“Lift Ticket”
Treatment by Darren Gilford
Open on a rustic barn set at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. The first big winter storm of the season is brewing, blowing the remaining leaves off the trees in foreground. Inside the barn a brand new Nissan Xterra with a snowboard strapped to its rack is being worked on. The modifications are a mystery because the vehicle appears to be completely stock, but the cluttered workshop/garage tells a different story. The garage is littered with carcasses of extreme sports equipment and toys. The shells and components of a snowmobile, motocross bike, quad runner, and sand rail are strewn around the shop, along with all the tools you would find in the ultimate mechanic’s garage. The workbench is a mess of skateboard trucks, snowboard bindings, bicycle gears, and tools of the trade. A sole mechanic, his face hidden behind a welding mask, is underneath the Xterra completing a weld when he is distracted by something outside of the barn. As the mechanic walks outside he raises his welding mask revealing his identity, snowboarding’s poster child Shawn White. Shawn looks at the foreboding winter storm approaching and puts his hand out catching the first big snowflakes of the season. He slams the Xterra’s hood shut.
The Xterra aggressively leaves the barn and heads for the mountains as the snowstorm becomes more severe. As the Xterra climbs, the roads become more buried in snow and less defined. While driving we see Shawn hang an old pair of ski goggles around the Xterra’s rear view mirror, as the camera frames the dash and IP. The Xterra passes a “Back Country Access” road sign half buried in snow and continues to power up the mountain. A close up of the Xterra’s front wheel shows the car braking hard, stopping in very deep powder.
A wide master from on top of the world reveals the storm clearing. Shawn is sitting in the snow in front of the Xterra on the edge of a pristine powder covered mountain bowl. From Shawn’s POV sitting in the snow and strapping into his snowboard, he points his keys/remote at the Xterra directly in front of him. As the remote makes the classic “Chirp, Chirp” alarm sound the Xterra’s body panels begin to independently shift, rise, and transform. As Shawn continues to ratchet down his bindings the Xterra transforms into a giant mechanical snowboarder.
The design of the mechanical snowboarder is visually constructed from all parts of the vehicle. The iconic grill/front bonnet is maintained in the chest. The stamped steel of the unibody and the roof racks are incorporated in the creature’s snowboard. The wheels and tires are buried in the creature’s joints. The vehicle’s engine cover and intake manifold have the old pair of ski goggles wrapped around them visually creating the creature’s head.
The Xterra-boarder, and Shawn do the classic awkward uphill hop to move their boards in a perched position over the lip of the ultimate powder bowl. The two acknowledge each other with a glance and a knuckle bump and do a controlled vertical drop-in over the edge.
The two carve up the mountain in tandem, throwing wakes of powder behind them. The two are competitively jockeying back and forth with each other. Not necessarily racing but more aggressively attacking the mountain like two buddies sharing the perfect run. In the language of clique vehicle rig shots we frame design elements of the Xterra in foreground, as Shawn carves up the terrain in the background. For example, the Xterra badge on the rear hatch as Shawn passes by. The side rear view mirror mounted on the Xterra-boarder’s wrist frame Shawn closing in from behind. Another angle is from a rigged position on the Nissan badge/front grill as Shawn completes a pass.
From The Xterra-boarder’s POV we see Shawn out in front heading for a jump naturally formed by the backcountry terrain. As Shawn hits the lip of the jump he uncorks a Rodeo 540 spinning maneuver. The Xterra follows filling frame, throwing the same move in the opposite spinning direction. We follow Shawn spinning though the air as he points and clicks his remote towards the trailing Xterra-boarder. As the Xterra-boarder mimics Shawn’s maneuver through the air it begins its reverse transformation back into the stock vehicle. The transformation completes just as the wheels hit the snow as the terrain flattens out. Shawn digs his edge in the snow braking hard and stops at the edge of the mountain road. The Xterra boarder brakes hard and j-turns to a stop in front of Shawn, dusting him in a huge rooster tail of powder.
The final shot starts close up on the Xterra’s rear vanity license plate reading “LIFTICKT” as it pulls out onto the mountain road. As the camera cranes up and widens out we see the familiar “Back Country Access” sign buried in the snow as the two head back up the mountain for another run.
