocked, Arabelle jumps and stops playing.
CLAUDIA
You call that music!?!? How are you
going to get into Juilliard? I have
my piece ready.
Claudia smirks and walks away. Arabelle glares after Claudia and scratches her head in frustration. She stares at the music sheets in front of her and GRUNTS.
Arabelle frowns with anger and CRUNCHES the sheets and throws them on the floor. She tries to PLAY some notes and writes them down. She pauses for a moment, and stares at the sheet. She takes her pen and scribbles on the sheets, she just wrote, creating thick black lines.
She tries to write some more notes on a new sheet and PLAYS them on the piano, but she turns out scribbling on it again.
Again and again she tries. But every time she makes a new piece, she always scribbles on those sheets, crunches them, and throws them on the floor.
Frustrated, Arabelle SMASHES the pen and papers to the floor, and BANGS the piano keys.
Arabelle closes her eyes tightly as if she is about to cry. She covers her face and MUTTERS.
ARABELLE
I must get accepted this time!
Arabelle gets up from the piano bench, and pulls out a stack of letters of rejection from under the piano bench.
ARABELLE (CONT’D)
I can’t fail now. I can’t keep on
hiding letters.
INT. HOUSE – MORNING
Claudia enters the house happily. She skips, WHISTLES, and swings her handbag to and fro, just like a little girl going to the playground. As soon as she hears a SONG on the piano, Claudia stops. She DROPS her bag to the floor; her feet stay rooted to the ground. She smiles softly as she closes her eyes.
As the MUSIC continues playing, Claudia slowly spreads her arms wide, and begins to spin slowly as if she is the little figurine on a music box.
The song stops playing. Claudia stops spinning, and puts her arms down gently. She opens her eyes, so touched that her eyes well up with tears. Before any tears drop, she wipes them and hurriedly picks up her bag. She begins searching the house to find out where the music originates from.
INT. LIVING ROOM - SAME
Claudia walks in. On one side of the room there are a few wooden racks, containing all her mother’s collections of classical music. She walks towards the CD player and opens it There is nothing in it. She wrinkles her eyebrows in confusion.
She exits the living room and walks towards her parents’ room.
INT. PARENTS’ ROOM - LATER
Again, she walks towards the CD player and opens it. She finds no CD in it. Claudia scratches her head.
INT. HALLWAY - SAME
She exits her parents’ room and starts walking towards the piano room. She stops all of a sudden. The MUSIC starts playing again.
CLAUDIA
Surely, it won't be Arabelle! That
girl just does not understand what
music is.
Claudia stands for a second, then shrugs her shoulders and continues walking towards the piano room.
INT. PIANO ROOM – SAME
As soon as Claudia enters the room, she is rooted to the ground. She stares at the piano; her eyes widen, her jaw drops open. She rubs her eyes... again... and again.
CLAUDIA
N-n-n-no! This... this isn’t real...
Her eyes open wide, staring at Arabelle in disbelief.
CLAUDIA (CONT’D)
This... isn’t... a dream. It’s
real...
There is slight disgust on Claudia’s face, but she is amused at the same time to see Arabelle sitting on the piano PLAYING the most beautiful piece she has ever played.
Arabelle stops playing. Her face is as solemn as it can be. Tears start rolling down her eyes. She covers her mouth in disbelief.
Arabelle notices Claudia who is standing just a couple of inches away from her. She stops crying and wipes her tears hurriedly as she pushes her chair back LOUDLY and carelessly. She walks out of the piano room quickly without taking the sheets in front of her.
She exits the piano room, not saying a word to Claudia. Claudia who is still in shock, is standing as still as a statue, staring straight at the piano without a blink, her mouth slightly opens.
As soon as Arabelle can no longer be seen, Claudia slowly tiptoes towards the piano. As soft as a cat, her feet pad on the ground as she moves closer and closer towards the piano.
Like a thief, attempting to rob a store, Claudia checks the surroundings, making sure there is no one lurking. The room is empty. There is no one else but her and the piano.
She snatches the sheets standing on the piano and storms towards her bedroom.
CLAUDIA (CONT’D)
Perfection! This piece shall be
mine!
INT. BEDROOM – LATER
She lays the sheets on her bed, and walks towards her violin. After carefully taking the violin out of its case, Claudia EXHALES heavily and smiles. With a filled application form for Juilliard School in her hand, Claudia smirks.
Claudia sets up her music stand, and places the stolen sheets on it. She takes her violin and rests it on her shoulder with poise. After daintily picking up the bow, Claudia stands up straightening her back, and lifts her violin up. As if getting ready for a concert, Claudia puts the bow on the string elegantly.
She closes her eyes solemnly and EXHALES. She opens her eyes and looks at the sheets. Claudia pauses. Her eyes widen, filled with utter shock. Her lips move as if she is about to say something, yet no words are coming out. She wrinkles her eyebrows and shakes her head in disbelief.
ARABELLE (O.S.)
La Sylphide.
Claudia jumps and sees Arabelle leaning against her door frame with her arms crossed.
ARABELLE (CONT’D)
It means 'The Fairy' in French.
It's a song I composed for you; for
that's what I see when you are on
your violin... a fairy sprinkling
magic through her violin. And for
that, I admire you. Those melodies
flow straight from the heart, and
shall be broken if I pause to write
the notes.
Arabelle walks away. Claudia holds the blank sheets and stares blankly into thin air. She sits on her bed without a blink, and places her violin beside her.
Claudia grits her teeth. Her eyebrows slowly turn into a deep furrow, as she slowly crushes the papers in her hand. Claudia SCREAMS and throws the papers onto the floor.
FADE OUT.