Great Scene: “Contact”
One of the most critical tasks for a screenwriter in writing a story’s set-up is to convey to the reader something of the core essence of the Protagonist. Not only that, but provide the reader some type of emotional resonance with the P. If you can do those two things, then you will have gone a long way toward pulling the reader into your story — because they will know something important about the Protagonist and care about their fate.
In the 1997 movie Contact [screenplay by James V. Hart and Michael Goldenberg, story by Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan], the Protagonist played by Jodie Foster is a scientist named Dr. Ellie Arroway. Here is a logline of the movie per IMDB:
Dr. Ellie Arroway, after years of searching, finds conclusive radio proof of intelligent aliens, who send plans for a mysterious machine.
Ellie is passionate about her work. But why? The story’s set-up must answer that question so that a moviegoer will be willing to go along with the character on her journey. Here is the opening sequence of the script:
UNIVERSE — EIGHT BILLION LIGHT YEARS FROM EARTH
The cosmos on the grandest scale we know. Clusters of
galaxies strewn like sea froth; whorls and smudges of
light representing hundreds of billions of stars each.
MILKY WAY GALAXY
A view from the edge. We DRIFT ABOVE the majestic,
spiraling disk, tens of thousands of light years across.
RING NEBULA (M57) — CONSTELLATION LYRA
A local group of stars, the brightest of which is a point
of hot, blue-white light…
VEGA
Rings of glowing gas and debris surround the giant, blue-
white star… and then we notice something ahead of us in
polar orbit.
CLOSER
An immense, world-sized construct gleams in Vega’s blue
light. Far too big to be artificial, by human standards
— but this wasn’t built to human standards.
Bowl-shaped transmitters cover the quicksilver gel-like
surface of the polyhedron, forming then vanishing again.
We DESCEND INTO one vast bowl as it deepens —
— then silently convulses. A lost chord. We SWING
AROUND, assuming a breathtaking, MOVING POV —
A message begins its journey.
DISSOLVE TO:
SUBTERRANEAN DARKNESS
Shadows appear, dark and murky. Slowly we become aware of
a MUFFLED, PULSING sound; like a DISTANT, BOOMING
HEARTBEAT.
Suddenly a bright light unzips the amniotic darkness; two
great hands reach in to assist what we now realize is a
Caesarean birth.
ELLIE ARROWAY
age five seconds, opens her eyes wide. In the b.g., we
can see a nurse methodically giving CPR to the unseen
mother; the decor beyond tells us we are in a small-town
doctor’s office. The DOCTOR holds Ellie as he calls
softly to the nurse.
DOCTOR
You can call it, Nan. Mark time of
birth as… 12:04 A.M.
(looking down at the
baby)
Happy New Year, little lady.
(to the nurse)
Tell Ted he has a girl.
TED ARROWAY stands watching through the window in the
office door. Numb.
BABY’S TINY HAND
clasps its mother’s finger.
CUT TO:
WIDE TABLEAU
Ted, holding his newborn daughter, sitting quietly next to
the bed where his sheet-covered wife still lies.
EXT. MAIN STREET (NEHALEM, OREGON) — DAWN
Ted, carefully holding little Ellie, walks down the empty
street, his FOOTSTEPS ECHOING…
DEEP SPACE — MESSAGE
rockets through a black dust cloud where young stars are
just beginning to glow. An icy worldlet evaporates,
releasing gasses which blow away in spectral bursts of
iridescent color…
SURFACE OF ALIEN WORLD
We are MOVING OVER an exotic, technological landscape;
strange ALIEN SQUELCHES and SQUEALS become audible —
— and then a child’s hand reaches in and twists a giant
dial on what we now see is an old shortwave RADIO.
ELLIE (V.O.)
CQ CQ WR2 GFO… WR2 GFO, come back.
INT. ARROWAY HOUSE — NIGHT
SIX-YEAR OLD ELLIE leans in towards a large microphone.
ELLIE
CQ WR2 GFO, do you copy?
(calls)
I’m not getting anything.
Ted joins his daughter at the workbench where she sits in
front of the short-wave, her feet dangling from the stool.
He puts his hands on her shoulders.
TED
Small moves, Captain, small moves.
ELLIE
I can’t move any smaller.
TED
Try again between the static and
‘Hey Jude’; that’s where they’re
hiding.
Ellie bites her lip, tries again. Her little hand slowly
turns the dial — suddenly —
RADIO VOICE (V.O.)
(filtered)
Copy… WRS GFO…
(off STATIC)
W2P KLD talking… what’s your
handle, WR2 GFO?
ELLIE
What do I do?
TED
Talk to him.
ELLIE
But what do I say?
TED
Just be yourself, Captain. Find out
where he is.
Ellie tentatively reaches out and grasps the microphone.
ELLIE
Where are you calling from, W2P KLD,
come back.
RADIO VOICE (V.O.)
(filtered)
Pensacola, over.
ELLIE
Pensacola — !
(beat)
Where’s Pensacola?
TED
Give you a hint: orange juice.
MAP OF WORLD
above the work area is dotted with colored pins; Ellie’s
finger traces the Gulf of Mexico, stopping at Pensacola.
Ellie, breathless with wonder. Contact.
EXT. ARROWAY BEDROOM — NIGHT
The house in the woods dwarfed under the immense dome of
night.
INT. ELLIE’S BEDROOM — NIGHT
Now in her pajamas, Ellie sits hunched over in bed,
working intently on her latest masterpiece. A crayon
behind her ear.
ELLIE
Could we hear to China?
TED
On that old shortwave? Maybe on a
clear night. Come on now, under the
covers.
ELLIE
Could we hear to the moon?
TED
Big enough radio, I don’t see why
not.
ELLIE
Could we hear God?
TED
Mmm, that’s a good one. Maybe his
echo…
(then)
Okay, no more stalling.
ELLIE
(coloring frantically)
Okay, okay… there.
She hands Ted the drawing. As he holds it up to the lamp
we see it shows an idealized beach, palm trees. It glows
in the light.
ELLIE
Pensacola.
TED
That’s a beauty, Captain.
(kisses her on the
forehead)
Now get some sleep.
He carefully pins the drawing on the wall, turns out the
light. As he starts out she says softly —
ELLIE
Do you think there’re people on
other planets?
Ted pauses, smiles at his daughter’s inexhaustible
curiosity. He returns, sits on the edge of her bed, now
lit by starlight.
TED
Well let’s see… the Universe is a
pretty big place… And the one
thing I know about nature is it
hates to waste anything. So I guess
I’d say if it is just us, an awful
lot of space is going to waste.
He tenderly brushes a stray lock of her hair behind her
ear.
TED
Time to sleep now, Captain. But you
can ask more questions in the
morning, okay?
ELLIE
(sighs)
Okay.
He kisses her again, rises, goes to leave, stopping at the
door to watch her. Ellie looks out the window at the
stars…
DEEP SPACE — MESSAGE
A comet blows by. We chase it, riding its luminous tail
of evaporating ice…
TED’S CALLUSED HAND
careful as a safecracker, slowly TURNS the DIAL on an
ancient A.M. RADIO — finally landing on an old HANK
WILLIAMS TUNE.
INT. TED’S TRUCK — MOVING — DAY
Ted sits up, smiles in satisfaction.
EXT. TRUCK — DAY
The old red Ford trundles through the pines along a
mountain road.
INT. ARROWAY KITCHEN — DAY
NINE-YEAR OLD ELLIE throws her schoolbooks on the table
and goes to the refrigerator. As she starts to take out
items we see her hand-drawn chart taped to the side of the
fridge; Mondays and Thursdays say “Ellie Cooks!”
EXT. MOUNTAINS — DAY
A fawn is feeding. CUT WIDE to reveal it standing in the
middle of an empty road, nibbling at the grass growing out
of the old blacktop. The TWITTER of a BIRD; the wind in
the trees… and then, far in the distance, we hear an
ENGINE STRAINING.
LOGGING TRUCK
heads up the mountain road, its driver humming along to
the same HANK WILLIAMS TUNE.
INT. ARROWAY KITCHEN — DAY
A stew of some sort bubbles on the stove. Ellie hums as
she experiments with every spice on the rack.
SERIES OF SHOTS
A) Ted sings to the RADIO as he eases off the gas to
take a bend in the road —
B) The fawn continues to graze, oblivious. We can now
hear the RADIO in the DISTANCE.
C) Ted look up as he rounds the bend — sees the deer —
D) The logging TRUCK ROARS around a blind curve —
E) Ted swerves onto the wrong side of the road, misses
the deer, sighs in relief —
F) The truck driver looks up, sees the Ford coming at
him, Ted still looking over his shoulder at —
FAWN
who suddenly looks up at the O.S. sound of a HORRIBLE
CRASH —
— then bounds off into the woods.
INT. ARROWAY KITCHEN — DUSK
The table is set. A stubby candle and some wildflowers in
a peanut-butter jar.
Ellie sits at her place, frowning. She glances up at the
wall clock — and then slowly stands as she sees something
else THROUGH the kitchen window:
A sheriffs’ car is pulling up, lights going, siren silent.
The sheriff looks up — their eyes meet — PUSH IN ON
Ellie —
CUT TO:
EXT. COUNTRYSIDE — NIGHT
Little cones of light illuminate the darkness as NEIGHBORS
search with their flashlights, calling:
NEIGHBORS
Ellie… Ellie…?
EXT. ARROWAY HOUSE — NIGHT
The sheriff stands in front of the house, shaking his head
as he talks to a MINISTER. VOICES continue to CALL.
We start to CRANE UP, HIGHER and HIGHER until we clear the
house — REVEALING Ellie lying on the roof, staring up at
the stars. Her fingers grip the shingles…
EXT. COUNTRY CEMETERY — DAY
The Minister kneels next to Ellie, watching her knead
another piece of bread into a ball before tossing it into
a small fish pond. In the b.g. we see the sheriff and
several relatives watching.
MINISTER
I’m so sorry, Ellie. More than I
can ever say.
Ellie keeps watching the pond. The clouds overhead are
reflected in the patches of water between the lily pads.
ELLIE
Those lily pads must look like
clouds to that carp, don’t you
think?
The Minister frowns. Gently:
MINISTER
Ellie… this life doesn’t last
forever. Some day you and your Dad
are going to be together again, in
heaven.
ELLIE
(turns to him;
equally gentle)
He isn’t in heaven; he’s in the
ground. We just put him there,
remember?
OFF the astonished Minister —
INT. ARROWAY HOUSE — NIGHT
Relatives, townspeople, the Minister and sheriff mingle
quietly. The kitchen table and counters are covered with
a sea of casseroles.
Ellie watches the gathered from a doorway, then slips
away.
INT. ARROWAY HOUSE — WORKSHOP AREA — NIGHT
Ellie slowly approaches the darkened bench area where the
SHORTWAVE is set up; the pin-dotted map above it. She
TURNS it ON; the dial glows.
She reaches out for the microphone, holding it tightly in
both hands. Pushes the button.
ELLIE
CQ WR2, this is GFO, do you copy?
(looking up)
Dad, this is Ellie, come back.
EXT. HOUSE — HIGH ANGLE — NIGHT
Tiny Ellie is visible THROUGH the window, and as we begin
to PULL UP and AWAY her emotion-choked voice continues,
small and faraway…
ELLIE (V.O.)
This is Eleanor Arroway broadcasting
on 9.2 megahertz. Dad, are you
there? Come back. Come back. Come
back…
Ellie’s ham radio experience as a child piques her curiosity and initiates an interest in making contact with distant figures. But her father’s death makes it personal, his ‘shadow’ looming over her entire career in the SETI program, so that in reaching out to make contact with other life-forms, she is symbolically and psychologically attempting to re-connect with the spirit of her father. Thus, this sequence tells us something about Ellie’s core essence as a character and provides an emotional hook to lure us into the story — in other words, a great series of scenes.
[Originally posted June 4, 2010]
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