Asteria

Written By

Tucker Russell
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OPENING CREDITS
BEGIN WITH OPENIG SHOT OF THE MALL
CAMPUS (STRAIGHT AND WIDE SHOT) AT
NIGHT.
CUT TO SHOTS OF STATUES, SIGNS AND
STUDENTS WALKING ATOUND.
INTRODUCE MAIN CHARACTER
Cut to medium wide glide cam shot of Erik walking down the
mall. The camera moves into a frontal view as he adjust his
glasses. Erik is dressed in khaki pants and a big t-shirt,
he carries a backpack and a notepad in his other hand also
wearing glasses.
Cut to shot with a perspective looking up at Erik
emphasizing the stars above him.
Cut to another of the observatory and pan with Erik as he
enters the frame from the right.
Cut to crane shot starting from above and moving down as
Erik leaves the Observatory.
Various shots of him walking through the observatory and
preparing himself.
Credits finish up as the camera moves back and fades to
black.
End scene

FIRST THERAPY SESSION

It is still night outside and the stars shine brightly. Erik
lies on a couch in a therapist office where he talks about
his recent issues, and thoughts.
Cut to close up of Erik's shoes at the end of couch, slide
from right to left up his body as we get to his head resting
on the pillow opposite end of the couch.
Erik: I guess I just feel really clouded...you know? Like my
head is somewhere else is the clouds, it's fucked. I lose
focus all the damn time think about...I don't know shit
other people don't think about
Cut to shot of the therapist tapping pencil on her clip
board.
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Therapist: Well how do you know you're the only one with
this sensation?
Cut to aerial shot above Erik's face.
Erik: (with frustration) Because it's just so... Different.
I see myself in a literal spacesuit throughout the day in
these different places.
Therapist: Like, hallucinations?
Erik: No...like I'm completely detached from reality... I
space out.
Cut to shot of the therapist legs.
Therapist: and when did these "space outs' begin?
Cut back to shot of Erik's face this time at slight angle
zoomed in on the eyes more.
Erik: About two months ago?
Therapist: And have you attempted to seek medical help?
Erik: They could find no logical explanation. But they said
it didn't propose a threat to my physical health, and
recommended me to you.
Cut to shot of therapist tapping foot now on the ground.
Therapist: Interesting...can you recall the first time you
had an incident with a "space out" as you call it?
Cut to shot of Erik clenching his hand, cut to another close
up of sweat on brow, then pupil dilating as the camera key
frames into his pupil, down the nerve endings and into his
brain where he recalls the event.
Cut to
Erik: It was November 17th, it was a friday. I was rather
annoyed.
Cut back to therapist legs,
Therapist: with?
Erik: The superficial people I guess. Sometimes I have this
notion that the earth is filled with overcompensating
assholes that makes my life unbearable.
Therapist: Do you have an example?
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Erik: Well, lets see...

Cut back to class from flashback where Erik is now seated in
class.
Erik: There's the typical frat guy, sperrys, chubbies, polo
a douchey persona and the fact that there's more than one of
him...
Cut to shots of guys features that Erik says. Then cut to
medium wide shot of guy entering class room, slapping Erik
on the back of the head with force.
Val: What's up pledge?
Cut to shot of Erik rubbing back of his head looking
annoyed.
Cut back to the office where Erik continues to rant.
Erik: And then there's that ditsy and obnoxious Gamma Phi
Beta who can't spell sorority.
Cut to shot of girl in the front of the class room
struggling to spell sorority.
Cut back to Erik in the office speaking to the therapist.
Erik: She would always give me glares after answering a
question right.
Cut to shot of the girl in his class glaring at him, then
someone passes in front of the camera and it pushes back to
reveal Sonya entering the classroom.
Cut to shot of therapist writing down notes as Erik
continues to speak.
Therapist: Well is there anyone you get along with, connect
with or share something in common with?
Erik: Like friends?
Therapist: ...Acquaintances, something of that sort?
Erik: I mean, yeah. I do. I guess I just can't seem to talk
to them about certain things I'd want to...I don't know just
about life and deeper stuff, not the superficial bullshit.
Eh I just sound lame; maybe I'm expecting too much of others
Therapist: Let me ask you this Erik... What makes you feel
like you can't connect with others on this deeper level.
Erik: I guess I just have this overpowering desire to defy
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the rules that define our society and set myself apart as an
individual, but its...daunting, It seems like everyone is
satisfied going to college, getting their degree and then
making a salary that'll put them in a 4,000 sq. Ft house to
raise their family, and live a mundane life. I want
something more...
Cut back to Erik lying on couch, with a locked off medium
close up of Erik's face.
Therapist: Well some people are perfectly satisfied with
this lifestyle, if you want to set yourself apart from this
group there is no one stopping you...why don't you go back
to telling me about your first incident...
Erik: Right.
Cut back to classroom wide shot.
Erik: I was sitting in class taking notes...
Therapist: What class?
Erik: Astronomy.
Therapist: Go on.
Erik: My teacher was lecturing about Hipparchus's interest
in fixed stars and how it may have influenced by the
observation of a super nova. I had already read about it in
the textbook a week before though, so I was kind of taking
notes while thinking about other stuff.
Therapist: So you're a good student? You get your work done
early?
Erik: Only in that class.
Therapist: Why is that?
Erik: I've always had a fascination with what lies beyond
our earth.
Therapist: Continue.
Erik: Well I was thinking about the possibility of
witnessing a super nova in outer space before realizing that
the SN 1054 produced the crab nebula.
Therapist: Where is this going Erik?
Erik: Well as I was contemplating this... it happened.
Therapist: The space out?
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Erik: Yeah...it's like the world around me seizes to exist,

and I'm stuck in this blank place with myself. White walls,
sitting in this chair.
Therapist: Is there anyone else? Anything else in the room?
Erik: No. White walls, chair, and me stuck with my thoughts.
While I'm in a spacesuit.
Therapist: Well Erik I must say, I've never heard of a case
quite like yours.
Erik: I know it's a mind fuck for me too.
Therapist: I think you should try this for now. (cut to shot
of her hand handing Erik a sheet of paper.)
Cut to shot of therapist writing prescription for xanax.
Therapist: Well, Erik I think I would diagnose you with
generalized anxiety disorder.
Erik: That's it?
Therapist: Yes sir.
Erik: I thought there was something deeper here.
Therapist: I think there is too.
Cut to shot of Erik looking confused.
Therapist: Here, is a prescription for xanax, when you have
one of these episodes or 'anxiety attacks' take one and it
should help.
Erik: Really?
Therapist: I think it will help. How old are you Erik?
Erik: 21.
Therapist: Live like you're 21.
Erik: Meaning?
Therapist: You don't need to be concerned with societies
norms, with what other people think, or being different.
Erik: So just continue on, like everything is normal.
Therapist: Correct.
Erik: Well thanks, I'll see you next week?
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Therapist: Of course.
End Scene.
A NEW DAY
Cut to shot of Erik waking up in bed as the music ques up.
He looks to his right and checks the time on his phone. He
then grabs his wallet off the floor and then grabs his pill
bottle of xannies.
Cut to shot of Erik showering, shaving, getting his clothes
on and preparing to head out, he looks clean cut and slick,
radiating optimism.
Cut to wide shot of Erik stepping outside of his dorm
building, putting on sun glasses as a large lens flare over
takes half the frame.
Cut to shot of Erik walking down side walk high-fiving some
kids he recognizes, and having a short conversation with him
before he leaves with a smile on his face.
Cut to POV shot as he continues down the side walk and
smiles at several attractive girls.
Erik takes his seat in his astronomy lecture, diligently
taking notes and ironically seated next to Sonya.
Cut to shot of Erik knocking his pencil off his desk and
Sonya picking it up.
Sonya: here you go.
Erik: (turning towards Sonya) Thanks...(breaking into a
grin)
Cut to shot of Erik now leaving his lecture with some pep in
his step. He dashes down the main mall at the university
with his shades on.
Now Erik is with the guys he saw earlier in the day. Cut to
Aerial shot of him and the boys strolling down the
neighborhood streets, shooting the shit, laughing, his
friend smoking a cig. Cut to them hiking in the desert, then
going out at night. Various shots edited into a montage of
positivity and fun.
Cut to Erik at a party with the same dudes he's been hanging
with. He is standing alone but content drinking a red cup.
Enter Adam, one of the dudes he has been hanging with for
the night.
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Adam: How's it going man?

Erik: Good man (grin, kinda intoxicated)
Adam: You talked to any girls tonight?
Erik: Nah, man I'm still having a good time though.
(glancing at this one pretty girl in the corner of the room
with a friend)
Then cut to Erik laying his bed at night with a smile and
look of satisfaction on his face, the camera starts close
and then pulls out towards the ceiling revealing stars and
galaxies floating above him; he expereinces another "space
out" incident but is completely content with it this time.
Music fades out. End Scene.
SECOND THERAPY SESSION
Therapist: Well Erik how was your week?
Erik: Really good actually.
Therapist: (With some surprise) Is that right? (writing on
notepad)
Erik: Yeah, actually it was a lot better than previous
weeks.
Therapist: Tell me about it.
Erik: Well I got an A on my astronomy paper.
Therapist: Good work.
Erik: I also made some new friends and went out. [quick cuts
of his night of rage]
Therapist: Tell me about these new friends of yours.
Erik: They were just some kids I met who had similar
interests as me.
Therapist: Did you do what I told you?
Erik: I did.
Therapist: And did it help?
Erik: I think so.
Therapist: Any other incidents?
Erik: Just one.
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Therapist: As opposed to?

Erik: Several.
Therapist: A week?
Erik: Correct.
Therapist: I see...Well tell me about this one incident you
had then.
Erik: This time I was walking from a lecture.
Therapist: Class again?
Erik: No it was a lecture about artificial light pollution
my professor told me about, it was optional.
Therapist: Okay, please continue.
Erik: Well I was sitting in the lecture and I noticed that
girl named Sonya from my class was seated below me.
Therapist: Have you spoken to this girl before?
Erik: A few times.
Therapist: Do you think she is she cute? [playful]
Erik: Yeah. [laughs]
Therapist: Good work (I'm glad you made a connection).
Continue.
Erik: Well I was sitting in the lecture. And I also noticed
that asshole from Astronomy class sitting a couple seats
left of her obviously checking her out.
Cut to shot of the asshole sitting near the girl.
Cut to lecture where he sits. Wide shot: several extras will
be needed to fill in frame and make it look realistic. Use
audio bit from TED talk lecture to make it seem as though
there is a teacher in the room. Cut between tight shots as
to not reveal empty room.
Close up on Erik typing notes with glasses on as lecture
continues.
Erik: And I glanced over at that Sonya girl.
Therapist: okay...
Erik: Then I look back to computer to type and boom. like
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I'm sitting in limbo. [ cut to him in all white room this

time more aware of the spacesuit surrounding his body ]
Therapist: the same place as always?
Erik: Yeah!
Therapist: Well what else happened?
Erik: It was difficult to type first. Then I looked around
the classroom and things started to fade away. Like they
normally do.
Therapist: Let me get this straight. You don't pass out or
anything?
Erik: No it's like a really intense day dream.
Therapist: Alright well, continue.
Erik: This time I was in the middle of nowhere, the bland
white walls faded away and...I felt like...
Therapist: like what?
Erik: It almost felt like I was on another planet...
Therapist: Sounds like a trip...
Erik: I know right? Anyway's, I hiked around the rocky area
that reminded me of Mars.
Therapist: Did anything else happen during the hike?
Cut back to the rock area (shot in the dessert) where Erik
hikes over rocks and stuff in the space suit.
Erik: Well as I came over a ledge I noticed a glimpse of
this person also in a spacesuit before he or she disappeared
behind a rock. I tried to approach the person, intrigued
because this was the first time I'd seen some one else
during one of these day dreams.
Cut to shots of Erik getting close to the rock structure the
person disappeared behind.
Erik: But as I approached him or her everything began to
fade away again and I was brought back to lecture where I
moronically failed to type the last slide of notes.
Cut to Erik trying to type.
Therapist: Wow. That's interesting.
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Cut to Erik lying on couch in the office again.

Erik: Yeah I felt kind of curious after that incident
though.
Therapist: Yeah, that's odd... Maybe these day dreams are
actually leading you towards something...maybe something
you're seeking.
Erik: I guess that's one way to think of it.
Therapist: Perhaps the way to look at this, isn't a
disability, but a gift.
Cut back to aerial shot above Erik's face laying on the
couch in the therapist office with a slight pull back before
the shot cuts to black on beat with the last bell chime.
FINAL SEQUENCE
Slow motions of Erik entering elevator, cut too him exiting
in regular speed.
Cut to the bottom doors of the building where Erik goes to
see his therapist. He bust out the doors with confidence and
begins to walk briskly down the side walk before breaking
into a full sprint. The camera moves quickly with a dolly or
glidecam side profile as he runs down the street towards the
main boulevard.
Cut to a medium wide shot around a corner where the prick
from his Astronomy class is standing with food, Erik rounds
the corner and slams into him spilling food all over him.
Cut to medium close up of Erik continuing to run away
turning with smile laughing to himself.
Various shots of Erik running down the street towards the
Main mall on the University.
He crosses the street towards the observatory and gets close
to the main entrance. As he approaches he catches a glimpse
of Sonya exiting the door next to him.
Cut to the other side of the door where Erik enters looking
confused, glimpsing back at Sonya still walking away in the
background. Cut to close up of Erik's face, Then fade into
white room sitting alone as usal then the white walls burst
away to reveal the dessert landscape (like the dream he had
where he was on another planet. (applied effects to make it
seem like an unearthly planet).
He continues to look around with excitement and running
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throughout the landscape catching glimpses of that same

figure in a spacesuit from the previous incident. Use POV.
Shots to portray Erik seeking out another figure.
Then finally as Erik runs up over the ridge he loses sight
of the person he was chasing. He again looks frustrated and
tries to catch his breathe. As the music plays out, fade to
black on Erik close up sweating.
FINAL THERAPY SESSION.
Cut to a medium wide shot with a side profile of Erik's
whole body laying on the couch. In the bottom left focal
point of the frame there are the therapist legs. Fade in
audio...
Erik: And as I came up over the ridge.
Therapist: Nothing?
Erik: Exactly.
Therapist: Frustrating.
Erik: Very.
Therapist: Well again, lets look at this in a positive
light.
Erik: How so? I feel like I'm so close to figuring
everything out but I can't do anything about it still.
Therapist: I must say Erik, I've never spoken to someone
with such a case like yours, and I can't seem to put a
finger on what it is that causes this, or where it leads,
but I think your learning more and more about yourself
everyday, and that's enough for now.
Erik: I guess your right.
Therapist: And I'm sure you'll discover exactly who that
person in the dream is soon.
Erik: You think so?
Therapist: You're getting closer every time.
Cut to shot directly above Erik's face lying on the couch,
he sits up and the camera pans back at the same time. He
approaches the door to exit the office and thanks therapist.
Cut to shot on the other side of door on the floor, in the
right half of the frame there is a blurred out foot which is
the figure in a spacesuit he has been chasing in his dreams.
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Que- Hall & Oats - You Make My Dreams Come True

Cut to a over the shoulder shot, sitting in that chair is
Sonya, [the girl from the party, spaceouts and who was
sitting behind him in class; quick shots from eeach of these
moments]. Cut to close up as he smiles to himself. Cut to
black.
Roll Credits with the music.
THE END.