Benchmark script
- 1. “BENCHMARK” By Libby Bendall Ringwood school Ringwood,BH24 1SE 01425475000 Sixthform.admin@ringwood.hants.sch.uk
- 2. 2 FADE IN: EXT. LOCAL PARK - DAY Camera pans in and we see 3 benches, on each a single person sits. These are our characters, Ben, Connie and Stacey. Behind them is a fence line with trees dotted along it and a large stream. Connie is sat on the middle bench with Stacey on the left and Ben on the right. We then zoom in on the two girls, who are sat slightly facing each other. CONNIE Ben is so dreamy, such a beautiful boy. STACEY Agreed, but he’s a bit much… don’t you think? Besides, it’s not like he has chance to even notice you! CONNIE (Offended) He has noticed me thanks very much! We’ve had plenty of conversations while you’ve been gone. STACEY About the weather? Come on Connie, you deserve better than a little small talk here and there, he’s too obsessed with his popularity to make time for us. CONNIE He’s not though, he makes time for the little old ladies with tiny dogs and young mothers with restless children; he’s kind and caring. STACEY That’s only because he always sits by the gates, looking lonely and people take pity on him.
- 3. 3 CONNIE Not anymore… We see a shot of the three again, except it’s now only Stacey and Connie, Ben and the bench he was sat on, have gone. EXT. LOCAL PARK— EARLY EVENING 1 WEEK BEFORE, FLASHBACK On a park bench Ben is sat with a group of teenagers, aged around 17-18. They are laughing and talking, with bottles in brown paper bags, Ben is the only one not drinking much. CONNIE (O.S.) He fell in with the wrong crowd, they were always drinking or smoking. BOY NO.1 Hey Ben, bottoms up! GIRL NO.1 Yeah, Ben, that’s it! I love a boy who can drink! STACEY (O.S.) Surely he could have told them he didn’t want to drink? BEN Hey guys, hasn’t Bella had one too many? GIRL NO.1 She’s fine, she can still stand right? Stop being so worried, just drink! CONNIE (O.S.) He was worried they would push him away or leave him behind. He was scared of being alone… aren’t we all?
- 4. 4 Ben continues to drink, but not properly, the others don’t notice, crowding around him and laughing. He watches Bella, looking concerned. STACEY He has us… LATER— EARLY MORNING The group of friends are all still laughing and joking about, apart from Bella who was identified earlier. Ben is still sat in the middle of the bench, watching Bella. Group continues to AD-LIB amongst themselves. STACEY (O.S.) So what actually happened? Bella falls and the group fall silent, the boys shrug and continue quiet chatter. GIRL NO.1 SHE’S NOT BREATHING. GUYS! (Everyone falls silent) What do we do?! Indistinct chatter starts getting louder, punctuated with: “Call an ambulance!” or “who has a phone?” All the girls are in hysterics, running around trying to find a way to help, but still quite drunk and disorientated. BOY NO.1 There’s someone coming! GIRL NO.2 What do we do? We should ask them for help surely… BOY NO.2 RUN! Everyone runs off scene apart from Ben and Bella.
- 5. 5 STACEY (O.S.) Why didn’t he stop them? He could have asked them to help him. What about his phone? Ben stays sat on the bench, looking away from Bella, almost as if he’s ashamed, waiting for people to arrive. Shortly people start arriving, there is a blur of action around Ben, flashing lights come and go, but still Ben stays sat in the middle of the bench, no emotion showing. After several people have been questioned, Ben gets taken away by two men who look like police officers, his head down. CONNIE (O.S.) He was calm and collected when they took him away, he walked with no fuss. STACEY (O.S.) Surely this whole thing could have been avoided though, if he had just called for help? EXT. LOCAL PARK PRESENT DAY We see Connie and Stacey sat talking, they are slightly facing each other, and are deep in conversation. CONNIE It makes no difference, either way he takes the blame. STACEY He could have explained, could have told them that it wasn’t his fault. She drank too much, fell over, it was an accident. There were other people with him, other witnesses. CONNIE They asked if there were any witnesses, he’s not a snitch, besides, the people he hung out with, they aren’t the type of
- 6. 6 people to come forward with information. They would have denied even knowing him. STACEY Some friends they were… I just don’t understand… if he was as good as you said he was then surely he would have known better than to hang out with people like that! He just can’t be that much of a saint and all this happen! Stacey is visibly exasperated, throwing her hands in the air and shaking her head. Connie just looks sad, barely moving, her head hung. Both appear slightly faded, as though they are disappearing. CONNIE Peer pressure. He succumbed to peer pressure, it’s so easy to get carried away with those people, they’re cool, and you’re cool by association. It’s all well and good saying you wouldn’t, but until you’re asked, how do you know? STACEY I get that, we all want to be popular, but there’s a limit to the lengths I would go to actually BE popular. CONNIE He didn’t know it would go this far though, how could he know? STACEY (Raising voice) They were constantly drunk! Both fall quiet and still as people start walking past. Their images seem much more faded and thin. LADY NO.1 Where did that bench go?
- 7. 7 LADY NO.2 The one dedicated to Ben? It had to be moved down by the lake, it was too dangerous. Once the women have passed we see the two benches once again, the two girls sat on them are gone. (a close up may include small plaques saying they are in loving memory of Connie and Stacey) FADE OUT: THE END