Out of Yellowstone, a screenplay, continued
EXT. VISITOR CENTER AT OLD FAITHFUL - DAY
A small sign in the window reads, "OLD FAITHFUL GEYSER, LAST
ERUPTION, 10:13 AM, NEXT ERUPTION, WITHIN 15 MINUTES OF -
UNKNOWN." A clock shows "3:25".
A YOUNG MARRIED COUPLE read the sign then stare at each other
in disbelief.
YOUNG MARRIED MAN
Unknown?
They look toward the inactive geyser.
EXT. OLD FAITHFUL - DAY
The famous geyser is inactive. A FEW PEOPLE mill around
looking at it.
INT. VISITOR CENTER - DAY
The VISITOR CENTER RANGER behind the information desk talks
to a thick mixed GROUP of people. He seems weary but
patient. The young couple go over to listen.
VISITOR CENTER RANGER
...it's too early to predict
whether it will erupt again. That
depends on what's happening with
the natural plumbing.
His audience, for the most part, acts quite interested but
somewhat numb.
VISITOR CENTER RANGER (continuing)
Earthquakes have caused geysers to
die, others to be born, and they
have changed the intervals between
Old Faithful's eruptions.
The Ranger shrugs, looking sympathetically at his audience.
MALE RANGER (continuing)
But this is the first times she's
ever missed...
EXT. ROCK OUTCROP NEAR SLOPING MEADOW - DAY
Two marmots on the rocks suddenly become alert.
EXT. SLOPING MEADOW - DAY
Steamy gasses begin to puff from a cavity at the base of a
large rock.
EXT. ROCK OUTCROP NEAR SLOPING MEADOW - DAY
The marmots stand on alert.
EXT. SLOPING MEADOW - DAY
Steamy gasses gently pour out of small natural vents.
EXT. ROCK OUTCROP NEAR SLOPING MEADOW - DAY
The marmots lay dead.
EXT. A SEISMOGRAPHIC STATION - DAY
We view a pile of rocks from which protrudes a high-precision
GPS antenna.
EXT. THE LAKE SEISMIC AND GPS OBSERVATORY - DAY
We see the transmission antennae and receiving dish.
INT. YELLOWSTONE VOLCANO OBSERVATORY, UTAH - DAY
SUPERIMPOSE "Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, University of
Utah, Salt Lake City".
The room houses rows of busy seismometers, computer monitors
with such things as Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar
(InSAR) maps and maps of recent earthquake epicenters in
Yellowstone, plus other seismographic stuff.
HUFF (55) and TWO STUDENT INTERNS excitedly examine a
seismograph laid out on the table. PHONE RINGS. A SCIENTIST
answers.
SCIENTIST
Hey Huff, it's McCoy.
Huff jovially picks up the phone.
HUFF
(into phone)
Hello Rob. How's things shaking up
there? Got yourself a nice
earthquake swarm.
INT. ROB MCCOY'S OFFICE - DAY
ROB MCCOY is on the phone. He's late 30's, average build,
good looking, wears jeans and is no nonsense.
The office has a neat pile of field equipment and two active
seismometers. The desktop computer shows a map or recent
epicenters. A laptop computer has a seismograph on the
screen.
ROB
(into phone)
Yeah, it's like the Elvis song -
Whole lot of shaking goin' on.
I've been looking at the data;
what's your take on it?
INT. YELLOWSTONE VOLCANO OBSERVATORY, UTAH - DAY
HUFF
(into phone)
Well the uplift phase you're in has
been accelerating. And if we're
interpreting right, there's been
some magma movement into the
reservoir.
INT. ROB MCCOY'S OFFICE - DAY
ROB
(into phone)
Any gut feelings?
EXT. WILDERNESS CAMPSITE BY LAKE - DAY
Six canoes are beached on the sandy shore of placid Shoshone
Lake.
Nearby in a wooded campsite, two two-man tents are set up.
Four others are partially pitched. TEN BOY SCOUTS, 12 - 14
years, and their TWO ADULT LEADERS set up camp.
A small rolling earthquake rattles the group.
BOY 1
Wow! The ground felt like it was
Jello.
BOY 2
Yeah, that was neat.
BOY 3, with the dramatic attribute of Count Dracula, takes
center stage.
BOY 3
I know what caused it.
BOY 4
It was an earthquake, you dodo.
Boy 3 tries to contort himself like a ghoul and sound like a
Halloween recording.
BOY 3
Nooooo. It's the Yellowstone
Monster coming up from his grave to
swallow us alive.
Many of the boys laugh nervously.
BOY 4
Yeah, and I'm Superman.
Most of the boys laugh.
The smallest boy, TOBY, stands back from the rest. His fear
from the quake is obvious. He fights back tears.
BOY 4
Hey, look at Toby.
BOY 5
What's the matter wittle Toby? You
scared? You want your mommy?
BOY 4
Yeah, Twerp...
Boy 1 points toward the lake.
BOY 1
Look!
As the boys look toward the water, they freeze in
astonishment. Out of the previously calm water, a wave rises
in height as it nears the shore. The four foot breaker
crashes down on the canoes and pulls them away from the
beach.
THREE OF THE BOYS (V.O.)
(not quite in unison)
The canoes!
The boys and the two men dash for the shore. The four boys
that are ahead flail into the lake to rescue the boats.
Their yelps and exclamations divulge the icy temperature.
BOY 4
Aaaa! It's cold!
BOY 5
It's freezing!
Toby's fear transforms into amusement.
A second wave, larger than the first, tumbles the boys and
canoes.
INT. HEADQUARTERS, MAMMOTH - DAY
The headquarter's reception area is empty. Seen through an
open door, Mike talks impatiently on the phone in his office.
A clock reads 6:15.
MIKE
(into phone)
...Okay. Well close it off.
(pause)
You go to the Shop, get a
barricade, get a sign...
Mike's voice fades to the background as WINONA LAMBERT and
Rob McCoy enter the reception area from another part of the
building.
Winona (25) is short, cute and buxom. Despite the uniform,
she looks like a dumb blond. Her voice doesn't help the
image.
She is cheerful. He is somber.
WINONA
Thanks Rob. You've been so
helpful.
Rob nods a distracted acknowledgement.
MIKE (O.S.)
You need a truck? In the shop
there's a board with keys. Get a
key to a truck...
Through the door panes Winona spots a TV news crew coming up
the walk.
WINONA
Oh good. They're here.
MIKE (O.S.)
(continuing under)
By the way, you don't call here.
You call your supervisor. Where's
your radio?
(pause)
It's dead? Try using your head.
Winona opens the door for reporter ANGELA GREYFEATHER and a
CAMERAMAN. Angela, late 20's, appears competent and
professional. Her features reflect her Native American
heritage.
Rob waits outside Mike's office. Mike hangs up the phone
tiredly shaking his head.
MIKE
Seasonals!
Mike walks to his doorway. Angela ignores Winona and heads
directly for Mike and Rob, whose gestures make it quite clear
that they do not want to be interviewed.
WINONA
(to Angela)
I'm Winona Lambert. You can come
with me.
The TV people follow Winona out the door and into the hall.
Anxious to leave, Mike tries to go around Rob.
MIKE
Excuse me.
Rob blocks his path.
ROB
Where can I find Rex?
MIKE
He's out of town.
Frowning, Rob motions with his head that they should talk in
Mike's office. As they go in, Rob closes the door.
INT. SMALL CONFERENCE ROOM - DAY
Winona talks with the news crew. Available are flip charts,
a pointer, recent seismograph recordings, and a computer with
a large monitor, and a TV screen hooked to a VCR/DVD player.
WINONA
During the last twenty-four hours,
there have been over two hundred
recorded tremors, with fourteen
earthquakes being larger than two
point five. The largest, so far,
has been four point five.
With a pointer, she indicates the epicenters that are marked
in red circles on the Yellowstone map on the monitor.
WINONA
All of them have originated in the
park and are volcanic in nature.
ANGELA
Volcanic? Does this mean that
there's a volcano in Yellowstone
National Park?
WINONA
The Yellowstone Plateau is a
volcano.
Winona cheerfully hands a booklet to the confused Angela.
The title is "The Yellowstone Volcano."
INT. MIKE'S OFFICE - DAY
Mike exasperatedly sits behind his desk trying to reason with
the scientist who leans coldly over the side of his desk,
too close for comfort.
MIKE
I just can't order them to close
the Inn. Do you know how far in
advance people make their
reservations? Do you know how much
the concessionaires would stand to
lose?
ROB
We're talking lives.
MIKE
Oh come on, there's been no damage.
Rex will be back tomorrow night.
If I start ordering stuff shut down
and nothing happens, it'll make me
look like a power monger.
ROB
Didn't you just close down
something on the phone.
MIKE
Just a trail.
ROB
Which one and why?
MIKE
Fairy Falls. Seems there's a break
in the trail.
Rob silently mouths an "ah" and raises his eyebrows.
ROB
A break?
MIKE
About three feet wide and just as
deep.
ROB
Just a three foot break.
On the Yellowstone wall map, Rob points first to Hayden
Valley and then to the east of Old Faithful.
ROB
The Sour Creek Dome rose two feet
overnight. This Mallard Lake Dome
rose half a foot. There's more
quakes coming, Mike.
MIKE
Enough to shake buildings down in
the next 24 hours?
ROB
The vulnerable things are the
fireplaces. They shake at a
different frequency than the rest
of the building. Those massive
fireplaces in the Old Faithful
Inn... it wouldn't take much more
to send 'em toppling.
MIKE
They've survived far worse stuff
than this.
Rob shoves some seismographs over toward Mike who only gives
them a glance. Exasperated, Rob picks up the end of the desk
a foot and a half and lets it drop.
MIKE
Hey, hey.
ROB
You know what that measured on the
Richter scale? Zero. But you were
at the epicenter.
One fourth of the epicenters have
been at that end of the park.
(beat)
Can you comprehend this?
MIKE
Okay. We'll call them up. You
talk them. Let them make the
decision.
ROB
Good.
INT. SMALL CONFERENCE ROOM - DAY
WINONA
This video tells all about it, but
you know, in a simple nutshell.
I've got the volume turned off so I
can explain it.
Winona clicks on video which is mostly simple animation. She
talks fast and is annoyingly bubbly. (Note that the video
does not show anything about an asteroid).
WINONA
There's this hot spot that appeared
like seventeen million years ago.
There's a bunch of theories on how
it got there. My favorite is that
a great big asteroid slammed into
the earth and made a deep, deep
scar and all this molten rock came
up. Well it doesn't matter how it
got here. But it's fixed in one
spot in the earth's mantle, and ...
You know all about continental
drift, right? Well, this hot spot
is like a big blow torch fixed in
one place. Well the continental
plate has been moving across this
hot spot at the rate of about two
inches a year. And you can see the
path it took on the map there. It
was just one gargantuan volcano
after another and another that blew
themselves apart. Well now this
hot spot is underneath Yellowstone
National Park. Which is why we
have geysers and hot springs and
stuff.
ANGELA
Excuse me, but could you turn the
sound on?
WINONA
Oh sure.
She clicks the remote and we hear the male NARRATOR.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
Three of the greatest explosive
eruptions in the earth's history
have occurred in the Yellowstone
area. Each eruption began when a
reservoir of molten rock called
magma formed beneath the earth's
surface.
WINONA
That reservoir is about twenty-five
by fifty miles across and only five
miles below the surface.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
As the molten rock continued to
accumulate, the earth above it
formed a dome.
WINONA
By the way, this is actually taking
place right now.
Angela raises her eyebrows.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
The pressure from below caused the
ring fractures around the base of
the dome.
WINONA
This may just be starting to
happen, with all these earthquakes.
INT. LOUNGE AT SIGNAL MOUNTAIN LODGE - NIGHT
The above video fills the screen of the large television in
the lounge. Winona's voice and the computer are on the
special news program.
Rex, Robin, the Washington big wigs, and some hotel guests
watch.
The Washington men are now dressed casually, most looking
like they stepped out of an Eddie Bauer catalog. Rex is in a
Western suit. Robin wears slacks and a sweater. George
isn't there.
NARRATOR (On TV, V.O.)
Some lava escaped from the ring
fractures, but the pressure
continued to build.
WINONA (On TV, V.O.)
You see it's not the way we
normally think of volcanos.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
Unlike the gently flowing lava in
the Hawaiian volcanos, most of the
hot rock here was full of trapped
steam and other gasses. This
caused the molten rock to blow
apart, blasting out hot ash...
WINONA (On TV, V.O.)
It's kind of like an egg in a
microwave.
ROBIN
Like an egg in a microwave?
REX
Shush.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
(continuing under)
Superheated gasses and ash sped out
at over two hundred miles an hour,
instantly destroying all life for
thousands of square miles.
ROBIN
You leave for a day and look who's
doing interviews.
THOMAS
Shhhh.
On the screen, an ash cloud spreads over a map of North
America.
WINONA
(on the TV, continuing)
Ash darkened the skies of the
northern hemisphere, chilling the
earth for years.
The Washington men stare curiously at the TV where Angela
Greyfeather, now on camera, holds up the "Yellowstone
Volcano" pamphlet.
ANGELA (ON THE TV)
That described volcano took place
about six hundred thousand years go
and was five hundred times more
powerful than the 1980 eruption of
Mount Saint Helens.
Robin gets up and stretches.
ANGELA
(on the TV, continuing)
Similar mega eruptions occurred in
Yellowstone six hundred thousand
ears before that, and eight hundred
thousand years before that.
Experts believe it will happen
gain.
WASHINGTON MAN #2
You know, that would ruin all this
planning.
Thomas shoots him a cold look, then laughs lightly.
ANGELA (ON TV)
Were that to occur, it would be the
worst natural disaster in recorded
history.
The anchorman speaks from his desk.
ANCHORMAN (ON TV)
It should be pointed out that
earthquakes are not unusual in
Yellowstone. No one is suggesting
or even implying that...
EXT. SIGNAL MOUNTAIN LODGE - NIGHT
The lights of the lodge glow in the night. An owl HOOTS.
MALE VOICE (V.O.)
Is this really true?
EXT. SIGNAL MOUNTAIN LODGE - MORNING
Across the lake, the morning sun illuminates the mountains.
INT. HALLWAY OUTSIDE CONFERENCE ROOM - DAY
Many of the group take their seats around the table in the
conference room. Rex and Robin are again in uniform. The
rest are casually dressed.
Robin pauses outside the door for blurry-eyed George.
ROBIN
Short night?
GEORGE
Had to speed sleep.
ROBIN
This is going to be a long day.
GEORGE
Uhm.
EXT. HEADQUARTERS, MAMMOTH - DAY
SEVERAL REPORTERS and CAMERA PERSONS scurry toward the door.
INT. HEADQUARTERS RECEPTION AREA - DAY
About a dozen MORE REPORTERS from various news agencies storm
the reception area.
The pesky reporters fluster the SECRETARY, a mature woman in
uniform.
SECRETARY
I've told you. An official
statement will be released at one
thirty.
AD LIB, reporters throw out questions simultaneously.
REPORTER #1
There's a volcanologist here,
where...
REPORTER #2
How soon do they predict...
The secretary stands helplessly, barely able to speak.
SECRETARY
All I can say is that there will be
an official statement...
TWO large PARK POLICEMEN bulk their way through from the
outside.
POLICEMAN #1
All right, everybody out.
POLICEMAN #2
Outside.
INT. MIKE'S OFFICE - DAY
Mike and Rob McCoy stand arguing across the desk.
MIKE
Are you crazy? The phones are
ringing off the hook. Part of that
is from people irate that the Old
Faithful Inn is closed, thanks to
you. And now you want to close the
whole frickin' Park. God bless.
ROB
You're afraid to make a move.
You've got your head in the sand.
MIKE
You know what all the other phone
calls are? They're about flaky
Winona's interview last night. She
was supposed to talk about
earthquakes and geysers, not about
the Park turning into a volcano,
for cryin' out loud.
ROB
She didn't say anything that wasn't
true.
MIKE
It wasn't necessary either. The
whole country's getting in a panic.
For what? We've had clusters of
earthquakes before, far worse than
anything right now. We're deluged
with reporters from about every
network.
ROB
Mike...
MIKE
Look what my wife picked up.
Mike tosses three tabloid newspapers in front of Rob. One
headline reads: GOODBYE YELLOWSTONE, VOLCANO THREATENS
NATIONAL PARK. A second says: VOLCANO TO DESTROY
YELLOWSTONE. The third is: YELLOWSTONE SOON TO ERUPT, ICE
AGE TO BEGIN.
ROB
So what will you say in your
official report?
MIKE
I'm going to try to inject a voice
of calmness and sanity.
INT. GUS'S MOTOR HOME - DAY
Gus drives. Stella sits defiantly in the passenger seat.
Neither pays any attention to the scenery as they pass by
Yellowstone Lake.
GUS
I can't believe I let you navigate.
We saw this yesterday. Now we
gotta drive all through it again?
Like gasoline grows on trees?
STELLA
Yesterday we did the South Loop.
Today we go to the North Loop.
GUS
Oh joy. There's a North Loop.
We're gettin' outta here, we're
headin' to Seattle to see Sam and
Lois.
STELLA
Do I ask for much? I never ask for
nothin'. But since I was a little
girl I wanted to go to Yellowstone.
All I ask is three days. In our
whole marriage, can't I have three
days?
GUS
Jesus!
Gus flips on the radio.
Low STATIC CRACKLES from the speakers. He pushes the "Seek"
button. The digits seek and seek but don't land on a
station.
Gus switches off the radio.
GUS
Uncivilized country.
INT. DINING ROOM, SIGNAL MT. LODGE - DAY
Finishing lunch, the group passes around several newspapers,
both tabloid and respectable. Yellowstone hits all the front
pages.
Robin reads an article headlined, "YELLOWSTONE EARTHQUAKES
MAY SIGNAL VOLCANIC ERUPTION." Next to her is a half-eaten
lunch and an empty chair.
Rex approaches his food and shrugs.
REX
I just talked to Mike. He says
he's got everything under control
and that he'll soon release a
statement that will downplay all
this media hoopla. Oddly enough,
he says the hype is actually
attracting more people.
THOMAS
Maybe we should forgo the rest of
the agenda and focus on this new
issue.
REX
Maybe. The trouble is that all
this stuff...
(indicating a newspaper)
is based on that interview you saw
last night.
Rex sits down and takes a small bite.
ROBIN
That video's at least fifteen years
old.
REX
Yellowstone is earthquake prone. I
don't know if the sudden frequency
of tremors is significant of
anything.
ROBIN
These clusters of earthquakes are
called swarms. They happen every
few years.
(to Rex)
What's McCoy say?
REX
(to Thomas)
Rob McCoy is a research
volcanologist who's been studying
the park. They couldn't locate him
for me.
THOMAS
Did Mike say anything about
predictions?
REX
No.
ROBIN
That interview did not say anything
new. The real news is the changes
in the geysers. And now that's
dwarfed. The fact that Yellowstone
is a gargantuan volcano that will
probably erupt again is right on
the Visitor Map. Everyone gets the
info when they go through the gate,
if they bother to read it.
WASHINGTON MAN #2
As a warning?
ROBIN
No, as a fact. The same way
that... fish are a fact. But now
there it is on the news and
suddenly it's Orson Wells.
WASHINGTON MAN #2
Orson Wells?
REX
I am anxious to get back.
THOMAS
Well, one more report left. Then
feedback. Hopefully we can wrap up
by two thirty.
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