"Buffalo”
Music Video
Music by The
Church
Script by tk
©1998 Mythopolis
Return to Filmography
FADE IN.
EXT.
FOREST.
WIDE SHOT of
a quaint cottage tucked in a small forest. A YOUNG CHERUB with a
bow and arrow flickers in and out of frame.
We MOVE IN
slowly toward a window on the cottage and we can see a WRITER, an old
man with grey beard, sitting at a wooden desk. The WRITER begins
writing in a big journal.
He
writes: "This is my story..."
DISSOLVE TO:
{Music
begins...Lyrics in quotations and italics}
INT.
FAKE PLAYHOUSE SET.
A LITTLE BOY
is playing with matchbox cars in a sandbox with a big baldheaded
SUNSHINE MAN and a group of CHERUBS. Leaves begin to fall
from the MR. TREE and the CHERUBS watch the SUNSHINE MAN wipe his
sweaty brow and fade away as he walks off in the
distance.
The LITTLE
BOY pushes his toy car through the frame (ECU) to reveal a different
scene with a thin wiry grey-haired fellow, MR. JACK FROST, kissing his
wife good-bye on the porch and walking down the sidewalk directly
toward us (in JUMPCUTS.)
"Snow
came on Friday, I gotta go..."
EXT.
CITY.
Under falling
snow, a YOUNG MAN is wandering the streets, apparently looking for
someone.
TIME-LAPSE
CITY LIFE.
"Spendin'
winter up in Buffalo..."
EXT.
SUBURBAN STREETS.
An old truck,
driven by MR. FROST is cursing down the street.
EXT.
PLAYGROUND.
The LITTLE
BOY is playing "Cowboys & Indians" with a towering INDIAN CHIEF,
who exaggerates his stoic expressions in a playful way with the boy's
serious exploits. The CHERUBs stand by in costume. The
LITTLE BOY pulls his pistol on the INDIAN CHIEF, who quickly surrenders
while nodding off to the side.
"Someone
I met there is callin' me, so..."
The LITTLE
BOY looks and sees a cute LITTLE GIRL walking along the
sidewalk. They exchange stares. As the LITTLE BOY
watches the LITTLE GIRL, the INDIAN CHIEF puts his finger in the barrel
of the gun, smiling, and walks off, to the dismay of the CHERUBS.
On his way out the INDIAN CHIEF tips the boy's oversized cowboy hat
from behind, causing it to fall over his face.
"Gotta
escape the blues man, don't ya know..."
As the LITTLE
BOY pushes his hat back up and starts walking toward the LITTLE GIRL,
one of the ANGRY CHERUBS prepares to shoot the boy with his bow and
arrow. The other CHERUBS look surprised. The ANGRY CHERUB
misfires and his arrow ends up getting stuck in MR. TREE, who rolls his
eyes. The other CHERUBS laugh. The frustrated ANGRY CHERUB
takes another shot and launches his arrow... SWISH TO...
"Days
of sickly summer, packed up and gone..."
EXT.
FALL LAWN.
TEENAGE BOY
mowing lawn as waves of green grass shoot out of the mower toward
us. We see MR. JACK FROST park his truck on the road and
bring his briefcase with him. A car drives by with a YOUNG WOMAN
hanging out the side of the window, soaking in the breeze.
TEENAGE BOY watches the YOUNG WOMAN in the car drive by as he stops and
wipes his brow. She notices him as well, turning inside of the
car, which stops, then leaning back out of the window, waves at the
TEENAGE BOY to ride along. TEENAGE BOY is gliding on his bike as
he holds onto the back of the car.
"Nothin'
helps me... there's nothing wrong..."
SIDEWALK.
The LITTLE BOY is riding a tricycle, pulling the LITTLE GIRL in a
wagon. MR. JACK FROST passes by the young couple and moves toward
us, tipping his hat and smiling as he does.
"It
was so pleasant... incandescent... "
BEACH.
TEENAGE BOY and YOUNG woman, playing tag on the beach, running through
the water, swinging hand in hand among the crowd of summer beach
bums. MR. JACK FROST moves through the crowd, briefcase and
folding chair in hand.
"It's
over now..."
MR. JACK
FROST puts out a small folding table, slaps down his briefcase and
flips the latches.
"We
should get goin'..."
The CROWD on
the beach fades away and we can see the YOUNG COUPLE running away in
the distance, hand in hand. MR. JACK FROST opens his briefcase
and out comes an eruption of white snowflakes.
{Instr.}
"A
lady I know there, her name is Christina..."
EXT.
CITY.
Snow is
falling down on the YOUNG MAN searching for someone in the city.
People and traffic move in TIME LAPSE fashion, intermittently slowing
down and speeding up.
"Six
lonely lifetimes since I've seen her..."
VARIOUS SHOTS
of DIFFERENT PEOPLE on the STREETS, in shop WINDOWS, on the TRAIN, in
passing CABS. An attractive PROFESSIONAL WOMAN gets in her nice
car and takes off into traffic.
"She'll
take you places, your heart cannot go... "
MONTAGE of
SHOTS INCLUDING: SWIRLING CITY with YOUNG MAN... PIXELATED
FAST TAKE SUMMER BEACH and SAILING SHOTS... TIME LAPSE CITY
TRAFFIC SHOTS...
"During
the winter up in Buffalo..."
MR. JACK
FROST goes back to his truck and rides off.
"...Raised
by hellfire... dazed in the glow..."
Sporadic
OVERLAYS of fire with a silhouetted dancing FIGURE and TIME-LAPSE of a
withering FLOWER. LONG EXPOSURE of blurred dancing FIGURE.
FIREWORKS.
"Winter
surrounds us, up in Buffalo...."
FAKE
PLAYHOUSE SET.
SUMMER and
FALL characters leave and are replace with a cold WINTER set, with OLD
MAN WINTER. All of the CHERUBS leave except for the ANGRY
CHERUB. The matchbox cars, the toy gun and the cowboy hat are
left behind.
"Days
of drowsy pleasure in the afternoon dark..."
YOUNG COUPLE
in a loft space, lit by natural light. Silhouettes show
playfulness leading to seduction.
"We
drift together, we drift apart..."
The YOUNG
COUPLE on the beach comes together swinging then falls apart.
"She's
got the way with all, she's got the knowledge..."
INT.
LOFT.
TWO-SHOT CU
SIDE - YOUNG WOMAN traces outline of TEENAGE BOY's face with her finger
in silhouette.
EXT. CITY.
SNOW
falls. PROF WOMAN stops at red light at busy intersection.
YOUNG MAN still searching. Beautiful BLUE EYES appear in the sky
looking down with the falling snow.
"It's
wonderful..."
OVERHEAD of
couple lying in bed DISSOLVES to YOUNG MAN waking up only to find
himself lying in bed alone.
"I
should be goin."
EXT. SUMMER
BEACH
Activity
DISSOLVES to empty snow covered beach and icy lake.
EXT.
SNOW COVERED HILLS.
We can see
KIDS sledding and playing in the snow. The LITTLE BOY slides down
a hill on a sled leaving the LITTLE GIRL at the top.
"Out
there, the Snow Queen is kidnappin' boys..."
LITTLE BOY's
sled comes to a stop and he turns, looking curiously into a
not-so-distant wall of white snow.
Out of the
snow we begin to see the shape of the SNOW QUEEN materialize.
"Block
of ice heart, tunes out the noise..."
LITTLE BOY
gets up from his sled and walks into the deep white. The
distressed LITTLE GIRL at the top of the hill looks on as the LITTLE
BOY disappears into the snow. The SNOW QUEEN is waiting and
wraps herself around the LITTLE BOY and they rise and disappear.
MULTIPLE
OVERLAPPED SHOTS follow....
"Soft
in the bedroom, eyes indigo..."
SILOUETTED
FEMALE FIGURE.
CU SNOW QUEEN
and the windblown LITTLE BOY's face which is frozen and covered with
ice.
WIDE OVERHEAD
- SNOW QUEEN comes into frame and lays the LITTLE BOY in a bed of snow.
CLOSE UP SIDE
- SNOW QUEEN bending down to kiss LITTLE BOY.
MORNING
BEDROOM. YOUNG WOMAN lying on top of YOUNG MAN, moving down
to kiss him.
ECU - FACE of
the SNOW QUEEN, smiling lips and sparkling eyes.
"Sleeping
in the winter ... in.... Buffalo..."
WHIRLING SHOT
of YOUNG MAN in the city.
TWISTING
OVERHEAD of frozen LITTLE BOY in the snow.
DOLLY IN on
WRITER writing.
DOLLY OUT of
ECU of MR. JACK FROST cashing a check at the bank.
WIDE SHOT of
LITTLE GIRL standing alone on top of the hill.
SHOT of ANGRY
CHERUB setting sights on the GIRL and launching the arrow.
TIME-LAPSE
SHOT of the sled getting covered in snow.
SHOT of YOUNG
MAN standing in front of traffic, including PROF WOMAN in her
car. He stares at her intensely but she does not see him.
Traffic and people begin moving through him as if he's not there.
SHOT of
LITTLE BOY getting up and finding himself lost in the snow.
OVERHEAD
RISING SHOT of LITTLE GIRL crying on the top of the hill.
MONTAGE of
SHOTS revealing LITTLE BOY aging into a YOUNG MAN then an OLD MAN (the
WRITER.)
"...down...."
SHOT of SNOW
QUEEN turning away into darkness.
SHOT of cars
and people moving through YOUNG MAN as he watches the PROF WOMAN drive
away.
SHOT of
TEENAGE BOY and YOUNG WOMAN on the beach running away from us.
SHOT of
LITTLE GIRL and LITTLE BOY in cowboy outfit exchanging glances for the
first time.
"...
in ...."
EXT. CITY
INTERSECTION.
MR. JACK
FROST pulls up to YOUNG MAN and offers him a ride. YOUNG MAN hops
in the back of the truck and it rides off.
"...
Buffalo ..."
INT.
COTTAGE.
The WRITER
finishes writing:
"... never to
be seen again."
EXT.
FOREST COTTAGE.
Autumn.
As WE MOVE AWAY from the WRITER in the window and salt-shaken sprinkles
of snow begin falling.
FADE OUT.
[Note:
Shots of the band can be inserted intermittently. I visualize the
band playing in a darkened room, silhouetted, and dressed to
kill. Vocals into a vintage mic. These shots will appear
quickly and flicker in and out throughout the narrative film.]