Daily Dialogue — July 28, 2019

Screenwriter Nick in the middle of a script notes meeting.

Mark: I love the catamaran scene. I think that should be shot right at sunset so you get that golden orangey — 
Lori: Miller Time look.
Allen: Yeah.
Mark: Exactly

Nick confused.

Nick: Yeah, except it’s gonna be in black and white.

Now the rest of them are confused.

Allen: What’s gonna be in black and white?
Nick: The movie. It’s in black and white.
Allen: The whole movie?
Mark: Every scene?
Nick: Yeah.
Allen: Well, Nick if you shoot it in black and white, they’re just going to colorize it anyway, so what’s the point?
Lori: A lot of theaters don’t show black and white movies anymore. They don’t have the right projectors. All the projectors are in color.
Todd: It’s true.

Nick starts to push back —

Allen: How do you see music fitting in, Nick?
Nick: Well… I was thinking no music.

Concerned looks all around.

Mark: No music where?
Nick: No music at all.
Allen: What do you mean?
Todd: You gotta have music, Nick.

Nick ponders this, then —

Nick: Well, you know, maybe some music, here and there, just not wall to wall music.
Mark: Who’s talking about wall to wall music? What we’re talking about are fifteen or twenty pop hits here and there, at most. Isn’t that right?
Allen: Right.
Lori: Exactly.

Nick thinks.

Nick: Well, maybe a couple of songs.
Allen: Well, good. Now you think about these changes, Nick, and get right into the rewrites. I think we have a movie!

— The Big Picture (1989), screenplay by Michael Varhol & Christopher Guest & Michael McKean, story by Michael Varhol & Christopher Guest

The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Screenwriter.

Trivia: During filming, they rented a luxury house for three days, in which to shoot, not knowing that Charles Bronson had just purchased a house across the street. Before the three days were up, the crew had managed to kill Bronson’s cat by accident. The story is related in the book “I Killed Charles Bronson’s Cat”, written by the movies Location Manager Barry Gremillion.

Dialogue On Dialogue: Ah, the slippery slope where a filmmaker loses creative control over their project. “Maybe a couple of songs.” Pretty soon, the movie is a musical.