Post by Admin on Feb 5, 2023 3:04:11 GMT -5
CUT TO:
INT. SILVER STATE BALLROOM — BACKSTAGE.
The shot focuses on BLACKSTAR, who has not been a fixture on UPRISING TV for some time. Off screen, Steve Goldstein, Intern Extraordinaire, handles the camera with a surprisingly steady hand.
STEVE
So, Blackstar, if you could eat only one flavor of pizza rolls for the rest of your life, what flavor would you choose?
Blackstar’s eyes widen and his pupils dance around as the question is considered by the central processor of his mind.
BLACKSTAR
AH YES, Young Steven, the Rolls of Pizza come in MANY varieties, and I assure you BLACKSTAR HAS EATEN THEM ALL, and NEVER ONCE has a single Roll of Pizza sizzled the interior cavity of my oral instrument! And so, I can say with TOTAL ABSOLUTION that my FAVORITE flavor is—
Blackstar’s eyes dart away and a split second later the camera spins around violently, sweeping side to side and up and down. Steve’s voice is picked up on the microphone in the struggle.
STEVE
Hey! What the hell do you think you’re doing?!
The camera stabilizes and angles down. We see a hand clenched around Steve’s Steadicam harness, dragging him against his will through the backstage area. The camera pans up the arm’s shirt sleeve to the shoulder then higher to focus on a head of gray hair. A second later the woman turns her head. We see her face. Her eyes angled back. That PEACEMAKER barbed wire bat over shoulder. It’s none other than GORGO.
GORGO
Apologies to Gene Simmons, but I need this more than him.
The camera turns right and catches Perry Rowler, UPRISING’s Chief Brand Officer, running to catch up to Gorgo. He points a finger in Gorgo’s face and yells.
PERRY
Stop right there! Let him go this instant!
She thrusts that bat straight into Perry’s gut, then cracks her knuckles across his face. The momentum sends spinning around before he falls to his hands and knees.
GORGO
You look tired, Mr. Rowler. Have a seat!
Without missing a step, she kicks him hard in the backside as he tries to stand up. The force drives him forward, head first into a ten foot tall stack of folding chairs on a flat dolly. The clang of steel crashing down on the CBO is loud enough to peak the camera’s microphone and cause a loud squawk of distortion.
STEVE
OH MY GOD!
Gorgo, still dragging the intern by his harness, looks back as they continue through the backstage area.
GORGO
Oh, don’t lose your nerve yet, pal-o-mine. What’s your name again?
STEVE
Uh… Steve. Steve Goldstein, ma’am.
GORGO
Well, Mr. Goldstein, don’t lose your nerve yet. We’re about to go on an adventure.
STEVE
I don’t want to go on an adventure! Please, just take the camera. You don’t need me!
GORGO
Unfortunately for you, Mr. Goldstein, while I am a woman of many talents, being a cameraman is not a skill I have ever needed to master. Cheer up, bucko. After tonight, you’re going to be a star.
The camera tracks left and right to show that they’ve entered the arena loading dock. Ahead are a dozen trucks and vans used to haul the production equipment needed to put Revolution on the air. There are several workers in UPRISING shirts scattering away from Gorgo as she marches through the workzone.
STEVE
Someone help!
GORGO
Pay no attention to this man. He is sick with fever from a mosquito bite or maybe it was that sandwich he ate that was made by the guy who definitely didn’t wash his hands after going to the bathroom.
The workers move away quickly, ducking behind vehicles and forklifts for cover. Gorgo looks back at Steve and flashes a very Gorgo-like smile.
GORGO
Here we go, sweet pea.
She marches Steve up a set of metal stairs which lead into the back of a tractor trailer. The camera adjusts for the sudden change in brightness, revealing the interior of the broadcast truck. A half dozen crew members are already out of their chairs, having witnessed the carnage on rows of HD monitors which line the left side of the cabin.
GORGO
You look like a man in charge.
She marches Steve forward to a man in his fifties, black, with a shaved head and a neatly trimmed goatee. The badge hanging from his lanyard says DUNN, S., and under it the word DIRECTOR.
DUNN
What’s the meaning of this?
GORGO
The meaning?
(Laughs hysterically)
Just like a director to try and inject a storyline when it’s not needed. I just wanted a tour of UPRISING’s fancy video production truck. Is it true that it cost over five million dollars?
DUNN
Something like that…
GORGO
And it's completely mobile with no need for hardline connections?
DUNN
Yes…all the cameras connect to the truck through wireless IP. We control all aspects of the show through internet protocol. It’s cutting edge.
GORGO
So if I were to drive off with this trailer right now, it would keep on broadcasting everything this camera sees.
Dunn’s eyes go wide. He starts to protest but Gorgo pushes past him, pulling Steve through the narrow walkway, shoving other crew members out of the way and sending them flying over consoles. She leads the camera toward a side door at the other end of the trailer. Before stepping out she turns and looks back over the crew.
GORGO
Join us on our little trip if you like…or run. I recommend run.
The crew flees in a panic in the other direction and out the back of the tractor trailer. The camera jerks as Gorgo pulls on Steve’s harness and spins around to point over the Red Queen’s shoulder as they walk along the side of the truck. Her hand reaches up to pull the passenger door open.
GORGO
You first.
STEVE
Why do you need me?! Just take the truck!
GORGO
And who’s gonna document this wonderful occasion? Don’t worry. If you survive you’ll probably get fired.
STEVE
But I’m only an intern! I don’t even get paid!
Steve gets shoved up the step and into the cab. The video feed cuts out for a few seconds but the microphone is still picking up audio. The other door is heard opening and the pneumatic driver’s seat hisses as weight presses into it. A beat later the video is back on. The camera lifts up over the dashboard and points toward an open gate and the traffic rushing back and forth on the street just beyond. It then turns left to Gorgo who reaches up and yanks on the trunk horn.
GORGO
Breaker one-nine this here’s the Rubber Duck. Ya got a copy on me, Pigpen?
Her eyes turn to Steve and stare at him with a wild look and a jigsaw grin.
STEVE
Oh, uhh…ten-four?
Gorgo honks the horn again.
GORGO
Looks like we got us a CONVOY.
She shifts the stick into gear and hits the gas. The diesel truck lurches forward, roars into the street and turns left, nearly tipping over from the speed. Gorgo cackles as a church bus is forced to make a hard turn to avoid collision, sending them careening into a line of parked cars.
STEVE
Oh my…God!
Gorgo drives to the next block and spins the wheel, turning the flat-faced Volvo south onto Virginia Street. With a big straight-away ahead, she grabs the gear shift and hits the clutch. The transmission grinds as she works to get it into next gear, then applies the gas. The truck lurches forward and speeds toward the world famous Reno sign!
GORGO
Let’s sing a song, Steve.
STEVE
What? No! Let’s just pull over and let me out. I’m sure we can explain away that church bus as an accident!
As the semi passes under the sign, the top of the trailer skims the hundreds of light bulbs on the underside, sending glass and sparks flying.
GORGO
(singing)
If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands!
Silence. She shoots a look at the intern, then reaches over, past the camera lens, to grab ahold of Steve. He’s screaming and the camera is jerking around as he tries to get away, but Gorgo seizes him and the camera stops still.
GORGO
(SINGING LOUDLY)
IF YOU’RE HAPPY AND YOU KNOW IT CLAP YOUR HANDS.
STEVE
I can’t clap! I’m holding the camera!
GORGO
Say CLAP CLAP.
(SINGING EVEN MORE LOUDLY)
IF YOU’RE HAPPY AND YOU KNOW IT CLAP YOUR HANDS.
STEVE
(weakly)
Clap. Clap.
GORGO
(SINGING)
IF YOU’RE HAPPY AND YOU KNOW IT CLAP YOUR HANDS.
The camera turns forward. The semi-truck barrels down the narrow street, shifting to the left lane to cut through traffic. Oncoming cars peel out of the way, running up onto sidewalks and crashing into light poles.
STEVE
Oh god! CLAP-CLAP!
The truck roars across asphalt and blows through several lights, tires squealing, and aiming the grill of its diesel engine toward the Truckee River. The camera flips back to Gorgo, bouncing up and down on the hydraulic seat, her mouth contorted into a harlequin smile with her ice-blue eyes flayed open with absolute madness.
GORGO
(SINGING)
IF YOU’RE HAPPY AND YOU KNOW IT…
The camera swings forward just as the truck drives over a cement divider with a loud thunk, followed immediately by the trailer axles. People run away as the Volvo leaves the road for the paved city plaza!
GORGO
(SINGING)
…THEN YOUR FACE WILL SURELY SHOW IT…
The truck narrowly misses the Space Whale sculpture as it blows through the plaza. Trash cans and benches blast out of the way of the front bumper, rendering them into scraps of metal and plastic which flutter off into the wind. The camera turns and we see Steve’s hand working on the door handle…
GORGO
(SINGING)
IF YOU’RE HAPPY AND YOU KNOW IT CLAP YOUR HANDS.
STEVE
CLAP CLAP!
He screams the last words as the door finally comes open. He jumps out and lands hard on the boardwalk. The video feed breaks up into blocks of color and then freezes. We hear Steve crying from the pain but also moving to get up. The video feed returns and the camera aims at the back of the trailer as the semi-truck drives off the plaza and sails over the wharf before plummeting thirty feet into the river below. People are screaming all around and many of them are now running down to the water. The trailer, having detached from the semi-truck, is half hanging off the retaining wall.
A man comes to help Steve up.
HELPFUL MAN
You okay, bro?
STEVE
Yeah, yeah, just some scrapes and bruises I think. Oh my god…
HELPFUL MAN
I know, right?! It’s crazy, man!
STEVE
No, no. OH MY GOD.
The video feed is starting to break up, but despite the digital noise Gorgo is captured pulling herself up onto the plaza, having escaped the crash at the last second. She finds Steve and immediately stumbles into a run after him, catching him within a second. She grabs the camera and angles it on her face. Static builds. The microphone struggles to pick up the audio as the trailer finishes its collapse into the river.
GORGO
(softly)
If you’re happy and you know it stomp your feet…
The video feed blacks out. The last remnants of a signal escaping the waterlogged production trailer are captured by the microphone with the quality of a dying ham radio.
GORGO
If you’re happy and you know it stomp your feet…
SIGNAL LOST. END BROADCAST.
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© UPRISING 2023
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QUICKIE RESULTS:
MAJESTUOSA MANOR vs JOBBER JANE D'OH'S
AZURINE VEBBINS vs KERBEROS
JACKI O'LANTERN vs CARINA VEGA
SUMMER PAGE vs AMY SANTINO
SAMANTHA TOLSON vs SERENITY HOLMES
GORGO vs TALIA SKYE & REYNA CARTER (NO CONTEST)
JACE PARKER DAVIDSON vs JUSTIN YORK
KEVIN MEARS (c) vs CRYSTAL CALDWELL