Update on the Fan monologue.

This is just a quick update to show where I am at with the "Talking Heads" inspired monologue. It's still in it's pre-draft stage. I haven't even completed the skeleton, yet alone added the flesh. :)


Fan can be a male or a female, young or old, fat or thin. This choice is up to the director.

FAN

Please allow me to introduce myself. I am a rock and roll fan. Always have been, always will be. Rolling Stones, Kinks, maybe The Beatles. Defiantly The Beatles.

Holds up ticket.

I've got my ticket to see my all time favorite band in two weeks times. The gig's in London. London! The land of hope and dreams. Or is that New York? Or Paris? Never mind.
I'm getting the band shirt. It costs £35, but it will be totally worth it. Darren says I should get the hoodie and buttons as well. Depends on how much it costs.

Smiles

"Please allow me to introduce myself." Funny. Rock and roll is in my blood. My old man was the drummer in a band called Wednesday. Not very big, but the fans were loyal, almost to a point of obsessive.

Glances to the side, where it is presumed there is a photo.

My mum met my dad at a gig. There was love at first sight. She had just kicked some pervert in the balls for grabbing her bum. The funny thing was that the perv was my dads best mate, Trev.

Looks into the camera.

I'm so excited.

So, yeah, as always: if you like it, comment. If you hate it, comment. Thanks.

Caroline

P.S: I'm going to be trying my best to update at least once a week. Can't make any promises, but I'll do my darned best.

Review for “Des hommes et des dieux ” - Of Gods and Men

“Of Gods and Men” is a true story based on a group of Trappist monks living in Algeria. Islamic rebels threat their lives and the monks must decide what to do: safely escape the country, or stay in the heart of danger.

This film is not action packed. It is not fast paced or full of sex and scandal. Instead it is slow, calm and filmed in such a beautiful manner it may reduce you to tears. The camera silently pans across the landscape, which reflects the monastic vow of silence, which presumably all of the men would have taken. Writers Xavier Beauvois and Etienne Comar daringly use minimal dialogue to emphasis this. The film could have been half an hour shorter, and a smidgen faster.

The actors playing the roles of the monks (led by Lambert Wilson and Michael Lonsdale) showed respect for each of their characters, who had clearly been researched thoroughly before filming started. The decisions that the men had to make were emotional, both for the character and the audience. The group of actors managed to portray their complex emotions with just the slightest movement. This in itself is something to be applauded, as many Hollywood films need characters to spell out their emotions.

Overall, “Of Gods and Men” is very much worth the two hours that it takes to watch from start to finish. It is inspiring to see how humble and brave humans can be, especially in times of great danger and uncertainty.  

Excerpt from a script called "Lord of the Flies"

The layout looks odd. I don't know what's going on with it. :/

JACK                                                             
This is for you, beast. Stay away from us, or we shall      
attack and kill you. Understood? Great.                     
                                                                           
He thrusts the head down onto the stake and blood      
splats onto the boys.                                  
                                                                           
JACK                                                             
Hunters! Back to Castle Rock.                               
                                                                           
They runs, dragging the body along behind them.        
                                                                           
Flies buzz around the head as blood drips from it.     
The sun has set and it is dark. Simon walks up to      
it.                                                    
                                                                           
SIMON                                                            
Hello? Is anybody here? Jack? Hello?                        
                                                                           
A spotlight on the head.                               
                                                                           
LORD OF THE FLIES                                                
Welcome Simon.                                              
                                                                               

SIMON                                                            
Who was that? Come out. I’m not frighted.                   
                                                                           
LORD OF THE FLIES                                                
I am here, Simon. Right in front of you.                    
                                                                           
SIMON                                                            
But. But you’re-?                                           
                                                                           
LORD OF THE FLIES                                                
What am I?                                                  
                                                                           
SIMON                                                            
You’re the lord of the flies. What do you want with me?     
Leave me alone!                                             
                                                                           
LORD OF THE FLIES                                                
No. You will never get away from me, Simon. You will be     
here forever.                                               
                                                                           
SIMON                                                            
You’re lying!                                               
                                                                           
LORD OF THE FLIES                                                
Oh, I’m not. Sorry to disappoint you. I exist within        
all men. All you little boys on the island. You can         
never leave me.                                             
                                                                           
SIMON                                                            
I feel sick.                                                
                                                                           
LORD OF THE FLIES                                                
Goodbye, Simon.                                             
                                                                           
SIMON                                                            
I feel...                                                   
                                                                           
He faints. 

Inspired by his "Talking Heads".

That is to say, "Talking Heads" by Alan Bennett.

I have started work on a monologue about a person (not specified if male or female, young or old) who is going to a rock show.

It has strong influences from "Talking Heads" and when it is done and typed up (it's only at the written on a piece of paper stage) I'll upload some of it here.

That reminds me, I need to finish the finial draft of Lord of the Flies and upload some of it here.

Hmmmm. I'm lagging behind.

Caroline

It seems to me now that Fanshawe was always there.

"He is the place where everything begins for me, and without him I would hardly know who I am. We met before we could talk, babies crawling through the grass in diapers, and by the time we were seven we had pricked our fingers with pins and made ourselves blood brothers for life. Whenever I think of my childhood now, I see Fanshawe. He was the one who was with me, the one who shared my thoughts, the one I saw whenever I looked up from myself.

But that was a long time ago. We grew up, went off to different places, drifted apart. None of that is very strange, I think. Our lives carry us along in ways we cannot control, and almost nothing stays with us. It dies when we do, and death is something that happens to us every day."

-New York Trilogy: The Locked Room, by Paul Auster.

I really do not enjoy reading Paul Auster's books. I feel that he is very self centred and just writes about himself. But, this extract that I am studying at the moment in class shows pure beauty. I adore this (rather long) quote and hope that what I have gained from analysing it will change my writing technique for the better.

Caroline

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