One Minute Mystery!!!

What if you were given a limited amount of time, say sixty seconds, to solve a mystery. Could you do it?

My goal with this script was simply to create a situation wherein I imagined I had only one set, and seven or eight actors/actresses for one day. Much like most of today's speed filmmaking competitions you may have read about or even participated in.  Enjoy.


FADE  IN:

INT.  JACK'S  BAR  AND  GRILL  --  DAY

A  modern  day  sports  bar,  of  medium  size.    The  kitchen  is
closed.    Seven  stools  at  the  bar,  and  several  tables  strewn
evenly  about.

JACK,  a  man  in  his  late  20's,  unlocks  his  bar  to  start  the
day.    He  struts  behind  the  bar,  turns  the  tv  on  to  the
pregame  show,  and  starts  to  wipe  down  the  bar.

A  man,  JOHN  SMITH  stumbles  in.    He  appears  to  have  been
shot  3  times.

JOHN  SMITH
Help  me!

Jack  runs  to  the  man.

JOHN  SMITH
My  girlfriend  did  this  to  me.    I  was
suppose  to  meet  her  here.

He  falls  dead  in  Jack's  arms.

Jack  lies  him  down,  and  checks  for  ID.    He  finds  a  wallet
in  the  inner  jacket  pocket,  takes  it  out,  and  reads.

JACK
"John  Smith."    Wonderful.

Jack  drags  the  body  to  the  kitchen.    Returns  behind  the
bar,  picks  up  the  phone,  and  dials  911.

JACK
Yes...I'm  at  Jack's  Bar  and  Grill,
and  someone's  been  shot....  He's
dead.    Could  you  send  the  police
right  away?

He  hangs  up.

ANGLE  ON  DOORWAY

A  tall  redhead,  SUZY,  drop  dead  gorgeous,  and  seductively
dressed,  strides  in.

ANGLE  ON  BAR

She  takes  a  stool  to  the  far  left.    Jack  moves  to  take  her
order.
JACK
What'll  you  have?

SUZY
Long  Island  Iced  Tea.    I'm  waiting
for  a  man  named  John,  has  he
arrived?

JACK
No...I'll  have  your  drink  in  a
moment.

SUZY
There's  a  fashion  show  on  E!    Could
you  change  the  channel?

JACK
Sure.    No  problem.

He  finds  the  remote  behind  the  bar,  and  changes  the
channel.    A  fashion  show  is  in  progress.

BENNY,  one  of  the  bar's  regulars,  walks  up,  and  puts  a
stool  between  himself  and  Suzy,  sits  down,  and  motions
Jack.

BENNY
I'll  have  the  usual.

JACK
Coming  right  up,  Benny.

BENNY
Where's  the  game?    If  I  wanted  to
see  this,  I  could've  stayed  home
with  my  wife.

JACK
Kickoff's  not  for  fifteen  minutes,
Benny.    Be  patient.

A  petite  blonde  takes  a  seat  on  the  other  side  of  Benny.
Jack  tends.

BLONDE
Has  John  arrived  yet?

JACK
Er,  no.    What  can  I  get  for  you
today?

BLONDE
I'll  have  Sex  On  The  Beach.
JACK
That's  nice,  but  what  would  you  like
to  drink?    Old  bartender  joke,
coming  right  up.

Jack  goes  into  his  routine,  throwing  bottles  into  the  air,
spinning  them  over  his  head,  and  behind  his  back,  pouring
liquers  into  the  shaker,  and  eventually  into  the  glass.

He  plonks  the  drink  in  front  of  the  blonde,  and  tosses  two
straws  in  the  glass.

A  round  of  applause  follows.

JACK
Thank  you,  thank  you!    I'm  here  all
week!

BENNY
I  never  tire  of  that.

JACK
That'll  be  five  dollars.

The  blonde  puts  a  ten  on  the  bar.    Jack  goes  to  the  cash
register,  and  rings  her  up,  and  gives  her  five  ones  back.
She  leaves  them  all  on  the  bar,  and  takes  a  sip.

She  smiles,  and  takes  three  of  the  ones  back  inside  her
purse.    She's  about  to  leave,  but  notices  the  fashion  show
on  the  tv,  and  retakes  her  stool.

ANGLE  ON  DOORWAY

A  tall,  thin  man  enters.    He  notices  the  empty  stool  next
to  Suzy,  and  takes  it.    The  SMOKER  takes  out  a  pack  of
cigarettes,  taps  one  out,  and  begins  to  light  up.

JACK
Excuse  me,  sir.    I  can't  let  you  do
that,  laws  being  what  they  are.

SMOKER
That's  ok,  I  brought  my  own  ashtray.

Smoker  pulls  an  ashtray  out  of  his  jacket  pocket,  and  sets
it  on  the  bar,  after  taking  a  puff.

Suzy  shies  away,  As  does  Benny  on  his  other  side.

MANNY,  a  stout  man  of  Spanish  decent,  takes  an  empty  stool,
and  plops  down.

MANNY
Jack,  I'll  have  a  beer.    Place  sure
is  filling  up,  when's  the  game
start?

JACK
Soon.    Here  you  go.

He  places  a  mug  of  draft  in  front  of  Manny.

ANGLE  ON  DOORWAY

A  young  couple  enters.    Musclebound  with  a  crew  cut,  he
wears  army  camos,  and  dogtags.    The  tall  lanky  brunette,
MARIE,  he  arrives  with  on  his  arm  dresses  casually.

ANGLE  ON  BAR  FAVORING  EMPTY  STOOLS

They  march  up  to  the  two  remaining  empty  stools  next  to
Manny.

Jack  throws  two  napkins  in  front  of  them.

JACK
What  would  you  like?

JOHN  C
She'll  have  a  cuba  libra,  and  I'll
have  a  rum  and  coke.

She  pulls  his  dogtags.    Jack  notices  that  they  read  "John
Covington."

MARIE
I  hate  when  you  order  for  me!

JACK
Whatever  you  like...

MARIE
Cuba  libra.

He  walks  away,  shaking  his  head.

ANGLE  ON  DOORWAY

As  sirens  can  be  heard  in  the  distance,  a  thin  non  descript
MAN  sneaks  in,  and  sits  at  a  table  toward  the  back,  with  a
view  of  the  tv.

ANGLE  ON  TV

Suzy  walks  down  the  runway,  in  the  latest  sexy  fashion.

SUZY
(pointing)
There  I  am  on  the  runway!    That's
me,  that's  me!!!

The  rest  at  the  bar  look  at  the  screen,  in  awe.

John  C  takes  special  interest.

BENNY
Could  we  watch  the  game  now,  or
what?    Manny,  are  you  with  me?

MANNY
Yeah,  Jack,  put  on  the  game.

Jack  moves  to  the  remote,  and  starts  to  change  the  channel.

SUZY
I'm  still  watching!

Jack  changes  the  channel  back.

BENNY
Let's  put  it  to  a  vote...who  wants
to  see  the  game?

MANNY
I  do.

JOHN  C
Um,  yeah,  sure.

BENNY
That's  three.    Anyone  else?

He  nudges  the  smoker.

BENNY
Any  one  else?

Smoker  grunts,  not  paying  attention.

JACK
Ok,  that's  three.    And  you  girls  all
want  to  see  the  fashion  show?

They  all  nod  and  answer  in  agreement.

JACK
Fashion  show  it  is  then.

BENNY
What  do  you  mean?!?

This is roughly about half of the 11 page script if I recall correctly.  Maybe a little more if I don't. You'd think that when you perform the Select All command, it would in fact highlight all of the text.  Maybe my browser is right. I need a new computer....

Or at least a better understanding of what the OS will do after it can't take anymore security updates. However, that's not what this is about.

Based on the above, If I had around $150K, I could probably produce this, or any other feature film, for that matter. I have those unproduced scripts ready to go, although, the industry or the business that we call show, may have a different definition of "Ready to go." 

You may question my financial math, however, there's several variables that go into making a movie that most know absolutely nothing about, up to and including how much it costs to get an actor you recognize to take time out of their busy schedule to work for someone they've never heard of before.

I hope that I get to make this one someday, however, I'd prefer to make my award winning feature first.  That way I'd be able to keep a lot of promises that I've made over the years to those that I've worked with in the past.  

You may even be reading this, I don't know. 

Let me know what you think when you think it in all the usual places.

72 and sunny in Redondo Beach.  e You next time.™

A Picture

is worth a thousand words, or so they say. We've quite possibly not talked about who "they" are.  Maybe we have. I once said somewhere that, "We don't know who they are. Well, I do."  

The mysterious they are quite possibly those that know more than you do.  We don't care what they know, as long as they know more.  I'm not saying that I know more than you do. I'm typing it.

These days with all the various AIs out there, you can probably write a thousand words, and have it represented as a picture. I'm sure the tech has gotten to a point wherein you can create a video of a living woman in various stages of undress doing things that you couldn't show in a PG-13 movie.  

However, you can probably talk about them.  I didn't realize I was going to write about the MPAA's rating system today, but here we are.  

A beautiful naked woman walks along a public beach.  As long as she doesn't have sex with anyone on it, you get an R rating.  She can even kiss someone. That same woman in a bikini gets a PG-13, as her parts are covered.

If she were to start making love to someone on that same beach, you'd be in NC-17 territory. Back in my day, that rating was X, until the porn industry jacked it, and made it XXX.  In 2024 we even have the ability to buy the extension for any domain. 

PG will be something without offensive language or violence, and a G rated movie doesn't even have that, however, there is conflict, as that's the essence of all drama.  

We have the ability to enter into the language part of this discussion, as we're discussing creating words that add up to a certain number to describe a simple visual.  I once did the math on how many words it would take to make a movie this way. 

Some would say that you can use the F word, as that's how adults talk, however, I was raised in a polite society wherein you shouldn't be using The Seven Words You Can't Say on Television. Visually we can describe something without them.  

As a writer, I'd simply use three words: They make love.  

Hopefully that's only two people in the privacy of their own home? 

The same scene can take place outdoors at a secluded beach or park. 

There's a possibility that there's more than simply two people that make up "they." That's for the author to decide, as I'm simply reporting on what may happen.  

I started this discussion with a concept about knowing about "they."  They are not us, and we are not them. You may never be part of a they, unless someone wants to lay an epithet on you.

I'm about half way to my goal, and I don't necessarily know that these words would necessarily create an image that anyone wants to see. I could attempt to crank out more, however, I think that's enough for today, as I have other writing to do elsewhere that you probably won't get to read either.

You may see it someday however.

72 and sunny in Redondo Beach. e You next time™

Fraction Magic - Detailed Vote Rigging Demonstration

Watch and learn.

 

Simple math methinks. I learned fractions in 3rd grade. I didn't realize that you could tell a machine how to do things and when to do them until about six years later.

That's ancient history for most of you, as it took place before you were born. I'm simply saying in this case, unless you have a masters in Computer Science from the University of Stupendous Choices, that I know more than you do.

The grammarians among you may be thinking to yourself, "Self, one of those commas isn't necessary." To which I simply state, "Not the point!!!!!"

I don't want to distract from the message of the video, however, if you don't have 24 plus minutes to watch and learn then to put simply, x*y doesn't always equal z.

Wherein x is the number of votes, y is less than or greater than one, and z becomes more votes than actually cast in Nevada for instance.

Now I'm not one to complain, however, I shall lament.

We brought this on ourselves. The need for the technology that allows me to write this here in the beach that is round and you read it wherever you are exists.

A hundred years ago, we didn't have any of it. We had amazing mathematicians and theoreticians that visualized all the formulas that are taking place in the background that you may not even know about today.

Einstein, Tesla, and the like. Aside: Einstein never said, "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

Much thanks to my friends on Twitter that found this video. It may be down by the time you read this. 

72 and sunny in Redondo Beach. As far as you know....