Staging a party scene based on theme.

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  • Staging a party scene based on theme.

    I'm starting on the type of scene that, historically, has been difficult for me; which is why I tend not to write them, but now I have no choice.

    I'm doing a rom-com (God I hate that term) between a 35 year old widow and a 55 year old widower. He has been invited to a low country boil in a small southern coastal town. The scene takes place in late evening and I want to show the light filtering through the hanging moss for dialogue emphasis. There are 40 people present knotted in groups of two or three or four scattered about playing horse-shoes and generally bullshitting with each other. The action takes place outside a 130 year old home on the water.

    She takes his hand and guides him along introducing him to three knots of people where dialogue occurs advancing the plot.

    I want to use CONTINUOUS and slug each meeting because I'm not sure I'm talented enough to stage the movement without it.

    How would you handle this type of character action?
    We gain our innocence by taking yours.

  • #2
    Re: Staging a party scene based on theme.

    There's an extended party scene involving multiple groups/locations in the Bridesmaid script from page 18 onwards.

    By the way, what does "I want to show the light filtering through the hanging moss for dialogue emphasis" mean?

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    • #3
      Re: Staging a party scene based on theme.

      Originally posted by Rhodi View Post
      By the way, what does "I want to show the light filtering through the hanging moss for dialogue emphasis" mean?
      It's something I'm experimenting with.
      We gain our innocence by taking yours.

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      • #4
        Re: Staging a party scene based on theme.

        Please enlighten me, no pun intended.

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        • #5
          Re: Staging a party scene based on theme.

          I want to show a false emotion on the faces of the two principles by using shadows cast by the lighting, contradicting their dialogue as spoken.
          We gain our innocence by taking yours.

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          • #6
            Re: Staging a party scene based on theme.

            Don't know if you're going to get all that meaning into a script. But I like writing in a little lighting for atmosphere. The kind of nuance you've described, to me, is the purview of the cinematographer.

            And why are you writing a genre you hate? (Just out of curiosity.)

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            • #7
              Re: Staging a party scene based on theme.

              I don't hate rom-coms at all. I dislike the term.
              We gain our innocence by taking yours.

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              • #8
                Re: Staging a party scene based on theme.

                Ah, understood.

                I would keep the description of the light to one short phrase. The people who will read a script for light will latch onto it and get it.

                Evening sun filters through low-hanging Spanish moss, casts their faces in shadow, or some such. That's probably even too long.

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                • #9
                  Re: Staging a party scene based on theme.

                  Originally posted by carcar View Post
                  Don't know if you're going to get all that meaning into a script. But I like writing in a little lighting for atmosphere. The kind of nuance you've described, to me, is the purview of the cinematographer.
                  Yeah. This is one of those things where you might even have a really good idea on screen, but it's really hard to translate onto the page in a way that works. It tends to read way over-directed and its really hard to effectively communicate something that works on a subliminal level from an image standpoint into the hard black and white of text on a page.

                  It tends to not read that well, and it tends to take up a lot of space. I've also found that it tends to allow you to fool yourself into thinking that you've put more subtext into your dialog than you have.

                  If you can solve all those problems, more power to you. But my experience has been that it's generally not worth it.

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                  • #10
                    Re: Staging a party scene based on theme.

                    Originally posted by AE35-Unit View Post
                    I want to show a false emotion on the faces of the two principles by using shadows cast by the lighting, contradicting their dialogue as spoken.
                    That's not a good idea. Better to just say something like...

                    The mottled light casts shadows across Becky's face. She's lying.

                    No one will ever get it otherwise. Or just have them lie, and let discover it when the protagonist does.

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