I wrote this script for a trailer I plan on making. Let me know what you think of it.
Prodigal Destiny Trailer
Opening: The date is listed at the bottom of the screen as December 17, 2004. Donna is tucking a little girl into bed.
GIRL: Mommy, what was Daddy like?
DONNA: Well, he was very smart, like you, and always got the highest grades like you.
GIRL: Was he nice?
DONNA: He was the nicest man you could ever meet.
GIRL: Was he strong?
DONNA: Why all the questions about your father out of the blue?
GIRL: Well, we were talking about daddies in school and Jimmy Blake was talking about how his daddy?s a fireman and saves people from burning buildings, and Sally said her daddy?s a policeman who catches bad guys, and I was wondering what Daddy did.
At this, Donna smiles, and her eyes grow thoughtful. She kisses her daughter on the forehead.)
DONNA: Your daddy did a job that was better than all of those other daddies combined.
GIRL: What was it?
DONNA: I?ll tell you one day when you are old enough, don?t worry. Now go to sleep, sweetheart.
She reaches over and turns a lamp by the bed out. The camera pans in close, to a picture on the nightstand. The picture is of Sam Beckett, her father, who she has never seen. The picture glows blue and light envelops the screen. Text shows at the bottom of the screen twelve years later. The girl has grown into a trouble maker, constantly at odds with the authorities.
DONNA: Alicia, why can?t you go a week without getting into some kind of trouble?
ALICIA: Don?t be so dramatic, Mom, it?s not that often.
DONNA: Don?t give me that attitude. If your father were here to see you act like this?
ALICIA: Newsflash, Mom1 My father is a deadbeat who ran out on us before I was even born!
DONNA: That isn?t true, Alicia!
ALICIA: Then what is the truth, Mom? You don?t really expect me to believe that my Dad is rally some superhero like you told me when I was a little girl, do you?
Donna grows silent for a minute. She takes a deep breath.
DONNA: No. I don?t expect you to believe anything anymore. It is time I showed you something I should have shown you years ago.
The scene changes to a run down facility in the New Mexico Desert. The faded plaque in front of the facility reads Project Quantum Leap. The voice over begins as the facility and it?s various equipment areas is shown on camera.
V.O.: In 1995, a brilliant scientist led an elite group of the nation?s top scientists into the desert near Stallion?s Gate, New Mexico. He received a top government grant to develop his theory of time travel, known as Quantum Leap. Pressured to deliver results, he prematurely stepped into the Quantum Leap Accelerator and vanished.
The scene shifts to an elderly Gooshie explaining the situation to Alicia.
ALICIA: You expect me to believe that my father invented a time machine then disappeared?
GOOSHIE: Yes, that is the gist of it.
ALICIA: Then where is the proof? Why don?t the history books all show these appearances of him, if eh ahs leaped around as much as you say?
At this, an old man in a naval uniform steps forward. This is Al, no longer the virulent man he once was.
AL: He isn?t there because the books changed every time he leaped.
ALICIA: Why can?t you bring him home?
AL: Don?t you think we?ve tried. We?ve spent every minute of the past twenty-one years trying to do just that. And now, we will never succeed.
DONNA: Don?t tell me?
AL: Those government nozzles finally pulled the plug.
The scene shifts to a locker room. Al is handing an old Fermi suit to Alicia.
AL: He would have wanted you to have this. It is the only thing of his we have left.
The scene shifts to the accelerator chamber, dark from a lack of power. Alicia is walking in, her face pondering and wondering what experiment had taken place. She is wearing the Fermi suit, grayed from years of disuse.
V.O.: Just when all hope seemed lost, Time or Fate, or whatever controls our lives intervened.
The scene shifts to outside where a massive bolt of lightning hits the complex. Back inside, the accelerator begins to charge and glows with a blue light all around Alicia.
AL: no, Ziggy, shut off the Accelerator! For God?s sakes, Alicia is still in there!
ZIGGY: I am sorry, Admiral, there is no way for me to shut it off at this point.
The camera pans back close to Alicia, whose face is wide with fear. He voice is barely a whisper.
ALICIA: Oh boy!
The scene shifts to a sunlit bed. Alicia opens her eyes in confusion, looking around. A male hand reaches over her and holds her.
MAN: Morning, Baby
Alicia screams and rolls off the bed. She runs into the bathroom, scared for her life, and locks the door behind her. She is crying hard, not able to remember what happened. She leans over the sink to grab a towel to wipe her tears off, when she catches a look into the mirror and sees the face of a 25 year old Asian girl. Her eyes roll back into her head and she faints. The scene shifts back to PQL.
GOOSHIE: It?s no use, admiral. Your brainwaves are just too unique to link with Alicia. We have to find someone else.
DONNA: What about me?
AL: No, remember Sam tried that with you and found that familial brain waves are too similar to work.
GOOSHIE: We need to find someone who is both unique from Alicia, and the same as her on some sort of deeper level.
DONNA: Where are we going to find such a person?
ZIGGY: I have run a search and determined that one of her classmates will work.
The scene shifts to show a clean cut boy putting away his saxophone. He is the sort of boy most kids try to introduce to their parents when they are hiding their real dates, He then gets caught from behind in a wedgie by a kid who shoots past him on a skateboard. This is Steven Richards, the most popular kid in school. The scene shifts to this skater?s apartment where he hears a knock at the door and two government agents enter.
FBI: Steven Richards?
STEVEN: Yes?
FBI: We?re going to need you to come with us.
STEVEN: I swear, the website said they were legal!
The scene pulls back to Alicia, who is eating dinner with her ?boyfriend?. She looks uncomfortable, but faced with no better explanation, she has come to accept that this is her life. At that moment, she sees a white door open in the middle of the room and Steven step out.
BOYFRIEND: Ayaka, are you all right?
ALICIA: Please tell me you can see the kid in the hoodie.
The boyfriend looks at her, then pulls her drink away from her. The scene shifts to an alley. Steven is explaining the situation to Alicia.
STEVEN: According to the dude in the funky white jumpsuit, your memory has been punched up like Swiss cheese as a result of the Acceleration activating, or something like that.
:ALICIA: I knew this couldn?t really be my life. How do I get back?
STEVEN: According to Ziggy, your best shot is what your Dad did. You have to correct some sort of mistake to jump out.
ALICIA: Sow what do I have to do?
As she says this, a scene shifts to a chaotic college building. The halls are on fire, and graffiti on the wall reads Animal Freedom Now! A fire rages up around two young girls, barley 20, and they scream. The scene shifts to a pickup driving down the road.
BOYFRIEND: I can?t believe I?m hearing this from you, Ayaka! Don?t you want those scientists to stop torturing those poor animals?
ALICIA: It?s Not that Ricky, its just that students might get hurt!
RICKY: That won?t happen!
ALICIA: How do you know?
The scene shifts to a meeting where students dressed in skull masks are preparing Molotov?s and other pyrotechnic weapons.
ALICIA: Ricky, please don?t do this!
RICKY: Ayaka, you?re either with us or you?re against us! Which is it?
The scene shifts to the burning building, where Alicia is pushing through the flames. Steven is running through the walls, leading her forward.
STEVEN: Hurry, Alicia, they don?t have much time left!
The scene shifts back to PQL, where Gooshie is preparing the console. Al, Steven, and Debra are gather around anxiously waiting.
GOOSHIE: Better cross your fingers.
They all look at each other.
AL: Ziggy, activate the Retrieval Program!
ZIGGY: Yes, Admiral.
The Accelerator chamber glows blue and begins to charge with electricity. The camera zooms into the charge and into the blue fog, where charges of electricity shoot around dates and images from history.
V.O.: In 2018, God, Fate, Time, or whatever, will intervene to put right what once went wrong one more time?
The electricity shoots around to form outlines of the words Quantum Leap: Prodigal Destiny. The Quantum Leap Theme song then begins to play as credits are shown and release date appears.
Prodigal Destiny Trailer
Opening: The date is listed at the bottom of the screen as December 17, 2004. Donna is tucking a little girl into bed.
GIRL: Mommy, what was Daddy like?
DONNA: Well, he was very smart, like you, and always got the highest grades like you.
GIRL: Was he nice?
DONNA: He was the nicest man you could ever meet.
GIRL: Was he strong?
DONNA: Why all the questions about your father out of the blue?
GIRL: Well, we were talking about daddies in school and Jimmy Blake was talking about how his daddy?s a fireman and saves people from burning buildings, and Sally said her daddy?s a policeman who catches bad guys, and I was wondering what Daddy did.
At this, Donna smiles, and her eyes grow thoughtful. She kisses her daughter on the forehead.)
DONNA: Your daddy did a job that was better than all of those other daddies combined.
GIRL: What was it?
DONNA: I?ll tell you one day when you are old enough, don?t worry. Now go to sleep, sweetheart.
She reaches over and turns a lamp by the bed out. The camera pans in close, to a picture on the nightstand. The picture is of Sam Beckett, her father, who she has never seen. The picture glows blue and light envelops the screen. Text shows at the bottom of the screen twelve years later. The girl has grown into a trouble maker, constantly at odds with the authorities.
DONNA: Alicia, why can?t you go a week without getting into some kind of trouble?
ALICIA: Don?t be so dramatic, Mom, it?s not that often.
DONNA: Don?t give me that attitude. If your father were here to see you act like this?
ALICIA: Newsflash, Mom1 My father is a deadbeat who ran out on us before I was even born!
DONNA: That isn?t true, Alicia!
ALICIA: Then what is the truth, Mom? You don?t really expect me to believe that my Dad is rally some superhero like you told me when I was a little girl, do you?
Donna grows silent for a minute. She takes a deep breath.
DONNA: No. I don?t expect you to believe anything anymore. It is time I showed you something I should have shown you years ago.
The scene changes to a run down facility in the New Mexico Desert. The faded plaque in front of the facility reads Project Quantum Leap. The voice over begins as the facility and it?s various equipment areas is shown on camera.
V.O.: In 1995, a brilliant scientist led an elite group of the nation?s top scientists into the desert near Stallion?s Gate, New Mexico. He received a top government grant to develop his theory of time travel, known as Quantum Leap. Pressured to deliver results, he prematurely stepped into the Quantum Leap Accelerator and vanished.
The scene shifts to an elderly Gooshie explaining the situation to Alicia.
ALICIA: You expect me to believe that my father invented a time machine then disappeared?
GOOSHIE: Yes, that is the gist of it.
ALICIA: Then where is the proof? Why don?t the history books all show these appearances of him, if eh ahs leaped around as much as you say?
At this, an old man in a naval uniform steps forward. This is Al, no longer the virulent man he once was.
AL: He isn?t there because the books changed every time he leaped.
ALICIA: Why can?t you bring him home?
AL: Don?t you think we?ve tried. We?ve spent every minute of the past twenty-one years trying to do just that. And now, we will never succeed.
DONNA: Don?t tell me?
AL: Those government nozzles finally pulled the plug.
The scene shifts to a locker room. Al is handing an old Fermi suit to Alicia.
AL: He would have wanted you to have this. It is the only thing of his we have left.
The scene shifts to the accelerator chamber, dark from a lack of power. Alicia is walking in, her face pondering and wondering what experiment had taken place. She is wearing the Fermi suit, grayed from years of disuse.
V.O.: Just when all hope seemed lost, Time or Fate, or whatever controls our lives intervened.
The scene shifts to outside where a massive bolt of lightning hits the complex. Back inside, the accelerator begins to charge and glows with a blue light all around Alicia.
AL: no, Ziggy, shut off the Accelerator! For God?s sakes, Alicia is still in there!
ZIGGY: I am sorry, Admiral, there is no way for me to shut it off at this point.
The camera pans back close to Alicia, whose face is wide with fear. He voice is barely a whisper.
ALICIA: Oh boy!
The scene shifts to a sunlit bed. Alicia opens her eyes in confusion, looking around. A male hand reaches over her and holds her.
MAN: Morning, Baby
Alicia screams and rolls off the bed. She runs into the bathroom, scared for her life, and locks the door behind her. She is crying hard, not able to remember what happened. She leans over the sink to grab a towel to wipe her tears off, when she catches a look into the mirror and sees the face of a 25 year old Asian girl. Her eyes roll back into her head and she faints. The scene shifts back to PQL.
GOOSHIE: It?s no use, admiral. Your brainwaves are just too unique to link with Alicia. We have to find someone else.
DONNA: What about me?
AL: No, remember Sam tried that with you and found that familial brain waves are too similar to work.
GOOSHIE: We need to find someone who is both unique from Alicia, and the same as her on some sort of deeper level.
DONNA: Where are we going to find such a person?
ZIGGY: I have run a search and determined that one of her classmates will work.
The scene shifts to show a clean cut boy putting away his saxophone. He is the sort of boy most kids try to introduce to their parents when they are hiding their real dates, He then gets caught from behind in a wedgie by a kid who shoots past him on a skateboard. This is Steven Richards, the most popular kid in school. The scene shifts to this skater?s apartment where he hears a knock at the door and two government agents enter.
FBI: Steven Richards?
STEVEN: Yes?
FBI: We?re going to need you to come with us.
STEVEN: I swear, the website said they were legal!
The scene pulls back to Alicia, who is eating dinner with her ?boyfriend?. She looks uncomfortable, but faced with no better explanation, she has come to accept that this is her life. At that moment, she sees a white door open in the middle of the room and Steven step out.
BOYFRIEND: Ayaka, are you all right?
ALICIA: Please tell me you can see the kid in the hoodie.
The boyfriend looks at her, then pulls her drink away from her. The scene shifts to an alley. Steven is explaining the situation to Alicia.
STEVEN: According to the dude in the funky white jumpsuit, your memory has been punched up like Swiss cheese as a result of the Acceleration activating, or something like that.
:ALICIA: I knew this couldn?t really be my life. How do I get back?
STEVEN: According to Ziggy, your best shot is what your Dad did. You have to correct some sort of mistake to jump out.
ALICIA: Sow what do I have to do?
As she says this, a scene shifts to a chaotic college building. The halls are on fire, and graffiti on the wall reads Animal Freedom Now! A fire rages up around two young girls, barley 20, and they scream. The scene shifts to a pickup driving down the road.
BOYFRIEND: I can?t believe I?m hearing this from you, Ayaka! Don?t you want those scientists to stop torturing those poor animals?
ALICIA: It?s Not that Ricky, its just that students might get hurt!
RICKY: That won?t happen!
ALICIA: How do you know?
The scene shifts to a meeting where students dressed in skull masks are preparing Molotov?s and other pyrotechnic weapons.
ALICIA: Ricky, please don?t do this!
RICKY: Ayaka, you?re either with us or you?re against us! Which is it?
The scene shifts to the burning building, where Alicia is pushing through the flames. Steven is running through the walls, leading her forward.
STEVEN: Hurry, Alicia, they don?t have much time left!
The scene shifts back to PQL, where Gooshie is preparing the console. Al, Steven, and Debra are gather around anxiously waiting.
GOOSHIE: Better cross your fingers.
They all look at each other.
AL: Ziggy, activate the Retrieval Program!
ZIGGY: Yes, Admiral.
The Accelerator chamber glows blue and begins to charge with electricity. The camera zooms into the charge and into the blue fog, where charges of electricity shoot around dates and images from history.
V.O.: In 2018, God, Fate, Time, or whatever, will intervene to put right what once went wrong one more time?
The electricity shoots around to form outlines of the words Quantum Leap: Prodigal Destiny. The Quantum Leap Theme song then begins to play as credits are shown and release date appears.