-
Day 2: Worthy Opponents – TOMBSTONE
1. Please watch this scene and provide your insights/breakthroughs into what makes this character great from a writing perspective.
2. Read the other writers comments and make notes of any insights/breakthroughs you like.
3. Rethink or create a scene for your script using your new insights and rewrite that scene/character.
-
8 Replies
-
These characters are great because they are so perfectly matched and they are both gentlemen in a rough and tumble environment.
The tension comes from the characters trying to outdo each other. Every time one does something difficult, the other does something even more difficult.
Doc discovers that Ringo is much like him. He is well educated, he fights fairly, and will calmly walk away when he loses.
These two characters are gentlemen who play fairly and are well educated. The others are ignorant cowboys.
The drama comes from the two men trying to outdo each other and from the possibility of either man getting shot.
Character profiles:
Even when Doc is sick, he can outdo Ringo.
Wound—Doc is sick.
Future—Dock is dying. Ringo will take his place.
Secret—Doc knows there is a gun under the desk hidden from Ringo.
Both men are gentlemen who play fairly and are well educated.
Insight: The closer the opponents are matched, the more interesting the conflict.
-
Bob Kerr – Week 2, Day 2 – Tombstone
This scene embodies the everlasting battle between dark and light. The characters pose through social graces all the while waiting for the opportunity to kill each other.
First Viewing:
Tension: A bloody close range gun fight that will kill both men probably. There is a fuse of death that has been lit between Ringo & Doc. The rest of the characters stand waiting to see the explosion.
Doc’s Discovery: Ringo is an educated man. He clearly demonstrates self discipline and self control. A lethal combination for a worthy opponent. Also, Ringo is vain the chink in the armor.
Ringo & Doc take all the oxygen out of the situation., Everyone is mesmerized by the tension and the possibility of death. Only Wyatt calmly reaches down to cock a hidden shotgun is necessary. These two titans will kill at the slightest provocation and the skill in the exchange is to see who flinches first.
After the 2nd viewing
The drama is built around the dominance, power and uninhibited threat of violence the Cowboys exert on the town. No one dares to challenge them. Not even Wyatt Earp or Doc Holiday. Until Doc insults Ringo and gets away with it.
Profile items:
Right Characters: Two opposing personalities whose reputation and threat is earned by their legendary prowess with a gun and a willingness to kill.
Traits: Both are vain, intelligent, determined and focused.
Secret: Doc is dying and Ringo is fearful of Doc.
Wound: Ringo’s self identity is tied up with the fear his reputation creates. Doc despises Ringo for his health and the support of the Cowboys.
Future: They are destined to engage in a gunfight to the death. It is only a matter of time and circumstance.
-
This reply was modified 2 years, 5 months ago by Robert Kerr.
-
This reply was modified 2 years, 5 months ago by
-
WATCH 1st TIME FOR:
What tension comes from putting these two worthy opponents face-to-face?
– Ringo’s friend disses Earp, then Earp’s friend Doc Holliday calls out Ringo (they’ve heard of each other & their reputations), expresses hate toward him, then they compete with Latin & gun/cup tricks.
– Doc says Ringo reminds him of himself — suggesting they are equals in gun skills.
What does Doc discover about Johnny’s character in their first meeting?
– That Ringo is a show-off and arrogant, with a need to best his rivals
How these two characters stand out from the others.
– they are both very skilled in gun handling & have reputations for that
– they are both educated (know Latin), but Doc outdoes Ringo
(this is believable to me since my grandmother (b. 1887) got Latin education in grammar and high school, and we know Doc was educated well beyond high school.)
– they are both very brave and confrontational, even foolishly confrontational
———————-
WATCH 2nd TIME FOR:
What drama is this scene built around?
– When confronted by Ringo and friend about being the law, Earp says he’s retired, but when they ask Doc, he says he’s in his prime (coughing from TB). Doc expresses hatred for Ringo, which starts their competition in Latin and gun & cup tricks.
What profile items (right character, traits, secret, wound, future) showed up in these two character’s words and actions?
– brave, confrontational, competitive, show-offs
– Doc has TB and will probably be dying from it at a young age… which may make him foolhardy.
– Doc is protective of Earp
– Ringo and Doc will be meeting in the future in a deadly confrontation & since both are equally skilled, it is a toss-up (tho most know the story from history or earlier movies)
—————————————-
What makes this character great from a writing perspective?
– both are excellent fighters and skilled gunmen
– both can battle well with words, retorts
– they are cool, not given to emotions or getting ruffled/angered
– Doc, however, is emotionally bound to his friend, Earp.
– Doc is slowly dying from from TB, but disregards that danger
– Ringo is ruthless, evil
-
Insights….
1. A very tense scene with a little dark humor added: Doc’s mocking Ringo’s gun dexterity with his own dexterity with a cup = a potentially lethal taunt but at the same time a funny bit.
2. The surprise addition of erudition to the scene : both men know Latin.
Breakthrough: incorporate something unexpected or that upends the expected outcome in a scene where two opponents are facing off.
-
These characters are great opponents as their skills are both at a high level so we foresee a great fight/duel coming up:
– Both heard of each other’s reputation
– Ringo reminds Doc of himself and that’s why he hates him
– Doc discovers that Ringo is educated as he speaks latin as well. During their exchange in latin, they might be the only ones in the room to have that skill/ level. Someone even asks them to not speak a foreign language.
– Ringo shows off in front of Doc to show his skills as he has an audience, as a threat but even if Doc is sick and drunk, his skills are still very high to the point that he was able to memorize the whole choreography that Ringo did with his pistol and he’s able to precisely repeat it with a tin cup, mimicking him and therefore making fun of him. It’s a way for Doc to answer back to Ringo’s threat. They provoke each other.
– Both are smart and they know they’ll have to deal with each other in the future as Ringo wants his territory to stay as it is (lawless) and Doc is a newcomer who wants to establish some rules (from what I understand in the scene).
– Fun fact is I thought both of their moustache looks alike! 🙂
INSIGHTS: when 2 opponents first meet, we need to establish their rivalry and show why it will be exciting to follow their future encounters.
The codes of Western genre are very strong in that scene but it’s actually a model we could use in any genre.
-
Both of these characters are really great characters from a writing perspective because in this one scene alone, we learn so much about who they are, their past, their similarities and their differences and above all, we learn they are both fast gunslingers who will meet in the future (living in the future) to perhaps slug it out and at this point, we have no idea who is the better gun. One is wounded and is healing it with drink, he has a sense of humour too and can remain calm when threatened with a gun in his face. He sees himself in Ringo and then wonders if he should hate him. It’s a very interesting dialogue and insight into his character and makes us the audience interested in knowing more about him. Both speak Latin, which is unusual for two gun slingers. They speak a language, metaphorically and literally, that the others in the bar are clueless about. It’s an intriguing relationship that has quickly developed by having these two meet, both have heard of each other but have never met before. Doc sees Ringo in himself, but Doc has humour and is entertaining, in sharp contrast to the intensity of RIngo . Doc Holliday is observant of RIngo, he is mimicking Ringo, in his gestures, his eye movements, his absurdity of the threat of the mug.
We the audience, have the expectation that we will be meeting these two characters into their future and already we know it’s going to be exciting and entertaining and from the way the writer slung that mug around, will have a lot of surprises. The writer has drawn complex characters that are worthy opponents, with idiosyncratic traits that make them great to watch. We are already emotionally invested in their next meeting and even wonder if they could perhaps become friends, instead. (I haven’t seen the movie)
-
The tension between Ringo and Doc is created because we don’t know which one is going to win their fight in the future. Ringo shows off with his gun and Doc counters with his twisting and ability with his cup.
Doc learns that Ringo isn’t an easy target. The man is educated, surprise. He knew he was skilled but he didn’t realize that the guy might be smart too.
The two men stand out from the others because they are willing to go at each other in a second and show off their abilities to the admiring audience.
The drama in the scene is whether these men are going to have a gun battle in the middle of a salon with all the other patrons there.
Both men are skilled; educated.
Doc seems to be drunk but others in the class say he is sick, which makes him a determined man because he is still in this fight.
<font face=”inherit”>Ringo is aggressive and seems to </font>need<font face=”inherit”> to push Doc to the limits to prove that he is better than the doc.</font>
<font face=”inherit”>Doc seems to have a wound when he tells Ringo he hates him because he reminds him of himself. </font>
-
Haven’t seen this movie, but…Great characters: the ironic combination of intellectual/educated, artistic/showman (with guns) and fighters—in not only one but (presumably) both the antagonist and protagonist. Makes room for stiff conflict and complex and intense drama.
What tension comes from putting these two worthy opponents face-to-face: they’re immediately in conflict.
What does Doc discover about Johnny’s character in their first meeting—something reminds him of himself—coldness? But then he also learns Johnny has been classically educated.
These two characters stand out from the others: intellectuals/highly educated, ‘refinement’ in interaction and long-practiced skill (gun swinging)— and fighters, like the rest.
Drama the scene is built around: new lawman meets well-established gang-head in crowed bar—where they strut to the point of a gun being pulled—then expertly spun. Future: they’re clearly in for a major fight. Character traits as above
Log in to reply.