Happy 50th Anniversary, Night of Dark Shadows

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting the subtitles/closed captioning for Scene 33:

...

Soon after things switch to the Gallery, Quentin remarks an unscripted "Quite a collection" - and the subtitles reflect that perfectly -

- though the closed captioning has -

- adding "It's," which Quentin doesn't actually say - and after Quentin has taken a better look at the art and before he observes, "I've got a feeling my ancestors wouldn't have bought my work," he gives a small chortle - and while the reworked scripted line is acknowledged perfectly by both the subtitles and the closed captioning, that sound isn't - and before Tracy informs Carlotta, "Quentin's paintings are very abstract," she gives a slight laugh - and while her somewhat reworked scripted line is acknowledged perfectly by both the subtitles and the closed captioning, her slight laugh isn't (though interestingly enough that won't completely be the case in an upcoming moment - but more on that then) - and as the closed captioning shows, Carlotta responds to Tracy's info with an unscripted

- as does the subtitles -

- though at the same time they also include Carlotta's scripted line.

...

More to come...

...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting a certain oddity when it comes to the Blu-ray transfer versus the VHS/Laser:

I want to get into something regarding the Blu-ray/DVD and VHS/Laser versions of the film that may only be an issue that I not only find interesting but also puzzling. Specifically, it's something about the transfers. Over the course of working to get screen captures and videos of the film I've noticed that whereas, unless there's an actual crossfade transition from one scene to another, as there is from Scene 28 to Scene 29, that's supposed to be apparent because it's seen by the audience, when it comes to the Blu-ray/DVD transfers most scenes lead directly from one scene to the next without any sort of transition effect, but that's not quite the case with the VHS/Laser transfers. When it comes to the VHS/Laser, regardless of whether there's a transition effect between scenes, there's seemingly always at least one frame that contains aspects of each scene.

A transitional frame between scenes is one thing, but as I was working on getting the next batch of subtitles/closed captioning screen captures for Scene 33, I discovered a transitional frame within the scene between camera angles and it's the only transitional frame in the scene that occurs between camera angles, which seems to make it even more puzzling than the ones that occur between scenes:

Blu-ray:

Laser:

Although, when it comes to this instance, there may be some sort of an explanation because the shot of Angelique's portrait would be considered an insert shot, whereas there are no other transitions from insert shots to regular shots within Scene 33. Though why no transitional frame was created when things went from a regular shot to the insert shot, but only from the insert shot back to a regular shot, is anyone's guess.

Yet more puzzling questions...


But switching to another subject, in the above videos you may have noticed another example of how off the color is when it comes to the VHS/Laser version of the film compared to the Blu-ray/DVD version. Previously I'd shared this -

And one final thing while we're still on the subject of Scene 85 and before I get back to posting about Scene 185, I've often lamented about how I can barely stand to look at the VHS now that I've seen the color corrected Blu-ray version of the film, but perhaps no scene shows how off the VHS is than Scene 85. I mean, just look:

VHS:


Blu-ray:

- and now we have this -

Laser:


Blu-ray:

- the lamp shade is practically white on the VHS/Laser rather than the vibrant pink that it should be - and the daffodils are an odd orange on the VHS/Laser rather than the yellow that they should be...

...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Continuing to revisit the subtitles/closed captioning for Scene 33:

...

After Quentin walks over to the portrait of a woman and asks if she's one of the family and Carlotta has informed him that she is, her name is Angelique Collins and she died in eighteen hundred and ten, Tracy's scripted response is added to as "Well, she's beautiful, isn't she?" - but the subtitles and the closed captioning both have it as -

More to come...

...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting Carlotta's actions with her locket:

• And Carlotta caresses the locket in the still, yet she never does so in this section of the actual scene.

As may have been noticed, Carlotta actually doesn't fondle the locket until after attention is paid to Angelique's portrait -

- and before she leaves the room. Though as I've said before, on first view it's much too early in the film for anyone to figure out the significance of that gesture...

...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting a bit more unscripted dialogue from Scene 33:

After Carlotta leaves the room and before today's quote from Scene 33 comes up, off screen Tracy muses an unscripted -

"That's our housekeeper. She makes me feel like she
invited us here."

...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Continuing to revisit the subtitles/closed captioning for Scene 33:

After Tracy tells Carlotta that the Gallery is her favorite room and that the view is incredible, and after Quentin stares at the portrait as Carlotta informs that she's prepared a salad and asks if she should serve it in the Gallery, Tracy's scripted response is added to as "Uh, well, yes, would you." - but neither the subtitles nor the closed captioning acknowledge the "Uh" - and then after Carlotta exits and Quentin begins to turn away from the portrait, Tracy gives a slight unscripted laugh, which the closed captioning acknowledges -

- but the subtitles do not - and as Quentin begins to look toward the window, both the subtitles and the closed captioning acknowledge that Tracy begins a remark with an unscripted -

- and then both the subtitles and the closed captioning acknowledges that Tracy adds an unscripted -

End of scene - but more to come with regard to the sequence...

...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Backtracking a bit to Tracy's remark about it being her favorite room to revisit two posts on that subject:

Tracy is speaking for me in today's screen capture, when she says that the gallery is where she'll be spending most of her time.  That room is my very favorite room in the entire universe, and I often daydream of sitting on the window seat, reading a book.  It would be especially wonderful on sunny winter days.

Yes, KMR, that is a great room!    And considering you want to read there, I'm pretty sure that the room used to be the Library at Lyndhurst before they added the addition in 1865, so your inclination is perfect!! 

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting how Scenes 34 & 35 are scripted:

...

34     EXT - COLLINWOOD GROUNDS - QUENTIN'S P.O.V. -     34        EVENING        The sky is a magnificent canvas of colors, in        the F.G. is a large tree with huge spreading        limbs.  HOLD on this for a moment and then                                              CUT TO: 35     EXT - COLLINWOOD GROUNDS - 1810 - QUENTIN'S       35        P.O.V.        SUBCONSCIOUS MEMORY CUT        For an instant the view from the window suddenly        takes on a completely different look.  The picture        is now almost devoid of color with a kind of milky        look that makes it seem unreal.  It is almost dark        and a heavy ground fog swirls and eddies about.        Suddenly, we notice that a figure of some kind        seems to be hanging from a branch high up in a        tree.  FAST ZOOM IN.  It is the figure of a woman        in a long dress, a rope around her neck,  The        figure is no more that a bleak silhouette so        that it is impossible to tell what she looks like.                              TRACY (O.S.)                  It's almost like living in a                  museum.  Isn't it?

End of scene. Though there's more to the sequence...

And yes, while it's still the case that there aren't any differences between the way DC's and Grayson Hall's scripts are written up to this point, once again DC's script has a notation that we'll get into below.

But so far any differences in the dialogue go, after Carlotta leaves and the camera is back to being on Quentin as he walks to look out the window, in a bit of off screen unscripted dialogue Tracy muses "That's our housekeeper. She makes me feel like she invited us here" (she's obviously already picking up vibes from Carlotta) - and then she adds "It's beautiful, isn't it", which may have been scripted for later in the sequence, but more on that after we get to that section of the script - and what Quentin actually says is "I got a feeling I'm gonna do better work here than I've ever done before in my life", with no reference to a sunset, but why that is will become obvious below.

And so far as any differences in the directions and descriptions go, we don't see Carlotta smile or nod at Tracy before she leaves the room to get the salad, but as can be seen in the following capture -

- Carlotta does give a look in Quentin's direction before she leaves (because, after all, for Carlotta the scene is all about Quentin) and she gives a little smile to herself as she turns to leave, no doubt because as she leaves the camera pans back to Quentin to show that he's still looking at Angelique's portrait - and even though DC's script has a notation that indicates that as Quentin is starting to look out the window at the sunset, Tracy is supposed to reach the table and to start to leaf through a book, that is never seen here because 1) the camera remains on Quentin throughout that portion of Scene 33, and 2) and more importantly, last time we got into that she already did much of that as she told Carlotta how much she liked the Gallery - and while it could possibly be late enough in the day to be close to sunset, the sunset as described in the script is not what Quentin sees when he looks out the window because what he actually sees, as can be seen in the next capture -

- is an overcast view (remember, it was raining when they arrived) with some spring-flowing trees in bloom and other trees getting their green leaves - and when things change over to the 1810 memory, things may not be in as sharp a contrast as they would be had Quentin seen the sunset as described, but as can be seen in this next capture -

- the 1810 memory is certainly of a decidedly bleak scene and as the script indicates, "almost devoid of color" - and it's interesting that after the camera does zoom in on the figure in the tree -

- one can tell that it's a woman (thanks mostly to the hair and style of shoes), but what's more interesting is that there are a few publicity stills for the film that depict a much more discernible figure of a woman hanging in the tree (one of which was obviously used as a basis for the A version of the NoDS poster ... - and a final point is that the dialogue that is scripted for Tracy at the end of Scene 35 is actually delivered off screen over a shot of Quentin at the end of Scene 34 just before the cut to the 1810 memory.

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Backtracking a bit to revisit something that I'd never thought of before I posted this:

Something that I've never thought of before just dawned on me (thanks to dom bringing a capture to the forefront in the "Caption This! - 1970PT" game) - considering that NoDS is loosely based on the 1970PT storyline, I wonder if these parts of the script:

26     EXT - COLLINWOOD - DAY - MEDIUM ANGLE             26        as Quentin closes the trunk and in one quick        motion sweeps Tracy off her feet, intending to        carry his bride across the threshold.

and

28     INT - FOYER - DAY                                 28        as Quentin carries Tracy in he gives her a big        kiss.  ...

were inspired by this 1970PT scene in Ep #981, which Sam Hall also wrote:

Or perhaps Sam Hall just loved wives carried over the threshold scenes. 

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

... I want to revisit Scene 35, the one in which the figure is seen -

...

...

- hanging in the tree. Now, you may recall this post -

Before we move on entirely from Angelique's hanging...

- however, Darren Gross explained how those still came about -

...

The shot of the skeleton hanging from the tree was just on-set goofing around. I have the contact sheets from this shoot, and it's not supposed to be Angelique- it's Charles's skeleton and is dressed in his rotted shirt- that's why there's that shot of Selby standing next to it, as it's his character.  They were shooting publicity shots of Selby, and the crew just ties a rope to the skeleton and pulls it up off the ground to get the shots with Selby, then afterwards a few shots of it by itself in the tree.  I was thrilled to find that contact sheet, as it always appeared to be some shot of Angelique's body rotted to nothing and hanging there, and intriguing, but impossible scene to match to any of the scripts.

...

- and another version of the skeleton photo that I meant to post is the colorized version that 16 Magazine shared -

- which was misidentified as being Angelique's remains...

...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Moving on to the subtitles/closed captioning for Scenes 34 & 35:

...

As scripted, Scene 34 doesn't include any dialogue, however, it does so in the actual film - to start off with, a line of dialogue scripted for Tracy as part of upcoming Scene 38 and possibly even shot as part of that scene is reworked a bit and inserted into Scene 34 - and both the subtitles and the closed captioning reflect that correctly -

- and following that a reworking of lines scripted for Quentin for Scene 33 come up - and the subtitles acknowledge them correctly -

- but the closed captioning has things as -

- dropping "I've got a feeling," of course changing "I'm gonna do" to" I'm going to do" (), and also dropping "in my life."

More to come...

...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

And revisiting the wrapping up of the subtitles/closed captioning for Scenes 34 & 35:

...

In a continuation of taking lines from other scenes and sticking them in Scene 34, a line scripted for Tracy for Scene 35 comes up next before the switch to the 1810 Subconscious Memory Cut - and the subtitles reflect that correctly -

- but the closed captioning has -

- with the "almost" and "isn't it?" parts missing.

...

  And so as Tracy's line that was moved from Scene 35 to Scene 34 goes, it appeared in the slideshow on September 1st this time around.

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting how Scenes 36 through 39 appear in DC's script:

Moving on to Scene 36 and beyond within the sequence:

36     QUENTIN - CLOSE-UP (NORMAL COLOR) - 1971          36        Oblivious to Tracy, he stares out the window.                              TRACY (O.S.)                  Quentin? 37     EXT - GROUNDS - 1971 - QUENTIN'S P.O.V. -         37        NORMAL COLOR        It is back to normal again - no fog, no body in        the tree. 38     TRACY - MEDIUM ANGLE                              38        PAN WITH HER as she crosses to Quentin.

And that's when today's quote -

Page 13/Scene 38 - Tracy: 'Darling, what's wrong? What are you thinking about?'

- comes up.

And it's still the case that there aren't any differences between the way DC's and Grayson Hall's scripts are written up to this point - and there also aren't any notations in either script for what's covered in this post.

But so far any differences in the dialogue go, Tracy's off screen dialogue in Scene 36 is moved to Scene 37 - and at the outset of Scene 38 she asks an unscripted "Darling, what's the matter?" on screen before actually crossing over from behind Quentin to deliver the quoted dialogue exactly as written.

And so far as the directions and descriptions go, the only things that are different in the film is that Quentin actually does some unscripted blinking of his eyes in Scene 36 before we see in Scene 37 that things are back to normal - and ... we don't pan with Tracy after she asks Quentin what's the matter because after that we immediately see Quentin and Tracy actually comes to him from behind him.

  And so far as "today's quote" goes, it was September 2nd this time around.

Continuing with Scene 38 and up to the end of the sequence:

Suddenly, Quentin realizes she is next to him.

And that's when yesterday's quote -

Page 13/Scene 38 - Quentin: 'What? (turns to her) Oh, I don't know. Just ... daydreaming I guess.'

- comes up, followed by the script continuing with:

He frowns as they both look out the window.                              TRACY                  It's so beautiful. 39     HIGH ANGLE                                        39        as Carlotta ENTERS with the tray.  Tracy crosses        to the table, Quentin still stands at the window.        QUENTIN - CLOSE-UP        He is still trying to understand what it was he        saw.

And that's when today's quote -

Page 13/Scene 39 - Tracy (O.S.): 'Come on, darling ... it looks delicious.'

- comes up.

End of scene and sequence.

And it's still the case that there aren't any differences between the way DC's and Grayson Hall's scripts are written up to this point, however, there are notations in both scripts that we'll get into below...

And so far any differences in the dialogue go, ... - and while Carlotta's return to the room doesn't actually take place in the film as it currently stands, Grayson Hall has a notation in her script that when Carlotta returns she says "I brought some white wine. I hope you like it", and what's very interesting about that is that unlike in any other version of NoDS, in the one that's available on Amazon, during Quentin's final close-up we actually do hear Carlotta say "I brought some" before she gets cut off by the effect of the film moving to Scene 40 - and ... Tracy's quoted off screen line also does not appear in the film as it currently stands (however, all of this missing stuff is part of the recovered footage).

And so far as the directions and descriptions go, as I've already pretty much noted, we don't see Carlotta enter with the tray or Tracy cross to the table because all that remains in the film from Scene 39 is Quentin's close-up. And speaking of that close-up, DC has a notation in his script that Quentin's close-up is "full face", which I suppose is the way it appears to be. And getting back to Grayson's script, she has a notation that Carlotta should start to serve, and the notation does go on a bit from there, but, unfortunately, it's hard to decipher all of her handwriting, so we'll leave it at that.

   Actually, what Grayson wrote is "I should start to serve - I stop her with a look that she's useless" - whoa, already from day one could Carlotta be less impressed with Tracy or what?!

And so far as "yesterday's quote" goes, it was September 3rd this time around, and "today's quote" was September 4th.

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting unscripted dialogue from Scene 38:

At the outset of Scene 38 Tracy asks an unscripted -

"Darling, what's the matter?"

- on screen before actually crossing over from behind Quentin to deliver today's quote.

...

And the "today's quote" referred to was the one for September 2nd.

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting the subtitles/closed captioning for Scene 36 and into Scene 38, or lack thereof:

...

Tracy's dialogue for, Scene 36 is actually moved to Scene 37, as is reflected by both the subtitles and the closed captioning -

- and Scene 38 begins with a shot of Tracy where she delivers an unscripted piece of dialogue that's again reflected by both the subtitles and the closed captioning -

- after which the shot switches to Quentin and Tracy comes up behind him and delivers her scripted line exactly.

More to come...

...