THE MOON BEGAN

TO GLITCH

BY JAZ READER
 1.
FADE IN:

1 EXT. – GARDEN AND FIELD – NIGHT 1

A middle-aged woman and her children are playing outside in

the garden at night. They’re chasing each other and laughing,
the little girl squealing with happiness. Then their voices
fade away and their actions move into slow motion as the main
protagonist starts to talk.

ISAAC TAYLOR
(VO)
Before we all lost power, before
our government fell apart and before
the world delved into chaos, the moon
began to glitch.

A couple are led on a rug, star gazing, as Isaac speaks.

They’re pointing at the sky with bright smiles, and muttering
to each other but the audience can’t hear this. Their smiles
begin to fade as they look at and process the moon glitching.

ISAAC TAYLOR
(VO)
The onlookers on earth gazed up
first with confusion, rubbing
their eyes and wondering if their
mind was playing tricks on them.

Cuts back to the family and the children are looking up to the
sky with frowns. They tug their mums arm curiously, and the
mother’s distracted smile disappears as she places a hand over
her mouth in fear.

ISAAC TAYLOR
(VO)
Soon enough, that confusion turned
to fear, and that fear turned to
terror when the night sky stars
faded to nothing.

CUT TO BLACK. Title fades on to screen as the last line is

said.

(CONTINUED.)
CONTINUED: 2.

ISAAC TAYLOR
(VO)
That’s when the darkness began.

CUT TO BLACK.

2 INT. OC’S HOUSE - NIGHT 2

Isaac Taylor’s face is shown, staring up at the sky with

terror, mixed with confusion. He steps back slowly, still
trying to process the broken sky. Suddenly he’s running inside
his house, stumbling over the thresh hold and clasping onto
furniture as he goes. Quick cuts and frames will emphasise the
desperation in his movements.

When he reaches the kitchen, he tries switching on a light,

but nothing happens. In a flurry of panic, he hits it again,
and again, and again, and again. He goes to retrieve his phone
and gives a sigh of relief when he sees that it’s working.

Straight away, the main character goes to social media, which

the audience do not see directly on the screen, but it is
shown by his scrolling motion and tweets/Facebook posts coming
up on the screen. Suddenly, the social media posts wipe away
on screen and an ‘incoming call’ comes up.

The main character answers the phone.

ISAAC TAYLOR
Have you seen it?

SAM
It’s sort of hard to miss.

ISAAC TAYLOR
What the hell is happening? The sky
just disappeared!

SAM
Man, chill out-

ISAAC TAYLOR
I can’t chill out! The moon
glitched. It glitched Sam and
now it’s gone! The stars are gone.
Have you seen America? Have you
seen Australia? Japan? Russia?
Africa? India? China? The sky –
it’s just gone!

SAM
Really? Maybe the government-

ISAAC TAYLOR
Shut up, this is serious!

SAM
But it’s pretty cool to think
about.