Dream over the Sand (O Sono Sobre a Areia): Screenplay Excerpt
Translated from Portuguese. Pages 17–18 of Cine-Clube. The publication gives the project’s later title, Onde a Terra Acaba (Where the Earth Ends). English shot terminology has been standardized.
Screenplay Excerpt
Out of focus; slow focus; close-up — Gúpi’s hand, seen from the palm side between the fingers: the fingers are out of focus, while the distant view through them is in focus. Defocus.
Out of focus; focus; close-up — the hand fallen on the ground, seen from the back. The camera turns to show Gúpi’s feet resting against the trunk of a coconut palm. Defocus.
Out of focus; focus; close-up — Gúpi’s feet. The camera shows the crown of the coconut palm, descends again to his feet, and then shows his face. His hands are clasped behind his neck and he gazes thoughtfully upward.
Cut. Shot — Gúpi’s face in profile, filmed from ground level. The camera pans toward the beach and focuses on an incoming wave, then returns focus to Gúpi.
Dissolve. Long shot — Gúpi in the same position. The camera pans toward the sea; an approaching yacht appears. The camera pans back to Gúpi.
Cut. Shot — Gúpi hears the motor. The camera shows his legs as he removes them from the trunk, then his face as he sits up and looks out to sea. Gúpi begins to rise—the shot cuts in the middle of the movement.
Cut. Full shot — Gúpi completes the movement and looks toward the sea.
Cut. Long shot — the approaching yacht, from Gúpi’s point of view.
Cut. Long shot — the yacht passes, filmed over Gúpi’s back in the foreground. Gúpi runs off.
Cut. Shot — the camera pans with Gúpi as he runs to a rock near the beach. The shot cuts in the middle of the pan.
Cut. Shot — Gúpi stops beside the rock and watches the yacht.
Cut. Long shot — the yacht stops. A dinghy is lowered; a sailor descends, followed by a woman who hands him several suitcases.
Cut. Medium shot — Gúpi, surprised.
Cut. Long shot — the yacht; the woman climbs down into the dinghy.
Cut. Full shot (low camera; Gúpi’s point of view) — the dinghy approaches the shore and lands. The woman steps ashore; the sailor begins unloading the suitcases.
Cut. Medium shot — Gúpi behind the rock.
Cut. Extreme close-up — Gúpi, thoughtful.
Dissolve. Shot — the coconut palm and the place where Gúpi lay at the beginning of the film.
Dissolve. Close-up — Gúpi, thoughtful. He stirs the earth, finds a shell, and mechanically closes his hand around it.
Cut. Long shot — the sailor finishes unloading and returns to the dinghy. The woman looks around, picks up a small suitcase, and walks up the beach.
Cut. Medium shot — Gúpi hesitates a little longer, blows sand from the shell, tosses it thoughtfully in his palm, and finally rises. The shot cuts in the middle of the movement.
Cut. Medium shot (Gúpi from behind) — Gúpi completes the movement and walks toward the woman. She notices him and stops. Gúpi approaches—the shot cuts in the middle of the movement.
Cut. Medium shot — the woman and the approaching Gúpi enter the frame. Smiling, she looks at him:
—Will you carry these suitcases?
Gúpi looks at her in surprise. The camera shows the suitcases. Gúpi looks back at the woman and, awkwardly turning the shell in his fingers, replies:
—Are you staying?
The woman looks at him:
—It seems so. Why?
Gúpi answers with a slight smile:
—No reason. I just didn’t see anyone waiting for you!—then, in another tone:—I don’t know where you’re going to stay!
The woman, ironic but serious:
—No one is waiting for me! I’ll live over there, in the shade of that coconut palm…
She points. Gúpi looks in that direction, then turns his head back—the shot cuts in the middle of the turn.
Cut. Medium shot — Gúpi facing the camera. It tilts down and focuses on his hands turning the shell. The woman’s hand enters the frame. Gúpi releases the shell and stills his hands—the shot cuts in the middle of the woman’s movement as she takes the shell.
Cut. Full shot — Gúpi and the woman. She completes the movement, puts the suitcase down, and examines the shell:
—What a beautiful shell, isn’t it?
Gúpi replies:
—There are plenty here… If there’s one thing we don’t lack, it’s shells. See for yourself…
Gúpi goes to fetch the luggage.
Cut. Medium shot — the woman watches him leave. She looks again at the shell, turns it in her fingers, and accidentally drops it. The camera tilts down: the shell has fallen among many others. The woman’s hand enters the frame. She picks up another shell beside the one she dropped, holds it briefly, then puts it back to take another. The woman rises; the camera rises with her. She looks around.
Cut. Long shot — a slow pan matching what the woman sees; at the end, the camera finds Gúpi approaching with the luggage.
Cut. Shot — Gúpi approaches the woman with the luggage.
Out of focus; focus; full shot — Gúpi and the woman walk, Gúpi in front. The camera follows them with a slight pan. At one point he stops and looks toward the distant sea. The woman also stops and looks at him in puzzlement, then turns to look at the sea with him. The shot cuts in the middle of her movement.
Cut. Long shot — the distant sea.
Cut. Medium shot — the woman looks at Gúpi and resumes walking, passing in front of him. Gúpi follows. Dissolve.
Dissolve. Full shot — Gúpi is again in front, the woman behind. They approach a hut. She puts down her suitcase; Gúpi also sets down the luggage. The woman says:
—I’m thirsty. Do you have water?
Cut. Medium shot — Gúpi, bent over and still lowering the luggage, straightens. The camera pans with him into the hut, then continues to the woman, who looks around distractedly. It then moves toward the door: the young man comes out with a cup of water and offers it to her.
Cut. Medium shot — Gúpi gives the woman the cup; she drinks.
Cut. Extreme close-up — the woman’s throat and lips as she swallows; part of her face.
Cut. Medium shot — Gúpi watches her.
Cut. Full shot — Gúpi and the woman. She finishes drinking. Gúpi says:
—I’ll go for the rest of the luggage.
Gúpi leaves; the woman watches him go. She places the cup on a suitcase and sits in a travelling chair opened in front of the hut.
Cut. Medium shot — the woman in the chair. She removes her hat and leans her head against the canvas back. Suddenly she peers at something in front of her and speaks as if someone were standing there:
—Hey! You’re back?
The camera pans to Gúpi standing before her.
Cut. Medium shot — man and woman. Gúpi says:
—No, I just didn’t ask your name…
The woman looks at him, then lowers her eyes:
—I have no name here. You may call me whatever you like.
The shot cuts in the middle of the line.
Cut. Medium shot — the woman alone. She finishes the line and raises her eyes. The camera pans to Gúpi, who looks at her distrustfully, then returns to the woman. She says:
—Think of a name you like.
The shot cuts in the middle of the line.
Cut. Full shot — both of them. The woman finishes speaking; Gúpi continues to look at her in puzzlement. She says:
—Really, I’m not joking…
Cut. Medium shot — Gúpi alone. He smiles, finally moves, places a hand at the back of his neck in a habitual gesture, and says uncertainly:
—Eve!
The woman, softly:
—All right, you may call me that…
She encourages Gúpi with a smile.
Cut. Close-up — Gúpi also smiles faintly.
Cut. Medium shot — the woman smiles, leans her head against the back of the chair, then looks ahead. The camera pans; Gúpi is already walking away.
Cut. Close-up — the woman calls:
—Wait!
Cut. Long shot — the man stops and turns.
Cut. Medium shot — the woman:
—And what is your name?!
Cut. Full shot — the man answers loudly as he approaches:
—I have no name here. You may call me whatever you like!
Then more quietly, stopping some distance away. The camera pans to the thoughtful woman looking at him. She leans back in the chair. Defocus.