Script To Screen: “Short Term 12”
Sometimes you can say it… not show it.
Sometimes you can say it… not show it.
Short Term 12 was just about my favorite movie in 2013. Written and directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, and produced with a reported budget of just $400K, it is an utterly compelling drama with incredible performances all down the line, led by a phenomenal turn by Brie Larson as the story’s Protagonist Grace.
Plot Summary: A 20-something supervising staff member of a residential treatment facility navigates the troubled waters of that world alongside her co-worker and longtime boyfriend.
In this scene, Grace deals with Jayden, a troubled youth in the facility, just after a disturbing altercation.
INT. JAYDEN'S ROOM -- MOMENTS LATERJayden opens her sketchbook to the back page, where there is
a homemade pocket taped to the inside cover. She pulls out a
folded piece of paper and opens it carefully. Grace watches
her, patiently.She flips back through her notebook to a page that is covered
with cool illustrations of underwater scenes and creatures,
particularly sharks and octopi.JAYDEN
It's a kids' story, so there aren't
any big words.GRACE
Okay.Jayden begins. As she reads, she points to the illustration
that she wants Grace to look at.She points to a small sketch of a cute little octopus.JAYDEN
Once upon a time, somewhere miles
and miles beneath the surface of
the ocean, there lived a young
octopus named Nina.She points to various drawings of the octopus making funny
artwork out of shells and sand.JAYDEN (CONT’D)
Nina spent most of her time alone,
making strange creations out of
rocks and shells. And she was very
happy.
(beat)
But then, on Monday, the Shark
showed up.She points to a drawing of a Shark swimming up to Nina.JAYDEN (CONT’D)
"What's your name?" said the
shark. "Nina," she replied. "Do
you want to be my friend?" He
asked. "Okay, what do I have to
do?" Said Nina. "Not much," said
the Shark, "Just let me eat one of
your arms."Grace watches Jayden read.JAYDEN (CONT’D)
Nina had never had a friend before,
so she wondered if this was what
you had to do to get one. She
looked down at her eight arms, and
decided it wouldn't be so bad to
give up one. So she donated an arm
to her wonderful new friend.Jayden points to a morbid drawing of the shark eating one of
Nina's arms.JAYDEN (CONT’D)
Every day that week, Nina and the
Shark would play together. They
explored caves, built castles of
sand, and swam really really fast.
And every night, the Shark would be
hungry, and Nina would give him
another one of her arms to eat.Jayden points at various illustrations of the octopus and
the shark playing together, and the shark eating her arms.JAYDEN (CONT’D)
On Sunday, after playing all day,
the Shark told Nina that he was
very hungry. "I don't understand,"
she said. "I've already given you
six of my arms, and now you want
one more?" The shark looked at her
with a friendly smile and said, "I
don't want one. This time I want
them all." "But why?" Nina asked.
And the shark replied, "Because
that's what friends are for."Jayden points to another drawing of the shark, alone.JAYDEN (CONT’D)
When the shark finished his meal
that night, he felt very sad and
lonely. He missed having someone
to explore caves, build castles and
swim really really fast with. He
missed Nina very much. So, he swam
away to find another friend.Jayden folds up the piece of paper and grips it in her hand.
She stares down at her drawings, waiting.Grace watches her for a moment before speaking.GRACE
Jayden, did your dad ever hurt you?Jayden doesn't respond at first. But then shrugs without
looking up. Grace watches her.GRACE (CONT’D)
Does he still hurt you?Jayden doesn't respond. She hides her face with her hand.
Grace sits with her for a moment before putting her arm on
her back.She sees tears plopping down onto the drawings of the octopus
and the shark.The two sit side by side.
Here is the scene from the movie:
There’s the old saying about movies, “Show it, don’t say it,” but here is a scene where telling a story instead of showing it really works. I asked Destin about this in an interview I did with him last year:
Scott: There’s another instance which you use a similar device to convey exposition when Jaden shows a story she wrote to Grace about an octopus who develops a relationship with a shark. Do you remember what inspired you to write that story?
Destin: I don’t, really. It was just another one of those scenes that I struggled with for so long. I knew that this character did communicate through art. A lot of her drawings and things was one of her outlets. That story was one of those moments where it just feels like it came from somewhere else. I took a walk around the block at the coffee shop where I was writing and I was stressing out about it and trying to figure out how to get this character to talk that didn’t want to talk.
That story actually brought me to tears. I had fallen in love with that Jaden character so much.
Compare the script to the film version. The dialogue is quite close, but there are subtle directing choices Cretton made that take what’s on the page and make it even more powerful on screen.
If you haven’t seen Short Term 12, do yourself a huge favor: Watch it. I believe it’s streaming on Netflix now. There is literally not one person I know in the business who has seen this movie and not loved it.
For my interview with Cretton, go here.
And check it! Discovered this 30-minute roundtable with Cretton and key actors from the movie:
Watch Short Term 12!
One of the single best things you can do to learn the craft of screenwriting is to read the script while watching the movie. After all a screenplay is a blueprint to make a movie and it’s that magic of what happens between printed page and final print that can inform how you approach writing scenes. That is the purpose of Script to Screen, a series on GITS where we analyze a memorable movie scene and the script pages that inspired it.
For more Script To Screen articles, go here.