BIOLAB
Other drivers are returning from their avatar experiences.
The leader of the science group, Grace Augustine emerges from her link unit, and contrary to expectations of her character type, she demands a cigarette.
She is dressed in a green sweater. The mattress of her link unit is a soft green color. Norm provides a narration of Grace’s background as Sully wheels towards her. Grace tests Norm’s Na’vi language ability. He passes the test. But Grace bluntly rejects Sully. She does not need him but his brother who had trained for this mission.
[Conflict is established at the very first meeting between the protagonist and one of the supporting characters.]
Grace is outraged by Sully’s attitude and storms out to see the corporate chief, Parker Selfridge.
Dr. Max Patel tells Sully to use big words the next time he meets Grace.
RDA CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS
Parker Selfridge is introduced practicing his golf putting skills while surrounded by technicians who are actively working in a crowded room.
[This scene introduces the archetypical corporate executive who plays golf in his office instead of doing business.]
Grace stomps into the room. She kicks his putting cup aside, displaying her contempt for the character. “Oops,” she says. “I need a researcher, not some jarhead dropout.”
Exposition about Grace’s mission, “winning the hearts and minds of the natives,” is conveyed against a visual presentation of high-tech three-dimensional graphic cartography systems. They argue. Parker leads Grace into his office where he picks up a sample of the primary objective
of the antagonist forces, unobtanium, the rock that sells for $20 million a kilo. It’s the only reason they are on Pandora. Grace is told to find a diplomatic solution to the conflict.
AVATARS IN LAB
Two avatars, Norm’s and Sully’s, are lying in the lab. Norm has over 500 hours of link time, Sully has none. “Tell me you are joking,” says Grace. Sully lies down in his green mattress container. He refuses Grace’s attempt to help him lift his legs. “He was sick of doctors telling him what he couldn’t do.” The equipment initiates a consciousness link between Sully and his avatar. The linking process and consciousness transference is represented by a graphic image of Sully’s brain on a glass plate juxtaposed on the head of his avatar.
INCITING EVENT
Jake transmigrates his consciousness into his Na’vi Avatar. He is now in the land of Oz.
CLOSEUP OF SULLY’S FACE
Pale green light bathes Sully’s face, then there is wave field transformation, and Sully awakes inside the body of his avatar. He sees two medical technicians standing over him.
Then we see the blue face and yellow eyes of Sully’s avatar. Sully has successfully achieved consciousness transference with his avatar.
“How you feeling Jake?”
“Hey guys,” he replies.
“Welcome to your new body, Jake.” Jake sits up and wiggles his toes. This is an ecstatic experience for a cripple, and he over-reacts. Jake stands up, causes a commotion. He does not listen to the attendants and does not get back on the gurney. Jake runs out of the room.
OUTSIDE IN THE EXERCISE YARD
Jake runs through the exercise yard, pursued by Norm’s avatar. He is enjoying the fact that he can run again. Jake is free and happy in his new body. He is confronted by Grace in her avatar form. She throws him a fruit, which he eats.
[This scene creates danger and excitement for the audience.]
AVATAR BUNKHOUSE
The avatars spend the night in a secured bunkhouse. “Don’t play with that, you’ll go blind,” Grace says to Jake’s avatar as he looks at the hairs at the end of his long braid. This is the sexual organ that he will use to mate with other creatures on Pandora.
Jake closes his eyes then awakes in his human form in his container back in the Biolab.
PLANE HANGER
Trudy, a supporting character, introduces herself to Jake. She flies all the science sorties. Trudy tells Jake she needs him on a door gun. Jake accepts. Trudy leads Jake to Colonel Quaritch, who is bench pressing weights. Caged animal images: weightlifting in metal cages. Quaritch had pulled Sully’s military record. He recruits Sully to provide him with info, as he suits up in a metal warrior armored transport. If Sully gets Quaritch what he needs, Quaritch will get Sully’s legs back after the task is done. It’s a deal.
BIOLAB
The link is ready. Sully in transport link unit.
PANDORA
Trudy’s helicopter carrying human-avatars flies through Pandora airspace and lands in the jungle. They venture out into the underbrush. Sully leads with weapon drawn. Grace places a needle into a tree stem to trace the alien energy flow through the bio-network.
Jake walks off by himself. He walks into an area filled with peach-colored fauna. When he touches them, they quickly collapse to their roots, revealing a large alien beast at the edge of the clearing: a hammerhead titanothere. The beast moves threateningly towards Jake. “Don’t shoot, you’ll piss him off,” says Grace.
The beast charges at Jake, and with a display of alpha machismo, Jake charges back. They reach a standstill. The beast then turns and runs back to his herd because he sees a new creature, a thanator, behind Jake. The thanator roars, then jumps over Jake and approaches the herd. The herd forms a defensive pattern. The thanator then turns towards Jake. Grace tells him to run, which he does, with the thanator in pursuit. They race through the jungle. The thanator bites the pack on Jake’s back and shakes him in the air. Jake unbuckles the pack and falls to the ground. Jake runs to the edge of a cliff and jumps off into a waterfall. The thanator bites at him, but stays on the edge.
Jake pulls himself out of the water. He then makes a spear that he can use as a weapon. It is getting darker as the sounds of the jungle animals fill the air. Jake’s movements are being monitored by Neytiri, a female Na’vi. She takes out her bow and arrow, and prepares to shoot him, when a woodsprite, or atokirina, floats onto her arrow. She withdraws.
Trudy’s helicopter flies through the air in search of Jake. It is getting dark, and the helicopter has to return to base. It is ordered not to do night ops. “He won’t last till morning,” says Grace. The helicopter flies towards the setting sun.
Night in the forest. Jake uses tree sap to make a torch, which he lights. The light reveals that he is surrounded by a pack of wild dog-like creatures, viperwolves. They circle Jake for the attack then pile on him for the kill. Neytiri runs to the scene with bow drawn and begins to shoot the dogs attacking Jake. Her ferocious actions disperse the creatures. She picks up Jake’s flaming torch and throws it into the water. One wounded dog-creature lies on the ground. Neytiri takes out her knife and kills it, to put it out of its misery. Jake retrieves his torch from the water, but it is no longer needed because the fauna naturally illuminates the area.
Neytiri leaves and Jake follows her in an effort to tell her that he is thankful for what she has done to save his life. He grabs her arm to stop her, and she whacks him with her bow. “You don’t thank, don’t thank for this. This is sad, sad very only!” she says. Why save Jake? He has a strong heart, no fear, but ignorant, like a child, says Neytiri.
Jake follows her across tree limbs, asking her to teach him. She does not want him to go with her. She wants him to go back. Suddenly, wood sprites float down from the sky and land on Jake. They completely cover him. “Pure Spirits. Seeds of the Sacred Tree.” Jake holds his arms out and they completely cover him from waist up to his head. Then they all float away.
“What was that all about?” asks Jake. “Come,” says Neytiri. She leads him through the forest. Suddenly, a thrown rope encircles Jake’s legs and he falls to the ground. Na’vi warriors on horses, direhorses, encircle him. Neytiri shouts for them to be calm. Tsu’tey is their leader. “This is a matter for Tsahik,” says Neytiri. They ride to Hometree.
Neytiri leads Jake to her father, Eytukan. Neytiri’s mother
, Mo’at, the one who interprets the will of Eywa, approaches Jake, and sticks him to taste his blood. “What are you called,” she says in English. “Jake Sully.” “Why did you come to us?” “I came to learn,” says Jake. He is not a scientist, but a warrior of the Jarhead clan. “Learn well, Jake Sully, then we will see if your insanity can be cured.”
Jake follows Neytiri up the tree limbs to a night gathering of the tribe. Then she leads him to their separate hammocks in which they sleep. Jake closes his eyes.
[The end of act one: Jake achieves his first subgoal: get the trust of the Na’vi tribe so they will teach him their ways.]
BIOLAB
Jake awakes to Grace shining a light in his eyes. He is back in the Biolab. “Is the avatar safe,” asks Grace. “Yeah, Doc, and you are not going to believe where I am,” says Jake.
DINING HALL
Grace and Jake sit at a table surrounded by other tech members, and Grace tells the story about Jake in the jungle.
Their relationship has changed. They are now colleagues.
WAR ROOM
Jake meets with Colonel Quaritch. “Jarhead Clan? And it worked.”
“Sully, just find out what the blue monkeys want,” says Parker. He has the graphic cartography 3-D image display move until it is over Hometree. Parker shows his contempt for the Na’vi.
“Their damn village happens to be sitting on the richest unobtanium deposit within 200 clicks in any direction…Find me a carrot that will get them to move, otherwise it will have to be all stick,” says Parker. “You got three months,” says Quaritch.
[This is subgoal two: get the Na’vi to move. The first subgoal was to get the trust of the Na’vi. Now he must become a Na’vi.]
BIOLAB
Grace shows images of various Na’vi to Jake to test his naming skills. “Who’s Eywa?” asks Sully. “Eywa is their deity, their goddess, made up of all living things, everything they know,” says Norm. Sully transports into his avatar.
PANDORA RIVERSIDE
Neytiri with two Na’vi horses attempts to teach Jake how to ride. Sully jumps on the horses back. Neytiri instructs Jake to place his braid into the horse’s receptor. They have now bonded. “Feel her. Feel her heart beat,” says Neytiri. When the horse moves forward, Sully falls off. Tsu'tey rides up with other Na’vi and laughs at Sully covered with mud.
WAR ROOM
“You want to hit this thing, it will be complicated,” says Sully. Sully is giving them info on the internal structure of Hometree. Dr. Patel comes up the stairs and hears Sully talking to Quaritch about Hometree.
BIOLAB
Sully wheels into the room and sees the others gathering equipment. “Where are we going?” he asks. “Local link way up in the mountains that they can work from,” says Grace. Norm is excited. “The Hallelujah Mountains?” Then to Sully, “The legendary mountains of Pandora? Heard of them?” Norm is angry at being betrayed by Jake.
HELICOPTER FLIES THRU PANDORA MOUNTAINS
Instruments are going haywire because of magnetic disturbances. They are in the flux vortex. They fly into a fogbank and cannot see where they are going. Suddenly, they see floating masses of land in the sky nearby. The helicopter lands on a cliff overlooking the floating mountains.
LOCAL LINK BASE
Grace walks in and turns on the lights, as she smokes her cigarette. Sully sees photos of Grace with the Na’vi children that she had tried to educate. Voice over narration by Jake, saying that Grace knew he was talking to the colonel, but she needed him to get back in with the clan. Grace shows Jake his link; unit one.
HOMETREE
Jake and Neytiri run up branches and look down at the valley below. Suddenly, Neytiri’s flying dragon, her banshee, comes out of the branches. Once shahayla, the connection, is made, the Ikran will fly with only one hunter her whole life. Neytiri mounts her flying dragon. They fly off the branch on down into the valley sky.
VIDEO NOTEBOOK
Sully records into his video diary. “Location: Shack, and the days are starting to blur together.”
PANDORA FOREST
Neytiri is trying to teach Sully the language, which he is having difficulty learning. She also teaches him how to shoot the bow and arrow.
LOCAL LINK BASE
Norm also helps Jake learn the language.
PANDORA TREES
Jake and Neytiri run along branches. Running through the jungle, reading the trails through the waterholes, tracks and sounds. “She is always going on about the flow of energy, the spirits of animals.”
LOCAL LINK BASE
“Try to see the forest through her eyes,” says Grace to Jake.
PANDORA TREES
Jake runs after Neytiri along a tree top branch. She jumps off the branch and uses the branches to coordinate her fall to the ground. Jake jumps. He doesn’t navigate the fall as skillfully, but does fall to the ground safely, without bodily harm.
LOCAL LINK BASE
Jake returns to his human body.
PANDORA
Grace returns to the village for the first time since her school was closed down. She is greeted by the Na’vi children.
Jake and Neytiri explore the Na’vi jungle at night. They swim together in the blue-green lake.
LOCAL LINK BASE
Jake falls asleep by his video-recorder. Grace puts him to bed, displaying a “motherly” touch.
PANDORA
Jake and Neytiri practice his archery skills. Neytiri drinks from a purple flower. “I’m trying to understand this deep connection these people have to the forest. She talks about a network of energy that flows through all living things. She says that all energy is only borrowed and one day you have to give it back.” Neytiri places a white-spirit being on the body of a dead Na’vi lying in a ditch.
Sully shoots an animal with his bow then religiously stabs it to death as he says “I see you, brother, and thank you. Your spirit goes to Eywa.” Neytiri looks on approvingly. ‘Your body stays behind to become part of the people.” “You are ready,” says Neytiri.
PANDORA MOUNTAINSIDE –
HOME OF THE FLYING BANSHEES
Jake, Neytiri, Tsu'tey and other Na’vi warriors ride their horses up the mountainside. “You got to go where the banshees are,” narrates Sully. They climb up a floating rock segment, and then leap onto vines that connect them to the floating mountains. They run along long branches connecting the floating mountains.
By a waterfall they see the cliff of the flying banshees. Tsu'tey says, “Jake Sully will go first.” Neytiri glares at him. Jake walks along the slippery wet cliff edge to the rocks where all the flying banshees are resting.
“Now you choose,” says Neytiri. “How will I know if he chooses me?” asks Jake. “He will try to kill you,” says Neytiri. A few of the banshees fly away from Jake, except for one, who snarls at him. Jake snarls back. “Let’s dance.” “That moron’s going to die,” says Tsu'tey. Danger for Jake!
The banshee lunges at Jake, who jumps aside then quickly wraps his rope around the banshee’s neck, and rides on his back. “Make the bond” screams Neytiri. Jake tries, but is knocked off the banshee and almost falls off the cliff. Jake climbs up and jumps on the banshee. He completes the braiding bond. The dragons eye glows yellow as the bond of consciousness is completed. The dragon calms down. Jake unwraps the rope from his jaws. “First flight seals the bond,” says Neytiri. “You cannot wait.” She pushes Jake and the banshee towards the edge of the cliff.
‘Think fly,” says Neytiri. “Fly,” says Sully. His banshee leaps off the cliff with Jake on its back. They fly downward into the valley. Jake struggles to hang on. “Shut up and fly straight,” he shouts. His banshee calms down and flies straight. Together they float through the Pandora sky.
Neytiri jumps on her banshee and flies down to join Jake.
Together the Na’vi fly their banshees in unison.
[Jake’s dream of flying is fulfilled!]
THE TREE OF SOULS:
A GRAPHIC IMA
GE DISPLAYS ENERGY PATTERNS
“The Tree of Souls. It’s their most sacred place,” Grace tells Sully. “See this flux-vortex in the colored images. There is something really interesting going on in there …biologically. I would die to get samples. Outsiders are strictly forbidden!”
[Foreshadowing. Grace will die beneath the Tree of Souls.]
PANDORA SKY
Neytiri and Jake fly through the sky. “I was a stone cold aerial hunter,” says Jake. “Death from above. Only problem is, you are not the only one.” A shadow sweeps over him. Sully looks upward to see a huge orange-yellow dragon sweeping down towards him. “Dive,” he calls out to Neytiri. The orange-yellow dragon chases Neytiri and Jake. They fly through vines which ensnarl the large dragon.
CLOSEUP: SKULL OF THE ORANGE DRAGON
“It is Toruk, last shadow,” says Neytiri. “Yeah right, he last one you will ever see,” says Jake. “My grandfather’s grandfather was Toruk Makto, rider of last shadow. It has only happened five times since the time of the first souls. He brought the clans together in a time of great sorrow. All Na’vi people know his story,” says Neytiri.
Story Design Page 18