1.
What
film or TV show is this from? Psycho (1960)
a.
After
reading the script, in 3 sentences, what is the story of the entire film? A runaway criminal, Mary, stops at a small
motel in the desert and befriends the manager, Norman Bates. Norman, consumed
inside by the memory of his dead mother, and conflicted by his feelings for
Mary, murders her in her shower at night, and cleans any evidence of her being
there. Mary’s sister, Lila, and Mary’s boyfriend, Sam, launch a search for Mary
at the motel, discovering Norman to be the murderer and he confesses where he
hid the evidence, but his own mind has been completely destroyed by his mother’s
personality.
After
reading the script, what is the theme
of this film? While most times, crime is committed with vile or selfish intentions;
sometimes, horrible crimes are not committed intentionally by the person who
did it, because people can cease to be themselves.
2.
Do you
have the actual script of the film (not a transcript)? Yes
3.
In 3-5
sentences, what happened in the story immediately before this scene? Mary and her boyfriend, Sam, discuss
getting married after he pays off all his work debts and previous divorce
alimony. She steals $40,000 from her work in Arizona, stores it in an envelope,
packs it in her handbag along with an envelope of her own personal documents,
and drives off toward Sam’s home town in California. She feels terribly guilty
and becomes paranoid of her boss or anyone else watching and following her. She
drives on through the night and becomes very tired.
4.
In three
or four sentences, what is the story—the beginning, middle, and end—of this
scene? In other words, what happens as the scene starts, as it progresses, and
as it ends?
At dawn, Mary is asleep in
her car, parked off the side of the highway, when a highway patrolman arrives
and walks to her car. Mary wakes and tries to get away, but the Patrolman stops
her, reassures her, and asks for her license. Mary tries to hide the
money-filled envelope and the important-papers envelope, but she has no choice
to expose them in order to give the patrolman her wallet. He checks it out,
gives the wallet back, then she drives off quickly down the road.
5.
What,
specifically, must the audience understand narratively/plot-wise in order to
engage in this scene? How will you communicate each piece of information?
They must understand that
Mary doesn’t want to talk to the cop out of fear of getting caught. I will
direct the actress playing Mary to keep her hands firmly on the steering wheel
to show her readiness to peel out at any given moment. They must also
understand that the two envelopes are both distinguishable and secretive to
her. I will make sure both envelopes are big, different-colored, and that Mary
tries whatever she can to hide them from the cop.
6.
What is
the narrative and thematic purpose of this scene within the larger story?
This scene shows how Mary was
alone, afraid, and untrusting while she was on her way to the Bates’ Motel. She
wanted to get to Sam’s place quickly without anyone catching her with the
stolen money.
7.
What emotion
do you want the audience to experience while watching this scene? Why? How,
specifically, do you intend to do this?
Anxiety over Mary’s tight attitude
toward the cop, and a desire for her to come clean to him. The camera will
always be outside the car, alternating between high angles from the cop’s eye
level to flat angles at Mary’s eye level, looking at Mary most of the time as
she fidgets and acts defensive.
8.
What is
the first image of the scene? What is the final image of the scene? Why do you
think the director chose these specific images?
The first image is Mary’s
car, parked off the highway shoulder, and the final image is Mary’s car finally
driving forward, growing smaller, as the cop dashes back to his patrol car.
9.
Why is
this scene personal to you? What specific personal experience(s) does it remind
you of?
I have been a liar and hider
before. As a young teen, I’ve used my personal devices for lascivious purposes,
and I could always tell my parents were hovering over my shoulder about it. I
would try everything I can to hide it and squeeze myself out of the topic if
they brought it up.
10.
Which
two specific visual elements—line,
shape, space, tone, color, rhythm, movement—do you intend to use to
purposefully communicate the emotion of the scene? (You will be graded on your
execution of this plan)
Color: Mary will have a red
outfit on, while her surroundings, and the appearance of the cop, are
contrastingly bleak. This will give the allusion that she is the center of the
scene, and she is repelled by everything else out of fear.
Line: The connecting line
between the cop’s and Mary’s eyes will shift from diagonal to straight
sideways. It will be diagonal, with the cop on top, when he has the upper hand
of the conversation to give him a looming dominance, and straight when Mary has
the upper hand to give her strength to escape.
11.
In a
bulleted list, describe three
potential obstacles you may face in creating a successful scene. Describe how can
you be prepared to overcome these? Be specific!
Making
the appearance of the patrolman and his patrol car seem realistic – finding an
adequate costume and car decorations may be difficult. I’ll ask other film
students/professors if they’ve had experience with these things and where I may
find them, maybe even finding an overstocked police outfit at a costume store.
Since
this scene takes place at dawn, the appearance of the sun may make things
difficult for the actors in terms of the sun shining in their faces and the
camera in terms of shadows. Since mornings around Provo have the sun not come
out from behind the mountain until later than usual, I can control whether this
morning scene is before or after the sun peaks out.
Finding
a piece of road where not many cars would be driving by may be difficult, but I
know there are a lot of country roads around this county and locating one to
film at shouldn’t be impossible if I look through all of them.
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