INTERFERENCE WAVE
SHOOTING SCRIPT PILOT VERSION - MIKE LIVES - HAS SHRINK 01-28-10
2:46
PM
by
A.D. Caggiano
A.D. Caggiano
800 17th St Apt. 4
Sacramento, CA 95811
Subplotter@gmail.com
916-856-7019
1 EXT. TRUCK STOP PARKING LOT OUTSKIRTS OF L.A. - NIGHT 1
Southern California, 1968.
A garishly lit truck stop, with showers, shirts,
unhealthy food, and all the things long-haul distance
drivers need.
In back, under the exit ramps of the Interstate, dozens
of trucks fill a sprawling, dim, dirt lot. There are
semis, auto carriers-- and gasoline tankers.
Drivers sleep, or slog to-and-from the harshly-lit diner
out by the frontage road.
CARL (33), hard looking, climbs up into a gasoline tanker
truck. He's a little too neat looking for a trucker.
He starts the engine and eases out of the lot onto the
frontage road.
A MAN lies on the ground at the spot where Carl got in
the truck. He is still, and his eyes are open.
2 INT. TRUCK CAB OF STOLEN TRUCK - NIGHT 2
Carl accelerates slowly away from the dead man, in the
center of his lane.
He turns on the heat in the truck.
2A EXT DESERT MOUNTAINS - DAY 2A
The sky is deep blue above rugged brown mountains.
THEME MUSIC - MED TEMPO SURF GUITAR ROCK - 1960's
SERIES OF SHOTS-
- SHOT DESERT MOUNTAIN RANGE - EXTREME LONG
A 1960's car traverses a winding mountain road down dry
mountains.
INSERT TITLE: INTERFERENCE WAVE
- SHOT OF MIKE DRIVING - MEDIUM
Mike Hillimfeldt drives. He's mid to late 30's, white
shirt, horn rim glasses and slicked back hair. He looks
very, very smart.
MIKE (V.O.)
Most mad scientists want to destroy the
world.
MIKE (V.O.) (CONT'D)
I want to get out of it.
- SHOT OF CAR ROUNDING CURVE - LONG
The car veers recklessly around a turn.
- SHOT MIKE SITS ON GROUND ON MOUNTAIN OVERLOOK - MCU
Mike sits with a pill bottle in his hand looking down at
a cupped palm full of pills.
- SHOT OFFICE OF INGA HELLSTEIN MD - MED
INGA HELLSTEIN, 30-ish, pretty doctor in medical coat
and clipboard, looks at Mike and shakes her head.
MIKE (CONT'D)
Dr. Hellstein keeps trying to fix me.
Good luck with that one.
(Beat.)
I'm quite-
- SHOT OF INGA HELLSTEIN CLOSE UP
MIKE (CONT'D)
- fond of disaster.
- SHOT INSIDE OF NUCLEAR POWER PLANT
Now Mike sits looking incomprehensibly calm in a room
full of smoke, alarm lights blinking, at a complex
control panel.
He presses a single button and leans back in his chair
with an expectant look on his face.
The alarm lights stop blinking, the smoke clears. He
laughs as if surprised.
MIKE (V.O.) (CONT'D)
And I know how to handle it.
MIKE (CONT'D)
The first time, we had just gotten the
plant running. First in Southern
California.
3 INT. CONTROL ROOM NUCLEAR POWER PLANT - DAY 3
Control panels crowd around desk consoles. Four men busy
themselves checking gauges, and pressing buttons
containing lights.
MIKE speaks with authority into a phone and leans back in
his chair.
MIKE
They're ramping up and running right,
John.
(Pause.)
As cool as a millionaire sitting on his
yacht.
(Pause.)
The secondary backup? I'm working on the
routing. Take about a week to calculate.
Mike looks at his watch, a minimal fifties design.
MATCH CUT TO:
4 I/E. ON HIGHWAY NEARER POWER PLANT - DAY 4
The gasoline truck roars onward. In the cab, Carl checks
a military-looking chronograph watch.
MIKE (V.O.)
(Filtered.)
We only need the secondary backup-- if a
meteor hits the place or something.
The truck moves upward onto a bridge.
5 INT. CONTROL ROOM NUCLEAR POWER PLANT AGAIN - DAY 5
Mike hangs up and spins slowly in his chair toward Fred
(23), who's even more precociously smart-looking and
awkward than Mike.
FRED
Better get those formulas done for John.
(Feigns searching around.)
I'm expecting a meteor any time now.
MIKE
(Takes a moment to consider
Fred's likability.)
You're the only meteor here, Fred.
Mike stands up and picks up a small satchel.
MIKE (CONT'D)
Lana's waiting. Got to go.
FRED
(Enviously.)
I wouldn't want to keep her waiting.
Something comes over Mike's face.
6 EXT. PARKING LOT OUTSIDE PLANT - DAY 6
In his car, Mike's game face dissolves into hopelessness.
He suddenly looks so frail without the platform of his
expertise. He's just a lonely, despairing man with clumsy
horn-rimmed glasses on.
He reaches into his satchel and pulls out a prescription
pill bottle that rattles full.
INSERT PILL BOTTLE CLOSE UP-
Sweeney's Pharmacy
Phone ME 4-2189 Blackthorn St.
Lana Hillimfeldt 12-2-1967
Phenobarbitol:
Take One at night for Sleep
No refills.
TO SCENE-
Mike shakes it, feeling its heft, the number of pills.
The satchel produces another similar bottle, and he sets
it down, neatly aligned with the first.
Mike drives off towards the mountains to the East. His
car drifts past the last gas station on the way into the
wilderness.
Out the window is the blank desert, as we pan back
towards the front of Mike's windshield, we see...
MATCH CUT TO:
7 I/E FRONT YARD OF MIKE AND LANA'S HOUSE (FLASHBACK) -DAY7
...Mike and Lana's front door and walk towards it.
INSERT-
CLOSE ON a set of keys opening a door. The attached tag
says "4316 Rose Hill Ln."
TO SCENE-
LANA, 22, is willowy and lovely such that she looks out
of place in the tract house. She's touching up her
vampish outfit as Mike walks in.
MIKE
(disturbed but not
surprised.)
You're...going? I'm just getting home.
LANA
(Irritable.)
You just watch the Twilight Zone and
read.
Her sad face is distant.
MIKE
(Hurt.)
I thought you liked that show.
She makes her way to the door.
LANA
Aliens, monsters and a guy who...
(She stops herself.)
I had to like it.
(Changing the subject.)
My sister invited me to her cabin.
MIKE
You just...
The door closes.
MIKE (CONT'D)
...got back.
He pauses, walks, looking a bit stunned, into their
bedroom. He idly lifts a fur coat of Lana's. A BOTTLE CAP
falls out.
Mike picks it up and throws it--
MATCH CUT TO:
8 EXT. MIKE'S CAR ON HIGHWAY FURTHER OUT OF TOWN - DAY 8
--Mike's hand continues throwing, something flies out the
car window and falls by the roadside.
INSERT-
The set of keys seen prior, keys to 4316 Rose Hill Ln.
TO SCENE-
Mike enters the dry mountains outside the city. His car
tiny against the vastness of the desert.
The car radio croons a sad, surf guitar song. The radio
host speaks.
RADIO ANNOUNCER
That was the Surftones playing "Last Stop
in Eden." The polls for the Democratic
primary election are still open. Robert
Kennedy may overcome Hubert Humphrey's
current lead in the race.
A sign indicates the turn for the "San Gabriel Mountains
National Park."
9 I/E. PARK PARKING LOT - MAGIC HOUR 9
Mike parks, and collects camping equipment from his car.
He trudges across the deserted parking lot.
He stops short, goes back and pulls a small suitcase from
the trunk and stumbles away from the car under the load.
10 EXT. MIKE'S CAMPSITE IN MOUNTAINS - NIGHT 10
Rocky, desert mountains encircle a tiny campsite.
Firelight flickers across Mike's face. Mike looks at
something far away that he can't see.
A BUZZING sound from the suitcase startles him.
Mike opens it and fumbles with a huge walkie-talkie,
clearly learning as he goes.
A scratchy voice, unmistakably a MILITARY MAN, comes from
the walkie-talkie.
MILITARY MAN (O.C.)
Code seven-seven-four-one
(Beat.)
Seven-seven-four-one. Do you read.
MIKE
(uncertain)
Hello?
Mike searches through the suitcase.
MILITARY MAN (O.C.)
Identify yourself.
MIKE
Mike Hillimfeldt.
MILITARY MAN (C.O.)
Password!
Startled, Mike drops the walkie-talkie right into the
fire where it sits upright squawking.
He manages to kick the walkie-talkie back out of the fire
and picks it up with a sock.
MIKE
Bravo four thousand four hundred and
fourteen.
MILITARY MAN (O.C.)
You are verified. Bad news. Some nut
drive a truck into the plant. Half the
cooling...
A voice in the background breaks in.
FRED (O.C.)
Ninety percent!
MILITARY MAN (O.C.)
The cooling's shot. Here's the other
genius.
FRED (O.C)
Mike! A gasoline truck hit the north wall
going, like, sixty. A lot of the cooling
system's gone.
MIKE
Are there any breaches?
FRED (O.C.)
Not yet. Charlie's at fourteen hundred
degrees. They can't take that. A
thousand's the limit.
MIKE
Reroute all coolant from Alpha to
Charlie.
FRED (O.C.)
Which valves do it?
MIKE
I don't know off-hand.
FRED (O.C.)
You don't know!? I'm scared.
MIKE
Good, that means you're not an idiot.
11 INT. MIKE AND LANA'S HOUSE LIVING ROOM (FLASHBACK) - DAY11
The walls are painted a garish red. Paintbrushes sit in a
bucket, cans of paint on a dropcloth.
LANA
(Responding to an insult.)
You don't like it. You think I'm stupid.
MIKE
No. It's just... a red living room? It
looks like a giant headache.
LANA
We need some excitement around here.
You're always sneaking off with your math
book.
MIKE
How do you think we pay for this? I can't
talk a lot when I get home.
LANA
(Interrupting.)
And you hide in your secret world. It's
boring!
MIKE
Don't be like this.
LANA
Like what? I'm fun!
MIKE
Like an ignorant little bitch.
Leaving, but still not happy.
LANA
Bitch? Other guys notice me. And I like
it.
12 EXT. CAMPGROUND LATER - NIGHT 12
We are close on Mike's sweating face.
FRED (O.C.)
I can't get alpha to turn off. Seventeen
hundred. There's no way. There's no way.
MIKE
(Strange, detached tone)
It could be worse.
FRED (O.C.)
What?
MIKE
(More alert now)
Fred, just calm down. Remember, you got
an "A" in Johnson's physics class.
That's impossible, so I know you can do
this. Pull the emergency lever on the
right towards you.
FRED (O.C.)
Got it.
(Pause.)
It's heating up! Do you have the
calculations?
MIKE
I need more time. Shut down Alpha now.
MILITARY MAN (O.C.)
What can I do?
FRED (O.C.)
(To Military Man)
Do you see anything out that window--
flames, steam-- coming out of the blue
wall?
MILITARY MAN (O.C.)
Steam--is a Negative...
(beat)
Positive on flames. Where's the fire
extinguisher?
FRED (O.C.)
No, it won't help. It's hotter than fire
in there. You'll just get yourself-
Don't!
Over the radio, a door slams, Mike pauses as he hears the
chaos. He hears a explosion over the radio.
FRED (O.C.) (CONT'D)
Oh, no.
Mikes face pours sweat now. He writes as his face
quivers.
FRED (O.C.) (CONT'D)
What's the formula? What's the solution?
(Now getting frantic.)
Just guess! Just give me a guess!
Mike continues writing.
MIKE
Which reactor is after Alpha?
FRED (O.C.)
Bravo, you moron!
Mike writes a couple seconds more, then stops.
MIKE
Valve eighty goes to fifty percent. Valve
seventy goes to forty.
(Pause.)
Keep opening and closing one and two to
set up an interference wave.
FRED (O.C.)
What?
MIKE
To release the pressure without melting
the valves.
13 INT. MIKE AND LANA'S HOUSE BEDROOM (FLASHBACK) - DAY 13
Mike and Lana linger, sitting side by side on the bed
facing the window. But the atmosphere is anything but
bedroomish.
A packing box sits on the floor between them. She has a
coat on. He doesn't.
Lana gets up. Mike's face couldn't get any sadder.
As a last gesture, she reaches out and touches his
shoulder, then turns and leaves.
Mikes sits in silence. A long wait while Lana goes down
the stairs.
The door slams with a muffled sound as she leaves.
We are CLOSE ON Mike's face. We hear the door SLAMMING
again and again, fainter and fainter each time.
Each time his face falls a little more, like he's taking
a blow. It's like watching someone get whipped.
The final reverb of the slammed door washes away.
13A INT. DR. INGA HELLSTEIN'S OFFICE - DAY 13A
Inga sits down in her chair.
INGA
We were talking about letting go.
MIKE
Lana sleeps with every guy who gets drunk
enough to say what he wants from her. I'd
like to let go of that thought.
INGA
You want to stop thinking about it.
MIKE
I'm sorry I'm so morbid. You want me to
tell you this stuff, don't you?
Inga's face shows it's hard for her, too.
14 EXT. MIKE'S CAMP LATER STILL - NIGHT 14
The sun is almost coming up. Mike looks exhausted. He
picks up a bottle of unopened whiskey and unscrews the
cap.
FRED (O.C.)
Temperature's at twelve hundred. Could it
still blow?
MIKE
No, it's over, for now.
FRED (O.C)
How long do I keep opening and closing
one and two?
MIKE
(Casually.)
Oh, about as long as you feel like it.
FRED (O.C.)
What? I thought we needed an interference
wave.
MIKE
(Mischievously)
Just to interfere with you getting
hysterical.
15 EXT. HOUSE SWIMMING POOL (FLASHBACK) - DAY/MAGIC HOUR 15
A clean, well kept back yard. A pool is blue under the
sun.
Mike lounges on the patio. Nearby, Lana swims, fluid and
graceful as a porpoise. Mike walks to the edge of the
pool and watches.
LANA
Do you like my sister?
(Backstrokes sensuously)
The water's perfect.
MIKE
Water's the only thing that gets bigger
when it's gets colder.
LANA
Scaredy-cat. Big baby. Scared to come in
the water.
Mike is relaxed. Lana is part of a dream.
MIKE
It's beautiful. With my new job we could
get something like this.
LANA
(Impressed by his smarts.)
You're always figuring things out. Come
in!
Lana swims toward the dock.
She pours up out of the water to stand close to him,
right in front of him.
She presses a long and sensuous kiss onto his mouth. And
they slowly roll off together into the water.
In the water they float as they kiss.
In shallower water she pulls his shirt off.
Later-
It is almost dark. Crickets chime. They are on a blanket
together.
Lana moves her mouth close to Mike's ear to speak-
16 EXT. CAMP - DAWN 16
Mike sits at the burnt-out fire.
LANA (O.C.)
Did you like that?
He takes another swig of whiskey. He looks at the bottles
of pills.
The walkie-talkie squawks.
FRED (O.C.)
(Groggily.)
You did great Mike.
(Slowing even more.)
I've got to sleep now.
MIKE
You did great.
FRED (O.C.)
Thanks.
(Beat.)
Sorry about calling you a dimwit.
MIKE
It was "moron", and I am. You're still a
comet, Fred.
There is a pause.
FRED (O.C.)
Meteor.
(Beat.)
I'm a meteor.
MIKE
Did anybody-- call for me?
FRED
(Pause.)
No.
The sun's coming over Mike. It's impossible to read his
expression.
The area around the campsite is beautiful in the day.
LANA (V.O.)
Big baby. Come in the water.
The new light is unbearable.
FADE TO BLACK.
LANA (V.O.) (CONT'D)
Scaredy cat. Scared of the water.
There is a long, black pause.
A sparse, solo surf guitar melody lightly echoes.
FADE IN:
17 INT. DOCTORS OFFICE - DAY 17
Dr. Hellstein is seated in the bright, female arranged
therapy room.
Mike shambles in looking absolutely wasted, rumpled,
grimy, and disheveled and slumps into the chair, eyes
downcast.
Dr. Hellstein looks sympathetic but unsure.
A few moments pass.
Mike pulls out two pill bottles from his pocket and
places them on a table, still looking down.
She looks at him kindly.
He finally is able to look up at her, his eyes defeated
and full of tears.
INGA
(Searching for something non
cliche to say.)
You'll make me look bad if you do
yourself in, Mike.
MIKE
I don't think you could look bad, Dr.
Hellstein.
He knows he's being inappropriate, and his expression is
a mixture of self-mocking, slapstick comedy, and
heartbreak. His head sinks down again.
Inga's face is a mixture of exasperation at his
impertinence and relief he tried some humor.
She recovers and regards him with maternal calm ,he is
slumped, hanging his head.
They sit together in silence.
FADE TO BLACK
THE END
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