Short Film Script Example: The Night Ferry Table Read
A complete short film script example, read out loud: The Night Ferry, three pages, five scenes and two characters. Hear how much of the story is told with images and sounds, not words.
Chapters (9)
In this lesson you will learn
- What a table read is and why professional productions always do one
- How a complete three-page short film script plays out loud, scene by scene
- How objects like the watch, the engine, the compass and the photo tell the story
- Why a screenplay is images and sounds first, words when they matter
- How to run a table read of your own script and find your rewrites
Looking for a short film script example you can actually hear? This lesson is the table read of The Night Ferry, the course project, read out loud exactly as it stands in ScreenWeaver while the page follows the voice.
An old ferryman, Elias, is about to leave the jetty at two minutes past midnight when Maya, in a yellow raincoat, begs him to cross. Over five scenes, in the cabin, on the fog-bound deck and at the island harbour at dawn, a stalled engine and a small brass compass reveal who she is. Three pages, five scenes, two characters, and a story with a beginning, a turn and an end. Notice how much is told without words, then do the exercise: read your own screenplay out loud and mark every line that made you stumble. Lesson 6.3 of a free screenwriting course.
Full transcript
0:04Before we polish and export, let's hear the whole thing. Professional productions always do a table read, the script read out loud from the first line to the last. You hear what works, and above all, what doesn't. Here is The Night Ferry, exactly as it stands in Screenweaver.
0:24Fade in. Exterior. The jetty. Night. Rain on black water. A single lamp swings above an old ferry. Elias, 60, white beard, coils a rope with slow, exact gestures. A hand -painted sign on the cabin, last crossing, 1145. He checks his pocket watch. 1202. He unhooks the mooring line.
0:50Footsteps on the wet planks. Maya, 20s, yellow raincoat, drags a battered suitcase down the jetty. Maya, wait, please, I need to cross tonight. Elias, no passengers after midnight. Maya, it's two minutes past. Elias, that's after midnight.
1:10She doesn't move. Rain runs down her face. He looks at the suitcase, then at her. Elias, sighing. Get in. Don't touch anything.
1:21Interior. The ferry cabin. Night. A tiny wheelhouse. Brass instruments, a thermos, a faded photo turned face down. Elias starts the engine. Maya sits on the bench, dripping. Maya, you've done this crossing a long time. Elias. Long enough. She watches him tap the old compass on the dashboard. Twice, before every turn.
1:47Exterior. The ferry deck. Night. Fog swallows the lights of the shore. Silence. The engine coughs, then dies. Elias, not tonight. Come on. He hits the engine housing. Nothing. Maya steps past him. Kneels, and hits it twice in the same spot. Maya, to the engine. Wake up, old girl. The engine roars back to life. Elias stares at her.
2:16Interior. The ferry cabin. Night. Later. Elias grips the wheel. His jaw is tight. Elias. Who taught you that? Maya. Someone who talked to his engines. Elias. Who are you?
2:34She doesn't answer. She opens her hand. A small brass compass, engraved E to M. She sets it on the dashboard, next to his. Two identical compasses. Elias's hand trembles. Elias. Maya. Hi, Dad.
2:54Exterior. The island harbour. Dawn. The fog lifts. Pale light on the water. The ferry glides toward a small harbour. In the wheelhouse, two silhouettes, side by side. Elias turns the faded photo face up. A man and a little girl in a yellow raincoat. Fade out.
3:18Three pages. Five scenes. Two characters. And a story with a beginning, a turn, and an end. Notice how much of it is told without words. The watch. The engine. The compass. The photo. That's what a screenplay is. Images and sounds first. Words when they matter. Your exercise. Read your own script out loud. All of it. And mark every line that made you stumble. Those are your rewrites.