"A Work In Progress" Screenplay

by
Donald Ford

2008 Don Ford Productions don@donfordmedia.com

 Disclaimer: The following film is based on true events.

1 BACKSTORY 1
FADE IN FROM BLACK
On a cold November day in 1984 a young couple (Donald
Alexander Ford Jr. and Carol Anderson Ford) enter Evanston
Hospital in Evanston Illinois. Carol is six months
pregnant. A nurse leads them down a hallway out of sight.
DISSOLVE TO
Nurses and doctors surround a table. The nurses busily hand
scalpels and tools back and forth to the doctors as they
hurriedly work. Donald Alexander peaks threw a round window.
Suddenly one of the doctors appears to grab a hold of
something. The doctor then dramatically holds up a very
small baby boy into the air.
DOCTOR
It is, a boy!
The boy is still covered in a bloody mess. Donald
Alexander’s face quickly turns white and he faints to the
floor. A nurse rushes over after seeing him faint.
NURSE
Uh, we got another fainter!
FADE TO BLACK
DISSOLVE TO
Carol lays in a bed with Donald Alexander sitting by her
side. They gaze into a little plastic box next to them.
Inside the box is their tiny baby covered with electrodes
and a feeding tub up it’s nose.
CAROL ANDERSON FORD
Awe, isn’t he cute.
DONALD ALEXANDER FORD JR.
He kinda looks like a little alien
to me.
Carol hits Donald Alexander on the shoulder.
CAROL ANDERSON FORD
Thats your son!... What should we
name him?

(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 2.

DONALD ALEXANDER FORD JR.

I’ve got the perfect name, we
should name him Harrison, you know
just like Harrison Ford.
CAROL ANDERSON FORD
Are you kidding. Thats just stupid.
DONALD ALEXANDER FORD JR.
Well what would you suggest then,
hmm?
CAROL ANDERSON FORD
How about Donald, like you and your
Dad?
DONALD ALEXANDER FORD JR.
Well, that might get a bit
confusing when mail starts coming
for him.
CAROL ANDERSON FORD
Ok, we’ll call him Donald Arthur.
Like king Arthur, because he’s a
fighter.
DONALD ALEXANDER FORD JR.
Ok, I like it. There’s my little
king, alien, son Donald Arthur.
Carol hits Donald again on the shoulder.
NARRATION
And so young Donald Arthur Ford was
born November 28th of 1984. Little
did he know that he would become
more than just a very little baby,
but a creative mind. A mind
influenced by some of the greatest
men of all time. (dramatic) Men
like Charles Bronson. Men like
Silvester Stallone. Men like Arnold
Schwarzenegger. These men created
some of the greatest cinematic
visions of all time. Films like
"Death Wish 3", "Rambo" and
"Predator". Little did Donald
Arthur know that these would be the
inspirations for his own future
masterpieces. Masterpieces like
"Gnome"...
FADE TO BLACK
 3.

2 SCENE ONE: RAISED ON MOVIES 2

FADE IN FROM BLACK
A young Donald Arthur sits between his mother and father on
a couch watching the TV. The VCR hums along and images of a
long laconic figure with a huge gun appears on the screen.
Donald watches intently as the figure approaches and aims
his huge hand-canon at the camera.
CLINT EASTWOOD
"...you’ve got to ask yourself a
question, do I feel lucky? Well do
ya PUNK!"(Dirty Harry 1971)
DONALD ARTHUR FORD
(Inner Thoughts) It was right
then and there that I knew I
wanted to be like him.
NARRATION
As little Donald Arthur sat there
between his parents, it’s then that
his love affair with cinema began.
DISSOLVE TO

3 SCENE TWO: "GNOME" 3

A montage of Donald watching different films. As the montage
goes on Donald ages. The montage ends with Donald as a
teenager watching "Predator" with several friends. One of
them has a bowl cut and glasses. His name is Ben.
ARNOLD SCHWARTZENEGGER
"What the hell are you"(Predator
1987)
DISSOLVE TO
Donald and Ben sit next to each other in their semi rowdy
English class. Their teacher Mr. Johnson enters the room.
MR. JOHNSON
Ok, everybody, shut up.
The class gets quiet.
MR. JOHNSON
It’s your senior year, and that
means your all special. Special
enough for a big final project.

(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 4.

The class moans. Mr. Johnson hands out an assignment packet

to everyone.
MR. JOHNSON
For your assignment you have three
choices. You can write a research
paper on a topic of interest, do a
book report or write a story and
make a short movie out of it.
Ben and Donald’s eyes widened. Donald and Ben look at each
other.
DONALD ARTHUR FORD
We are doing that!
BEN
You know what, lets do a parody of
"Predator". But instead(cut off)
MR. JOHNSON
Excuse me I’m not finished yet!
BEN
Sorry
Ben turns back to Donald.
BEN
(quiet)But instead of a
Predator lets make it a Lawn
Gnome.
A montage begins of Donald and Ben attempting to make their
movie. First they are shown at their desks arguing over the
script. Next they are shown with their friends in the
cafeteria and they are all arguing over the script. Finally
they are outside in a forest dressed in camo chasing a
little man in a red pointy hat with an Illinois shirt on.
One of the actors yells cut and they all begin to argue
again. The following narration happens over this montage.
NARRATION
Ben and Donald would go on to start
their first filmmaking experience.
They brought along their friends
and chaos ensued as none of them
had any idea of what they where
doing. What resulted was a short
film that has grown a legendary
cult status throughout the hallways
of New Trier High School, even
after it received only a B.

(CONTINUED)
 CONTINUED: 5.

DONALD ARTHUR FORD

(inner thoughts)There was
something special about making
a movie. I think it was the
collaborative experience. Or
perhaps it was the joy of
creating something and
forgetting about reality for a
time.
FADE TO BLACK

4 SCENE THREE: FILM EDUCATION 4

NARRATION
Don soon graduated from High School
and tried to put "Gnome" Behind
him. It was time to get serious
about filmmaking and that meant
education. Donald’s film education
would begin at Oakton Community
College. Taking a film history
class with Dr. Doll taught Donald
the evolution of filmmaking from
the silent era to contemporary
film. The class gave him the
terminology and the, so called
"rules" of filmmaking. Donald
learned about editing and
cinematography. Possibly the most
influential thing that Donald got
out of his film history class was
how styles and genera’s related to
eras of filmmaking. Donald became
fascinated in the "Film school era"
of the 1960’s and 70’s, because of
its experimental spirit and low
budget sensibilities (Wexman).
A montage begins of Donald watching many different films.
The films include action movies like "Bullitt" from the 60’s
as well a westerns like "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly".
As the montage progresses the films change from the sixty’s
and 70’s to the 40’s and 50’s. Films like "Casablanca" and
"The Roaring Twenties" can be seen. Donald is aging and his
film interests are expanding.
DONALD ARTHUR FORD
(inner thoughts) As I learned
more about filmmaking I
discovered more films. I began
to study them for their

(CONTINUED)
 CONTINUED: 6.

craftsmanship. I studied the

acting and I found myself
researching certain directors
to find out more about their
films and style. Some of my
favorites quickly became,
Clint Eastwood, Sergio Leone,
Don Siegel, John Ford, Michael
Mann, Steven Spielberg and
Martin Scorsese. As I
researched via the internet
and DVD special features I
learned about how these
individuals worked. I was
inspired, finding out that
each director had his or her
own unique approach to making
their movies. I was also
inspired by how these
particular filmmakers seemed
to control their own
destinies, and seemed able to
work beyond the confines of
the industry standards. That’s
what the "Film School Era" of
the 60’s and 70’s was all
about. It was about breaking
free of the studio system and
doing radical things, such as,
shooting on location or
letting actors improvise
entire scenes(Wexman). All of
my favorite directors and
actors where either part of
creating this movement or born
out of this movement.
FADE TO BLACK

5 SCENE FOUR: MIAD AND JOSE 5

NARRATION
After completing 2 years at Oakton
Community College Donald would move
on to The Milwaukee Institute of
Art and Design. This is where he
planned to develop and find his
style as a storyteller. He would
have to figure out if he could fit
in with, the art crowd, first.

(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 7.

Donald sits in a giant room with all the freshmen sitting in

rows of chairs. All the administrators run up and down the
isles handing out a bundle of papers. Donald appears a bit
overwhelmed. He looks around and sees a sea of spiked hair,
tattoos and piercings that are everywhere but in peoples
ears. Donald looks at his bland clothes. They seem colorful
compared to all the black most others appear to be wearing.
DONALD ARTHUR FORD
(inner thoughts) My first
impression of MIAD and
Milwaukee where a bit
frightening. I felt like an
outsider in a sea of
outsiders. After getting used
to the place and finding a few
non-depressed souls I could
relate to I began to settle
in.
DISSOLVE TO
Donald struggles putting together a wooden chair model he is
working on in the industrial design lab. A huge and
intimidating looking Latino guy sees Donald’s struggles and
comes over to the table. Donald looks up at the huge man
towering over him. He introduces himself as Jose and he is a
fellow student in the class.
JOSE
You look like you could use a hand
with that.
DONALD ARTHUR FORD
You a teacher?
JOSE
No, I’m a freshman.
Donald starts laughing hysterically.
JOSE
Whats so funny?
DONALD ARTHUR FORD
Your, a freshmen. No way.
NARRATION
Little did Donald know he just met
his guide to Milwaukee and a good
friend who also shared a love for
the same kinds of films he loved.
FADE TO BLACK
 8.

6 SCENE FIVE: "SAFE HOUSE" 6

Donald sits in the passenger seat of Jose’s Jeep as they
drive through the south side of the city. They are scouting
locations for Donald’s first major movie project at MIAD.
DONALD ARTHUR FORD
(inner thoughts) With Jose as
my guide we drove along
looking past the glamor of the
city. We saw things like run
down warehouses, railway
bridges, dilapidated streets
and dirty open lots. Just
driving around and seeing the
reminisce of an ancient city
inspired my story. I could
feel ideas building inside me.
The grit and grime of it added
to my inspiration. I wanted to
create a short film that was
an homage to the cop films of
the 60’s and 70’s. I could see
the grittiness of those films
in the back allies and seedier
areas of Milwaukee. I had an
excuse to explore places I
never thought I would and I
got to know "the real"
Milwaukee.
Donald sits at his computer late at night writing. He tries
to ignore his drunken roommates as they meander in and out
of the dorm room.
DONALD ARTHUR FORD
(inner thoughts) I created a
story about a witness and two
cops trapped at a safe house.
They are protecting the
witness while two other bad
cops are on their way to kill
the witness. I wanted the
story to be a rich character
driven drama. However I let my
love of the films that it was
inspired by get in the way. My
final script lost the story
and the characters because I
focused too much on making the
movie a tribute to the films
that influenced it. I made a
grave mistake and included

(CONTINUED)
 CONTINUED: 9.

clips of the films in the

movie to help as transitions
and as part of the plot. As
the cops sit in the safe house
protecting the witness they
watch classic cop films. It
seemed like an interesting
way, to both relate the films
to the characters and also
homage them at the same time.
Unfortunately my characters
where too paper thin to even
relate and I ended this
project unhappy with the final
results.
NARRATION
Donald’s failure on "Safe House"
kept burning at him. Other projects
came and went and when senior year
came it seemed the perfect time to
revive and reinvent "Safe House".
DISSOLVE TO

7 SCENE SIX: "BLUE LINES" 7

Donald looks down at a piece of paper on his desk. It reads
"Senior schedule". On the schedule reads "Senior Thesis".
DISSOLVE TO
Donald walks into a computer lab and sits down. He see’s
fellow classmates around him. It is the first day of his
senior year. Jamal his instructor walks in.
JAMAL
Hey gang. Hope you all had a good
summer. I hope you all have been
thinking about your thesis because
your finally here.
Donald begins to daze off. He begins to run several ideas
through his head, but one keeps coming back to him. Images
of his previous film "Safe House" flicker in his mind.
DISSOLVE TO
a week later...
Jamal stands in front of the lab and everyone has proposals
with them.

(CONTINUED)
 CONTINUED: 10.

JAMAL
Let’s hear what you got?
DONALD ARTHUR FORD
I want to completely remake "Safe
House". I want to start from
scratch with it. New script, new
characters but the same basic
premise of cops protecting a
witness against other cops. I want
to create a character driven drama
about corruption, redemption and
morality.
NARRATION
Donald’s quest to remake "Safe
House" would bring him both
challenge and great reward. In
order to create the type of
professionalism he wanted he would
have to cast professional actors
and put together a competent crew
to help him.
DISSOLVE TO

8 SCENE SEVEN: SCRIPT WRITING 101 8

Donald sits in his familiar chair typing like a mad man. His
eyes are blood shot and it’s nearly 2:30am.
DONALD ARTHUR FORD
(inner thoughts) My first
duty was to write a good
story. My main goals for my
remake where to fix the flaws
of the old one. I saw those
flaws as a lack of character
development and a lack of a
clear story. I kept the main
ingredient’s of good cops, bad
cops, witness. I wanted to
also make sure that my dialog
sounded different and unique
from character to character.
After one semester of work and
winter break I had an
unfinished 45 page draft. It
had great potential
unfortunately I was running
out of time to film a 45 page
script. I now had to cut down

(CONTINUED)
 CONTINUED: 11.

and undo much of the work I

had done. I ended up chopping
the entire first half of the
script off and focusing on the
meatiest and most dramatic
parts, which where in the
ending. I condensed much of
the information told in the
first half into flash backs. I
ended up eliminating less
important characters and even
combining parts of them into
main characters. It all ended
up working into a slick
streamlined script of about 15
pages. I had no idea if it was
well written. I did know it
was substantially better than
the original "Safe House" and
I had my strong characters and
good story.
Donald stops typing.
DONALD ARTHUR FORD
whew
DISSOLVE TO

9 SCENE EIGHT: CASTING 9

Donald sits at his desk staring at his phone.
DONALD ARTHUR FORD
(inner thoughts) I hate
phones. I have some kind of
phone phobia and now I have to
call a bunch of strangers to
find out if they want to be in
my movie. Eh, I’ll just email
instead...
Donald puts down the phone and turns on the computer.
NARRATION
Ah, the internet. Possibly one of
the greatest inventions ever made.
Originally designed to bring
millions of teenage boys, free
erotic thrills it can also
connection complete strangers. This
feature would come in particularly
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
 CONTINUED: 12.

NARRATION (cont’d)
handy in the casting of Donald’s
senior film. Once logged into
cyberspace all Donald had to do was
place an add on the mighty Craig’s
List. With a well worded add Craig
delivered a plentiful bounty of
creepy strangers claiming to be
actors and then those actual actors
that Donald actually cast in the
film. The best part of it all is,
Donald was actually able to do it
without barley touching a phone.
That’s truly amazing.
Montage of Donald looking through tons of resumes. Photos of
the actual cast spin out to the screen one by one until the
entire cast is on screen. Donald reclines back in his chair
and satisfyingly puts his hands behind his head.
DONALD ARTHUR FORD
(inner thoughts) Apparently my
add on Craig’s list was pretty
good because I got a huge
response. I also found out
that all the actors who
decided to be in the film
seemed to love the script. I
was quite shocked because I
wasn’t sure how good or bad my
own writing was. They claimed
to like the witty and
sarcastic tone. I believe that
without spending six months
developing and tweaking the
script It probably would not
have attracted as many actors.
I also have to thank all of
the fellow MIAD students and
creative minds that helped me
perfect it.
DISSOLVE TO

10 SCENE NINE: LOCATIONS 10

A montage of Donald looking at different locations. He looks
at city locations like tunnels and bridges, and rural
settings like farmland and cottages.

(CONTINUED)
 CONTINUED: 13.

DONALD ARTHUR FORD

The next step is to get my
locations. I already had my aunt
and uncle’s summer cottage in mind.
It had a great hunting cabin motif
to it which I liked. I wanted there
to be a stark contrast between the
city and the rural areas. I wanted
there to be a sense of these City
cops stuck out in the country where
they didn’t belong. It was
amazingly easy to get permission to
film there from my aunt and uncle
as well as the Kenosha County
Sheriffs Department. Getting
locations in Milwaukee proved to be
much harder. Milwaukee wanted
permits and money. There seemed to
be much more red tape involved.
Amazingly things ended up working
themselves out. One of my cast
members is a Milwaukee Firefighter
so he was able to cut right through
the red tape and we got our gritty
city location.
DISSOLVE TO

11 SCENE TEN: FILMING 11

Donald and a small cast and crew carefully make their way
out onto a frozen lake. Donald begins to set up a shot and
direct the actors.
NARRATION
After six months of preparation the
grand moment arrived. Donald Ford
and his cast and crew began to roll
tape on March 8th. Two weekends
separated by spring break was all
the time they needed to film "Blue
Lines"
DONALD ARTHUR FORD
(inner thoughts) One of my
favorite directors is Clint
Eastwood. He is a filmmaker
who includes everyone in the
collaborative process. He lets
actor improvise and when he
directs it is direct and to
the point (Tanitch). I

(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 14.

approached "Blue Lines" in a

similar way. I had great
actors to work with. I made
the environment friendly for
suggestions. We even
improvised an entire scene
just to add some character
depth. Making the experience
open and collaborative was
wonderful and very rewarding.
The actors truly appreciated
it as well. My lead actor, Tom
Lodewyck even told me that,
"...it was the most fun I’ve
had making a film in years".
That for me was the ultimate
compliment. I enjoyed working
with the actors. They found
their inspiration on the pages
of the script and i didn’t
need to explain much to them.
Thankfully they got it from
the written words. I allowed
them to explore their
characters from there. It’s
the same way I explored the
space and compositions with
the camera. I used my
knowledge of the symbolism of
camera angles. For instance I
used a lot of low angles and
close ups to create feelings
of tension as well as
claustrophobia inside the
small cabin spaces. Once we
started shooting outside I
went for wide panoramic shots
to emphasize the size of the
space and create a different
kind of feeling. In many ways
the wide camera angles I chose
are an ironic statement
because the characters are
just as trapped out in the
open as they where inside.
That is the way I was thinking
while we where shooting the
film.
NARRATION
Filming "Blue Lines" is an
experience the cast and crew will
soon not forget. But for Donald it
was time for the editing.

(CONTINUED)
 CONTINUED: 15.

DISSOLVE TO

12 SCENE ELEVEN: EDITING 12

A montage of Donald sitting at his computer. Occasionally he
gets up and paces and the montage ends with him bashing his
head into the computer monitor.
DONALD ARTHUR FORD
(inner thoughts) It is time to
edit 600 minute of footage
down to 15 minutes, and I only
have three and a half weeks to
do it. Let the hair pulling
begin. After finishing a
grueling filming schedule it
is time to jump into the
editing. This is often easier
said than done and that was
the case for "Blue Lines". It
took four days of
procrastination to finally get
motivated to start editing.
Just going through 600 minute
of footage to select the best
footage was hard. There was so
much good footage to choose
from. It often feels like
being a kid in the candy
store. You want to have all
the candy but you can only
have one. It’s still a better
scenario to have a bunch of
candy rather than a bunch of
garlic. Editing is all about
decisions, thats one of the
reasons it took me so long to
start. I had to stop
procrastinating and when my
mind was right, make the
decision to start editing. I
found once I started, the
footage cut together pretty
well. Sometimes things are
meant to fit and they seem
obvious and other times they
have to grow on you. For me
editing is a very organic
experience. I let the footage
dictate a visual rhythm. I
think this comes from my
influences of 1960’s and 70’s

(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: 16.

filmmaking. It was a very

experimental time in
filmmaking (Wexman). I found
that after editing the footage
some of the music I chose
naturally fit the rhythm of
the visuals. I had built a
good editing rhythm. Perhaps
while I was looking for music
on the royalty free sites the
visuals where playing in my
head so subconsciously I was
able to find tracks that had
similar rhythms. Thats when
you know your one with the
piece. I find i work best when
I am completely lost in the
material. Thats can go for all
facets of Production. Whether
I’m writing, filming or
editing I can escape reality
for a while.
NARRATION
Even though Donald may think he has
completed editing on "Blue Lines",
we all know the urge will creep
back up to him to go back and tweak
it some more. They say that one
never finishes a movie, one only
abandons it. Well good luck with
that. From the days he sat between
his parents to "Blue Lines", we
have brought you a nice little tale
of a creative mind. I hope you all
enjoyed this somewhat interesting
and possibly bizzar look into the
mind of a filmmaker, or so he calls
himself.
Donald is seen walking off into the distance.
The end credits roll