6d (edited) • Work in Progress
Story trailer for my fantasy-adventure-comedy
**"THE SKETCHED CONSPIRACY"**
**MOVIE TRAILER SCREENPLAY**
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FADE IN:
**TEXT CARD: "SOME STORIES..."**
INT. MARCUS'S APARTMENT - NIGHT
Close on a sketchbook. A pencil dances across the page, bringing to life a dapper cat in a detective's coat and magnifying glass.
MARCUS WEBB (30s, disheveled hair, paint-stained hoodie) adds the final whisker with a satisfied smile.
MARCUS
(to himself)
There you go, Whiskers. Case closed.
He closes the sketchbook. Sets down his pencil.
A RUSTLING sound.
Marcus looks up. His eyes widen.
Standing on his coffee table is WHISKERS—fully three-dimensional, animated, alive. The cat adjusts his tiny detective hat.
WHISKERS
(British accent)
I say, do you have any tuna?
Marcus stumbles backward, knocking over his coffee.
**SMASH CUT TO:**
**TITLE CARD: "...REFUSE TO STAY ON THE PAGE"**
INT. MARCUS'S APARTMENT - CONTINUOUS
Illustrations peel off the walls—a dancing elephant, a flying fish, a knight in armor—all swirling around the apartment in a magical chaos.
MARCUS
This isn't happening. This isn't—
A KNOCK at the door.
Marcus opens it. MEI LING (late 20s, sharp eyes, leather jacket) stands there holding an ancient jade necklace.
MEI LING
Marcus Webb? We need to talk about your gift.
**CUT TO:**
EXT. PRAGUE ROOFTOP - DAY
Mei Ling and Marcus run across terracotta tiles. Behind them, ILLUSTRATED SHADOW CREATURES with glowing red eyes give chase.
MEI LING
The necklace contains a fragment of the Creator's Brush! It's what's activating your drawings!
MARCUS
My drawings are children's books! Not—
A shadow creature LUNGES. Marcus instinctively sketches in the air with his finger. A CARTOON SHIELD materializes, blocking the attack.
MARCUS (CONT'D)
—weapons!
**CUT TO:**
INT. ART GALLERY - NIGHT
PROFESSOR ZHANG (60s, elegant, cold smile) stands before a wall of ancient paintings.
PROFESSOR ZHANG
Marcus was always my most talented student. Such a shame he chose whimsy over power.
He touches a painting. A WARRIOR steps out of the canvas, fully armed.
**CUT TO:**
**TITLE CARD: "FROM THE STUDIO THAT BROUGHT YOU..."**
EXT. VENICE CANAL - DAY
Marcus frantically sketches a GONDOLA. It materializes beneath him and Mei Ling as they leap from a bridge.
MARCUS
How long do these last?!
The gondola begins DISSOLVING at the edges, turning to watercolor drips.
MEI LING
Apparently not long!
Behind them, THREE ILLUSTRATED ASSASSINS—rendered in dark, violent brushstrokes—pursue on their own drawn vessels.
Whiskers leaps between gondolas, magnifying glass in paw.
WHISKERS
Left! Hard left!
**CUT TO:**
INT. UNDERGROUND CHAMBER - NIGHT
Mei Ling holds up the jade necklace. It GLOWS.
MEI LING
My family has protected this for seventeen generations. The Collective has been using living art to start wars, topple governments, rewrite history.
MARCUS
And they want this to...what?
MEI LING
Complete the Creator's Brush. Control all art. Control everything.
**CUT TO:**
INT. PROFESSOR ZHANG'S STUDIO - NIGHT
Zhang stands with FOUR OTHER MASTERS of the Collective, all holding brushes that glow with dark energy.
PROFESSOR ZHANG
Find Marcus Webb. Bring me the necklace.
He paints a single stroke. The canvas EXPLODES with a monstrous illustrated DRAGON.
PROFESSOR ZHANG (CONT'D)
And if he resists...
The dragon ROARS.
PROFESSOR ZHANG (CONT'D)
...erase him.
**CUT TO:**
EXT. PRAGUE STREET - NIGHT
Marcus sketches rapidly. A HOT AIR BALLOON—whimsical, covered in polka dots and smiling clouds—materializes above them.
MARCUS
Get in!
MEI LING
Are you serious?! That looks like it belongs in a kindergarten!
An illustrated assassin's blade SLASHES past her face.
MEI LING (CONT'D)
Never mind!
They leap into the basket. The balloon RISES as shadow creatures claw at the ropes.
**CUT TO:**
INT. MARCUS'S APARTMENT - FLASHBACK - DAY
Young Marcus shows Professor Zhang his sketchbook filled with cheerful characters.
PROFESSOR ZHANG (V.O.)
You have a gift, Marcus. But gifts can be weapons...or toys.
**CUT TO:**
EXT. THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA - SUNSET
Marcus stands alone, sketchbook in hand. Facing him: PROFESSOR ZHANG and FOUR COLLECTIVE MASTERS, all with brushes raised.
PROFESSOR ZHANG
Five against one, Marcus. And you draw\...what? Bunnies? Kittens?
Marcus looks at his trembling hands. At his simple pencil.
MARCUS
(quietly)
I draw hope.
He begins to sketch.
**RAPID CUTS:**
- Marcus's pencil FLYING across pages
- The five masters painting in synchronized fury
- Illustrated WARRIORS clashing with Marcus's WHIMSICAL HEROES
- A child's drawing of a dragon fighting Zhang's realistic serpent
- Mei Ling fighting off shadow creatures with the glowing necklace
- Whiskers dueling an illustrated samurai
- The Great Wall CRACKING under the weight of living art
**CUT TO:**
EXT. THE GREAT WALL - CONTINUOUS
Marcus's eyes GLOW with jade light. His simple style transforms—still whimsical, but now POWERFUL. A massive illustrated PHOENIX rises behind him, drawn in children's book style but radiating devastating energy.
PROFESSOR ZHANG
Impossible...
MARCUS
You taught me technique, Professor. But you never understood imagination.
The phoenix SCREAMS.
**CUT TO BLACK.**
**SOUND: Pencil scratching on paper**
WHISKERS (V.O.)
I say, this is going in my case files.
**TITLE CARD:**
**"THE SKETCHED CONSPIRACY"**
**COMING SOON**
**FINAL IMAGE:**
Marcus's sketchbook lies open. On the page, a simple drawing of the jade necklace. As we watch, it begins to GLOW.
The page TURNS by itself.
The next page is blank.
A pencil rolls across it, drawing a single word:
**"BEGIN"**
**FADE OUT.**
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**END OF TRAILER**
**RUNTIME: Approximately 2 minutes**
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**MUSIC NOTES:**
- Opens with gentle, whimsical piano
- Builds to epic orchestral with ethnic instruments (erhu, guzheng)
- Punctuated by silence during key dialogue moments
- Crescendos to thunderous climax at Great Wall sequence
- Ends with single haunting note
**VISUAL STYLE:**
- Contrast between Marcus's soft, rounded illustration style and the Collective's dark, realistic art
- Living drawings have slight hand-drawn texture/animation quality
- Color palette shifts from warm (Marcus's apartment) to cold (Collective scenes) to epic gold/red (Great Wall)
- Practical effects mixed with animation for the living art
Copyright © 2026 Gary Bainbridge.
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Story trailer for my fantasy-adventure-comedy
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