Film Project
Storyboard Text
- Opening Scene: Library w/ Mrs. Elm, 19 years earlier
- A whole life.
- Dad thinks I've thrown everything away. Now I've stopped swimming. I don't know. It's all so scary.
- You can be anything you want to be, Nora. Think about that possibility. It's exciting. A whole life in front of you.
- Sorry I'm late. My cat died. Last night. I had to bury him. I was left alone in my flat and couldn't sleep and forgot to set the alarm and didn't wake up till midday and then had to rush.
- 19 years later, 9.5 hours before Nora decided to die. At her job, String Theory, with her manager, Neil.
- Listen Nora, I like you. And I know you got mental health stuff. But you've been working here now for what-- 12 years? That's a long time. I feel like you are made for better things. You're in your late thirties. Did you picture yourself stuck in your hometown working in a shop?
- "To Live is to Suffer": As Nora wanders the streets of her hometown contemplating life, she reflects on the "almost" marriage she left behind. But she has a deeper sense that things are only about to get worse.
- Message: Nora, I miss your voice. Can we talk? *drunk* Nora, my life is chaos. I need you.
- The universe tended towards chaos and entropy. You lose your job, then more shit happens.
- In this scene, Nora Seed is introduced in her college years, with her librarian friend, Mrs. Elm. As they play chess, they discuss Nora's future; Nora is scared of how it might all turn out. Mrs. Elm lists off all the possibilities Nora could be-- an astronaut, a glaciologist.. but the story is premised on one grim thought: This scene takes place nineteen years before Nora decided to die.
- A number of bad things happen to Nora-- and she spirals. She decides at this moment that it is her time to die.
- Nora Seed is now in her late thirties. She lost her beloved cat the night before and now has shown up late to her dead-end job of 12 years. Her manager, Neil, pushes her to do better for herself and pursue her true dreams. She is not satisfied with how her life turned out. After their back and forth of Nora denying her need for a better life, Neil slowly and carefully says-- "I'm afraid, Nora, I'm going to have to let you go."
- When Nora woke back up, she found herself in the Midnight Library.
- Wandering around aimlessly, she thinks about her ex-boyfriend who has been texting her recently. She pulled out of their relationship just 2 days before the wedding, and now she is just left to wonder about why her life has turned out the way it has. She has no drive or desire to make her life better. She feels like giving up, like stopping in her tracks and leaving it all behind. Walking into a nearby shop, she runs into her brother's old friend. After a conversation, he ends it with, "Thought you'd be the one who'd get away from this town."
- When Nora enters, she is blown away by the beauty of the library. It is filled with an infinite number of books; it feels endless.
- In only a matter of 2 days, Nora's life has flipped upside down on its head. She has lost her cat, her job, and her only pupil. She begins to regret her choice to turn down moving to Australia with her best friend Izzy, and her choice to back out of a rock band with her brother. Her distanced brother even visits town and ignores her. She absolutely hates the way that her life turned out, and so she writes her suicide note and kills herself.
- Dear Whoever, I had all the chances to make something of my life, and I blew every one of them. Through my own carelessness and misfortune, the world has retreated from me, and so now it makes perfect sense that I should retreat from the world. If I felt like it was possible to stay, I would. But I don't. And so I can't. I make life worse for people. I have nothing to give. I'm sorry. Be kind to each other. Bye, Nora
- Nora ends up in a magical place. She feels as though she is in another realm. The clock stays at midnight, not a second goes by. Out of pure awe and confusion, she decides to walk in the strange yet beautiful building.
- What's happening? What the hell is going on?
- She had never seen anything like it. It was beyond measure; beyond words. The air was fresh. The colors were as vibrant as she had ever seen them. As she reached out for one of the books, a familiar voice behind her whispered. It was Mrs. Elm again, the woman who had been there for her time and time again. The woman who held her like a baby when she lost her father.
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