Praying for Mantis Love by Rachel Healy

Here is my updated version of the script, I have now added in filmic and script language, the only thing to have changed slightly is the ending which involves the daughter picking up and cradling the head, then a match cut to her cradling a baby:- Script – Praying for Mantis Love EXT. CLEARING IN THE JUNGLE/FOLIAGE. DAY. EXTREME CLOSEUP of a large, round, blue wide-eyed eye watching through the cover of leaves and foliage, it is transfixed on what it is watching, only making one or two short, sharp blinks. Cut to the eye’s point of view shot, there are two praying mantises mating in a small clearing in the jungle foliage. It is the mother and step-father. Zoom out from the watching eye to reveal the shocked face of the daughter. Cut back to the daughter’s point of view shot and the mother and step-father have now finished mating. But something is not quite right on the expressions of their faces. Zoom in to show that the step-father suddenly looks scared and the mother looks evil. CLOSEUP of the mother attacking the step-father, she grabs him by the neck and with her large claw like arms pins his arms to his side so there is no chance for retaliation. She brings his neck to her jaws and bites. His body stumbles for a moment before collapsing to the floor. The mother begins to chew on the step-father’s head. CLOSEUP of the daughter who is now completely horrified, she gasps. The mother looks up and notices her daughter. She is surprised but instantly knows how all this may look to her teenage daughter. She quickly puts down the head and starts approaching her daughter to explain and reassure. The daughter is confused and afraid; she starts backing away from the approaching mother. But mother swiftly grabs daughter and comforts her. The mother talks to the daughter and gestures towards the dead step-father and then a CLOSEUP of her lifting up the triangular pendant, which both mother and daughter wear round their necks. The daughter is still confused and so the mother puts her arm around her and leads her off into the jungle. EXT. LARGE CLEARING IN THE JUNGLE FOLIAGE. DAY The mother and daughter emerge from the jungle foliage into the clearing. ESTABLISHING SHOT of the two of them standing at the edge of the clearing looking at a dark, jaggered, ominous looking hollow tree stump. It is adorned with carvings and etchings and above the dark, gapping entrance is a giant shining triangular symbol, they walk towards it. The daughter is scared but the mother reassures her and they go in. INT. HOLLOW TREE STUMP CHAPEL. DAY Now inside chapel mother and daughter walk towards the far end and stand in front of some ancient carvings on the wall. Their backs are towards the camera in a medium shot, which is at a low angle and looking up at the carvings above them. The carvings depict two praying mantises mating and then the tradition of the female biting the male’s head off. Profile shot as the mother tries to explain to her daughter that this is tradition and she must abide by it, but the daughter still looks dismayed. The daughter disagrees with it completely. They argue and gesture up towards the carvings. CLOSEUP FRONTAL, LOW ANGLE of mother’s face front on, she is angry at her lippy child. CLOSEUP FRONTAL, HIGH ANGLE of daughter’s angry face. Back to mid-shot and the daughter shakes her head, turns and runs off out of the chapel in floods of tears. Long shot as mother stands there and watches her go, then she sighs and starts to slowly follow after her. EXT. JUNGLE FOLIAGE .DAY The daughter is storming through the jungle upset and angry at her mother and the tradition of biting male’s heads off. The camera tracks her as she goes but then she suddenly stops, CLOSEUP of her surprised expression. She sees a male. EXT. SMALL CLEARING IN THE JUNGLE FOLIAGE. DAY The daughter has stopped a few yards away from the male who hasn’t noticed her yet. She is slightly hidden by foliage and the male in the forefront in profile minding his own business. CLOSEUP of behind female as she looks back anxiously the way she came to see if her mother is following, he may go towards where she has come from, towards her mother and the other female praying mantis who believe in the tradition. So the daughter wants to save the male from certain death. She starts approaching him timidly and the male suddenly realises her presence and whisks his head round. He is surprised but she is not fazed and goes up to him and tries to explain and gesture why he must leave and her mother is coming. The male is confused and so the daughter gives up trying to explain, rolls her eyes and grabs his hand and whisks him off into the jungle. EXT. JUNGLE FOLIAGE. DAY. FULL FIGURE TRACKING SHOT as they run through the jungle, him trailing behind, the daughter still dragging him by the hand. Eventually he tires and persuades her to stop. They sit on a rock. She is looking anxiously back the way they came to see if mother is coming to get them. The male looks at her confusedly. Then they both look down and realise she is still handing his hand. CLOSEUP of their entwined hands. Zoom back out. They look at each other. They kiss, making a heart shape with their antenna pressed together. DISSOLVE INTO A MONTAGE of shots of them having a wonderful time together in love:- ALL EXT. SMALL CLEARINGS IN THE JUNGLE FOLIAGE. DAY. A butterfly flutters near them and the male catches it, and gives it to her, she eats the meal while they look lovingly at each other. DISSOLVE She cheekily pings a water droplet off a leaf at him. DISSOLVE He retaliates by tickling her with a dandelion seed. DISSOLVE The tickling leads to them rolling on floor, which leads to them looking at each other intently. END MONTAGE. They start to mate lovingly. EXTREME CLOSEUP of an eye watching them through the foliage. Cut back to the male and daughter, they finish mating, and get up and smile bashfully at each other. MEDIUM SHOT of them sitting with their arms round each other looking happy and content, they look out in front of them. MATCH CUT to long shot of the back of them as they sit and watch the sun set and hug. All of a sudden the mother bursts in on them, it was her watching them. She is angry that the daughter has not killed the male. The daughter and male are stunned. She grabs the male and holds his neck to the daughter’s mouth. The daughter refuses to bite his head off, she is crying but musters up the courage to push her mother away. The mother staggers back, dropping the male, the daughter grabs male and they run. EXT. JUNGLE/FOLIAGE. EVENING. The daughter and male running through the jungle/foliage. Zoom in on faces and track but then all of a sudden their faces disappear off camera. Zoom out to long shot, profile to show they are falling and tumbling down a steep slope. EXT. BOTTOM OF THE SLOPE. NIGHT. Daughter and male are lying side by side at the bottom of the slope, injured and barely conscious. Pull out to a long shot as mother clambers down the slope to get them. CANTED FRAME of shot of daughter’s point of view as she manages to raise her head slightly and see her mother coming towards them. mother swoops down and picks up the half conscious male by the throat and holds his neck to her own jaws, the daughter has managed to crawl towards to mother and is pleading and crying with her to stop, but only manages to pull herself up to kneeling height and clings to mother’s cloak. CLOSEUP of mother slowly biting his head off. Zoom out to medium shot and the male’s body goes limp and his head slowly drops to the floor in front daughter. She is stiff with horror and shock. Her eyes bulging, she looks down at the fallen head and picks it up. She cradles it, sobbing, on her knees. CLOSEUP of the daughter cradling the head and looking down at it lovingly, tears streaming down her face. Zoom out and up slightly to show mother who puts her hand on her daughter’s shoulder as if to comfort her. Back to the daughter’s face as it changes from sad to angry. She looks up at mother and gets up. Profile shot of the two of them as she glares at her mother with hate in her eyes, then slaps her. Mother is shocked and hurt but quickly snaps out of it. CLOSEUP of the two of them as they look at each other in an intense way as if they both understand what is going to happen next. Zoom out to mid-shot as daughter takes off her pendant (that symbolises the tradition), drops it on the floor in front of her mother, turns and leaves. Mother lets her go and watches as she walks away. Cut to long-shot of daughter walking towards camera as mother is left in the distance. zoom in on daughter cradling head then on daughter’s face. FADE TO BLACK. FADE IN FROM BLACK. MATCH CUT still on daughter’s face looking down at what she is cradling. Then zoom out to reveal that she is now cradling a baby mantis. TRACK OUT IN AERIAL VIEW to show they are snuggled up in their new home of a disused birds nest. FADE OUT to the end credits which are surrounded by stills of the wonderful day the daughter and the male shared together. A butterfly flutters about the screen and then end the end credits with a mantis grabbing it from off side. FADE TO BLACK.