EXT – GRASSY SAND DUNES – SUNSET
In the distance the dunes look like low hills, closer to us they are sloping only slightly, almost flat. They are covered in long grasses, yellowed and slightly browned by the end of summer. Closest to us the grass gives way to sand, an implication of a beach.
The scene is empty, but there are shadows cast on to the ground from behind the position of the camera – perhaps a tree or structure.
There is the sound of wind, and underneath that, more quietly – as if coming from behind us – the sound of the ocean and waves breaking.
Very slowly, in the left of the frame, the shadow on the ground changes shape and forms clearly into the shadow of a person standing.
A COUGH. The image judders slightly, like camera shake. The image stills.
A VOICE FROM BEHIND THE CAMERA: Oh shit.
The camera begins to shake and move forward. The person holding it – now clearly the shadow – is starting to run, but still pointing the lens at the horizon.
PANTING BREATH.
THE VOICE: Oh shit oh shit.
They stop, the camera stills. We can see a figure on the hill in the distance, for a moment, before the camera begins moving again.
BREATH GETTING LOUDER. AN OCCASIONAL OH SHIT UNDER THE BREATH.
Running faster, mostly the camera is shaking, sometimes we see the floor, a pair of dirty trainers, but it always refocuses on the horizon and the figure, who we can see getting closer to the camera. Now the figure is also running. A man, holding something long and flat between his two hands.
BREATH AND LAUGHTER.
The camera and man come closer and closer to each other, fast now. We see that he is holding a large saw blade. His expression is a bit ambiguous but open and surprised, not aggressive. His face is flushed with the exertion of running. As he comes closer to the camera he releases the end of the blade from his left hand and sweeps it with his right hand behind him and up. The camera jerks backwards, as if retreating away from him. The man sweeps the blade around behind the camera, his arm locking it behind the neck of the camera holder, we imagine although we do not see this.
His forehead is pressed directly up against the camera now. The shot begins to spin slowly, as if they are turning in a circle.
TWO VOICES, THEIR EXHALATIONS MINGLING, OCCASIONAL STRANGE BARKS OF LAUGHTER.
THEN SUDDENLY COMPLETE SILENCE.
The man lifts his face back from the camera. His mouth is ajar, we see his wet tongue. His eyes are bright. He nods.
Cut to black.