# sawedoff.occupied → THE COUNT · DUEL · choreography doc v1 (C, 27 Oct)

Concept approved 27 Oct 16:15, with the coordinator's changes applied:
- No gold wall and no springboard; her aerial is her own athletics.
- The end is on her back in the open, never against gold.

**Story:** Nitha is a dangerous fighter, and she knows a sawed-off holds TWO shells. She counts them out loud: "two", then "one". The duel is the count. Faris wins on craft: he turns the gun's own break-open hinge into a trap, and he fires the barrel she thought was spent.

**The cuts, the opening and the end, and why they belong here:**
- THE ARM AT THE ELBOW, blown off inside the snapped-shut breech. The forearm stays clamped in the gun: the weapon's own hinge does it.
- THE SICKLE HAND at the wrist. Her weapon hand, flung, sticks in the floor by its sickle.
- THE OPENING is the chest, up the front to the collarbones. She is mid-lunge with the sickle overhead, so the point-blank cone takes the front of her ribcage. It is not the belly.
- THE END: she is blown off her feet and lands ON HER BACK in the open. The dead face rolls upright toward the lens.

**Needs:** `{ kinds: ['FLOOR'], space: { w: 420 } }`, range close, victims 1, air false, no map element. Every prop is drawn or gold-cast by the kill.

**Casts (motivated, ink; all un-draw at the exit):**
- (a) Nitha · TWIN SICKLES ('blade'): she needs reach and two edges against a gun.
- (b) Faris · THE DOOR-SHIELD ('snap', back hand): an emergency block against her flying double strike. It is held overhead for one beat, then un-draws. It is never a backstop.

**Look:** dusk amber, crushed blacks, grain, a moving key-light vignette. The slow-mo goes cold and desaturated. Letterbox on the climax.

1 FH ≈ 65 u. F starts at x 0 facing right; N at x +190 facing left. Times are scene seconds.

## BEAT SHEET

### PHASE 0 · THE COUNT (0.0-2.6)
SHOT 1: a low wide with a slow lateral drift. SHOT 1b: an insert on the breech.

| t | NITHA | FARIS | FX / CAM |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.0-0.3 | A low fighter's stance, weight on the balls of the feet, empty hands open. | Braced, the gun low across his hips. | The drift. |
| 0.4-0.9 | **CAST (a):** sweeps both hands out; gold sickles ink into each fist. She twirls the left one once. | Watches. | ink.cast.blade ×2, a glint. |
| 1.0-1.3 | — | Breaks the gun open with one hand (the hinge drops). | The click. SHOT 1b insert. |
| 1.3-1.7 | — | Thumbs shell one, then shell two, into the breech. | Brass glints. |
| 1.85 | — | Snaps it shut with a flick of the wrist. | CLACK. Back to SHOT 1. |
| 2.1-2.5 | Lifts two fingers on the sickle hand. Mouths "two." A thin smile. | Levels the barrels. | A word card: "two." |

### PHASE 1 · BARREL ONE (2.6-5.8)
SHOT 2: a tracking dolly beside her. SHOT 2b: floor level for the slide (slow-mo).

| t | NITHA | FARIS | FX / CAM |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2.6-3.2 | Side-steps to his left, three steps, crossing feet (planted). | Tracks with the hips. | — |
| 3.3 | FEINT LEFT: a shoulder dip and a hand pop. | The barrels jerk at it. | — |
| 3.5-4.1 | CARTWHEEL RIGHT: the hands plant one after the other, the legs over the top, the sickles flashing at the top. | Loses her for a beat. | A whoosh. |
| 4.1-4.45 | Lands and drives in: three steps, lower each time. | Finds her and fires barrel one (4.5). | Muzzle flash, kick. |
| 4.48-4.85 | Drops into the slide: the lead foot ahead, the rear shin on the floor, leaning back, face turned up, sickles crossed over her chest. | — | **SLOW-MO 0.15x** (4.50-4.82): the pellet cloud passes a hand over her face, hair lifting, sweat hanging, motion trails. The bed: pitch-down whoosh and heartbeat. |
| 4.9 | The slide ends inside his reach; the rear foot plants. | Starts to drop the aim, late. | SNAP back. |
| 5.05 | Rises: SLASH 1, a rising right sickle. | Leans back from the hips; the tip opens his CHEEK. | A blood bead and a thin red line on Faris's face. |
| 5.3 | SLASH 2, the left sickle, backhand. | PARRY: the barrels meet the sickle. | Sparks, CLANG, shake 3. |
| 5.55 | Hops back two steps and lifts ONE finger. "One." | Wipes the cheek with the back of the gun hand. | A word card: "one." |

### PHASE 2 · THE HOOK (5.8-8.6)
SHOT 3: a handheld two-shot, with a whip pan on the butt-stroke.

| t | NITHA | FARIS | FX / CAM |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5.9 | Steps in; the left sickle hooks over the barrels behind the front sight. | — | A scrape. |
| 6.0-6.6 | THE WRENCH: pulls and twists, stepping round; they turn a quarter circle together (both bodies' feet step). | Resists, then gives a step. | — |
| 6.65 | Pulls hard. | LETS GO. The gun spins half a turn on her hook. | — |
| 6.8 | Overbalanced back half a step. | Catches the gun BY THE BARRELS in mid-spin. | — |
| 7.0 | — | BUTT-STROKE: the stock into her jaw, hips through. | CRACK, a flash frame, shake 6. A whip pan with the swing. |
| 7.0-7.6 | Head snaps (hit spring, big); a tooth and blood fly; two stagger steps. | Turns the gun back the right way round. | The tooth tumbles to rest. |
| 7.8-8.5 | Spits blood, re-guards, eyes narrow (focus58). | Levels. "One," he says (it's his count now). | — |

### PHASE 3 · THE AERIAL (8.6-11.6)
SHOT 4: a crane rising with her jump, then a low reverse as she lands.

| t | NITHA | FARIS | FX / CAM |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8.6-9.4 | Backs off, then SPRINTS: four real strides, arms driving. | Sets. | — |
| 9.5 | Plants and takes off on her own legs: a high aerial over his head, both sickles cocked behind her shoulders. | — | Crane up. |
| 9.75 | Peak over his head; both sickles come down at his skull. | **CAST (b):** his back hand snaps up; the gold DOOR-SHIELD inks overhead. | ink.cast.snap. |
| 9.85 | THE SICKLES BITE GOLD. | Holds under it, knees bent. | A gold spark fan and chips; ring. |
| 10.1-10.6 | Lands behind him, rolls once, comes up facing him. | Turns; the shield un-draws (10.4). | Low reverse. |
| 10.7-11.4 | Circles; breath. | Tracks. | — |

### PHASE 4 · THE RELOAD TRAP (11.6-14.8)
SHOT 5: a medium over her shoulder. SHOT 5b: an extreme insert on the hinge.

| t | NITHA | FARIS | FX / CAM |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11.7 | — | BREAKS THE GUN OPEN: the spent hull flicks out and bounces (one live shell is still in the second chamber). | The click. |
| 11.8 | Sees the open breech and thinks he is reloading. | Reaches toward his belt (the bait). | — |
| 12.0-12.4 | RUSHES: three steps. | — | — |
| 12.5 | A high slash, right sickle. | DUCKS under it. | — |
| 12.6 | — | His back hand catches her right forearm. | — |
| 12.75 | — | JAMS her forearm into the gap of the open breech. | SHOT 5b. |
| 12.85 | Screams. | SNAPS THE BARRELS SHUT on her arm. | CRUNCH, bone, shake 5. |
| 12.9-13.1 | Yanks, trapped, her face in agony. | Twists the gun against the joint; the muzzle comes round to her. | — |
| 13.15 | — | FIRES THE LIVE BARREL. | Flash, snap. |
| 13.15 | **EXPLODING LIMB 1:** the arm bursts off at the elbow. The forearm stays CLAMPED in the breech, the sickle falling from its fingers (it un-draws). The stump sprays. | Recoil. | Bone chips, a blood burst. |
| 13.2-13.8 | Thrown back two steps, holding the elbow stump. | Lowers the gun; her forearm hangs from it. | — |

### PHASE 5 · ONE-HANDED (14.8-17.6)
SHOT 6: a tracking back-step dolly, with a fast-motion beat.

| t | NITHA | FARIS | FX / CAM |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13.9-14.6 | Stares at the stump (d58Stare horror), screams, then rage. | Looks at the forearm hanging from his gun. | — |
| 14.8 | Comes again: the left sickle, three steps. | Walks back. | — |
| 15.3 | Slash. | Sways from it. | — |
| 15.6-16.2 | Cuts again (15.9). | Breaks the gun (the forearm flops in the hinge), plucks the hull, loads ONE shell from his belt, snaps it shut. | **FAST 1.6x** through the reload. |
| 16.6 | A low cut at his knee. | Steps back over it. | — |
| 17.0-17.4 | Sets for the last attack. | Plants. | — |

### PHASE 6 · THE CLIMAX (17.6-19.2)
SHOT 7: an extreme close, two-shot profile. SHOT 7b: the snap, wide.

| t | NITHA | FARIS | FX / CAM |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17.6-17.8 | THE LUNGE: the sickle drawn back over her head, a long step. | The muzzle comes up under her ribs. | — |
| 17.85-18.2 | The sickle tip a finger's width from his eye. | Still. | **SLOW-MO 0.12x:** trails; her hair, her blood drops and the dangling forearm all hanging; the heartbeat. Letterbox in. |
| 18.2 | — | FIRES. | SNAP: a white flash, loud, shake 8. |
| 18.2 | **THE OPENING:** the chest torn open up the front to the collarbones, ribs broken outward. **EXPLODING LIMB 2:** the sickle hand comes off at the wrist and spins away. | Recoil step. | Blood fan, bone chips. |
| 18.25-19.3 | LIFTED OFF HER FEET: flies back about 1.6 FH and lands ON HER BACK in the open (19.3), a bounce, still. | — | Thud. |
| 18.9 | — | — | The sickle hand lands blade first and STICKS in the floor, upright. |

### FINAL (19.3-22.0)
SHOT 8: low on the floor, side-on, a slow drift in.

**XT:**
- Nitha on her back in the open. Her head has rolled toward the lens and the dead face reads upright: half-lidded, bloodshot, small drifted pupils, blood from the mouth.
- THE CHEST torn open up the front to the collarbones: ragged skin lips, the sternum split, ribs broken outward at the edges (uneven, a couple snapped short), wet depth, the lung edge. No pattern, no disc.
- The right arm ends at the ELBOW: a torn section, the humerus end splintered off-centre, a torn sleeve cuff, sinew.
- The left wrist stump.
- Her sickle hand stuck blade-down in the floor between them, upright, the fingers still curled round the grip.
- At the frame edge: Faris's hand only, holding the closed gun with HER FOREARM still clamped in the breech, dripping.
- Gold: the stuck sickle un-draws at the exit (her hand drops).

**Sound:**
- Sickle ink chimes; the break-open click and the shell slides.
- A muffled pellet whoosh in the slow-mo; sparks clang; a tooth tick.
- The hinge CRUNCH and the bone snap.
- The point-blank boom in a small room reverb.
- A heartbeat in both slow-mos, then the loud snap.
- A wet landing.

**Camera:** about 9 shots on eased spring cameras, a lens drift, shake coupled to every hit and the recoil, a grade per shot.

**Ladder** (built after the XT pass):
- VH: the same, without the lung.
- H: a dark chest; the forearm still clamped.
- M: the trap only breaks her wrist; the shot knocks her down, X eyes.
- L: the butt-stroke knocks her out cold.
- VL: she counts "one", Faris shows her the empty chamber, she drops the sickles and faints.