WORKING TITLE

ORIGINAL STORY BY
REN BEAUMONT

SCREENPLAY BY
REN BEAUMONT
FADE IN:
EXT. ESTABLISHING SHOT- THE OCEAN (ABOVE)
NARRATOR
The Ocean. From above, a seemingly calm, untouched, gentle
blanket of blue water, covering 71% of the Earth’s surface. But
when we dive below,
INT. UNDERWATER
SFX: BUBBLING WATER
NARRATOR
The Ocean is truly alive, a bustling city made up of millions of
species. Including, the common Sea Bass. Graceful, silent,
swimming along elegantly in the glistening water and-

SFX: NARRATOR CUT OFF BY MUFFLED MUSIC

Pan down through the sea to: A small anthropomorphic fish
walking along the seabed.
SFX: MUFFLED MUSIC FROM FISH’S HEADPHONES

Pan up and down the fish, showing the headphones and shoes he is
wearing, along with a plastic chain around his neck.

[The whole time they are talking, Chips is walking across the
screen, as we follow him]
NARRATOR
(And) Well… maybe elegant wasn’t the word…
The fish turns to look toward the camera.
CHIPS
Excuse me? You sayin’ I’m not elegant enough for you Mr Talkin’
‘ead?
NARRATOR
Well, I didn’t mean...
CHIPS
Why are you down here? Can’t you read the ‘No Human
Documentaries’ sign?
NARRATOR
I’m trying to explain what life is like in the ocean.
CHIPS
Life in the ocean? It’s pretty rad, check me out.

Chips does a 360 spin, ending in a cool pose to show off his
Nike shoes and plastic chain (made from a six-pack ring).
 NARRATOR
Actually, this here is the problem.

Chips’ plastic chain is pulled off him upwards and put into the
‘sky’ above Chips.
CHIPS
Hey whatcha doing? Give that back.

Chips flails his arms into the air, trying to grab back his
necklace.
NARRATOR
This is why I’m here, Chips. This is plastic.
CHIPS
That ain’t no plastic, that’s my necklace, it’s been in the Bass
family for centuries.
NARRATOR
I’m not surprised. It’s made of polymer chains: polypropylene.
CHIPS
Polyproper...who?
NARRATOR
It’s plastic like this that is made from a construction of
something called polymers and monomers, that are extremely
difficult to break apart.

Visuals on screen, next to Chip’s ‘necklace’ of chemical formula

made up of circles. Use the necklace to show a ‘strong link’.

NARRATOR
They act like a strong chain link, Bacteria won’t eat it, and it
doesn’t react with chemicals to disintegrate. So it’ll be around
forever.
CHIPS
If it’s so tough, does that make it expensive? Am I rich?
NARRATOR
No, quite the opposite actually. Plastics are used in almost
everything and about 8 million tons of it end up here, in your
home every single year, killing little fish like you.
CHIPS
I’ve never seen… or heard of this ‘plastic’ junk.
Chips folds his arms shaking his head.
 NARRATOR
Look at your shoes.
CHIPS
Yeah what about ‘em?
NARRATOR
They’re made of plastics.
CHIPS
No... they’re made of NIKES.
NARRATOR
[Sigh] And your headphones.
CHIPS
You’re crazy.
Chips kicks a plastic bottle on the seabed.
NARRATOR
Plastic is everywhere and sadly a lot of it gets sucked back
down into your Ocean home, through things like Gyres and
drainage pipes.
Chips walks along, shaking his head in confusion- looking at his
necklace as he arrives at a large pile of plastic trash,
covering his seabed path.
NARRATOR
What did I tell you?
CHIPS
What the... Where did this come from?
SFX: ZOMBIE GROAN
A grey zombie fish rises up from the plastic, tangled in it all.
SFX: CHIPS SCREAMS
ZOMBIE FISH
[Groaning] Humans…
Zombie Fish falls into Chips arms, with X’s for eyes and plastic
covering his body. [Items float past the screen as the Narrator
announces them]
NARRATOR
You see? This is the problem. Plastic is cheap and easy to make
from crude oil, into thousands of different things; and it’s
used for almost everything... from a common toothbrush, to a
single use crisp packet, and even in food like chewing gum...

Chips swims up the camera readying his fists. In the background

the dead fish is floating up to the surface.
 CHIPS
[to the audience/narrator]
So, this is all your fault?

Chips punches the screen, making it shake.

NARRATOR
Woah there, I’m trying to help you.

Chips swims back away to the seabed.

CHIPS
Well how do we fix this?
NARRATOR
It’s a team effort, Chips. Humans need to work together to find
other alternatives that safely biodegrade.
CHIPS
Bio-de-wha?
NARRATOR
Biodegrade. Where the material can break down into smaller
pieces and be recycled or they turn into other compounds. This
would mean less plastic ends up here, in the Ocean, and marine
animals would be safer.
CHIPS
So plastic doesn’t bio-de..grad?
NARRATOR
Biodegrade. Some plastics can take 500 years or more to
biodegrade, and some will just never disappear...

Chips looks down at his ‘necklace’.

He then swims back up the camera, hands on hips.

CHIPS
Well we have to fix it then.
NARRATOR
Yes, we do.
CHIPS
...How do we do that?

NARRATOR
 Well, only 1% of the plastic waste is on the Ocean surface. So,
we have to get rid of as much as we can and then start finding
alternatives to use in day-to-day life.

Chips takes off his necklace.

NARRATOR
But, sadly, there’s a lot of incredibly small bits of plastic
down here called: ‘microplastics’ that animals in the ocean tend
to end up swallowing or eating because it is plankton sized.

Chips spits, thinking some of the water he breathed was plastic,

then swims to the screen, handing over his ‘necklace’, shoes and
headphones.
CHIPS
Can you take these out of the ocean? I don’t want them here
anymore.

NARRATOR
I can indeed. It’s small, but it’s a great start. We just need
to get everybody to see that plastics are no longer the best
material for the job.

FADE TO:
CONCEPT ART of Chips walking around in a plastic free
environment. Ready for the CREDITS to roll.

THE END