1.
What is
the story--the beginning, middle, and end--of this scene in three or four
sentences? In other words, what happens in this scene as it starts, as it
progresses, and as it ends?
Marty Baron, the newly hired
editor of the Boston Globe, is ending a morning meeting with the rest of the
editors. He asks why no one has followed
up on Eileen McNamara’s article about a Catholic priest who has been accused of
molesting children and a Cardinal who apparently knew about it and said
nothing. The other editors state that
there’s nothing to the story, but Marty claims that there are certain sealed
documents that prove the Cardinal’s guilt, and that he’s willing to sue the
Catholic Church to get them. The rest of
the editors are shocked that he’s willing to go after the Church.
2.
What,
specifically, must the audience understand narratively? How do you intend to communicate
that information?
They must understand that Marty is new to the
Globe, and an outsider. They also must
understand the seriousness and even ludicrousness of his proposal to sue the
Catholic Church. I intend to communicate
this information by contrasting Marty’s looks and behavior with the rest of the
team. For example, early in the scene,
another reporter makes a joke, and everyone but Marty laughs at it. Also, getting good shocked reactions from the
rest of the actors will help to show how crazy Marty’s proposal is.
3.
If this
scene is from a longer piece, what is the narrative, emotional and thematic purpose
of the scene in the larger story?
This is the scene that starts
of the conflict of the entire movie (the inciting incident). It introduces the idea of predator priests
and the fact that no one seems to be focusing on a very major issue and
concern. It also illustrates how
difficult their investigation is going to be.
It’s hard, almost impossible even, to prosecute an institution as
well-established and large as the Catholic Church, yet that is what the
protagonists must do throughout the whole film.
The revelation of the scandal (or at least the large scope of the scandal)
is even more shocking when it’s compared to everyone’s nonchalant and
dismissive attitudes in this scene.
4.
What emotion
do you want to communicate in this scene? How do you intend to do this?
I want to communicate
feelings of shock, disbelief, and even scorn from the other editors. From Marty, I want to communicate feelings of
defiance, confidence, and even rebelliousness.
I intend to do this through directing my actors and making sure they
understand the ramifications and implications of Marty’s actions, and I want my
Marty actor to feel as isolated from the group as possible like the outsider he
is. It might help if I tell my actor
that Marty is Jewish, as opposed to everyone else’s catholic upbringing, as
well as helping my other actors understand the situation by comparing it to
something they relate to, such as imagining that it’s someone suggesting to sue
the LDS church for secret documents and accusing members of the 70 of sexual
misconduct (not saying that this is happening, but it would help orient my
actors and put them in the shoes of their characters).
5.
What is
the first image of the scene? What is the final image of the scene?
The
first image is a wide shot of a conference room with a circular/horseshoe table
with a bunch of men and women in business attire talking about their aspects of
the newspaper. The final image is a
close up of Robby staring at Marty intensely, intrigued.
6.
Why is
this scene personal to me? What previous personal experience(s) does it remind
me of? Why do I need to make this
scene?
I have
always loved movies about journalists and people who seek after the truth, even
if the truth is painful. This scene
reminded me of all of the times when others told me I was wrong or crazy, even
though deep down I believed that I was right.
I have a strong internal sense of justice that causes me to get over
defensive, and I felt that strong sense of justice as I read this scene (the
whole script made me feel like that, actually).
This was the first scene in the script to make my jaw drop, and I want
to make everyone’s jaws drop when they watch it.
7.
What two
visual elements (line, shape, space, tone, color, rhythm, movement) will you
use to help communicate the emotion of the scene? (Be sure these elements apply
to the assignment as listed on Learning Suite; only choose elements that you
have read about or that we have covered in class.)
I want to use color and tone to isolate Marty
from the rest of the group. I want to
have most of the group wear desaturated colors and tonally be closer to grey
and affinity. I want Marty to wear
contrasting, darkly saturated colors that illuminates his outsider status and
how he doesn’t fit into this group, or their culture and mindset.
8.
What are
two or three potential obstacles to creating a successful scene? How can you be
prepared to overcome these? Be specific!
This
scene requires a minimum of 7 actors, 6 of whom have speaking parts (even if it’s
only one line). Finding enough actors who are willing to dedicate time to this shoot
will be difficult. I plan on overcoming
this by shooting in the afternoon/evening when most people don’t have class, preferably
next Friday.
There’s also a fair amount of dialogue, so picking
up decent sound from everyone will be a challenge. I plan on fixing this by checking out lavs
and using them on close-ups so that we capture everyone’s lines
