Module 1 Digital Story: "It's A Date"

It’s A Date

Digital Story Script

By Meghan D. Coates

[The Tinder profile of Alice Warner]

[The Tinder profile of Chad]

[Alice and Chad match on Tinder]

Text String:

Chad: hey cutie

Alice:  hey!

Chad:  lemme cut to the chase

im busy, youre busy, the whole worlds busy

the only way to know youre compatible is to meet irl, right?

so lets do that

Alice:  I’m free Friday?

Int. Restaurant, Evening

Alice

I like your dog.  He’s cute.

Chad

Oh, he’s not mine.  I hate dogs, they’re assholes.  He just got in my shot.

Alice

Oh.

Chad

It’s cool though.  I got a good kick in before the little shit that owned it got all up in my face.

Alice

(with dawning horror)

Oh.  Ummm….  What do you do for work?

Alice’s Conscience (Conscience)

What are you doing?  He kicks puppies!

Alice’s Dorsal Raphe Nucleus (DRN)

We are desperate!

Conscience

Not that desperate!

DRN

We have not said two words to another human in three weeks!  Do you want to die of loneliness, because I do not!

Chad

Oh, I work for an organization that councils at risk youth.

Alice

Oh!  That’s amazing.  Are you a counselor or administrative?

Chad

A little bit here, a little bit there.  Anything for the kids, right?

Alice

Absolutely.  I’m actually taking classes in child psychology right now.

Chad

Oh, you should totally come work for us, sometimes you can get the higher ups to pay for your education.

Alice

That would be amazing.

Conscience

See?  Not so bad after all.  He’s probably just cynophobic.

Alice

What kind of counseling do you do?

Chad

Well most of the year I help teach about the dangers of miscegenation--

Alice

What?

Chad

But my passion is really in the summer conversion camps.

Alice

Excuse me?

Chad

Yeah, it’s great.  You know they say electrocution therapy doesn’t work, but I’ve never had a kid leave camp a [expletive replaced with a beep].  Parents love me.

Conscience

You were saying?

[Alice shoves herself up from the table]

Alice

I have to go to the bathroom, I’ll be right back.

Chad

Alright, just don’t run off on me.  I know where you live.

[Chad winks and Alice starts sweating]

Alice

[Screams internally]

Int. Bathroom, Evening

[Alice paces, fearful]

Alice

What am I going to do?  I have no one to call, I--I could pretend I’m sick, but what he tries to, to take care of me?

Conscience

You could be honest with him.

Alice

Honesty is how women end up dead!

[Alice takes out her phone, takes a deep breath, and performs a Google search]

[She types:  how do i get out of a bad date?]

Hinder:  Need an escape hatch from a bad date, but have no friends to provide back up?  No problem! Just create a profile and post a complaint--users in your area will be notified, and the cavalry should arrive in no time!

Alice

Oh thank God.  Please Lord, please let someone be close by.

Ext. Street, Evening

[A couple walks down the street; their phones beep, and they check to find an alert on their Hinder accounts.]

Forum Post:

Racist homophobe knows where I live, please help! --Alice Warner

[The couple look at each other and grin]

Sam & Casey

Showtime!

Int. Restaurant, Evening

[Alice returns to her seat]  

Chad

You took a long time so I ordered you a salad.  Figured you’d want to keep that pretty body charged for later.

[Chad winks]

Alice

(strained)

How thoughtful.

Chad

Wouldn’t want you to get fat or anything either.  I know how women are when they order their own food.  You pretend to be all dignified but you’re all little piggies at heart.  Anyway, about the counseling--

[Casey and Sam enter]

Casey (O.S.)

Oh.  My. God.  Is that Alice Warner?  Sam, Sam it is!

[Casey wraps Alice in a big hug and Sam sits beside Chad]

Alice

Oh, I’m so glad to see you.  It’s been… months!

Sam

And who’s this sexy beast?

Chad

Excuse me?

Sam

What a hot tamale.  You keeping this one?

Casey

I’ve been meaning to get back to you, sweetie, about moving in.  Any day after tomorrow works for us, if that’s not too soon.

Alice

Oh, any time is good!

Chad

We’re trying to have a date here, you’re being super rude!

Sam

Mmm, that is too bad.  Alice, I’m so jealous. You get all the lookers.

Casey

I miss when I was one of them.

Sam

What’s your name, Mr. Hot Stuff?

[Sam touches Chad’s chest.  Chad freaks out, standing, shoving Sam off the table and knocking his chair over.]

Chad

What the hell!  Alice, you’re with these, these, abominations?

Alice

They’re my best friends.

Chad

Ugh!  And to think I was gonna screw you tonight!

[Chad storms off and Alice collapses]

Alice

Oh, thank God.

Sam

You alright honey?

Casey

We didn’t make you uncomfortable at all, did we?

Alice

No no no no no no no no, you two were amazing, I’m so relieved.  

[Alice gasps and looks up in alarmed realization]

Alice (cont.)

What if he comes back?  To my house? What if--?

[Sam and Casey get down on the floor with her]

Sam

Hey, hey, hey, it’s okay, we’ll stay with you for as long as you need.

Alice

No, you must have things to do.

Casey

Our night is wide open.  Our weekend, too. We’ll make sure if he comes back that he knows you’re with us.

Alice

Thank you.  I don’t know what I would have done without you, how can I ever repay you?

Sam

There’s no need for that.

Alice

No really, I mean it.

[Casey and Sam make eye contact and smile]

Casey

Wellll…. You did come out tonight for a date…

Sam

Seems a shame to waste all that time and energy.

Casey

If you’re interested, of course.

Alice

I…

[A long pause as Alice thinks, taken aback.  Then she smiles.]

Alice (cont.)

You know what, what the hell.  It’s my treat.

Sam

Only if you let us buy you drinks after.

Casey

And give you a lift home.

[Alice giggles]

Alice

It’s a date.

END

Questions

What inspired you to tell this story? Why is it important?
   

I was inspired by this pinterest post (https://www.pinterest.com/pin/668784613388749028/) of a tumblr post.  The idea of having a couple pop in and gay up the place to chase off a homophobe was amusing to me, and pretty much every woman who’s lived in a densely populated area (especially alone) knows what it’s like to have to constantly look over your shoulder, triple-check the locks on the windows and doors, etc, to make sure no one’s followed you home.  

Having creeps who think of you as less than equal to a human being know where you live is frightening.  Our heroine, a queer woman (as implied by her readiness to accept Casey as a potential romantic partner at the end of the story), stumbles unwittingly and invisibly into just such a situation.

It’s important in the same way the story about the couple who find a dead body under their hotel room mattress is important; it reminds us to be careful, because the world is a dangerous place, and informs the people who are unlikely to encounter this danger for themselves of the issue at hand.  Fortunately for our heroine, the cavalry arrived to save the day, but for a lot of invisibly marginalized people, no one even knows there’s danger until it’s too late.

• Who was your intended audience? What emotions did you intend to evoke (if any)?
  

My intended audience is young adults with a liberal mindset.  I intended to evoke disgust for the actions and stances of Chad, concern for Alice, a touch of humor throughout, and a certain warmth for the positive ending.  

• What was your creative process during the activity?


I spent two days brainstorming and searching through my pinterest Prompts board until I found something I could use.  I did some more brainstorming until I had a script, then immediately began work on the artwork, which I crafted largely while watching Game Grumps.   

• What programs, apps or websites did you choose for your story? Would you recommend them to other students?
    

I used the open-sourced art program Krita, which I highly recommend to anyone looking into learning to make digital art.  It’s a humongous step up from MS Paint, but doesn’t require much time or even instruction to figure out. The layout is easy to use, the layers are easily navigated, and there are a good number of brushes to choose and resize at will.

For the sound I used Audacity, an excellent program for audio recording and manipulation, another one that’s great for beginners.

Finally, to piece everything together, I used Windows Live Movie Maker for Window’s 7, a program no longer in circulation, but one which still holds my heartstrings, being the best beginner’s-level movie making software I know of.

• What did you find most challenging? What was the highlight of the experience for you?
    

The two most challenging parts of the process were coming up with the initial idea, and finding the time to actually sit down and finish the work.  It was a pretty ambitious project, and I had to set perfectionism aside and just worry about getting it done at all.

The highlight was probably the moment when the last piece fell into place, and all the stress about getting it done on time melted away, leaving me able to enjoy the fruit of my labor.

• What did you learn that will assist you in developing future digital stories?


In the future, I’ll make sure to sit down as soon as I’m given the assignment to hammer out an idea, and plan for something more simple so I can complicate matters if and when I have the time once the bare minimum is taken care of in all my classes.