COGNITION
SCREENPLAY ANALYSIS
PAGE 1
BLACK SCREEN - SUPER TITLES
BLACK SCREEN - SUPER TITLES
"I always wondered whether amnesia made me a sociopath. If it disconnected the part of my brain that controls empathy". Cognition is a film about the themes of victimisation and empowerment and how those lines blur.from altering perspectives, especially from the dispelled ideology of an amnesiac. We open with an internal monologue that is intended for the audience, like a telepathic addressing where he announces the warped obsession he has with his conscience. The violent-streaked victims monologue juxtaposes the narration that follows which is heard as we peak over his shoulder as he begins to write the diary entry.
Now we transcend into the amnesiac's mind as he creates a memory, which we can afford to view with suspicion reguarding it's reliability. After hearing noises of the break in, instead of seeing the burglar as a threat, Sam perceives the intruder as someone who offers him a motive. So now wielding a knife, he discovers the burglar inside the woodshed and proceeds to commit murder. After the gruesome death of the masked man, Sam's memory of being a killer has already begun to fade before he can reach his bedroom, where he sits down and will continue to think and forget.
Now we transcend into the amnesiac's mind as he creates a memory, which we can afford to view with suspicion reguarding it's reliability. After hearing noises of the break in, instead of seeing the burglar as a threat, Sam perceives the intruder as someone who offers him a motive. So now wielding a knife, he discovers the burglar inside the woodshed and proceeds to commit murder. After the gruesome death of the masked man, Sam's memory of being a killer has already begun to fade before he can reach his bedroom, where he sits down and will continue to think and forget.
PAGE 4
INT. DINING ROOM - NIGHT
INT. DINING ROOM - NIGHT
Now we switch narratives as we break from the psychological constraints of Sam as we become an omnipotent presence, witnessing the break-in of not one burglar but also a before-unseen second. Now we begin to see where's Sam perception of reality and actual reality have splintered. Sam does awaken, though it's not the jolted, leap from his bed after hearing the intrusion, but instead it's the dazed wakening of a groggy and sleepless night. Sam comes downstairs, the burglars sneaking out of the back door just seconds earlier. He grabs a water bottle from the fridge as we see the two burglars sneak out into the woodshed, unaware of the men who are rooted to the spot in his shed, Sam begins to head back upstairs before stopping in his tracks, he's now seen that the back door is swung open. Coming outside fearfully, he surveys the scene and specifically reguards the woodshed. Though ignoring his suspicions, he goes back inside the house and locks up where we now see the knife from the rack missing. However it hadn't disappeared for long as the burglar now pulls the blade out from behind his trousers and proceeds to stab his fellow burglar relentlessly as Sam goes back to bed. Sam never was a murderer, instead he was just stage managed to possess a motive for murder and no memory to realise his innocence.
ZODIAC
SCREENPLAY ANALYSIS
SCREENPLAY ANALYSIS
OVERVIEW
Robert Graysmith is a Newspaper Cartoonist who had become obsessed with the Zodiac killer, amateurishly piecing together a case across his life that no one else was consumed enough to entertain.
PAGE 2
INT. CORVAIR --NIGHT
From the offset, the anatomy of this scene spells dread. We open on a lateral tracking shot, mounted from the inside of a car as we creep on a small neighbourhood on the fourth of July. We brake, and the honk sounds. But to our bemusement, a skinny young teenager scurries towards the car, and we now see that the driver isn't a deranged psychopathic as we perhaps expected but instead the picture of innocence; Darlene, a young woman with braces "that make her look 17". The couple childishly bicker about who is driving, both wanting the wheel until Mike, the skinny young teenager, strops inside and takes the passenger seat. Now our fears have transposed, we're not inside the car of the killer but instead of the victims.
As the scene develops so does the dramatic irony as we the audience dread what we know is coming. The couples original plan of eating out at a local diner suddenly alters when they see how it's also become the new overcrowded hang-out spot, and so they innocently head off too lovers lane. Now the scene is set, a young couple is isolated on the top of a hill in the middle of the night, whatever romance they were expecting to find atop of the hill has been replaced with an ominous sense of vulnerability. Soon a pair of headlights perversely spotlight the couple as they laugh together, both frozen with nerves Mike asks whether it's Darlene's husband, she says no but her fixed stare into the headlights says otherwise. Eventually the lights dimmer as the car backs away, "disappearing over the horizon". Mike and Darlene's nerves just about to fade until, the pair of headlights come back across their headrests as the car parks up behind them. Like a cop.
"Get your I.D" says Mike as the man approaches, and before he can relievedly laugh off his fear, bullets are already ripping through him and Darlene. The shots continue to fire off inside the car almost aimlessly . Eventually the man lowers his pistol and heads back to the car, only to return again after hearing a groan, firing off a a few more for good measure. And now he really does walk and will never come closer to being caught.
As the scene develops so does the dramatic irony as we the audience dread what we know is coming. The couples original plan of eating out at a local diner suddenly alters when they see how it's also become the new overcrowded hang-out spot, and so they innocently head off too lovers lane. Now the scene is set, a young couple is isolated on the top of a hill in the middle of the night, whatever romance they were expecting to find atop of the hill has been replaced with an ominous sense of vulnerability. Soon a pair of headlights perversely spotlight the couple as they laugh together, both frozen with nerves Mike asks whether it's Darlene's husband, she says no but her fixed stare into the headlights says otherwise. Eventually the lights dimmer as the car backs away, "disappearing over the horizon". Mike and Darlene's nerves just about to fade until, the pair of headlights come back across their headrests as the car parks up behind them. Like a cop.
"Get your I.D" says Mike as the man approaches, and before he can relievedly laugh off his fear, bullets are already ripping through him and Darlene. The shots continue to fire off inside the car almost aimlessly . Eventually the man lowers his pistol and heads back to the car, only to return again after hearing a groan, firing off a a few more for good measure. And now he really does walk and will never come closer to being caught.
Now we soar the San Francisco bay as we're introduced to Robert Graysmith, the cartoonist who's spiralling obsession is soon to be triggered when he discovers the horrific murderer that we just witnessed. His rough, sketchy illustrations that he scribbles across a pad during a school rush would imply his disinterest in his occupation, and we'll soon find his fascination lies in the other side of the manic newspaper office, the side that reports in the criminology pages of the San Francisco Chronicle.
PAGE 184
INT. VAUGHN'S BASEMENT -- NIGHT
INT. VAUGHN'S BASEMENT -- NIGHT
In this scene Graysmith has tracked down projectionist Bob Vaughn, who had unknowingly stored film cannisters
for the Zodiac's prime suspect. This friend of Vaughn's has the closest
handwriting match that's ever been tested. Now inside his house, Graysmith has
made the terrifying discovery that all the handwriting was done by Vaughn
himself. And now he's just been invited down to the basement.
To avoid arousing further suspicion, Graysmith follows Vaughn down with a brave face. From here, a dark cloud is hanging over Graysmith's head as he descends into the ghostly basement of someone who is perhaps a serial killer. Vaughn riffles through some reports, searching for the dates they ran the film "The Most Dangerous Game". Graysmith vulnerably stands still in fear as the "ceiling boards creek" concealing his sheer terror whilst innocently asking nerved questions such as "You live alone?". Vaughn creepily responds with his own question "You believe he saw our film and was inspired?", like he's just discovered pride in influencing a serial killer. Graysmith says his "Thank you's" and heads for the stairs.
Though out of the basement he finds he's still locked inside Vaughn's house. After nervously rattling the lock, he see's Vaughn is now stood behind walking closer until he eventually pulls out a key and unlocks the door for him. like a final mockery of Graysmith, toying with him for his ineptitude as an investigator complete with the punchline "Have a good night".
To avoid arousing further suspicion, Graysmith follows Vaughn down with a brave face. From here, a dark cloud is hanging over Graysmith's head as he descends into the ghostly basement of someone who is perhaps a serial killer. Vaughn riffles through some reports, searching for the dates they ran the film "The Most Dangerous Game". Graysmith vulnerably stands still in fear as the "ceiling boards creek" concealing his sheer terror whilst innocently asking nerved questions such as "You live alone?". Vaughn creepily responds with his own question "You believe he saw our film and was inspired?", like he's just discovered pride in influencing a serial killer. Graysmith says his "Thank you's" and heads for the stairs.
Though out of the basement he finds he's still locked inside Vaughn's house. After nervously rattling the lock, he see's Vaughn is now stood behind walking closer until he eventually pulls out a key and unlocks the door for him. like a final mockery of Graysmith, toying with him for his ineptitude as an investigator complete with the punchline "Have a good night".