TODAY'S NUGGET: Darling (1965) - How Excellent Writing Elevates Character in an "Impersonal Sex Scene"

[Quick Summary: An amoral model who sleeps her way to the top has to face consequences in the Swinging Sixties of London.]

Frederic Raphael is an astute writer who nails character with real panache and nuance. (See my reviews for Two for the Road and This Man, This Woman).

For example, many other writers would describe an "impersonal sex scene" by focusing on characters' beliefs about sex (transactional) and where they are mentally (occupied with other relationships).

But Raphael (who won an Oscar for this script) adds something special: humanity.  

Prior to the scene below:
- Diana, a model, lives with Robert, a tv director.
- She truly cares for Robert, who is difficult sometimes. 
- She has no qualms about a side relationship - only for recreational sex - with Miles, a businessman.
- Diana tracks down Miles at his gym where he was fencing.
- They retreat to his flat for sex.
- See my bolded section below and my comments in brackets.

INT. MILES' BEDROOM. DAY.

Small change, all silver, being stacked with great care on top of the chest of drawers. The money graded through half crowns to a tuppence.

MILES takes a hanger out of the wardrobe where his suits hang in neat rows like executed gentlemen. He takes out a hanger and holds it out.

DIANA's bare arm takes it. The essence of this scene is that the two are never seen embracing or in two-shot. They undress and seduce each other very coolly, in ritual, never as part of a relationship, never in mutual joy. [These bolded sentences impressed me.  2nd sentence: Raphael, who also wrote for tv, is very aware of what the camera (i.e., visuals) can say that dialogue cannot.  By keeping them apart visually, the sex feels impersonal. 3rd sentence: I thought the description exactly nailed the feeling of this sexual seduction. It's also rather ironic. They're here for sex, to feel better, but they're not really engaged with each other or feeling much at all.]

DIANA: I always feel as if there's one more corner to turn...and I'll be there.

MILES: (sitting on a chair, taking off his shoes) And so you will.

DIANA raises a stocking over her head.

DIANA: And there'll be another.

MILES: (taking off his sweater) That's the attraction of corners.

The coverlet is pulled off the bed and neatly folded.

DIANA: I do love Robert, you know. 

MILES: Why not? 

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: This isn't your typical "impersonal sex scene."  I believe the humanity of these characters, that they're contradictory beings.  It's totally realistic to me that they'd try to keep emotions out of a very emotion filled act.

Darling (1965) 
by Frederic Raphael

TODAY'S NUGGET: The Defiant Ones (1958) - How Does an Oscar Winning Script Build Up to an Unexpected Turn/Twist?

[Quick Summary: Two chained prisoners, one black, one white, escape and have to work together to get to freedom.]

How does one craft an unexpected turn in a script?

In this Oscar winning script,* I noticed that the turns were built on a hope-fear-hope-fear rhythm.

For example, in the scene below: 
- Two prisoners, Cullen and Jackson, are shackled together and have been on the run for days. 
- Cullen is white. Jackson is black.
- They come across a single woman and her son.
- They hold the woman at gun point and send the son to fetch a chisel and hammer.
- The scene begins in fear: These men have been through a lot in prison, don't like each other, and are chained together.
- The scene turns hopeful: They final get the shackles off.
- Fear strikes again out of nowhere: They've been so afraid of their pursuers (external), the last thing they thought would trip them up is their bodies (internal). 

INT. CABIN -- FULL SHOT

...Jackson lays his wrist on the stone and holds the chisel over the cuff. Three ringing blows and the iron falls off his wrist.

CULLEN: Now me.

They exchange instruments. Jackson aims carefully. One smash and the iron separates. Jackson looks at Cullen and grins sickly. Cullen reaches for the gun. Both men measure each other. 

CULLEN (licks his lips): We cut loose now.

Jackson's grin fades. His eye hood. Without warning, he drops the hammer, staggers Cullen catches him and carries him to the  bed..  

 WOMAN: What's the matter with him?

CULLEN: He's sick. Got poison in his system. 

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: The fear-hope-fear-hope rhythm is a good tool to keep the story going. The suspense can hide an unexpected upcoming turn/twist. 

The Defiant Ones (1958) 
by  Nathan E. Douglas and Harold Jacob Smith
Based upon the story, "The Long Road," by Douglas and Smith

*FYI: This film was nominated in 9 times, including the first nomination for an African American actor for Sydney Poitier.

TODAY'S NUGGET: Tender Mercies (1983) - How A Simple, Clear Motive Can Be Quite Unpredictable (Suspense)

[Quick Summary: A run down, former singer-songwriter gets a second wife and a second chance with his daughter and career.]

I think people like suspense because it is unpredictable.

But what is unpredictable any more without guns or car chases? 

Perhaps one key is to create characters who:
a) are dedicated to clear motives
b) and their motives clash.  

This script is a good example of pure character work being the unpredictable factor rather than external stimuli like explosions. 

Before the scene below:
- The protagonist, Mac, used to be a famous singer until he became an alcoholic.
- Dixie is Mac's ex-wife and is still touring as a famous singer.
- Sue Anne (18) is their daughter, who hasn't seen her dad since she was 6.
- Harry is Dixie's manager.
- Dixie has spoiled Sue Anne, giving her everything except freedom.
- The tour has stopped in a town near Mac's house.
- Note that the unpredictability spring from within these characters. We are constantly uncertain because we don't know how far the characters will go.

INT. DIXIE'S DRESSING ROOM - NIGHT.

SHE is changing her clothes. Sue Anne and HARRY come in.

DIXIE: I told you to wait up here with me when you weren't out front watching the show.

SUE ANNE: I'm sick of watching the show. I've seen it a hundred times.

DIXIE: Then stay up here.

SUE ANNE: I don't want to sit around here by myself.

DIXIE: Then watch T.V.

SUE ANNE: I'm sick of that, too.

SHE starts out.

DIXIE: Where are you going?

SUE ANNE: I'm going back to the hotel.

DIXIE: Why?

SUE ANNE: To change my clothes. I've got a date tonight.

DIXIE: Who with?

SUE ANNE: None of your business.

DIXIE: God damn it. What do you mean it's none of my business.

HARRY: Now, come on, honey. Don't get excited. You still have the rest of the show to do. [His motive is clear: make sure Dixie gets back on stage.]

DIXIE: She's going on no date unless I know who she's going with. [Dixie's motive is clear: don't let Sue Anne go on this date.]

SUE ANNE: Try and stop me. [Sue Anne's motive is clear: I will go on this date.]

DIXIE grabs her. SUE ANNE yanks her arm free and runs out. DIXIE follows to the door. 

DIXIE: (Screaming): Sue Anne. Sue Ann. Sue Anne. (She turns to Harry.) Harry, go after her. Tell her I said she'd better get back here and get back fast.

HE runs out after her.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: Characters don't need complicated motives, but they must be strong clashing ones in order to setup the uncertainty of "how far will they go?"

Tender Mercies (1983)(undated)
by Horton Foote

TODAY'S NUGGET: The Life of Emile Zola (1937) - How to Use a Portrait To Elicit One's Past Courage --> Change One's Mind

[Quick Summary: Famous French muckraking journalist Emile Zola gets involved when an army soldier is sentenced for treason that it is really a political cover up.]

Q: Who is Emile Zola?
A: In the latter 1800s, he rose from poverty to become a celebrated French novelist and journalist. 

Q: Besides his novels, what is he best known for?
A: His involvement in the Dreyfus Affair (approx.1894-1906).  

Q: What was the Dreyfus Affair about?
A: Dreyfus was a Jewish army captain who was jailed for treason. Dreyfus's brother had proof of an army cover up, and asked Zola to help him get the case reopened.

Q: Why was the scene below your favorite one from the script?
A: Zola was older and didn't want to get involved.  I particularly liked the scene below because it captures the swing of emotions as he changed his mind.  

In the scene below:
- Dreyfus's brother has just pled his case and left, discouraged.
- The famous artist Paul Cezanne had given his old school friend Zola a portrait of his younger self, when they were both hungrier and more political.
- Note how the portrait is a touchstone.  It reminds Zola of his youthful ideals, which were shown earlier in the script.
- Notice the sequence in the change of emotions:  First we SEE Zola's upset first --> He sees the portrait and remembers --> Then we SEE him write the open letter that will turn the tide for Dreyfus.

And now ZOLA restlessly, angrily pacing, in dreadful turmoil, picks up the portfolio of evidence. He riffles it through as he walks up and down before the fire. Then the view drawing close, the curiously lifelike eyes of Cezanne's portrait on the mantel seem to follow his movements. With a sudden savage gesture he raises the portfolio to hurl it from him, but as he does his eyes suddenly catch the calm, gazing portrait eyes of Cezanne, and Zola's gesture abruptly is halted. He stares, fascinated, at the picture and slowly his arm drops before that mute but terrible accusation. He straightens suddenly, looks at the portfolio, then again at the portrait of Cezanne, and all indecision, all anger, are washed from his face. His hand reaches out --he touches the picture frame with a gesture at once tender and reassuring. 

ZOLA turns, with the portfolio in his hand, and walks purposefully across the room and into his study. He sits at his desk and swiftly empties the portfolio of evidence before him and examines it, a close view showing him now scanning the document with intent interest, then reaching for paper and pen. He dips his pen in the ink, and the view moves down to the SHEET OF PAPER as Zola's hand, with the pen, pauses for a moment, then -- with a bold, decisive movement -- begins to write: 

"M. Felix Faure, President of the Republic..."

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: One cannot jump from upset --> immediately into a change in behavior.  

One must first show his tussle of emotions --> The portrait that sparked his memories of his younger, fiery self --> Then show the change of decision.

Why? Audiences don't simply want to know what WHAT happened; they need to know WHY.  The portrait helps explain WHY he changed his mind.

The Life of Emile Zola (1937)
by Heinz Herald, Geza Herczeg, & Norman Reilly Raine
Story by Heinz Herald and Geza Herczeg
Based on the book Zola and His Time, by Matthew Josephson

*Interestingly, this script was Oscar nominated for both story and script, but only won in the latter category.

TODAY'S NUGGET: Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941) - Do You Have A Premise So Strong That It's Been Remade Three Times?

[Quick Summary: When boxer Joe Pendleton accidentally is taken 50 yrs. too soon, Mr. Jordan helps Joe's soul to be placed in the body of a millionaire. ]

Q: What are buyers looking for today?
A: A strong premise.

Q: But what IS a strong premise?
A: A story line that audiences want to see to its conclusion.

Q: What can I look to for a great premise?
A: I think this script is a great example because:
- Back in the day, it won both Oscar winners for story & script in the same year.*
- It is only one of two scripts to ever achieve that status.**
- It has withstood the test of time.  It is based on a play and has been remade at least three times.***

Q: So what makes it a great premise?
A: For me, it was a new approach to the afterlife.  Who had seen an angel (Messenger 7013) take a soul (Joe) before he was supposed to go? 

In the scene below:
- This occurs in the waiting area where souls wait in line to board a plane to heaven. 
- Messenger 7013 has brought Joe to see the head man, Mr. Jordan.
- I particularly like Joe bargaining with Mr. Jordan ("I expect you to make good, Mr. Jordan") because it made me curious to see how this would end.

JOE: Now you're talking, Mister Jordan! You got to get busy and do something about this.

JORDAN: I intend to. Come along, Joseph.

JOE: Where to?

JORDAN: I'm taking you back.

JOE: But you can't! Didn't we tell you? I have got a body any more -

JORDAN (annoyed): What of it? I'll get you another body.

JOE: You'll do what?

MESSENGER 7013 (to Jordan; in amazement): Another body, sir?

JORDAN (testily): That's what I said. Come along. 

He takes Joe by the arm as if to lead him off. But Joe holds back.

JOE (hotly): Wait a minute, now - wait a minute. What kind of a deal is this? You fellas aren't shoving anybody else's body off on me. Not on your life!

MESSENGER 7013 (seeing the light): Oh, but Mr. Pendleton - if Mr. Jordan says he'll get you a body, it'll be as good as your own - if not better.

JOE (stubbornly; troubled): There isn't any better! I put in ten years getting that body in the pink. No! just because you two fumbled the ball is no sign--!

JORDAN (with authority): But Joseph - it's gone! Your body doesn't exist any more!

JOE (doggedly): That isn't my fault. You fellows can do anything. Now come on - do your stuff!

JORDAN (kindly): We shall, Joseph. You may have your choice of a thousand bodies, all excellent specimens.

MESSENGER 7013: A thousand bodies, Mr. Pendleton. Think of it!

JOE: I am thinking of it, and I say no dice! I want my own body - nobody else's!

MESSENGER 7013: Oh tush! Don't make such a fuss. What is it, after all?  A mere physical covering -- worth chemically -- just thirty-two cents!

JOE: Not mine. It was in the pink, I tell you!

MESSENGER 7013: Oh dear!

JORDAN: Suppose we get started, Joseph.

JOE (holding back): Now wait. Let's understand each other before we go running around--

JORDAN: I promise you - we'll keep looking until you find a body you like. Is that fair enough!

JOE: I only want what's coming to me -- What I was and what I was going to be --Nothing more, nothing less. And I expect you to make good, Mr. Jordan.

JORDAN (smiling): I'll do my best, Joe. Come along.

He starts off with Joe.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: The premise should avoid a predictable ending, so the audience will want to go on the journey and see how it ends.

Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941)
By Sidney Buchman and Seton I. Miller
Based on a story by Harry Segall

*Before 1956, the Academy used to have three separate awards in the writing category: original script, adapted script, and story. 

**The only other script to achieve this was Miracle on 34th Street (1946).

*** Down to Earth (1947); Heaven Can Wait (1978); Down to Earth (2001).

TODAY'S NUGGET: Blackboard Jungle (1955) - How to Involve the Audience (2 +2)

[Quick Summary: A new English teacher at an inner city school is faced with unruly students and jaded faculty.] 

Early in my writing journey, I heard a lot of things about writing that I did not understand.  Several came from Billy Wilder's 10 rules. For example:

- The more subtle and elegant you are in hiding your plot points, the better you are as a writer.

- A tip from Lubitsch: Let the audience add up two plus two. They'll love you forever.

But how does one DO that? No one could tell me. I despaired.  (And by the way, the ONLY way I've learned is to read.*)

What does that LOOK LIKE?  Let's look at today's script, a deserving Oscar winner.

In the scene below:
- This is a 1950s, tough inner city school with students out for trouble.
- Lois Hammond, a fellow new teacher, is going to give Rick (protagonist) a lift home. 
- This scene sets up a connection between Lois and Rick, which someone will take advantage of later (plot point: team building hidden in a shared battle zone).
- Notice the shoes early + single shoe later = trouble (2 +2).
- Notice how you lean in when you spot 1st clue --> see 2nd clue --> what happened to Lois? This very fine writing is great suspense.

INT. STAIRCASE

...LOIS HAMMOND

She adjusts her second stocking. She starts down stairs. Her black-and-white pumps clack hollowly on stairway.

SECOND FLOOR CORRIDOR - RICK

He quickly approaches elevator. He pushes button. The elevator rises carrying half-a-dozen teachers. Among them are Josh Edwards and Jim Murdock. Their voices drift of of cage.

JOSH EDWARDS: Why -- they didn't even know their multiplication tables.

MURDOCK: 'Course not. All they can multiply is themselves. (general laughter)

JOSH EDWARDS: How are they ever graduated?

MURDOCK: Graduated? They got to be 18 and they're thrown out to make room for more of the same kind.

Rick watches elevator ascend. He decides to use stairway, starts down on the run.

STAIRWAY - SHOOTING DOWN

Rick descends. The stairway is deserted except for him.

FIRST FLOOR - FOOT OF STAIRS

Rick comes down. he stops. He looks down corridor for Lois Hammond.

CORRIDOR - RICK'S VIEWPOINT

It is empty, shadowy.

CLOSE - RICK

He looks in other direction toward exit. Lois Hammond is not waiting. He hesitates, shrugs, starts toward exit. MOVE with him. He passes the closed library doors. He stops, turns, looks down.

CLOSE - FLOOR 

Near library doors lies a black-and-white woman's pump. Rick leans in and picks it up.

CLOSE - RICK

He looks at shoe in puzzlement. He goes back several steps to the library doors. He looks thru glass portion of doors. 

Thru doors, at far side, between two walls of books, can dimly be seen two struggling figures.

Rick pushes at the doors. They are locked. He rattles doorknobs. They won't budge.

Holding the shoe by the sole, he smashes the glass with the high heel. He reaches in and opens door. He enters quickly.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: It's often trial and error to figure out exactly what info to give an audience.  In this case, the shoe was perfect, as it spiked our curiosity.

Blackboard Jungle (1955)(final draft, 8/10/54)
by Richard Brooks
Based on the novel by Evan Hunter

*Early in my journey, I heard "to write, you need to read."  

"Yeah, yeah, so what?" I thought, smugly to myself. "I already read a lot." 

What I did not realize is:

a) How MUCH I had to read.  It took me a few years for me to realize I wasn't reading enough scripts, then several more years to up my intake of a wider range of novels, plays, everything I could get my hands on.  

b) My job as a writer depends on reading. From the start, it was obvious to me that I needed to read to educate myself. 

However, it took me a long time to understand that a large part of my value as a writer is to have fresh, new IDEAS for the rest of the team.  I will only find those ideas by reading.

2023 OSCARS: Women Talking (2022) - Unexpected Arrival --> An Unusual Inter-generational Sense of Urgency

[Quick Summary: After women of a insular religious colony have been secretly drugged and raped by men in their colony, they must decide whether to stay or go.]

The protagonists here have the odds stacked against them, and it's great for tension.

They cannot read, write, or own anything.  They do not even know where they live on a map.  They've been secretly drugged and raped for the last two years.

But the film is essentially the group weighing their options the barn.  How would the writer would keep the tension up in Act 2? 

First, there is a ticking clock.  The men are in the city to post bail for the suspects and will only be gone a couple of days. The script moves along at a certain rhythm.

Then the rhythm is interrupted and the clock is sped up by the unexpected return of one man, Klaas. This immediately ups the tension and urgency for all.

However, I was particularly impressed by how this one arrival caused three different reactions in the women from his family (see notes below).

In the scene below:
- There has been a moment of laughter in the previous scene.
- Greta is the mother of Mariche. Mariche is married to Klaas.  Their daughter is Autje.
- Greta's beloved horses are Ruth and Cheryl.
- Notice the emotional effect of Klaas' unexpected return on an inter-generational level:  He is coming back to take his mother-in-law's horses.  His wife is afraid of him personally. His daughter must be too, to side with her mom.

INT. HAYLOFT - LATE AFTERNOON

...When it dies down, Autje, looks around at all of the women, her face serious.

AUTJE: Excuse me. Excuse me. The Census taker just told us that one of our men is planning to return late tonight. He is coming to get some old horses to auction.

GRETA: Ruth and Cheryl!

NEITJE: They need more bail money for the attackers.

Greta lifts her arms into the air. She stumbles back to her seat. Agata sharpens her gaze. They all clamber hastily back to their seats for the meeting. Autje climbs back up into the hayloft and takes her seat as well.

MARICHE: Tonight?

Autje nods.

MARICHE (CONT'D): Which man?

AUTJE: Father.

NEITJE: Your Klaas.

Mariche makes the smallest of small sounds.

MARICHE (quietly, trying to absorb this): Oh.

AGATA: So. Time is of the essence. Everyone get back to your seats.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: I've seen an unexpected arrival cause an added sense of urgency before, but not three different reactions in one family like the scene above.

Women Talking (2022)(4/12/21 production draft)
by Sarah Polley
Based upon the book by Miriam Toews

2023 OSCARS: Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022) - Grounding a Surreal Story in Reality

[Quick Summary: A Chinese laundromat owner, who could be the hero to save the universe, is thrust into an adventure to explore all the lives she could have lived.]

I'm not surprised that people have exited this film saying, "What was that?"

A few things have helped me understand what they were trying to do:

- Writers/directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert ("The Daniels") wrote this script after seeing a double feature of The Matrix and Fight Club. 

- Their frequent collaborator, cinematographer Larkin Seiple, described their scripts as so surreal that he felt it was his job to ground the story in the ordinary [to make it seem familiar.] 

- Kwan said in an interview that he was scrolling through his cell phone, and it reminded him of different universes...

...which is what the main character Evelyn is experiencing in the scene below. 

NOTE:
- This scene is particularly good at conveying the surreal feeling physically of being in an elevator (but one's mind elsewhere).
- I really like how Waymond flows from surreal to ordinary in a few sentences.

INT. IRS ELEVATOR - THAT MOMENT

....DING! Evelyn is now standing outside of her laundromat with a few suitcases and Gong Gong sitting in a wheelchair, looking clearly disappointed.

DING! Evelyn sorts tax receipts earlier today! DING! Joy shut the car door on Evelyn. DING! Waymond sighs as they enter the elevator DING! The elevator door closes -

Evelyn blinks. She is back. She exhales, shell shocked.

Waymond shoves the papers he was writing on into her hands.

ALPHA WAYMOND: The moment you are situated in your meeting, follow these instructions, but remember: no one can know. Don't even talk to me about this because I won't remember.

EVELYN: But I-

He shushes her and places a hand gently on her cheek. Evelyn shrivels under the intimacy.

His phone BEEPS.  He closes the umbrella, shoves everything into his bag, and strikes a natural pose.

ALPHA WAYMOND (side of mouth): Talk to you soon.

His head goes limp.

DING. The elevator opens. Waymond's head lifts up and he looks around disoriented.

WAYMOND: Wow...what a fast elevator...

He walks out pushing a snoring Gong Gong, leaving Evelyn grasping for understanding. 

As she exits, her gaze lingers on the janitor closet to her right.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: I really liked that the story relied on people, not machines and gadgets, for the a-ha! moments.  It felt more real.

Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)
Written and directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert

TODAY'S NUGGET: Melvin and Howard (1980) - What Does a "Well Fleshed-out Character" Look Like?

[Quick Summary: The adventures of down-on-his luck Melvin who rescues an unrecognizable Howard [Hughes], and may be left a fortune in the latter's will.]

I went into this script cold, as I prefer to do.  I did not know what it was about, nor much about the writer, nor who directed it. **  Could he hold my attention?

In short, yes, but I'm not sure how.  After Howard disappears (p. 23), it's mostly about Melvin's shambolic life (until the will shows up p. 101).

Yet I couldn't take my eyes off this odd character Melvin, who can't hold down a job, who keeps going back to his ex, and who makes up songs that he sings badly.

And that's what really shines in this script, more than plot.

The writer puts Melvin in odd circumstances, but it's his odd decision making, his reliance on the short term, that kept me reading.

For example, in the scene below:
- Melvin now works as a door-to-door dairy deliveryman.
- He is now hanging out with his dairy truck co-workers at the bar.
- He is sad that his ex left with the kids for the umpteenth time.
- Bill Matilla owns the bar and gave Melvin a break as a regular featured singer.
- Bonnie works in the cashier's office at the dairy. She has had her eye on Melvin at work, at church.
- Melvin has been goaded into singing his song and has just finished it.
- Notice how well fleshed out and realistic Melvin is.  We recognize he isn't necessarily impulsive, just trying to bet on a "sure thing."

LA HABRA - TIKI RESTAURANT

...Dead silence, then applause and cheering erupts. Melvin is shy on the stage, his friends, Pete and Ralph and George Rush over to him, lift him off the stage, the band strikes up -- Bonnie rushes to Melvin.

She throws her arms around him.

MELVIN (all embarrassed): Hey, that was nice. You married, Bonnie? 

BONNIE: No I'm not, Melvin Dummar. And neither are you any more.

Melvin waits.

BONNIE: So what do you say?

MELVIN (shrugs): Gee, I don't know, Bonnie.

BONNIE: I'll take care of you, Melvin -- til you get on your feet. I got my welfare money saved up ---

MELVIN: You on welfare, Bonnie --?

BONNIE: I got two kids ---

MELVIN: Oh my Lord ---

BONNIE: Listen Melvin, I got a cousin up in Utah -- lost his lease on a gas station -- we run it right we get a thousand a month clear -- I've been waiting for this moment -- and the moment is now -- so what do you say?!

Melvin hesitates.

BONNIE: Or don't you come swinging your dick around the cashier's office no more!

MELVIN: Bonnie? A Mormon girl -- swearing?!

BONNIE: Bet your ass.

Melvin looks over at Bill Matilla who is dancing with a Japanese hostess. Melvin shakes his head.

MELVIN: When do we leave?

BONNIE: Tonight.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: Despite never being a dairy truck driver or a bar singer, I recognize Melvin, his habits, his attempts to bet on a winner. It's realistic.

I think that's what is meant by the term,  a "well fleshed-out" character.

Melvin and Howard (1980)(undated)
by Bo Goldman

* Though you may not have heard of double Oscar winning writer Bo Goldman (who is still alive), you will know some of the films that he's written: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (Oscar winner); The Rose, Scent of a Woman (Oscar nominated); Meet Joe Black; Rules Don't Apply.

** This was directed by Jonathan Demme, who later directed Something Wild, Silence of the Lambs.

TODAY'S NUGGET: The Lost Weekend (1945) - Two Steps in Thinking About Emotion

[Quick Summary:  Don, an alcoholic, failed novelist, tries to survive the weekend alone at his brother's apartment.]

The premise of an alcoholic getting drunk over a long weekend? Boring, right?

I read this script and had to begrudgingly admit that the writers Wilder and Brackett got my emotions invested.  How? 

Lagos Egri said it best in his chapter "Emotion: The Source of Identification":

Here is where the writer's intelligence is tested to the full. The first step is to make your reader or viewer identify your character as someone he knows. Step two - if the author can make the audience imagine that what is happening can happen to him, the situation will be permeated with aroused emotion and the viewer will experience a sensation so great that he will feel not as a spectator but as the participant of an exciting drama before him. 

Here, the writers first establish how Don uses alcohol to numb him from fear as a failed writer (we ALL know that person).  

Don must, must have alcohol, but has not sold his precious typewriter or cheated on his faithful girlfriend Helen.  

But when his hits bottom (scene below) we all say, "That could happen to me too":

Don is shaking so that he can't pick up the glass. He bends down, sucks half of it, then lifts the glass and drians the rest. He holds out the empty glass to Nat, his eyes imploring.

NAT: That's all.

DON: Come on, Nat, come on. I'll let you have my typewriter.

NAT: I'm no writer. You're the writer. Now go. Go away.

DON: Nat --

NAT: I mean it. Get out.

Don takes the typewriter and drags himself out of Nat's place. Then we see Third Avenue, outside Nat's as Don emerges, and starts dragging himself up the street toward home. As he passes the antique shop, he suddenly stops. There stands the wooden Indian that Gloria spoke about, pointing up. That's where Gloria lives. Second floor, this same house. Don walks into the house.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: I shall cogitate more about the second part ("could happen to me too") because it is the trickier bit for me.

The Lost Weekend (1945)
by Charles Brackett & Billy Wilder
Adapted from the novel by Charles R. Jackson

2021 OSCARS: The Father (2020) - Describing the Character's Mental Attitude

[Quick Summary: Anthony has difficulty remembering, to the dismay of his daughter Anne.]

An outstanding (and newly minted Oscar winning) script!

More than any other script in my recent memory, this one makes you FEEL Anthony's memory loss:

a) He can only hold on to bits and pieces, so he is discombobulated when new information arrives or has to retrieve old information that is no longer there.

b) The cyclical, repetitiveness of daily living becomes frustrating and frightening.

c) The writers included Anthony's mental attitude, even though we can't see it, and thus is supposedly forbidden under "screenwriting rules."  It works well here.

For example, in the scene below:
- Anthony keeps thinking his watch is missing/stolen/lost.
- He does not really remember Paul, his son-in-law.
- I've underlined the lines below with Anthony's mental attitude.

INT. LIVING ROOM 2 - DAY

...ANTHONY has noticed Paul's watch. He seems fascinated. He's wondering if it might be his.

ANNE: Laura.

ANTHONY: Mm?

ANNE: The young woman who came to see us just now.

ANTHONY: Oh, yes.

ANNE: And we went to see the doctor...

PAUL: And? What did he say?

ANTHONY: Has anybody seen my watch? Can't seem to find it.

ANNE: Again?

ANTHONY: I've been looking for it for some time.

ANNE: You must have put it in your cupboard. Don't you think? In your hiding-place...

ANTHONY starts, afraid that PAUL has heard the word 'cupboard' and will discover his hiding-place.

ANTHONY: What are you talking about, Anne? I really don't know what you're talking about. What cupboard? Mm? There's no cupboard. No cupboard.

He takes ANNE aside.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: If it helps the reader, don't be afraid to describe the character's mental attitude.

The Father (2020)
by Florian Zeller and Christopher Hampton

2021 OSCARS: Promising Young Woman (2020) - Well-Rounded Characters Come With Attitudes/Agendas That Will Cause Conflict

[Quick Summary: After her life goes off the rails, angry Cassie seeks revenge on men with a targeted agenda.]

This is a very sharply written script, very focused in tone and intent.  It is a throwback to the really good female led thrillers of yore.

For me, the script works because the writer stayed true to the character all the way through, and did not shirk back when things turned ugly in Act 3. 

Also, characters are fully rounded, even the minor ones.  

In the scene below, notice:
- How each character has a distinct attitude that is easily distinguished.
- How these attitudes/agendas lead to conflicts that push the story forward.

INT. MAKE ME COFFEE SHOP - LATER 

...GABBY:  Um. A hot chocolate please.

CASSANDRA starts making it. The men are now openly staring at GABBY, whispering.

JEFF: I'd never let my daughter go out looking like that. Nothing to the imagination.

but the way he's looking at her is not that of a concerned parent.

CASSANDRA glares at him. She leans forward and whispers to GABBY.

CASSANDRA: Do you want me to freak those fuckers out?

GABBY glances over at them.

GABBY (low): No, no! Please don't! Please don't say anything. Please.

She is bight red with embarrassment. Almost in tears.

CASSANDRA: It's alright. Don't worry. Don't worry about those creeps. Fuck 'em.

She passes GABBY her drink.

CASSANDRA (CONT'D): On the house.

GABBY (small): Thanks.

GABBY makes her way to the door trying to keep as far from the table as she can while the men watch, sniggering.

CASSANDRA comes over to wipe their table and - oops! - she knocks a hot coffee into JEFF's lap.

He leaps up.

JEFF: JESUS!

CASSANDRA: Would you look at that! Right in the crotch!

GABBY turns and stifles a smile at CASSANDRA as she leaves. CASSANDRA winks at her.

CASSANDRA (CONT'D): Let me get you a fresh one, sir. Hope I didn't burn you.

He watches her go, furiously.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: I was particularly impressed how cleanly defined these characters were, unapologetic and driven. I may not agree with their POV, but I understood them.

Promising Young Woman (2020)
Written and directed by Emerald Fennell

2018 OSCARS: Call Me By Your Name (2017) - Showing Awkwardness

[Quick Summary: In 1980s Italy, a 17 y.o. boy falls in love for the first time with the family's summer lodger, an American male graduate student.]

Though I'm only halfway through, I am quite impressed with the level of difficulty of the Oscar scripts this year. *

Today's script is quite a high wire act:

1) It's an effective, slow burn drama, AND

2) It shows what a 17 y.o.'s journey through awkwardness feels like, AND

3) It happens during every day life.  There is no "grand crisis" that speeds things up, i.e., no guns, violence, car crash, death, etc.

This script is unusual in that it makes you FEEL Elio's awkwardness through contrasting behaviors (Elio vs. others).

In the scene below, notice:
- Elio is the only one who is unsure and who is not relaxed.
- The other characters may feel that way too, but handle it differently because: a) they're older, and b) have more life experience.
-  Even Oliver is not rattled, though he does not know what to do with the egg at first. He catches on faster than Elio does. 

ex. "EXT. GARDEN IN FRON OF THE KITCHEN - PERLMAN VILLA - DAY

The PERLMANS are eating breakfast outside, in front of the kitchen. OLIVER comes out and sits down, watching how ELIO expertly cracks his soft-boiled egg shell, then attempts to do the same, but only a tiny bit of the shell is pierced, so he pretends to busy himself with his coffee and pushes the egg in its cup away. MAFALDA asks him if he would like juice. He says "Please". She looks down at the discarded egg.

MAFALDA: Lasci fare a me, Signore. (Let me)

She slices the top off and returns to her kitchen.

ANNELLA: Did you recover from your trip, caro?

OLIVER: Big time.

ELIO, who has been trying not to stare at their guest and is concentrating on spreading honey on a piece of bread, now lifts his head and speaks, growing unnaturally loud:

ELIO: I can show you around.

OLIVER: Good. Are we far from town? I need to open a bank account.

Both Professor PERLMAN and ANNELLA look up, interested.

PERLMAN (smiling): None of our residents has ever had a local bank account.

Elio turns in his seat to get a better view of Oliver, who is sitting beside him.

ELIO: Should I take him to Montodine?

PERLMAN: I'm think they're closed for summer vacation. Try Crema.

OLIVER: Is that your orchard?

PERLMAN: Pesca, ciliege, albicooche...(peaches, cherries, apricots...)

ANNELLA: Pomegranate.

MAFALDA returns with a pitcher of apricot juice on a little tray and proceeds to fill Oliver's glass. OLIVER tastes it, then enthusiastically downs it. ELIO realizes he is staring at OLIVER, his head tipped back with his throat swallowing the juice, and notices the Star of David on a necklace around his neck. OLIVER smacks his lips and begins to eat his second egg, giving it a sharp crack. MAFALDA brings him a third egg.

ANNELLA (CONT'D): Have another egg.

OLIVER (shaking his head): I know myself. If I have three, I'll have a fourth, and more.

ELIO has never heard someone Oliver's age say, I know myself. It's somewhat intimidating. He lowers his eyes."

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: I liked that awkwardness was shown in behavior here, rather relying on dialogue to express it.

Call Me By Your Name (2017)
by James Ivory
Adapted from the novel by Andre Aciman

*In the five years that I've read all the nominated Oscar scripts, this year's group of competitors are the strongest that I've seen.

2018 OSCARS: Get Out (2017) - Emotional Building Blocks

[Quick Summary: When a young African American man accompanies his Caucasian girlfriend to meet her parents, he uncovers an awful horror.]

"A screenplay is not written to be read. It is written to be filmed."

Ugh.  True, but ugh.  What does it mean?!

How can you NOT read a screenplay?

How do you write something (words) to be filmed (pictures)?

As a new writer, I had the bright idea that I could just copy shooting scripts.  Wrong.

Years went by and I continued to read shooting scripts but wrote crap.  Why?

I was focusing too much on shooting script format and style (ex. he sits, she stands) rather than how WORDS form PICTURES THAT CONVEY AN EMOTION (ex. he jumps to his feet every time she gets up from the dinner table).

Today's shooting script is a good example to study.

It's not perfect and I wished for a little more than the utilitarian style.

However, if you can see the big picture, each scene conveys an emotional building block moving us forward.

How does the scene below make you feel? Loyal? Like a team?

ex. "INT. ROSE'S CAR - CONTINUOUS

...Rose finally pulls her driver's license from her purse. The Officer looks at it and over at Chris.

OFFICER RYAN: You two coming up from the city?

ROSE: Yeah. My parents live in the Lake Pontaco area. We're up here for the weekend.

OFFICER RYAN: Sir...? Can I see your license?

CHRIS: Oh...yeah. I have a state I.D.

ROSE: Wait, why?

OFFICER RYAN: Ma'am?

ROSE: He wasn't driving?

OFFICER RYAN: I didn't ask if he was driving, I asked to see his I.D.

ROSE (to Officer Ryan): But why? It doesn't make any sense.

CHRIS: Here.

Chris offers Officer Ryan his I.D.

ROSE: No, fuck that. He shouldn't have to show you his I.D. because he hasn't done anything wrong.

CHRIS: Baby. It's okay --

OFFICER RYAN: Ma'am, any time there is an incident we have the right to --

ROSE: That's bullshit!

OFFICER RYAN: Ma'am...

There is a tense silence. Officer Ryan gives up. Not worth the trouble. Officer Ryan's walkie chimes in.

OFFICER FROSTY: Everything alright up there Crowsie?

He presses his walkie button.

OFFICER RYAN: Yeah, I'm all good. (to Chris and Rose) You guys drive safe.

Rose and Chris get into their car.

OFFICER RYAN (cont'd): Get that headlight fixed...And the mirror."

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: When they say "Screenplays are written to be filmed," they mean that they are filming a scene that convey an emotion --> series of emotional scenes --> a story.

Get Out (2017)
by Jordan Peele

TODAY'S NUGGET: Julia (1977) - Flashbacks That Nail the WHAT, Not the WHY

[Quick Summary: On a request from her best childhood friend Julia, Lillian Hellman is asked to deliver a package into Nazi occupied Berlin. Based on a true story.*]

My Three Thoughts:

1) My hat is OFF to you, Mr. Alvin Sargent. This is an incredible script.

When was the last time that I didn't want a script to end? I cannot remember.

2) For a tutorial in suspense, do NOT miss the train scene at the end.

3) I like flashbacks, but only if you know how to use them.**

Here, Sargent is extremely precise in how he's using flashbacks: To nail the protagonist's present emotions.  What is Lillian feeling now? (Not WHY, but WHAT.)
 
Notice the FLOW of the next three scenes (I have edited for length):

Scene #1 - Lillian is in shock at the request.  She must decide by tomorrow and doesn't have any guarantees.

Scene #2 - Flashback of Lillian in trouble. Fear --> trust in Julia.

Scene #3 - In the present, Lillian walks in a daze. The flashback shows us the war inside her, i.e., WHAT she's feeling inside now.

ex. EXT. THE GARDENS OF THE TUILERIES - LONG SHOT

[Lillian is in Paris and has not heard from Julia.  Then Johann, a friend of Julia's, shows up with a request: Would Lillian smuggle money to Berlin for Julia?

Lillian asks for time to decide.  Johann walks away.]

Another angle Lillian

walking on the path.

JULIA (O.S. - young girl): Lilly, you don't have to come this way. Go down under. Wade across.

Cut to

EXT. A TRAIL IN THE ADIRONDACK MOUNTAINS - DAY

Angle on a fallen tree which serves as access from one side of a relatively deep ravine to the other. Water rushes down the ravine. Julia and Lillian (children) have approached the tree. They study the pros and cons, Lillian with some trepidation. Finally, Julia moves with great alacrity across the fallen tree. Lillian remains on the edge of the ravine behind her. She is contemplating the depths. Quiite clearly her fear is increasing.

Angle on Julia

on the tree trunk as she reaches the other side. She looks back toward Lillian.

Her P.O.V. Lillian

Standing frozen in the distance.

Full shot

We wait a moment for Lillian to decide. Finally she makes her move. Carefully, she puts one foot on the log....

as Lillian continues on slowly. She moves closer to the other side. Finally, she is only a few yards from making it. She freezes again. We can feel the panic coming on her. She is about to lose her balance and starts to get down to her knees, but she slips off the log. As she does, she throws her arms around it and holds on for dear life. She is hanging beneath the log.

JULIA: Pull yourself up!
LILLIAN: I can't!
JULIA: Hold tight - just hold tight.

[Julia pulls Lillian up on the log. They are safe!]

....Closer shot Lillian and Julia

as they lie on their sides, exhausted.

LILLIAN: I'm sorry.
JULIA: It's all right.

She looks at Lillian like a good teacher, smiles.

JULIA: You'll do it next time.

Cut to

EXT. THE TUILERIES - ANGLE ON LILLIAN

walking on the path. The gardens are breathtaking, but Lillian is oblivious to everything around her, even a line of schoolchildren who nearly bump into her as they move with their teacher along the path."

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: I didn't notice the flashbacks. (That's how I knew they must have been unusually well crafted.)

Julia (1977)
by Alvin Sargent
Based upon the story by Lillian Hellman

*The forward notes that there is still great debate whether Ms. Hellman's memoirs and recollections are entirely true, or all or partly fictional.

**The "rule" says to not use flashbacks.  Why? Because it's too often used to dump information. That is lazy. Don't do that.

TODAY'S NUGGET: Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) - Personify the Inner Conflict

[Quick Summary: A tribunal decides the innocence or guilt of four German judges who were on the bench during WWII.]

How do you make a 1948 war crimes trial that lasted 8 months appealing? Relevant?

This script could've been a boring trial, but writer Abby Mann* kept it interesting:

- The story follows Justice Haywood (played by Spenser Tracy) who is a fish-out-of-water. He is very curious, and takes us outside the courtroom into every day life.

- I expected the courtroom scenes that follow the prosecutor, defense attorneys, etc.  However, I did not expect so many character scenes outside the courtroom.

- I really liked how Mann structured the story to show Haywood's inner conflict about judging other judges' innocence or guilt:

1) We see glimpses of the inner conflict, here and there, mixed with humor.**

2) Mann personifies the German point of view through the character of Mrs. Berholt, a German widow with whom Haywood bonds with over music.

She represents the Germans (like her husband) who did not want the Nazis in power, but were swept up in the mess, and falsely accused of crimes and punished.

She makes Haywood face the fact that the issues are not black and white:

"ex. MRS. BERHOLT: What did he know about the crimes they cited him for? (pause) He was placed on trial with the other military leaders. He became part of the revenge which the victors always take on the vanquished...(simply, devastatingly)...it was political murder. (pause. Quietly look at Haywood) You can see that, can't you?

Pause. There is a moment. Haywood speaks finally. Obviously terribly moved by what she has said but not looking at her.

HAYWOOD (finally): Mrs. Bertholt. I don't know. (pause) I don't know what I see. (pause) I shouldn't be here right now talking to you. But I want to understand. I want to understand. I have to.

Mrs. Bertholt looks at him a moment. The stooped, agonized bulk of man sitting on the couch. She realizes how fully he is involved with his case and how much he really wishes to do what is right.

He is giving back to her the memory of the people in America that she had most come to admire. There is a moment.

MRS. BERTHOLT (gently): Would you like some more coffee?

HAYWOOD (quietly): Yes. I would.

Mrs. Bertholt begins to pour."

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: One way to show the protagonist's inner conflict is to set him/her against another antagonist/friend/bystander who strongly takes one side in the conflict.

Now the protagonist's inner opinions will be brought out in the open.

Judgment at Nuremburg (1961)
by Abby Mann
Adapted from his 1959 teleplay (play here)(original 1959 video broadcast here)

*FYI: Mann is also the writer who brought the great Kojack (1973) to tv.

**The glimpses were just enough.  I so appreciate that it is not heavy handed conflict, ALL THE TIME.  Otherwise, it would have felt like a lecture.

2016 OSCARS: Moonlight (2016) - Explaining A Bit of Local Jargon

[Quick Summary: Told at three ages, this story follows abandoned Little/Black who is struggling in Miami to survive life and figure out his sexuality on his own.]

As I was reading this script, I didn't really pay attention to the setting.

Later, I realized how important Miami is to this particular story and filmmakers.

Without the beach, the ocean, and sunny temperatures, it's a different story.

Miami also has its own lingo, as every metropolitan city does.

I liked how the writer explained a bit of local jargon without dumbing it down or insulting the reader's intelligence.

It is matter of fact and informative (the insult is insulting, but not too insulting):

ex. "Black nodding.

BLACK: Can't picture bein' in Miami with no car, man.

KEVIN: Yeah it's real out here.

BLACK: I bet.

KEVIN: Real slow, real hot, real busted, got me like a duck out here.

Both laughing at that, you can be called a lot of things in Miami and next to snitch, duck is about the worst."

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: Don't be afraid to explain a bit of local jargon, if it helps the reader understand context.

Without the explanation, I would've been clueless if "duck" was a good or bad thing.

Moonlight (2016)
by Barry Jenkins
Based on "In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue", by Tarell Alvin McCraney

2017 OSCARS: Manchester by the Sea (2016) - Flashbacks that Expand Present State of Mind

[Quick Summary: After his brother dies, a building custodian goes back to his hometown as his nephew's guardian, and faces the ghosts that haunt him.]

I did not expect to like this script as much as I did.

(A very reliable friend had told me, "Great dialogue. Too slow.")

Though I haven't seen the film yet, I found it deeply moving on the page. 

Two thoughts:

1) It reads extremely fast.  Always double points!

2) It is an unusual use of flashbacks to peer into the main character's (Lee) present state of mind.  He experienced trauma a few years ago, but it is still raw.

His emotional state then = His emotional state now.

In the scene below, Lee makes a positive statement about Dr. Betheny --> The flashback expands on his POV of Dr. Betheny, but it is not an "information dump."

ex. "INT. HOSPITAL ELEVATOR

Dr. Muller and Lee ride down very slowly.

LEE: How is Dr. Betheny?

DR. MULLER: Oh, she's doing very well. She just had twin girls.

LEE: Oh yeah. Irene told me.

DR. MULLER: Apparently weigh about eleven pounds apiece. So she's gonna have her hands full for a while...I'll call her this afternoon and tell her what happened.

LEE: She was very good to him.

DR. MULLER: Yes she was.

EIGHT YEARS AGO --

INT. JOE CHANDLER'S HOSPITAL ROOM. DAY.

JOE CHANDLER, Lee's older brother by five years, is lying in the hospital bed. There's a close resemblance between them.

ELISE, Joe's wife, the same age as Joe, pretty, anxious and high-strung -- stands near to STANLEY CHANDLER -- Lee and Joe's father, 70s. He sits in one chair. LEE sits in another.

They are all listening to DR. BETHENY, 30s. She is small, intense, very serious and focused and level-headed, but thoroughly well-meaning and decent. The bed area is curtained off from the other patients in the room.

DR. BETHENY: The disease is commonly referred to as congestive heart failure --

ELISE: Oh my God!

DR. BETHENY: Are you familiar with it?

ELISE: No...!

JOE: Then what are you sayin' "oh my God" for?

ELISE: Because what is it?

JOE: She's tryin' to explain it to us, honey. I'm sorry, Dr. Beth...uh...

DR. BETHENY: Betheny

JOE: I'm sorry. I can never get it right.

DR. BETHENY: Don't worry about it. Not a problem."

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: Flashbacks are interesting when used to show a stuck character's present state of mind.

Manchester by the Sea (2016)
by Kenneth Lonergan

TODAY'S NUGGET: Little Women (1933) - Change of Pace = Change of Progress

[Quick Summary: Four sisters come of age during the American Civil War.] 

Two thoughts:

1) I hate the bland description "coming of age", but it's the best I can do here.

2) The pacing is absolutely killer, and among the best I've ever seen.*

The introduction to the script describes it this way:

The adaptors made use of a large variety of episodes, with sudden changes of pace within the individual scenes. These contrasts increase the drama and add to the suspense, because, in effect, they advance or retard the aims of the main character. Even the most casual events are so arranged as to emphasize these contrasts. For instance, the gay spirit that pervades the Christmas breakfast scene is suddenly changed to one of sympathy for the plight of a more unfortunate family...p. 214.

There's no formula, but the writers varied the pacing FOR SPECIFIC REASONS:

➤Sometimes they wanted the uncertainty first (fast; What will the party be like?)
--> Quiet moment in the middle (slow; Will Beth get over her shyness?)
--> Then a happy note at the end (fast; We're all friends now!)

➤Sometimes they had a happy scene (fast; Jo and Laurie) --> Then end on a somber note (slow; Jo leaves for the city).

➤Sometimes the writers wanted to stretch the tension (slow-slow) --> Then suddenly release the tension (fast-fast).   Note the stretch below with Amy and Mr. Davis --> then release after leaving Mr. Davis.

ex. "SCHOOLROOM - CLOSE SHOT. Amy is sobbing. Davis turns over the slate which has cartoons of himself on one side of it.

DAVIS (angrily): I can see there's nothing for me to do but stop by and show your mother how, instead of doing your sums, you cover your slate with sketches -

INSERT: SLATE with sketches of spectacled teacher, and legend: "Young ladies, my eyes are upon you."

DAVIS: -- most uncomplimentary sketches.

SCHOOLROOM - MED. CLOSE-UP DAVIS, looking down, sternly. Amy is heard sobbing.

CLOSE-UP AMY looking up in his direction, sobbing as she pleads:

AMY: Oh, please, Mr. Davis. I'll never do it again, sir. And she'd be so disappointed in me. Please -

MED. CLOSE-UP DAVIS looking odwn in Amy's direction. He relents.

DAVIS: Well I should hate to spoil her Christmas and for that reason alone, young lady, I shall overlook it.

CLOSE-UP AMY looking up in his direction, delightedly.

AMY: Oh, thank you, Mr. Davis!

MED. CLOSE-UP DAVIS looking down.

DAVIS (sternly): You may go!

CLOSE SHOT as Amy speaks gratefully:

AMY: Oh, thank you, Mr. Davis.

He exits as CAMERA FOLLOWS HER as she backs away toward the cloakroom, still speaking.

AMY: Thank you very much indeed. Thank you, sir. (She starts to open door.)

HALL CLOAKROOM - CLOSE SHOT. The girls are standing about waiting in excited speculation as to Amy's fate. Amy enters, drying her tears. The girls close the doors and swoop down on her, all talking at once and asking: "What did he do?" "What did he say?"

AMY (with lofty disdain): I just said that if I ever told my mother the way he treated me, she'd take me out of his old school. She's never been reconciliated anyway, since my father lost his money, and she's had to suffer the degarradation of me being thrown with a lot of ill-mannered girls -- (she turns at the door, drops some of her elegance, and gives it to them straight:) -- who stick their noses into refined people's business! (She leaves them flat. They look after her, then turn to each other and murmur indistinctly.)

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: Change of pace = Changes as the protagonist advances/retards his/her progress. 

It's also invisible, like rhythm, but very much felt by the reader.

Little Women (1949)
by Sarah Y. Mason & Victor Heerman
Adapted from the novel by Louisa May Alcott

* After all, this was written for George Cukor and Katherine Hepburn.

TODAY'S NUGGET: The Candidate (1972) - Death by a Thousand Paper Cuts

[Quick Summary: A CA legal aid attorney attempts a senatorial campaign to talk about issues, knowing very well that he'll probably lose against the incumbent.]

Before tv was commonly used to shape public opinion in campaigns...

Before there was campaign finance (1972) and this film...

A journalist named Jeremy Larner was the speechwriter for McCarthy (1968).  He wrote a book,* and this prescient script.

In this film, Robert Redford plays an attorney who wants to talk about issues...except no one else does. His campaign staff wants photo ops (that tell half the story).  The media want sound bites (that sound better than his real responses).

He is worn down little by little, like a death by a thousand paper cuts.

I loved how we do not notice the candidate's gradual slide at first.

The writer creates situations where small compromises are required...and another...and another. Soon, the candidate is in a pit and doesn't know how.**

Here is one such innocent "paper cut":

ex."INT. McKAY HOUSE.

McKay comes in the front door and stops short. Photographer's lights are set up on a stand. Two men stand there.

McKAY: What you doing in my house?
WRITER: I'm having an affair with your wife.
McKAY: Huh?
WRITER: She said if you came in I should say I was a writer from Parade, but you don't believe that.

Nancy emerges from bedroom in riding pants, with crop and felt riding helmet.

NANCY: Oh Bill, this is Mr. Shearer, Bill, and this is Mr. Scott.
McKAY: (shaking hands) From Parade.
WRITER: I trust this is the beginning of a life-long affinity.
McKAY: It's the beginning of something, anyhow. Can you excuse us a minute, gentlemen?
WRITER: Certainly, certainly.

McKay and Nancy step to the side.

McKAY: What's going on?
NANCY: They want to photograph me riding.
McKAY: You haven't worn that stuff in years.
NANCY: You haven't worn that dark suit in years.

McKay starts to walk away, turns back to her.

McKAY: Just not in the house, Nancy. Get those guys out of the house.
NANCY: I was doing it for you.

Nancy starts to cry, turns away, walks back into the kitchen....

McKay follows her into the kitchen - takes her loosely in his arms, comforts her awkwardly. We can see by the way he touches her he is irritated and put off."

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: These small compromises really do add up.

The beauty is that they seem so inconsequential at the time...until we pull back to see the big picture 

The Candidate (1972)
by Jeremy Larner

*Nobody Knows: Reflections on the McCarthy Campaign of 1968 (1970)

** It's like a frog in a pot.  It doesn't notice the water is getting warmer, nor when it boils to death.