Song of the Sea - Ordeal Phase - Script

                                   Piece from the Song of the Sea

                                        Scarlet’s Ordeal Phase

Scene 1.

• Scarlet swims towards the daunting royal chamber. Her body language is very reluctant and apprehensive. 
• She enters the room and Maeve looks at her furiously. Scarlet is terrified. 

                                                  Maeve

                           “Scarlet, you may be my daughter and heir to the throne, but I

                           will not have my name and the reputation of the kingdom tainted

                           by your childish antics!”

• Maeve is clearly pissed off, brandishing her trident and shouting.

                                                 Scarlet

                           “Mother, please…” 

                                                 Maeve

                           “Enough! You’ve caused enough trouble as it is. Either you go and 

                           make your mother proud or you forfeit everything. I don’t want to see 

                           your face again until that miserable sailor is disposed of.”

• Scarlet, visibly upset at this point, flees the chamber in tears.

Scene 2.

• Scarlet doesn’t know what she should do. Slowly she makes her way towards the island in the black of the night. 
• As she swims through the dark waters she contemplates the way her mother treats her and how she feels when she is with Ferdinand.
• The island comes into view and Ferdinand can be seen caring for a small fire he has lit.
• The sight of him cheers Scarlet up slightly.

Scene 3.

• Ferdinand sits in the shallow waters of the beach with Scarlet. He makes her feel safe. 
• As they talk, Scarlet begins to gain confidence and feels the strength to stand up to her mother. 
• Ferdinand talks of his life as a pirate and all the perks of freedom.

                                                Ferdinand

                         “I have no master, no rules or regulations! I go wherever the tides

                         take me and I listen only to the song of the sea! The wind in my 

                         sails and the crashing of waves are the only things guiding my path.” 

• The idea excites Scarlet but also scares her.

                                                Scarlet

                        “That sounds amazing..” 

• Ferdinand can see that Scarlet is wary of his ideals, but can also see that she is captivated by them. He decides to act.

                

Scene 4.

• Scarlet is worried about listening to Ferdinand as he goes against everything her mother stands for. 
• But she wants to pursue the feeling he gives her and she is enthralled by his tales.
• Ferdinand wants to convince Scarlet to stay with him and he starts getting excited by the prospect.

                                                Ferdinand 

                         “Come and be free with me!” 

                                                Scarlet

                         “But I can’t! My Mother… And the Kingdom…” 

                                                Ferdinand

                         “You aren’t happy here Scarlet! You need to cut all ties to this place 

                         and come with me. Follow the song of the sea!” 

• Ferdinand, overcome with his excitement, reaches out and pulls the gem necklace which Scarlet wears for her mother from her neck.
• Scarlet, slightly taken back by Ferdinand’s enthusiasm, doesn’t have a chance to stop him.
• A bright magical light surrounds Scarlet as the curse of the Sirens is lifted with the breaking of the gem necklace.
• Scarlets body transforms and her murky green Siren scales become beautiful shimmering Mermaid scales. 

Song of the Sea - Ordeal Phase - Notes

• I really wanted to emphasise Scarlet’s lack of confidence and uncertainty in her decisions due to her mother's tyrannical ways at the start of the scene. This will both make the audience or viewers feel sorry for her, resulting in a more captivating story, and will make her transformation even more dramatic.
• I am trying to achieve this through Scarlet’s timid body language, the way she speaks, and how every time she tries to make a point her mother interrupts her and overrules everything she says.
• This is also why in the opening of the ordeal phase scene, both Scarlet’s fear and Maeve’s rage are very exaggerated.

• The transformation needs to be very clear and dramatic. So I started the scene with Scarlet very sad and scared, which is a stark contrast to how the scene ends with Scarlet gaining confidence and feeling happy.
• Another aspect I wanted to use to make the transformation better is the locations and settings. The scene goes from a dark, cold, daunting, underwater chamber to a warm beach, illuminated by a beautiful light. 
• Ferdinand is very gentle with Scarlet which is also in contrast with the way Maeve is very abrupt and harsh.
• I think this will help the transformation effect as both the people and settings change.

• The end of the ordeal phase is when Scarlet mentally breaks free of her mother's clutches. I have signified this through the breaking of her gemstone necklace by Ferdinand. (The necklace is a symbol of Maeve and her power over the Sirens)
• I want to make the point of transformation really clear so I’ve made a definite action which sparks the final transformation from Siren to Mermaid. 

• I really wanted to try to use this scene to emphasise the character’s differences and climax Scarlet’s transformation as she gets through the ordeal.

Scarlet's Ordeal Phase

This is was written to make storyboarding easier.

The Song Of The Sea

Scarlet's Ordeal Phase

Reluctantly, Scarlet started towards the royal chamber where her mother was waiting. It was moments like these that the young siren dreaded most. Knowing that conflict with her mother, the person who she was most afraid of disappointing, was just around the corner made her tremble with fear. 

 Timidly she entered the large, dimly lit chamber, apprehensive of what was to come next. As she swam into view and Maeve's furious gaze was cast upon her, scarlet felt like running away and never looking back. "Scarlet," began Maeve, "You may be my daughter and heir to the throne, but I will not have my name and reputation of the kingdom tainted by your childish antics!" 

"Mother, please..." began Scarlet.

"Enough!" Interrupted the furious queen. "you've caused enough trouble as it is. Either you go and make your mother proud, or you forfeit everything. I don't want to see your face again until that miserable sailor has been disposed of."

Maeve was not the type to accept no for an answer. Scarlet fled the chamber in tears. Never had she been so emotionally torn. She couldn't kill Ferdinand, she had never felt so alive as when she was with him. Unsure of what to do, feeling drained from her sorrow, Scarlet made her way toward the island as the dark of the night was slowly setting in. As she approached the beach she caught sight of Ferdinand carrying driftwood to words a small fireplace he had it in the sandy dunes. Instantly she felt a sense of relief and comfort. 

As Ferdinand sat with scarlet in the shallows, she began to feel more and more like she could stand up to her terrifying mother. Ferdinand told her of the freedoms that came with being a pirate. Having no master, no rules or regulations, going wherever the tides took him. Listening only to the wind in his sails and sound of the crashing waves, or as he liked to call it, the song of the sea. 

"That sounds amazing," said Scarlet, captivated by this new concept of freedom. A part of her was so terrified, as Ferdinand's beliefs went against everything her mother stood for. Ferdinand, seeing hat scarlet was so taken by the idea, decided to take action. 

"come and be free with me," He said leaning close to the siren.

"But I can't!" replied Scarlet. "My mother... The kingdom..." 

"You aren't happy here Scarlet! You need to cut all ties to this place." As he said this, he snatched the sinister looking gem that Scarlet's mother had told her to wear at all times from around her neck. 

"Follow the song of the sea!" he said excitedly, a fire burning in his eyes. 

With that a bright light enveloped Scarlet and turned her scales into a beautiful lush colour of green, her eyes lit up as she was overwhelmed with love and happiness.