Take One (Jul 15, 1979)

genial, good natured man, Bud makes no pretense at art; his films are simply a product he sells. He sits between Jon and Dan. BUD Jeez, I leave the room for five minutes... DAN Have you seen this Bud? Jon cut a new soundtrack to the climax. INT. STEEL MILL — CAT WALK — ANGLE ON CHINESE WARLORD Dressed in splendid oriental array, the WARLORD blasts away with a bejeweled submachine gun at the OFF FRAME Hero. The sound effect is a SERIES OF QUACKS. The Warlord speaks out of synch. WARLORD (deep Bronx voice) Call me a queer, huh? Take that! And that! And that! ANGLE ON HERO He leans from behind an iron post and fires twice with his pistol, BEEP-BEEP SOUND EFFECTS. He speaks out of synch. HERO (ridiculous high pitched voice) My momma warned me about fellas like you—nyaah! ANGLE ON WARLORD He whirls around, a bullet hole between his eyes. His lips don’t move when he speaks. WARLORD (deep Bronx voice) Oh, shit! HIGH ANGLE ON BUCKET OF MOLTEN METAL An obviously phoney dummy dressed in the Warlord’s costume falls over the edge of the cat walk and into the molten metal with a DOPPLER WHISTLE and TOILET FLUSH. TWO SHOT — JON AND BUD Bud turns to Jon. BUD You're warped, you know that? ANGLE ON JON He simply grins and shrugs. FULL SHOT — INT. CUTTING ROOM BUD Come on, take it off. We'll have time for that later. Put the cottage killing on. As he speaks, Bill the editor removes the film and puts the cottage sequence film and tape on. JON I hope this is the wind effect you wanted. ANGLE ON WHITE SCREEN Film leader flashes through. We hear a BIP, then the footage starts. EXT. COTTAGE — NIGHT A small cottage in the middle of a grove of trees, one window in the front lit. A black clad killer, dressed as a ninja, creeps along, using the trees for cover. The sound effect is a VERY THEATRICAL WIND RUSTLING TREES. BUD’S VOICE Naw, sorry, that’s not it. TWO SHOT — JON AND BUD Jon turns to Bud as the WIND EFFECT continues. JON It's the most menacing wind I've got, Bud. You didn’t like the other three. FULL SHOT — INT. CUTTING ROOM The WIND EFFECT continues. DAN I liked the second one... BUD Too soft. We really gotta set the mood here. 16 TAKE ONE ANGLE ON COTTAGE Inside the lit front room we see a PRETTY TEENAGE GIRL in a robe, sitting in a chair by an open fire. The assassin creeps up to a darkened rear window and quietly prys it open. The WIND EFFECT continues. BUD’S VOICE This reminds me of the Wizard of Oz. Y'know, wo0000000... (imitates THEATRICAL WIND) I expect Judy Garland or the Witch to pop in. Haven't you got any other wind tapes? JON’S VOICE Just what you've heard. Only other wind | have has storms and seashores and other things mixed in. The ninja assassin enters the rear window. For a couple of beats everything is peaceful, then suddenly he bursts into the room with the Teenager. He grabs at her. She jumps up and struggles with him, her robe falling open, exposing her nude body. She tries to run but he grabs the robe, pulls it off her, and yanks her off balance. He whips a thuggee noose around her neck and shoves her up against the window panes, flattening her breasts against them. During this sequence the sounds of struggle are VERY FAINT AND TINNY while the WIND EFFECT is full tilt. TEENAGER (very faint and tinny SCREAMS, then STRANGLED CHOKE) DAN’S VOICE Hold it there, Bill. The FRAME FREEZES with the girl pressed against the window. FULL SHOT — INT. CUTTING ROOM BUD The more I think about it, the less I like it. DAN The wind is what's wrong. ANGLE ON JON JON Give me some time and I'll get some fresh wind for you. TWO SHOT — JON AND BUD Bud eyes Jon sardonically BUD Fresh wind, huh? Sometimes I don’t know when you're joking. Jon looks puzzled. Jeeze, you aren't joking. You oughtta get out more, Jon. All you know is electronics and sound. ANGLE ON JON JON It's been enough. So far. TWO SHOT — BUD AND DAN Bud looks back to the screen BUD Run that again. ANGLE ON COTTAGE The FRAME FREEZES INTO QUICK REVERSE, the robe flying on the girl, the assassin zipping out of the house. The reverse stops and the scene plays again, exactly as before with the same sound effects. DAN’S VOICE Anyway we work this, we're going to come out with an obviously enhanced wind and a realistic fight and scream. THREE SHOT — JON, BUD, AND DAN JON I thought you wanted natural sound. BUD Yeah, but for the whole scene. This isn’t working. ANGLE ON COTTAGE As the scene plays out, Jon, Bud, and Dan keep talking. DAN’S VOICE We need better wind effects here. JON’S VOICE Then we'll have to enhance the fight— ripping fabric, scuffling, get a better scream and death choke. At this point the Teenager dies. The assassin lets her body fall to the floor but we hear no sound. BUD’S VOICE Add a thump! We need a good body thump right there. TWO SHOT — JON AND BUD BUD Can you do it? Fresh wind and all? JON I can scrounge something up from my tape library. BUD Get something good. We're under schedule and budget so let's put a little extra effort into this. JON Even though the only people to see it will be drive-in tits-and-death freaks? BUD Yeah, even though... (a beat) Put on the first car chase again, Bill. Buzz Dixon “Tf I'd seen as many movies as I wanted when I was a kid, I might not have been interested in films. My father was never fond of going to movies, my mother didn't drive when I was growing up. As a result I only saw one or two films a year. “I loved the movies, however, and constantly thought about the few I'd seen and daydreamed about those I hadn't. Often I'd see an interesting poster or newspaper ad and fantasize a story based on it. At age thirteen, I read Ralph Stevenson and ].R. Debrix' The Cinema as Art. For the first time I realized there was a pattern and logic to the way films were made and presented—there was a reason for a specific cut being filmed at a specific angle and edited into the final film at a