Script To Screen: “Out Of Sight”
A memorable scene from the 1998 Out Of Sight, screenplay by Scott Frank, novel by Elmore Leonard.
Setup: In an escape attempt, Foley (George Clooney) ends up in the trunk of a car with cop Karen (Jennifer Lopez).
INT. TRUNK — SAME
As Foley plays the light down the length of her…
FOLEY
You don’t seem all that scared.
KAREN
Of course I am.
FOLEY
You don’t act like it.
KAREN
What do you want me to do? Scream? I
don’t think it would help much.
(then)
I’m just gonna sit back, take it easy,
and wait for you to screw up.
FOLEY
Jesus, you sound like my ex-wife.
KAREN
You were married? All those falls,
I’m surprised you had time.
FOLEY
It was just a year, give or take a few
days. I mean, it’s not like we didn’t
get along or anything. We had fun, we
just didn’t have that… that thing,
you know? That spark, you know what I
mean? You gotta have that.
KAREN
(thinking)
Uh-huh.
FOLEY
We still talk, though.
KAREN
Sure.
EXT. CAR — SAME
As Buddy passes a sign that says “MIAMI, 74 MILES.”
INT. TRUNK — SAME
As she tries to get a look at him…
KAREN
You know, this isn’t gonna end well,
these things never do.
FOLEY
Yeah, well, if it turns out I get shot
like a dog, it’ll be in the street,
not off a goddamn fence.
KAREN
You must see yourself as some kind of
Clyde Barrow.
And for a few moments, all we hear is the sound of the car on
the road. Then…
FOLEY
Oh, you mean of Bonnie and Clyde? Hm.
You ever see pictures of him, the way
he wore his hat? You could tell he
had that don’t-give-a-shit air about
him.
KAREN
I don’t recall his hat, but I’ve seen
pictures of him lying dead, shot by
Texas Rangers. Did you know he didn’t
have his shoes on?
FOLEY
Is that right?
KAREN
They put a hundred and eighty-seven
bullet holes in Clyde, Bonnie Parker
and the car they were driving. Bonnie
was eating a sandwich.
FOLEY
You’re full of interesting facts, aren’t
you?
KAREN
It was May, 1934, near Gibsland,
Louisiana.
EXT. HIGHWAY — NIGHT
Quiet. Empty. A moment later the car flies past.
INT. TRUNK — SAME
FOLEY
That part in the movie where they get
shot? Warren Beatty and… I can’t
think of her name.
KAREN
Faye Dunaway.
FOLEY
Yeah, I liked her in that movie about
TV…
KAREN
Network. Yeah, she was good.
FOLEY
And the guy saying he wasn’t gonna
take any more shit from anybody…
KAREN
Peter Finch.
FOLEY
Yeah, right. Anyway, that scene where
Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway get
shot? I remember thinking at the time
it wouldn’t be a bad way to go, if you
have to.
KAREN
Bleeding on a country road.
FOLEY
It wasn’t pretty after, no, but if you
were in that car — eating a sandwich —
you wouldn’t have known what hit you.
We HEAR FAINT SIRENS OS…
INT. CAR — SAME TIME
As Buddy sees FLASHING LIGHTS approach from the opposite
direction. He stays cool as the green and whites get closer…
closer… then fly right on past.
INT. TRUNK — SAME
As the SIRENS SCREAM AT US FOR A MOMENT, then FADE.
FOLEY
You’re sure easy to talk to. I wonder —
say we met under different circumstances
and got to talking, say you were in a
bar and I came up to you — I wonder
what would happen.
KAREN
Nothing.
FOLEY
I mean if you didn’t know who I was.
KAREN
You’d probably tell me.
FOLEY
I’m just saying I think if we met under
different circumstances…
KAREN
You have to be kidding.
Silence. Foley tries to get back to where it was working…
FOLEY
Another one Faye Dunaway was in I liked,
Three Days of the Condor.
KAREN
With Robert Redford, when he was young.
FOLEY
Yeah…
They lie there a moment, think about that as we hear THE CAR
SLOWING DOWN, coasting, then bumping along the shoulder of the
road to a stop.
KAREN
I never thought it made sense, though,
the way they got together so quick.
FOLEY
Really.
KAREN
I mean, romantically.
Here is the scene from the movie:
http://static.movieclips.com/embedplayer.swf?shortid=5yRP
Questions to ask to analyze the scene:
* What elements in the movie scene are the same as the script?
* What elements in the movie scene are different than the script?
* Regarding the differences, put yourself in the mindset of the filmmakers and speculate: Why did they make the changes they did?
* How did the changes improve the scene?
* Alternatively are there elements in the script, not present in the movie, that are better than the final version of the scene?
* Note each camera shot in the movie version. Which of them does the script suggest via sluglines or scene description?
* How does the script convey a sense of the scene’s tone, feel, and pace through scene description and dialogue?
* What ‘magic’ exists in the movie that is not indicated in the words of the script? How do you suppose that magic emerged?
I’ll see you in comments for a discussion of this scene from Out Of Sight.
One of the single best things you can do to learn the craft of screenwriting is to read the script while watching the movie. After all a screenplay is a blueprint to make a movie and it’s that magic of what happens between printed page and final print that can inform how you approach writing scenes. That is the purpose of Script to Screen, a weekly series on GITS where we analyze a memorable movie scene and the script pages that inspired it.