"This is definitely an improvement and heading in the right direction. Great notes from Kevin and Sara. We especially like Sara's suggestion to continue to define what the problem is. There are a couple of spots where Elinor sounds a bit too mature or on-the-nose -- we've pointed them out below. Curriculum note: * It would be nice to know how you specifically see how the learning goals are applied in the story. Also, you can add ET2 since the kids use a magnifying glass in the story. Ant note of inquiry: * Did you all end up talking to the bug guy at UMD?? We’d love to know! " 1. EXT. elinor’s windowsill (TIGHT) – DAY This draft helps to streamline the content. I do think somewhere between lines 27-35 the charcters should define their problem clearly. "The problem is we don't have enough to build everyone's castles". The take away message that animals work together and share resources is appropriate and an important lesson in preschool in general. We just want to be as direct as possible while allowing the characters the discovery of this idea. Great script! its coming together nicley. A few things need clarification, noted below Open on an extremely close view of scurrying ANTS (Species: Formica exsectoides ) , carrying twigs, pine needles , and grass stems in a long line. We hear ELINOR narrating what she thinks the ants are saying, using a different cute voice for each ant. Looking f-ant-astic! Some tweaks to dialogue and some science concerns in the notes below. Elinor (V.O.) (a cute ant’s voice)) I just loooove carrying stuff. Come on, you guys! Another ant scurries into view, following the first. ELINOR (V.O.) (another ant’s voice) Stay in line, everyone! As the first two ants crawl off-screen, a third appears, lugging a giant twig with some difficulty. The word twig will be new to most preschoolers. If the visual context is very clear it might be OK or you could call it a stick. ELINOR (v.O.) (third ant’s voice) ( grunting ) This twig is too heavy for me. after line 3 - its described as a leaf - but after line 2 it was a giant twig. I assume its the same object Another ant enters and grabs the other side of the leaf. ELINOR (V.O.) (a low cute ant’s voice) Then I’ll help you carry it! The two ants begin to carry the leaf. 2. INT. elinor’s living room - conTINUOUS The camera pulls back to reveal that the ants are on the outside of the windowsill, and then we see Elinor, resting on her elbows and staring at the ants. She has been narrating their thoughts all along, and she giggles at the silliness of it. ANGLE ON: HAZEL and ARI enter the room, each carrying a comically tall stack of pillows and cushions. Elinor is so absorbed in the ants that she doesn’t notice. Hazel drops her cushions in a pile in front of her. <SFX: Plop!> hazel Here they are, Elinor! Every cushion and pillow in your house! A ri , nearly invisible behind his tall stack, bumps into the now-stopped HAZEL and drops everything onto his head. ArI Whoa! He pops up from inside the pile. ari (CONT’D) Not to mention most of the blankets. ELINOR, HAZEL, ARI (Laugh) ELINOR Thanks, Hazel! Thanks, Ari! ArI Is this enough to build our couch cushion castle? ELINOR I hope so! Let me just get a few more . ANGLE ON: During the next lines of dialogue, ELINOR removes the cushions from the living room couch and stacks them next to Hazel’s. Might be worth being specific in this first instance of idea-sharing: "I have SO many different ideas for what it should look like!" Elinor (CONT’D) I have SO many different ideas! The view of the living room widens to make room for ELINOR’s THOUGHT BUBBLE, which appears next to her, filled with drawings of her plans in red crayon as she describes them. after 13 - Hazel carries a pillow over her head yet she's dropped her stack of pillows earlier ELINOR (CONT’D) It’s going to have a slide ... and a telescope ... and a big window for ant-watching! Hazel walks by balancing a pillow on her head. HAZEL I’ve got some ideas, too! HAZEL’S THOUGHT BUBBLE appears, crowding out ELINOR’s. It fills with drawings of what HAZEL describes, this time outlined in green crayon. book room' sounds odd when said out loud - maybe ' a Giant room for my books!' HAZEL (CONT’D) I want a room for my crayons ... a room for my sparkles ... and a GIANT BOOK ROOM! ELINOR You mean a library? hAZEL (excited) Yes! My very own LIBRARY! The excitement is building for all of them, and ARI starts jumping from cushion to cushion. aRI Ooh ! I have ideas, too! ARI’S THOUGHT BUBBLE appears and crowds out HAZEL’s, with his favorite design choices appearing in blue crayon. His action to topple off the pillow he's standing on would probably read better if he deliberatly did it. He jumps up and back when he yells out ' Bubble fountain!' landing on a pile of pillows aRI (CONT’D) I want a drawbridge ...a racetrack ...a nd a BUBBLE FOUNTAIN! He says this last line with such gusto that he loses his balance on the cushion on which he’s standing, and topples off, landing on a pile of more cushions. All three THOUGHT BUBBLE BURST! "top of page 4 - Ari is struggling with pulling one of the cushions off the couch because its triple the size of the others yet we have Elinor pulling the cushions off the living room counch after line 11 - are these not the same? OR we can play it that they are little decorative cushions that sit on the couch - and NOT the actually couch cushions " ELINOR ( giggles ) Okay! Let’s! Start! Building! We see a series of shots of the three kids building their castles; <MFX: FORT BUILDING MUSIC>. ANGLE ON: Elinor balances cushions by the window, then peeks to confirm she can still see the ants from the cozy nook she’s created. ANGLE ON: Ari drapes a blanket between two pieces of furniture and smiles at his new cave. ANGLE ON: Hazel lines up books on top of a cushion to make a bookshelf, then holds them in place with her hands while adding another cushion to the top with her trunk. Everything is going well for the kids, who are pleased at their progress. But soon they encounter difficulties. ANGLE ON: Elinor stacks three cushions of various sizes, looking a little unsure of how to do it, in an inverted triangle. It falls over. She frowns, then attempts it again. The structure stands for a moment, then topples once more. ANGLE ON: Ari turns , struggling to p ull a cushion triple the size of all the others off of the couch . (It had been in the living room the whole time and was not one of the ones that he and Hazel carried earlier.) ARI ( struggling to lift the cushion ) Augh ! ANGLE ON: Elinor balances a cushion to make a slide, but the moment her back is turned, Hazel takes it. Elinor returns with a blanket to drape over her slide, but she notices that the slide is mysteriously gone. She then notices it in Hazel’s castle. <MFX: FORT BUILDING MUSIC fades.> ELINOR Hazel, that’s supposed to be my slide. Elinor puts her hands on the cushion, but Hazel keeps holding it. HAZEL But it’s the perfect shape for the wall of my crayon room. Hazel gives the pillow a small tug, not mean-spiritedly, but she’s clearly disappointed that she can’t build her castle as planned. Change to: "But I need it for my slide." ELINOR Hazel! Elinor doesn’t let go. Ari pops up in the middle of his friends. aRI You guys, let’s not fight over the pillows. Just then ELINOR loses her grip, and the pillow hits ARI gently in the chest and knocks him into a pillow. ARI (CONT’D) ( effort sound) Elinor and Hazel look concerned for a beat . Ari jumps smiling. ARI (CONT’D) (gleefully) Never mind! Pillow fight!!! Kevin, thanks for thinking of this -- we think it's okay as is, though. It shows the girls are in on the game and it's not just Ari deciding to hit them with pillows :) do we need them to repeat 'Pillow Fight' here? only thinking about PBS note in first draft on not repeating it too much Elinor/hazel/Ari PILLOW FIGHT! The three kids playfully (and safely) bonk each other with pillows, giggling all the while. ElINOR, HAZEL, ARI (giggling wildly, ad lib) Gotcha / Whoo-hoo / Take that! This continues for a few seconds, and no one is hit in the head. However, some of the pillows they grab for the fight had been support structures for their castles. When the fight is over, the kids collapse, laughing, with HAZEL and ARI on the floor and Elinor atop a pile of pillows next to the window . ElINOR, HAZEL, ARI (CONT’D) (laughter winds down) With a good view of the ants again, Elinor gets distracted and resumes watching them. HAZEL That was fun! Ari sits up and looks around - their castle is now just a pile of pillows. ARI Yeah , but we haven’t finished building our castle! technically Ari and Hazel didnt use one anothers pillows - it was only Elinor and Hazel who had the conflicting moment. haZEL Well, you were using the cushions I needed. arI Me? But you were using the cushions I needed. PAN OUT TO: ELINOR isn’t listening. She’s back in her original pose, gazing at the ants out the window. HAZEL and ARI notice. again , this line explains that Hazel and Ari's conflict occured because Elinpr was using hers yet the conflict between hazel and Ari never occured HAZEL That’s because Elinor was using my cushions! Right, Elinor? Elinor does not answer, she’s too busy looking at the ants. ELINOR (interested) Oooooh. HAZEL Elinor? Hazel approaches Elinor. i dont think we need to repeat her name again - only "what are you looking at?" since she just called out to her in previous line. plus she also said her name in line 35 HAZEL (CONT’D) What are you looking at, Elinor? ari Whoa, are those ants? ANGLE ON: Elinor stares at the ants as before, with Hazel and A ri in the background. eLINOR Uh-huh. Look! They’re all carrying something. ari Cool. Ari and Hazel come closer to the windowsill. haZEL They’re carrying things, just like we were carrying our cushions. Now that we've settled on a new title, is it worth working in "I wonder why..." when there's a natural way to do sol? Here, for example, Elinor could say: I wonder why they're doing that? to lead into line 44 ElinOR I wonder where they’re going. CLOSE UP: Elinor’s face, staring in fascination at the ants. "Were" should be "Where" eLINOR (CONT’D) we will have her run out the front door as it's closest based on the house design Typo: "WHERE are they carrying all that stuff?" Were are they carrying all that stuff? Suddenly she springs up and runs toward the back door, grabbing a magnifying glass on the way out. I have been wondering with this story about the kids going into a basement room and seeing the inside of an anthill that is pushed up against a basement window. I know you want to get the kids outside but it could be cool for them to see the inside of an anthill from a window. ELINOR (CONT’D) Let’s follow them outside . Come on! Ari and Hazel share a shrug, then follow Elinor out the door. Ari playfully bounces on a couple cushions on his way out. after line 46 - it reads that Hazel grabs her satchel (which has her notebook etc) however inline 51 she runs back in to get her book. therefore I suggest we remove this action here and then when she returns after line 56, she can be carrying her book with her satchel over her shoulder ARI (ad libs bouncy sounds while bouncing, like “ boing !” or “pew!”) Hazel grabs her satchel (which has her notebook and crayons inside) . (This isn’t the first time she’s followed an excited Elinor into the woods, and she knows it’s useful to have these.) 3. EXT. ELINOR’S YARD - CONTINUOUS CU: The ants busily transport useful bits down their line. Behind them, we see ELINOR running up, her face peering over their ranks. ARI and HAZEL soon join her. ANGLE ON: The three kids studying the line of ants. It’s a long, long line! ELINOR, HAZEL, ARI (ad lib) Whoa!/Wow!/There are so many! correction in description after line 47 - Assuming the big anthills start out small, you can basically make this anthill whatever size makes sense for design. Excited ad libbing continues as the kids follow the ant line: around Elinor’s house, through the garden, up - and abruptly back down - a wall, diverted around a puddle. At one point, they pass the magnifying glass from Elinor to Hazel to Ari. Elinor and Hazel use it to examine the ant line, while Ari makes a silly face that he magnifies to make Elinor and Hazel laugh. Typo in the description above this line, last sentence: "…whatever SIZE…" Finally they arrive at the anthill, NOTE: Formica exsectoides do build really huge anthills out of sticks, pine needles and dirt, but we may not want to make our anthill so big it is distracting. Assuming the big anthills start out small, you can basically make this anthill whatever sign makes sense for design . HaZEL Wow, look at that ! ARI This is why the ants were carrying all those twigs and pine needles! They’re building a hill. eLINOR How can those tiny ants build such a big hill? hAZEL It’s an anthill! I read about it in one of my books. I’ll go get it! Hazel runs back into the house to retrieve the book. CU: While they wait, Elinor and Ari study the ants entering and leaving the anthill. If we're doing an Thatching Ant mound, I'm not sure they enter from the top. This link suggest they do it through holes on the side: http://bugoftheweek.com/blog/2016/7/25/mounds-of-mountain-marvels-allegheny-mound-ant-iformica-exsectoidesi Consult expert? ARI It looks like the ants are going in the little hole at the top. Elinor resumes her ant-narration voice. CU on the ants as their voices are narrated, though not quite as close as before. This way Elinor and Ari can be seen a bit, so it’s clear they’re narrating the ant voices. eLINOR (ant voice) I don’t even know what a book is! I’m just a n ant. Having heard her ant voice for the first time, Ari giggles. Add to this line: "If you're an ANT, then I must be an UNCLE!" aRI (trying out his own ant voice) Then I must be an uncle! ELINOR (ant voice) Look! I’m waving my ANT-enna ! ARI (ant voice) And I’m not wearing p...ANTS ! They laugh, while Hazel returns behind them with the book. hAZEL I’ve g ot it! It’s here in my Nature Book. HAZEL holds up a book with BIG PICTURE OF AN ANTHILL Hazel (CONT’D) There’s a part here that’s all about ants! ANIMATED STORYBOOK ILLUSTRATION: We pan around a simply animated cutaway of an anthill, showing the various chambers as Hazel narrates. The illustrations are cartoony and fun but not overly anthropomorphic : nurse ants tending little pupae, ants snoozing in a sleeping chamber , ants re trieving food from an ant pantry. or 61 - This should include mention of most of it being underground since Ari references that in Line 62. HAZEL (V.O.) Add a sentence about materials, to cover our science bases: "Many ants live in big places called anthills. Most anthills are made of dirt, but some also use twigs and pieces of grass. Ants have rooms just for their babies, rooms for sleeping, and even special places for their garbage." Many ants live in big places called anthills. Ants have rooms just for their babies , rooms for sleeping, and even special places for dumping garbage. BACK TO the three kids staring at the anthill. ELINOR Wow! Is that all happening INSIDE? On the description below this line, there's another reference to the opening being on the top. hAZEL Yup ! It’s kind of like we’re looking at the roof. CU: The anthill, where an ant pokes itself out the top of the opening. Then a large stick (large to the ant) is placed gently next to the ant, which regards it curiously. Zoom out to see that Elinor is holding the stick, smiling, trying to entice the ant to crawl on it. The ant does, then runs off, which makes Elinor giggle. Change "underground house" to "hill" or "anthill" eLINOR That is SO INTERESTING! But...how can these tiny ants make such a big underground house? Change "house" to "play castle" OR change the line to: "Yeah, especially when WE can't even build a pillow castle. And we're BIG!" aRI Yeah, especially when WE can’t even build a house out of pillows. And we’re BIG! HaZEL (flipping through the book) Hmm. I’m not sure. "Then let's see if we can figure it out!" seemed a little mature to us. Is there another way that's more naturally kid-like? Something along the lines of "Maybe if we keep watching the ants, we can figure it out. We need more observations!' eLINOR Add exclamation to We need MORE OBSERVATIONS! Then let’s see if we can figure it out! We need more observations. They all lie down, elbows on the ground, to observe. ANGLE ON: the ant line in the foreground with the kids in the background. We see what Elinor was watching at the beginning: ants scurrying busily, many of them carrying twigs, pine needles , etc. eLINOR (CONT’D) Well, the ants a re all bringing things to and from the anthill. Would be great to tie the kids' realizations more explicitly to the problems they experienced earlier. Hazel: Why aren't they bumping into each other, like we did? hAZEL Why aren’t they bumping into each other more? ARI It’s like they know exactly where to go. Suggest breaking this line up and giving the first half to Ari, so that line 68 becomes: It's like they know exactly where to go, like they all have a plan that they're following." (This doesn't address Sara's note, but you get the idea.) Then line 69 is Hazel's: I guess we didn't really plan our castle... we just started building. hAZEL I think it might be a stretch to give the idea that the ants "planned" the anthill. I think the charcters observing that the ants only having one anthill not three or three thousand. And then the realization if they are going to build one castle they will need to plan together. Like they had a plan for making the anthill, and they’re all following the plan. We didn’t really plan our castle...we just started building. CU: An ant enters carrying a giant twig . It’s larger than anything they’ve seen the ants moving so far. eLINOR And look! That stick is way bigger than the ant that’s carrying it! That must be the strongest ant ever! The kids watch THREE ants carrying a large twig together . eLINOR, HAZEL, ARI Oh!/Look at that!/There are three of them! aRI More ants means they can carry more. hAZEL Yeah, t hey’re helping each other. ANGLE ON: Elinor stands. Let's add more to this: And we didn't do that. Ari, you had a hard time carrying that big cushion all by yourself. eLINOR (disappointed) Change this line to simply "Hmmm…" And we didn’t do that. Hazel rises to her knees, dusting off her elbows. This line feels out of character. Change to: "Wow, these guys are f-ant-tastic! They're all building the anthill together!" ARI (still on the ground) It’s amazing. They’re not each making their own anthill, they’re all building one anthill together. “They helped each other” and “They all worked together” are essentially the same. Is there a way to differentiate a bit more – maybe through examples? “They helped each other carry things.” “They all worked together to build” ELINOR If she says Hmm in line 74, you can delete the Hmm here. Hmm... They made a plan. They helped each other. And they all worked together. Elinor’s face suddenly lights up; she has an idea! eLINOR (CONT’D) That’s it! I know how we’re going to build our castle! hAZEL W hat do we do? It would be more fun for Elinor to say "We have to act like ants!" ("Work together" is only one of the things the characters mentioned in line 76, plus it feels a little too on-the-nose.) ELINOR We’re going to WORK TOGETHER! Mirroring her sudden run out the door, she suddenly runs back inside. Ari and Hazel once again look at each other, smile, and shrug, then follow Elinor back inside. CROSSFADE TO: 4. INT. ELINOR’S LIVING ROOM - A BIT LATER ELINOR, HAZEL, and ARI once more stand in ELINOR’s living room, next to the pile of cushions. Change to: "Ok, ant BUILDERS! Let's build our castle!" eLINOR Okay , ants ! Let’s build our castle! COOPERATIVE CASTLE BUILDING MONTAGE The kids sing as we show a montage of them planning and working together on their castles. They also do a few silly things, like pretending to crawl in a line while carrying pillows on their backs. ANGLE ON: Elinor revisits her three couch cushions of different sizes. But before stacking them, Hazel shows her a small drawing she made of the three cushions stacked in a triangle. Hazel helps Elinor stack the cushions the new way, and this time the cushions don’t topple. eLINOR (CONT’D) (singing) It’s everyone, it’s not just me who plans a castle carefully. Suggest changing "it helps you know just what to do" to "it helps to know just what to do." HAZEL (singing) ‘Cause when you stop and think it through, it helps you know just what to do. ANGLE ON: Ari once again tries to remove the giant cushion from the couch, but he can’t - until Elinor and Hazel come over. Together, the three of them carry the cushion and place it as a wall in the castle. ARI (singing) So if I need the biggest cushion, "This line feels a bit awkward. Suggestions: ""We can help you with the pushing"" ""We'll lend a hand to push, 'cause…"" (lead into the next line)" Elinor, hazel (singing) We’ll be helpin’ you and not pushin’ Consider changing: Cause doing it together is fun ARI (singing) ‘Cause doing it yourself is fun "COnsider changing: And three ants can lift more than * one!" ELINOR, HAZEL, ARI (singing) "Seems a little weird to say it's fun to do it by yourself. Suggest: 'Cause building by yourself isn't fun, It's together that you get it done!" But three ants can lift more than one! ANGLE ON: The three kids draw their castle together on a single piece of paper, gesturing at each other’s contributions with excitement. We can’t see what they’re drawing yet, but it’s evident that they’re working together on a single design. "correction ALL: Let’s work together! Let’s work together! That’s the way we do it better. Let’s work together! Let’s work together!" ALL: Let’s work together! Let’s work together! That’s the way do it better. Let’s work together! Let’s work together! ELINOR: To build the best hill ever known, HAZEL: A hill of dirt and twig and stone, ARI: An ant can’t do it all alone. (big finish) But we can do it if we work TOGETHER! END MONTAGE: When the song ends, the castle is nearly finished, and they look at it proudly, hands on hips. A single THOUGHT BUBBLE appears, with trails to all three kids. Inside the thought bubble are Elinor’s original planned castle in red crayon, Hazel’s original planned castle in green crayon, and Ari’s original planned castle in blue crayon. The three drawings are in different parts of the thought bubble, not touching each other. aRI We worked together just like the ants! Change this line to: Yeah, we planned, we helped each other out, and we shared… HAZEL We couldn’t all make exactly what we wanted because we don’t have enough pillows... As she says this, portions of each crayon drawing fade, leaving about a third of each. This wrap-up from Elinor sounds VERY mature and a little heavy-handed. Is there a way to loosen it up and make it sound more kid-like? She also mentions "sharing" for the first time -- that wasn't brought up in line 76. ELINOR Change this line to: "And we made an amazingly awesome incredible ANT HILL CASTLE!" ...but by planning carefully, helping each other, and sharing, we made an amazingly awesome incredible mega-ANT HILL CASTLE! after 89 it reads that after the thought bubble disappears, it reveals the actual castle and yet at the end of the montage on page 12 it reads that the song ends, the castle is nearly finsihed and they look at it proudly. they havent physically added anything during this time - are we playing it that as the thought bubble seq is coming together, they are continuing to build? The remaining portions of the drawings slide together to make a multicolored, multifaceted castle that doesn’t look as stylistically coherent as before, and in fact looks a little like an anthill. Then the thought bubble disappears to reveal their actual castle, which looks magnificent! Elinor runs to her slide. ELINOR (CONT’D) I got my slide! HAZEL I got my library! ARI And I got my drawbridge! ELINOR Ants, we’ve got one more piece to move! She indicates the largest pillow (the one ARI couldn’t lift before), and together the three of them hoist it on top of the castle: the roof! Change the "Oops" to "Wait!" eLINOR (CONT’D) Oops, make that two more pieces! Elinor quickly opens the door and reaches outside for a stick with a large leaf attached. Together they push it into the top of the castle as a flag. hAZEL, ARI (ad lib) Perfect! / This is awesome! No more comments after this line. ELINOR All ants into the castle! The kids laugh, then eagerly play in their new castle. suggest maybe they put on their 'ant' voices from ealrier as they laugh and play ELINOR, HAZEL, ARI (ad lib sounds of playing) FADE OUT, THE END.

ET 107 The House that Ants Built - D2 22Jan19 .

CONT’D Hoookey Loulou Louolou NORMAAAA Oooooh Tito WHOOOAAA WHOOOOAAAAA Wha-oh Whoooww aways squished whooooowwww whooowww

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ELINOR’S TOWN EP 107 The House that Ants Built By: Adam Ruben Elinor’s Question: How can tiny ants build such large anthills? Logline: Elinor, Hazel, and Ari disagree about the best way to build a couch cushion castle. Curriculum Goals: SEP1b . Ask more complex questions about observable phenomena. ENGINEERING STANDARD. Begin to understand that engineering is a collaborative process during which ideas can be exchanged and shared with others while defining a problem and working to design, test, and revise a solution. (Engineering standard from the PBS framework as suggested by Sara.) LS4 . Begin to understand that animals and plants depend on other living things and nonliving things in the environment to meet some of their needs. ND3 . ( RTL Crosscutting concept ‘Structure and Function’) Understand that structures and materials in the natural world can be used or can inspire the engineering of structures with similar function in the designed world Main Characters: Elinor, Hazel, Ari Secondary Characters: None Incidental Characters: Ants Backgrounds - Ant hill in Elinor's yard, Elinor's living room Props - couch cushions, blankets, magnifying glass, twigs and leaf bits, book, leaf-on-a-stick flag OUTLINE: December 13, 2018 FIRST DRAFT: January 4, 2019 SECOND DRAFT: January 22nd, 2019 ELINOR ARI HAZEL SALLY Kai Cam Camilla Al All Goat twins Elinor, Hazel, Ari HaZEL, Ari, ELINOR, hAZEL, aRI, sALLY SILAS ELINOR, HAZEL, ARI, sally, kai Hazel, ari, sallu, kai, Camilla, Goat Twins ELINOR AND hAZEL ELINOR/hazel Hazel/ari Elinor, hazel hAZEL, ARI (V.O.) (O.S.) (O.C.) (SUBTITLE) INT EXT I/E 2 4 CLUBHOUSE ON A HILL (WIDE) – DAY CLUBHOUSE -- DAY SMALL HILL -- DAY BOTTOM OF THE HILL -- DAY CLUBOUSE – LATER IRIS OUT THE END. INT. ELINOR'S LIVING ROOM EXT. ELINOR'S YARD DAY NIGHT AFTERNOON MORNING EVENING LATER MOMENTS LATER CONTINUOUS THE NEXT DAY A BIT LATER CUT TO: FADE IN: FADE OUT. FADE TO: DISSOLVE TO: BACK TO: MATCH CUT TO: JUMP CUT TO: FADE TO BLACK. CROSSFADE TO: