Refrigerated

The story of a mans spiral into insanity after discovering a mysterious stranger living in his refrigerator.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 REFRIGERATED

A Screenplay By:

Zachary Lyons

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SCENE 1 – INT. KITCHEN – MORNING

Shots	Shot Description	Audio and Dialogue
1	Full shot of a sharply dressed man named Jerry. He walks to a refrigerator holding a morning newspaper. He opens the door looking inside shocked. (camera is positioned to where the inside of the refrigerator is not visible.)	Background noise.
2	Same angle as before. Fades to black after dialogue.	JERRY: (V.O.) There’s a man living in my refrigerator. I’m not sure why he’s there, he just showed up one day, seemingly out of nowhere.
3	Black screen. Text of title comes up, it reads Refrigerated. Text fades.	JERRY: (V.O.) It was two weeks ago that he first made an appearance. The day wasn’t in any way significant, it was just like any other day.
4	Fades back in to a bird’s eye view shot of Jerry getting out of bed.	JERRY: (V.O.) I got up.
5	Fast cut to a shot off a showerhead spraying water.	JERRY: (V.O.) Took a shower.
6	Fast cut to a shot off Jerry sitting on couch with a remote in his hand. He changes the channel and the TV screen shines light in his face.	JERRY: (V.O.) Watched “The Morning Show.”
7	Fast cut to a shot of the refrigerator door being opened. Similar to the opening shot.	JERRY: (V.O.) And got a bite to eat.
8	(Cut to right before the contents of the refrigerator are visible in the previous shot.) Shot of Jerry’s face. An expression of shock engulfs it.	JERRY: (V.O.) I opened the refrigerator door to the familiar cool breeze, the one that I felt everyday, and that was the first time I saw him.
9	Full body shot of the man inside the refrigerator, camera is positioned in the refrigerator doorway.	JERRY: (V.O.) I opened the door and there he was, he was sitting in a chair behind the shelves, how he fit it there I do not know, and with the shock of him being in there flooding over me I didn’t even care really.
10	A up and down panning shot of the man in the refrigerator.	JERRY: (V.O.) He was around 5’11 and weighed roughly 150 pounds.
11	Extreme close up of the refrigerator man’s hair.	JERRY: (V.O.) His hair was matted and looked as though he had just gotten up from a long sleep.
12	Pan down to an extreme close up of the man’s eyes.	JERRY: (V.O.) His eyes, which were half covered by his hair, were a very light brown and had a very demanding presence to them.
13	Wide shot of a lion attacking a gazelle.	JERRY: (V.O.) The stare reminded me of the stare a predator such as a lion gives its prey right before it attacks, making him a very intimidating site to behold.
14	Close up shot of the man’s sweater.	JERRY: (V.O.) He wore a brown, snazzy looking sweater,
15	Pan down to a close up shot of the man’s khakis.	JERRY: (V.O.) and some slightly wrinkled khakis, which just added to his slightly dirty look.
16	Full body shot of man in refrigerator taken from the doorway of the refrigerator. He is adjusting himself in the chair staring straight ahead.	JERRY: (V.O.) He slouched slightly and stared straight ahead, looking right into my eyes.
17	Extreme close up of the man’s eyes. They thin slightly showing a hint of interest.	JERRY: (V.O.) That demanding stare gave me a feeling that he had complete power over me and could perhaps read my every thought.
18	Long shot next to the refrigerator. The camera zooms in towards Jerry’s face slowly.	JERRY: (V.O.) He had somehow got into my refrigerator, who was to say that he couldn’t read minds. Of all people I had ever encountered in my life he would be the one I would most expect of mind reading capabilities.
19	Camera is positioned on floor looking straight at the refrigerator. Jerry slams the door, and then slides down the refrigerator door into the shot. (Camera slowly zooms out revealing the rest of the room.)	JERRY: (V.O.) As quickly as it took that thought to enter my mind I slammed the door. “You better face this head on.” I thought to myself, trying to build up the courage to confront this strange and slightly frightening man. Instead of reopening the door however, and facing the man, I carried along my daily morning rituals ,as if it were just another Monday.
20	Close up shot of the door handle, attached to the door that leads outside. Jerry’s hands enter the frame and open the door. Jerry exits.	JERRY: (V.O.) I put off the strange occurrence and found myself trying to throw away the thought of the refrigerator man as if it was as simple as an expired dairy product.
21	Shot from the same angle as the previous one. The door handle wiggles as it is being opened form the other side. Jerry enters.	Jerry: (V.O.) When I came home that Monday I didn’t acknowledge the refrigerator at all.
22	Shot of Jerry eating pizza on the couch. (Same as previous couch shot.)	JERRY: (V.O.) Instead I ordered a pizza and watched TV.  I watched my normal programming,
23	Fast cut to a bird’s eye view shot of Jerry getting into bed.	JERRY: (V.O.) and went to bed around 11:00. Just like any other day.
24	Fade to black.	JERRY: (V.O.) This continued on for the next two weeks.
25	Fade back in to an over the shoulder shot of Jerry receiving food from a delivery man. Three more shots from the same angle are shown, in each one Jerry receives food from a different delivery man.	JERRY: (V.O.) I ordered different delivery food everyday to avoid the refrigerator holding the strange man.
26	Shot from the same angle as the opening shot. Jerry with newspaper in hand walks to the refrigerator and opens it. The same shocked expression as before crosses his face.	JERRY: (V.O) I ignored the man so much that I forgot he was there at all, and that’s what brought me to the moment in which I first met the stranger in my refrigerator.
27	Same angle as previous shot. Camera slowly zooms in toward Jerry’s face.	JERRY: (V.O.) After opening the door I had realized what I had done, and I knew that I would have to face the man this time.
28	Close up shot of Jerry’s eyes.	JERRY: (V.O.) I stared right into his eyes trying to impose the same kind of overpowering effect that his eyes had imposed on me.
29	Full body shot of the man in the refrigerator. Camera is positioned in the doorway of the refrigerator.	JERRY: (V.O.) I could tell that he was strangely puzzled by my sudden attempt at authoritarianism. This strange showing of possible vulnerability in the man that I was terrified of gave me the courage to make the first move.
30	Shot of Jerry’s face.	JERRY: Why are you in my refrigerator?
31	Shot of Man’s face.	MAN: Refrigerator? (Questioningly) The question is, what are you doing on my TV screen?
32	Shot of Jerry’s face.	JERRY: What?
33	Shot of Man’s face.	MAN: You keep coming onto my TV screen.
34	Shot of Jerry’s face.	JERRY: No you keep appearing in the back of my refrigerator, I want answers! People don’t just stay in the back of refrigerators. (Agitated and demandingly)
35	Shot of Jerry’s face.	JERRY: (V.O.) Obviously he was not taking my attempt at authoritarianism seriously. (Spoken as dialogue.) What do you mean by come onto the screen?
36	Shot of Man’s face.	MAN: Every time, right before you show up, a white light suddenly appears, and then it disappears as if a door is being opened. (Makes a gesture with his hand suggesting the turning on of a light.) Then you just show up and stare at me.
37	Shot of Jerry’s face.	JERRY: No I don’t, it can’t be true, this, this is just a dream. It has to be, people don’t just appear in the back of refrigerators. It just isn’t possible. There’s no other explanation.
38	Shot of Man’s face.	MAN: Believe me buddy it’s just as strange to me as it is to you. But I’m wide awake, (Adjust himself in his chair) and this ain’t, no dream.
39	Extreme close up shot of Jerry’s lips.	JERRY: You aren’t real. (Firmly)
40	Fade to black.	JERRY: Just a hallucination of my sub-conscience that’s all.
41	Black screen.	JERRY: The man started to say something but before he could I closed the door.
42	Fade back to a bird’s eye view shot of Jerry lying in his bed. The room is dark. The Camera slowly and constantly zooms in toward Jerry’s eye. Once it reaches Jerry’s eye it remains there in an extreme close up of Jerry’s retina.	JERRY: (V.O.) It didn’t matter what he had to say. I was too deep in denial at this point to care what he had to say. He isn’t real. I’m just hallucinating that’s all. I’ll just go to bed at 10:00 now. That will help. I won’t hallucinate if I’m well rested. My sub-conscious well be at peace with an extra hour of sleep to support it. I mean it’s not like the man is real, he can’t be real. He never actually showed up, it was just a hallucination. Therefore, he won’t be there if I get enough rest. It only makes sense. No, it does make sense.
43	Shot starts out as an extreme close up of Jerry’s retina. Camera zooms out to the same shot as before, but it instead it is zooming out towards the ceiling, from a bird’s eye view. The room is now lighted dully, showing that is now morning.	JERRY: I don’t think I’ll go to work today. (V.O.) I stated the thought aloud, perhaps thinking that a voice of reassurance, even if the voice was that of the person being reassured, would help to calm me. (Spoken as dialogue) I’ll just call in sick. A nice personal day all for me. Sounds great.

 

SCENE 2 – INT. APARTMENT, MOVIE THEATER / EXT. SIDEWALK, TAXICAB, MOVIE THEATER – MORNING

Shots	Shot Description	Audio and Dialougue
1	Close up shot of shower head. It is spraying water.	JERRY: (V.O.) Once I woke up I went immediately to the bathroom to take a shower.
2	Shot of Jerry putting on his shoes. Is shot from Jerry’s shins down.	JERRY: (V.O.) I decided to go see a movie downtown to take my mind off of the mysterious man living in the back of my refrigerator. I skipped breakfast,
3	Full shot of the refrigerator.	JERRY: (V.O.) getting out of the house as quick as possible so that I wouldn’t become tempted to confront the man again.
4	Transition to a wide shot of Jerry standing outside on the sidewalk awaiting a taxi cab.	JERRY: (V.O.) Perhaps he wouldn’t seem as mysterious if I were to give him a name, but what? Nothing to complex, more complexity at this point in time was the last thing I needed. After some consideration I named him Bob. Bob always seemed to be the plainest name you could give a person, nothing special about it. Only one syllable and two different letters were contained in it, making it a very bland name. With a name like Bob maybe he would not seem as intimidating. All the Bob’s I had ever met had been weak minded individuals without much ambition or personality, modern tools of society. With a name so meaningless I don’t blame them. I think that anyone named Bob would at some point come to a realization that there parent’s probably either didn’t care for them or just didn’t see a point in giving them a meaningful identity. Why else would they have chosen a name like Bob over all the other great and meaningful names that there were in the world?
5	(Continued shot) A taxi cab pulls into the frame. It obscures you’re view of Jerry a little.	JERRY: (V.O.) I called for a cab to take me to the theater.
6	Shot of Jerry in the back of the cab. The shot is taken from the passenger’s seat of the cab.	JERRY: (V.O.) With my mind so jumbled I was in no state to drive, especially in the middle of rush hour. I told the driver to take me to the Redmont Theater uptown.
7	Search up shot of the cab driver, the shot stays still once it reaches the driver’s turban.	JERRY: (V.O.) The taxi driver fit the Indian driver stereotype often used in movies and television programs. He had a thick accent and wore a turban, which just amplified the effect of the stereotype even further.
8	Long shot of the interior of the cab from the front dashboard, the driver is in the foreground of the shot, while Jerry is in the background of it.	JERRY: (V.O.) His accent made me wonder how long he had been in the states. Perhaps he was an immigrant looking for a new life in the “land of opportunities”.  Finding that in a large country, such as the United States of America, success was something even the privileged don’t often come by, he had taken a job as a cab driver till he could get on his feet. Or maybe he was saving up to open a deli (Laughs softly). Once again incorporating another often thought Indian stereotype, used in the media today, into my analysis of the man.
9	Shot of the side of Jerry’s head, the city is visible outside of the window.	JERRY: (V.O.) Driving to the theater I found myself thinking of Bob.
10	Flickers of images from previous scenes play on top of the shot from before.	JERRY: (V.O.) Nothing of my imagination though. They were simply the events that had just happened in the kitchen, replaying in my mind over and over again. As if my mind were a VCR, playing a portion of a movie repeatedly. Repetitive as the rising and setting of the sun.
11	Wide shot of the cab pulling up to the theatre. The theatre is visible in the background.	Sound of the cab pulling up.
12	Close up shot of Jerry’s hand handing the cab driver his fee.	JERRY: (V.O.) When I finally arrived at the theater I gave the driver his fee and said farewell.
13	Full shot from the front of the cab. Jerry is leaning in toward the driver’s window of the cab.	JERRY: Thanks.   CAB DRIVER: Namaste.
14	Wide shot of the cab in the foreground, the movie theater is in the background. Jerry is standing, back towards camera, in front of the cab.	JERRY: (V.O.) His farewell made him that much more of a walking, or in this case, driving cliché. (Said while walking around the car to the curb) Perhaps he should just look for acting jobs in need of an Indian stereotype. With his overwhelming stereotypical characteristics he could probably make a living out of it. For a moment I thought about sharing my thoughts with him, (turns toward the car looking at the driver) but I decided against it, (continues walking) figuring that he would probably take it as an insult.
15	(Continued Shot) Cab drives out of frame, and Jerry walks away from the curb toward the theater. The camera follows Jerry as he walks.	JERRY: (V.O.) Walking away from the curb I approached the Redmont Theater. It was then I realized that I hadn’t given any thought to what movie I was actually going to watch. I walked to the advertisement posters and proceeded to decide on a feature. I looked for the advertisement that portrayed the most complexity. If the movie was engaging enough maybe it could stray my mind from the thoughts of the man in the refrigerator. After all that was the reason for coming to the theater in the first place.
16	Over the shoulder shot of Jerry looking at the first advertisement poster.	JERRY: (V.O.) The first poster advertised a comedy called, “Winning Back”. From the poster I implied it was about a couple of guys who were trying to win back there girlfriends. The tagline read, “2 guys, 2 girls, 1 night, 1 chance.” The movie sounded extremely bland and generic. I decided to pass it up; I had already experienced my fair number of clichés for the day. (Walks away to the next poster)
17	Over the shoulder shot of Jerry looking at the advertisement poster.	JERRY: (V.O.) The second poster advertised a horror film, it was called “Alien Massacre 2: Blood Thirsty”. Looking at this advertisement I wondered why Hollywood came out with so many similar horror movies. At least they could have been more imaginative with the title; it lost my attention as soon as I read it. Plus it was a sequel. Too often do I find sequels to be pathetic excuses for films usually made to just bring in some money to the film company. This movie would just lead me to think of the man again, destroying the whole purpose of watching it. I quickly decided to avoid this movie. (Walks away to the next poster)
18	Over the shoulder shot of Jerry looking at the advertisement poster.	JERRY: (V.O.) The third and final advertisement, however, caught my attention immediately. The movie it advertised was titled “Inexistent Places in the Human Mind”. The name itself drew great interest from me. It sounded like it would have a story complicated enough to consume my thoughts for the next 2 hours. The tagline was, “He lived in a place of peace and prosperity, at least that is what he believed.” After reading it I decided to see this movie. Of course, it wasn’t much of a decision when compared to what its competitors were.
19	Long shot of the ticket booth. Jerry walks into frame and the dialogue begins. Shot is taken from about 20 feet away from the ticket booth.	JERRY: (V.O.) I walked to the ticket booth and bought my ticket. The middle aged women behind the counter handed me my ticket and I proceeded toward the entrance of the theater.
20	Wide shot of the theater seats, 5 people are contained in different seats. Jerry walks into the frame and sits down in the middlemost seat.	JERRY: (V.O.) After sitting down in the middle rows inside of the theater, at the screen my movie was being shown on, my mind strayed to the women who had handed me the ticket.
21	Extreme close up shot of the ticket booth lady’s lips. Her lips smack together to end the shot.	JERRY: (V.O.) I suddenly found myself wondering what color her lipstick was. Trying to avoid thoughts of the man had lead me to some very dull thoughts.
22	Wide shot from the seat behind Jerry, shows the back of Jerry’s head and the movie screen. It is showing advertisements. Fades to black after the end of the shot.	JERRY: (V.O.) Hopefully the movie would put something compelling in my mind to ponder.

 

 

SCENE 3 – INT. MOVIE THEATER, APARTMENT – AFTERNOON

Shots	Shot Description	Audio and Dialogue
1	Fades back in, to the same wide shot of Jerry in the theater seats as before. There are now a few more people around Jerry. The theatre starts out dark, but then lights come on. People start to leave the theater, once they are gone the camera zooms in until it is focused on Jerry’s face. There is an expression of fear on it. Fades to black after shot.	JERRY: (V.O.) The movie didn’t help. Not in the way I was aiming for anyways. It did the complete opposite of giving me something to think about instead of the refrigerator man. The plot was almost exactly like my situation. Except, of course, for the fact that his problem wasn’t a man living in his refrigerator. It did however help me in a different way, a way that I didn’t even think possible. It made me realize what I had to do. I had to get rid of the refrigerator man, and to do that I would have to get rid of the one thing that allowed him to contact me.
2	Fades back in, to a long shot of Jerry in his kitchen, he is in the foreground of the shot. In the background of the shot a mover is taking away the refrigerator on a dollie. After the mover has left the apartment and you hear the door slam, Jerry nods in satisfaction. Fades out.	Sound of the mover moving the refrigerator and the door slamming.
3	Fades back to a shot positioned just as the normal shot, Jerry walks to the counter beside the former place of the fridge, and gets a carton of milk. He walks off frame, the shot fades out.	Sound of Jerry’s actions.
4	Fades back to a close up shot of the front door being opened. Jerry walks out. The camera zooms out slowly to reveal the wall next to the door. Hanging there is a picture.	Sound of the door opening.
5	Close up shot of the picture. The picture shows Jerry with his arm around Bob, standing in front of the refrigerator. The plate on the frame reads “In memory of Bob Armia beloved friend.” Fades to black, credits roll.	The song “Mad World” by Gary Jules, plays during ending shot and credits.

 

THE END

                                    

Author's Note

give me criticism.