He thinks about all the people at home who have helped him get here and how he doesn’t want to let them down. Grandpa with all his advice and law breaking; and Grandpa’s lady friends with their scones and lamingtons; and Mr Hickenlooper, who introduced him to paper planes in the first place; and Kevin with his matey support; and even his dad, who had the bright idea to have the garage sale. All of them put in a lot of effort for him to get here so he wants to do the best he can for them. And he wants to do the best for himself too. He wants to live up to his potential, and he knows the only way to do that is to find his winged keel, and the only way to do that is to put his thinking cap on and figure out what it is.
Now what is it?
He does not know.
The official speaks into his microphone once again. ‘The final begins now.’
The crowd cheers as the eight competitors, now dressed in ceremonial kimonos, the official costume of Japan, enter and take up positions at one end of the venue. Dylan and Jason lock eyes and regard each other coolly. Sure, they don’t like each other but Dylan still holds out his bandaged hand in a gesture of sportsmanship. ‘Good luck.’
Jason looks at his hand but doesn’t shake it. ‘I don’t need luck.’
Kimi hears him and shakes her head at how rude he is.
Jason sees it. ‘What?’
‘I hope you get a really bad paper cut.’
Zing. Dylan can’t help but smile at that. He looks at her. ‘Good luck, Kimi.’
‘You too, Dylan.’
Dylan turns and sees a large video screen that hangs at the back of the hall. The official points at the screen and speaks into his microphone. ‘Today’s competition is being watched across the world on the official web feed.’
The image on the video screen cuts from a classroom in South Korea to a classroom in Ghana to Dylan’s classroom back in Australia. Led by Hickenlooper, the kids all cheer then throw paper planes towards the camera. Kevin is front and centre, dancing in the sombrero. Grandpa is there with two lady friends. The room is decorated with a huge banner that reads:
GOOD LUCK, DYLAN!
Dylan smiles and waves at the screen as he searches for his father but can’t see him anywhere. It’s disappointing but not a surprise. It doesn’t hurt as much as he thought it would. He’s become used to his father letting him down.
The official places a beautifully wrapped ream of A4 paper on an antique table in front of the competitors and uses an ornamental sword to slice open the seal and reveal the paper. Each sheet is a different colour. Each competitor is handed a piece. Jason’s sheet is red, Kimi’s is blue and Dylan’s is green.
Dylan feels the paper. It has the weight and texture of quality, and the most beautiful aroma, like the incense his mother used to burn.
The official holds up the starter gun. ‘The rules remain the same. You each have ninety seconds to make your plane. Are you ready?’
The competitors nod in unison.
The official raises the starting pistol. ‘Three . . . two . . . one.’
Dylan takes a deep breath.
The official pulls the trigger.
Bang. The official starts the stopwatch as the kids make their planes. Dylan pushes through the pain in his wrist and folds his plane, thinking about everything he has learnt:
The sharp creases.
The tail.
The wing flaps.
The dimples.
He folds it quickly. It’s the best-looking plane he’s made since he sprained his wrist but still he hasn’t found his winged keel.
He looks across at Kimi. She makes her blue whale, presses dimples on to its wings in an exquisite, unique design. He then glances across at Jason as he makes his plane. Detailed folds, confident, stylish, almost arrogant, it looks like a snub-nosed fighter jet.
Dylan looks back at his plane. It seems so ordinary in comparison. He knows in his heart that it may be a good plane but it’s not a great one. It’s certainly not going to win, or fly in a beautiful or surprising way, the things Kimi believes are most important. What did she say again? The answer is in the natural world.
Her winged keel is the blue whale design. Is the natural world where Dylan can find his winged keel? It already helped him when he learnt about the wingspan of birds but he’d never found a way to use it on his plane–
Hold on.
It hits him. Just like that. The answer he’s been looking for. ‘Yes!’ He can’t believe it’s been staring him in the face all along and he’s only realised it now.
The official glances at his stopwatch then speaks into his microphone, ‘Forty-five seconds to go!’
Dylan ignores the pain in his wrist and re-folds his plane. Fast. It doesn’t resemble anything he’s made before. It’s a completely new design, and it is radical.
Nearby, Jason continues to build his plane and he’s cool as a cucumber – until he gets a paper cut. ‘Aaah!’
It clearly stings and he shoots Kimi a sharp look. She smiles to herself and continues to gently create the dimples on her plane’s wings.
The official starts the countdown. ‘Five . . . four–’ The crowd joins in. ‘–three . . . two . . . one! Stop!’ All the kids stop their folding. ‘Please, show us your planes!’
Each kid holds their plane aloft. And each one is unique. Kimi’s blue whale, Jason’s fighter jet and Dylan’s plane, which is the most striking of them all.
It is Clive.
With wide, bowed wings and a short fantail, it looks just like his favourite bacon-eating bird of prey.
The official walks along the line and takes in the eight paper planes. ‘They all look fantastic. Now please take your positions.’
The kids move back, past the start line and take their positions as a hush falls over the crowd. The official holds the starter pistol high. ‘Ready, set . . .’
Dylan’s heartbeat is the only thing he can hear.
Bang. The starter pistol fires and the sound echoes across the stadium.
Time slows.
The competitors run to the start line and throw their planes.
All except Dylan.
Jason’s plane explodes out of his hand like it’s a ballistic missile. It cuts across the room, high and hard. Kimi does the exact opposite. She performs an elegant forward flip, lands on her feet and uses her momentum to gracefully catapult her plane into the air. It glides gently across the room with less speed but more lift than Jason’s plane.
Dylan remains rooted to the spot as his mind drifts deep into the past, to that idyllic day when he was four years old, sitting with his mother under the apple tree as she taught him how to make and throw a paper plane.
With the plane held tightly in his little hand, Dylan stood up, ran forwards and launched it across the garden. It was a beautiful throw. But who was he throwing it to?
Then he remembers.
He was throwing it to his father, who ran towards him to catch it, a warm smile on his face.
Time speeds up.
That’s what he’ll do now. He’ll imagine he’s throwing it to his dad. Dylan pulls himself out of the memory and runs forwards, draws his plane back – and launches it straight up towards the ceiling.
The crowd gasps.
No one else launched their plane like that.
Just before it hits the ceiling the plane tilts into a wide, swooping arc. Like Clive.
The crowd watches, amazed. Kimi stares too, astonished. She turns to Dylan with a beaming smile. ‘It’s the most wonderful thing I’ve ever seen.’
Dylan hears this and his heart sings. He’s created something that is both beautiful and surprising to her, and couldn’t be happier.
On the other side of the venue Jason’s plane rockets through the air. It loses altitude but passes through the laser beam that denotes the world-record mark, then hits the polished floor at seventy-one metres. On the scoreboard video screen three words appear: New World Record!
Jason pumps a fist then thrusts his hands into the ai
r victoriously. But no one else is celebrating his victory. His eyes find Patrick, who politely applauds in the stand then points at something.
Jason turns to see Kimi’s plane gliding languidly across the room. Compared to the other planes it’s as slow as a very slow thing, but it stays aloft. It closes in on Jason’s plane at a leisurely pace, like a whale effortlessly gliding through water. It floats past the old world-record mark then gently drops to the ground in front of Jason’s plane.
The crowd goes bananas as the hometown girl takes the lead. On the scoreboard video screen three words appear again: New World Record!
Jason sees it and drops to his knees. ‘No!’ He buries his head in his hands, distraught.
Dylan cheers Kimi’s success then looks up at his own plane high above. It’s the only one still aloft. In fact, it’s stayed up much longer than Dylan expected. It picks up speed as its swooping arcs grow tighter and tighter. The crowd begins to clap in unison as they watch its extraordinary flight.
Jason pulls his head from his hands and looks up at it too. He slowly finds his feet, eyes locked on the green plane. He’s clearly impressed by what he sees and starts to clap too.
The crowd’s clapping becomes louder and louder as the plane circles around and around, faster and faster. Then it quickly loses altitude. For a moment it looks like it will return directly to Dylan, then it turns one last time – and continues its journey towards the world-record line.
It dips low, like a bird of prey on the hunt, skims the ground, then trades speed for altitude as it crosses thirty metres. It grabs more height, then slows, and slows again, eases to a stop, its nose aimed at the ceiling. The crowd watches it, enraptured, and the clapping abruptly stops. No one makes a sound.
On the video screen Mr Hickenlooper and the kids stare at it silently. Grandpa leans forwards, literally on the edge of his seat.
The plane hangs in the air – then the nose tips down and it dives once more, picks up more speed than it’s had before, races towards the ground, passes the fifty-metre mark, swoops low, almost touches the floor, then blasts towards the ceiling again, like it’s on a roller-coaster.
The plane slows, then slows some more, hovers above the sixty-metre mark, almost vertical this time, its nose pointed directly to the heavens.
Dylan watches it. It could fall backwards and tumble to the ground or it could fly on. He has no idea what will happen.
The plane hangs there for what seems like an aeon – then falls backwards. The disappointment cuts through Dylan like a knife.
Then the nose tips down and the plane dives for the floor once again, faster than ever before, swoops low and stays low, skims the ground, heads for seventy metres.
It blows past Jason’s plane, skitters it across the floor, sweeps past Kimi’s plane then banks into a right-hand turn. The tip of the wing brushes the ground and triggers the laser beam. On the scoreboard three words appear once more: New World Record!
The crowd goes nuts, the sound like a wall of white noise.
Stunned, Dylan can’t believe it. He did it! He found his winged keel and he won! And broke the world record! And created something beautiful and surprising.
So why does he feel hollow inside? He should be thrilled. He should be bouncing around the stadium, celebrating like a crazy person, but he isn’t because he wishes he’d been throwing the paper plane to his dad like that first time. He’d swap it all for that.
His plane circles around and flies back towards him. It quickly gains altitude. He realises it’s too high for him to catch as it soars overhead. Then it slows and loses altitude – and gently lands in the palm of an upturned hand.
Jack’s hand.
His dad is here! Dylan can’t believe it. ‘Dad?!’ He sprints to his father, who is clear-eyed, clean-shaven and smartly dressed. Dylan jumps into his arms and hugs him long and hard. And Jack hugs him back just as hard. Dylan’s good day just got better.
They part and Jack studies the plane in his hand. ‘It’s beautiful, mate.’
‘I found my winged keel.’
‘What was it?’
‘Clive. My bird of prey.’
Jack nods as he remembers the bird, then kneels and looks up at his boy. ‘I’m sorry for everything.’
Dylan nods. ‘I know.’
‘I promise I’ll do better. You’ll stick by me, yeah?’
‘For as long as it takes.’
His eyes wet with tears, Jack hugs his son again –and Dylan hugs him right back. This is what he wanted more than winning, more than the world record, more than anything.
‘We have our winners!’ The official’s voice reverberates across the venue. ‘In third place, Jason Jones!’ The crowd applauds politely as Jason runs over to the dais and climbs onto the third-place step.
The official continues speaking into the microphone, ‘And in second place, Kimi Muroyama!’ The crowd roars as she runs over to the dais and climbs onto the second-place step. She waves happily to the crowd. They have a lot of love for the hometown girl.
‘And in first place, Dylan Webber!’
The crowd goes off. Jack watches Dylan run to the dais and it’s clear he couldn’t be more proud.
On the screen the kids in Dylan’s class rise to their feet and cheer. Grandpa and Hickenlooper embrace, Kevin puts the sombrero back on and dances like no one is watching.
As Dylan is about to climb onto the top step, Jason stops him. Dylan waits for him to say something nasty – but instead Jason extends his hand and smiles warmly. ‘Congratulations. Your plane was fantastic.’
Surprised, Dylan shakes his hand. ‘Thanks, mate.’
Dylan climbs onto the top step and sees Patrick happily applauding in the crowd. Dylan can’t help but wonder if he thinks his son might have finally come good.
Dylan turns to Kimi and they exchange a smile. After this is done he’s going to let her know how much she helped him. First, by letting him know the answer could be found in the natural world, and then by making him realise that creating something beautiful and surprising could be a valuable thing.
The crowd’s applause swells one more time. Dylan takes Kimi’s and Jason’s hands in his and raises them high. He’ll never forget this moment.
He can’t wait to tell Clive about it.
Dylan is about to feed a juicy strip of bacon to Clive, his favourite bird of prey.
Dylan and his classmates show their excellent paper planes to Jethro, their student teacher.
Dylan makes one final adjustment to his paper plane before he lets it fly.
Dylan and his classmates chase his paper plane across the beige and dusty footy oval.
‘How do you know all this stuff?’ Dylan explains to his father how the folds of his paper plane need to be really sharp.
Dylan’s cheeky grandpa points at the ambulance he ‘borrowed’ from the nursing home.
Dylan and Kevin watch the rocket blast off. They have no idea it’s about to chase them across the yard. Run, boys, run!
Go, baby, go! Dylan’s and Jason’s planes swoop towards the qualifying line at the regional competition.
‘That’s what mates do.’ Kevin helps Dylan practise folding planes before the Australian Junior Paper Plane Championships in Sydney.
No, Jack doesn’t have Dylan in a headlock! He’s just very proud that his son made it to the junior championships.
Uh-oh. The paper plane Dylan thought he threw into Kimi’s room actually flew into Jason’s!
Over Skype, Dylan shows Kimi how Clive’s wings keep the bird in the air for so long.
Dylan hangs out with Kimi at the paper-making ceremony in Tokyo. There’s no use denying it, he has a bit of a crush on her.
Dylan and Kimi have a D & M at the hotel in Tokyo after he sprains his wrist – a ‘D & M’ is a ‘deep and meaningful conversation’ BTW.
Dylan tweaks his plane’s wings at the World Junior Paper Plane Championships in Tokyo.
Dylan’s paper plane soars across the arena du
ring the final.
Q & A WITH DIRECTOR ROBERT CONNOLLY
How long ago did you have the idea for Paper Planes ?
I started thinking about the idea for the movie four years ago. I remember talking to my best friend, Steve Worland, about the fact that our daughters had not seen many Australian family movies. They watched lots of great Pixar and Disney and Dreamworks movies, which were all made in America, but not many Australian ones.
So we thought it would be cool to make one that would show them young Australian heroes on the big screen.
So how long did it take to write the Paper Planes script?
I worked on the script for several years between other projects then Steve helped out and it really picked up momentum. We had some input from script editor Chris Noonan who wrote and directed a wonderful film called Babe. What took the most time was raising the money to shoot the movie. That took about three years – that’s how long it takes to convince people to let you make a film! I started getting worried that my kids would be grown-ups before I made it.
How long did the movie take to make?
We had five weeks to shoot Paper Planes, which isn’t a lot of time. You have to work fast and know exactly what you want to film before you turn up on the set, otherwise you’ll waste time working it out when you should be shooting. The problem was sometimes I turned up on set and needed to rethink how to make it because things weren’t as I expected. It helps to have a script with a story and dialogue everyone is happy with before the shoot, although it was fun to have the actors play around with it and help me out.
Where did you film the movie?
We shot most of it in Perth, Western Australia and also some parts in Tokyo, Japan. The house we filmed in was ten minutes from where Sam Worthington, Dylan’s dad in the movie, grew up. The scenes with Clive the bird were filmed at Whiteman Park outside of Perth. If you ever get a chance to visit there, it has an incredible nature reserve and a ‘birds of prey’ display.
Paper Planes Page 10