BSA 204 W10 : Scene 1 Development

We see a man in hell, he wakes up in a hospital bed, panics and starts looking for the doctor, he wants to confront the man and ask him what the hell just happened.

When he wakes up there is a nurse in the room and he is very hot/thirsty.

The first scene needs to feel like a bit chaotic, he wakes and is disorientated, he learns everything very quickly and his brother and family is also in the hospital to come see him. All these elements avalanche - him wanting to talk to the doctor, his family concerned but at the same time very disappointed and angry, the doctor thinks he wants to talk about the drug thing not getting out into the public sphere, and the nurse just wanting him to lie down and rest. All these elements compete and result in chaos as he also starts experiencing hauntings.

Characters and motivations:

1) Lawyer - scared, confused and wants to know what the hell is going on /panicking
2) Doctor - Want to reassure him that everything is under control and no one knows, but he had to call next of kin and is scared the lawyer will freak out about this, just wants to defend himself and reassure the lawyer so that nothing of his legal drug operation are thrown out of wack.
3) Brother - Angry and disappointed at his brother, who he has had the talk about, and will now put the foot down, making him go through rehabilitation and housing him at their house.
4) Niece - Excited to see her uncle, doesn't understand why he's sick
5) Sister-in-Law - Not impressed at all, doesn't approve of him and think he should have died and paid for his sins, but at the same time doesn't want to take away fun uncle from daughter.
6) The Nurse - Wants him to rest and not run around
7) Demon - Wants to fuck his shit up

Tonally I want it to feel like the aftermath of something, where everyone is losing their shit, there is a constant power play going on between all the different parties and the power passes from one to another seamlessly.

This scene from The Host and this episode of Haunting of Hill House are both good examples of what I want the scene to feel like:

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This video essay perfectly captures how The Meyerowitz Stories create realistic family dialogue, which is something I want to incorporate as well into this scene. I couldn't find a good scene from the film so this essay will do - it also helps me understand it better.



He wakes and has a very similar transaction with the nurse as the one I wrote originally, but gets out of there quite quickly, against her protests. He goes hunting for the doctor and she follows him out, slowly revealing more information, when he rounds a corner he sees his family and jumps back. Furiously asking her why they are there. She explains that they came because his brother's first of kin, he is very disappointed by this news - didn't want brother to know. He tries to sneak by, but is noticed, starts going faster to doctor's office, she helps him while also trying to get him to slow down and wanting to do some more tests.He's also seeing things, a shadow following, and she is very concerned over this too.

 They run into his 6/7 year old niece coming out of the bathroom, he picks her up as he has to move and talks to her, she's happy to see him but confused. He gets to the office and lets her go to the parents, running up behind him. He slips in, with nurse out as well, and barges into the doctor's office starting to talk to him. All the while his brother angrily yells through the door. They talk to the nurse outside, he freaks out and starts fretting with the doc.

He threatens the doctor's license and demands to know what's going on. At the end he steps out and meets his family, but sees something staring at him from a dark room. They go home where he's forced into a state of rehabilitation.