The screenplay for the movie ”Alien” is famous in the movie business for its short lines that read like haiku… or scfifaiku (science-fiction haiku). I borrowed the screenplay once from Praxis Centre for Screenwriters. Here are extracts:
ALIEN
by Walter Hill
and David Giler
Based on screenplay
by
Dan O’Bannon
Story by
Dan O’Bannon and Ronad Shusette
REVISED FINAL
JUNE 1978
(page 1)
INT. CORRIDOR TO HYPERSLEEP VAULT
Lights come on.
Seven gowns hang from the curved wall.
Vault door opens.
(page 2, a space tanka)
INT. GALLEY
Kane plugs in a Silex.
Lights a cigarette.
Coughs.
Grinds some coffee beans.
Runs some water through.
(page 2)
INT. HYPERSLEEP VAULT
Another lid pops open.
A young woman sits up.
(page 2)
INT. GALLEY
(Coffee) Pot now half-full.
Kane watches it drip.
Inhales the fragrance.
Old Pond Comics 