Wednesday (4/13/11) 9:31pm - ... wherein Peter writes some notes about Murder, My Sweet.
The noir cast has been watching noir movies lately, to prepare for the noir show. I finished watching Murder, My Sweet the other day, and as I watched I took notes about things that might be useful to the show. I figured I'd post my notes.
This is probably not of general interest.
- Whoa -- major in medias res opening
- Followed by a big flashback.
- If we did that, it'd lead to bridging.
- Seems like a lot of the character-endowing stuff with VO, we can do with monologues.
- Again, we guys need to occasionally imagine ourselves playing characters with pencil moustaches and ascots.
- Something we haven't done yet: arranging a tense meeting to trade money/captives/information.
- I hope we can do something where we knock out the protagonist for no apparent reason.
- This is the first one I've seen that actually uses traditional "noir VO".
- I like the move of having the cop make an accusation that is obviously demonstrably false, and makes no sense given the facts thus far.
- Lady reporters = awesome! Why haven't we included any reporters so far?
- Remember that our protagonists can be incredibly lucky.
- They can ask random-ass questions that actually get real answers
- They can call people out on a 'lie' they've told, and be right
- Sort of 'endowing the lie in reverse'.
- Possible stage trick: somebody looks at a photo; other performers 'recreate' the photo on a separate part of the stage.
- I like how they bring in Amthor.
- Right after they say he's nowhere to be found, the guy shows up.
- We could probably pattern off of this as a "jump and justify" in the noir show.
- Hinting vaguely at a character's past = always fun
- Offering cash to get the hero 'off the case' = also fun
- Basically, we need to be unafraid of the question, "But why the hell would *that
- happen?!"
- I like the notion of two seemingly unrelated threads revealing a shared origin.
- We really need a lot more osculus interruptus in this show.
- This requires slowly going for the kiss more often
- It also requires the offstage folks being ready with interruptions
- Sarcasm under pressure = always fun.
- Surprise "jump and justify" connections between apparently-disconnected storylines = also fun.
- Try to re-use words against people in an argument.
- I like having the hero clearly (to us) lie to get information.
- You can always escalate a conflict via physical violence
- Huh -- could we do a crazy, drugged-out dream sequence in this show?
- I like how everybody assumes the hero is completely venal.
- If he has any principles, he keeps very stumm about them.
- As an investigator, never be at a loss for your next step.
- You *always* have a running theory of what happened.
- ... even if it's obviously wrong.
- ... and that *always* informs your next move.
- I am 100% completely lost by the plot.
- We could have more accusations of lying in this show.
- And I think if you get accused of lying, the best you can do is to "yes and" it.
- (Does this allow for initial "I'm not lying!" protestations before admitting it?)
- If the protagonist has a crazy explanation for the plot...
- ... you might just corroborate it and move ahead.
Mood: ![[mood icon]](https://stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/niaha/kitty/ankthinkg.gif) contemplative · Music: none | |
