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Blackthorne
Cinemagenic Sixty-Six
Talons and Horns
"When a fish-hawk strikes its talons too deep in
a fish, beyond its lift, he is carried under and
drowned."--Christian Bovee.
1(medium wide shot) Young Buck, twenty miles out
of camp, mounted, his blood & mud soaked fringes
on his buckskin shirt dancing in the breeze, his back
to the camera, his new .50 caliber Sharps crossed in
front of him.
2(sound cue) cello & French horn.
3(smooth crane shot) rising up over the hunter’s
back, revealing a small herd of buffalo between
arroyos below him; landscape looking like a mini-
badlands; they were out in the open, feeding at a
walk like antelope.
walk like antelope.
4(close-up) Buck’s eyes--laced with sadness.
5(close up) the Bison monarch’s pink eyes.
6(dolly-shot pulling back) the old bull was a prairie
behemoth, easily more than a ton of hair, bone &
meat--twitching his tail, his hump more than six feet
from the grass, his pelt pure albino.
7(stop at medium wide-shot) a tiny herd of ten--two
young bulls, six cows, & two calves--one of them
also an albino--a spot of adolescent snow in the
yellow-green grass
8(sound cue) clarinet & coronet.
9(cut to two-shot) Buck dismounted, his Sharps in his
right hand. Over his deerskin shirt, at his narrow waist,
he wore his cartridge belt. A dozen brass rifle shells
rowed across the back of it; pistol shells in the front on
both sides. He unlashed a burlap sack from behind his
saddle; a worn thin buffalo hide to lie on, several stick
yokes to put the hex-barrel into, a dark brown box of
cartridges for the Sharps.
10(sound cue) Voice-over (VO)--Buck: Stay loose,
Rod; stay calm & bag all the adults. If I chase them
on horseback, I’d be lucky to put down two or three
of them. That albino pelt will bring high dollar over at
Fort Anderson.
11(medium wide shot) from behind him, the bison out-
of-focus in the distance. Downwind of them, he
moved slowly on foot. He stopped at about 100 yards
from them, pulling his tools out of the bag, lying down
on the pelt.
12(sound cue) soft guitar chords under Buck’s (VO):
You’ve seen this before; deep breaths--you know
that the ole’ bull will not run. The youngest bull
will break herd formation & lead the cows & calves
off in another direction-while the old albino, and the
other bull will stay & stand; possibly even charge
me.
13(medium close up) Buck worked twelve .350 grain
brass-jacketed shells out of his belt, placing them in
a lethal row on the pelt. He wore the sawed-off by
then--taking it out of its snap-holster, & placing it
alongside the bullets of death. He picked up a pair
of cavalry binoculars, & peered into them.
14(sound cue) high notes--viola & guitar.
15(cut to round telescopic image-medium close-up)
The taurine was scarred up, covered with ancient
angry horn gashes, one back leg was crooked after
being struck by an Eastern iron horse; hanging
from one white flank was a broken Comanche lance,
it’s twin crow feathers fluttering.
16(close-up) Buck--thinking: You old monster. You’ve
lived long & beat the odds. I will hum your death song
because this morning will be your last wake-up.
17(slow rising crane shot) up to a seamless cut to a
drone shot, rising a hundred feet higher, then static
hold as Buck prepared for the kill
18(sound cue) hawk scree over violin screech.
19(hold wide-shot) two beats before a hawk drops
through the frame in steep dive; one blink before
fade to black.
Glenn Buttkus
Posted over at dVerse Poets Pub OLN
11 comments:
What a wonderful tour back into the past... if just those buffaloes where not shot away... I'm sure young Buck learned something from that.
And hey... Glenn if you have the time I will be live on Facebook soon.
The hawk - oh! film script as poetry is just wonderful. I'll wait for the next installment - I'm hooked!
This week you have reminded me of Steinbeck - a brilliant post before the break, which I can take with me to keep me going over the next couple of weeks. :)
I'm still upset about Buck shooting all those buffalo. I have seen old photos of fields of dead buffalo, shot by us murdering whites, and the Indians looking on in shock at the carnage.
I appreciate the flashback to young Buck, the stillness of the moment and the inevitable ending ~ Love the sounds background too Glenn ~
You never disappoint Glenn. :)
I wonder if he shot that old buffalo who's been through too much already. That hawk dropping down seems significant of I am not sure of what at the moment.
Nice...I love the musical soundbites leading into each new element of the story and the details of Buck's sad eyes and the pink eyes of the bison - the worn description of the taurine, and the 'spot of adolescent snow' of the young albino held my attention in this
short span of time in the story...I agree, the significance of the hawk left us wanting
to read more.
That episode in our history of shooting buffalo for sport rather wounds me. Native Americans used to ask pardon of an animal before slaying it and used every visible part for their needs, not wants. Somewhat reminiscent of things we experience today. And the White Buffalo--a profoundly spiritual symbol/presence to them. The ending is definitely a tease.
Ah now that was a haunting segment, filled with symbolism. It saddens me about the buffalo so many taken in the name of greed. Yet, that is the way it was during those hunting years. Something inside of me thinks the buffalo and hawk will have their way.
Yesterday, I was sitting outside pondering a situation and I asked for a sign, well I received one. A red tailed hawk swooped down skimming the treetops and made sure I saw him. Later in the day I was greeted by an eagle, animals bring messages and I am sure there is one for Buck!
I still find this series intriguing!
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