Next the script indicates:
33 HIGH ANGLE - THROUGH UPSTAIRS BALUSTRADES
SOMETHING WATCHING them...
(CONTINUED)
33 CONTINUED
LIZ Willie, take Miss Winters' bag upstairs for her, and your aunt wants to see you.
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And that's when Tuesday's quote -
Page 18/Scene 33 - Willie: 'Hope you like this freak palace, Miss Winters...'
- comes up - and the script then explains:
Willie ogles Vicki once more, then heads up the steps.
34 FAVORING CAROYLN
As she waits a beat until Willie is out of earshot.
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And that's when Wednesday's quote -
Page 18/Scene 34 - Carolyn (to Vicki): 'You can ignore Willie. He's weirder than jello, but harmless.'
- comes up - and the script next explains:
Elizabeth gives her a look, then smiles at Vicki motioning toward the Drawing Room.
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And that's when Tuesday's quote -
Page 18/Scene 34 - Liz: 'Can I offer you a cup of tea while I call Mr. Collins?'
- comes up, followed by today's first quote -
Page 18/Scene 34 - Vicki: 'That would be very nice. And David, is he asleep?'
- and then today's second quote -
Page 18/Scene 34 - Carolyn: 'He better be.'
- and the scene concludes with the indication that -
They head for the Drawing Room.
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- but all of that is not quite how things play out in the pilot.
First off, the camera shot from the high angle (though not through the upstairs balustrades but, rather, over the railing) doesn't come until later in the sequence - things continue to be shot the way they have since the outset of the scene. And unlike the way it's written in the script, Liz pauses between asking Willie to bring Vicki's bags up and telling him his aunt wants to see him. Also, Willie doesn't ogle Vicki "once more" before making his way to the stairway because he hasn't been ogling her at all. And unlike the script, the camera angle does not change to favor Carolyn - it still stays the same as thankfully Carolyn's remark that Willie is "weirder than jello" was dropped and she simply bids Willie an unscripted "Ciao" and then tells Vicki "Don't let him bother you. He's weird, but harmless." Then Liz doesn't motion to the Drawing Room before delivering her next line, which is actually "Mr. Collins will be down soon, may I offer you a cup of tea?" But after Vicki replies that that would be very nice, Liz does move to lead them to the drawing room - and at that point is when the camera changes to shooting from a high angle (over the railing), with the script indicating that that's supposed to signify that someone is watching them. But the funny thing is I never picked up on that. Given DC's penchant for odd camera angles (just look at much of hoDS and especially NoDS), until I read the script, I simply thought that was his way of throwing an odd angle into the scene. Now I see it can be a way to indicate that David is watching them, particularly because the conversation shifts to his whereabouts - but I wonder how many other heads in the audience that has gone over? By example, the possibility of it doesn't even appear in the synopsis of the scene in either the SHADOWS IN THE '90s: The Dark Shadows Concordance 1991 book or the DS Resurrected book.
And just one last comment before I end this post: something I do find fascinating about what we've been seeing of Willie in the script is that he was written more like the original Willie than we might have imagined - but obviously before shooting the decision to go in a different direction was made.