5. ANTS and other opening scenes
26 March 2025
Alison Rocket Ross
Last time on our character build, we listed twelve potential opening scenes. Let’s explore my favorite one- the ants.
The opening scene requires so much attention and thought I like to get started on it as soon as possible so we have more time to edit. Traditionally, I would have an outline beforehand, but considering we’re only focused on Aaron (35) Landscaper for this series, let’s just dive in.
10. ANTS — This one just seems fun. He’s got ants in his apartment and it’s driving him absolutely insane. He’s setting the traps and everything, but nothing is working. There are lines of ants marching through his space throughout the entire movie. He doesn’t get it. He’s so clean. Where are the ants coming from? This could also get into his confusion over his loneliness. He’s done everything right (he thinks) why does he have no one to love?
Character Elements
We know Aaron is a clean freak and a nature enthusiast. Despite his best efforts, he more than likely tracked ants in after one of his adventures or made a mistake and forgot about a granola bar or something. Either way… ANTS.
The contents of his apartment are crucial to his character. He lives alone, prefers order, and I don’t see him as a coffee guy. He would have lots of house plants. Most of his belongings will be related to plants, outdoor activities, and the few trophies he’s earned from trivia night.
So let’s just throw some descriptions out and see what sticks
A one bedroom deep enough in the city to catch the SIRENS. Move-in ready, as if it’s about to be toured. AARON (35) rummages under the sink for poison. The ants are already in the cabinets.
2. Hands in the sink scratching hardened egg off of a white ceramic plate. Into the dishwasher. It’s ready to run. AARON (35) finds the cleaning pods under the sinks. The ants have infiltrated the cabinets.
3. Everything here is white and silver. Clean and bleached. A handheld vacuum SUCKS up the last grains of sands on the indoor welcome mat before it moves to a line of ants filtering in through the cracks. AARON (35) struggles with the vacuum as the ants appear to duplicate. In a huff, he grabs a roll of paper towels and squashes them a few at a time. Die, die, die. He fights the invaders with his bare hands, the tiny black guts of the enemy on the tips of his fingers.
Forgive the formatting. We’d break most of this up in an actual script.
There’s a balance here. We want to be clear about where we are (one bedroom apartment in the city) while focusing on the emotions of the character and driving the story forward.
In the third example, we never explicitly say he’s in an apartment, but we suggest that he’s at least in some sort of safe home. We describe the state of it with four words (White, Silver, Clean, Bleached). Those words are very carefully chosen and pulled from the following ideas — White walls, silver appliances, clean surfaces, and then bleached may be overkill, but it’s an uncomfortable word that implies an almost neurotic cleanliness.
I’m also keen on “filtering through the cracks” because it translates to “despite all of his best efforts, something dirty still slipped through” with seems to be how this story will end up going.
Now, towards the end we see the violence. Aaron is not a violent guy which makes his reaction all the more interesting. He’s frustrated, he’s at the end of his rope. This would suggest that the ants are a consistent problem, not a new one. He is showing no mercy.
I’d also like to counter his violence towards the ants with some sort of loving gesture towards other creatures/bugs. That would really drive in his frustration at the top of this piece.
What else?
If we’re diving deep, we can look at what the ants symbolize. Aaron has worked hard to maintain his home, his life and struggles to control external forces. Specifically, love. We know he’s a lonely guy who doesn’t know he’s lonely. The ants could symbolize that despite his walls, something will come and shake up his life. Someone will come in and turn his world upside down. He maybe be able to kill the ants, but he can’t keep them out of his apartment. He may try to push away the someone that comes, but he won’t be able to ignore them.
I think at this point, we know enough about Aaron to start think about his journey.
Next time, we’ll start talking about story.
That’s all for now.
Love, Rocket