[Quick Summary: A shady lawyer tries to make off with $2M that was stolen from a Wichita, Kansas mob boss.]
Q: Why were you interested in this action-dark comedy?
A: Because it's from the great writer-director Robert Benton, who is mostly known for dramas.*
Q: What did you like about it?
A: I thought the action montage (below) was interesting because it reads so easily on the page. I didn't notice the camera shots.
Q: GASP!! Camera shots?! Isn't there a "rule": Do not to include camera shots?
A: Yes. (Though you know I believe in guidelines, not the so-called "rules.")
Q: Why can they break this "rule"?
A: The purpose of the so-called "rule" is for new writers to avoid using &/or mishandling a device they don't know how to (or why to) use them.
Experienced writers will knowingly use camera shots when they have a specific purpose for them, as shown in this scene below.
NOTE:
- Vic has been chasing Charlie and his co-conspirator Roy.
- Vic has just shot Roy.
- I like that the close ups are saved for big important, climatic scenes like this one.
EXT. LAKE BASCOMBE - NIGHT
...A QUICK SERIES OF SHOTS:
ON ROY: as he hits the deck like a ton of bricks. [Roy is the first sign of this dock falling like dominoes.]
INSERT OF SEVERAL PILINGS --as they give way. We HEAR the sound of rotting wood being torn apart. [We see and hear the cause. Also, we're not in any single POV.]
TIGHT ON CHARLIE --who guesses first what's going to happen and grabs for one of the taller pilings. [Close up of our protagonist = "important," in cinema language.]
RIGHT ON MORE OF THE DOCK'S CRUCIAL UNDERPINNINGS--as they start to collapse. [This builds on the previous insert of the pilings, building tension.]
CLOSE ON VIC--looking around, unable to grasp what is going on. [Close up to show another character is confused at an important moment.]
WIDE SHOT--We see the dock from some distance away and in slow motion the last section of it (where Charlie, Vic and Roy have been standing) begins to sag and give way. [Wide shot show the extent of what is befalling the three men.]
CLOSER IN--Roy's body begins to slide down toward the ice below. [Close shot of the beginning of Roy slipping away, both metaphorically and actually. This extends Charlie's anguish because Roy was the only one who had the info about the hidden money.]
MED. SHOT VIC--as his feet go out from under him and he lands on the sloping dock. [The medium shot is useful to see where Vic slips and lands.]
ON ROY'S CORPSE--as it lands on the ice below, making a terrible sound and sending out cracks in every direction. An instant later the empty trunk hits, opening a hole in the ice. [This shot completes the arc of where Roy ends up and dovetails next shot.]
TIGHT ON VIC--who beings to slide down the slippery incline; frantically grabbing at whatever with his free (he won't surrender the gun in the other). His slide is slow, but he can't stop it, and as he disappears into the gap in the dock (following Roy), he even tries to grab onto Charlie. Failing, he too disappears into the void. A split second later, WE HEAR A THUD, FOLLOWING BY A CRACKING SOUND from below. [Tight shot for Vic's big finale. Vic follows Roy, metaphorically and actually.]
ON CHARLIE, still hanging onto the piling for dear life, looking over his shoulder. [Charlie is the lone survivor, and we want to see all of his reaction.]
WHAT I'VE LEARNED: I didn't notice the camera shots because they had a purpose. In this big moment, I expected (and wanted to see) close up reactions.
The Ice Harvest (2005)(undated draft)
by Robert Benton & Richard Russo
Based on the novel by Scott Phillips
*The films that he wrote (& may have also directed) include: Kramer v. Kramer; Places in the Heart; Superman; Bonnie & Clyde; What's Up Doc? He has 7 Oscar nominations (1 win for direction and 3 wins for writing).
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