SUCKS
"Why Did You Ask That?"
Based on Build Don't Talk — Ch. 1: Our Education System Sucks
Silent film · 1 actor · 1 room · 5–6 minutes
No dialogue — text on screen only
KABIR — age 16–17
Setting — A small study room / bedroom
MASTER SHOOT LIST — EVERYTHING YOU NEED
01 Small desk with chair — centre of room
02 Science textbook (open, worn)
03 Sticky notes + pen
04 Wastepaper bin near desk
05 Report card — handwritten or printed: English 90, Maths 40
06 Thick notebook filled with handwritten stories/poems
07 A note pinned to wall (written by 'parents')
08 Desk drawer with a lock (or padlock prop)
09 Laptop — rejection email visible on screen
10 Participation certificate — shiny, official-looking
11 Pile of papers / bills on the table
12 Phone — WhatsApp open, notes app
13 Blank notebook (fresh, unused)
14 Two light sources — cold/blue for scenes 1–2, warm lamp for scenes 3–4
15 Handheld camera rig (for tight, shaky close-ups)
SCENE 1 THE QUESTION THAT WAS KILLED 0:00 – 1:30
MOOD — Starts warm and curious. After memory flash — cold, flat, grey-blue light. Handheld camera throughout.
SHOT 1 — OPENING / ESTABLISHING
CAMERA DIRECTION
Medium shot. Camera at desk height, slightly low angle. Kabir centred in frame.
Warm lamp light falls on the desk from the left. Room slightly out of focus behind him.
Handheld — very slight natural drift, not shaky.
Kabir sits at his desk staring at a science textbook. He genuinely reads — not passive. He scribbles in the
margin. Then writes on a sticky note. Hold on his face — curious, alive.
TEXT ON STICKY NOTE — ZOOM IN CLOSE
"But WHY does gravity pull things down and not up?"
CAMERA DIRECTION
Cut to extreme close-up of his hand writing the sticky note. Then back to his face — eyes lit up. Hold 3
seconds.
SHOT 2 — MEMORY FLASH
CAMERA DIRECTION
Cut to BLACK. White text on black screen — like a memory surfacing. No visuals. Cold, stark.
SCREEN TEXT — WHITE ON BLACK — MEMORY
Kabir: "Sir, but why does this happen?"
Teacher: "STOP ASKING STUPID QUESTIONS."
"Just memorise the formula. It will come in exams."
SHOT 3 — THE CRUMPLE
CAMERA DIRECTION
Back in room. NOW light has shifted — cold, blue-grey. Handheld tightens.
Camera slowly pushes in on his face as he looks at the sticky note.
Hold on his eyes — the moment curiosity dies. Close-up on his hand slowly crumpling the note.
Then wide shot of him tossing it in the bin. Let it land. Hold 2 seconds on the bin.
He opens the textbook again. Starts underlining mechanically — no feeling. Face completely flat.
KEY VISUAL
The crumpled sticky note in the bin. Consider a close-up push into the bin — curiosity literally
thrown away.
BOOK IDEA
"No question is stupid. It's just a way of seeing things. Why do some people in school have the right to
decide whether my question is stupid?"
PROPS NEEDED
Science textbook · Sticky notes · Pen · Wastepaper bin · Cold blue light source
SCENE 2 90 IN ENGLISH, 40 IN MATHS — SO YOU'RE USELESS 1:30 – 3:00
MOOD — Cold blue-grey continues. Flat, clinical. Camera starts wide — gradually tightens as pressure mounts.
SHOT 4 — THE REPORT CARD
CAMERA DIRECTION
Start: wide shot of the desk. Report card lying face down. Kabir picks it up.
SLOW ZOOM IN — camera creeps toward the card as he reads it. Hold on his face.
Then cut to close-up insert of the card. Make sure numbers are large and clear: English 90/100 — Maths
40/100.
CAMERA DIRECTION
INSERT SHOT: Extreme close-up of report card. Camera slowly drifts from 90 → 40. The drift tells the
story.
SHOT 5 — THE WRITING NOTEBOOK
CAMERA DIRECTION
He pulls out the notebook. Camera close — we must see it's full of real writing: stories, poems.
Cut between: his face reading his own writing (pride) → the report card (system's judgement) → the wall
note (parents' pressure).
This triangle of cuts is the emotional engine of the scene.
WALL NOTE — SHOT IN FOCUS, CAMERA HOLDS
"Focus on Maths. English won't get you anywhere."
"Science and Maths = good future."
"Writing is not a career."
SHOT 6 — THE LOCKED DRAWER
CAMERA DIRECTION
Slow, deliberate. He closes the notebook. Camera tight on his hands.
He slides it into the drawer. CLOSE-UP on the lock clicking shut.
Hold on the locked drawer for 4–5 seconds. Let it breathe.
Then cut to him opening the Maths textbook, staring blankly.
KEY VISUAL
The locked drawer. Shoot multiple takes — the click of the lock is everything. Frame the drawer low,
slightly under-lit. It should feel like a burial.
BOOK IDEA
"Our school system doesn't focus on our strengths. Instead it ridicules us for our weaknesses." The system
told him his 90 means nothing. His 40 is everything.
PROPS NEEDED
Report card · Writing notebook · Wall note (pinned) · Desk drawer + lock · Maths textbook
SCENE 3 THE CERTIFICATE MEANS NOTHING OUT HERE 3:00 – 4:30
MOOD — Still cold at the start. Begins warming as he realises. Camera starts to PULL BACK — giving him more
air in the frame. Turning point.
SHOT 7 — THE CERTIFICATE
CAMERA DIRECTION
He's rifling through a pile of papers. Camera medium shot. He finds the certificate — it catches light.
Initial pride: camera slightly low angle, tilts up slightly with him as he holds it up.
Then — reality hits. Camera slowly levels out. Flat again.
CAMERA DIRECTION
INSERT SHOTS: Cut between certificate → bills on table → rejection email on laptop → empty notebook
→ back to certificate.
SHOT 8 — THE REALISATION
CAMERA DIRECTION
He sets the certificate down gently — not angry, just done.
Camera starts PULLING BACK slowly. More room in the frame. He looks like he can breathe.
He opens the laptop — we don't see what he types. Then he reaches for the blank notebook.
SCREEN TEXT — COLD REALISATION
"Real life doesn't give you a certificate for showing up."
"Life is not fair. It is brutal."
"Nobody cares that you participated."
He opens the blank notebook. Writes one line at the top:
NOTEBOOK CLOSE-UP — CAMERA HOLDS
"What am I actually good at?"
BOOK IDEA
"You don't get a certificate of participation in real life. Life is not fair — it is brutal." This is the turning point.
He stops expecting the system to reward him just for existing.
PROPS NEEDED
Participation certificate · Pile of bills/papers · Laptop (rejection email) · Blank notebook + pen · Warm lamp (turn on
now)
SCENE 4 HE STARTS BUILDING 4:30 – 5:45
MOOD — Full warm. Soft golden lamp. Camera wide and steady — no more handheld anxiety. He owns the frame
now.
SHOT 9 — THE DRAWER OPENS
CAMERA DIRECTION
Close-up on the drawer. His hand reaches for it — same hand that locked it in Scene 2.
He opens it. Camera holds on his face as he takes out the writing notebook.
This is the emotional mirror of the locked drawer shot. Same angle, same framing. But now warm light.
Now open.
He opens it. Reads a few lines. For the first time in the film — something lights up in his face. Not a smile
yet. Just — alive again.
KEY VISUAL
Match the framing of the locked drawer shot exactly — same angle, same composition. The contrast
does all the work.
SHOT 10 — WRITING FAST
CAMERA DIRECTION
He picks up his pen and writes — fast, urgent, alive.
Camera drifts between his hand (close-up) and his face (medium). This is not memorising. This is
creating.
Slightly faster cuts. Not chaotic — just alive.
SHOT 11 — THE NETWORK
CAMERA DIRECTION
He reaches for his phone. INSERT SHOT of the notes app.
Camera holds on screen — we read the names. He circles them with his finger. Small smile.
He opens WhatsApp — camera stays on his hands typing. We don't need to read it.
PHONE NOTES — CLOSE-UP INSERT SHOT
"Priya — loves reading"
"Ravi — runs a blog"
"Ananya — wants to start a magazine"
SHOT 12 — THE LINE
CAMERA DIRECTION
He goes back to the notebook. Writes one line at the top of a fresh page.
Camera slowly zooms in — tight on the words. Hold for 5 seconds.
NOTEBOOK — SLOW ZOOM TO CLOSE-UP
"Know how you learn. Be curious. Build — don't just talk."
SHOT 13 — FINAL WIDE SHOT
CAMERA DIRECTION
Pull all the way back — widest shot in the film.
Kabir at his desk, warm light, notebook open, phone beside him.
He is small in the frame but not lost — centred, grounded.
Hold for 5 full seconds. Slow fade to black.
BOOK IDEA
"Know how you learn. Be curious, ask questions. Create a better human network." He didn't wait for school
to tell him who he is. He figured it out himself.
PROPS NEEDED
Writing notebook (from drawer) · Pen · Phone (notes + WhatsApp) · Warm lamp — full on · Wide lens for final shot
"The system measured him by his weaknesses."
"He chose to build on his strengths."
— FADE TO BLACK — END —