The assignment: write 2-3 pages describing someone using their actions, appearance, and environment. Should only cover a few minutes of action.
Teacher's explanation: It can be about someone famous or someone you know. It used to have to be someone famous, but you couldn't tell me who, and I would try to guess. But kids complained that was "too hard." So now it can be about someone you know, as long I don't have to read twenty essays about Grandma baking cookies.
My question: If we do someone famous, does it have to be
human?
Teacher: Um... well, it would probably be better to do a human than, say, an animal or a mythological creature.
My thoughts: Well, Muppets aren't mythological, and... well they're sort of animals, but sort of not....
Here's what I turned in:
Movie Magic
The movie studio is bustling with activity as they reset themselves for the next take. People run around, checking scripts, checking costumes, consulting with the director, the producers, and the writers. The green star takes a deep breath, mentally putting himself back in the scene. He checks himself over. His pointed green collar is on and straight. He scrunches his face up, straightens his face out, and looks at the bearded man next to him. “We have to stay ready,” he explains in his famous frog voice.
Then he hears the command- “Puppets up!” He takes his place behind the metal elevator doors, his ping-pong ball eyes watching the ground. Then he looks around at his friends.
“Are we ready?” he asks, not aiming his question at anyone in particular. “Let’s get it right this time.”
“Yeah, hopefully,” the strange blue creature on the gurney behind him says.
The director is ready. “And... Action!”
The elevator doors open. He looks into the hallway to see if any of the bad guys are coming.
“I’m so sorry I got you into this mess!” the blue one says for the third time that day.
The camera sees them finally stepping out of the elevator. The apparent panic on the green star’s face is not completely acting. He knows that the creature’s next sentence is his cue.
“Anyway, thanks for coming to save me,” the creature says.
The green star looks at him, already realizing that he is not going to say his line correctly. “Hey listen, no problem, but you can just...” he waves his spindly little arms into the elevator. “Go back and do this over again.”
His friends vocalize their exasperation as the camera sees them start walking back into the elevator.
“Cut!” the director shouts.
The green star turns around and looks apologetically at the camera. His small green face is completely sincere. “I’m sorry,” he says. He looks at his angry female co-star, and starts to turn back towards the camera. He takes a couple of steps and suddenly seems to fall. His head bends unnaturally towards his side as he goes from vertical to horizontal as quickly as a fallen tree. His spindly little arms hang limply below him. He hangs in mid-air, almost upside down, patiently waiting for someone to straighten him up and let him speak once more.
A blur of deeper voices surrounds him. It is late, the voices say. They want to go home. They can try this scene again in the morning. Clearly they are too tired tonight. He is seen as a leader, but he is oblivious to what they say. He does not react at all as they agree that it is time to close up for the night.
He straightens up slightly, and a man’s bare hand pulls gently at his face. It must be painful to be pulled in such a way, but he does not object. He slips through the air, slowly losing his shape, expression, and personality. The man’s other hand is now bare as well. But the world-famous frog has been reduced to a mere bundle. His face is almost unrecognizable as he swings through the air in the man’s hand. He is carefully laid in the top drawer of a filing cabinet. The drawer closes, and he is left alone in the darkness, a meaningless pile of green felt.
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