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Blackthorne
Cinemagenic 116
Gunfight
“Fast is fine, but accuracy is final.”--Wyatt Earp.
1(sound cue) guitar and violin.
2(overhead crane wide shot) Buck and the big Indian
faced off against Thor and several back-up gunsels.
3(medium close-up) Thor: Did you hear me, buffer. I
think you should apologize to my little brother.
4(tight close-up) Buck: We played this game before.
I’m going to get Ramos anyway, so why not just
hand him over and let him take his chances with the
Sheriff?
5(sound cue) castanets and harmonica.
6(tight close-up) Thor: I’ll tell you what...quit begging
like a little girl and let your iron do the talking.
7(medium close-up) Buck: Goddamn it, Thor. Ramos
just shot Mateo in cold blood. I’m taking him. You
gain nothing by pulling on me.
8(one-shot) over Buck’s shoulder, Thor: You know this
ain’t about Ramos. It’s about you and me.
Buck, over Thor’s shoulder: Well...I’m not backing
down this time.
9(sound cue) snare drum baps and coronet bleats over
chair scraping and crowd gasp.
Thor: That’s good to hear. I’ve found out that you’re
too big for me to whip. I now know my woman prefers
you to me. So we’re going to finally find out how fast
you are.
Buck: Fast enough to kill you.
Thor: Now’s the time, stepping closer.
10(medium wide shot) Buck and Thor at opposite edges
of the frame. a series of jump cuts, their eyes, their hands
hovering over their six-shooters.
11(sound cue) loud piano chords.
They watched each other’s eyes, like prize fighters,
waiting for that twitch, that message. Buck saw it first.
Both their right hands became a blur. Thor’s .38 fired
first, overlapped by Buck’s Colt barking in his right hand.
Thor’s bullet grazed Buck’s right shoulder, Buck’s lead
ripped apart Thor’s gun hand.
12(sound cue) French horn and bass drum.
13(one-shot) Thor stood there for a long moment,
his face contorted in disbelief and pain, looking
down at his pistol on the floor,
14(close-up) its polished handle covered in blood.
His little finger lying on the floor alongside it; just
lying there like a bloody sausage.
15(medium close-up) He raised his eyes to meet
Buck’s, and found himself staring down the barrel
of the Thunderer.
16(close-up) The smoking Colt aimed at the center
of the lens.
17(two-shot) Thor, snarling: Why didn’t you shoot
to kill?
Buck: Why didn’t you?
18(sound cue) saxophone.
19(cut to medium wide shot) Upstairs, a door burst
open, and Ramos charged out followed by two men.
20(two-shot) Buck’s sawed off seem to jump into his
left hand, and he fired once with both barrels, as he
dove for the floor. The Indian shot the short bully
guard in the chest before he could raise his shotgun
21(cut to upstairs) Ramos filled the smoky saloon with
his screaming, squealing like a throat-cut swine,
clutching at his stomach, staggering forward,
crashing through the railing,
22(upwards reverse dolly shot) as he plunged head
first fifteen feet to the floor.
23(camera holds as his body falls toward the lens)
24(sound cue) 280 pounds of gut-shot meat hitting
the bare floor.
25(medium wide shot) He hit with a horrible thunk.
Everyone in the room heard his neck snap. His
broken body shuddered, as all the nerves in it
fought with death, lying in a heap like a bison felled
with a .50 caliber Sharps. The Indian mercy shot
him in the head, and pieces of his brain splattered
for ten feet.
Every person in the room was on the floor behind
overturned tables. The two men upstairs hid behind
what was left of the railing. Paul Bronson had
scampered up the stairs, and hid in a room. All the
whores were out of sight. Playing cards and poker
chips were scattered on the floor. Buck was slowly
crawling toward the guard’s cubicle
26(sound cue) blues guitar slide.
Glenn Buttkus
Posted over at d'Verse Poets Pub OLN
