Day 1: Belonging Together – SEABISCUIT

[Nora B Anderson]

My insight/BT for the Seabiscuit scene: the horse and the man’s actions reveal their trauma – same behavior coming from the same trauma. No need for exposition, as it’s revealed by their action. And a triangle of the trainer/manager Chris Cooper character with Red and Seabiscuit.

[Judith Watson]

keeps posting my response over and over.

• This reply was modified 1 year ago by  Judith Watson.

[Judith Watson]

WEEK 2 – Lesson 1 – Hmwk- Judith Watson – Sleepless in Seattle and Seabiscuit
Watch 1st time for: SLEEPLESS
• What causes you to believe these two belong together?
Both characters, Sam and Annie, have the same opinions about the radio shrink. While listening to the call the shrink says, “Don’t want to invade your privacy.” Both Sam and Annie say, “Sure you do.”
• Notice any similar emotions, words, and actions.
Even though Annie is engaged, she doesn’t seem like she wants to be with this guy. She seems to be forcing being with him. She’s not really loving toward him, cheek kisses when they say goodbye, not lips.
Watch 2nd time for:
· What drama is this scene built around?
The scene is built around the drama of a little boy, 8, missing his mother and seeing his father miserable calls a radio talk show to get his dad a new wife during Christmas. This puts his dad on the spot and he ends up talking to the shrink and letting us know how wonderful his wife was.
· What profile items (right character, traits, secret, wound, future) showed up in these two character’s words and actions?
Sam, honest and funny, caring, good father, complacent
Annie, Romantic, empathetic
SEABISCUIT
What causes you to believe these two belong together?
They are both scrappy. You can hear the horse restless in his stall. You see Red fighting off 4-5 guys in a fight. Both characters are angry and aggressive.
What drams is the scene built around?
The drama the scene is built around is the owner wants to find Seabiscuit a jockey, and the horse refuses any that come to ride him. As the trainer walks away, he sees Red acting the same way as the horse while fighting. Both, man and horse are underdogs.
Red and Seabiscuit are both angry. They are both resilient.
Wounds: something has happened to both horse and Red that have made them so stubborn.
The future seems made for these two similar characters. They will be together because they understand each other. Red wants to ride and Seabiscuit wants to race.

[karl gromelski]

both SEABISCUIT and SLEEPLESS scenes do a great job of visually representing what's happening in the scene.
In SEABISCUIT – seeing both the horse & future jockey fight against the world shows how they're both wired similarly. They're both angry at the world and refuse to be tamed/ told what to do. Their actions reveal their true nature and allow the audience (& Red) to make the connection that they belong together. Note: Red must have a lot of distain for authority as well for him to want to train a very difficult horse. So even though he's not belligerent like the other two, he's definitely someone who doesn't follow rules.
In SLEEPLESS – the writers use two different actions to allow the audience to infer what the future may be.
Sam doesn't sleep well – he's sleepless. While Annie is falling asleep at the wheel as she's driving and listening to the radio program. The contrast clues us in that she can be good for him.
Another interesting visual representation is how Sam comes from one side of the house and Jonah from the other.
As the phone therapy continues – they meet in the middle. The therapy is helping bond them to each other so that at the end, Sam is hugging his son on a bench. It visually shows how "walls are being broken down" and open communication helps bring them together physically and emotionally.

• This reply was modified 1 year ago by  karl gromelski.

[Sherry Miller]

Love Buddy movies. Butch Cassidy and Sundance etc. This time the buddy is the horse, seabiscuit. And the trainer is the catalyst. As our trainer tries to find a jockey, I’m struck by the set-up words as a horse we can’t see beats at his gate, whinnies, and acts nutsy. “Can he be ridden?” The trainer answers, “Eventually.” When he’s about to give up finding the right jockey, He observes “Red” (music here is appropriate, magical) acting like the horse in human form, one behind him and one in front. The juxta position is impeccacale timing. “That spirit.” Key words said out loud. This scene works, Belonging works, as the feisty shows up at the same time in this triangle. The trainer looks back and then forward as he hears crazy seabiscuit and sees “Red” fighting with some boys taunting him. Using a bucket for his defense. Traits that are obvious: aggressive, anger, tempers, independence, resentment, aching for freedom (won’t be held back), feisty, won’t give up, “Don’t mess with me,” they seem to say at the same time. They belong together on the track. As far as Seabiscuit, he’s been mistreated and reacts. “Red” has been abandoned by family and lashes out. Both strike back folding into their self-made protection. The drama its built around is an imminent race is approaching and they must find a jockey soon or lose their investment. And the breakthrough that only trainer sees the same “spirit” in each character. As an observer, you know what will happen next.

[Rebecca Sukle]

Rebecca’s Insights on Belonging Together – Seabiscuit

My insight onto to what makes the trainer great from a writing perspective is that he has good insight into why the horse might be combative. But who can he get to ride him? A hotshot jockey disses the trainers advice, approaches the combative horse, and runs off calling the horse crazy. The trainer knows better. As he walks away from the four men struggling to restrain the horse, he observes an angry young man fending off several attackers and willing to take on all of them. The trainer looks back at the horse and then to the young man, and knows him to be the right jockey for this horse.

What I learned from rewriting the scene from my script where Albert finds a competent sparing partner for an up coming match. Using this scene from Seabiscuit, I made a few changes that showed why Albert picked not only a competent sparing partner, but the right one for him, the best one to help him train for the fight of his life. The rewrite provides more depth and interest.

• This reply was modified 11 months, 2 weeks ago by  Rebecca Sukle.