Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Blackthorne--Scene Twenty-Four



image borrowed from bing


Blackthorne

Cinemagenic Twenty-Four

Shave & a Haircut

“The best reason I can think of for not running for President,
is that I’d have to shave twice a day.”--Adlai Stevenson.

1(sound cue) harmonica lullaby.
2(medium two-shot)
--Barber: I’m Barnes, what’s your pleasure?
--Hunter: I’m Buck, a shave & a haircut would be much
appreciated. 
3(medium shot) Barnes checks a red kettle on a pot bellied stove 
behind them; it’s steaming. He is a tall man with wide shoulders
and large hands, with an erect posture, balding with a shiny pate,
wearing a thick salt & pepper mustache with mutton chops, a short
white barber’s jacket & an orange bow tie. 
4(medium close-up) Barnes lays out three chrome pairs of scissors,
and two straight razors--then commenced to strop a thick leather
strap.
5(sound cue) the sound of a straight razor blade slapping against
the scarred leather. 
6(medium close-up) Buck props up the Sharps against a small table,
still within reach, then thumps his black hat on a sideboard; part of
a china cabinet with a marvelous collection of pocket watches in it.
--Buck: kind of warm in here with that stove--mind if I open the door
a mite?
7(close-up) 
--Barnes: sure, kick her open, it’s a fine morning.
8(sound cue) piano & violin. 
9(medium shot) Buck opens the door as the two cow bells
clang.
10(close-up) Buck whistles shrilly. 
11(medium wide shot) Cheewa slides silently into the shop, & lies
down under the table, watching the street.
12(two shot)
--Barnes: I don’t hold much with dogs in my shop, mister.
--Buck: he’ll mind his manners; he won’t mess up your sawdust
none.
13(hold the two-shot) angle on the barber over Buck’s shoulder;
--Barnes: what if another customer comes in?
--Buck: he never bites unless I tell him to.
14(mediuim close-up) Cheewa curls up a lip & growls.
15(close-up) Barnes setting his jaw in resignation.
16(medium two-shot) Barnes latches a barber’s striped apron
around Buck’s neck, then pours out hot water from the red
kettle into a brown ceramic bowl; dips then wrings out a
steaming cloth.
17(sound cue) banjo & accordion.
18(tight two-shot) Buck closes his eyes as the barber places
the steaming cloth on his face.
--Barnes: I don’t like dogs.
--Buck: don’t tell him that--he’s very sensitive. 
19(medium two-shot) Barnes begins trimming Buck’s long 
thick hair with a shiny pair of scissors.
--Barnes: what was all that shooting about, up the street
a while ago?
20(medium close-up) Barnes is massaging Buck’s face through
the hot towel;
--Buck: couple of fellas took to scuffling over one of the ladies
at the CHINA DOLL.
21(tight two-shot) Barnes lifts off the hot towel, & Buck’s
beard is sparkling & steaming.
--Barnes: anyone get hurt?
--Buck: one of the bully guards got himself shot.
22(medium two-shot) the barber picks up two pairs of scissors
& returns to cutting hair.
23(sound cue) scissors snipping & clacking:
--Barnes: which one?
--Buck: the big ugly one.
24(tight two shot) angle on
--Barnes: Ramos? I hope to hell it was Ramos.
--Buck: we didn’t get around to exchanging handles.
25(sound cue) blues guitar double slide.
26(wide two-shot)
--Barnes; so you were there? did you get in on any of
the shooting.
--Buck: I was there.
27( open up wide shot) cut to angle behind the men, with
the black dog still watching the street:
--Barnes: I heard some glass shattering before the shots;
damn place is a chamber of horrors, it ought be torched.
--Buck: did you say chamber of whores?
--Barnes chuckles.
--Buck: I been in worse.
28(sound cue) saloon piano.
29(close-up)
--Barnes: couple of men a week get killed or crippled
in that pusshole.
30(close-up)
--Buck: doesn’t this chickenshit town still have a sheriff?
31(sound cue) soft guitar strumming.
32(medium two-shot)
--Barnes: oh yeah, we got ourselves a sheriff, Joe Hopp--
wears a tin badge, has a deputy, locks drunks up in his
jail & everything.
33(cut to medium wide shot) Barnes is silent, trimming now
on Buck’s skunk-striped beard.
--Buck: but?
34(medium close-up)
--Barnes: but nothing, it is Cash Bronson that runs this town.
Joe Hopp is very aware of the dozen gunslingers Bronson
employs--& if he ever meddled into the goings-on at the
CHINA DOLL, Bronson would squash him like a cockroach,
wiping his brains off the boot like it was cow shit. 
35( two-shot) angle on
--Buck: so Bronson makes the law here?
--Barnes: I didn’t say that; it has nothing to do with the law--
it has everything to do with the power. 
36(close-up) 
--Buck: what the fuck--there’s a Bronson in every town. 

Glenn Buttkus

Posted over at dVerse Poets OLN134

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15 comments:

Brian Miller said...

yes there is...
until someone knocks them off their horse...
which i got a feeling is coming...
smiles.

Mary said...

I don't envy that barber doing his work with Cheewa present. Sensitive indeed...smiles. At least Buck wasn't over at the China Doll for the action. He is spared another day, it seems. Doesn't sound like the sheriff is very effective.

Claudia said...

true..there is... and they have free hand until someone stronger appears and takes over...ugh.. a town without a real sheriff where the law is bent and changed by one strong man...not goood

Anonymous said...

If there weren't a Bronson there would be nothing worth going on. You have a great voice Glenn. >KB

brudberg said...

Exactly.. law had nothing to do with power... there was some real tension in this scene... loved the barbers hope it was Ramos that got killed.. a very befitting description.. the ugly one..

Joseph Hesch said...

I think some of the best dialogue, yet, Glenn. Revealed character and story fairly seamlessly..

Love the read, too, of course. Keep it coming, Pard.

Oh, and that great art, too.

Joan Barrett Roberts said...

Sometimes I feel we are living through wild west days - where guns were the only law and gun in hand resulted in death and power shifting with whoever could survive ... ugh

Gabriella said...

I enjoyed the scene, the barter between the two men, and Buck's remarks about the dog made me smile.

Anonymous said...

I like the layers and tension, the blade on strop, and Cheewa - I like that dog ~

Scarlet said...

I really enjoyed the chapter Glenn ~ Can picture that conversation in the barbershop ~ Its all about power, rather than the law ~

Victoria said...

Glenn, your ability to paint the scene with sensory details helps me visualize the setting, see the steam, hear the razor strap (a fond memory of my grandfather) etc. Such great imagery.

Susan said...

I love these Barber characters that carry the story narrative so that protagonists make decisions ...

Beth Winter said...

"Doesn't this chickenshit town have a sherif?"

Love this :)

S.E.Ingraham said...

Great read and listen Glenn; I haven't been by for awhile and it was sure wonderful to ease back into your story at full throttle, as it were. Great tale.

http://seingrahamsays.wordpress.com/2014/02/25/twilights-lament/

Mystic_Mom said...

There is one in EVERY town. Great movement on this one Glenn. It really has a great feel going, and lots of atmosphere.