PLOT STRUCTURE SHEET This is a post based on a longer film. Perhaps a feature. I followed the structure sheet that was posted by our teacher, Jill Wissmiller. Cleaning Windows The story is about an over the top outrageous transsexual/drag queen living in the deep south (Memphis area) The character has been subjected to a mass amount of hate from religious fundamentalists and societal rejection within schools and the workplace. He/she has become a loner and rejection has pushed the character to drug/alcohol abuse and social anxiety. The character is looking for a place where he/she feels welcome and is not at odds with others around him/her. Gay Bars and parties of the sort have further provoked addiction and never provided a true or honest connection with other members of society. Religious tenets and fundamentalists would have never allowed this person to become a member of a church or a faith based organization. But, with relaxing viewpoints, he/she is able to break free of the insanity. The character is strung out on alcohol, can’t keep a job, behind on rent, sleeping with married men for money via Craigslist. Our character finds and meets someone that he/she thinks is a true connection, and to some degree it is. There is an actual emotional attachment to a young preppy Jewish boy. They quickly fall in love. The love interest finds our character at the bar and happens to oversee our character using cocaine in one of the bathrooms. Our love interest flees the scene of the bar, but later comes to realize that it is worth his time and later goes to the house of our main character to apologize and try and help. He knocks and rings the doorbell and is greeted by our main character through a window of the home. Our main character is holding up a blanket to cover his nudity. The love interest expresses his affection for our character, and professes that he will help him and stick it out, but then realizes that our character has another man in the home. He flees the home. Our main character is devastated about the loss and goes on a complete spiral of drugs and drinking and finally comes to reach rock bottom. At this point, the film goes into montage sequence and stream of conscious reflection and breaks in and out of reality. Then it breaks the loop to the final minutes of the film. This is the scene of the resolve (Alarm sounding) The camera slowly comes into focus on a window in which the sun is coming through. The sounds of the city are introduced to the viewer as the sound of the alarm turns off. The camera slowly pans from the alarm clock around the bed side table and the viewer sees a condom wrapper, overflowing ashtray, a liquor bottle, parts of a feather boa and some drug paraphernalia (perhaps a water bong or a syringe, spoon, and a lighter.) You hear the slight moaning of a hung over person waking! Then there is a silence, then there is the sound of crying. Scene 2 A shower curtain is abruptly raked open creating a slightly loud, abrasive noise, and the viewer sees and hears water to a shower start running and after a couple seconds the curtain closes as the camera slowly becomes more and more out of focus. The noise of water continues, but as the camera comes back into focus, we see the foggy mirror of the bathroom. Our character is cleaning the fog off of the mirror and starts to put make up on and brush hair, etc. Cut to bedroom table, we see our character cleaning up the residue of the binge, holding a trash can in one hand, she picks up the bottles, starts to dump the ashtray (then throws the ashtray in the can as well), she throws out everything and pulls the bag. Cut to: our character exiting the apartment building, she has the trash bag, which she throws into the dumpster. There are several POV short snippets of the city (trolleys, images of tall buildings) We see people with signs professing "the end is near, repent, God hates Fags, etc." the camera walking up some steps toward a set of large wooden double doors. In the background, there is the chanting of "loser".... "what a freak"... "faggot"... is heard. Our character hesitates and the camera comes in for an extreme close up of lipstick (poorly put on the lips). Our character makes what appears to be the signature Billy Idol snarl... pause for a beat, and then takes a deep breath. As the door is opened, everything fades to black. The camera comes into focus slowly once again and the viewer is introduced to a dark setting where there are candles burning. As the camera zooms outward we are introduced to an altar until it is apparent that our character is in a church praying. She gets up and turns and behind her, we see a pastor come into full view. There is an awkward moment of silence as the camera (POV) slowly moves up from his robe to his face where we see him smile. He extends his hand and says "Welcome, we're glad you're here."