Safety Plates

Safety Plates

FADE IN

EXT. A BUSY ROAD – PLANET DOOLIM – EARLY EVENING

A Hover Car sails down a road. It’s going extremely fast – and very dangerously as it weaves in and around the other Hover Cars and Hover Transports. The Hover Car speeds around another Hover Car. A few seconds later it passes two Hover Cars. Then it skids by two more that are next to it – bumping into both of them.


INT. A HOVER CAR – A BUSY ROAD – EARLY EVENING

A FEMALE behind the controls of a hovercraft glances over at a MALE seated next to her. She looks at his chest – then at her own.

                             FEMALE
                   Put on your Safety Plate.

                             MALE
                   I don’t want to.

The female returns to her controls. She turned the Hover Car sharply to get another other one.

                             FEMALE
                   You have to. It’s the law.

                             MALE
                   It’s a stupid law.
                   Just like Protection I shouldn’t have to
                   wear it if I don’t want to.

                             FEMALE
                   I don’t like paying for
                   Protection very month, and I
                   don’t like wearing Safety
                   Plates either.

                             MALE
                   Then why do you? I can
                   understand it if you are wedded
                   with a family ¬ to set a good
                   example, but if you are single
                   like we are then the choice
                   should be up to us. Should we
                   do it – yes, but should we have
                   to do it – no.

                             FEMALE
                   You know I agree with you, but
                   it’s still the law. Now put it
                   on before we get pulled over by
                   The Law Enforcers.

Grumbling the male pushes a button on his armrest. A body plate slides across the upper body like a shirt being put on. It automatically snaps itself shut to seal it.

                             ANNOUNCER (VO)
                   Safety Plates. It doesn’t matter
                   }if you agree with the Law or not.
                   Everyone must wear their Safety
                   Plate. If not, you will be
                   stopped – and instantly fined.

                                                                     FADE OUT


     Vaill finished reading his script to the members of the Provin Advertising Company. Jinda sat at the other end of a Long Table. On both sides of that table there were ten, five per side, other members. Vaill sat down, and put the paper he had been reading on the table in front of him.

     “Very good presentation as always Vaill,” said Jinda. She also had a copy, as well as all the others there, of the script Vaill just read to them. “You did a very good job with the script too. Too bad we can’t use it.”

     “Why can’t we?” Vaill asked.

     The other members kept in eye contact with whoever spoke. They still had their papers in their hands. One at a time they placed them on the table too.

     “Because we can’t tell the public the truth like that,” said Jinda. “All we need to do is tell them that it’s the law that they have to wear their Safety Plates.”

     “I disagree,” said Vaill. “The public already thinks the way I wrote in my script. This advertising shows them that we think the same way.”

     Jinda thought about that for a minute. “I understand what you are saying, but I still want to write another script. You can keep the first scene and the Announcers part if you like - but the rest must go.”

     “This is just the first draft,” said Vaill. “I haven’t even given them names – yet.”

     “All you need to do is get rid of the negative dialogue,” said Jinda. “You can include their names in the final script.”

     “I’m not going to do it,” said Vaill. “If you don’t, you have other Media Advertisers who can write whatever script you want them to write.”

     “I want you to do it. You are the best Media Advertiser that we have,” said Jinda. “We will meet back here in one weeks. Will six days be long enough for you to come up with another script.”

=====-=====-=====-=====-=====

FADE IN

EXT. A BUSY ROAD – PLANET DOOLIM – EARLY EVENING

A Hover Car maneuvers down a road. It appears to be going very fast – and it weaving in and around the other Hover Cars and Hover Transports. The Hover Car skids by two Hover Cars thar are next to them – bumping each one of them. A few seconds later it speeds up a little around another Hover Car. Then it passes two more Hover Cars.


INT. A HOVER CAR – A BUSY ROAD – EARLY EVENING

HELINA is behind the controls of that Hover Car. She glances over at ROLLEND in the seat next to her.

                             HELINA
                   Rollen, put on your Safety
                   Plate.

                             ROLLEND
                   I don’t want to, but I will.

                             HELINA
                   You know I agree with you,
                   but it is the Law. I don’t
                   want to get pulled over by
                   The Law Enforcers.

Rollend pushes a button on his armrest. A body plate slides across his upper body like a shirt being put on. It snaps itself shut automatically to seal it.

Law Enforcers CALGAN and WANDI are among the wreckage of a Hover Car. There’s not much left to recognize it as a Hover Car.

                             CALGAN
                   This accident didn’t need
                   to happen. If only the
                   family had been wearing
                   their Safety Plates they
                   probably would have
                   survived it. They didn’t.

                             WANDI
                   Safety Plates. I know most
                             of you don’t want to wear
                   them, but you must. If you
                   don’t we will stop you – and
                   you will be instantly fined.

                                                                     FADE OUT


     Jinda put her copy of the script down first. Vaill laid his script on the table. Then he sat back down. The ten other members didn’t put down their copies this time.

     “This one is a lot better,” said Jinda. “I think the World Leaders will like it.”

=====-=====-=====-=====-=====

     They had other projects in different stages of production. That’s one of the reasons why it took three months before that Media Message got approved – from another script. It’s also why it took another month after that before it went from the script to the final message.