7:30AM - 2004-09-11
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Darkness...
We hear the whirring of a computer printer, the ringing of a distant telephone, and fragments of office conversation ("Did you get the fax number of their office in Chicago? I need to reschedule that one o'clock meeting"). We hear also a male voice repeating "Bill...Bill...Bill...".
Coworker: ...Bill, wake up man
Office Interior, sideways, from Bill's POV (head down on desk). We see the speaker, Coworker.
Coworker: Did you not get enough sleep last night?
Reverse angle, we see a groggy looking Bill righting himself in his seat, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. His office is small- dominated by a massive desk sitting perpendicular to a large window.
Bill: I uh, I guess I dozed off...
Coworker: (off camera): Well wake up bro, we gotta look sharp. Two of the senior partners are supposed to pop in this morning...how about I get you some coffee
Bill: Um...coffee, yeah. That'd be good.
We hear Coworker's exit (off camera) and then cut to Bill's POV as he takes quick visual inventory of the items on his desk: inbox overflowing with paperwork, monitor peppered w/post-it notes, a stapler, a letter opener and an old fashioned desk calendar. The date on the calendar blurs as we pull focus beyond it to a framed picture of Bill, his wife, and children posing together at some vacation spot. He picks it up.
Cut to Bill, regarding picture at length, 10 seconds maybe, expression hard to read. Setting the frame back down on his desk, he stands and turns towards the window. Over his shoulder we take in the view from his office- a wide river with buildings clustered on the distant shore.
Reverse angle: building exterior. Bill stares towards the camera from the other side of his tinted office window. His features dissolve as the camera pulls back and the thick, architectural, glass silvers over. As our perspective widens, it becomes evident that this office window is one of many in a very large building. Stripes of blue sky manifest and expand to the left and right, but the skyscraper's unbroken vertical mass dominates center screen. The sounds of the city are a muted rumble at this great height, and grow ever softer as the camera continues its unhurried retreat. Back, back, back we pull to reveal a second, identical building. By the time both towers of the World Trade Center are completely visible, the city-noise has given way to the sound of wind over the river. At a distance of one and one quarter mile from Bill's office window, at an elevation of seven hundred feet over the lower Hudson, the camera stops. For a full...minute we hold on the skyline, still beneath autumn skies.
Coworker (off screen):Here you go, bro...
Cut to office interior:
Bill, turning away from the window to accepts the coffee Coworker offers: Oh, thanks.
Coworker turns to leave but pauses, leaning against the door jamb: You know the coffee's actually pretty good today.
Bill holds the large ceramic mug up to his lips, displaying prominently the FOLGER'S logo emblazoned on it's side. He drinks deep, considers, and responds with a nod of approval:
You're right...the coffee is really good today.
