Story Pitch: Chasing Scarlet (Part 3 of an Original Work)

Concept artwork for Holden Bradford; Created by Laura David

This post is a continuation of Story Pitch: Chasing Scarlet (Part 2 of an Original Work). Click here for the second part. Also, welcome back to Dateline Movies, and this is the third part of our story pitch.

Act 3: The Outcasts

Transitioning to the third and final part, Holden and Cassie invite James, who finished reading "The Upgrade", to the upcoming inter-school prom night, in an attempt to keep him away from his self-loathing induced workaholism, to no avail. Holden and Cassie also recall the people who are in pursuit of artistic life choices are discriminated by those who are in pursuit of scientific careers, causing a cycle of revenge that later on influenced the students of C.C.U.S.S., E.A.S.T., and even S.A.G.E.L.

Back in the past, a few days before the official internationals round of their research defense, James, Holden, Cassie, and Martin rehearse once more. This time, they discuss their motivations behind their stands, with James cryptically mentioning that all he wants is to be "a hero", which is something that Martin has promised that he will become once they manage to get their research paper approved. The fact that all four representatives of E.A.S.T. were expelled for their failure to prove their innocence was enough for both Holden and Cassie to feel bad, after pleading to Martin to perhaps offer an apology over how much damage that they have caused. Martin instead revealed to the both of them that he did steal the research notes from E.A.S.T., which lead to them having to finish their paper in the first place, and it was James' near-flawless improvisation in the locals round that actually managed to qualify them. The latter was something that made Martin surprised, seeing James as just a typical boy scout at first.


Holden Bradford is an amalgamation of a lot of
my closest male friends, including Von Castillejos, 
Gabe Cruz,
Terel Crisostomo, Raf Cuesta, Edward Sioson, Dars Velasco, etc.
Created by Dane Reyes
When Holden and Cassie, his two remaining best friends, left, James did not follow them, a deed that made James question his loyalty. He was nevertheless persuaded by Martin to stay after telling him that all of his hard work, all of his efforts to finally have himself recognized will bear fruit.

While taking a break again at The Ticktock Corner, James is again, for the third time, knocked-out with the experimental blueberry tea, and he is then taken to the kitchen area of the fast food restaurant. There, James is greeted the sight of all four of the E.A.S.T. representatives, including Francine and Daniel, with the latter two angry at James for manipulating E.A.S.T. into hurting them.

Under the influence of the blueberry tea, James imagines himself in a bizarre form of the Holy Eucharist, all the while recalling how he became friends with Holden and Cassie. Here, after moving out of their house with Ria, James decides to serve as a knight at the school church, seeking a means to do something else besides writing. There, he meets Cassie, then a PowerPoint presentation operator, who was intrigued by his English speaking ability, who then introduces him to Holden, a reader and also an English speaker. Ria decides to help James get over his social anxiety by joining them, and they are later joined by a pre-child star Mindie. All five of them later come together to form what they call "The Outcasts". At the end of his flashback, James remembers how they disbanded because of Lee, who became Mindie's girlfriend and Ria's supposed close friend, leaving only Holden and Cassie to be with the increasingly frustrated James.

After a debate among themselves, Lee, furious at James for being the cause of her relationship's end, personally asks James to help them bring down Martin in the upcoming competition. Given there should be a maximum of four members per group, Ria, Lee, Mindie, and Cap will personally ask their school to have them reinstated as the official debate team of E.A.S.T., while James, Holden, Cassie, and Francine, who wanted to express more of her political affinity in the debate, will provide assistance in debunking their opponents' work as an independent group, as the rules state that a group can inquire during a defense. Despite this, James seemingly coldly denies, saying that he has made it this far to get what he wants, and proceeds to leave, forcing the rest of them to ask the inexperienced Daniel to be James' replacement.

After a few nights of contemplation, C.C.U.S.S., now composing of Martin's "close associates", all of whom are actually students he helped to cheat in order to secure a shot in local popularity, the reinstated E.A.S.T. team, and the currently unnamed group of Holden, Cassie, Francine, and Daniel, the latter four are dressed-up in knight armor as a sign of "nobility", come together to defend their stances. This final round will help determine the ultimate fate of The Henrietta. Shall it be reprogrammed, or shall it be destroyed?
Cassie Yates is an amalgamation of some of my closest
female friends, including Janette Calub, Laura David,
Meek Marasigan, Pat Reyes, Trisha Villanueva, etc.
Created by Dane Reyes

Halfway through the defense, Daniel becomes aggressive towards the opposing side, C.C.U.S.S., after being disrespectful to his girlfriend Francine, causing Daniel to be disqualified from the group, and leaving their team lacking in one member for them to debunk C.C.U.S.S.'s work.


Gaining second thoughts, James decides that he must join his friends in the next thirty minutes. Martin, however, forces him to either join him and be as popular as him, which is what he always wanted, or join his friends and remain forgotten. Martin then reveals that he himself is not as so famous as he thought, as James learns that Martin is being emotionally abused by his girlfriend, Saturnina "Nina" Salkind, who make use of her untreated Henrietta symptoms to manipulate Martin to be her "famous boyfriend".

Disillusioned after Martin tells him that "your guilty conscience won't redeem you", and that "your 'friends' won't think twice about leaving you, so stick with me, a fellow loner like you", James bails, and seeks another knight armor from The Ticktock Corner.  James returns later, announcing that he will be replacing not only Daniel as a member, but he will be taking over Holden's position as the leader. he then gladly declares to the judges that they can "call us whatever you want, but if you must know our name, we're the Outcasts!" James' comment makes his friend proud.

As the debate progresses further, with Martin recruiting an understudy, and with Daniel recruiting some of the other S.A.G.E.L. students who are frustrated at martin's deception, James, Lee, Holden, Ria, Cap, Cassie, and Francine claim victory over Martin and his team, leaving Martin with the thought that he will now be alone once his girlfriend leaves him when she finds out that he lost. As his friends allow their school photographers to take their photos, James, recalling Daniel's invitation to Lee that "all who have shame shall speak" in The Ticktock Corner, James tells Francine and Daniel that he will "see you two in the morning". As James walks away from his friends, out of shame for his actions, they stare back at him, with Holden stopping Ria from chasing her stepbrother.

Back to the present, Holden and Cassie invite James, who finished reading "The Upgrade", to the upcoming inter-school prom night, in an attempt to keep him away from his self-loathing induced workaholism, to no avail ... at first.

After finally convinced that he should not be leaving the people who cared about him from the beginning, James decides to make it to their inter-school prom night, which is going to be a form of "amendment" between C.C.U.S.S., E.A.S.T., and S.A.G.E.L. There, Ria has a sibling-to-sibling conversation with James, with Ria saying that he is planning to tell Lee that she is her biological sister, ending with James telling her that he "won't stop you from getting your happiness", and that he "should've learned that a long time ago". However, James reaffirms that "we will always be your family". Ria instead chats with Lee about other topics, not telling Lee about the truth that could slightly die down her dying hatred for her more approving parents. As all the reunited members of The Outcasts enjoy the evening, James, finding appreciation from everyone, even from people outside of his friends, asks Lee, remaining friends with Mindie, for a chance to dance with her, which she accepts after taking pictures of "important" people.
Concept artwork for Cassie Yates; Created by Laura David

This part, and he overall story, ends with The Outcasts reaping the success of their newly established "Henrietta Program", which makes all of them rich and successful. As the years go by, Ria has returned home to be with the Wheelans, but went on to become the new CEO of the Carter Consortium after being personally suggested by Lee, who instead wants to follow an artistic path, to her parents, while also not telling the Carters her true parentage. Ria reaffirms that he is, and always will be a Wheelan.

Lee's absence, and Lee's new relationship with unrequited lover Cap, made James sad, which forced him to return to his workaholism again. Despite being closer to his friends, and remaining in contact with them as the years go by even further, James is once more left with nothing but his writings, and almost no recognition from the other parts of the community. The moment Holden and Cassie left in pursuit of other interests, James knew that they all just have to grow-up. Mindie, on the other hand, has found joy at the fact that her status as a child star inspired people, and has instead become an acting teacher. 

Living the lowly life of a journalist, James meets with Lee again, who is now legally married to Cap, and is now a psychiatrist treating an insane Martin. They both chat about their experiences while they are aboard the exact same train that James rode in the beginning. They simply talk as the sun begins to set, letting the train take them to wherever they please.

And that is it for our three-part story pitch. Before you leave, listen to this song that helped me realize Lee's character personality in the story. Stay tuned for more Dateline Movies!

Source


"Chasing Scarlet" and all other related elements such as characters are properties of Reuben Pio G. Martinez, while the artworks made by Laura David and Dane Reyes.



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