20 January 2023

The Script continues; scene: How the modern spy story opens in the script


A quick long shot view of Jörn from above leaving the New York philharmonic carrying a cello and dressed in musician formal performing attire 


Fade out


Fade in


Outside the Manhattan apartment building where Electra’s late father’s penthouse is 



Next image: streams of sunlight make horizontal patterns of shadows and sunlight that come from the horizontal blinds (symbolic)


This should look like a 1940’s s looking interior of an private office; film noir-ish as if Humphrey Bogart is about to show up. Almost like a retro Private Eye Investigator style . All surfaces are immaculately kept, uncluttered. Only basics, nothing personal is seen out anywhere no phots, no family mementos 


The cameras first shot The decor of the room.   is to set the mood of current day’s mood of the film; drawing on tongue in cheek poke at Scandi-noir while also using style film noir for poetic license for storyline and heavy use of black and white


Streamline furniture; leathers, wood, masculine; black, brown tones. Dark tones, lush wood, highly polished and immaculate highly polished, 1940s style desk, dark wood, highly polished1940s leather chairs; 1940s style desk lamp




The cameras first shot of the horizontal lights coming through blinds , pulls back and softens as it , pulls back to scope the emaculate office, touching on beautiful damask black wallpaper , brown wainscot, square lampshades , 


Next the camera moves to the highly polished desk


Now we see details. On the desk in a neat pile are dossiers of people, stapled and paper clipped with small ID photos in left corner

We now see the hands of the offices inhabitant; well manicured, clean hands that would belong to a musician as his hands are now seen going through the dossier files. The names and characters depict various types of looking people from multiple countries; all ethic and racial groups, but including Russian, German, Israeli, Muslim, etc.


In the manner in which he is going through the files, he clearly appears to be searching for something/someone by how quickly he is searching




He pulls out one of the dossiers but the camera instead pulls back all the way, until we see the full length left profile of him, looking intently down at it as he holds the papers in his hand to closely read the dossier holding it in his right hand 


And only now we realize he is on a call, as he is holding his phone with his left hand


Jörn: I’ve transferred back from Stockholm. Just arrived…. Yes i saw the intel…. We think Al-Qaeda …. I have rehearsal tonight at the symphony, it will have to be tomorrow 


Camera now goes from his left profile, moves to face him full view with office window behind him. And as this happens he turns left to look out the window through the blinds as we see him in profile, looking outside


Voice of Agent with Dutch accent speaks; voice only: and why the interest in my girl


Jörn: i think she has the code (close up of his eyes from the side as he is looking out the window, as he pulls down the planks of the blinds through narrowed eyes, pulling two blinds down, to thoughtfully look down at the street below; a side street outside a Stockholm apartment building)


Dutch Agent: if she does —you are the only one who can get it from her


Close up now of a Letterhead on desk, on a sheet of stationary above printed letter; this pulled out but only now is it visible to us; it is an insignia; it is a form of his initials but look shockingly like the Vikings markings in earlier shot/death scene. 




Jörn turns from window now and goes back to desk and pulls out another dossier from the stack which we had not previously seen —it is in a different kind of folder, minilla, and creases from years, and packed with files and papers, here now close of of old photos. There is a picture of a young 14 aged Electra with her mother on a boat in the Netherlands It is of a female who is our character ‘Electra’ the narrater and author of the film series


We see him looking slowly through all the photos, stopping at some to pause and brood over


Jörn: do we know where she is located these days? She moves around a lot



Willem: she has been at ten different addresses in five years ….I would narrow it down to somewhere in the US


Jörn: well, that is unfortunate ….


Black out here


Open to scene in black and white with hints of washed out color, overlay artwork of caricature of Electra in authors drawing


As the image shifts back to live, real life image, we see Electra in exact same pose in a Starbucks, “anywhere USA” and as the image transfers to real life, the camera moves smoothly around from allowing a clear view of her face, as the camera angle moves behind Electra


So now we see, she sits at thecoffee shop at a table. She has her iPad in front of her and is using as we close in on this angle


We see she is looking things up on Google 


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