Tuesday, October 3, 2017

Blackthorne--Scene 70



image from horowhenua.kete.net.nz


Blackthorne

Cinemagenic Seventy

Parenting

“The child supplies the power, but the parents
have to do the steering.”--Benjamin Spock.

1(sound cue) piano & harmonica
2(overhead crane shot) Blackthorne awakening,
kids & dogs running about. a few citizens on a
stroll, one wagon rolling down the street.
3(dolly shot) moving in to the General Store front.
4(medium wide shot) interior of the store; Henry
Wallace counting out his money for the morning
register.
5(close-up) twenty dollars in silver, ten in paper,
five in change; the same every morning.
6(medium wide shot) early rays of sunshine that
filtered in through the stained glass on his front
door, some emerald sprites of light dancing with
the dust along the plank floor, The words
GENERAL STORE covered the two front
windows, The red paint on the large letters was
peeling. Onions, pickles and bacon, tobacco &
leather, peppermint candy canes, linseed oil
and gunpowder smells chased each other 
around the cramped spaces.
7(sound cue) banjo & violin.
8(tighten the shot) Wallace hummed a song, 
matching the score, as he strolled over by the
front window with STORE painted on it. He tied
his clean linen apron around his thin waist.
9(medium close-up) Wallace staring out the 
widow at the few people outside. He had a
breakfast egg stain on one corner of his frost
mustache. He removed his reading glasses.
10(sound cue) Good morning, Pop--came a
cheerful voice behind him.
11(two-shot) He turned and nodded to his
daughter, Salina--his look thorny.
12(medium close-up) Salina--Is your back
bothering you again?
13(two-shot) over Salina’s shoulder--Wallace:
The only way I’m gonna cure my aches & pains
is to die. You may not realize this, but I’m not
getting younger.
Salina: Could have fooled me.
Wallace: Seriously (she laughed) when are you
going to give me a grandchild to go fishing with
--and when in the hell will you start minding the
store yourself?
14(close-up) Salina: Well, let’s see, if I get 
started today, you could have one in less than a
year. You know that I’m not ready to get married
yet, but for Christ’s sake, if you’re dead set on
having a grandchild to spoil, I’m sure that I can
find a dozen dull dicks around here to assist me 
in making one.
15(medium close-up) Wallace: Why do you always 
have to make a monkey’s ass out of me so early
of a morning?
16(sound cue) clarinet & accordion. 
17(wide two-shot) Salina chuckled, but did not
reply. She walked over to the fabrics table and
started folding & stacking the patterned bolts
of cotton and the colorful bolts of silk. Wallace
opened the front door, chiming the tiny welcome 
bells, and kicked a hand-carved doorstop under it.
Wallace: Thor Bronson was looking for you.
Salina: Damn, alert the society page.
Wallace: This is a small town. Sooner or later, you
are going to have to see him again.
Salina: He’d like that--but the skinny bastard leaves 
me cold--and like his brother, he spends too much
time with the whores.
Wallace: Seems like you didn’t always feel that way.
Salina: He behaved himself at first. I danced with him
a few times, had a picnic, drank moonshine with him
on the Fourth of July. Around here, that’s like being
engaged. I’m sick of it. Do you approve of him?
Wallace: Hell, no. He’s an arrogant asshole--but
hey, he is a Bronson.
Salina: And therein lies the problem.
Wallace: He’d put you up in a fine house, & treat
you like a prairie queen.
Salina: I’d rather marry a ranch hand & live in a tent.
Wallace: Talking to you is like talking to myself--I 

can’t make no headway.


Glenn Buttkus

Posted over at dVerse Poets Pub OLN

12 comments:

brudberg said...

Oh I see another conflict brewing here... Yes Bronson is the problem. You sure add a lot of interesting spices to the pie. Love to see what happens next.

Kim M. Russell said...

You don't often have piano in your sound cues, so that was a surprise, Glenn. I would love to see some images of the street and the General Store - I imagine them as similar to the ones in traditional Westerns. I love the shot of the sunshine through the stained glass with 'emerald sprites of light dancing with the dust along the plank floor' - that is so atmospheric. You've included so much detail that is different to the previous episodes, such as the 'breakfast egg stain on one corner of his frost mustache'. I wonder if Wallace will visit Bjorn's snake oil salesman for a cure!

Frank Hubeny said...

I liked Wallace's last line.

Alison H said...

I'm with Salina on this one and of course Wallace is right. So what happens next?

Sanaa Rizvi said...

I really enjoyed and related to the dialogue between Salina and Wallace here and can't wait to read what happens next!!❤️

Misky said...

Salina, goodness girl, such language.

tonispencer said...

I like Wallace's last line.

Anonymous said...

Don’t leave us hanging! And I love the nitty gritty details - egg stain, love it.

Frank J. Tassone said...

I love your screenplay poems! You characterized Wallace and Salina so well with riveting dialogue. I swear I was a fly on their wall!

purplepeninportland.com said...

Love Wallace's last line. I am ready for more!

Truedessa said...

Clapping, I was hoping you might post another segment. The photo really adds to the imagery, which you do so well with words. I think Salina wants more in life then what is currently in view. You always know exactly where to insert the musical instruments. I wonder what will happen next? Will there be a confrontation? Maybe, a new man will stroll in the store and steal Salina's heart. I am looking forward to more of the story.

Maria said...

Oh wow. What a story! We need to hear more.