Thursday, July 15, 1999 -

I've been giving this one an awful lot of thought. Not like I really have the resources to proceed. But I do. It's all up in here. (Taps his head.)

Don't be content to show the parties, bar scenes as a bunch of wacky college kids being youthful! Get into it. Show it inside out. Show Mary in the darkness, smiling, but about to lose it, not knowing quite where to turn. People die in college. There's seldom a more dangerous time. When she finally blows, in the shower scene, her orgasm or sorts, shouting, "Why can't I get outside!?" it is inevitable, yet subtle, a surprise to all not paying close attention.

Bar Scene, at the onset, where the characters find peace between themselves and their new environment, show the bar at the end from the dark of night, in the distance. Chronicle Mary's night of drunken debauchery. Be true to the spirit of this sort of thing. The bar and the boys becoming philosophical, hitting the bauble boy above the bar with quarters. Mary acknowledges that she "likes alcohol". Her union with the distilled spirits is a warning sign. We see her face distorted, magnified through the glass. Show her "wacky walk" with her friends after the Japanese Sushi Bar/Midnight Movie scene. She eats a loaf of bread in sloppy, drunken fashion in her dorm room.

Pay attention to the scene music, the music that the characters also hear, sing to, dance to. Bangra? Some may say it doesn't fit, and they're right, it doesn't, if you accept the film as a reflection of reality. But the film does reflect reality and there are many surprises in the real world. Did you expect so many all-night Greek Diners in Upstate NY? Wouldn't a casual observers find such a depiction a bit peculiar? Don't be afraid to let the film define it's own world.

-George

aiunt enim multum legendum esse non multa.
-Pliny