"A Thief’s Path"

A screenplay

By

Don Bitters III

(Evil Army Films)

Evil Army Films Logo

I, i

Exterior, night

The city is made up of a mish mash of Victorian and medieval styles of housing and architecture. The buildings in the city are crammed together tightly, and the streets twist and turn at harsh angles. The city is steam punk, it is powered by electricity and steam-powered machines, but torches, bows, swords, and other staples of the dark ages, still are widely used. It is a place of no specific age in history. Magic exists, but is not widely known about or used. It is a city where the past never died, and the future came too soon There are forces at work in the city beyond anyone’s comprehension, and true intentions and agendas are hiding in the shadows of every street.

I, ii

Interior, night

The thief’s apartment, it is a simple wooden room, with very few pieces of furniture. What few personal belongings are present are packed away such that they could be removed and carried easily. There is a table with a candle on it, which is the only source of illumination, and an unfurled pack containing thief’s tools. Against one wall are a bow and a quiver of arrows. There are also a few shelves that contain various thieves’ tools. There is a window open to the city’s rooftops, the night is dark blue, and the moon is barely showing through some clouds.

I, iii

Exterior, night

It is now pouring rain, but the city stays slightly illuminated by an ambient blue glow. There is also lightning flashing around frequently.

I, iv

Interior of the building. It seems to be a mansion of sorts, there are dark corners and hallways throughout, along with numerous house guards who stand watch over it. There are torches and such illuminating the house, along with many windows and skylights.

a) A low angle medium shot, with a guard in the foreground, on the right side of the screen, behind him we see the window from the previous shot, the shadowed figure moves past. The guard looks around slightly as he maintains his post.

b) Slow zooming tight shot of the bottom of a sliding window, the window slowly opens slightly.

c) Slightly side angled shot of a shadow moving past a wall, there are a few paintings on the wall, and some furniture below it.

d) Medium shot of two candlesticks sitting on a mantle above a fireplace. A shadow moves past them, but after the shadow goes past, the candlesticks are gone.

e) A low, wide shot of a hallway, a guard stands in the distance, he is facing away from the camera, there is a torch on the wall towards the camera.

f) Wide shot of a thief standing in front of an illuminated window, we see him pulling back on his bow.

g) A slowly zooming tight side shot of the tip of his bow, he is pulling back on a water arrow. The tip glistens slightly.

h) Same hallway shot as before, the water arrow hits the torch and puts it out. The guard becomes alerted and turns around; he places his hand on his sword in preparation. He starts to slowly move down the hallway.

i) Same shot of the window as previous, but the guard moves in front of it, he is slightly illuminated from the ambient glow in front of him. He turns and faces the camera. Lightning flashes, and for the split second it flashes we see the silhouette of the thief behind him, blackjack raised. The silhouette disappears after the lightning flash, and the guard starts to collapse

j) Medium side shot near the ground, the guard crumples to the ground, falling to the right of the screen. A few seconds later he is pulled into the shadows behind him.

A large room, possibly a gallery of some sort, it is dark for the most part, with the only real source of light being the chandeliers above. The room has a ground level and a second floor that is made up of overlook balconies. There stands a lone guard in this room.

k) Wide angled-to-the-right shot of the ground level, the guard is standing in the middle of the room in front of a pedestal with a large gem on it. The guard is facing away from the gem. The guard shifts slightly. The camera tilts up to look at the overlook balcony, a dark, cloaked figure moves along the balcony.

l) Medium shot of the guard standing in front of the gem. The guard’s head and shoulders take up the left side of the screen and the gem on the pedestal is on the right. A shadow rolls across the pedestal and when it moves away the gem is gone. The guard is looking around suspiciously as this happens. The guard senses that there is something amiss.

GUARD1

Hmmm…

m) Wide shot, opposite the first shot of this room, the guard turns towards the pedestal, which is closer to the camera, and notices that the gem is gone.

GUARD1

Huh!

n) Angled wide shot, behind the thief as he walks through a dark room towards a door on the far wall. Suddenly the door swings open sending light streaming into the room, a silhouetted guard1 stands in the doorway. The thief is startled by this and stops.

o) Tight shot of the guard1’s face, it twist into an angry sneer.

GUARD2

Thieeeef!

p) Tight shot of the thief’s forearm, he readies a flash bomb

q) Tight shot of his hand, he presses in the switch, activating the flashbomb.

r) Wide frontal shot of the thief, he throws the flash bomb directly at the camera, time slows down in the last few seconds of it’s throw, it slowly rotates the lenses towards the camera, as it does so light stars coming out of the lenses. When the lenses are fully rotated towards the camera the light explodes out of it.

s) Medium Shot, the camera is locked behind the thief as he runs through a short hallway and turns through a doorframe.

t) Tight side shot, he runs through a doorway, an arrow embeds in the wooden doorframe as he passes it.

u) A swishpan swings down onto a wide shot of an archer holding a bow drawn, facing the camera. The camera movement is rough and uneven, not still. The camera then swishpans down past the archer.

I, v

Exterior, night

The roof of the building , at the edge of the roof there is a risen edge. The roof at this part of the building is flat for the most part. There is a door that leads from inside the building onto the roof. There is a large stretch of roof between the door and the edge of the roof. The rain is still falling lightly.

a) Wide shot of the roof, the door is centered at an angle. The door bursts open and the thief bolts across the roof.

b) Tight side shot of the thief’s feet, following them as they run.

c) Wide shot from the front of the thief, he is running towards the camera. Far behind him are several guards pursuing him across the roof.

d) Tight side shot of his upper torso, he brings his bow to the ready.

e) Tight shot of his eyes, they sharpen in concentration.

f) Tight side shot of his upper torso, we can see that the rope of a rope arrow is wrapped around his arm. He draws a rope arrow back in his bow and fires. The rope on his arm is pulled off.

g) Wide shot at a low angle of a building top. The rope arrow goes flying towards it, trailing the rope.

h) Tight shot of a wood beam on the edge of the rooftop, the arrow embeds itself in it.

(This following shot is going to be the most difficult, but most impressive shot in this entire film)

i) Wide overhead shot of the edge of the roof that the thief is on. The rope of the arrow is falling into the gap between the edge of that roof and the one the arrow is embedded in. The thief leaps off the edge of the roof, and the camera drops and follows him, ending up right behind him and to the right at the end of the shot. The thief grabs the rope in the air while he is leaping and swings down into a window.

j) When he hits the window the screen goes black and the title "A Thief’s Path" burns out of the black screen, after several seconds the title quickly fades out as if it was a candle or torch being snuffed out.

II, i

Exterior, Night

The rain has stopped hours ago, the city streets are dark and muggy. The streets lights cast long dark shadows on the cobblestone streets. This scene also has a shot done in the style of the thief briefings, with a paper sketch moving across the screen. Marcus, the thief, wears a long dark blue cloak, used for concealing various items and weapons. He stands roughly six feet tall and strikes a very imposing figure. He has a slight beard on his face, which is probably his only distinguishing feature. His voice is world-worn but not tired. He is a man who does what he has to do, he doesn’t readily give in to threats and tends to be slightly snide, but cautious. He’s not the world’s greatest thief, but he would probably be in line for the title if he cared.

Marcus’s voice for this scene is done as a continuous voiceover.

a) A black screen

MARCUS

My name is Marcus, and I am a thief.

b) Wide shot of a city street, close to the left side of the screen is one side of the street. Marcus walks down the street, away from the camera, on the right.

MARCUS

I ply my trade in the city, a haven for thugs, villains, and deception. My kind of town. Usually there’s plenty of gold and silver going around,

c) Medium low angle shot looking up a building corner at a street lamp. Marcus goes past the camera.

MARCUS

and I have a tendency to see that much of it lines my pockets. Unfortunately there are less jobs available these days,

d) Wide shot of a city guard, Marcus walks right in front of him and past.

MARCUS

which probably has something to do with the recent crackdown by the city watch

e) Tight shot of the guard’s face, his eyes follow Marcus and he watches him suspiciously

MARCUS

on people of my "profession" and the fences we frequent.

f) A black screen

MARCUS

What good is loot if you can’t sell it?

g) Fade up to image of Cassius Borden looking over some gold on a table, he has one eye looking toward the camera. The camera slowly zooms out from the eye.

MARCUS

This means I’ve had to start going to less reliable sources for work. A man named Cassius Borden sent me to retrieve this gem from a private collection downtown.

h) Wide overhead shot of a city street, Marcus walks down it as a long shadow is cast in front of him.

MARCUS

Cassius is a local thug who moonlights as a fence, operating out of a pawn shop near the docks. He’s not a major crime lord, but he has enough influence in the city that the watch leave him alone.

i) Wide shot of the front of a building, Marcus moves toward the door, above the door there is a wooden sign hanging.

MARCUS

They aren’t going to bother arresting someone who can just buy his way out of prison. The gem’s worth more than he’s giving me for it,

j) Tight shot of the sign from the side, the word "PAWN" is written on it.

MARCUS

but times are tough and my options are limited, so I’ll take what I can get.

II, ii

The interior of Cassius’s shop is dark and musty, two lamps hang overhead casting muted light into the small wooden building. The main room is a rectangle that has the entrance and a side door on one end, and a counter at the other. Behind the counter sits Cassius, a portly man that looks somewhat like a pig. His unibrow is thick and dark, and his face shines as if it had been greased. He wears a constant grin that most people would find off-putting. He is bald except for a small amount of greasy hair on both sides of his head. His voice is rough and slightly grating, but greasy. He is a scoundrel and a lowlife, who has probably already turned his own grandmother in to the city watch for a reward. He is drinking rum directly from the bottle, and has an empty glass in front of him.

Wide shot of the door from the interior of the shop. The door opens revealing Marcus’s silhouette in the door way, he walks in.

Tight shot of Cassius putting down a bottle of rum on the counter.

CASSIUS

Marcus! Always a pleasure.

Wide front shot of the counter with Cassius sitting behind it in a wooden chair. Marcus walks up to the counter. Cassius wipes off his mouth with his grotesquely hairy arm.

MARCUS

I’m not here for compliments, Cassius.

Tight shot of Cassius’s face, looking at Marcus. In the foreground he pours some of the rum into the glass.

CASSIUS

Of course not…

Medium side shot, Cassius pushes the glass over to Marcus, who is standing on the other side of the counter.

CASSIUS

Here, have a drink.

Tight front shot of Marcus at counter-level, he pushes the glass aside.

Tight shot of Cassius’s face. He is looking at Marcus.

CASSIUS

Business as usual, eh? You have it?

Tight slightly angled shot of the table, Marcus places the gem down on it.

Tight shot of Cassius’s eye, in the reflection in it we see his hand come up holding the gem. His eye grows captivated and conniving in appearance as he brings the gem up.

CASSIUS

Well ain’t this beautiful? It’s a shame really, that it’s going to be cut up into so many very small very… profitable pieces.

Medium front shot of Cassius’s face, he is holding the gem in front of it, he looks up from it at Marcus.

CASSIUS

Wouldn’t you say?

Tight side shot of Marcus’s head.

MARCUS

You got your rock, now where’s my payment?

Medium front shot of Cassius’s face, he lowers the gem out of frame

CASSIUS

Well Marcus, I’m afraid there’s a problem.

Tight shot of Marcus’s eyes, his brow gets tighter as he becomes suspicious.

Extremely tight side shot of Cassius’s mouth.

CASSIUS

It has recently come to my attention that you’re worth much more than just this simple gem.

Tight side shot of Marcus’s mouth.

MARCUS

(perturbed)

What are you talking about?

Medium head and shoulders front shot of Cassius, he is looking at Marcus with a sneer on his face.

CASSIUS

It seems that the city watch have put a very high price on your head.

Wide front shot of marcus, two shady figures come up and stand behind him to either side

He thinks that he has Marcus right where he wants him, and is gloating through sarcasm.

CASSIUS

A price high enough to make me want to

Tight shot of Marcus’s eyes, they look to the left and the right, noticing the thugs behind him.

CASSIUS

become an upstanding citizen.

Tight shot of Marcus’s left hand, it tightens into a fist.

Marcus is raging on the inside, and at this point would like nothing better than to gut the backstabber in front of him, but can’t move against him for fear of the thugs behind him getting to him before he could make his escape.

MARCUS

Imagine that…

Tight side shot of Cassius’s mouth, his lips are pulled back in a wicked smile.

CASSIUS

Of course this is purely professional, you understand. No hard feelings?

Tight front shot of Marcus’s right hand, he pulls a flash bomb out from underneath his cloak, but keeps it hidden from Cassius and the thug’s view.

MARCUS

Of course not…

Head and shoulders front shot of Cassius

CASSIUS

Now then, if you would just go with me to the nearest watch house we can get this ‘business’ settled.

MARCUS

I’m not going to prison, Cassius

(When he says Cassius, he spits the name out, as if it were filthy)

Wide shot of Cassius on the far side of the table with Marcus’ head and shoulder in the foreground

CASSIUS

No? Well the bounty is "dead or alive."

Tight head shot of Marcus

CASSIUS

So I guess we both can get what we want.

MARCUS

I don’t think you heard me

Tight head shot of Cassius, focused on his eyes, which are looking at Marcus narrowly.

CASSIUS

(slightly angry and annoyed)

I don’t think you’ve got a choice.

Tight shot of Marcus’ hand. He presses in the switch on the flashbomb. The flashbomb starts whistling as the chemicals in it start mixing.

MARCUS

I’ve got plenty of choices

Head shot of Marcus

MARCUS

And none of them are yours.

Wide shot of the room, marcus quickly stands up and throws the flashbomb down. The screen quickly goes white from the light.

CASSIUS

Aaaah!

As the screen is white, we hear two quick swings of a blackjack and the sounds of two bodies hitting the floor.

The screen fades down to a tight side shot of Cassius holding his hands over his eyes.

CASSIUS

You taffer! You could have gone the easy way!

Tight side shot of the front door of Cassius’s shot, marcus runs out of the shop into the street.

CASSIUS

I’m going to hunt you down and personally hand over your head to the watch!

Wide tilt-angled shot of a city street, Marcus runs down it away from the camera.

CASSIUS

You hear me!? You’re a dead man!

III, i

Exterior, night

Marcus is quickly heading through the city streets to his apartment, but is being careful not to be seen. Marcus is speaking in a voiceover again.

Black screen

MARCUS

I should have killed Cassius when I had the chance.

Fade up to a slow zooming medium shot of a poster on a wall, it is a wanted poster with a rough sketch of Marcus on it. Marcus’s dark silhouette speeds past it.

MARCUS

Now I not only have to worry about having the city watch after me, but his network of thugs as well.

Medium shot of marcus sidling along an alley wall with a corner facing the screen. He is sidling slowly, because around the corner there is a street light, and someone might be there.

MARCUS

He’s bound to have sent men out looking for me, and he’s going to have what few fences that are left in the city keeping an eye out for me as well.

Wide shot of the street at the end of the alley. There is an electric overhanging light at the corner of the street. Almost underneath it, facing away from the camera, is a city guard. There are moths flying around the light. Marcus speeds past the shot going from the right to the left.

MARCUS

I don’t really fancy the idea of spending an eternity in a dark cell,

Tight side shot of the guards face, he turns his eye toward the camera.

MARCUS

or a quick drop and a short stop at the end of a noose.

GUARD3

Hmm?

Wide shot of the street from a similar direction to the previous shot, except the wall of the alley opposite the one Marcus ran from is in the foreground. Marcus is standing there against the wall, waiting to see if the guard saw him or not.

The guard shakes his head and shrugs his shoulders, and Marcus slips away.

GUARD3

Nothing.

Wide perspective shot of an alley, it is dark and dirty, steam is escaping from a vent on the ground. Marcus is approaching the camera from a distance. At a point he stops walking and turns to the building to his right.

MARCUS

If I can make it to my apartment and grab my things before Cassius’s men get there, I should be able to get out of the city before they know I’m gone.

Tight head and shoulders shot of him, he looks around to make sure no one followed him. He reaches out for a ladder set against the wall, off screen.

MARCUS

I wasn’t ever planning on skipping town, but the alternative isn’t exactly… appealing.

Tight side shot of the ladder, his hand grabs onto it and he starts climbing it.

MARCUS

I don’t dare go through the front door, I’ll have to get into the building via other means.

Wide overhead perspective shot looking down on Marcus climbing the ladder up the wall. The alley lies far below him.

Medium shot of a skylight in the roof, we hear Marcus get off the ladder and climb onto the roof. He approaches the skylight, and comes onto the screen, facing away from the camera, from the bottom of the screen.

III, ii

Interior, night

Marcus’s apartment is dark, with only the moonlight streaming in through the skylight and the windows providing illumination. The skylight is casting down a pool of light onto the floor.

Wide shot of the room, the window is on the far wall and the pool of light from the skylight is in the center of the frame. We hear the skylight open and Marcus drops down into the pool of light.

Medium head and shoulders shot of marcus, he looks around at the room.

MARCUS

(voiceover)

Looks like I got lucky, there’s no one here.

Marcus moves off to the right of the screen.

Tight shot of a table-top, there is an electric lamp sitting on top of it. The lamp looks like a descendant of oil lamps, it has a tall glass top fitted over an metal base. Marcus’s hand reaches out and turns a knob on it’s base. The lamp brightens up slightly.

Medium low shot from the floor looking up at marcus standing over the table. He is on the right of the frame and the table to the left. There is something at the bottom of the screen on the floor, slightly in front of the camera. He turns away from the table and sees what is lying on the floor. He steps back startled.

MARCUS

Huh!

Tight shot of a corpse’s face, lying on it’s side on the floor. There are scratches on it’s face and blood coming from it’s nose and mouth. It is still moist.

MARCUS

What the hell?

Wide side shot, marcus leans down to get a good look at the body.

Same shot of the corpse as before.

MARCUS

This is one of Cassius’s men…

Tight shot of Marcus’s eyes, his brows furrow, his eyes look around the room.

MARCUS

But who killed him…?

Wide shot of Marcus knelt before the corpse, he looks around the room, he pulls a knife out from the sheath around his waist, and holds it at the ready.

(knock at door)