Step Outline
“Monkey Saves the DayPaint!”
By Traci Meek
EXT. PARK SQUARE-EVENING
A small, European park square separates an old brick building
covered in graffiti and a gleaming art museum.
A teenager works tirelessly through the night to create a mural of a
woman with a palette of spray paint and a canvas.
EXT. PARK SQUARE-MORNING
The park square comes to life as businesses open, people go on
their errands and kids play in the park.
The little café has burnt someone’s toast and the fire department has
just finished putting out the little fire with the fire hydrant in the
park. The slightly smoky coffee lovers
continue on with their lattes and newspapers.
A snobby museum patron pauses to note the new addition to the side of
the building and clearly disapproves of the mural. The Graffiti Girl opens her eyes, looks
around and excitedly begins to paint what she sees going on around her.
INT. MUSEUM, CLASICAL HALLWAY-MORNING
The residents of the paintings in the museum, all worth millions
of dollars, begin their day. The Hero
painting polishes the buttons of his military coat with the tail of his
horse. A Trio of barely dressed ladies
begin their warm up and the other paintings generally stir to life. Amongst all of these Very Worthy Paintings we
spy, small and off to the side, a small canvas of a monkey in a red coat and a
tricorn painting a picture of his own.
With his tail, he swipes a banana from a painted bowl of fruit and
paints a moustache and eyes on the horse’s butt. He’s been doing this for hundreds of years
and he’s just going through the motions:
he’s bored.
EXT. PARK SQUARE- MORNING
The Graffiti Girl sees the Artist Monkey and the other paintings
and tries to communicate with them. They
are polite, but too busy posing for the patrons of the museum. She makes eye contact with the Artist Monkey
and they compare paintings. The Artist
Monkey feels a swell of creativity that he hasn’t felt in a long time.
INT. MUSEUM FOYER-AFTERNOON
The snobby museum patron tells the director of the museum she
doesn’t like this “garbage art” that’s dominating the view out of the
windows. She throws some money at him
and demands that a painter be sent out to whitewash the side of the building
across the park.
MONTAGE Graffiti Girl and
Art Monkey show each other the new paintings that they’re working on and do
silly cartoons of Hero painting and his horse and the patrons of the café.
EXT. PARK SQUARE-AFTERNOON
The painter begins to white wash the building but is getting
paid by the hour, so he starts with a small brush. The Graffiti Girl is able to hold him off for
a while with her spray paints, and it’s a funny joke between her and Artist
Monkey until the snobby museum patron intervenes. She insists that the painter “hurry up” and
he reluctantly brings out a roller and brush.
As the paint beings to rise around Graffiti Girl’s legs, she reaches out
to the paintings across the square for help.
INT. MUSEUM, CLASSICAL HALLWAY-AFTERNOON.
The handsome Hero painting sees her! But, his public is here to
take his picture, admire his pants and the shiny buttons on his coat, so he can’t
do anything right now. The paintings
notice her predicament, but agree that there’s nothing they can do either. The Artist Monkey can’t believe what he’s
seeing; they’re going to let her disappear!
He resolves himself to do something and busts out of his frame.
INT. MUSEUM, IMPRESSIONIST HALLWAY-AFTERNOON
Artist Monkey flings himself from painting to painting, changing
to fit in with the style of the painting he’s traveling across.
INT. MUSEUM, POP ART HALLWAY- AFTERNOON
Artist Monkey works his way through the Warhol and Lichtenstein
and stops short. The foyer and the exit
are ahead of him but there is no more paint for him to use as a stepping stone
to the outside. He’s never been outside,
either! Can he do it? Can he really go OUTSIDE?
INT. MUSEUM, FOYER- AFTERNOON
Artist Monkey sees a patron coming down the hall who has a
colourful graphic t-shirt on. He leaps “into”
the shirt and rides the patron out the doors.
EXT. STREET CAFÉ- AFTERNOON
Artist Monkey leaps off the shirt and onto a passing truck with
a colourful logo painted on the side. He
then leaps onto the back of the horse logo on the local bank window and from
there to the side of the street, just across from the park square and the Graffiti
Girl.
EXT. PARK SQUARE-AFTERNOON
The snobby museum patron has had enough of this and brings out a
super spray gun powered by a generator.
The spray of white paint comes out thick and fast. Graffiti Girl is now literally up to her neck
in paint.
EXT. STREET CAFÉ- AFTERNOON
Too late, Artist Monkey realizes that he should have brought his
paints and brushes with him because he is now stuck at the yellow painted curb
next to the café with no more paint for him to use to get to the Graffiti
Girl. He sees a little girl sitting at
an outside table colour in her book while her parents chat. They lock eyes and she holds up a fistful of
crayons for his inspection. He grabs a
crayon with each paw, and his tail and busily colours himself across the
street, looking like a kid’s drawing as he goes.
EXT. PARK SQUARE-LATE AFTERNOON
He’s too late! Graffiti
Girl’s last eye has just been covered by the triumphant snobby museum patron’s
super spray gun. She victoriously hands
the gun off to the painter so he can finish off the last bits and clean
up. Artist Monkey has worn the crayons
down to nothing and can go no further.
Dejected, he slumps against the fire hydrant. With his head bowed, he re-opens his eyes and
sees a little painting at the base of the hydrant. He remembers seeing it being used that
morning to put out the fire in the café.
He grabs the plug and sets off a torrent of water. The snobby museum patron is blown away, then
the painter. The water washes off most
of the paint, freeing Graffiti Girl from her white tomb. Artist Monkey raises his arms in victory! The museum paintings have been watching the whole
time and begin to cheer as Graffiti Girl smiles down at him. The snobby museum patron shakes her fist and
berates the painter. They’ll just have
to come back tomorrow! Artist Monkey and
Graffiti Girl lock eyes: it’s not over,
is it? How can she be saved?
EXT. PARK SQUARE- THE NEXT MORNING
The painter and the snobby museum patron return to find a crowd
gathered in front of the mural and more people coming from inside the
museum. During the night, someone has
painted a big gold frame around the Graffiti Girl and fixed a bunch of brass
plates to the bottom. The teenage
graffiti artist poses for pictures in front of the mural, a huge sensation in
the street art scene, as Graffiti Girl and Artist Monkey beam down on the
crowd.
