To live beyond his means

An innovative 25-minute animated film where dialogue shapes the entire reality. While the first half captivates with rich animation, the visuals eventually vanish into total darkness, leaving only the raw, powerful vocal performances of the actors. Driven mostly by an intense cinematic dialogue, this experimental work challenges the audience to rebuild the story's climax within their own minds through pure sound.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:06

Exterior shopping street near future NA The city has been divided into brightness and darkness as a result of rapid economical changes. This story belongs to the darkness. A round-shouldered young guy is walking on the street with both of his hands in his pockets of his jacket. He seems to be bored. A tout accosts him.

SPEAKER_04 0:31

Hey, you look like Travis, the taxi driver. It's all you can eat. Come in.

SPEAKER_01 0:36

The guy glances at the tout but eventually ignores it and walks away. An old man in elegant attire accosts him.

SPEAKER_02 0:43

Hey, are you Jack Graham? Yes, I am. Who's looking for you? You don't mind talking a bit, do you? No, I don't. I am Abraham Lee. You inherit one eighth of the blood of the Emperor of Captain. What is that supposed to mean? Don't be surprised. Well, listen to me first. Actually, when Kaplan passed away, he ordered me to find you.

SPEAKER_01 1:08

Jack fails to comprehend and stares at Abraham.

SPEAKER_02 1:13

You solely read books regarding Kent as your only hobby. Both of your parents passed away and you are being given the scholarship, but you don't go to school. Am I right?

SPEAKER_01 1:26

Jack is being astonished and staring at Abraham with his eyes wide open.

SPEAKER_03 1:31

Why are you asking this?

SPEAKER_02 1:33

Well, let me finish. Actually, our earth is a dangerous place. Therefore, I want you to become a member of NASA, and I want you to board a spaceship.

SPEAKER_01 1:44

Silence.

SPEAKER_02 1:46

The rest is very important, so let's go into a coffee shop.

SPEAKER_01 1:50

Interior coffee shop. The waiter puts the coffee and the apple pie Abraham ordered in front of the two of them.

SPEAKER_02 1:58

I want to make sure that you are not disgracing the Emperor's blood. In other words, I want to test whether you can solve a problem in a completely sealed room similar to a space station.

SPEAKER_01 2:11

Jack is drinking the coffee and looking at Abraham with upturned eyes, doing it with lively expressions.

SPEAKER_02 2:19

Your task is the following. We will use sounds, TV, and newspapers to attack you. You have to escape from the room by making a source cease. What about the key? We will observe your actions for a day on a monitor. We set you free if you solve the problem.

SPEAKER_03 2:48

Pretty tough, right? Don't worry.

SPEAKER_02 2:51

Okay. Settled. I will quickly take you to the apartment.

SPEAKER_01 2:56

They both leave the coffee shop. Interior. The car Abraham is driving. Abraham is holding the wheel and Jack is sitting on the rear seat.

SPEAKER_02 3:06

There is something I forgot to mention. The food is provided by home delivery only. We will cover the costs. Order what you wish. And you can marry a beautiful girl when you succeed.

SPEAKER_01 3:19

Jack becomes very excited and shows blissful emotions.

SPEAKER_02 3:24

And you will have to live within limited resources. Which means only fridge, TV, bed, and newspapers.

SPEAKER_01 3:31

The car arrives at the apartment. Interior, apartment. Abraham locks the door and descends. Footsteps are audible. Interior, the top floor of the apartment. Abraham, an old woman, and a man are watching a monitor showing Jack in a room with audio recorders. Jack's body and subtitles are visible on the screen. We got him again.

SPEAKER_04 3:57

Maggie, deceiving a fool is not a big issue. I want to be like that, but.

SPEAKER_02 4:03

What time does Katy get home? Second or third. She will make it to Jack's test.

SPEAKER_01 4:09

The three of them are focusing on the monitor. Interior, Jack's room. There's a phone on the table and a sofa in front of the bed and the TV in the room. The curtains are shut in front of all the windows. Jack is sitting on the sofa watching TV and reading newspapers. Named My Asa. Means every sun rises. He is watching news programs and reading the newspaper.

SPEAKER_03 4:36

What is an attack? Oh, the female announcer is wearing black clothes. She is stylish. And the people in the advertisement box of the newspaper are also painted in black. Oh yes, I need to order a pizza.

SPEAKER_01 4:52

Jack makes a phone call.

SPEAKER_03 4:53

Hello? I would like a yellow apple pizza. Yes, I moved here.

SPEAKER_01 4:58

Jack hangs up the phone and sits on the sofa again. At the same time, the sound of an opening window and footsteps from the residence above are audible.

SPEAKER_02 5:08

Go home. Jack, go home.

SPEAKER_01 5:11

The same words are audible from the fridge. Jack is frightened. The chime in the room rings. Jack goes to open the door and sees the delivery guy.

SPEAKER_03 5:21

I brought your pizza. What? Where's the guy who always delivers? He resigned.

SPEAKER_01 5:27

Jack takes the pizza. The delivery guy leaves, descending the stairs, and his footsteps are audible. Jack wants to place the pizza inside the fridge. Jack reads. Newspaper. The people in the advertisement box of the newspaper are also painted black. Sounds from the fridge. Black, black, Jack, black, black, Jack. The sound of the footsteps of the resident on the second floor intensifies. The sound of the open window is more and more intensive. Jack is puzzled by the sound from the fridge. He places the pizza in the fridge and sits on the sofa. Footsteps from the second floor are audible in the room where the sofa is, and he can hear the noise of the opening window. Mysterious sounds are still audible to his ears. Mysterious sounds. Jack, Poro Poro, Jack, Poro Boro. Jack is perplexed. And he is about to open the curtain in front of the window. Footsteps are moving. The curtains he thought of to be made of cloth are actually made of iron, and he cannot open them. Jack is thinking while he is standing.

SPEAKER_03 6:33

They must be reading my thoughts. I will make the cause speed. The reason should be investigated. It's written that humans are found by their emotions and are unable to comprehend it.

SPEAKER_01 6:50

Ordinary sounds, such as housewives, chat, ambulance, and patrol car siren are audible from the other side of the window. Jack can hear sounds from the tenants next door. Sounds from the tenants. Jack, do it, do it, do it. Jack switches off the TV. He lies down on the bed and tries to sleep. The sound of footsteps sneaks into the bedroom, and the sound of the opening window above his head is audible too. Jack can hear howling with his right ear, and he hears the patrol cars siring with his left ear. Jack is struggling to fall asleep, and he is tossing about in his bed. The morning comes without him sleeping a second. His face shows fatigue.

SPEAKER_03 7:35

Well, this happened to me every day. I wonder if it if it will last while reading my Asta. Who the hell lives on the second floor and this cruel thing they are doing?

SPEAKER_01 7:48

Jack goes to the living room to watch TV. The sound of the footsteps is moving, and the opening door is heard. He wants to switch the TV on, but it gives no signal. The TV is unplugged, and he realizes that it was on battery power. The sounds are reverberating in both of his right and left ear. Left ear, TV, TV, TV, newspaper, newspaper.

SPEAKER_03 8:12

What the hell is this? Is this the TV? I shouldn't be carried away by the TV at this stage.

SPEAKER_01 8:19

Jack plugs the TV in. The TV broadcasts news. The news are not different from the news of yesterday. Jack realizes this with a start.

SPEAKER_03 8:28

Wait. The sound disappeared when I went to the living room.

SPEAKER_01 8:34

The time rings. Jack opens the front door. A small and pretty girl is standing in front of him. Good morning. I'm upstairs. My name is Hampton. I have just moved here so I can't exchange greetings. This is my green brother. Hampton gives some sweets to Jack. Jack takes them. Hampton leaves, and the footsteps are audible.

SPEAKER_03 8:56

Hampton. She doesn't seem to be a bad person. The sounds of the footsteps might belong to Abraham.

SPEAKER_01 9:04

Interior, the top floor. There is an audio system in Jack's living room that is adjusted to the layout of the room. Used in the living room, used in the bathroom, sound of footsteps, outdoors, etc. Maggie turns to the voice change microphone and indecently shouts into the microphone. TV.

SPEAKER_02 9:27

TV. TV. Newspaper. Newspaper. Black. Black.

SPEAKER_01 9:36

Pat looks at the monitor and checks Jack's position and the subtitles. Abraham measures Jack's brainwave. The young female doctor in white clothes enters the room. Miss Catsy, we've been waiting for you. How is my heart? I don't want to die due to a heart attack.

SPEAKER_04 9:54

It should be fine. How is the subject? He's a tough guy. I'm looking at the letters representing his thoughts, but he seems to be a bit different from the other subjects. He does not hurt the tenants upstairs.

SPEAKER_03 10:07

Understood. In case things would seem to leak out, please kill him with ordinary method.

SPEAKER_02 10:13

Understood.

SPEAKER_01 10:14

Cassie leaves the room. Maggie goes to the bedroom to sleep. Interior, Jack's room. Jack has his pizza in the fridge, so he goes to the kitchen from the living room. The sounds of the footsteps and the windows are not audible this time, but there are sounds from the outside. The fridge doesn't sound this time, but instead, the sound G of absorption is audible.

SPEAKER_03 10:39

Now I understood. The sound ceases when I change rooms. That one. That one. That one, Jack.

SPEAKER_01 10:47

Jack goes back to the living room again and switches the TV on.

SPEAKER_03 10:52

If that's the case, what should I do with the TV? There should be something with this TV. Okay, let's find the peculiarities of this TV just as Kant has written it.

SPEAKER_01 11:03

Jack stares at the TV.

SPEAKER_03 11:05

Speaking of TV, electromagnetic waves, battery function with no need for a power cable, and the nudes. Yes, I I had been watching the TV on battery.

SPEAKER_01 11:16

Jack keeps watching the TV for a little while. Interior, the top floor of the building. Maggie retreats to the bedroom, and Pat and Abraham are monitoring Jack.

SPEAKER_04 11:26

Abraham, Jack does not seem to move at all for a little while. Oh, are you drinking?

SPEAKER_02 11:32

Yes, because I'm so bored.

SPEAKER_04 11:35

There's something wrong with the audio cards. Please order a new one from the internet.

SPEAKER_01 11:40

Abraham is drunk and he is searching for something on the computer.

SPEAKER_04 11:44

Maggie is not here, so let's not make sounds. But automatic reverberations only. Understood.

SPEAKER_01 11:51

They keep monitoring Jack. Interior, Jack's room. Jack keeps watching the TV for many hours. There is a huge advert showing a power cable plugged out to promote energy saving.

SPEAKER_03 12:05

The power cable? Yes, I once had a computer.

SPEAKER_01 12:09

Jack moves back to the living room. The sound of the footsteps moves back accordingly. Jack takes out his computer from the things he moved and launches it. He connects to the internet using wireless LAN. Mailbox. Confirmation email of the order of a VD audio set.

SPEAKER_03 12:28

What the hell is this? I don't have a memory of ordering this. Or is that the power cable?

SPEAKER_01 12:34

Jack disconnects from the wireless LAN and plugs the power cable worriedly. In that moment, very intense howling is audible from outside.

SPEAKER_03 12:43

Okay. The power source is being held. It says T B, T B, T B to make me use the power source plug. Good. I stopped it. The sound that the window gives is to make the audio system in Abraham's room audible.

SPEAKER_01 12:58

The blitz causes Jack to smile. However, he quickly turns about it.

SPEAKER_03 13:02

Wait. Still there are mysteries. What is with the newspaper? How does Abraham know what I'm thinking of? Well, alright. He he knows what I'm thinking of now, so he will talk to me.

SPEAKER_01 13:15

Jack turns to his side in the bed. Interior, the top floor of the building. Abraham becomes sober and his face twitches. He says something to Pat.

SPEAKER_02 13:25

Damn, it leaked out.

SPEAKER_04 13:27

Why did it leak?

SPEAKER_02 13:28

We purchased the audio system using Jack's computer. The confirmation letter of the order regarding the audio system is in the mailbox.

SPEAKER_04 13:37

It shouldn't have leaked out. Everything is because you are drinking. Take responsibility for it.

SPEAKER_02 13:42

Understood.

SPEAKER_01 13:43

Abraham changes into his uniform. His expressions are cornered.

SPEAKER_04 13:48

Don't look like that. This is a happy story. So please smile.

SPEAKER_01 13:52

Abraham changes his facial expressions and leaves the room.

SPEAKER_00 14:17

In Jack's room, Abraham opens the room with the key and enters. Abraham. Congratulations! You passed the test. Jack is showing satisfaction. Jack, thank you. However, this is something absurd. These all lead to intimidation, injuries, and theft. Abraham. Well, you shouldn't FT say that. We don't FT use this on other people. Even if we change the story, nothing will attack you. Now you can have some rest. Well, Abraham leaves the room. Jack is being happy. He takes off his clothes and enters the bathroom. Into the top floor of the building. Maggie wakes up and goes back to the room. Maggie? Ha ha. Ha ha. We can pray to the frozen body, can't we? Abraham. Pat, please show us the ultrasonic waves measuring his hearing ability on the phone. Pat is watching Jack having shower on the monitor, and she presses a button on the machine. In T Jack's room. Jack seems blissful, and he is humming under the shower. G. P hears Jack with his right ear. The sound is still audible, and Jack is surprised. Jack's thoughts. V-O. That F's terrible. But they said they won't have to do it again. Jack leaves the bathroom and he lies down on the bed in the bedroom. Sounds of footsteps are audible, and the opening door creaks. Jack is startled. Jack's thoughts. V. O. continued. What the hell is this? The sound is still audible near Jack F's right ear. Jack of his thoughts. V. O. Conted. What is this? It got cooler. The cold makes him cover himself with a blanket. Jack's thoughts. V. O. continued. Oh, my heart is beating fast! Jack wakes up and goes to the kitchen hurriedly to drink plenty of water. Jack sighs in relief and calms down. Jack's thoughts. VO continued. This is definitely a heart failure. I might have cooled it down with the shower. Jack boils some water to make a coffee and goes to the living room. We're intained. The top floor of the building. Cruelty is visible in both Pat S and Abraham F's eyes. Abraham, electromagnetic waves, take them. Pat presses the button on the machine once more with anger into Jack's room. Living room. The metals and the plastic objects in the living room are creaking all around the place. Jack's thought. V O continues. What? My body is hot. Again, my heart. But although the surface of my body is cooling down, my heart is hot. This is totally like being in a microwave oven. Oh yeah? Electrons! This must have to do something with the electrons. The perspiration is oozing out on Jack's face. Jack goes to the kitchen to drink plenty of water again. He is standing and keeps thinking. Jack's thought. VO continued. I got it! This is like this. The sounds entering into my ears are voices made of electrical current containing electrons when I place the phone and the receiver near my ear. The objects made of iron sound because they are reacting to the electrons. Speaking of iron hair, yes, it is like this. The inner brain electrons accumulate in my hair, and they jump around when they are triggered by the electrons in the digital TV waves from both directions. And Abraham under my and Abraham understands my thought by my reading TV. How is this Abraham on the top floor of the building? Maggie F his face becomes serious. Maggie will kill him without delay. Resort to force. Abraham takes his gun out of his pocket, turns red, and leaves the room. In Jack's room, living room. Jack is relaxing and drinking coffee while watching TV. He is full of bliss. Jack's thoughts. Vio. An amazing girl at NASA. We could hold a wedding in space couldn't have to week. News at the TV. A secret international association in Italy was discovered at 10 a.m. this morning. The members of the association are doctors experimenting with humans and using NASA as a bait. Their goal is to receive the Nobel Prize in medicine. Jack stands up unconsciously and faints. Jack's thoughts Vio continued. Isn't it me? That is terrible. I am going to get killed. I should do something, actually. Has the pizza delivery guy been replaced? If that is the case, let me make the first move before I get killed. The chime in the room rings. Jack takes a short knife from the kitchen, he hides in the entrance and opens the door. The pizza delivery guy smiles at Jack and starts talking. The delivery guy. Good evening, Mr. Jack. I came to hand over a special coupon to thank you for your frequent orders. And Jack suddenly pulls the delivery guy into the room. Jack and the delivery guy scuffle with each other. Abraham appears and points the muzzle to Jack. The delivery guy fails to comprehend the situation and clings to Abraham's arm. In that moment, the electric switch of the room switches off, and the room becomes completely dark. They keep on scuffling, and the muffle sounds in the dark with flickering. The delivery guy leaves the room and shouts for help. The delivery guy. Somebody, please come! The people from nearby gather around, and someone switches the light on in the room. Abraham got shot, and he is dying. And the top floor of the building. Maggie is watching the whole story on the monitor. Maggie is touching the air around her heart with pain. Maggie. Pat, call the doctor! Pat, Mom! Maggie collapses on the spot. Cassie arrives and checks the pulse of the old woman. Cassie. Pat! Maggie is dead. Take the dead body to the hiding place and let FS escape. Pat carries Maggie F's dead body on her back. Both of them leave the room and they surrender their position. EXT in front of the building. Curious onlookers, patrol car, and an ambulance are arriving and making noise. EXT, shopping street. Jack walks totteringly as before, with both of his hands in his pockets and with rounded shoulders. There is a mini theater on the corner of the shopping street, showing a production of ordinary people directed by the producer, Robert Redford. Jack's thoughts, V.O. Ordinary People. Jack sighs, gives a sideward look to the mini-theater, and walks away totteringly. His back is visible. NA. The association has been discovered by the policy, and their hiding place got destroyed. The delivery guy of the M-A-I-A-S-A has also been arrested as a gang member. The dead body of the old woman was found at their hiding place. Jack has not been found guilty. The delivery guy has been found innocent as acting in self-defense. Goddess does not smile if it is not a person who did a big job. Even though there is a difference in degree in daily work, such as a big chance. Living while enjoying small enjoyment as a food of daily work, that is life.