image by kevin raber
Love Hurts: Scene Twelve
Cinemagenic Twelve
Denouement
1(close up) tanya’s face, a blank tablet, shallow-
breathing, pinpoint pupils focused within.
2(sound cue) impala bangs as it hits a pot hole.
3(sound cue) lester (VO): fuck me.
4(medium shot) red impala coming at the camera lens.
5(close up) dead bird in the grill.
6(sound cue) french horns, low bleat.
7(insert shot) crows with bits of armadillo in their
red beaks.
8(sound cue) coyote yipping.
9(insert shot) three coyotes running like dark shadows
in the white desert moonlight.
10(close up) owen’s stern eyes in the rear view mirror.
11(medium close up) lester staring over his left shoulder.
12(medium close up) owen: what the hell’s wrong with
you, lady?
13(close up) tanya’s face, unresponsive.
14(sound cue) lester (VO): hey, lady, owen is talking
to you.
15(medium close up) tanya’s face, spirit elsewhere,
somewhere dark and terrible.
16(medium close up) lester turning to owen,
17lester: she’s gone, just fucking gone.
18(sound cue) clarinet, low scale.
19(close up) owen’s face, impassive:
20owen: just leave her alone, we’re almost there.
21(insert shot) LOVE HURTS in red paint, on the
old school wall, steaming in the headlights.
22(two shot) both men snickering, lester shaking his
head, as they stare as a pair out into the darkness.
23(close up) tanya’s eyes suddenly in focus, present
in the moment.
24(medium close up) heather, fast asleep, head in
her mother’s lap.
25(close up) mother’s hand stroking the child’s hair.
26(sound cue) tanya softly humming a lullaby morphing
into harp plucking.
27(insert shot/close up) bob: you fucking skank!
28(insert shot/close up) tanya’s stepfather: roll over,
tawnie; let daddy love his little princess.
29(insert shot/close up) tanya’s mother: you little
conniving bitch! You are lying again! Ralphie would
never touch you. You are only eleven years old!
30(insert shot/close up) priest: even though you
claim this is your stepfather’s baby, jesus will
still love both of you.
31(close up) tanya, great big tears rolling out of
lifeless tortured eyes.
32(two shot) lester: are you fucking sure about this?
33owen: trust me kid, you will enjoy it.
34(close up) tanya picking up tony the tiger.
35(sound cue) the child makes a soft moan,
a tiny dream sound in the stillness.
36(two shot) tanya gently, carefully rolls her child
over on its back; sleeping face up.
37(sound cue) muted violin high throbs, like
Bernard Herrman’s motif in PSYCHO.
38(medium close up) tanya pressing the stuffed
tiger onto her daughter’s face.
39(close up) tanya closing her eyes.
40(close up) the stuffed animal pressing harder
into the child’s face.
41(sound cue) a sharp exhalation of breath.
42(close up) tanya’s other hand holding down her
daughter’s little shoulder.
43(extreme close up) face of tony the tiger flattening
out with the renewed pressure.
44(close up) tanya’s eyes now open, watching
45(two shot) the back of the men’s heads.
46(sound cue) the child’s tiny voice, muffled,
unintelligible.
47(medium shot) heather’s arms and legs
flailing and jerking.
48(medium wide shot) impala hits another pot hole.
49(sound cue) a loud tire thunk, like a rubber slap
from a giant.
50(medium shot) tanya lurches up with the bump.
51(close up) heather’s face, dead eyes open, lifeless.
52(sound cue) car tires rolling over washboard bumps.
53(medium close up) tanya still holding tony the tiger.
54(close up) tanya plucking out the single eye
of the tiger.
55(crane shot--medium wide) a small desert gas
station/general store, desolate location; lit up
brightly like a liner on the night Atlantic. a tall red
coke machine standing moistly by the front door.
no cars at the two pumps. a sign on the adjoining
garage: MECHANIC ON PREMISES.
56(sound cue) 396 V-8 gearing down, twin mufflers
popping and snapping.
57(medium shot) the red impala rolls in and stops
alongside the outer pump.
58(overhead crane shot) camera slowly pulling away
from the car.
59(sound cue) owen (VO): we’re here!
60(sound cue) lester (VO): jesus christ, lady--what the
fuck have you done?!!!
61(sound cue) woman’s blood curdling scream.
62(shift seamlessly to helicopter overhead shot) continues
the very slow pull back as the credits roll.
63(sound cue) the classic rock song, LOVE HURTS, done
first softly by the Everly Brothers from 1960, then shifting
loudly to the 1975 version by Nazareth.
Glenn Buttkus
November 2011
Listed as #51 over on Magpie Tales 91
Would you like to hear the author, even with a cold, read this poem to you?
Part One:
Part Two:
12 comments:
wow dude great ending...so are you going to shoot this? did you think it all up first or did you write it week? i am fascinated for sure...
Brian, who stuck it out to the
end; thanks for your interest.
I had written a screenplay
over a decade ago, but they
tend to be bare bones by the
preference of the producers.
I just decide to rewrite this
adventure as the complete
film, and as cinemagenic
poetry.
Oh, man. That's wicked. You've written it well.
I bet Jim would enjoy reading this screenplay too. He wrote 1 or 3 in his earlier day.
xoox
Dear Glenn: You broach on the unbroachble..so very difficult to do, yet done with a indelible finesse of an artist. Bravo! ps why no tape of your fantisimo voce!
I am nursing a cold, but
thanks for the impetus;
I taped it regardless and
it emerged without hacking,
rasping, or sneezing.
Wow, A whole new genre of literature
Excellent, vivid, including the readings, the Love Hurts duodecad would make a great "art" film
Loved it. Enjoyed your interview with Laura as well. I'm 61 and had a 325 year hiatus from writing, so I've notr been published either. But then I read some of the stuff that is and I think, I'm not so bad off afterall.>KB
Just a little twisted.... I will be seeing it on IFC or Sundance soon? Thanks for the ride.
Ugh for the ending - so sad that this was the choice Tanya felt she had to make. You raise some really uncomfortable issues in this piece, Glenn - and throughout the whole script.
I have to say this hurts to read... just destruction... but so well done.. I'll miss the story... but still maybe not... it hurts to read.
You have a great form here that is totally unique.. hope to see you back with great Alaska poetry.
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