FAME FROM PAIN

By
Collin Pihl

Buckingham Charter Magnet High School

188-B Bella Vista Road
Vacaville, California
707-447-3290
cpihl14@gmail.com
FADE IN:
EXT. BUCKINGHAM PARKING LOT MIDAFTERNOON

The Sun beats down on the depressing parking lot of Buckingham

Charter Magnet High School. JAMES opens a door from the inside
and walks out into the intense sunlight. He raises a hand to
shield his eyes. The camera dollies towards him presenting him.
James surveys the area and slowly lowers his hand. He smiles
slightly as he spots his friend, CODY. James slowly meanders over
to Cody and accosts him. The camera turns to follow the direction
of travel.
JAMES
(friendly)
Hey Cody.
Cody doesnt look as eager to greet James. His eyes are wide and
he stands in an awkward position. He looks unhappy.
CODY
(stuttering)
Uh H-hi James. Whats up.

Cody bends in an awkward way as if to impede James field of

vision. James tilts his head slightly and shoots Cody a
suspicious look. It is returned with a disingenuous smile, Codys
eyes still agape. The camera is facing James from behind Cody.
JAMES
(suspicious)
Whats going on?

CODY
(secretive)
Nothing, man.
James look at Cody dead in the face.
JAMES
(serious)
Cody Whats happening.

James motions to push Cody aside. He puts his hand on his

shoulder. Cody reluctantly steps aside. James emotes
determination. He looks straight ahead, discovering what his
friend was hiding from him.
A look of intense anger spreads across his face. His eyebrows
furl and his lips purse together, turning them a lighter shade
than the original.
JAMES
(angry disbelief)
Wh
James cocks his head and his lip transfers to behind his top row
of teeth. He clenches his fists tightly and angrily marches
forward. The camera turns slightly to follow. A car can be seen
with two non-distinct silhouettes sitting in the front seat.
James continues to storm angrily towards the car.
EXT. ASIDE SARAHS CAR - MIDAFTERNOON
The camera pans slowly from the grill of the car. A girl and a
guy can be seen sitting in the front seat of the car. The girl is
kissing the guy and giggling in between. The guy places his hand
on her leg.
The camera pans to the side of the car and reveals James angrily
marching over to the vehicle.

JAMES
(angrily)
Sarah!
The camera changes to a wide shot of James walking up to the car.
He walks up to the car and peers through the window. He angrily
bangs on the window or the vehicle. The occupants of the car are
startled. A worried look spreads across SARAHs face. She quickly
looks between James and the guy she is in the car with. She
quickly opens the door and steps out.

SARAH
(apologetically)
James Sweetie Its not what it looks like.

JAMES
(demanding)
Oh really. Then how is it, Sarah. Who is

he?

SARAH
(sorrowful)
James Im so sorry.

JAMES
(angry)
Thats all you have to say to me?

SARAH
(dismayed)
I-Im just sorry.
JAMES
(fed up)
I cant deal with this. I dont want to hear how
much youre sorry. Were done.

The guy gets out of the car. He walks around the backside of the
vehicle.
THE GUY
(slightly irritated)
Sarah. Babe, whats going on?
JAMES
(rageful)
Who are you?

THE GUY
(confused)
What?
The camera goes starts from under the level of the door handle of
the car. It slowly pans upward to face the characters. James can
be seen putting his hands on the shoulder of the guy. He shoves
him violently against the door of the car. The door handle slams
into his back.
SARAH
(surprised)
James!
The guy shoves back. James has a look of lividity scrawled across
his face.
THE GUY
(angry)
What is your problem?
The camera faces Sarah.
SARAH
(flustered)
Stop! James calm down. Its not what it looks
like.
The James turns his head sharply to face Sarah, his brow in a
tightly furrowed state. She almost steps back as if his look
leaps out to assault her.
JAMES
(attempting to calm down)
Just save it. Were done.
SARAH
(sorrowful)
No. James.
JAMES
(angrily)

Were done!
The camera cuts to a wide shot of James walking away from the car
and Sarah and The Guy sits there watching him leave.
CUT TO BLACK
CUT TO:
INT. JAMES CAR MIDAFTERNOON
POV from the dashboard:
From the dashboard of the car we see James in the front seat of
the car. James can be seen hurriedly sitting down in his car as
he slams the door. He rams the keys into the ignition and starts
up the car. His facial expression is a blind rage. He looks
destroyed and as if tears are about to well up in his eyes, but
he grits his teeth and staves off the urge to emote any feelings
other than anger.

EXT. BUCKINGHAM PARKING LOT MIDAFTERNOON

POV of behind the car:
The camera is close to the taillights of the car. Angled
downward, the two back tires are visible. The engine revs up and
the tires burn out on the grown. A trail of skid marks is left
from the accelerating car as it rips through the exit of the
parking lot.
FADE TO:
EXT. JAMES HOUSE MID AFTERNOON
The camera shows a wide shot of James pulling up to the driveway
of his house. James gets out of the car and looks at the slams
the car door shut. He marches up the pathway to his house.

FADE OUT
CUT TO:

INT. JAMES ROOM MID AFTERNOON

James barges into his room and barges into his room and tosses
his backpack aside. HE walks immediately to his bed and slumps
down onto it. James turns off and sit at the edge of his bed.
James holds his head in his hands. He finally lets out the
emotions he was seemed to be trying to suppress. Tears run down
his face and streak into his hands. He raises his head and peers
into the closet opposite his bed in his room. His eyes are red
and irritated from the crying. James spots a guitar case on a
shelf in his closet.

James slowly gets up and walks over to the closet. He reaches up

and grabs the guitar case off of the shelf. He looks longingly at
a set of dog tags that were next to the guitar.
From point of view of the shelf, James goes and sits back down on
his bed. He slowly brushes dust of the guitar case.
In a close up, the eclectic barrage of dust particles leaves the
guitar and become airborne.
James removes the case from the guitar. As he unsheathes it,
James studies the guitar and runs his finger along the length of
the instrument. He then tests a couple of the strings. He seems
dissatisfied with the tuning of the strings and a sour note rings
out from the instrument.
From a close up on the guitar we see, his fingers find their way
up the fret board and onto the tuning keys. James tunes each of
the keys to their respective notes. James begins to fiddle with
the guitar and he plays a few chords. Then he begins to formulate
the beginnings of a song.
From the point of view of the desk, James looks up from the
guitar in realization. It seems to have pulled him mostly out of
his somber attitude. He looks at his guitar and then at his desk.

He squints his eyes and gives his guitar a final coercive strum
before standing up clutching the guitar. He walks over and sits
down at his desk.
FADE OUT
CUT TO:
INT. JAMES ROOM DUSK
Montage (type thing?):
James switches from guitar to pencil and paper as he writes down
notes as he plays them and works through chords. Music plays over
the entire thing. He steadily works away creating his song.
We can see from above the desk, The entire songs being fleshed
out is shown. It is revealed that the song he is working on is
called _________. Under that is written, dedicated to Sarah.
James puts down his pencil and looks satisfied why his work. He
pulls out his phone and dials in a number. He presses his phone
to his ear and eagerly awaits an answer.
JAMES
(happily)
Hey whats up Cody. Are you busy?

There is a slight pause. A muzzled response plays through the

speaker.
JAMES
(wistfully)
Do you think you could come over for a little bit?
Another muzzled response occurs.
JAMES
(happily)
Awesome. See you in a bit.
CUT TO BLACK

CUT TO:
INT. JAMES ROOM EVENING
James and Cody are both sitting in James room. James is coddling
his guitar and is facing Cody. Cody is looking inquisitively at
him.
JAMES
(matter of factly)
I been working on this sense after school.
CODY
(confused)
What exactly?
JAMES
I wrote a song, and I want your opinion on it.
CODY
(intrigued)
Okay.

From over Codys shoulder we see that James starts to play his
song for cody. Cody listens intently to the song. James is
enveloped into the song he is performing. After the song, he
looks for input from his friend after wiping a bead of sweat from
his forehead.
CODY
(sincerely)
Wow. That was really good James.
James face lights up and a smile bridges across his face.
CODY
(half joking)
I didnt really expect you to have that in you.
You ever think about a career in music?

James face changes. He looks as if he is pondering the

possibility.
JAMES
(seriously)
No. I never really put that much

thought into it.

CUT TO:
INT. RECORDING STUDIO IN JAMES HOUSE - EVENING
The camera diagonally pans down from the ceiling to see a mid
shot of the front of James with his face pressed up against the
mic. Sweat pours down his forehead as, with eyes shut, he
delivers his lyrics into the microphone positioned at face level.
The melodious twang of the guitar hes holding accompanies his
voice.
He seems to pull himself back into reality as he opens his eyes
and raises his head from the vicinity of the microphone. He looks
off camera as if for confirmation.
JAMES
(questioningly)
How was that,Cody?
Cody can be seen entering the recording studio with a smile
spread across his face. James waits patiently for a response.
CODY
(excited)
James. That was absolutely amazing.
James smiles in response and almost looks as though relieved from
his friends reaction.
CODY
(matter of factly)
There may be a way you could put your talents to
use.
JAMES
(curious)

10

Whats that?
CODY
(slightly excited)
You could send it into the local radio station.
JAMES
(confused)
Thatll actually work?
CODY
(frankly)
I dont know man. Why not give it a shot?
JAMES
(unsure)
Okay. I dont have a problem with sending it in.
The worst they can do is say no, I guess.
CODY
(excited)
Okay great. Im going to go burn a CD.
The camera cuts back to James as Cody exits the studio. It slowly
zooms in on his face from a distance. He glances down at his
guitar. He sighs as he slowly runs his fingers along the
fretboard. He slowly drops his hand from the instrument.
FADE OUT

CUT TO:
EXT. OUTSIDE OF JAMES HOUSE - AFTERNOON
A car pulls into the driveway outside James house. James can be
seen in the front seat of the car. The camera dollies towards the
car as we see it turn off and James reaches down to unbuckle
himself.
CUT TO:

11

INT. JAMES VEHICLE - AFTERNOON

From the center console of the car we see James go to open the
door. His phone buzzes and stops him in his tracks. It can be
seen over his shoulder that his phone has a text message from
Cody. I displaces the urgent message of James name in all
capital letters. James with a worried look on his face, quickly
respond. He asks Cody whats going on. Cody again messages him in
all capitals again, telling him to tune into the _____ radio
station.
James eyes bulge and he hurriedly rams the key into the
ignition. The vehicle springs to life as James fumbles around
with the radio. He happens upon the station he was searching for
and listens intently to what was being broadcasted. A pleasant
and cheerful voice of the DJ of the station.
DJ
(cheerful)
Up next we have a recent submission of a local
young aspiring artist called ______ by James
____.
It can be seen that James faces is emoting a mixture of shock
and elation. His bottom lip holds his mouth ajar. James eyes
open all of the way as soon as he hears his song begin to play on
the radio station. A huge smiles spreads across his face.
JAMES
(happy disbelief)
No way
He listens proudly to his song unfurl on live radio. He seems to
have a grin plastered on his face as he hears his own voice start
to sing.
TRANSITION TO:
INT. VARIOUS CARS - AFTERNOON
The song continues from the last shot and the screen splits into
four different nondescript drivers in their cars listening to the

12

radio. From the view of the radio in each instance we see the
people responding positively to the song. Some nodding in
approval and one smiling as they listen to the song.
CUT TO:
INT. ASSORTED VENUES OF PERFORMANCE - VARIOUS NIGHTS
Beginning of Montage:
The song continues to play still. A montage of James performing
for an abundance of different audiences and locations plays out.
The camera changes back and forth from the view of the crowd to
onstage dollying around James in difference assorted venues. He
is playing his guitar and singing in every shot. As soon as the
the music cuts we hear a loud applause from an audience.
FADE TO BLACK

CUT TO:
INT. NONDESCRIPT RECORDING STUDIO - MORNING
The camera opens up on the sight of James and Cody in a recording
studio. The subtitle of THREE YEARS LATER appears on the bottom
of the screen. From the tale end of a conversation James turns to
Cody.
JAMES
(tired)
Hey Cody, Im going to go get some coffee to wake
me up. Do you want anything?
James performs an exaggerated yawn and stretches out his arms
over his head as he poses the question.
CODY
(normally)
No. I think Im fine. You should hurry back. We
have to record some more tracks for your album.

13

JAMES
(affirmatively)
Will do.
CUT TO:
INT. COFFEE SHOP - MORNING
We see from the view of a table, that James enters a coffee shop.
James enters the queue in pursuit of his morning caffeinated
beverage. He looks up longingly at the menu, displaying a face
wrought with impatience and wanting. He gets to the front of the
line and orders his drink. He receives it within a timely manner
and begins to exit the establishment when something catches his
eye. The camera shows a look of disbelief and almost happiness on
his face. The camera shows to reveal that Sarah is standing in
line.

James walks up behind her and taps her on the shoulder. She turns
around and her face contorts into a bewildered gaze. She opens
her mouth as if to say something but it takes her a second to say
anything.
SARAH
(dumbstruck)
H-Hii James.
James ignored her greeting fully and and begins to say something
but catches himself before any sound can escape his lips. He
develops a smug look on his face.
JAMES
(calm and matter of factly)
You know what. Im glad I ran into you, because I
want to tell you something.
There is a slight pause.
JAMES
(slightly raising his voice)

14

Thank you. Without you ripping my heart from my

chest and betraying my like that, I wouldnt have
had my big break. So from the bottom of my heart
thank you, Sarah.
Sarah looks even more puzzled than before James started talking
to her. The entire line is now starting to spectate the
situation. Sarah begins to tear up and tries to choke out a
response.
SARAH
(starting to cry)
Im sorry
James half-chuckles at her and doesnt attempt to further the
conversation. As a tear begins to roll down Sarahs cheek, James
turns around without saying goodbye. He doesnt look back and a
look of serenity and relief is on his face. He exits the store
and Sarah stands there for a moment staring at the blank space
where James once stood. James song can be heard playing in the
background.
SLOWLY FADE TO BLACK