• From: Van Dieman's Land
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Re: Prometheus - Things I learned listening to the two commentaries

Squiggly_P wrote:

I really don't understand some of the changes they made here:

My theory is that Ridley Scott got so much mileage out of the 'Is Deckard a Replicant?' debate, that he wanted to deliberately 'vague it up' and hired the right (second) script-writer for that job. From what's come out in the aftermath, Lindelhof was given specific instructions to add more questions than answers so (Scott assumed) the nerds would debate it for years to come, just like Blade Runner. It was a cynical exercise and it backfired, although not so much that it wasn't a financial success. In Scott's mind, the box office vindicates his approach. It depends how shielded he is from the backlash. His commentary reveals only smug satisfaction with the movie and acknowledges no weaknesses.

not long to go now...

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  • From: Gardena, California
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Re: Prometheus - Things I learned listening to the two commentaries

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m7yisfnZOA1qfgxhao1_500.png

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  • From: Kent, England
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Re: Prometheus - Things I learned listening to the two commentaries

LoL, great find Dorkman, bout sums it up.

Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere. - Carl Sagan

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  • From: Farmington, CT
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Re: Prometheus - Things I learned listening to the two commentaries

On that note, here's Damon Lindelof's draft, titled "Paradise." It's...not very good.

http://collider.com/wp-content/uploads/ … Efinal.pdf

"The Doctor is Submarining through our brains." --Teague

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  • From: Kent, England
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Re: Prometheus - Things I learned listening to the two commentaries

I'm of the opinion that the drama of a story is evident in what is happening, so the overuse of capitalisation to force emotional responses from the reader is off-putting and slightly condescending. Scripts shouldn't need laugh tracks.

So that's my initial reaction, but I'm also surprised at how crude the prose is. It's not as bad, though, as Rodriguez's unproduced early draft of Predators (the one with Dutch), which was written as if an 8-year-old on a sugar rush was dictating it.

But fun fact, I've already spotted a few lines of dialogue even in this draft that would have immediately improved the flow and logic of the film had they been shot (or left in the cut of the film) - someone actually registering what Shaw has gone through in the medical bay for instance.

Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere. - Carl Sagan

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  • From: Van Dieman's Land
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Re: Prometheus - Things I learned listening to the two commentaries

redxavier wrote:

But fun fact, I've already spotted a few lines of dialogue even in this draft that would have immediately improved the flow and logic of the film had they been shot (or left in the cut of the film) - someone actually registering what Shaw has gone through in the medical bay for instance.

Did you see all the red wine Scott was swilling during the pre-production meetings in the behind-the-scenes?
Alcohol + Septuagenarian + Arrogant 'my shit don't stink' attitude + Yes Men = Clusterfuck

not long to go now...

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  • From: Gardena, California
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Re: Prometheus - Things I learned listening to the two commentaries

I've only read the first page and the writing style makes me hate Lindelof even more (as a writer; I'm sure he loves his grandma and gives to charity or whatever).

To answer your question, Squiggly, no. That's not generally how scripts are written these days -- though that is a more hamfisted version of how J.J. Abrams writes (lots of CAPS and underlines and big blocks of prose -- divided up -- by dashes). So it's probably an artifact of the Lost "house style."

Although, I've noticed in bigger-budget productions, directing on the page -- "we PUSH IN" and such -- is making a comeback.

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  • bullet3
  • bullet3
  • I Know Regular Expressions
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Re: Prometheus - Things I learned listening to the two commentaries

I like having the flexibility to occasionally put in a direction like that on the page if it seems really crucial for the scene, so that doesn't bug me as much. The other stuff.....christ am I worried for Star Trek into Darkness

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  • Dave
  • Dave
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  • From: Melbourne, Australia
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Re: Prometheus - Things I learned listening to the two commentaries

His body starts to CONTORT -- JESUS -- We hear his BONES CRACK FROM THE INSIDE

My word.

If I can take my short stories, capitalise random words, and sell them to Ridley as scripts, I'm retiring to the Bahamas.

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