DMP Final Script Draft

“Loss”

Final Script: Group One 

Character list: 

Corinne = Emily (her younger sister)

Emma = Garrett (her friend from high school)

Matti = Micheal (her boyfriend) 

Marion = Myrica (her oldest friend) 

Micheal = Julia (his older sister)

Opening scene: a drone shot of a winding road in Arizona.

Computer generated voice: “Loss. An instance of losing, such as a defeat. The result of an alteration in a function or a charactoristic of the body or of its previous integrity. The hurtful condition of having lost something or someone. L.O.S.S. Loss.”

Part one: What is an important object you lost in the past? 

** Soft, classical music begins playing in the background. **

** Everyone is dressed in warm colors. Everyone looks ready for the day, wearing normal clothes. Everyone’s background is outside, or somewhere pleasant. One by one, everyone holds up a sign that says the name and age of the person they will be “playing” for this portion of the video.  **

Computer generated voice: Loss. An instance of losing, such as a defeat. 

Garrett: "Um...I had a football for a long time in Virginia, and I specifically remember that I probably played with for like hours, or like days over years with my friends. Kinda reminds me of them when I think about that."

Emily: I lost my 3DS a long time ago. What?! It was a sad day. 

Michael: Ummm.... *breathing* I lost my turtle when I was umm about 12 years old. I took it to my backyard to crawl around and it crawled under the fence to the neighbor's yard and the neighbor had a whole jungle in his yard, so I thought it was better off there.

Myrica:  “Weeeee went to my Grandpa's house, aaand we never, like, really went to seee him very often (It was my mom's dad) and so like, I literally only actually rememberrrrrr meeting him once, but I'm sure I did more than that, so like when I was younger. He died when I was -- in... early elementary school. But anyways. Their house had A. TON. of stuffed animals in it, which was really -- kind of -- strange -- for like an old man and his wife. Who like, didn't have grandkids come visit very often. BUT ANYWAYS. They had toooons of stuffed animals, and, um, they're really cool people, aaaand there was this one little - there was like this little golden retriever, like, stuffed -- puppy dog? thing? And Iiiiii absolutely loved it. . . . . *skipping other content* . . . . And it was very shortly after i got home, I was playing outside one day, and I of course had it with me, cuz I always have it with me, aaaaand I was, like, playing outsiiiiiide, and my parents were like "Myrica", you know, "time to come iiiinnn," and whatever....and I realized, I was like, "Moooom, I left it outside, I left it on theeee, I left it on theeee, on the chaaaair -- cuz we have like the laaawn chairs, at the time. ANd she was like -- oh, no wait, it was my daaaad, and my dad was like, "It's too dark out, noooo like the bears will be out -- cuz we like, I had a bear at that time, like in our yard sometimes, a lot of time. So I went to bed and everything, and when I woke up the next morning, it was like theFIIIIRST thing on my miiiiind, and I like RAN outside to go get it...and it was gone. And, like, I had NO idea,  I searched the whole yard, I searched everywhere, and I was like freaking out and I could. not. find. it. And it just disappeared, overnight, which was really weird.”

Julia: “My mind’s going blank... so I’m kinda thinking...let’s see...ummm...I can’t think about anything. I don’t know if there...I...I guess right now I can’t think of anything that, like, was so important that I’m still, like, upset over the loss of it.” 

Transition scene: feet walking down a sidewalk. 

** Music changes slightly, a new classical, aura-type song. Same mood ** 

Part two: What was a pivotal (life-changing) moment of loss in your life? 

1. The experience itself. 

Emily: I guess my life was pretty...normal. I don’t know. 

Garrett: uhhh it wassss crazy, i was you know, just entering collegggge, figuring out how to live on my ownnn, doing a lot of hard stuff, having no time, uhhh getting kind of like, not not depressed I’d say, but definitely like I felt like I was on the wrong path and I wasn’t enjoying it and I didn’t feel like I wanted it to be my career.

Michael: Life was pretty good. I’d just moved to Utah, I’d only lived there about a month before finding out.

** Feet walking on sidewalk again **

Computer generated voice: L.O.S.S. Loss. The hurtful condition of having lost something or someone. 

Emily: I would say when I broke my wrist before water polo season. Yeah, that, that sucked. I would, I like, I had like so much pain, and like…

Garrett: when I decided that I didn't want to do the military (almost said like a question??) and that I wasn't enjoying it and I didn't think that was a path for me. 

Myrica: It was when I was in, around, 6th grade? Ish? Around that time period. So, essentially, before that time period, my family (I didn’t realize it, because I was little) but my family was quite wealthy. Um, at least compared to like a lot of other people. Like, we weeeere doing really really well? And we were on an upward trend, also. SO, my dad, you knoooow, he didn’t have to work at all. And my mom, we were like thinking she could retire pretty soon. We  were going on trips, we were staying in 5 star hotels – um, I was honestly probably pretty spoiled? And I didn’t really understand money at all. Because we always had money. So, that was kind of the before phase. And I don’t really, know how to talk about the actual event- but, crap happened, and people- people screw things up sometimes. I’m not saying people are evil- but- sometimes people are just very selfish and they have actions that have critical consequences that hurt other people. And so, there was this huge fallout from this big ordeal, and my parents were – really struggling with it, my mom in particular. So anyways, after that…we actually had to stick to our budget. Like, not “stick to our budget,” but like, ACTUALLY stick to our budget. Things were a lot tighter. We didn’t go on as many trips. They’d say, sorry we just don’t have the money, and that was just like, something I’d never heard before.

**text shown on screen for the words that are lost**

Julia: Life was… pretty routine… uh, well… well, I would say… um… uh, you know… my marriage had ups and downs. Uh. Every marriage has its problems,  and the problems … we were, facing… was what inevitably… came to end our relationship. So the months leading up to the divorce, were miserable. I started grieving my marriage… as soon as I found out… that, my husband was not, living up to the vows that he had made me…

Micheal: ummm..hmm...breathing heavily... ummm I would say losing my brother when my brother passed away. I was 21 when he passed away. 

** feet walking on sidewalk. **

Computer generated voice: The result of an alteration or in a  function or characterisitc of the body, or of its previous integrity. 

Myrica: It's like that first time, you know, when you see your mom CRY - for the first time - like actually cryyyy - and like *puts hand on heart and pauses* I don't actually know what that IS, but like, whatever that feeeling is, that was just like my feeling going through it. Like. Like. Like, theeee...... emooootional..... realization..... oooofff ...aaaa ...logical...concept, or something like that. Like, it was veryyy...I don't, I don't know how to say that better. Like, it was HARD. 

Micheal: I just cried. I don’t think I fully was really able to cope with it. Just kind of, took it how it was, and didn;t really process it that well. 

Emily: I mean, I gained a lot of anger because I wasn’t able to play water polo anymore, so that sucked. 

Julia: It was complete hell…. I… felt so….(breath)... um…. I was empty. It was like, you could see the life draining out of me, slowly. I was constantly fixed on suicidal thoughts. I felt I had no worthiness and value. And I kept hearing from people, like, you know, friends or family or therapists: things will get better in time… and, I hated that answer so much because… I couldn’t do anything, about that.. I couldn’t change. You know, you know wounds will heal over time and it is true. But when you're in the depths of the pain…. that answer feels even more suffocating. Um. Just kinda like, you're stuck here sticking it out until this is over. So, it was a horrible time. I never, I never want to feel like that again. It was, it was hell.

Micheal: a lot of fear. I was very fearful for my life. My brother was pretty young, he was like, 26. And, I guess I was just scared that life would be taken away so young. I went from enjoying life to not knowing where or what to do. Life got way more serious after that point. I just wanted to grow up, and be more mature, and things like that. 

** Voices start to talk over each other as we explain specific things each person lost in their experiences. ** 

Emily: I lost my ability to play water polo, I mean, and I couldn’t even brush my hair or tie my shoes for like two weeks. I mean, I lost all the strength in my wrist. 

Garrett: I lost a lot of relationships that I’d built the first two years of college, and I had to start over, and I kind of became a new person, a new mindset. 

Micheal: Uuum, I kind of lost all sense of direction. I lost my job - I was jobless - and I didn’t know what to do with my life. 

Myrica: I lost innocence. 

Julia:  I lost myself. 

** no more talking over each other ** 

Garrett: I coped with it by basically, just trying my best and going into it with a lot of optimism. 

Micheal: I don’t think I would - even to this day - been able to cope with his death, if it hadn’t been for my beliefs that there is a God and that there is a life after this. 

Garrett: umm it’s uhh it’s a lot better. I definitely feel like, umm (smacks lips) what I’m doing now I’m more enjoying especially with the um, classes I’m taking and the path I’m going on. I definitely feel like I’m gonna enjoy it more career wise and I can focus on it (big breath)...uhh I have a lot, a lot of new relationships that aren’t just focused around like, hard times, if that makes sense cause the whole military thing’s like, “you do hard things with people.” I more have a lot more time with new friends, like, yeah there’s hard times, cause it’s college, there’s always gonna be hard times but we have a lot of great times toooo, it’s not just about the hard times. 

Myrica: I got back more of my parents. Like, I got to know them. 

Julia: Now I have gained an appreciation for myself. And I gained strength… I have gained ... the, ability… to… see and feel my value. I gained… the strength to find purpose again in my life. I gained… a tenacity and fierceness for, never allowing someone to treat me the way that I was treated.

Micheal: Umm...the only thing I think I gained was just more appreciation for the little things, family members, friends and those close to me.  

Emily: You know wht,  actually, that is something I  thought a lot about how this might affect my career in the future. Being a firefighter. My left wrist will always be weaker. You have to be strong and be able to carry stuff that’s part of the job. That might put a toll on being able to do that. I actually did think about that. 

Micheal: hmmm that I had to look at the bright side of things. That life does go on and I had to look toward my siblings who were also struggling who needed support and I had to be there for them. Eventually, I just had to suck it up and be strong for those around me. 

Garrett: I feel a lot happier. I feel like I’m on a path that I chose, and I feel like I’m a lot more just confident. 

Julia: Now after that change, my life is … sweeter. Full of more purpose. I, would say I love more fiercely now. Life is a lot more peaceful.

Emily: It made me lose. ( *distracted again* Ian do not, that’s mine.) I lost the ability to do with any with my left hand. I couldn’t even tie my shoes. I couldn’t brush my hair for 4 weeks.

Ohh like… well I actually thought a lot about how this might affect my career in the future. Being a firefighter. My left wrist will always be weaker. You have to be strong and be able to carry stuff that’s part of the job. That might put a toll on being able to do that. 

Part Three: Philosophies on Loss. 

Garrett: Um...my philosophy on loss is that you should never let it bring you down to where you're consistently losing more. You should learn from it, and try and (pause) make life better out of it, no matter how hard it can be (breathe) because if you let that loss compound it's only gonna be worse. 

Julia: So, I would say my philosophy on loss has changed, uh, somewhat dramatically in the last three year because I went through the loss of a marriage… and… concurrently I was studying Buddhism… which has…. Uh… part of… part of the Buddhist philosophy is that suffering is inevitable… and that…um... Things are always changing. So, my philosophy on loss has changed because of going through such a traumatic loss of a partner and a life that I had created with that person ... and, one of the biggest comforts that I was able to find was … the philosophy about … the end of suffering begins when you accept reality… so… I think loss is an inevitable part of life… and, And.. and coming to accept that doesn’t mean you’re not going to have the pain of the loss, but I think it helps, at, at least it helped me… cope, because… um… it helped me, put things into perspective that… you know,  it is inevitable, we are going to have loss, and, um, the only constant in life IS change, and so, I think, um…uh, attachment to things is what brings suffering, and so in my life I’ve tried to work on attachment to material objects, attachment to people… and relationships...um.. And so, I have a newfound… sense of peace, about loss

Emily: My life motto: “Oh well.” 

Myrica: I don't think it's ‘you do something baaad, so you have to looooose something.’ I definetly don't think that's the case. Um...I feel like it’s, like.. * pause * This might be....toooo....philosophical...the really deep answer is that I think it has a lot to do with, you know, "Goooood" and "The Fall,"-- you know, how it's a part of, not our "punishment," but like, its, its, its, part of that whole "ideeea" that we are all fallen creatures. .... So I feel like loss has to do with that in a very deep philosoooophical type, of, way.

Micheal: idk about philosophy on loss, but I try to look a the bright side of things and try to mourn like anyone else, but I think I'm good at moving on. With any type of loss, this is how I get over it or move on.

Part three: Our own philosphies on loss. 

** We all stand in front of a different doors. We are dressed in every-day clothes, different and less warm than the ones before. Everyone has stopped playing their “characters,” and are now playing themselves. 

** We are hold up signs that say our own name and age.** 

** In each of our next videos, the camera pans down to our feet half-way through. At the end of each video, the camera watches our feet walk out the door we’ve been standing in front of. ** 

Corinne: It just takes time and a lot of patience with yourself. And being okay with not being okay sometimes. 

Emma: I think feeling loss and feeling grief will help us heal more than if we ignore it and push away, but that’s easier said than done. Loss forces us to grow, and growth hurts. 

Matti: I believe that when you lose something or someone, you will find it. “It” meaning hope, direction, perspective, and even yourself. 

Marion: I believe that loss leaves a hole inside of us, which is painful. But that hole can then be filled with new things, which can be beautiful in a new and different way. 

Micheal: Loss is universal, but that doesn’t make it any easier. While I have experienced so much pain because of loss, I’ve also learned so much. I do think that it is necessary in order to become who I’m supposed to be. 

** the classical songs that have been playing in the background the entire time end. **

Final scene: a continuation of the transition videos. The feet are still walking on the sidewalk, but the sidewalk suddenly ends. Past the end of the sidewalk, there is only dirt and desert. The camera pans upward to show the empty desert, the lack of a path. It then slowly pans further upward into the sky.

Shell Silversteen: Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,

And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,

For the children, they mark, and the children, they know

The place where the sidewalk ends.

** Ocean sounds begin to play towards the end. ** 

The End