"Colorblind" an original short film by Ron Hooker Jr. ©2009

FADE IN:

EXT. MARKETPLACE - DAY

The town square is abuzz with excitement. It feels like a party under the sun as merchants sell their goods to obliging customers and children frolic in the street.

All of these people have bright, colorful skin. Some people are yellow, others orange. Red, blue, green, purple, pink, and every other bright color imaginable is represented by the skin color of the happy people in this rainbow of festivities.

Balloons, streamers, banners, and decorations of similar colors abound. Music plays as a group of yellow, green, and blue performers dance on a stage in front of a group of applauding, multicolored children and adults. Booths for playing games are surrounded by colorful people.

A BLUE MAN selling apples catches the attention of a Yellow woman as she passes by. He holds up two large red apples.

BLUE MAN
Apples. Get your apples. (to lady) Try one of my apples miss. You won't be disappointed.

The Yellow woman takes a bite and smiles.

At a gaming booth, a Blue man throws a ball at a stack of bottles and knocks them down. His Red wife and Purple children cheer. A CRIMSON WOMAN in the booth hands him a large stuffed animal.

CRIMSON WOMAN
Congratulations sir.

Over a fiery grill, an ORANGE MAN flips burgers and hot dogs as PEOPLE of every color of the rainbow line up to place their orders. A Green lady beside the grill takes money as nearby people dress their food with condiments.

ORANGE MAN
Who wants a burger?

PEOPLE
“Over here.” “I’ll take one.” “I want a hotdog.”

The fun and festivities continue throughout the marketplace. Children laugh and sing. Customers, merchants and game players show off their colors as music plays and smoke from cooking stations billows into the sky.

EXT. MARKETPLACE – CONTINUOUS

A PINK WOMAN and a man of Sky Blue look into a jewelry case.

PINK WOMAN
(pointing)
That one’s beautiful.

She and the man beside her continue to gaze at the jewelry as the Lime-Green merchant smiles. The merchant slowly trains his eyes to something OFF SCREEN. His smile subsides slowly to an expression of grim concern. He’s not the only one who’s distracted.

COLLAGE:

-A Lavender merchant trains his angry eyes to a random point.

-A Yellow customer stops just before biting his hotdog to stare with surprise.

-A Red man on a stage stops talking into his microphone to observe something angrily.

-The colorful dancers stop dancing and fix their gazes over the heads of the audience. The audience slowly turns to see what they’re looking at.

-A Purple man steps out from a booth puffing his cigar with purpose.

END COLLAGE

The music stops playing. All eyes are fixed upon the same point OFF SCREEN. A concerned INDIGO WOMAN near a game booth grabs the hand of her GREEN CHILD and walks away with purpose.

INDIGO WOMAN
Let’s go.

GREEN CHILD
But mommy?

INDIGO WOMAN
I said we’re leaving.

The staring continues in stark silence. An ORANGE MAN standing in the crowd breaks the silence.

ORANGE MAN
The nerve of some people.

EXT. MARKETPLACE – CONTINUOUS

Standing in the middle of the street, hand in hand, are a WHITE MAN and BLACK WOMAN. They scan their surroundings slowly and deliberately. An uneasy ambience fills the air. Every eye in the marketplace is fixed upon the unwanted intruders.

BLACK WOMAN
I get the feeling we’re not welcome here.

WHITE MAN
So do I.

PAN OUT to reveal the lonely couple, as they stand motionless in the center of the silent marketplace being stared at by hundreds of colorful eyes. They are the only things black or white in the entire SHOT.

END