screenplays

The reading that I chose was Anniversary Party
Set Design

The story talks about a couple named Joe and Sally, who are living in this wonderful house. They invite friends over for an anniversary party. The story basically takes you on a journey through their house.  It talks about the two main characters having sex in this house and just having fun.

In the first part of the story, the set design shows Sally lying on the bed looking at her husband. The sunlight filters through the bedroom shades.

The next scene is set up in the pool area.  Both Joe and Sally are standing on mats doing yoga. Then the story focuses on the main rooms in the house. The large living room has hardwood floors that are dominated by a huge fireplace.  The other side is an equally large dining room. In both rooms, there are floor to ceiling windows overlooking the back porch garden pool. The house is classically Neutra.

In the next scene, we see America and Rosa struggling up the steps of the back porch and through the sliding glass door carrying grocery bags and packages.  They walk through the dining room and into the kitchen.  Both America and Rosa start unpacking the groceries quickly and begin setting the dining room table.  The scene ends with America closing the dining room door.

A few hours later, America emerges from behind the dining doors. She opens up the dining room doors for Sally and Joe’s Anniversary Party. Inside the dining room, the table was exquisitely decorated with bundles of fresh cut flowers in simple classic vases.  In the background we can hear Rosa singing a Spanish love song to Sally and Joe.

After the party, the camera takes up on a journey through the house by way of photographs in the house.  We see photos of Joe and Sally in formal portraits, candid pictures, their wedding day, their friends, their adventurous vacations, and still photos of them tumbling across of the lawn.
Some of the photos were framed and hung on the walls. Some of the photos are taped to the fridge and others are just simply propped on the shelf. This was a method of documenting their relationship from childhood to adults.

In the following scene, Sally is seen looking at herself in the mirror.  There are two closed doors on either side of the room. The beds show no signs of consummated sex.  Joe comes walking in through the left door almost dressed.  Sally walks through the door, with one shoe off, and the other one on.  Suddenly, both of them are focused into each other‘s eyes.