Blackthorne--Scene Four

image borrowed from bing

Blackthorne

Cinemagenic Four

Arrival

“Matter itself is the starting point, and the point of arrival

is the Soul--Hydra at the beginning and Angel at the end.”

--Victor Hugo

1(wide shot) the solitary rider is in the center of the frame.

2(hold on the shot for a 4-count) as the stranger approaches.

3(sound cue) acoustic guitar, Spanish chords.

4(cut to low angle medium shot) the stranger stops mid-street.

he is mounted on a big red stallion, tail up, neck arched, rapping

the dirt with one front hoof. sun is behind him to the east, keeping

his face in dark shadow. 

5(sound cue) a low dangerous growl.

6 a very large black dog, big as a mastiff, appears alongside

the horse. 

7(medium traveling wide shot) stranger walks his spirited steed,

that prances sideways a bit as the tall man urges him on.

8(sound cue) violins playing a slow waltz.

9the stranger reins up abreast of the three loafers in front

of the saloon.

10(sound cues) clinking beer glasses, piano playing briskly. 

11(medium four-shot) seeing the stranger’s wide back &

shoulders, leather fringed, as he faces the three men.

12(cut to a slow pan of the three men’s faces) left to right,

the hatless man, the fat man, & the beanpole--each of

them noticeably uncomfortable.

13(sound cue) juice harp thwacking, piano music fading.

14(cut to medium shot) stranger guides his horse to the right,

facing the camera, and continues to walk it toward the lens--

the loafers all standing motionless as he moved down the street.

15(close up) stranger’s face, shoulder-length dark locks, bright

blue eyes, full untrimmed beard with thick silver streaks to each

side of his strong jaw; wearing a flat-brimmed black hat with a

rattlesnake skin sweat band.

16(medium close-up) a .55-120 Sharps buffalo rifle being cradled

across the pommel, held steady with his left hand, holding the

reins with his right. 

17(cut to close-up) first holster, black leather with a silver inlay of

a rearing stallion, tied down snugly to his right leg.

18(extreme close-up) the pistol is a Colt .41 Thunderer, with deer-horn

handle grips.

19(sound cue) Spanish guitar chords

20(pull back to medium close-up) panning down his right leg,

revealing Mexican-style vaquero leather pants, cinched with

white bone buttons, and shin-high buckskin boots, decorated

with Dakota Sioux markings on the sides.

21(sound cue) Native American flute & rattlesnake tail rattle.

22(cut to medium wide shot) the front of WALLACE’S GENERAL

STORE, ranch & mining tools in one window, and calico dresses

and denim cowboy shirts on mannequins in the other window. 

23(hold on previous shot set-up) as the stranger enters the frame,

dismounts & ties off at a hitching rail, slides the Sharps into a 

scabbard, moving toward two steps cutup onto the board walkway.

24(medium close-up) his second holster, wide & thick, tied down

with a rawhide lace to his left leg, holding a sawed-off shotgun.

25(sound cue) trumpet riffs, then fade to buffalo herd hooves.

26(another medium close-up) we see the stranger’s massive

back & shoulders, lifting up with muscular tension.

27(sound cue) silence.

28a soft breeze makes the leather fringes on his shirt dance.

29(cut to medium shot) the black dog trots past the red horse

and plops down in front of the steps, staring back at the loafers

as the stranger stepped up onto the boardwalk.

30(sound cue) gentle harmonica riffs.

31the stranger leans in to read a hanging sign on the inside of

the glass-paned door.

32(close-up) in bright red capital letters: OUT TO LUNCH. 

Glenn Buttkus

September 2013

Posted over on dVerse Poets Poetics for OLN112. 

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