WORDS
Alpha Omega
Why are there no dinosaurs in the Bible?
Alpha Omega |
PAGE 1 | 6 PANELS
PANEL 1
Establishing shot of archeological dig site. A television camera crew is setup nearby, just outside the roped off area. Graduate students are dusting dirt away to reveal dinosaur bones that have been buried in the grounds. There is evidence of historic glacial movement in the surrounding terrain.
NO DIALOGUE
PANEL 2
NORAH is holding a microphone and looking directly at a news camera. DR. CRICHTON stands next to her, also facing the camera.
PANEL 3
We see Dr. Crichton on a television. Norah is offscreen, although her hand and microphone are visible as she holds it in place for Dr. Crichton.
PANEL 4
Close up of graduate student, PAIGE, with a small hand-held brush, cleaning dirt away from a dinosaur femur.
PANEL 5
Norah is looking at Dr. Crichton while holding the microphone to her mouth.
PANEL 6
Dr. Crichton is looking directly into the camera, smiling as he speaks.
PAGE 2 | 4 PANELS
PANEL 1
Establishing shot of Dr. Crichton’s university research lab. Paige is sitting at a desk, looking at a large computer monitor. She is biting her lower lip. Disassembled dinosaur bones are lying on sterile tables. Some have been cleaned, while others remain caked with dirt. Dr. Crichton – Mike – is standing near one of the tables, speaking with STACI, a pregnant grad student. There is a television mounted to one of the walls (which will be used on page 5).
PANEL 2
Dr. Crichton is now leaning over Paige with his hand on the back of her chair, looking over her shoulder at the computer monitor.
PANEL 3
Dr. Crichton presses a key, bringing up a more detailed view of the results. There are rows of numerical data analysis on the screen, in both table and graph form.
PANEL 4
Paige looks at Dr. Crichton. Her eyebrows are slanted upwards in disbelief.
PAGE 3 | 5 PANELS
PANEL 1
Paige continues to look directly at Dr. Crichton, who holds a towel to his brow to wipe away a bead of sweat.
PANEL 2
Paige is looking back at the computer monitor and typing a command into the keyboard. The reader cannot see the screen.
PANEL 3
Staci is now standing behind Paige and Dr. Crichton, trying to see what they are looking at.
PANEL 4
On the screen we see a computer model of the Earth, surrounded by a giant exoskeleton.
PANEL 5
Close up of Dr. Crichton’s face, in surprised anguish, as the realization dawns on him.
PAGE 4 | 8 PANELS
PANEL 1
Establishing shot of Norah and Dr. Crichton, sitting at a glass table in a live news broadcast interview. Norah has a tablet computer nearby, and a stack of note paper sitting in front of her.
PANEL 2
Norah is ruffling through the papers in front of her, unsure where this discussion will lead. Her producers added Dr. Crichton to the program at the last minute, as part of a breaking news story. She is a bit discombobulated.
PANEL 3
Dr. Crichton has his elbows resting on the table, his fingers interlaced, with his two pointer fingers and thumbs shaped in a triangle.
PANEL 4
Dr. Crichton’s arms are now raised, with his hands illustrating the immense size of their discovery.
PANEL 5
Dr. Crichton’s arms are now parallel to one another, one below and one above in a cradling motion, as though he is a running back who is about to be handed the football.
PANEL 6
Norah’s startled expression is evident. She is unsure where to take the interview. She begins to ramble.
PANEL 7
Close up of Dr. Crichton, with his right eyebrow arched.
PANEL 8
Like page 4 – panel 1, with Norah and Dr. Crichton both visible, sitting at a glass table. Norah is looking directly into the camera, speaking to her viewers at home.
PAGE 5 | 5 PANELS
PANEL 1
Establishing shot of the university research lab. Paige, Dr. Crichton, and Staci are huddled together, staring at the television on the wall, fearfully watching the devastation unfold on the news.
PANEL 2
Dr. Crichton presses the power button on the remote. The TV goes blank, but for a small beam of light fading towards the center.
PANEL 3
Paige looks concerned.
PANEL 4
Staci’s arms are parallel to one another, one below her tummy and one above it, cradling the child inside.
PANEL 5
Paige reaches a hand towards Staci’s belly. Dr. Crichton is cradling his chin with his right thumb and forefinger.
END
PANEL 1
Establishing shot of archeological dig site. A television camera crew is setup nearby, just outside the roped off area. Graduate students are dusting dirt away to reveal dinosaur bones that have been buried in the grounds. There is evidence of historic glacial movement in the surrounding terrain.
NO DIALOGUE
PANEL 2
NORAH is holding a microphone and looking directly at a news camera. DR. CRICHTON stands next to her, also facing the camera.
- NORAH: We are on site with Dr. Crichton, for what is being touted as the biggest paleontology discovery of all time.
- DR. CRICHTON: That’s right, Norah…
PANEL 3
We see Dr. Crichton on a television. Norah is offscreen, although her hand and microphone are visible as she holds it in place for Dr. Crichton.
- DR. CRICHTON: As the Greenland ice caps receded, they revealed something amazing.
- DR. CRICHTON: The graduate students you see behind me are unearthing the largest dinosaur fossil site ever discovered.
PANEL 4
Close up of graduate student, PAIGE, with a small hand-held brush, cleaning dirt away from a dinosaur femur.
- DR. CRICHTON: We estimate 300 intact skeletons in the surrounding area. It’s an absolute treasure trove of a find.
PANEL 5
Norah is looking at Dr. Crichton while holding the microphone to her mouth.
- NORAH: What will you do with the fossils once you’ve unearthed them?
PANEL 6
Dr. Crichton is looking directly into the camera, smiling as he speaks.
- DR. CRICHTON: We will take the skeletons to our lab for analysis and assembly.
- DR. CRICHTON: Then we will display them in museums throughout the world.
PAGE 2 | 4 PANELS
PANEL 1
Establishing shot of Dr. Crichton’s university research lab. Paige is sitting at a desk, looking at a large computer monitor. She is biting her lower lip. Disassembled dinosaur bones are lying on sterile tables. Some have been cleaned, while others remain caked with dirt. Dr. Crichton – Mike – is standing near one of the tables, speaking with STACI, a pregnant grad student. There is a television mounted to one of the walls (which will be used on page 5).
- PAIGE: Mike, you should look at this.
PANEL 2
Dr. Crichton is now leaning over Paige with his hand on the back of her chair, looking over her shoulder at the computer monitor.
- DR. CRICHTON: What have we got?
- PAIGE: The computer analysis just completed.
- PAIGE: There’s something strange here.
PANEL 3
Dr. Crichton presses a key, bringing up a more detailed view of the results. There are rows of numerical data analysis on the screen, in both table and graph form.
- DR. CRICHTON: That can’t be. Run it again.
- PAIGE: I ran it three times.
- PAIGE: I even used two different AI models… all of them reached the same conclusion.
PANEL 4
Paige looks at Dr. Crichton. Her eyebrows are slanted upwards in disbelief.
- PAIGE: These aren’t separate skeletons…
- PAIGE: They are the interconnecting bones of a single skeleton.
PAGE 3 | 5 PANELS
PANEL 1
Paige continues to look directly at Dr. Crichton, who holds a towel to his brow to wipe away a bead of sweat.
- PAIGE: There’s more.
- PAIGE: I pulled the data from our university partners.
- PAIGE: When we add their fossil collections to the mix…
PANEL 2
Paige is looking back at the computer monitor and typing a command into the keyboard. The reader cannot see the screen.
- PAIGE: We get this…
PANEL 3
Staci is now standing behind Paige and Dr. Crichton, trying to see what they are looking at.
- STACI: What is it?
PANEL 4
On the screen we see a computer model of the Earth, surrounded by a giant exoskeleton.
- DR. CRICHTON: It’s the Alpha Omega.
- DR. CRICHTON: Nietzsche was right…
PANEL 5
Close up of Dr. Crichton’s face, in surprised anguish, as the realization dawns on him.
- DR. CRICHTON: God is dead.
PAGE 4 | 8 PANELS
PANEL 1
Establishing shot of Norah and Dr. Crichton, sitting at a glass table in a live news broadcast interview. Norah has a tablet computer nearby, and a stack of note paper sitting in front of her.
- NORAH: Welcome back to the program, Dr. Crichton.
- DR. CRICHTON: Thank you, Norah, pleased to be here.
PANEL 2
Norah is ruffling through the papers in front of her, unsure where this discussion will lead. Her producers added Dr. Crichton to the program at the last minute, as part of a breaking news story. She is a bit discombobulated.
- NORAH: I’m told your paleontology team has made a remarkable find.
- NORAH: What can you share with our viewers?
PANEL 3
Dr. Crichton has his elbows resting on the table, his fingers interlaced, with his two pointer fingers and thumbs shaped in a triangle.
- DR. CRICHTON: Through careful analysis of all existing dinosaur fossils, using AI-assisted models for assembly, we have made a startling discovery…
PANEL 4
Dr. Crichton’s arms are now raised, with his hands illustrating the immense size of their discovery.
- DR. CRICHTON: The fossils all belong to a single entity. A being of such size and grandeur that it is nearly unfathomable…
PANEL 5
Dr. Crichton’s arms are now parallel to one another, one below and one above in a cradling motion, as though he is a running back who is about to be handed the football.
- DR. CRICHTON: When fully assembled, the bones create a giant exoskeleton…
- DR. CRICHTON: A cocoon to protect the Earth.
PANEL 6
Norah’s startled expression is evident. She is unsure where to take the interview. She begins to ramble.
- NORAH: That is a remarkable discovery, Doctor.
- NORAH: What ancient creature could possibly have been so large?
- NORAH: The size of a planet…
- NORAH: In mythology, that could only be described as a god.
PANEL 7
Close up of Dr. Crichton, with his right eyebrow arched.
- DR. CRICHTON: Perhaps not a god… but thee God.
PANEL 8
Like page 4 – panel 1, with Norah and Dr. Crichton both visible, sitting at a glass table. Norah is looking directly into the camera, speaking to her viewers at home.
- NORAH: If that is so, then we truly are alone.
PAGE 5 | 5 PANELS
PANEL 1
Establishing shot of the university research lab. Paige, Dr. Crichton, and Staci are huddled together, staring at the television on the wall, fearfully watching the devastation unfold on the news.
- NEWS BROADCAST: There is further pandemonium…
- PAIGE: Our institutions are failing.
PANEL 2
Dr. Crichton presses the power button on the remote. The TV goes blank, but for a small beam of light fading towards the center.
- DR. CRICHTON: Maybe it’s for the best.
- DR. CRICHTON: Maybe we’ve always been alone.
- SFX: CLICK
PANEL 3
Paige looks concerned.
- PAIGE: But with no father, who will look after us?
PANEL 4
Staci’s arms are parallel to one another, one below her tummy and one above it, cradling the child inside.
- STACI: Mother is still here.
- STACI: The Earth provides.
PANEL 5
Paige reaches a hand towards Staci’s belly. Dr. Crichton is cradling his chin with his right thumb and forefinger.
- DR. CRICHTON: For now.
END