Historical Story

NES

BY BRANDON CONOVER

AND KADEN WATSON

EXT. ARCADE - DAY

Establishing shot of the neighborhood arcade. Text on screen reads “February, 1986”.  Various video game sound effects can be heard in the distance.

INT. ARCADE – DAY

The arcade is crowded with nearly every machine occupied.  DANNY, a 12 year old boy, is getting Jujy Fruits (or some other candy) out of a vending machine at the back of the store.

Danny begins to weave his way back through the arcade, occasionally stopping at a machine and making a wise crack, calling the gamer by name.

DANNY

Hey Johnny! You’re supposed to avoid the ghosts not run into them... Brad’s about to beat your Galaga record... Richard, did I ever tell you that Q*Bert sucks?

Danny eventually returns to a group of 3 other kids, KEVIN, RICK, and COREY, watching a 4th, TAYLOR, play Donkey Kong.

COREY

Watch out for the flame.

TAYLOR

(eyes glued to the screen)

I’m not an idiot.

RICK

Why aren’t you going for the hammer??

DANNY

(pulling on Kevin’s shirt)

How far is he?

KEVIN

The score is in the same place it’s always at.

DANNY

Yeah but I can’t see over your fat head.

KEVIN

He’s not even close to my record.

COREY

(taunting)

Taylor’s doin’ pretty good isn’t he Kevin?

KEVIN

Anyone can jump over barrels Corey.  Except maybe you.

RICK

Danny, give me a Jujy Fruit.

DANNY

No.

Rick and Danny fuss in the background.

TAYLOR

Guys... quit it!

Rick rips the Jujy Fruits from Danny’s hand with a victorious laugh.  Danny falls backward into Taylor which causes the joystick to jolt forward and Mario dies.

Taylor sighs. He grabs the Jujy Fruits box out of Rick’s hands and throws them in Rick’s face who reacts nonchalantly.

RICK

(picking up the Jujy Fruits)

If that was your last life then that game was going nowhere.

EXT. ARCADE – EVENING

KEVIN

Ya’ know Taylor, you should probably stop trying to beat me or you’re gonna’ end up crying yourself to sleep every night instead of every other one.

TAYLOR

Mark my words Kevin Richards.  Your reign will end.

COREY

So Kevin... what’re you gonna’ get for your birthday that I can play with?

The kids’ nonsensical conversation continues and fades as they walk away, and a technology magazine cover is shown that is detailing the release of the Nintendo Entertainment System.

EXT. SCHOOLYARD – DAY

The five kids are playing tether ball at recess.  It looks cold and they’re all bundled up.

RICK

Alright, Corey I’m sick of hearing about your stupid collector’s Star Wars figurines.

COREY

If I keep them in good condition do you know how much they’ll be worth?

DANNY

75 cents?

They all laugh except Corey.

TAYLOR

What about you Kevin?

KEVIN

(grinning)

You guys wouldn’t believe me if I told you.

COREY

(completely serious)

An authentic lightsaber?? I didn’t know the crystals were even available to the public yet.

KEVIN

(irritated)

No. You guys will just have to come see after school.

INT. KEVIN’S HOUSE – DAY

The group is heading up some stairs with shag carpet.

KEVIN

Alright, you guys have to promise not to pee your pants.

DANNY

Get off your high horse Kevin. Unless you got a--- (gasp).

On the ground in Kevin’s room, connected to a TV is an NES.  There are two cartridges next to it, Duck Hunt and Super Mario Bros. Kevin looks satisfied at the group’s astonishment and envy.

RICK

How? I thought these were only going to be available on the East coast until next year.

KEVIN

My dad’s got some connections.

The boys marvel at the machine for a few moments.  They then begin to play the two games Kevin has and seem to have a lot of fun.

INT. KEVIN’S ROOM – EVENING

The boys are all watching Taylor play Super Mario Bros.  Kevin looks smug as Taylor isn’t anywhere near his record. Mario dies, and Taylor tosses the controller to the side.

KEVIN

Easy!

TAYLOR

You own the game and play it all the time, it’s not fair! When are we gonna’ go back to the arcade guys?

GROUP (general chatter)

What?  Why would we do that? We’ve got everything we need right here.

Outside the room KEVIN’S MOM is heard.

KEVIN’S MOM

Do you boys want some pudding cups?

RICK

Plus free food!

The boys excitedly run out except for Taylor who looks disappointed.

KEVIN

(As he exits the room)

Try Duck Hunt. You might be better at it.

Taylor angrily removes Super Mario Bros to put in Duck Hunt. He jiggles the stand the TV is on, causing a book to fall near the console with a big cloud of dust.

Taylor puts in Duck Hunt and it doesn’t work. He frantically resests the machine and the same thing happens. He then looks at the book, pulls the cartridge out, blows on it, and puts it back in. It works.

Taylor sighs with relief. He then gets a devious look on his face.  The boys come back in and begin to play.  They decide to switch back to Mario Bros and Taylor asks Rick if he’s ever read a book, holding a particularly dusty one out to him.

RICK

(hitting book)

Get that crap outta’ my face!

The book lands by the console and Taylor dusts it off near the cartridges. As Kevin puts in the game, it does not work to his dismay. He sets down the cartridge and controller, obviously put out.

 KEVIN

Looks like that’s it for today guys, sorry. My dad will fix it when he gets home.

Taylor grins to himself, pleased with his revenge. However, after looking around and seeing how sad his friends are, his smile fades, replaced by a guilty frown. He sighs in resignation.

TAYLOR

Maybe you should try blowing on the cartridge?

Kevin looks like he’s going to retort, but decides better of it.

KEVIN

Can’t hurt to try, I guess.

Kevin blows on the cartridge, and puts it back in the console. Everyone holds their breath as he pushes the power button. It works! They all cheer.

KEVIN

All right! Not bad, Taylor.

Taylor smiles briefly as the other boys crowd around while Rick starts a new game. Taylor wishes everyone a quiet goodbye, but they are all so absorbed in the game no one hears him or sees him leave.

INT. ARCADE - EVENING

Taylor is playing Donkey Kong alone in the arcade.  The only sounds to be heard are the sound effects of the game.  Taylor is focused, but doesn’t look all that happy.  Mario dies, and the words, NEW HI-SCORE flash across the screen.  Taylor looks ecstatic for a moment then looks around the empty arcade and sees that there is no one to share in his feat.  He solemnly walks away from the machine.

EXT. STREET - EVENING

Taylor walks alone down the street obviously depressed.  He passes by a store selling NES consoles, scowling at the NES display as he walks by until he sees a large poster hanging next to a display in the window that says DONKEY KONG COMING SOON ON THE NES with an image of Donkey Kong.

He passes the window, then runs back to the poster.  He stands in front of the window for a minute and looks down the street back at the arcade.  He smiles fondly and looks back at the window eagerly. With a nod and a grin, he continues to walk home.

THE END

Artists’ Statement:

            The reason we decided to go with a story set in the 80’s at the dawn of home consoles, was mostly because of the characters we knew we could create from that era.  Most people are at least aware of the gaming industry and some of its history (people would usually be able to tell you what an NES was if you showed them a picture), so it would be a known and recognizable point in time, while also giving us the freedom to create our own characters and story.  

            We wanted our characters to each have a distinct personality and to be established early in the story.  We wanted it to have a The Goonies or Super 8 feel, where the characters are all very real and their own people.  We wanted the audience to know and enjoy the group, while also believing that they really were a close-knit group of friends in 1986.  However, since neither us lived at this point in time, we had to draw on our knowledge of pop culture (i.e. 80’s movies) to attempt to create an authentic atmosphere to fit the era.  

We also drew upon knowledge we gained from people we know who did live in that era.  For instance, Kaden’s dad played the NES quite a bit as a kid.  It’s a family story where his dad was almost late to the MTC because he was trying to get to the last level of Punch Out beat Mike Tyson before we would leave for two years and not be able to play it.  Plus, Kaden’s grandma kept the NES all these years, and Kaden was able to play it as a kid at least a little bit, and thus had some first hand knowledge about the machine (i.e. blowing on the cartridges).  This however, did not contribute much to trying to get an authentic era-feel, and thus we turned back to that pop culture knowledge.

            In the very exposition, the comic medium used for After the Deluge instills an inherent nostalgic connection in young readers, especially young men. This is really effective as such readers automatically open themselves up to care and concern for the story, whereas most other means may come across as mundane regardless of the serious and tragic nature of the history. In a similar manner, the video game subject matter will connect with the same sort of demographic, using that connection to the home console culture to teach. In this case: the merits of finding hope in, and embracing, change.