The Return
INT. ESCAPE POD
CLOSE-UP on the CAPTAIN’s face, asleep, with a single band of sunlight, from a crack through the hull of the pod, shining in and across his face. He is strapped and seated in a confined escape pod, his oxygen mask broken and laying on the floor.
The blinding light forces him awake; he instinctively blocks the light with his hands. His movement aches his body, probably from the impact. As he comes to consciousness, he realizes his predicament.
He is alive, thank God. He releases himself from the pod straps and tries to peer out of the small crack.
He sees a thin canopy of trees and a bright blue sky with passing stray clouds, almost like home. He feels a bit more at ease, if not excited.
Although there was no window on the door, the crack allowed some light in to aid his search. He feels around the small pod for the door and tries to pull on its handle. It appears jammed.
ONE-SHOT:
Instead, he tries using his legs to kick the door, hoping to pop it out. He uses the bolted-on hand rails and other extrusions that decorate the interior of the capsule as leverage. Pushing his back into his seat, he gives a few good kicks. The door pops open.
Pose Reference
EXT. UNKNOWN PLANET
His ship happens to be wedged between a few fallen tree trunks. As he looks around, his view is blocked by an endless woods, with trunks of trees larger than he has ever seen and an unending blanket of sparsely leaved canopies speckled across the entire visible sky. He takes a glance below, and he realizes he is stuck, high up. Very high up. The ground is a blur with gray and brown details, maybe a few miles away, dotted by huge tree trunks that shoot up towards the sky, and his pod is miraculously wedged between a couple of tipped over trees that are leaning against other adjacent standing trees. The fallen tree trunks appear to have snapped off from the midsection, probably from the impact of the pod upon re-entry.
He steps out of the pod and lands onto the wooden support. It is sturdy.
The air is breathable (otherwise he would be long dead), and a slow, cool breeze can be felt passing through. However, he starts to notice, there is no sound of life. No birds or insects. Not even the gentle rustle of leaves.
It takes him a moment to take everything in, but one thing is for certain: he is not home.