And Even Yet Another New Slideshow

[Gothick]

All of this is very subjective, of course... for me, as I have complained a number of times, the Barnabas and Angie stuff in Depp Shade was just way too arch and over-the-top... the Liz dialogue was good but I think that's a tribute to Pfeiffer's prowess--and her scenes with Helena as Julia had a spark and an edge to them that I found sorely lacking otherwise.  Why I like Grayson's scenes so much in the OS is that sense of "edge" and the unexpected she can bring to a scene, particularly when she's matched with an actor such as Karlen or HAA.

That said, my least favorite things in this WB version were the handling of Angelique and, to some extent, Liz--I wish we had heard behind the scenes stuff about just what was going on with the direction of Blair Brown, a very accomplished actress from what I have heard.  I have to wonder if the scene of Vicki's arrival at Collinwood might have been re-staged had the network ordered the series and the pilot actually been aired as episode one.  In the case of BtVS as I recall, a pilot was produced and then a completely new episode one was shot... I wonder if that might have happened had the network moved forward with DS.  From reading the thread from 2004, the dumping of it seemed more about network politics and a fairly strong switch in where they were moving with their programming, than about the failure of the pilot as delivered to come together...

Just some idle thoughts.


G.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

After Vicki delivers today's quote -

Page 09 - Victoria (interjecting): 'If David's still awake, I'd love to at least say hello. The sooner he starts to trust me, the better.

- (which she actually delivers in the pilot as "If David's still awake, I'd love to meet him. The sooner he learns to trust me, the better") the script indicates that Liz and Roger exchange "troubled looks" and then "finally" Roger responds with tomorrow's quote. But in the pilot there isn't any time at all between Vicki's question and Roger's response.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Needless to say, I am anxious for the arrival of Barnabas.

Well, just don't get too anxious.    There's still plenty of non-Barnabas stuff to deal with before Barnabas makes his presence known in some fashion or another in the slideshow in May. And Barnabas as played by Alec Newman won't be showing up until July. That's one of the nice things about the pilot - Barnabas doesn't overpower the other characters - they all get their chance in the spotlight.  Though that's not to say that Newman's Barnabas doesn't get great scenes - he definitely does.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

In the script after today's quote -

Page 09 - Roger: 'I applaud your enthusiasm, but it's late, and I just opened a very good brandy. (turning away) We'll discuss my son's lesson plan and the rest over breakfast.'

- (which is slightly different in the pilot as the "and the rest" part is dropped) it's indicated that:

As Roger starts away, Willie catches Victoria's eye, clearly appreciative of her white lie.

And that's the end of the scene. However things play a bit differently in the actual pilot. As Roger walks away, Liz goes over to Vicki and warmly tells her "I'm very glad you're here." And after Liz leaves it's then Willie's turn to go over to Vicki and he delivers a reworked version of his lines that were cut from the previous scene but which I indicated in reply #57 would be revisited here in this scene. In the previous scene, Willie is scripted to say "I've got a place over the garage. You want a ride back, just yell." But in the reworked version for this scene he says "I've got a place in the gate house, okay. You want a ride back or, you know, you just wanna hang out, I'll be around. Okay?"

And as I also alluded in a previous post, the scene that will begin with tomorrow's quote is a scene between Willie and Sophia that does not appear in the pilot. But I'll set that up after tomorrow's quote comes up...

[Gothick]

I just LOVE Roger's dialogue.  Thanks, MB, for taking the time to share MORE with us.

I do find the writing for Liz as recorded somehow... off.  I seem to recall the breakfast scene being a bit better, but maybe what I'm recalling is a sense of excitement since if I'm not mistaken, Laura was mentioned.

I seem to recall a luridly filmed scene (the color palette in this, which you haven't discussed, was at times off the charts, but I don't remember enough to go into specifics) in Willie's gatehouse bachelor pad with one of his lady friends. This, obviously, happens after what we're now discussing in the film. And I can't recall her name, either.

Best, G.

[Cousin_Barnabas]

Roger is definitely written very much in the spirit of the original.  Love the brandy quote. 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

The set up for the new scene that begins with today's quote is:

INT. KITCHEN - COLLINWOOD - NIGHT

Sophia is busy putting dishes away as Willie enters. Cold, she studiously tries to ignore him.

The scene will play out through the 24th, revealing a few interesting things as it goes along.

Also, the kitchen inside "Collinwood" is located in the graphic where the five windows appear below the "a" in "Changed" and above the second "e" in "Sequence."

Nowadays that wing is completely blocked off from shooting by trees - but I managed to locate a photo of Greystone that was taken shortly after the house was first built.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Before today's quote (which drops the scene's first big clue about the Roger/Sophia relationship) -

Page 09 - Sophia (CONT'D): 'And don't touch that. It's for Mr. Collins.'

- the script explains:

Willie goes to a cupboard, noticing a frosted-cake cooling on the counter.

[DarkLady]

LOL! Whoever wrote the script knows nothing about frosting a cake. The cake already has to be completely cool BEFORE you frost it. If the cake is the least bit warm, the frosting will slide right off. Sheesh. 

[Uncle Roger]

Perhaps that's meant to show that Sophia's true talent is somewhere besides the kitchen.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

LOL, DarkLady!! Though in the script's defense, since we'll see that there's no reference in the dialogue to the cake cooling, the scene would have played perfectly fine.

And, yes, Uncle Roger (as we already know - and it's not really spoiling things to say because there have already been hints), in Roger's eyes Sophia's true talent is definitely somewhere besides the kitchen. 

[Midnite]

DarkLady, I love it!

[DarkLady]

Thanks! I also had the feeling that Sophia isn't the world's greatest cook. 

[Cousin_Barnabas]

They probably meant "setting."

Still, it would make for quite a graphic on-screen display.  Maybe it was red frosting! 

[Gothick]

Is Sophia meant to be a cook in addition to somebody who takes care of household chores?  Is she doing the Mrs. Johnson role?  I guess we wouldn't have heard this Roger complaining about "yet another of Sophia's boiled dinners..."

I know these are random but these are the things that go through my mind...call it the Shadows Syndrome...lol

G.