image borrowed from guildinn.com
Blackthorne
Cinemagenic Forty-One
Salutations
“A star shined brightly on the hour of our meeting.”
--J.R.R. Tolkien.
1(three-shot) Sheriff Hop: I thought you had already slapped leather,
big man,
--Hunter: Nope, didn’t want to miss the show.
2(medium close-up) the Eagle turned & placed his stoic gaze on the
tall buffalo hunter.
3(extreme close-up) Johnny’s eyes softening in recognition.
4(sound cue) an eagle’s scree over a choral harmony of it.
5(medium wide shot) a magnificent golden eagle dropped down out of the
bright blue landing on the peak of a nearby barn--
6(cut to close up) holding a sidewinder in its black beak; the wrought iron
rooster on the adjacent weather vane bowed its comb in earnest deference.
7(sound cue) Powerful wings flapping over harmonica huffing.
8(cut to two-shot) the hunter held out his hand with the silver in it.
--Ey, muy hombre--I think these belong to you.
9(angle on) Johnny, saying evenly, tight-lipped:
--You make it too easy for this pinche gordo to wriggle free.
10(angle on) the hunter: I seriously doubt he will crawl very far away; his tail
can be sliced off on another day--dropping the three silver dollars into the
wild-eyed Eagle’s retracted talons.
11(sound cue) French horn blast over snare drum brushing.
12(close-up) Graff: And just who in the bloody hell are you?
13(medium wide shot) the tall hunter whirled around to face down the angry
mound of gouty flesh.
14(medium close-up) the Sheriff: Buck, Rod Buck; some fellas tried to kill
him, & wounded the barber--you wouldn’t know anything about that, would
you, Mr. Graff?
15(extreme close-up) Johnny Eagle smiling without showing his teeth, deep
dimples creasing his lean tanned cheeks.
16(two-shot, angle on) Graff, over Buck’s shoulder: Well, Christ no--why
would I know anything about that? There’s gunplay in this town all the
time, Sheriff.
His eyes darted back & forth, like a rodent cornered by cats:
Buck, you say--Rod Buck? I want to get all the facts straight before I make
my report to Mr. Bronson!
17(medium close-up) the Sheriff: So (pause)--Mr. Graff. Do you now have
all the facts straight?
18(sound cues) a wave of laughter from the crowd, interrupted by trumpet/
saxophone duo over an Indian snake rattle.
19(cut to a Titan overhead crane wide shot) a large crowd of onlookers
around the white-washed corral.
20(a tracking shot) following the rotund red-faced one as he hurumphed
& pushed his way through the crowd.
21( sound cues) unspecified wrangler dialogue:
--Are you going to let that greasy breed get away with this?
--Bronson will tear your ears off tor this shit!
--Quite a day, don’t you think?
22(musical sound cue) Morricone-like choral passage over cello & piano.
23(medium wide shot) People milling around. The corral gate has been
opened & ranch hands were leading the soot mustang out & walking it
toward the barns.
24(angle on) Graff as he enters a tall red door in his office, over which the
huge BRONSON AUCTIONS sign towered.
25(cut to medium wide shot) Buck, the Eagle, & Joe Hop, joined by a
thin black wrangler in a brown bowler hat & a bright red neckerchief, who
walked directly up to Johnny: Here are your el cuchillos.
26(two-shot) Johnny flashed his wide sardonic smile, took the wide
beaded belt with his knives & began buckling them on.
27(cut to new two-shot) Johnny facing the camera, with the Sheriff
behind him. Joe Hop: There will be no more trouble, right?
The Eagle folded his strong arms & nodded yes.
28(sound cue) piano, guitar, & violin.
29(cut to wide shot) The Sheriff & his skinny deputy dispersing the
mumbling crowd.
30(close-up) the voracious eagle, its black eyes blinking, tearing
shreds of snake flesh off with its bloody beak.
31(sound cue) Indian branch flute fluttering.
32(cut to a two-shot) Rod Buck & Johnny Eagle
stood suddenly alone in the dusty street facing each other.
Glenn Buttkus
Posted over on dVerse Poets OLN
Would you to hear me read this Cinemagenic poem to you?
26 comments:
And the story continues......and some questions: (1) How many scenes do you envision for 'Blackthorne'? (2) Do you plan to produce this in some other form other than segments in the blogosphere? (3) Are you working out the plot as you go or do you know the direction you are taking it and how it will conclude?
Wonderful questions, Mary. Remember, I am working from my unpublished Novel, which is over 300 pages of manuscript. I am up to page 55 in the manuscript. My plans are to complete the series, then see what I've created. Something like this has never been done before, it is truly audacious on an epic scale, poetically & cinematically. but of course, interest in it can wane, so at some point it may just become an unfinished saga, like one of Orson Welles many unfinished projects. Meantime, it gives me great joy to create the entire movie experience poetically.
Interesting cut scene there in the end. I still wonder if they know each other. If not it seems they will soon. Love the little snicker on the facts being straight, and excellent choice of sound effect to go with that one as well.
Oh and you end here with a cliff-´hanger for us to ponder.. what tension you build up in the characters... I think I need to go back sometimes and find the clues..the image of a rodent cornered by cats is so vivid... I look forward to this every second week..
And I thought of my cat hovering over a little chipmunk just this morning that I was able to rescue. This truly is an epic project.
I enjoyed reading this bit of script and appreciate the details on angle and close up shots.
Wonderful to hear you read these magnificent verse..!
Have a nice weekend :D
Thanks for your answer, Glenn! Carry on...smiles.
Though I like the conversation, I specially love the imagery of the eagle and the buffalo hunter in the opening lines ~
Now we wait to see what happens.....good chapter Glenn ~
my favorite parts are nature...
I enjoyed your answers to Mary's questions. I have a couple myself. When you created the scenario, did you have a particular place and time in mind? Your Blackthorne saga reminds me of the Western of my youth. Something which to a young European felt extremely exotic.
Nice question, Gabriella. I chose a fictional town on the Great Plains, the vast prairies of Nebraska, South Dakota, & Wyoming; set the time at the late 1880's, after most of the buffalo had been slaughtered; when cattle & horse ranchers had range wars over grass & water.
Phrasings that make me smile:
"Cinemagenic"
"I thought you had already slapped leather"
"& placed his stoic gaze"
"eagle’s scree"
"holding a sidewinder in its black beak"
"on the adjacent weather vane"
"in earnest deference"
"You make it too easy for this pinche gordo to wriggle free."
"whirled around to face down the angry
mound of gouty flesh"
"smiling without showing his teeth, deep
dimples creasing"
"unspecified wrangler dialogue:" ... hilarious :)
"Morricone-like choral passage"
"skinny deputy dispersing"
Incredible sound throughout. You have such a great ear. Perfect ending, as well.
you give the reader more than enough to paint a picture with your words... I'm ready for the next part now! That cliff hanger is too steep my friend
I enjoyed your latest scene and admire your ability to work such an ambitious project.
This is something fresh! Cool imagining the scenes over my head. I have tried to listen to your soundcloud recording but soundcloud doesn't seem to fit well on my phone. Will try again in my laptop when I got home.
These are quite involved--you must spend days on them, Glenn.
What does 'slapped leather' mean? It sounds good, whatever it is...
And the following lines made me smile:
a wave of laughter from the crowd, interrupted by trumpet/
saxophone duo over an Indian snake rattle.
I also wanted to ask you if you know the outcome/ending of this, or if you are allowing yourself to be surprised by your characters as you go along...
Marina; slapping leather is Western vernacular for riding in a saddle, leaving, departure. Mary, & others have inquired about the plot--I know exactly where the plot is headed, working from the outline of a novel I wrote, but did not publish, over 40 years ago.
I definitely see this script to be your next movie project.
It will be so different and so mind blowing.
I see so much going on here...it almost feel as though I'm watching a movie that your wrote & directed.
I love it! I love it!
Two-thumbs way up my friend. :)
Ah.. the songs of Nature so often provide the background
message of country westerns of my past.. watching
the balance of nature.. with eagles and snakes like
this in the continuing play of life.. where
people become snakes and eagles
and the two will dance a dance of
life or death.. or in between
mundane
of dwelling
dance alike
or different in
red and
white men
and women
ways..:)
Rather nique to say the least - and it works, especially, I must say again, hearing the poem. Cinematography as poetry really is a novel way of storytelling, very lively and dramatic - and intricate. A complex, thick story, that moves satisfyingly repisly.
I've never seen a story presented this way, is this how a script for a movie would look ?
Or would this be more like a play ?
To my knowledge, nothing has ever been presented in this manner--an actual screenplay is not much more than an outline, letting the director, & others add their creative perspective; the cinematographer/director collaboration would produce the camera shots; a musical director/composer would choose the instrumentation. Audaciously, what I have done is assume all their duties, & more, working from my own prose novel/manuscript, adding a ton more descriptive poetic prose to the mix than you would encounter elsewhere. My ear for dialogue comes from being a former actor & lifetime movie buff, who dreams of writing plays as well.
Glad to see, from your comments to Mary, that we should be able to enjoy many more scenes from this wonderful...even if audacious...story! :-)
I just love this story ~
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