And now when it comes to Scenes Scene 212 through 215, many things are scripted differently from the way they appear in the film:
...
212 EXT - RAILROAD FOOTBRIDGE - NIGHT 212
as Gerard runs TOWARD CAMERA, Quentin is in hot
pursuit. When he reaches the middle of the bridge,
Gerard stops and turns. Here is where he will make
his stand. Quentin, now at the foot of the bridge,
starts slowly toward him.
GERARD - QUENTIN'S P.O.V. - HAND HELD
TRUCK IN ON Gerard as suddenly we see he holds a
vicious-looking knife.
WIDE ANGLE
With Gerard in the F.G., Quentin moves carefully
toward him. Tracy appears in the B.G. near the foot
of the bridge.
213 SERIES OF SHOTS - HAND-HELD 213
The two are only feet apart when Gerard lashes out.
213 CONTD CONTD 213
Quentin grabs his knife arm and the two begin their
life or death struggle.
THEIR FEET - CLOSE-UP
Both sets of legs are grappling for a firm grip.
Quentin steps backward. His foot collapses a rotten
board. As his leg goes through, WIDEN to see Gerard
gain the advantage. As he presses the knife downward
at Quentin's chest, he is suddenly distracted by the
SOUND OF TRACY'S VOICE.
|
And that's when yesterday's quote -
Page 99/Scene 213 - Tracy (O.S.) (screaming): 'Gerard!'
- comes up, followed in the script by:
As Gerard looks up, reacting, he starts to spring
TOWARD CAMERA. It is too late.
TRACY - CLOSE-UP
as she swings a short piece of heavy wood directly
into the LENS.
GERARD - CLOSE-UP
as he takes the blow full in the face, the force of
it drives him backward. He hits the rickety bridge
railing, falling through it toward the tracks below.
214 LOW ANGLE - UP AT THE BRIDGE 214
From the tracks, Gerard's body can be seen hurtling
TOWARD CAMERA. Suddenly, it stops short, as if
caught in mid-air by an invisible net. There is a
huge flash of light and sparks fly everywhere --
silhouetting the spread-eagle body of Gerard as he
burns to ashes on the high tension wires.
215 EXT - FOOTBRIDGE - NIGHT 215
as Quentin holds Tracy, Alex and Claire ENTER THE
SHOT and cross to them. As Alex looks over the side
at the smoldering remains of Gerard.
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And that's when today's quote -
Page 99/Scene 215 - Alex: 'Well, it looks like the old BMT will be running late tonight.'
- comes up.
End of sequence.
...
So, unlike how Scene 212 is scripted to begin, Gerard only reaches the footbridge a very short time before Quentin and Tracy do, and as Gerard mounts the bridge Tracy actually tries to prevent Quentin from pursuing Gerard onto the bridge, but Quentin soon pulls away from her - and the camera doesn't truck in on Gerard to show the knife because after Geard pulls it out of the front waistband of his jeans (a dangerous place to hide a knife, if you ask me
![[wink2]](http://www.dsboards.com/SMF/Smileys/classic/wink2.gif "Wink #2")
), there's a close-up of the knife - and obviously after that isn't when Tracy appears in the background near the foot of the bridge because she's already arrived - and in Scene 213 there are no close-ups of Gerard's and Quentin's feet as they struggle - and after Gerard gains the advantage because Quentin has broken a rotten board in the floor, Gerard doesn't actually press the knife downward at Quentin's chest because he presses it at Quentin's face, and he actually cuts Quentin deep enough for Quentin to bleed (shades of Charles' scar - and it's quite interesting how that wasn't scripted) - and while Quentin's reaction to that cut isn't acknowledged in the subtitles, it is in the closed captioning -
- and it's after that the Gerard raises the knife to finish Quentin off but of course Tracy thwarts that by whacking him with the heavy board - and Tracy's scripted line of calling out Gerard's name before she does so is acknowledged in both the subtitles and the closed captioning - and while in Scene 214 we do see Gerard hurtling toward camera - and both the subtitles -
- and the closed captioning -
- acknowledge Gerard's screams - but we don't see Gerard suddenly stop short because his body doesn't get caught in any high tensions wires so, therefore, there is no huge flash of light and sparks and no silhouetting of Gerard's spread-eagle body as he burns to ashes, however, apparently some version of that was shot, but the dummy looked too fake, so it was reshot the way it appears in the film, which is that we see Gerard simply plummet from the bridge - and something that quite interesting because, as I've said the subtitles seem to pick and choose what sounds to actually acknowledge, the subtitles do acknowledge the sound of Gerard hitting the ground -
- though the closed captioning does not - after which Quentin stands up and he and Tracy stare down at Gerard's body on the train tracks below - and in Scene 215 I don't know if what Quentin does next strictly qualifies as holding Tracy because he simply and briefly touches her - and after Claire and Alex arrive on the bridge and look down, it's more like Claire comforts Tracy because she reaches out and touches Tracy's arm - and while the subtitles don't indicate that Claire barely audibly says Tracy's name in a bit of unscripted dialogue, the closed captioning does -
- and after the two women walk away, Alex is left with Quentin - and that's how the sequence currently ends - though if I remember correctly, in the 97 minute version, Alex does deliver his remark about the train - however, DC's script has a note that Alex would actually say, "Well, it looks like the old B and M will be running late tonight," and "B and M" stands for Boston and Maine - and we see Gerard's body again, as in this shot from one of the NoDS trailers:
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![[nods]](http://www.dsboards.com/SMF/Smileys/classic/index.jpg "NoDS Angelique")
Topic: Happy 50th Anniversary, Night of Dark Shadows (Read 107498 times)