Man with no Library Card
4:32
Winner of Best Storyline (or Most Original Storyline) and Audience Choice Award (Sun. 1;30-3;00) in the Quiet on the Set short film competition 2009 presented by MELSA. http://melsa.org/quietontheset/index.cfm
Featuring Taylor Gruye as the Man with no Library Card and Preston Palmer as the Card Player.
Written and Directed by Jonathan Craig.
Guitar playing and whistling by Jonathan Craig, Trumpet playing by Daniel Craig.
Tags: MELSA Quiet on the Set short film competition Spaghetti Western
Added: 3 years ago
From: penguinjedi23
Views: 1,400
Taylor Gruye
Jonathan Craig
Preston Palmer
Man With No Library Card
Written and Directed by
Jonathan Craig
Original Music by
Jonathan Craig
Edited by
Jonathan Craig & Daniel Craig
[scene opens with a man (dressed like Clint Eastwood from "A Fistful of Dollars") walking in an open field by himself]
MAN WITH NO LIBRARY CARD: [in voice over] I've travelled long, and I've travelled far. For months, I've been alone ...
[he takes out a chocolate Tootsie Pop, unwraps it, and sticks it in his mouth (making it look like he's smoking a cigarette)]
MAN WITH NO LIBRARY CARD: [in voice over] Without my library card. Long ago, I lost it. And how many roads must I travel before I can find my library card?
[cut to another shot of the man, striking a dramatic pose]
MAN WITH NO LIBRARY CARD: And little did I know, the answer was blowing in the wind ...
[a crumpled piece of paper flies through the air and hits him in the left shoulder, so he picks it up and reads it ("I'm at the Central Library")]
[cut to the man entering the Minneapolis Central Library (as several patron and librarians can be seen milling about), then cut to the man browsing through one of the bookshelves, when another man (with a handkerchief around his neck) suddenly appears behind him]
THIEF: I found your library card.
[he turns in surprise, as the thief hands him his library card with a note attached ("Overdue Fine, $10. Until you pay this, you're like a man with no library card.")]
MAN WITH NO LIBRARY CARD: Overdue fines? But ...
[he looks up, but the thief has disappeared, then cut to the man staring out the window]
MAN WITH NO LIBRARY CARD: [in voice over] At last, I found my library card, but a ten dollar overdue fine is enough to crush any man's spirit ... or ability to check out library books. Until I find that money, I'm still like a man with no library card.
[he sits down, then notices another man (wearing boots and a cowboy hat while chewing on a piece of straw) sitting at a nearby table]
CARD PLAYER: You play?
[he holds up a deck of cards]
CARD PLAYER: I'm the best card player round these parts ...
[the man gets up and walks over]
CARD PLAYER: Tell you what ... If you can beat me in a game, I'll give you all the money in my pocket.
MAN WITH NO LIBRARY CARD: And if I lose?
CARD PLAYER: Heh ...
[the screen turns red and a clap of thunder can be heard, as the card player's voice is modified to sound more "demonic"]
CARD PLAYER: I keep your soul.
MAN WITH NO LIBRARY CARD: [pause] How much money is in your pocket?
CARD PLAYER: Ten dollars.
[the man sits down, then cut to the two men in the middle of a (seemingly) intense game]
CARD PLAYER: Got any three's?
MAN WITH NO LIBRARY CARD: [whispers] Go fish.
[cut to another shot of the men playing cards]
MAN WITH NO LIBRARY CARD: [in voice over] Betting my soul was a heavy risk, but those ten dollars in his pocket was just enough to pay off my fines.
[cut to a closeup of the men's eyes as they stare at each other]
MAN WITH NO LIBRARY CARD: [in voice over] The battle was fierce. This guy was good, but I was good too.
[cut to a closeup of the man putting down his cards]
MAN WITH NO LIBRARY CARD: [in voice over] And in the end ... I prevailed.
[the screen fades to black, then cut to another shot of the man]
MAN WITH NO LIBRARY CARD: Seems you're no longer the best around these parts.
CARD PLAYER: Huh, you just got lucky!
[he hands him a wad of crumpled dollar bills, as the man gets up to leave]
CARD PLAYER: Hey! Be careful out there. I hear there's a man who steals ... library cards.
MAN WITH NO LIBRARY CARD: And keeps them?
CARD PLAYER: No, even worse. He takes your library card, checks out books with it, then a month later, he returns you your library card but he doesn't return you the books. Leaving you with a tremendous amount of overdue fines.
[cut to a closeup of the man's face, superimposed over a shot of the 10-dollar library fine note]
CARD PLAYER: Here, maybe you've seen him ...
[he pulls out a wanted poster ("Wanted, Library Card Thief") with a photo of the man who gave him his library card (except he has a moustache and goatee)]
MAN WITH NO LIBRARY CARD: [in voice over] Now it was obvious, this man had to be stopped.
[cut to the man standing on the roof of the library, as the library card thief stands at the opposite end]
[he holds up the wanted poster, as the thief tries to run, but the man throws his library card like a ninja throwing star and hits him in the back, knocking him down]
MAN WITH NO LIBRARY CARD: [in voice over] And that's when he stole his last library card.
[cut to a shot of the thief on the floor, as the man walks away]
MAN WITH NO LIBRARY CARD: [in voice over] All in a day's work, I suppose ...
[cut to a shot of the man standing in the open field]
MAN WITH NO LIBRARY CARD: [in voice over] I beat the world's best card player, put a thief in prison, and got my library card back. Now that all the fines have been paid off, I'm able to check out books again.
[cut to the man striking a dramatic pose with his back to the camera]
MAN WITH NO LIBRARY CARD: [in voice over] And I am no longer ... the man with no library card.
The End
This film was produced for
Quiet on the Set
short film competition
Presented by MELSA
and in partnership with
Comcast, Channel Z, and IFP films.
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