End of Summer Screenplay

by Saddletank

One Year on from the end of Whisper of the Heart. A Sequel. This is the version in a [Screenplay or Script] style. The alternative is the [Novel]. BTW, the [Novel] is much better and has more content so read that!

7. Chapter Six: JL417

Chapter Six – JL417

Outside view. Looking forwards from just behind a white and red Japan Airlines Boeing 747 which is parked on the hard standing at the departure gates. The departure building in the background. A mobile umbilical type boarding bridge on wheels is connected just behind the left side of the flight deck, its grey concertina walls are thrown into sharp relief by lines of shadow and light from the mid-day sun. This shot is drawn with a telephoto lens effect so the aircrafts body appears foreshortened. On the concrete below a tractor rumbles away with a string of empty wire baggage cages on wheels. The driver appears tiny and we get a strong impression of the vast size of the plane, it's like an apartment block with wings.

Cut to:

Close up of the plane's side. A worker in blue overalls and bright yellow plastic safety vest pushes the cargo door closed and there is a loud thunk and click as the heavy pressure clips snap home.

Cut to:

The flight deck. Looking forward from the entryway toward the windshield. The pilot, co-pilot and flight engineer run through their last pre-flight checks, touching switches, examining dials, verbally acknowledging the status of things.

Cut to:

A view just inside the cabin looking out the open door to the boarding bridge. Passengers are coming aboard. A sharp dressed pretty JAL stewardess is welcoming people on and pointing out seat locations.

Cut to:

A view of the main cabin interior. There are three seats, then an aisle, then four seats in the centre, another aisle and finally three more seats. Rows of seats stretch back for what seems like hundreds of feet. The plane is huge. This shot is like a time lapse view. At first the cabin is empty, then a few people fade into position in some seats while others work their way slowly down the aisles looking for their seat numbers. Another fade and now more seats are occupied. Fade again, the cabin is almost full, people are stuffing hand luggage into overhead lockers. Cabin crew fuss about, sorting out confused passengers.

Cut to:

Seiji and Shizuku moving down an aisle. Seiji, leading, stops.

Seiji: "Here."

He reaches up, opens the overhead locker and slings a rucksack in. He drops down into a seat. Shizuku reaches the row and lifts her pink bag up. Its shoulder strap catches on a seat back but she doesn't realize. She tries to push the bag up into the storage bin and can't work out why it won't go. She mumbles in frustration.

Cut to:

A close up of Seiji's face. He looks at Shizuku and because she has raised her arms, her shirt has pulled up and away from the waistband of her skirt. Two inches of smooth honey coloured skin are a foot from Seiji's nose. Being a normal fifteen year old boy he cannot help but stare. He comes quickly to his senses, his face goes pink and he jumps up.

Seiji: "I'll do it."
Shizuku: "It's caught on something."
Seiji: "I got it. There. That's it. No, no, to me a bit. There."

The bag slides in. Shizuku lowers her arms and looks at him. His face is still pink.

Shizuku: "You OK?"
Seiji: "Sure. Warm in here, huh?"
Shizuku: "No. The air conditioning is on. I'm freezing."
Seiji: "Ah, well. You want the window seat?"
Shizuku: "Can I? Thanks!"

She slides in and sits, Seiji sits next to her. He grins like an idiot.

Cut to:

A close up of a bright yellow steel tug – a low bodied tractor with large wheels and powerful engine. A man sits in its driving cabin. It's moving slowly across shot from right to left, propelling a long round yellow steel bar with one axle at the far end.

Cut to:

A close up of the 747's nose wheels. They fill the picture. The end of the yellow wheeled bar creeps into view from the right on its two large soft tyres and the coupling at the end engages with a lug on the undercarriage arm between the two nose wheels. A ground crewman comes into shot from the left, drops in a steel pin and makes an OK gesture to an unseen colleague. He steps back. The shot zooms out and we see that while the driver of the tug is small compared to its large squat body, the tug itself is dwarfed by the massive bulk of the 747 above it.

Groundcrewman: "Clear to go!" He makes a rotating, 'wind her up' gesture with his forearm.

Cut to:

The side of the planes fuselage. The umbilical boarding bridge withdraws and the stewardess can be seen closing and locking the cabin door.

Cut to:

The nose wheels with the tugs arm attached. Slowly the wheels turn. A motor roars and the tug propels the 747 backwards out onto the taxiway.

Cut to:

The cabin. Shizuku and Seiji close up. Shizuku looks out the oval window.

Shizuku: "Ooo, we're moving."
Seiji (excited too): "Oh, yeah, here we go."

Cut to:

Outside. Another telephoto shot looking at the nose of the 747 from a distance. It moves slowly back. We can just see the flight crew in the cockpit, they appear the size of ants. The rear of the tug comes into view and halts. The big plane makes a gentle rocking as it stops. A ground crewman runs forward, frees the locking pin on the tug's towing bar and steps well back. With a cloud of diesel fumes the tug backs away and heads off at speed in reverse out of shot to the left.

Cut to:

The flight deck. The crew ready themselves for instructions from the tower. All air traffic control communications are conducted, by international agreement, in English.

Voice: "Narita tower to JL417."
Pilot: "This is JL417, go ahead Narita."
Voice: "JL417 you are clear to taxi to the south end of runway 34 left."
Pilot: "Clear to taxi to south end 34 left. Thank you, tower."
Voice: "JL417, hold on the taxiway at the end of 34 left, we have some Lufthansa traffic ahead of you."
Pilot: "Roger that tower, Lufthansa traffic in front of us."

Cut to:

A high altitude aerial view looking down onto the plane on the taxiway. It begins to roll and we can see another jet ahead of it also rolling down the taxiway and yet a third behind. There's a wide concrete apron to the left, the departure buildings to the right.

Cut to:

A view from near ground level looking at the end of the runway. There is grass to either side with some low signboards with random numerals on them indicating location and directional information to plane crews. In the background is an earth berm topped with a wire security fence. There is a treeline beyond the fence and beyond that the roofs of city buildings. Above the city the sky is summer blue and the white clouds beckon. Into shot from the right comes the white and red 747, first just its nose, then the cockpit, then the wings with the four large engines slung beneath. The nose wheel turns and the big plane swings heavily but smoothly around through ninety degrees until it faces us down the runway. It comes to a stop. The red JAL logo shows prominently on its tail fin.

Cut to:

Shizuku and Seiji.

Seiji: "Any minute now…"

Cut to:

The flight deck.

Voice: "Narita tower to JL417. You are cleared for take off."
Pilot: "JL417 to Narita. Thank you."

The pilot turns to his co-pilot who nods. The pilot places his right hand, palm open and forwards, on the four big throttle levers. The co-pilot places his open left hand over the pilot's right.

Pilot: "Let's go."

Both men push their hands forward.

Cut to:

Runway view. A low roar quickly climbs in volume. The big plane squats down momentarily pushing against the force of the wheel brakes. These are then released and the 747 starts to move.

Cut to:

Shizuku and Seiji. Shizuku looks to her right out the window. This shot has some rocking motion introduced to it to indicate the plane is moving. Even inside the pressurized cabin the engine roar is noticeable.

Shizuku: "Oh, my…"

Cut to:

A close up of Seiji's hand on his seat armrest. It's limp, relaxed. Shizuku's hand comes down on top of it, gripping tightly. Seiji turns his hand over palm upwards and Shizuku holds on tight to him, their fingers interlacing.

Shizuku: "Oh… my…oh – wow!"

The plane is accelerating hard now, we see both Shizuku's and Seiji's bodies pushed back into their seats by the G-force.

Shizuku: "Oh, this is amazing!"

Cut to:

Runway view. The 747 rolls by, accelerating. The engine roar reaches screaming pitch and the camera pans to follow it past. At the end of the shot we see the nose wheel lift and the body rotate up, sitting like a hungry dog on its hind legs.

Cut to:

A close up of two men's hands pressed against the four throttle levers. The whole shot shakes and rattles, behind the hands we see the cockpit dials, several of the needles are moving round clockwise and the tachometer is showing nearly 200 knots already.

Cut to:

Two hands held hard together. Shizuku's squeezing Seiji's.

Cut to:

Shizuku in profile looking out the window. Her chest is rising and falling rapidly, she's almost hyperventilating with excitement.

Cut to:

A view directly along the runway from behind the plane. The 747 is receding fast. Suddenly like a leaping animal it is airborne, the rear undercarriage breaks free from the concrete and the thrust of its engines and the speed of the airflow over its wing surfaces are finally strong enough to defeat gravity and it begins to fly. The storm of sound is almost unbearable now. At the rear of each engine nacelle there is a dull reddish glow and the engines and wings are distorted by waves of heat haze like a mirage in the desert. A slight cross wind hits the plane and it flies slightly crabwise. The nose tilts up even more and from our foreshortened viewpoint it appears to climb at an impossible angle.

Cut to:

Shizuku and Seiji. Shizuku is laughing with pure joy and excitement. She turns from looking out the window to look at Seiji. Her eyes are shining.

Cut to:

Seiji's face. He looks a bit nonplussed, puzzled at Shizuku's reaction.

Cut to:

View from the end of the runway again. The 747 is small now and climbing smoothly. We see the undercarriage fold up, a trail of aviation fuel smoke hangs in the air behind it. The roar of engines falls off. In the foreground the nose of another jet taxis into shot from the left, the nose wheel turning slowly. This is a red Singapore Airlines aircraft, it begins to swing round to face the runway. The JAL 747 is by now no more than a speck.

Cut to:

Shizuku and Seiji.

Seiji: "Uh… can I have my hand back now?"
Shizuku (starting with surprise): "Oh. Sorry."

She lets go of him. Seiji lifts his arm and rubs his wrist and palm.

Seiji: "Mmmm, that hurt."
Shizuku: "I'm sorry, it's just that…. I mean wow, wasn't that exciting? That was like being an astronaut in a rocket!"

She looks again out the window, leaning forward to see down.

Shizuku: "Hey! We're so high already! Look at those tiny cars! Oh, yeah, this is amazing!"

Seiji looks at her still mildly amused and puzzled.

Seiji: "You've not flown before have you?"
Shizuku: "No. Didn't I tell you?"
Seiji (smiling): "No you didn't. Heh, that explains a lot."
Shizuku: "Oh, this is just so cool. Look down there! A toy train!"

Seiji smiles at her, his eyes filled with love. He settles back in his seat, relaxes and enjoys the show of watching Shizuku having the time of her life.