Below is the first draft of our script for Ground Floor Up, some changes have been made to the script, especially with regards to the introduction since this was written as plot points and technical aspects were changed to better fit the radio drama.
Whilst this script does deal with sound effects and music to a certain degree it focuses mostly on the dialogue between the characters as it was decided that the characters and sound effects should be recorded separately. As such the notes on sound effects here were used more as guidelines than exact descriptions.
Intro of Music
Jenny: Transmitting
Lexon: We present Ground Floor up by Katherine Smith staring Stephen Smith as Lexon and the Elevators, Alice Parsons as Rebecca Montgomery, Katherine Smith as Jenny and Diana Russell as the Narrator.
The music has faded out and it is replaced by five loud telephone rings, no background noise. During the third ring the telephone is joined by a chorus of ringtones, doorbells and dial tones, half way through the fifth ring all noise ceases except for one click as the receiver is picked up.
Rebecca: Rebecca Montgomery
Jenny: Translating
Rebecca: Who is this?
Static, growing in volume can be heard now
Jenny: Help. Help me it’s the building (long pause) I can’t (long pause) I’m the only one left. Help (pause) the building, it’s alive. Jenny’s voice and the sound of the static compete now so that most of Jenny’s words appear to be drowned out.
Static clears for Rebecca
Rebecca: (angrily) Who is this?’
Static black in place
Jenny: Please.
Rebecca: Who..?
Jenny: End of message.
Rebecca throws the phone down. Static ends
Rebecca: Idiot!
Footsteps, Rebecca walks away. Silence for two to three seconds.
Jenny: Teleporting
A music track, probably the same music for the introduction takes over now to change the scene, it begins fade out as the character’s start speaking, playing as a backdrop for the first few seconds.
Sparks are heard.
Lexon: Well then where is it?’
Jenny: Outside.
Lexon: What outside? There is no outside. Where is it?’
Jenny: Outside.
Slam of metal, Lexon has punched the wall.
Lexon: (Furiously) Jenny why is it outside?
Jenny: Well if you will insist upon using sub standard equipment. (Lexon groans) There has been an error with the teleportation process and the target is outside the building.
Lexon: What dead?
Jenny: Not yet.
Lexon: Can’t you retrieve it?
Jenny: It is unlike...(distant thud) It will not be necessary, there is no requirement.
Pause
Lexon: (uncertainly) What do you mean no requirement.
Jenny: The target is on the roof.
Lexon: In what state?
Jenny: The target is unconscious. Suggestion, it fell.
Lexon: Will the elevators collect it or do I need to?
Jenny: You may do as you like. It is reasonable I think to suggest that the elevator will take the target down to the ground floor.
Lexon: (rather bitterly) well of course it will.
Scene ends
Narrator: The chances of being rescued as you fall through space should never be calculated, simply because they are so impossibly small. This is especially so when you are saved by falling straight on top of a derelict cinder box building which happens to be orbiting a small planet in the Andromeda galaxy. It is because of the alarmingly improbability of these occurrences therefore that human Rebecca Montgomery passed out in self defence before quite reaching the building. This is a pity because if she had actually experienced the elevators, which are grumpy and distressed at the best of the times, their grumblings might have taken away some of her confusion.
So that you are not confused however one of the elevators has dutifully carried Rebecca not to the ground floor as was suggested but to the basement where it has spat her out, disgusted by the sudden unexpected bout of work...Now aside for a gigantic square of raised concrete this particular basement is an exact copy of the Atlantic ocean, at least in as far that it is a vast expanse of water and obeys the laws of the water cycle which we shall skip for the purposes of sparing death by extreme tedium.
Music, four seconds max. Joined by the soft flow of water and the sound of pipes, the music ends with a low grown from Rebecca. The water and the sound of the pipes continues through the entire scene although the sound is too low to compete with the character’s during the conversation.
Jenny: Please remain calm; we are attempting to rectify this situation. Do not attempt to stand.
Rebecca: Where am I?
Sound-Rebecca tries to stand
Jenny: (Impatiently) I told you not to stand. Translating, translating, please be patient while we analyse the remainder of your speech patterns.
Series of low, long beeps
Translation is complete.
Rebecca: Where am I? And where are you?
Jenny: Try to remain calm. You have been experiencing technical malfunctions and someone will be with you as soon as possible.
Rebecca: I’m having a nightmare aren’t I?
Jenny: (Happily) If you like I shall select one for you, I happen to pride myself on nightmares.
Low, rattling drone...the elevator is descending...doors slide open, footsteps approach, each one louder than before.
Lexon: You are in our power. Do exactly as we say and you will not be harmed.
Rebecca, gasping is heard retreating. The sound of Rebecca breathing is heard over the following dialogue, showing her fear.
Huh...what’s wrong with it exactly?
Jenny: Translation error.
Lexon: Well fix it then...
Jenny: All in good time.
Lexon: And what exactly does it think we’re saying now?
Jenny: I have no idea. Knowing you’re luck we’re probably wondering how to eat it or something.
Lexon: Some computer you are.
Silence
Lexon: Good. Just get on with it.
Jenny: The task was completed exactly three seconds ago.
Lexon: Well thanks for telling me that.
Jenny: My pleasure.
Rebecca: Where am I? Who are you?
Lexon: My name’s Lexon Dale. And you’re in the basement, isn’t that interesting, no one’s ever really sunk so low before.
Jenny: And as you can tell he’s the local expect on manners and lunacy.
Rebecca bravely attempts a laugh
Lexon: Listen just take my advice and ignore her. That’s the trouble with trying to program personalities into machines; if it succeeds you begin to wish otherwise. And then the second you try to fix the problem the machine will threaten self destruction if you carry on and then there’s nothing you can do without terribly inconveniencing yourself, or in this case dying since she’s basically life support. Now of course there’s theirs council spots and intergalactic rights for the artificially intelligent units. Well it was only a matter of time.
Jenny: You don’t fool me Lexon, I can tell you’re grateful for the company.
Lexon: (clears throat) I call her Jenny. Now where are you from?
Rebecca: Eng...England, Staffordshire.
Lexon: Where’s that, what planet?
Rebecca: Earth.
Jenny: Homo Sapiens then? Well done Lexon you’ve struck the Milky Way.
Lexon: Now hang on Jenny that had nothing whatsoever to with me.
Jenny: Really. Do you even know how to work the control panel?
Lexon: No.
Jenny: (Sighs dramatically) But I told you exactly how to find the manual.
Lexon: Yes and I didn’t read it. Can we get on with this now? You, Earthling do you have a name?
Rebecca: Miss Rebecca Montgomery.
Lexon: Well then Miss Rebecca Montgomery, I’m terribly sorry about all of this but we sent out a distress call and well...look there have been no end of problems with the machinery and you seem to have been caught up in it all.
Rebecca gulps audibly.
Rebecca: Distress call?
Jenny: 01785706489.
Rebecca: But that’s my telephone number.
Lexon: (Rubs hands together) You mean we actually got something right?
Rebecca: No. At least, I don’t think so. What are you going to do to me?
Lexon: As far as I can see the best course of action would be to send you back home somehow although I’m afraid you’ll have to hang around a while longer so we can get the coordinates absolutely right this time. Only so that we don’t accidently send you to Pluto or somewhere like that. You see everyone else left years ago and since then I’ve been the only one maintaining this monstrosity. It gets quite overwhelming and, to tell you the truth, I don’t know what I’m doing half the time and Jenny’s not much help, so, as you might imagine, there are malfunctions pretty much all the time. It’s all I can do to keep this place running. Even the escape route’s been lost now, hence the distress call.
Jenny: Yes, I’ll soon be run down at this rate, you can’t imagine how that feels, and after all the effort I put into this place to.
Rebecca: Please where am I? All I can see is, well all I can see is water.
Series of bleeps, louder and much quicker than before
Jenny: Well of course you can see water. In order to run at the height of efficiency I need a large body of water. Everyone in the universe knows that. Where have you been?
Lexon snorts.
Lexon: Look, let her be; the poor thing’s bound to be a little confused after everything you’ve done to her. Efficient, ha! I never heard of a more haphazard computer.
Jenny: I’m a mock planet. I’m supposed to be haphazard.
Lexon: Well, you do an excellent job.
Jenny: (somewhat mollified) I shall take that as a compliment.
Rebecca: I think I can see what you mean about machines and personalities. Look if it’s all the same to you I’d like to wake up now.
Jenny: But I haven’t selected a nightmare for you yet.
Rebecca: Well, no offense but actually I’d sort of rather you didn’t. One nightmare at a time is more than enough, thanks.
Lexon: Are you sure? After all of this, a nightmare might make you feel better.
Rebecca: I doubt it.
Lexon: If you’re sure. I’d better get you upstairs Miss Rebecca Montgomery, it will be dangerous to remain in the basement for much longer. Besides, you probably need protein.
Jenny: I’m afraid you’ll have to make do with the canned stuff, we lost the fresh food fifteen years ago, unless of course you would consider hunting your own meat. The second floor is overrun with herd animals and I am getting rather worried about them, it’s only a matter of time before they destroy themselves entirely, so feel free to take what you like.
Rebecca: Vegetarian. What happened to everyone else?
Jenny: Gone. What is this...vegetarian?
Rebecca: I don’t eat meat. (Bleep) Gone?
Jenny: Just...
Lexon: Jenny shut up. Miss Rebecca Montgomery, unless you want to stay down here for high tide...
Jenny: Can the alien stand?
Lexon: I’m trying to find out. Well can you?
Rebecca: Yes.
Lexon: Come on.
Scuffling followed by heavy, uneven footsteps as Rebecca tries to walk. Sliding of the elevator doors
Lexon: Elevator, take us up to the ground floor.
Elevator: Access Denied
Lexon: Um, what now?
Elevator: What now he asks? First he wants down then up, down then up. Well I’m not moving till you make up your mind. Not that it will do you much good, there’s no down from here on and no one ever does go up so there.
Rebecca: (to the side) No one ever goes up?
Lexon: Jenny some help here please.
Elevator: Watch yourself. No one tells her what to do, bad for you it is. So stay put and look at the sea.
Rebecca: Why can’t you tell her what to do?
Lexon: She doesn’t like it. Anyway you can’t. Trust me I tried to hotwire the system once it dosn’t work. Jenny if you’d be so kind.
Jenny: Override. Elevator, take them up.
Elevator: You want them to go up? It’s impossible, you specifically told me not to let them up.
Jenny: That was sixteen years ago, and you failed me then so why not now? I override the command.
Elevator: If you’re sure...don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Jenny: Affirmative.
Lexon: I’d hold on to something if I were you Miss Rebecca Montgomery. The elevator’s mad.
Rebecca: There’s nothing in here!
Lexon: Good point.
Sound effect-see note-changes the scene-Rebecca’s yelling can be heard through this
Silence as everything stops abruptly
Doors slide open
Rebecca: But that’s...that’s...it...it can’t be. I’m dreaming. I’m definitely dreaming. That’s...
Lexon: Home.
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