Buffy script-s01-e01
- 1. Welcome to the Hellmouth (September 10, 1996) Written by: Joss Whedon Teaser FADE IN: EXT. SUNNYDALE HIGH SCHOOL – NIGHT The front of the affluent Southern California school gleams darkly in the moonlight. CUT TO: INT. HALL – CONTINUOUS TRACK through the hall. Nothing. CUT TO: INT. CLASSROOM – CONTINUOUS Silent. We track along the wall, past the maps and drawings tacked up on it, past the window, which SHATTERS in our faces! It’s just a single pane, knocked in by someone’s hand. It unlocks the window and slides it up. The intrude is a college age BOY, a timid GIRL beside him. She looks about nervously. GIRL Are you sure this is a good idea? BOY It’s a great idea! Come on. As they climb in. CUT TO: INT. HALL – A MOMENT LATER He leads her out here. It’s even darker than the classroom GIRL You go to school here? BOY Used to. On top of the gym, it’s so cool – you can see the whole town. GIRL I don’t want to go up there. BOY Oh, you can’t wait, huh? He moves to kiss her. Scene Heading Action Dialouge Fade in
- 2. GIRL We’re just gonna get in trouble BOY Count on it. He kisses her, but she turns suddenly, real fear crossing her face. GIRL What was that? BOY What was what? GIRL I heard a noise. BOY It’s nothing. GIRL Maybe it’s something… BOY Maybe it’s some Thing... GIRL That’s not funny. He looks about them. The place is dark, shadowy. She cowers behind him. BOY Hello…? Silence. BOY There’s nobody here. GIRL Are you sure? BOY I’m sure. GIRL Okay… She bares HORRIBLE FANGS and BURIES them in his neck. BLACKOUT. END OF TEASER CREDITS Act One EXT. NIGHT – AN ALLEY (THE DREAM) CLOSE UP: SHOES A poor man’s shoes, walking down the alley. Echoing in the emptiness. ANGLE: THE MAN Walking tentatively, far away. Suddenly the camera RUSHES at him like a predator – he turns just as it reaches him and –
- 3. ANGLE: A CANDLE BLOWING OUT. We HEAR CHILDREN CHANTING a schoolyard song eerily in the blackness, on top of sinister WHISPERS, and we see ANGLE: THE ALLEY And the man, face down, unable to crawl, clawing his way along the ground in terror – and his body is YANKED out of frame with incredible speed. ANGLE: A GIRL IN BED Tossing and turning, as the camera moves down to reveal the shadow of someone – something – approaching her – and we hear an impossibly low voice: VOICE (O.S.) I’ll take you… like a cancer… I’ll get inside you and eat my way out… ANGLE: A POOL OF BLOOD ANGLE: A DEMONIC FACE ROARS out of the shadows and we CUT TO: INT. BUFFY’S BEDROOM – MORNING Her eyes snap open. Despite the morning light, we recognize the girl – and the bed – from the dream. A moment, as she gets her bearings, shakes off the immediacy of the dream. BUFFY’S MOM (O.S.) Buffy… BUFFY I’m up, mom. BUFFY’S MOM (O.S.) Don’t want to be late for your first day. BUFFY (to herself) No… wouldn’t want that… Her voice betrays her uncertainty. She sits up. A wider angle on her room reveals that it’s only half decorated: there are still boxes as yet unpacked in the corner. CUT TO: EXT. SUNNYDALE HIGH SCHOOL – MORNING A day as bright and colorful as the night was black and eerie. Students pour in before first bell, talking, laughing. They could be from anywhere in America, but for the extremity of their dress and the esoteric mania of their slang. This is definitely So Cal. ANGLE: A CAR Pulls up outside the school. Buffy’s mom, JOYCE, is driving. Buffy gets out the passenger side. JOYCE Now, you have a good time. I know you’ll make friends right away. Think positive. And honey… try not to get kicked out.
- 4. BUFFY I promise. The girl turns, looks at the school. She starts in as her mother drives away. ANGLE: A SKATEBOARD Weaving along the road. On it is XANDER, dressed with the shaggy indifference common to skateboarders. He is bright, funny, and will one day be suave and handsome. Till that day arrives, he’ll do the best he can with bright and funny. He weaves through a thickening mass of students toward the school. XANDER Coming through… Coming through… (as the crowd increases) Not certain how to stop… But he’s doing okay until he passes Buffy – intrigued by the new face, he cranes to look at her, and nearly takes a header. He saves himself from falling, however, coming to a stop just in front of: WILLOW. She is shy, bookish, and very possibly dressed by her mother. The intelligence in her eyes and the sweetness of her smile belie a genuine charm that is lost on the unsubtle high school mind. It’s certainly lost on Xander, though he brightens considerably to see her. The new face forgotten, at least for now. XANDER Willow! You’re so much the person I wanted to see. Her excitement at the sentiment is sweetly pathetic, and typically unnoticed. WILLOW Really? XANDER Yeah. You know, I kind of had a problem with the math. WILLOW (hiding disappointment) Which part? XANDER The math. Can you help me tonight? Please? Be my study buddy? WILLOW Well, what’s in it for me? XANDER A shiny nickel… WILLOW Okay. Do you have “Theories in Trig?” You should check it out. XANDER
- 5. Check it out? WILLOW From the library. Where the books live. XANDER Right. I’m there. See, I want to change.
- 6. Check it out? WILLOW From the library. Where the books live. XANDER Right. I’m there. See, I want to change.