The Essential Ellison Part 67

(FILTER)Doctor, do we need to know all this? I, for one, find it allquite difficult to- DR. BARMEIER O.S.(FILTER).

(vicious) THUS!...utilizing one-twentieth the fuel payload of currents.p.a.ceshots.

(beat, quieter)The only difficulty till now with this revolutionary idea isthat the focusing elements in contemporary lasers are notpowerful enough. You see...

CALISTA O.S.(FILTER).

(cutting in)Uh, thank you, Dr. Barmeier. Very cogent. I'll take it fromhere.

(beat)Usually, a ruby gemstone is used as the focusing element. Notpotent enough.

(beat)Eight months ago a Rhodesian diamond (FILTER)consortium came up with a "black diamond"-actually it's blood-red-and it was sold to the United States s.p.a.ce Agency. Itsfacets, if cut properly, work perfectly as a focusing elementfor the laser trigger.

1st BLACKSUIT O.S.(FILTER)Where does Flint come into all this?

CALISTA O.S.

(FILTER)He is the one man in the world who can cut the black diamond.He has it in his possession.

DR. BARMEIER O.S.(FILTER).

(like Strangelove)It is the most destructive and valuable military weapon everconceived by the mind of man! With this laser trigger theGunsmiths could...

CALISTA O.S.(FILTER)Doctor!

DR. BARMEIER O.S.

(FILTER)We could rule the world from stations in s.p.a.ce...we couldconquer...Poland...we could take Poland in three days...

CHAIRMAN O.S.Barmeier! This is the Chairman!

(everyone falls silent)We of the Gunsmiths have no desire to "rule the world." We area business organization, non-partisan, non-nationalistic, weare dealers in goods. Remember that. Get this black diamondfrom Flint so we can sell it...and stop twitching!

All of the foregoing DIALOGUE OVER is visually interpreted as Flintwanders through LIMBO, synch'd-in with changing backgrounds, thus: As the plotters talk of Moonshots, the limbo around Flint growslight, then dark again, then light, pulsing as though the dawn couldnot decide whether or not to come up, and then gigantic closeups ofLunar craters appear and s.h.i.+mmer and disappear around him so he hasto dodge them or fall in.

Talk of lasers can be interpreted as beams of sizzling light thatcross and re-cross all around him, making him duck and swerve or beburned to a crisp.

References to ruby gemstones and black diamonds can be visualized byaltering the limbo background to show closeups of the dazzlingfacets of jewels.

NOTE: for these altering B.G. shots advise the use of CROSSTARFILTERS as well as WIDE-ANGLE, FISHEYE and GREASE-SMEARED DIFFUSIONLENSES to produce highly hallucinogenic interpretations of what isbeing said in VOICE OVER.

Flint visibly suffers through all of this, his vision distorted, hishead pounding, pain and disorientation visible in his movements andfacial expressions. And...as we HEAR OVER the sound of FLINT'SHEARTBEAT, pounding and thudding, the limbo B.G. should s.h.i.+mmer withcloseups (as in a light-show) of the lymphatic tide, all blood-redand deadly, keeping the beat with Flint's heart; all of thisintended to convey the impression that he is under hallucinogenicinfluence.

NOTE: suggest in these sequences the use of extremely ominous music,such as Stravinsky's "Le Sacre du Printemps" (such sections as TheSacrifice, etc.) to make the movement of Flint more unnerving.

At the point in the DIALOGUE OVER that Barmeier begins to flip (andFlint has been hearing and reacting to the voices, stopping andlistening very attentively to the two occasions in which theChairman speaks), CAMERA MOVES AROUND FLINT and we see PAST HIM, farin the distance, a circle of light. He starts running toward itwhile the VOICES CONTINUE and that brings us to 26 MED. CLOSE ON FLINT-REACTION SHOT.

as he nears the circle of light, he stops, amazed.

27 PAST FLINT-HIS POV-WHAT HE SEES.

The conversation has been taking place among a group that looks asthough they've just fallen out of Alice in Wonderland. These are the"heavies," the members of the group called THE GUNSMITHS. They willappear throughout the segment and their real names are indicated inparentheses after their characterization in this. scene only. Theyare THE WHITE RABBIT (Calista), DODO (1st Vice President), MADHATTER (Dr. Barmeier) and MARCH HARE (1st BLACKSUIT) with the optionof having CHEs.h.i.+RE CAT (2nd Blacksuit) in the scene for completists.They continue talking, though the words they speak are not in synchwith what we HEAR IN VOICE OVER (FILTER).

WHITE RABBIT (CALISTA).

O.S.

(FILTER)We know Flint still has the black diamond in his possession.What we must do is find out where.

MARCH HARE (1st BLACKSUIT)

O.S.

(FILTER)Let me at him for an hour. I'll turn him into cottage cheese.He'll come up with it.

MAD HATTER (DR. BARMEIER).

O.S.

(FILTER).

Lumpen! Clod! This man is no thug. He cannot be beaten intotalking. Why do you think we went to all the trouble to drughim with hallucinogens? He must be duped, coerced!

28 FULL SHOT-THE GROUP-LIMBO B.G.

standing there in the middle of nowhere, rapping, with Flint nowedging in close to speak to them. This is a very Kafka-esque scenein which they continue talking about him as though he were dead ornot there, and with Flint trying to break into their conversation.

FLINTYour mommies dress you funny.

WHITE RABBIT (CALISTA).

O.S.

(FILTER)He was to have pa.s.sed the jewel to his contact tonight at theparty.

DODO (1st V.P.)

O.S.

(FILTER)How do you know?

CHAIRMAN O.S.I told her.

FLINTWho is that?

DODO (1st V.P.)

O.S.

(FILTER)Has he split the diamond yet?

WHITE RABBIT (CALISTA).

O.S.

(FILTER)We believe not. We have to break him and get him to cut it forus.

FLINTYou have two chances: slim and none.

(beat)Say, what the h.e.l.l's the matter with you? Answer me!

They continue to ignore him as if he weren't there.

MAD HATTER (DR. BARMEIER).

O.S. (FILTER)The hallucinogenic drugs I've developed will make it all quitesimple. There isn't a mind strong enough to resist.

FLINTI've had enough of this! Who is the Chairman? Who are youlunatics?

Suddenly, as Flint becomes very insistent about the ident.i.ty of theChairman, they all look up and now they see him.

29 SERIES OF REACTION SHOTSthru33 the faces of the Gunsmiths as they see Flint for the first time.Utter hatred and malevolence in their smiles, INTERCUT with REACTION SHOTS OF FLINT as he realizes he was better off when they didn'trecognize him 4 FROM FLINT TO CALISTA.

as the White Rabbit pulls a huge, blocky .45 from her pelt, and aimsit directly at Flint's head. CAMERA ZOOMS IN on the muzzle of thegun, and in the black hole of the bore lightning and flashes ofcrimson brilliance dance. CAMERA PULLS BACK to show the utterdelight with which Calista will blow off his head.

35 FULL SHOT.

as the others pull guns. Flint spins, still barefoot and half-naked,and throws himself out of danger...he rolls...they fire...again andagain...the SOUND is like an avalanche...CAMERA BACK TO FOLLOW ACTION...as he rolls into the darkness...and wherever he lands, the darknesslights up as though Flint were pinned in the circle glare, up CLOSEINTO CAMERA with a look of fear on his face for the first time...thisis a nightmare he can't escape...he runs INTO CAMERA.

CAMERA TO BLACK.