Montage
Sequenced Into Oblivion
by Luke Pohjala
EXT. TRIP HOME
FROM WORK - DAY
Jerry walks out of
the accounting firm he works at looking exhausted.
CUT TO: He sits in his car, rolls down the
windows, and turns on the radio that plays Tom
Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down”.
CUT TO: Jerry pulls on to the highway and becomes
more agitated when he sees bumper-to-bumper
traffic. CUT TO: Aerial shot of Jerry’s car
amongst the mass of cars. Cut to: Jerry gets off
at his exit. CUT TO Jerry pulls into his driveway.
CUT TO Jerry falls down onto his couch to relax
That was
strange. I just got home in what felt like less
than 30 seconds. I don’t even remember most
of the trip home. It kind of felt as if the drive
was edited down into a montage sequence from a
movie. Not that I’m complaining though. I
mean, who wants to sit through rush hour anyways?
INT. DOCTORS
OFFICE - DAY
Jerry looks
nervous as he sits in the waiting room,
surrounded by older men. “Your Body Is A
Wonderland” by John Mayer is playing. He is
called back into the doctor’s office. CUT T:
Jerry drops his pants and bends over the table.
Standing behind him, his doctor snaps on a latex
gloves and inserts his finger into Jerry’s
rectum. Both of their faces are grimacing. CUT TO:
Jerry pulls his pants up and zips up. He goes in
for a handshake to thank the doctor. The doctor
holds out his latex glove hand. Jerry pulls back
at the last second and they both have a good
laugh. CUT TO: Jerry walks down the hallway like
something is still up inside his rectum.
There it was
again! How great was that. A cringe-worthy moment
all boiled down into 30 seconds. It was still as
bad as you’d expect a prostate exam to be
but at least it didn’t last long.
EXT. JERRY’S
HOUSE - DAY
Jerry and his wife
set down a few buckets of paint. They are dressed
in old clothes. “Our House” by Crosby
Stills Nash & Young is playing. CUT TO: Jerry
playfully flings paint at his wife. She smiles
and flings more paint back at him. Both giggle as
they have a quick paint fight. CUT TO: Jerry up
on a latter, painting the second story of the
house. A bird lands on his head. He looks afraid
and doesn’t move. His wife points and laughs
at him. CUT TO: Multiple close ups of painting.
CUT TO: Jerry has his arm around his wife as they
admire their days worth of painting.
What a
wonderful moment. I’m definitely getting
used to this whole montage sequence thing. Simple
life events are flying right by me. No more
sitting through boring tedious tasks is fine by
me.
INT/EXT. LIFE
EVENTS OF JERRYS DAUGHTER - DAY
Jerry holds his
newborn girl in the hospital. His wife smiles at
him from hospital bed. “100 Years” by
Five for Fighting plays. CUT TO: Jerry and his
wife cheer their daughter as she takes her first
steps. CUT T: Jerry is pushing his daughter on a
bike and lets go. She looks nervous at first but
as she keeps riding she becomes ecstatic. Jerry
cheers her on from a distance. CUT TO: Jerry
comes out of supermarket holding a box of tampons.
He gets in the car and hand the box to his
daughter. She grabs the box and slouches down,
feeling embarrassed. CUT TO: Jerry kissing his
daughter through the window as he leaves her in
front of a dorm hall. He drives off and in the
rear-view mirror he sees his daughter talking to
a guy.
What the hell
just happened?! My only daughter grew up right
before my eyes. I can literally say it feels like
just yesterday I was changing her diapers. I don’t
want this anymore. It is a disease. I try to hold
on to a moment but it slips right through my
fingers. I can’t take anymore ironic songs
playing from god knows where. This is no way to
live. I need to put myself out of this misery.
INT. BASEMENT
STORAGE ROOM/HOSPITAL ROOM - NIGHT
Jerry ties a noose
around a plumbing pipe. He stands up on the chair,
putting his head into the noose. “How to
Save a Life” by the Fray plays. He kicks the
chair out from underneath. The pipe breaks, Jerry
falls and gets knocked unconscious. Feces pour
out of the pipe onto Jerry’s body. CUT TO:
Jerry wakes up in the hospital. All his relatives
are there with sympathetic smiles on their faces.
Balloons, flowers and get-well cards are
scattered about the room. CUT TO: Jerry, still in
the hospital bed, crying by himself. A nurse
pokes her head in. Jerry pretends to be asleep.
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