Two different GITS readers came up with two different ideas, both of which together actually comprise a nice opportunity for us to have a screenwriting lesson.
The week of March 5th: Refusal of the Call [suggested by Ryan Smith].
The week of March 12th: Statement of Theme [suggested by John Penny].
The Refusal of the Call reflects a ‘stage’ in The Hero’s Journey, a plot point early in Act One. There is the Call to Adventure, positing a turning point in the Protagonist’s life.
In many cases, the Protagonist is unwilling or resistant to change. Why should they? They are getting along in the Ordinary World, even if they are denying the pull of their Core Essence toward a more authentic existence. This initial refusal to accept the call may be expressed as a sense of duty or obligation, sense of inadequacy, or any sort of rationale to avoid changing their current situation.
By the way, resistance to accept an opportunity or responsibility can happen at any point in a story, so we can include those as examples this week as well.
So please reply with examples of Refusal of the Call moments, either in Act One or anywhere in a movie.
You know the drill:
* Copy/paste dialogue from IMDB Quotes or some other transcription source.
* Copy/paste the URL of an accompanying video from MovieClips or YouTube.
As I say, the following week: Statement of Theme. GITS readers came up with some other good ideas, so here is the schedule for the upcoming several weeks:
March 19-25: Apologies [John Arends]
March 26-April 1: Snark [Gabe]
April 2-8: Facing death [@tiffanyleigh, @al_grinter]
April 9-15: Inspiration [Summer Johnson]
Teddy P has suggested Led Zeppelin as a theme and offered three examples: The Client, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, The Rock. There is a broader context to this suggestion, so while it may not be very educational, it could be entertaining and I’d like to do it if we can come up with 7 movie references.
So there you go! DDT as far as you can see! See you in replies with your suggestions for any of these and especially this week’s theme: Refusal of the Call.
There’s a Led Zep reference in Wayne’s World. No Stairway to Heaven.
Well, I was totally kidding about Led Zeppelin, but if you think we should do it, I’m in!
School of Rock (2003)
Dewey: Look, the first thing you do when you start a rock band is talk about your influences. That’s how you figure out what kind of band to be. So who do you like? Blondie?
Marta: Christina Aguilera.
Dewey: Who? No! Come on. What? You, Shortstop.
Leonard: Puff Daddy.
Dewey: Wrong. Billy?
Billy: Liza Minnelli?
Dewey: What are you…? You guys! This project is called “Rock Band”. I’m talking about bands that rock. Led Zeppelin. [the class gives him blank stares] Don’t tell me you guys have never got the Led out. Jimmy Page, Robert Plant? Ring any bells? What about Sabbath? …AC/DC? …Motörhead? Oh, what do they teach in this place?!
The Game (1997)
Conrad: This is for you.
Nicholas: You shouldn’t have.
Conrad: What do you get for the man who has… everything?
Nicholas: [reading card] “Consumer Recreation Services.” Well, I do have golf clubs.
Conrad: Call that number.
Nicholas: Why?
Conrad: Make your life… fun.
Nicholas: Fun.
http://movieclips.com/yh5M-the-game-movie-a-profound-life-experience/102.06/127.57
Refusal of the Call.
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)
INT. JEAN-DO’S ROOM, NAVAL HOSPITAL – DAY
OVER BLACK:
SANDRINE’S VOICE: Let’s start from the beginning.
OPEN TO:
JEAN-DO’S POV: Close on Sandrine.
SANDRINE (slowly): E-T-A-O-I (a blink) I. (two blinks) I is the first word? (a blink) OK. E-T-A-O-I-N-U-S-H-R-P-C-D-Y-W- (a blink) W. E-T-A- (a blink) A. E-T-A-O-I-N (a blink) N. E-T- (a blink) T. (two blinks)
SANDRINE (cont’d) (saying words): ‘I – want -’ (two blinks)
SANDRINE (cont’d): ‘I want’. You’re doing brilliantly, Jean-Do. What do you want? E – T – (a blink) T. (writes it down) E-T-A-O- (a blink) O. (two blinks) ‘I want to’ -E-T-A-O-I-N-U-S-H-R-P-C-D- (a blink) D. (writes it down) E-T-A-O-I- (a blink) I. (writes it down) E – (a blink) E. (she writes it down; two blinks) ‘Die’. ‘I want to die’? (outraged, unexpectedly fierce) How dare you! That’s a terrible thing to say. I’m not putting up with that. You think of something else. You do not want to die!
JEAN-DO’S VOICE: I do want to die. I really do.
Sorry for the weird formatting. Here is the script. Scene starts on page 29.
I can’t find the clip. Here is the trailer.
This scene doesn’t make much sense if one doesn’t know the context so here is a synopsis of the story:
On December 8 1995 at 43, Jean-Dominique Bauby, inventive and charismatic editor in chief of the French magazine Elle suffered a massive stroke and his brain stem was rendered inactive, his life was changed forever. After lapsing into a coma, he awoke 20 days later to find himself the victim of locked-in syndrome – mentally alert but a prisoner inside his own body, his only means of communicating with the outside world the blinking of his left eye.
Forced to adjust to this unique perspective, Bauby created a new rich world for looking into himself to find the only two things that weren’t paralyzed, his imagination and his memory. At The Maritime Hospital in Berck-Sur-Mer, in Nord Pas de Calais France he was taught an alphabet, a code in the order of the most frequently used letters in the French alphabet. Letter by letter, painstakingly words, sentences and paragraphs tell the story of a profound adventure into the human psyche and into the battle between life and death. This alphabet unlocked the prison of Jean-Dominique’s body which he called his Diving Bell and travelled the borderless regions of freedom that he called The Butterfly.
Definitely not a text book example, but I think it works. The Call to Adventure being Juno finding out she is pregnant. The refusal: Juno telling Bleeker she is going to have an abortion. And she crosses the threshold when she decides to leave the abortion clinic. Wasn’t able to find a clip, though.
BLEEKER
I’m supposed to be running.
JUNO
I know.
BLEEKER So, what do you think we should
do?
JUNO
I thought I might, you know, nip it
in the bud before it gets worse. Because I heard in health class that pregnancy often results in an infant.
BLEEKER
Yeah, typically. That’s what
happens when our moms and teachers get pregnant.
JUNO
So that’s cool with you, then?
BLEEKER
Yeah, wizard, I guess. I mean do
what you think is right.
JUNO
I’m real sorry I had sex with you.
I know it wasn’t your idea.
BLEEKER
Whose idea was it?
JUNO
I’ll see you at school, O.K.?
BLEEKER (to nobody in particular)
Whose idea was it?
BLADE RUNNER (1982) directed by Ridley Scott written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples, based on “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” by Phillip K. Dick
Bryant: Hiya Deck.
Deckard: Bryant.
Bryant: You wouldn’t have come if I just asked you to. Sit down pal.
C’mon don’t be an asshole Deckard. I’ve got four skin jobs walking the
streets. They jumped a shuttle off world killed the crew and passengers. They found the shuttle drifting off the coast two weeks ago so we know they’re around.
Deckard: Embarrassing.
Bryant: No sir. Not embarrassing, because no one’s ever going to find
out they’re down here. Because you’re going to spot them, and you’re
going to air them out.
Deckard: I don’t work here anymore. Give it to Holden, he’s good.
Bryant: I did. He can breath okay as long as nobody unplugs him. He’s not good enough, not as good as you. I need you, Deck. This is a bad one, the worse yet. I need the old bladerunner, I need your magic.
Deckard: I was quit when I came in here, Bryant. I’m twice as quit now.
Bryant: Stop right where you are. You know the score pal. If you’re not cop, you’re little people.
Deckard: No choice, huh?
Bryant: No choice pal.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-Xk8PCvJvc
Def Earz (the hapless malcontent formerly known as Deaf Ears)
Not nearly as deep as the above choices, but here is Willow pleading with the fairy queen:
- I’m happy to meet you, Willow Ufgood.
- How do you know my name?
- Elora Danan told me.
Elora? Elora, Willow is here.
- But she’s just a baby.
- She’s very special.
My Brownies have been searching for her ever since we heard she was born.
Elora Danan has chosen you to be her guardian.
- Me?
- Yes. She likes you. And Elora Danan knows you have the courage to help us.
Take my wand to the sorceress. Find Raziel. She will guide you and Elora Danan to the kingdom of Tir Asleen. where a good king and queen will look after her.
- You need a warrior for a job like this. I’m a nobody. Elora, you don’t want me. Tell her. I’m short, even for a Nelwyn.
Hello?
- Elora Danan must survive! She must fulfill her destiny and bring about the downfall of Queen Bavmorda, whose powers are growing like an evil plague. Unless she is stopped, Bavmorda will control the lives…of your village. your children- everyone.
- All creatures of good heart need your help, Willow. The choice is yours.
And here’s the clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pG7KFbn5-UQ&feature=related
Escape from New York
Bob Hauk: You go in, find the President, bring him out in 24 hours, and you’re a free man.
Snake Plissken: 24 hours, huh?
Bob Hauk: I’m making you an offer.
Snake Plissken: Bullshit!
Bob Hauk: Straight just like I said.
Snake Plissken: I’ll think about it.
Bob Hauk: No time. Give me an answer.
Snake Plissken: Get a new president!
Bob Hauk: We’re still at war, Plissken. We need him alive.
Snake Plissken: I don’t give a fuck about your war… or your president.
Bob Hauk: Is that your answer?
Snake Plissken: I’m thinking about it.
Bob Hauk: Think hard.
Snake Plissken: [pause] Why me?
Bob Hauk: You flew the Gullfire over Leningrad. You know how to get in quiet. You’re all I got.
Snake Plissken: [pause] I guess I go in one way or the other… doesn’t mean shit to me. All right… I’ll do it. Give me the pardon paper.
Bob Hauk: When you come out.
Snake Plissken: Before.
Bob Hauk: I told you I wasn’t a fool, Plissken.
Snake Plissken: Call me Snake.
http://movieclips.com/Yuwm-escape-from-new-york-movie-call-me-snake/
Here’s a classic; real call, straightforward refusal.
William Monahan’s ‘Kingdom of Heaven’.
It all starts with the Ordinary World of Balian the Blacksmith, then comes this Call to Adventure from Godfrey of Ibelin. Balian initially refuses, then changes his mind and finally commits to the Hero’s Journey.
It’s quickly followed by some rousing swordplay practise in the forest as Balian meets a Wise Mentor, and some blood-letting swordplay as he faces the Threshold Guardians.
Then, voila! he enters the New World. The rest is history, or rather, William Monahan’s version of history.
The background to this extract: four and a half minutes into the film, Godfrey of Ibelin, Balian’s absent father, passes through the village to ask for his son’s forgiveness. Balian does not give it.
Godfrey: – I am Godfrey, the Baron of Ibelin. I have an hundred men at arms in Jerusalem. If you come with me you will have a living, and you will have my thanks. Well, there it is.
Balian: – Whoever you are, my Lord, my place is here.
Godfrey: – What made it your place is now dead… You will never see me again. If you want anything of me, take it now.
Balian: – I want nothing.
Godfrey: – I am sorry for your troubles. God protect you.
And with that Godfrey exits. But he changes his mind, returns, and offers Balian a last chance.
Godfrey: – Jerusalem is easy to find. Come to where the men speak Italian, and continue until they speak something else. We go by Messina. Good bye.
I could not find a screenplay, so this is a transcript from my copy of the film.
The Trailer can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oO6pCRe3pM
I still think that’s the greatest set of directions I’ve ever heard.
Here’s a good one from THE MISSION starring Jeremy Irons and Robert De Niro. It could be argued that the entire movie is about a guy who refuses the call at every step, all the way until the end. In this scene Rodrigo Mendoza has recently killed his brother in a jealous rage. Rodrigo is a very bad man – a slave trader. Father Gabriel heads up the Jesuit Mission that is trying to convert the very people that Rodrigo enslaved. Father Gabriel offers Rodrigo a chance at redemption.
Father Gabriel – I see a man running away, a man hiding from the world. I see a coward.
Rodrigo – There is nothing else.
Father Gabriel – There is life.
Rodrigo – There is no life.
Father Gabriel – There is a way out, Mendoza.
Rodrigo – For me, there is no redemption.
Father Gabriel – God gave us the burden of freedom. You chose your crime. Do you have the courage to choose
your penance? Do you dare do that?
Rodrigo – There is no penance hard enough for me.
Father Gabriel – But do you dare try it?
Rodrigo – Do I dare? Do you dare to see it fail? Father?
Father Gabriel – Aye?
Following this comes of the of the most profound scenes in cinema. Rodrigo insists on carrying all the possessions from his past, his suit of armor and sword and other items he’s plundered, all the way up to the mission at the top of a waterfall. No dialogue. This is as good as it gets in my opinion. Profound truth about human nature.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-c2Ppcrs6Os
Great suggestion. I love this film.
Airplane!
Ted Striker: The stewardess said… Both pilots!
Rumack: Can you fly this plane, and land it?
Ted Striker: Surely you can’t be serious.
Rumack: I am serious… and don’t call me Shirley.
Stewardess: Doctor, I’ve checked everyone. Mr. Striker’s the only one.
Rumack: What flying experience have you had?
Striker: I flew single-engine fighters in the Air Force. But this plane has four engines. It’s an entirely different kind of flying. Altogether.
Rumack and Stewardess: It’s an entirely different kind of flying.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WET6A2Ee-A0
Source Code, Groundhog Day, and Avatar; refusal of call scenes
All three show protagonists who are put into situations where they feel they have no choice but to submit to protocol and eventually go “native.”
I found a clip on youtube in which “Source Code” is compared with “Groundhog Day,” so I guess the connection is obvious. “Avatar” does not have that repetitive theme, and can be also be compared with “Dances with Wolves.”
Source code:
http://youtu.be/btPkREi93Kc
Goodwin
The Screeh-owl song can be seen as a progression of musical notes. Did the notes go up, down, or remain at the same pitch?
Colter
I don’t know. Just tell me –
Goodwin
How many times was the bird call repeated?
Colter
What does that have to do with the train?
Goodwin
How many times was the bird call repeated?
Colter
Twice.
Goodwin
Incorrect. Who bobmbed the train, Captain?
Colter
I don’t know who bombed the train!
Colter is seething now. Had it with these games.
Goodwin
You have seventeen minutes. Use them. Find the bomber.
Groundhog day
Not the refusal; the later acceptance: http://youtu.be/iJOjHWr5jQc
INT. STUDIO – CONTINUOUS
Hawley follows him in and catches up with him at the weather
corner of the Action News set. Phil starts putting weather
stats up on a chart.
PHIL
Get away from me. I’m working.
HAWLEY
So what’s the outlook? We gonna
get that blizzard?
Phil shakes his head and points to the chart which is headed
“Phil’s Phorecast” with a cute caricature of himself drawn next
to the title.
PHIL
No way. All that moisture coming
up from the Gulf is going to miss
us completely and take a dump on
Harrisburg.
HAWLEY
(with authority)
Good, ’cause you’re going up to
Punxsutawney to cover the
groundhog story tomorrow morning
and I want you back here in time
to do the five.
PHIL
Jesus, Gil, give me a break, will
you! I covered the goddamn
groundhog last year and the year
before that.
HAWLEY
And you’ll do it :next year and
the year after, too. When I
worked in San Diego, I covered
the swallows coming back to
Capistrano for ten years in a
row.
PHIL
You should’ve killed the guy who
made you do that.
HAWLEY
I wanted to do it.
PHIL
Then you should’ve killed
yourself. I don’t want to get
stuck with the groundhog for the
rest of my life.
HAWLEY
It’s a cute story. He comes out,
he looks around, he wrinkles up
his little nose, he sniffs around
a little, he sees his shadow, he
doesn’t see his shadow— it’s
nice. People like it.
PHIL
Many people are morons.
HAWLEY
Just do it.
PHIL
What’11 you give me?
Hawley looks across the studio and sees RITA HANSON enter, a
very attractive segment producer in her late twenties.
HAWLEY
(to Phil)
I’ll give you Rita.
(calls her over)
Rita, could you come here for a
second? I got a little job for
you.
Rita is relatively new to the station, but very competent,
personable, humorous, self-assured and very pretty— in short,
a genuine princess, though Phil is too self-absorbed at this
point to realize it.
PHIL
(teasing)
You can’t send Rita out on a
story like this. She’s just a
cub, a pup, still wet behind the
ears. Look at her. Her ears are
sopping wet. This needs a
Woodward or a Bernstein. It’s a
big story. People need to know.
RITA
(intrigued)
What’s the story?
HAWLEY
The Punxsutawney Groundhog
Festival.
RITA
Gil, if it’s all right with you
I ‘ d rather follow-up on the
nurses’ strike.
Avatar
Youtube scene for first experience in avatar body: http://youtu.be/1QEFrI-D_3c
FADE IN:
WE ARE FLYING through mist, a dimly glimpsed forest below.
VOICE (V.O.)
When I was lying there in the VA
hospital, with a big hole blown through
the middle of my life, I started having
these dreams of flying.
We are very low over the forest now, gliding fast, the drums
BUILDING to a PEAK –
VOICE (V.O.)
Sooner or later though, you always have
to wake up…
CUT TO:
EXT. CITY – NIGHT
A SCREECH OF BRAKES as a vehicle WIPES FRAME, revealing –
JAKE SULLY, a scarred and scruffy combat vet, sitting in a
beat up carbon-fiber wheelchair. At 22, his eyes are
hardened by the wisdom and wariness of one who has endured
pain beyond his years.
Jake stares upward at the levels of the city. MAGLEV TRAINS
WHOOSH overhead on elevated tracks, against a sky of garish
advertizing.
JAKE (V.O.)
They can fix a spinal, if you’ve got the
money. But not on vet benefits, not in
this economy.
The traffic light changes and Jake pushes forward with the
crowd, pumping the wheels of his chair. Most of the people
wear FILTER MASKS to protect them from the toxic air. In a
LONG LENS STACK it is a marching torrent of anonymous,
isolated souls.
INT. JAKE’S APARTMENT – NIGHT
The room is a tiny CUBICLE, prison cell meets 747 bathroom.
Narrow cot, wall-screen droning away in the B.G. –
PERKY NEWSCASTER
The Bengal tiger, extinct for over a
century, is making a comeback. These
cloned tiger cubs at the Beijing Zoo
are…
Jake laboriously pulls his pants off — rocking to one side,
pushing the fabric down past his hip, then rocking to the
other, and so on.
His legs are white and atrophied. Utterly useless. But his
arms are tattooed and powerfully muscled. A “Born Loser”
tattoo prominent on his shoulder.
JAKE (V.O.)
I became a Marine for the hardship. To
be hammered on the anvil of life. I told
myself I could pass any test a man can
pass.
Jake struggles with his pants a long time.
CUT TO:
INT. ROWDY BAR — NIGHT
Not the kind of place you’d bring your mom.
We find Jake near the pool table, BALANCING his chair, front
wheels off the ground, while holding a tequila shot on his
forehead. ONLOOKERS, including some other disabled vets,
CLAP and WHOOP.
Jake grabs the glass, SLAMS down the shot as they cheer.
A WALL-SIZED SCREEN filled with the World Cup game — men
RUNNING on antelope legs.
CU JAKE, watching what he can’t have. Expression stony.
JAKE (V.O.)
Let’s get it straight up front. I don’t
want your pity. I know the world’s a
cold-ass bitch.
Jake’s eyes shift — HIS POV, seeing the bar through gaps in
the crowd. A MAN on a barstool SLAPS the WOMAN he’s with.
Hard. She cowers but he’s got her arm, shouting, raising his
fist. An eternal tableau. People look away.
CU JAKE — not looking away.
JAKE (V.O.)
You want a fair deal, you’re on the wrong
planet. The strong prey on the weak.
TIGHT ON JAKE’S HAND as he starts pushing the wheel of his
chair.
TRACKING WITH HIM as he rolls forward.
2.
JAKE (V.O.)
It’s just the way things are. And nobody
does a damn thing.
Jake stops, unnoticed, next to the bullying man. He leans
down and grabs one leg of the man’s barstool — and YANKS.
The chair flips. The guy goes down HARD and –
JAKE hurls himself from the wheelchair, toppling on the guy,
getting a grip on him like a pit bull and PUNCHING the crap
out of him, right there on the floor.
THE BOUNCER jumps in, trying to drag him off and it goes into
SLOW MOTION, everybody yelling and pulling…
JAKE (V.O.)
All I ever wanted in my sorry-ass life
was a single thing worth fighting for.
CUT TO:
EXT. ALLEY BEHIND BAR — NIGHT
THE BOUNCER hurls Jake out the door, sending him SPRAWLING on
the pavement. A moment later, his chair CRASHES down on him,
banging across the alley, landing in the trash.
Jake struggles to rise on one elbow. He’s bleeding and
bruised, but still crazed and ready to fight.
JAKE
I hope you realize you’ve just lost a
customer!
He collapses onto his back, panting.
JAKE
(to himself)
Candy ass bitch.
He stares upwards at the levels of the city. MAGTRAINS ROAR
overhead. It starts to RAIN. He just lies there, blinking –
then shouts jauntily to no one in particular –
JAKE
If it ain’t rainin’ we ain’t trainin’!
CAMERA PULLS BACK high and wide, as Jake lies spread-eagled
amongst the trash, getting drenched.
TWO LONG SHADOWS enter FRAME, coming to rest across him.
3.
Jake sees two pairs of SHINY SHOES stop next to him. He
squints up at –
TWO MEN. Matching suits. Their features unremarkable and
blandly threatening in the way of FBI agents and auditors.
AGENT 1
Are you Jake Sully?
JAKE
Step off. You’re ruinin’ my good mood.
AGENT 2
It’s about your brother.
CUT TO:
INT. MUNICIPAL CREMATORIUM – NIGHT
DOWN-ANGLE on a large rectangular cardboard box. HANDS ENTER
FRAME, pulling open the top to reveal a DEAD MAN’S FACE. He
looks EXACTLY like a clean-shaven version of Jake. His
IDENTICAL TWIN — TOMMY.
JAKE (V.O.)
The strong prey on the weak. A guy with
a knife took all Tommy would ever be, for
the paper in his wallet.
WIDER, showing Jake and the two agents in a high tech
CREMATORIUM — a row of stainless steel furnaces. Jake
stares down at his own face.
JAKE
Jesus, Tommy.
JAKE (V.O.)
The Suits’ concern was touching.
AGENT 1
Your brother represented a significant
investment. We’d like to talk to you
about taking over his contract.
The ATTENDANT closes the box and seals it with a tape
dispenser, like it’s a package for shipping. The cardboard
coffin is rolled into the furnace.
JAKE (V.O.)
The egghead and the jarhead. Tommy was
the scientist, not me. He was the one
who wanted to get shot light years out
into space to find the answers.
4.
PUSHING IN ON JAKE as he watches, bathed in orange light.
JAKE (V.O.)
Me — I was just another dumb grunt
gettin’ sent someplace I was gonna
regret.
INSIDE THE FURNACE the burners quickly eat away the
cardboard; TOMMY’S FACE is, for a moment, wreathed in flame
but not touched by it, as we –
DISSOLVE TO:
JAKE’S FACE, in icy darkness. CLOSE ON his eyes — they OPEN
suddenly, and he takes a sharp breath.
JAKE’S POV — the inside of a metal coffin. A SERVO WHINE
and we are moving, emerging into a large chamber –