Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Project #3 Treatment



Book Chase – Jetta Weinstein and Perry Goldsmith

     Joe sits at a school desk, staring straight ahead, his face seen in profile. A young woman, Anna, in the desk at his left, sits up straight and looks attentively in another direction; the two of them are seen in a medium shot. A bell rings and Anna gets up from her desk, walking out of the room. Joe looks over at Anna’s desk and sees that she has left a textbook behind, with a close-up on the book's title. Looking at the classroom door as it shuts, he picks up Annas textbook, grabs his own books and scrambles for the door.
     Exiting the classroom, Joe looks all around him. He sees Anna walking off in the distance (long shot). Joe starts to run after her but other students exit their classrooms. The students filter into the hallway, obscuring Joe's view of Anna. Joe pushes through the crowd.
     Anna stops for a drink at a water fountain. Joe continues to make his way through the crowded corridor. He stops and focuses (in a close-up on his face), noticing Anna at the fountain, then fights through the throng to make his way over to her. Joe taps Anna on the shoulder and shows her the textbook, gesturing that she left it behind in class. He hands her the book. Anna - in close-up - smiles, mouthing the words “thank you.” Joe and Anna smile at each other, not saying anything for a moment. Joe nods and backs away. They each turn around and walk off in separate directions, leaving the now empty hallway.

Friday, April 5, 2013

Museum of the Moving Image Trip

I must admit that I was incredibly excited to go on a class trip to the Museum of the Moving Image. I have been going there for probably my entire life (which is twenty years), and many of my early movie experiences happened there. I'm proud to say that I am a member of the museum and I actually go there pretty often - nearly every weekend so long as I can manage it - since they show such excellent films there. If you're lucky enough to have one or two friends who also love MoMI, as I do, then the experience is all the more fun.

One interesting section of the tour was when we stopped at a music exhibit showing film clips and various pieces of music that could possibly be used in those scenes. My group's guide showed us the museum scene from Vertigo, along with four possible scores. I must admit I was a little embarrassed to feel show-offy when I said that I knew that the fourth piece was the "right" music - I'm far too shy to just shout out that "I've seen Vertigo half a dozen times! I know the music! I'm a huge fan of Bernard Herrmann!" - but all the same, I wish there had been at least one other person in the group with some knowledge of Hitchcock films. I don't generally speak up much when I'm afraid it will sound like bragging, but it's a little weird when your group hasn't seen any Hitchcock films and I could have said I'd seen two dozen.

Still, I don't mean to harp; I love the Museum of the Moving Image and any trip there is a special one. You can't argue against its innovation, both in content and architectural design (though I do miss certain aspects of the pre-renovation, more low-key MoMI and its truly awesome video game arcade). It gives me great joy to see people discover the museum's wonders for the first time. Seeing all those amazing collectibles and props, especially the costumes from film and TV and also the fascinating accumulation of masks, shows how enduring and beloved those objects are for the dedicated film/TV/video game fan.