FILM - Script

THE SCRIPT

I don't want to have too much dialogue in my film, as it's harder to act that way - again I don't have Eastwood in my cast, just GCSE drama students. (No offence to GCSE drama students). Furthermore, Sergio Leone's characters became famous for speaking very little, making the scenes more tense. However, tension was not the original purpose. In Leone's biography, it explains some of the reasons for the low amount of dialogue. 

Firstly, Clint Eastwood simply did not say some of the script because it was written badly and was of low quality. Furthermore, because sound was not recorded on sight but added afterwards in a dubbing studio: too much dialogue looked scrappy as it was hard to sync the speech. Nevertheless, it does add tension to the flms, so I will want to minimise the amount of dialogue in my script.

(Click the script to enlarge it).

As you might have noticed, there are some shenanigans going on with a cigar. First, it is stolen by the Mexican, and then by the Cowboy. Well, in 'Once Upon a Time in the West':

Bronson forces the harmonica into Franks mouth when he takes his revenge...

...just as Frank had forces the harmonica into Bronson's mouth when he brutally murders his brother.

Well I plan on slightly reversing this idea. At the start of my film, the Mexican will snatch the cigar from the Jailers mouth. When the Cowboy takes his revenge against the Mexican, he will then take the cigar from the Mexicans mouth. This will remind us of the earlier scene, and at the same time (hopefully) make the victory more satisfying for the audience: the victory is not just a personal victory for the Cowboy but a moral victory, aa the Mexicans bullying ways are over.