Chapter Text
The Netflix logo dunduns and reverbs for a moment, followed then by black screen, voice, deep and full of static, speaking Russian, counting downwards. Slowly, crowds of voices celebrating increases in volume. As the Russian voice gets to one, the famous image of the soyuz rocket launching is shown on screen. The one carrying the three astronauts of the Hail Mary up to the international space station. Images of vast crowds cheering in various famous cities. The rocket launch is shown on the big screens in Times Square. The famous view looking down the square with the rectangular billboard in the center of the shot.
The screen fades to black where text in large, simple font reads NETFLIX PRESENTS
The rocket is shown on the screens in London's Piccadilly square, then in Tokyo. Large Japanese kanji above the screen and an animated lady selling something.
The screen fades to black again, with new text that reads BASED ON THE BOOK BY SIENNA WOODS
Smaller crowds, gathered around TVs in Rio de Janeiro, a desert area, men with their heads covered and camels. The Russian commentary continues.
The rocket angles in the sky, the camera pulls out into a shaky wide shot before the rocket vanishes from view. A thin orange streak left to show the path it took.
A smash cut to the title screen, no slow fade. A large image of the Hail Mary logo, ship surrounded by the flags of all nations. On the right of the logo is a photo of Dr Ryland Grace. It's the photo from his teacher's ID.
Text along the bottom reads, HAIL MARY FULL OF GRACE.
The title screen holds for 30 seconds, sounds of the crowd fades, quiet shuffling can be heard. The screen fades up to a single chair. The chair is padded, similar to a conference chair or dining chair at a large event.
A figure walks in from camera right, a middle aged woman, silver in her hair catches the light, she wears black pants and a jumper. She sits in the chair, adjusts herself. Someone moves in shot from behind the camera and fixes something to the collar of the jumper.
The person on the chair takes a deep breath, “How would I describe Dr Ryland Grace, hmmmm”
More voices, talk on voice over as the figure on the chair pauses to think.
Feminine voice: Dr Grace was…
Male voice: Ah, Dr Ryland Grace, now he was….
Male voice with a slight accent: Ahhhh, the thing about Dr Grace is….
Feminine voice with a European accent: Dr Grace….
The screen fades to black.
Producer: can you state your name please?
The white subtitles appear at the bottom of the screen as a feminine voice talks off mic. The screen fades back up to the same woman on camera. She sat with a leg crossed, hands clasped over the top of that knee.
“Yeah, sure!” Says the woman on screen. “My name is Sienna Woods and I'm the author of the book about Project Hail Mary and what really happened to Dr Ryland Grace.”
The camera holds on her for a moment and then fades to black.
The sound of birds tweeting, children laughing echoes.
The screen fades up to an outside shot. A long wide brick wall, there's an archway and beyond you can see trees, shrubs and flowers of all different colours. The camera focuses on a large sign on the wall. Metallic, blue with gold letters. THE DR RYLAND GRACE GARDEN says the sign in large bold letters. Just underneath are more letters, commemorating the site of Grover Cleveland Middle School where Dr Grace taught science.
The shot changes, showing more of the inside of the garden. More flowers, more trees, a shot of a rake leaning against a wooden shed. Allotment style growing patches, wooden structures for peas to grow along, a polytunnel.
Sienna speaks in voice over.
“Dr Grace was my science teacher in 8th grade. He was always the cool teacher, the students loved him. I remember a huge model of the solar system on the ceiling. I would sit right under Mars. The shelves were full of interesting science stuff, you know the formaldehyde jars? He had a handful of those on a shelf and I swear one of them was spaghetti and meatballs!”
The shot changes, a metallic sculpture, a metal bike against a railing. Dried flowers in a plastic wrap are fixed to the back wheel. Behind the bike is a set of metallic legs, the camera pans out to show the full figure, a close approximation of Dr Grace, the metal sculpture stands tall, eyes fixed on the sky.
Back to the interior shot of Sienna. She sighs and adjusts her leg. “I remember the last day I was in a class with him. We asked about the Petrova Line and what that might mean for the Earth. He explained what might happen, with the cooling and I remember being scared. I thought that's why he went, initially. Because of us, because we needed a future.”
Images flash in quick sequence. An old BBC news item talking about the Petrova Line. The screen shows an animated image of the Sun and Venus with the long red line connecting the pair. Stock images of winter scenes, people walking across snow, they're bundled up in thick layers of clothing. A shot of a large highway in the USA, the snow falls thick and cars are struggling to get through.
Back to the woman as she draws a breath. “Project Hail Mary was just that, a prayer that the world uttered towards the distant Tau Ceti. Please.”
A pause,
“Please don't let us die.”
Stock images of people, mostly children flash on the screen. They all hold a piece of paper, all the same size. On the paper is artwork and images, some are simple, with GOOD LUCK or HOPE written on them, others are artwork of the earth or of the Hail Mary rocket.
“It took me about ten years to go through all the paperwork and emails that the team created in just under two.”