[Quick Summary: When 11 y.o. Kevin inadvertently gets on the wrong plane during the Christmas rush, he heads to NYC while his family is in Florida.]
I am not fond of sequels, unless they have something new to say.
This one does not. It is essentially a rehashing of the first film.*
However, I do appreciate John Hughes' excellent use of suspense within a slapstick routine.
In the example below, note:
- Hughes does not release the tension of suspense too soon.
- Marv must struggle with the cheesecloth, react to something odd, then the reveal.
ex. "INT. BASEMENT
Marv stands up from the collapsed shelving unit. He's covered in paint. He wipes his face with his sleeve. His eyes are stinging. He looks for something to clean his face with.
CU. PAINTER'S TARP
Marv grabs a piece of cheesecloth off the trp.
CU. MARV
He puts the cheesecloth to this face. It sticks. He tugs on the towel. It won't come off. He grips it firmly with both hands and gives a fierce pull. it tears free with a dreadful RIIIP!
He SCREAMS and clutches his face. He notices something. He feels his face. When he lowers his hands, he's missing his eyebrows, moustache and goatee. He looks at the towel.
INSERT: TOWEL
Two eyebrows, a moustache and a fluff of goatee stuck to the towel."
WHAT I'VE LEARNED: This script got me thinking that the much of the pleasure that I find in slapstick is the suspense and release.
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992)(9/10/91, production draft B)
by John Hughes
*I understand why Home Alone got a sequel. From a business point of view, it had all the hallmarks of a good decision: public awareness, successful box office, etc.
As a writer, I can understand the reason(s) behind the decision even if I don't particularly like it.
Monday, May 27, 2019
Monday, May 20, 2019
TODAY'S NUGGET: Home Alone (1990) - Unified vs. Episodic; Using Compare & Contrast
[Quick Summary: When his family leave for Paris without him, seven year old Kevin defends his home against robbers and realizes that Christmas is lonely by oneself.]
MY TWO THOUGHTS:
1) UNIFIED vs. EPISODIC. I never quite realized how many simultaneous stories there are in this film:
- Kevin overcoming fears of being home, alone
- Kevin vs. Mr. Murphy
- Kevin vs. robbers
- Kevin's mom trying to get home
- Robbers in the neighborhood
All these stories revolve around one theme or linchpin: Kevin, his growing up, his need for connection and family.
I think that this is the reason that the stories are more unified (like spokes on the wheel around Kevin) than episodic (series of unrelated stories).
2) EXPRESSING INTERNAL FEELINGS. I noticed this scene below because:
a) I keenly felt Kevin's internal feelings, yet....
b) There is no defined protagonist on the outside.
How is it done? I think it's the cuts that help the audience compare and contrast the visible vs. the implied.
ex. "EXT. STREET - LATER - NIGHT
Kevin's walking home. It's dark. The street lights are on. Kevin is walking slowly. He's looking at the houses. [We see slow walking. This seems to imply Kevin is thinking, thoughtful.]
HIS POV - MOVING - NIGHT
A house with lights around the door, lights burning in big windows. People inside celebrating. Kids running around, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins. It seems as if their excitement and joy was made int he extreme to emphasize Kevin's sorrow. [We unconsciously compare that there is one of Kevin vs. a group.]
CLOSE-UP KEVIN
Shuffling down the sidewalk, eyes on the house he's passing. He looks forward and stops suddenly. [Compare/contrast: Kevin is in the lonely dark. Family in the bright light.]
HIS POV
A young MAN and WOMAN, she carrying a baby, he loaded with gifts, walking from their car which is parked far down in a crowded driveway to the sidewalk of the house Kevin's watching. [Compare/contrast: Bonded family vs. solo Kevin. Imply loneliness.]
EXT. HOUSE - NIGHT
The young family continues up the walk to the house. Kevin stands at the foot of the walk, watching. CHURCH BELLS RING in the distance. [Compare/contrast: belonging vs. alone.]
CLOSE UP: KEVIN
Kevin's eyes are brimming with tears. As strong as he wants to be, it's too much for him. A tear falls. He wipes it away, only causing more to fall. [The previous scenes lead up to this moment. We see his sadness spill out.]
INT. HOUSE - NIGHT
Kevin's framed in the door of the holiday house and the young family passes off the baby and the gifts and takes off their coats. Great warmth and cheer. Christmas music is playing. Children are running wild, old men are laughing, grannies, are yakking. It's everything Kevin wants. He stands like a sobbing statue at the end of the walk, lit by a coach light, wiping tears from his cheeks with the back of his cold, bare hands. The door closes on him." [Because we see how he responds to external scenes, we are able experience his internal emotions of missing his own family.]
WHAT I'VE LEARNED: I think I was clued in more by Kevin's response to what he's seeing rather than what he is actually seeing.
Home Alone (1990)(1/17/90 shooting draft, with revisions)
by John Hughes
MY TWO THOUGHTS:
1) UNIFIED vs. EPISODIC. I never quite realized how many simultaneous stories there are in this film:
- Kevin overcoming fears of being home, alone
- Kevin vs. Mr. Murphy
- Kevin vs. robbers
- Kevin's mom trying to get home
- Robbers in the neighborhood
All these stories revolve around one theme or linchpin: Kevin, his growing up, his need for connection and family.
I think that this is the reason that the stories are more unified (like spokes on the wheel around Kevin) than episodic (series of unrelated stories).
2) EXPRESSING INTERNAL FEELINGS. I noticed this scene below because:
a) I keenly felt Kevin's internal feelings, yet....
b) There is no defined protagonist on the outside.
How is it done? I think it's the cuts that help the audience compare and contrast the visible vs. the implied.
ex. "EXT. STREET - LATER - NIGHT
Kevin's walking home. It's dark. The street lights are on. Kevin is walking slowly. He's looking at the houses. [We see slow walking. This seems to imply Kevin is thinking, thoughtful.]
HIS POV - MOVING - NIGHT
A house with lights around the door, lights burning in big windows. People inside celebrating. Kids running around, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins. It seems as if their excitement and joy was made int he extreme to emphasize Kevin's sorrow. [We unconsciously compare that there is one of Kevin vs. a group.]
CLOSE-UP KEVIN
Shuffling down the sidewalk, eyes on the house he's passing. He looks forward and stops suddenly. [Compare/contrast: Kevin is in the lonely dark. Family in the bright light.]
HIS POV
A young MAN and WOMAN, she carrying a baby, he loaded with gifts, walking from their car which is parked far down in a crowded driveway to the sidewalk of the house Kevin's watching. [Compare/contrast: Bonded family vs. solo Kevin. Imply loneliness.]
EXT. HOUSE - NIGHT
The young family continues up the walk to the house. Kevin stands at the foot of the walk, watching. CHURCH BELLS RING in the distance. [Compare/contrast: belonging vs. alone.]
CLOSE UP: KEVIN
Kevin's eyes are brimming with tears. As strong as he wants to be, it's too much for him. A tear falls. He wipes it away, only causing more to fall. [The previous scenes lead up to this moment. We see his sadness spill out.]
INT. HOUSE - NIGHT
Kevin's framed in the door of the holiday house and the young family passes off the baby and the gifts and takes off their coats. Great warmth and cheer. Christmas music is playing. Children are running wild, old men are laughing, grannies, are yakking. It's everything Kevin wants. He stands like a sobbing statue at the end of the walk, lit by a coach light, wiping tears from his cheeks with the back of his cold, bare hands. The door closes on him." [Because we see how he responds to external scenes, we are able experience his internal emotions of missing his own family.]
WHAT I'VE LEARNED: I think I was clued in more by Kevin's response to what he's seeing rather than what he is actually seeing.
Home Alone (1990)(1/17/90 shooting draft, with revisions)
by John Hughes
Monday, May 13, 2019
TODAY'S NUGGET: She's Having a Baby (1988) - Portraying Lost & Confused
[Quick Summary: After 22 y.o. Jake gets married, he is lost and confused as he goes kicking and screaming into adulthood.]
How do you make the audience feel something?
I still don't know and desperately wish I did.
Meanwhile, let's study the scene below.
It made me feel as lost and confused as the protagonist Jake does.
I think it works because:
1) The scene is straightforward, i.e., groom and best man before the wedding.
2) There is a sad-happy mix jumbled together: joy, fear, anticipation, and dread.
ex. "JAKE AND DAVIS - EXT. CHURCH - DAY
....Jake looks at his watch. He tenses. Takes a deep breath.
JAKE: It's time.
Davis' smile drifts away. He drops his look to his shoes. Jake takes a deep breath. He sniffs back the beginnings of a full-on cry.
JAKE: Here I am on the verge of binding myself to Kristy for life and I've never felt so alone. Damn! I'm gonna cry.
Jake's angry at himself for losing control of his emotions. Davis looks at him. He's suffering as well but is better able to control it.
DAVIS: We can split. But you'd be back tomorrow. You know what, Jake? You know why you feel like crying? Because you love her and you want her and you know there's no way around it.
Jake looks at him puzzled.
DAVIS: You were married the minute you saw her. Sixteen years old and you were gone.
Jake cracks a smile.
DAVIS: This is your destiny, Mr. Dick. To be forever caught in the crossfire between your head and your heart.
He gives Jake an affectionate jab in the upper arm.
JAKE: You think I'll be happy? Honestly.
DAVIS: You want to be a writer. you want to be a husband. Maybe it'll work. Who knows. Yeah, you'll be happy. You just won't know it.
JAKE'S VOICE: Never before and never again did he nail a moment more firmly than that afternoon. He's not all that wise. He just knew his subject matter very, very well..
DAVIS: This is the last time I'm gonna say it. You don't have to go through with this. You can walk. Say the word and we're outta here.
Davis' remark arouses the coward in Jake. He hesitates. He looks at the church and momentarily flirts with flight."
WHAT I'VE LEARNED: I think Jake's jumble of emotions is easier to follow because the scene is fairly simple.
Too many twisty plots + Too many twisty emotions = Hard to follow.
She's Having a Baby (1988)(shooting draft, 9/7/86, w/revisions)
Written and directed by John Hughes
How do you make the audience feel something?
I still don't know and desperately wish I did.
Meanwhile, let's study the scene below.
It made me feel as lost and confused as the protagonist Jake does.
I think it works because:
1) The scene is straightforward, i.e., groom and best man before the wedding.
2) There is a sad-happy mix jumbled together: joy, fear, anticipation, and dread.
ex. "JAKE AND DAVIS - EXT. CHURCH - DAY
....Jake looks at his watch. He tenses. Takes a deep breath.
JAKE: It's time.
Davis' smile drifts away. He drops his look to his shoes. Jake takes a deep breath. He sniffs back the beginnings of a full-on cry.
JAKE: Here I am on the verge of binding myself to Kristy for life and I've never felt so alone. Damn! I'm gonna cry.
Jake's angry at himself for losing control of his emotions. Davis looks at him. He's suffering as well but is better able to control it.
DAVIS: We can split. But you'd be back tomorrow. You know what, Jake? You know why you feel like crying? Because you love her and you want her and you know there's no way around it.
Jake looks at him puzzled.
DAVIS: You were married the minute you saw her. Sixteen years old and you were gone.
Jake cracks a smile.
DAVIS: This is your destiny, Mr. Dick. To be forever caught in the crossfire between your head and your heart.
He gives Jake an affectionate jab in the upper arm.
JAKE: You think I'll be happy? Honestly.
DAVIS: You want to be a writer. you want to be a husband. Maybe it'll work. Who knows. Yeah, you'll be happy. You just won't know it.
JAKE'S VOICE: Never before and never again did he nail a moment more firmly than that afternoon. He's not all that wise. He just knew his subject matter very, very well..
DAVIS: This is the last time I'm gonna say it. You don't have to go through with this. You can walk. Say the word and we're outta here.
Davis' remark arouses the coward in Jake. He hesitates. He looks at the church and momentarily flirts with flight."
WHAT I'VE LEARNED: I think Jake's jumble of emotions is easier to follow because the scene is fairly simple.
Too many twisty plots + Too many twisty emotions = Hard to follow.
She's Having a Baby (1988)(shooting draft, 9/7/86, w/revisions)
Written and directed by John Hughes
Monday, May 6, 2019
TODAY'S NUGGET: Some Kind of Wonderful (1987) - Stumbling, Failing, & Making Bad Choices
[Quick Summary: A quiet, artistic high school senior asks out the most beautiful girl at school, upsetting her ex-boyfriend and his friend who is a girl.]
WHAT: I read an old tweet by Eric Heisserer (full tweetstorm here):
WHY: Roger Ebert explains:
NOTES FOR THE EXAMPLE BELOW:
- When not in school, Keith works 20 hrs/wk at a gas station/car repair.
- Back in the day, a "full service" gas station attendant would pump your gas for you and check your oil.
- Hardy has pulled his car into the gas station, humiliated Keith in front of Amanda, and has just driven off.
- The interesting thing is not that Keith is fixated on Amanda, but WHY. Watch how talking with Drummer Girl starts to unearth faulty beliefs about himself.
ex. "INT. REPAIR BAY
Drummer Girl's seen everything. She'd like to kill Hardy. And possibly Amanda. Keith walks in.
DRUMMER GIRL: Keith? I watched that. It was sick. If that isn't the raw, bleeding truth about Amanda Jones, I don't know what is. You gotta forget her.
KEITH (defensive): It wasn't her. She didn't give me any shit.
DRUMMER GIRL: Why is she so important to you?
KEITH: Can't you stay out of it? You don't understand it. I can't explain it. I'm going nowhere and I'm going all alone.
DRUMMER GIRL: What about me?
CU. KEITH
He sighs.
KEITH: You're a friend. This is something else.
CU. DRUMMER GIRL
A slow, sad exhale. She nods. Not what she wanted to hear.
DRUMMER GIRL: Okay. (abrupt change of subject) Next time that jerk comes here, you better not be so quick to serve him. Let him check his own oil. You're not his slave.
INT. GARAGE
Keith smiles. He reaches around behind him. He pulls Hardy's dipstick out of his belt. He smiles and tosses it in the trash. He picks up his tool and goes back to work under the Benz."
WHAT I'VE LEARNED: I also liked what Ebert wrote: This could've been a "standard Hughes teenager film," but "Hughes always gives his characters the right to be real."
Some Kind of Wonderful (1987)(undated draft)
Written and directed by John Hughes
WHAT: I read an old tweet by Eric Heisserer (full tweetstorm here):
Can we start to bring back action heroes who fail, lose fights, struggle with real issues, etc.? It can still be escapist action, too!WHERE: Where are these heroes? In scripts like Some Kind of Wonderful.
WHY: Roger Ebert explains:
Hardly ever do we get an American movie about adults who are attempting to know themselves better, live better lives, get along more happily with the people around them. Most American movies are about the giving and receiving of violent pain. That's why I look forward to John Hughes's films about American teenagers. His films are almost always about the problems of growing up and becoming a more complete person.....
[I]t is not about whether the hero will get the girl. It is about whether the hero should get the girl, and when was the last time you saw a movie that even knew that could be the question? (emphasis mine)HOW: How to do this? By characters stumbling, failing, and making bad choices, which exposes deeper issues or beliefs.
NOTES FOR THE EXAMPLE BELOW:
- When not in school, Keith works 20 hrs/wk at a gas station/car repair.
- Back in the day, a "full service" gas station attendant would pump your gas for you and check your oil.
- Hardy has pulled his car into the gas station, humiliated Keith in front of Amanda, and has just driven off.
- The interesting thing is not that Keith is fixated on Amanda, but WHY. Watch how talking with Drummer Girl starts to unearth faulty beliefs about himself.
ex. "INT. REPAIR BAY
Drummer Girl's seen everything. She'd like to kill Hardy. And possibly Amanda. Keith walks in.
DRUMMER GIRL: Keith? I watched that. It was sick. If that isn't the raw, bleeding truth about Amanda Jones, I don't know what is. You gotta forget her.
KEITH (defensive): It wasn't her. She didn't give me any shit.
DRUMMER GIRL: Why is she so important to you?
KEITH: Can't you stay out of it? You don't understand it. I can't explain it. I'm going nowhere and I'm going all alone.
DRUMMER GIRL: What about me?
CU. KEITH
He sighs.
KEITH: You're a friend. This is something else.
CU. DRUMMER GIRL
A slow, sad exhale. She nods. Not what she wanted to hear.
DRUMMER GIRL: Okay. (abrupt change of subject) Next time that jerk comes here, you better not be so quick to serve him. Let him check his own oil. You're not his slave.
INT. GARAGE
Keith smiles. He reaches around behind him. He pulls Hardy's dipstick out of his belt. He smiles and tosses it in the trash. He picks up his tool and goes back to work under the Benz."
WHAT I'VE LEARNED: I also liked what Ebert wrote: This could've been a "standard Hughes teenager film," but "Hughes always gives his characters the right to be real."
Some Kind of Wonderful (1987)(undated draft)
Written and directed by John Hughes
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