May 14 2010
Director's Homework, pt. 1
Now that Ari and Ellen are on board with doing a scene from Peggy Sue Got Married, it’s time for me as a Director to do my homework.
While following Judith Weston’s guidelines for script analysis, I like to start with Facts, Images, and Physical Life.
Facts (things are were true before the script begins)
- Peggy Sue is a 42 year old woman on the verge of a divorce with two grown children.
- Peggy Sue got pregnant with her daughter when she was 18.
- Richard Norvik is a rich and successful businessman, inventor, author.
- Peggy Sue and Richard went to high school together.
Images (from the dialogue)
- Peggy Sue’s Images: heart attack, died, God
- Richard’s Images: clutches of some madman, manipulate your brain, corpse, way out is through the door, go right through you, play dice with the Universe, molecule in chaos, discontinuous aberration, out of whack, don’t get crazy
Physical Life (for the scene we’re working on)
- Peggy Sue and Richard are carrying their schoolbooks.
- This is an exterior scene. They are near the street. A truck drives by during the scene.
- Richard may wear glasses. He may have a pocket protector. He may have a kite with him.
- Richard may have a notebook with him so he can write down Peggy Sue’s info about the future and ideas for how to help her.
- Peggy Sue is likely wearing a skirt. (Must look into fashions from 1960. Even though the actors are not required to be in costume for this workshop, their characters’ wardrobe may impact the scene).
- Peggy Sue may be carrying her baton. She may have her majorette uniform on or with her.
