Patriot :: essays research papers

THE PATRIOTFADE INEXT. THE SWAMPS OF SOUTH CAROLINA - NIGHTDark. Ominous. Kudzu hangs from the swamps maples. Adark and forbidding place. A shucks CRIES EERILY in thedarkness. Insects HUM ominously.SUPERIMPOSITIONFrench AND INDIAN WARA detachment of French soldiers with several wagons makesits way along a muddy street cut through the swamp. Thesoldiers are wary, scanning the underbrush, weapons ready.In the swamp, parallel to the road, SHADOWED FIGURES,hidden among the brush, silently track the Frenchsoldiers.As the lead wagon rolls oer a muddy puddle, straddlingit, a MUD-COVERED FIGURE, reaches up, grabs the wagonsundercarriage, pulls itself up and clings, unseen to theunderside of the wagon. The figure, obscured by the mud,barely looks human.As the other wagons roll everywhere other muddy depressions inthe road, three more mud-covered figures reach up, graband cling to the underside of other wagons.FORT CHARLESThe gates are opened. The relieved French soldiersquicken their pace and induce into the relative safety ofthe fort. In the fort yard the weary detachmentdisperses.UNDER THE LEAD WAGONThe first dark, mud-covered figure silently drops to theground and draws a distinctive cut from his belt asthe other figures drop from the other wagons.The figures crawl through the shadows toward the sentrieswho are closing the main gates. THEY SPRING... the leadfigure dashes forward, raises his TOMAHAWK and HACKS DOWNat a TERRIFIED FRENCH SENTRY...The other muddy figures join the attack... stifling thescreams of the French soldiers with VICIOUS KNIFESLASHES... gaining precious seconds...A FRENCH SOLDIER CRIES OUT... sounding the alarm... otherFRENCH SOLDIERS come running out of the darkness...The four muddy figures, make a stand at the gate, brutally violent death the French soldiers as they come, holding thegates open as...Dozens of other muddy figures race out of the surroundingswamp, tearing through the fort gates, connective theslaughter...The lead figure, HAC KS, again and again with histomahawk...Blood and flesh cover his arm as the vicious blade risesand falls amid the SCREAMS in the darkness...DISSOLVE TOEXT. SOUTH CAROLINA COUNTRYSIDE - twenty-four hoursBeautiful sunlight. AERIAL SHOT of a post rider gallopingalong a road through peaceful untamed woodlands. Soaringold-growth elms arch over riverside maples along theshores of the gently curving, deep-water Santee River.SUPERIMPOSITIONSOUTH CAROLINAApril, 1776The post rider rides along a raised swamp road. On eitherside of the road, gorgeous shafts of sunlight pierce thecanopy falling onto soft, swaying ferns that cover thehigh grounds. Hundreds of BIRDS SING. The water isclear, with fields of floating lily pads, each with astark white flower ascending from it.EXT. FRESH WATER PLANTATION - DAY