Presentation
logline -
A small town kid with a fleeting ambition is tempted to make a change for the wrong reasons when his best friend Steph is accepted into a celebrated college.
Reap is a story about three friends who are all a few years out of high school. They still live in the same small town somewhere in Wisconsin. Reap is about selfishness. It's about a kid named Jay who forgets about what's most important to him in the face of getting what he wants. Jay takes his friendship with Steph for granted. He encounters, through his friend Eddie, an opportunity, a chance to finally make a change in his life and it clouds his judgement. He puts the most important person to him in danger. He created the circumstances that put Steph in harm's way and the only way to get her out of it is to take full blame for his actions and to fuck up the one thing he was trying to make better; his future. He has to reap what he sews, and in the process he loses his best friend.
CHARACTERS
all three characters are in their early twenties and are a couple years out of high school. They grew up in a small town and always thought about college and traveling but never did anything about it.
Jay-
Jay is thoughtful and intelligent, the kind of kid who under the right guidance could have risen to great potential but is usually more interested in the short cuts and taking the easy way out. If he could only realize what he was capable of, Jay would go far. He is very warm towards those he loves and is trusting perhaps to a fault.
Steph-
Steph was always the one looking towards some other time than the present. She carries around a weight with her, even when things seem good. She'll have ideas to go somewhere, to do something but never follow through, like a trip to Seattle or San Francisco on a whim. Time might have been better spent focusing on whats around her in the moment, but she can't stop searching for whatever it is that's missing, whether she knows it or not.
Eddie-
Eddie is always the one who pushes the boundaries. He's the guy who suggests jumping the fence and having a crazy story to tell later. The guy who you hate when you go too far but who you secretly thank when you realize a lot of your best stories are because Eddie was crazy enough to keep going.
SCENES
The Fire
-the film begins with Jay and Steph around a fire. They have chemistry, they're joking around and get into a conversation about where they want to go. Steph asks where Jay would go if he could choose. They discuss and agree that no matter what happens, they don't want to be stuck in the same town forever and promise each other to never let that happen.
The Parking Lot
-Jay and Eddie are hanging out late at night and find themselves alone in a parking lot. Eddie has the idea of punching each other in the gut as hard as they can, just to see how it feels. Jay is reluctant but they've both been drinking and he can't help but entertain the idea. They both take turns once and lie on the ground next to each other.
The Call
-Jay is alone in his house when Steph calls him in the phone. She's ecstatic. He is too, dying to know what's going on. She has a surprise for him. She got accepted into a great college. He's taken off guard, not knowing how to process it. He
The Idea
-Jay and Eddie are hanging out, they talk about Steph going off to college and about their fears of being left behind and directionless. Eddie has an idea. There's a certain corner store where he's been thinking about stealing money from. Eddie calls it their chance. Their opportunity to get out of this town. Yeah, it'd be bad, but they'd use it to help themselves and that would be it. They would never do it again and they'd use the money to go somewhere better and leave their boring lives behind. Maybe even go to the same city as Steph and get better jobs.
The Willow Tree
-
The Robbery
-They arrange a plan to rob the corner store. Eddie breaks in and he's the one who opens the cash register and takes the money. Jay just watches it happen while Eddie turns around and urges him to watch for people or cops.
-event the moves story forward to next scene-
The Field
-Eddie and Jay are out in a field, the sun is setting. Eddie can't hide the money in his house because his father would find it and abuse him, he knows that. But he can't tell Jay because of his upbringing. To be vulnerable in that way would be weak and he wouldn't know how to handle his emotions in front of Jay. So he's trying to get Jay to take the money. He won't. This is too much and is not what Jay agreed to. He never agreed to be the one to hide it. He assumed Eddie would. It was his idea. Eddie keeps urging him. He says he can't hide it in his house. Jay finally caves, but doesn't know where he's going to put it. Eddie doesn't care, just as long as it's not in his house. He has a terrible idea and knows that Jay won't go with it at first. He suggests hiding it somewhere in Steph's house. It's perfect. She's perfect. No one will ever expect it there. Jay gets furious and Eddie keeps him from running off. He says they're no good. They're not good people, but they need this chance to run off and start over, but he needs to hide the money in Steph's house. Just for a couple days. His reasoning speaks to Jay. He agrees. Whether Eddie is being truthful about anything is hard to say. His mind is more on his father. Getting away from him. He'd have said anything in order to get Jay to take it.
The Stash
-Jay sneaks into Steph's house and hides the money.
-event the moves story forward to next scene-
The Fight
-Jay is furious with Eddie and doesn't care about the money anymore. They get into a fight and it turns ugly. Jay tries to hurt him, and Eddie fights back and it goes too far. Eddie beats Jay into the dirt and runs off.
He's Gone
-Jay takes time to cool off and the next day goes to Eddie's house to find that he's not there. Whether his family moved away and Eddie never told him or Eddie himself ran away is not decided. There is a scene to display visually very clearly that Eddie is gone. He may have ran away out of fear or maybe it was his plan the whole time.
Jay Runs
-At this point, I'm wanting to establish that the cops are looking for the money and are getting closer to finding out what happened. Jay is at his lowest and most scared. The one who was leading this entire thing is gone and he left it all on Jay's shoulders. He is terrified, guilty, and overwhelmed, running into his car and driving off. We don't know where.
The Cops
-The cops (needing some explanation obviously) arrive at Steph's house. Her parents come and to find them with a search warrant and they are utterly confused. Steph see's the cops searching the house and has no idea what's going on.
The Driving
-We cut back to Jay driving. The frame is close to his face, we can't tell where he is or where he is going and he's extremely distraught. Cut back to Steph's house where the cops find the money and Steph and her parents are shocked. Steph knows about the plan and the cops can see that there is some recognition in her face. They take her outside.
The Exchange
-We cut back to Jay, we still can't tell where he is and he stops the car. He opens the door and we cut to the exterior of Steph's house. He's parked outside. Steph see's him and he stops. They exchange looks. She's devastated. She can never trust him again. He's just as devastated. He lost his best friend.
The Arrest
-The cops look at Jay, and we cut to a close up of his hands being cuffed behind his back. They're walking him to their car when the sound of the rest of Jay and Steph's conversation by the fire fades in. She's trying to get him to play a song he's been practicing on his ukulele. They playfully argue back and forth until he agrees to play it, warning her that it's only gonna be good if she already knows it's gonna suck. The scene fades in from his hands in cuffs. It's Jay on the uke. He sings this song, his voice is shaky and delicate but endearing. In it's own way, it's beautiful.
all three characters are in their early twenties and are a couple years out of high school. They grew up in a small town and always thought about college and traveling but never did anything about it.
Jay-
Jay is thoughtful and intelligent, the kind of kid who under the right guidance could have risen to great potential but is usually more interested in the short cuts and taking the easy way out. If he could only realize what he was capable of, Jay would go far. He is very warm towards those he loves and is trusting perhaps to a fault.
Steph-
Steph was always the one looking towards some other time than the present. She carries around a weight with her, even when things seem good. She'll have ideas to go somewhere, to do something but never follow through, like a trip to Seattle or San Francisco on a whim. Time might have been better spent focusing on whats around her in the moment, but she can't stop searching for whatever it is that's missing, whether she knows it or not.
Eddie-
Eddie is always the one who pushes the boundaries. He's the guy who suggests jumping the fence and having a crazy story to tell later. The guy who you hate when you go too far but who you secretly thank when you realize a lot of your best stories are because Eddie was crazy enough to keep going.
SCENES
The Fire
-the film begins with Jay and Steph around a fire. They have chemistry, they're joking around and get into a conversation about where they want to go. Steph asks where Jay would go if he could choose. They discuss and agree that no matter what happens, they don't want to be stuck in the same town forever and promise each other to never let that happen.
The Parking Lot
-Jay and Eddie are hanging out late at night and find themselves alone in a parking lot. Eddie has the idea of punching each other in the gut as hard as they can, just to see how it feels. Jay is reluctant but they've both been drinking and he can't help but entertain the idea. They both take turns once and lie on the ground next to each other.
The Call
-Jay is alone in his house when Steph calls him in the phone. She's ecstatic. He is too, dying to know what's going on. She has a surprise for him. She got accepted into a great college. He's taken off guard, not knowing how to process it. He
The Idea
-Jay and Eddie are hanging out, they talk about Steph going off to college and about their fears of being left behind and directionless. Eddie has an idea. There's a certain corner store where he's been thinking about stealing money from. Eddie calls it their chance. Their opportunity to get out of this town. Yeah, it'd be bad, but they'd use it to help themselves and that would be it. They would never do it again and they'd use the money to go somewhere better and leave their boring lives behind. Maybe even go to the same city as Steph and get better jobs.
The Willow Tree
-
The Robbery
-They arrange a plan to rob the corner store. Eddie breaks in and he's the one who opens the cash register and takes the money. Jay just watches it happen while Eddie turns around and urges him to watch for people or cops.
-event the moves story forward to next scene-
The Field
-Eddie and Jay are out in a field, the sun is setting. Eddie can't hide the money in his house because his father would find it and abuse him, he knows that. But he can't tell Jay because of his upbringing. To be vulnerable in that way would be weak and he wouldn't know how to handle his emotions in front of Jay. So he's trying to get Jay to take the money. He won't. This is too much and is not what Jay agreed to. He never agreed to be the one to hide it. He assumed Eddie would. It was his idea. Eddie keeps urging him. He says he can't hide it in his house. Jay finally caves, but doesn't know where he's going to put it. Eddie doesn't care, just as long as it's not in his house. He has a terrible idea and knows that Jay won't go with it at first. He suggests hiding it somewhere in Steph's house. It's perfect. She's perfect. No one will ever expect it there. Jay gets furious and Eddie keeps him from running off. He says they're no good. They're not good people, but they need this chance to run off and start over, but he needs to hide the money in Steph's house. Just for a couple days. His reasoning speaks to Jay. He agrees. Whether Eddie is being truthful about anything is hard to say. His mind is more on his father. Getting away from him. He'd have said anything in order to get Jay to take it.
The Stash
-Jay sneaks into Steph's house and hides the money.
-event the moves story forward to next scene-
The Fight
-Jay is furious with Eddie and doesn't care about the money anymore. They get into a fight and it turns ugly. Jay tries to hurt him, and Eddie fights back and it goes too far. Eddie beats Jay into the dirt and runs off.
He's Gone
-Jay takes time to cool off and the next day goes to Eddie's house to find that he's not there. Whether his family moved away and Eddie never told him or Eddie himself ran away is not decided. There is a scene to display visually very clearly that Eddie is gone. He may have ran away out of fear or maybe it was his plan the whole time.
Jay Runs
-At this point, I'm wanting to establish that the cops are looking for the money and are getting closer to finding out what happened. Jay is at his lowest and most scared. The one who was leading this entire thing is gone and he left it all on Jay's shoulders. He is terrified, guilty, and overwhelmed, running into his car and driving off. We don't know where.
The Cops
-The cops (needing some explanation obviously) arrive at Steph's house. Her parents come and to find them with a search warrant and they are utterly confused. Steph see's the cops searching the house and has no idea what's going on.
The Driving
-We cut back to Jay driving. The frame is close to his face, we can't tell where he is or where he is going and he's extremely distraught. Cut back to Steph's house where the cops find the money and Steph and her parents are shocked. Steph knows about the plan and the cops can see that there is some recognition in her face. They take her outside.
The Exchange
-We cut back to Jay, we still can't tell where he is and he stops the car. He opens the door and we cut to the exterior of Steph's house. He's parked outside. Steph see's him and he stops. They exchange looks. She's devastated. She can never trust him again. He's just as devastated. He lost his best friend.
The Arrest
-The cops look at Jay, and we cut to a close up of his hands being cuffed behind his back. They're walking him to their car when the sound of the rest of Jay and Steph's conversation by the fire fades in. She's trying to get him to play a song he's been practicing on his ukulele. They playfully argue back and forth until he agrees to play it, warning her that it's only gonna be good if she already knows it's gonna suck. The scene fades in from his hands in cuffs. It's Jay on the uke. He sings this song, his voice is shaky and delicate but endearing. In it's own way, it's beautiful.
Reap
Reap is a coming of age story about selfishness and
