Law of the Wood
Motion Picture - Attempt at a Script
Sequel to movie ‘Never Cry Wolf’ - 1983
Rough Draft - Third Revision
Written by: L T Hunter
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[Fade - Tight shot - Wide Angle Lens - Static/Fixed camera position.
Location: Alaska Railroad, empty passenger car, except for the
only person in the upper deck, the train travelling at night.]
[Cut - Pan/Cut to each element - Glass roof above, large bay windows
floor to ceiling on both sides, stars become dawn, in the background
motion through the windows, tall spruce and newly lit mountains
streaking by as train makes its way north. Melting snow, as the
spring dawn rises to fill the dimly lit scene. One man, alone in
the back of the compartment, alone at a table, in front of a sleek,
paper-thin, gunmetal grey laptop has its glow slowly overtaken by
the coming of clear blue sky from night, as beams of sunlight invade
the scene. Man sitting in contemplation, head leaning back against
the bulkhead, a crystal glass of water in his hand half full.
His thoughts are vocalized as the narration begins.
The reflections in the glass, mirror a silent gaze unbroken.]
‘The more that’s discovered the more obvious it is, at least to me, of how little I know about things in our world. I was always curious about the far north. A wild place, where animals still roamed free, unchecked by mankind. Research and raw data seem crucial to understanding the problem facing our planet. The last research project didn’t go so well. But there was still a lot of grant money on the table. A whole room full of Ph.D scientists were all pointing to the polar ice, looking for answers. Then there were the biologists, all trying to understand why the scene of our world, was changing. Now more than ever, people seemed scared senseless of the changes going on throughout the world, with even some people living in a constant state of growing anger, everyone is looking for some ray of hope. So much was unknown, and all too quickly, public opinion forged by fear, formed new policy, more often than the facts. I had been sent to look into what was actually happening, and to find the man who had been my teacher. He had been sent on the same mission, and never returned.”
[Cut - Close up of the glass, pan to the clean shaved,
scrupulously manicured, well groomed appearance of a
man in a business suit, his overcoat and scarf draped
over an empty chair nearby, silently sitting in front
of his laptop computer, looking out the large bay
window, in a corner, a continuous stare into the wilderness.]
“I knew he was still alive. Out there somewhere in the wilderness. There had been sightings by several pilots; then came the stories from locals. Some spoke of a white man who had become an animal. An older native woman I had talked to briefly, said he could become any animal. Others said that he controlled the animals, and the weather. The common thread was that the animals all understood him, and that he could talk to all of nature as easily as a person could make a phone call.”
[Cut - Wide Angle Panorama. Location: Small village community.
Narration continues through series of short scenes which
describe the rural life during springtime.
Cut - Tight Shot - Empty streets, except for a native man
drinking from a bottle. Another huddled next to him in a
large olive drab army surplus blanket. The bleak landscape
seems all black and white, however in washed out color,
the only theme is the clear blue sky and the wind spraying
the loose snow off the crust melting in the sunlight.
Cut - Close up - Wind chimes encapsulated with icicles,
banging against the side of the burnt segements on a
neon light barely flickering, the ‘open’ sign with
the ‘o’ shorting out.
Cut - Pan along a trail in the snow - The wind was slowly
blowing snow into drifts covering tracks made in the snow.]
“I had always wanted to follow in his footsteps. I had written several papers while working on my master’s that were nothing more than an expose’ of how much I had admired his work. Several times I had sent him a card for a holiday or birthday, however we had never been accquainted socially. When he left, I had wanted to go with him. At the time there wasn’t enough money to send us both. And now, even after his dissappearance, I was being sent on the same errand, all alone as well.”
[Cut - Series of scenes. Alternating between close up,
and wide angle. Inside of the bar. Sign flickering,
its glow muted behind the drapes. Backlit rows of bottles,
glasses stacked of all types and sizes, and an expensive
bar surface with brass trim. Along the walls, trophies of
all sizes, and species. Mounted heads, with a wolf, a ram,
a moose, a caribou, a bear, a muskox, and many other displays
of superb taxidermy work. Some behind cases in glass,
reflecting in the antler-horn chandelier, its warm light
filling the smoke filled room. Several patrons scatttered
by themselves, the loggers in the corner, a couple fishermen,
some native women grouped together in pairs. All subdued by
their chosen tonic. The narration is louder than bar sounds.
The man in the suit walks over to the bar and orders a drink.]
“When reports came through the grape-vine, that he had went missing, I was worried he had died alone in the cold. When they put together this mission after the search and rescue teams had given up, I manipulated the situation so that I would be the one chosen. I had went to great lengths to get here. I spent months of study on every map I could find. I became fluent in several languages, including the native tongues, and for safety sake, quite a bit of Russian. I’d put every piece of information together into a huge collection, with technology making it simple to compile every book or paper written, and all easily packed neatly with the rest of my luggage.
For me the frontier was always the most mysterious of places, it seemed romantic, and always an adventerous page from a savage time in our history. That’s why I jumped at the chance to come. It always brought memories of old black and white westerns, or the favorite Louis L’amour novel. It seemed a place frozen in time, back when men fought to the death to protect the herd, or would ride to hunt down renegades in defense of their brand. Then the wanderings of great men were well known, like writtings of Jack London, and Robert Frost who brought to mind the trials man faces when placed at the mercy of mother nature. It was a place where cultures collided. The place where new with the ancient shared the same space. A place where a man would check his six-shooters with the bartender, even trade a round of live ammo from a revolver for a small glass of hard alcohol, a practice later to be known as taking a ‘shot’. There were always the legends, such as Wyatt Erp and Doc Holiday, as well as lesser known ones such as Eielsen or Pedro to fill the mind of wilder times under the Northern Lights.”
[Cut - Pause in the Narration - Tight close-up of a ceiling fan
the man in the business suit sits in a corner, then stares at the trophies]
‘I always believe that a good place to get reliable information is in a place where you meet the average person, put at ease, over a shot or two.’
[Cut - Tight Close-up of old native man with a
weathered face. His wrinkles and scars illuminated
by a small ray of sunshine piercing through dingy
and tattered folds in the drapes. Old man speaks in
english, with a deep, thickly accented native voice]
Old Native Man:
“You don’t want to go. Out there there is no mercy. It’s war right now. There are no more caribou, and only wolves are left.”
[Cut - Close-up of glass with ice and alcohol dimly
lit by the ray of sun coming in through the slit
in the drapes. He swallows in large gulps from glass]
Old Native Man:
“You would be the only food. No end to their hunger. They can smell your blood for miles. They always are hunting. And they kill all that they can find. They would tear you apart.”
[Cut - Close-up of scars.]
Old Native Man:
“My dogs ran out of food. So they started howling. It wasn’t long before they came. When I woke up they were gone. So were my dogs. I am lucky to be alive.”
[Cut - Fixed camera on strut of aircraft,
shot frames in on a tight-shot of ski as the
aircraft lands on icy landing-strip. Narrative continues.]
Narrator:
“Technology has come a long way. Now we have a compass that also tracks satellites, in orbit high above our Earth. The InterNet is an array of computers that has tied all of our homes together, as well as every nation, every country, and every city of man. Once requiring a long distance of wire hung on poles, they’ve been reduced to only a few towers, and small compact wireless telephones that fit neatly in a shirt pocket. We have batteries that last for weeks without need for recharging. There are even portable emergency medical kits that can save a man from the brink of death, that at one time filled a whole room in a hospital. This expedition would be different than the first. I was going to be far more prepared. And I hoped, more than anything, that I would find him. So many things had changed, and I needed to know what he had seen that had made him turn his back on all he once knew and loved.”
[Cut - Wide angle camera fixed to chase plane
- Panorama of mountains with shiny new turbo-prop,
sun reflecting off the spinning blades, the wings
cutting through whisps of cloud as trees streak by.
Various cuts, and pans in a series showing the rugged
landscape contrasted by the incredible power of man in flight.]
[Roll Beginning Credits]
