Scott: Comment on Last Scene

The first ending went something like this: Many months later, Beth is waiting in line at the airport with her new husband, about to go on their honey-moon to Alaska. She’s having trouble getting through security because her picture ID looks nothing like her – not just because of her hair, but her demeanor has changed as well. Then Ryan appears in his nice work-clothes and clean-cut hair. He says something like “That’s her. She’s just changed a lot since that picture was taken.” and then to Beth “Alaska’s beautiful this time of year. I actually just got back from there a couple weeks ago.” Then they fly away. Maybe it’s okay, it just feels a little forced to me. Coincidences happen in real life a lot more often than in the movies, because they seem contrived. And that’s because they ARE contrived and there’s no escaping that. But perhaps it’s possible to make it less obvious…

Late Night Ramblings

Sometimes I have moments of strange separation from my name.  I’ll just hear it or stare at it and wonder what it is. Because it’s not me. And I am not sure what is. If I think long enough, I’ll wonder how I was given it, or why anyone has to be called by one thing their whole life…. when we are all many things.

Scott: Don’t

Don’t

I navigate towards different faces

Shredded butterflies escape my spaces

And I can’t lie; I make sure your name is glowing

several times daily.

But I can lie and I do try

So never mind my maybes

And my fading eyes.

Just don’t give up on me.

Scott: Goblins: First Scene

Listen to this song while you’re reading.

http://search.playlist.com/tracks/ship%20caught%20in%20the%20bay

RYAN, KENT, and BRYCE cut through the desert in an old gray convertible with the top down. Their lazy bodies are more detailed than shapes but not quite silhouettes against the sunset. RYAN sits silent in the back, staring into space, his long hair blowing in the wind, as the two in front maintain inconsequential exchanges drowned out by the strained and rusty atmosphere.

More tomorrow, I promise. I have to wake up early and go to the DMV tomorrow.

Brooke: Windswept

Another rather silly and spontaneously created poem. Aaron helped me write it again. He contributed one line, which I later took out—but it helped inspire the direction.

Windswept

Windspray at my wings

Shipwrecked, ocean-weathered

broken glass, and bits of string

A rigging rope untethered

A twisted siren’s song

The un-stopped ear to listen

Reeling, wrestling in the waves

The jagged rocks to christen

Scott: Elective Descriptions

Crazy Chemistry Creations with Krista

Krista’s Culinary Class/ Krista’s Chemistry/ New Group–Mix of Both? (Age 8-10) Max 15

What does a spatula and a beaker have in common? This elective! Join “Crazy” Krista as she exposes you to a world filled with fine food and super science!

Mentos Madness

(Age 9-12) Max 12

Are you mad about Mentos?! Well how about explosions (of the safe variety)?! Check out what happens when you put Mentos tablets in soda as we perform this time-honored experiment that gets to the bottom of natures most basic (and coolest) chemical reaction! Learn about the scientific method as you collect and compare data about different chemical reactions. Prepare to have your mind blown (figuratively speaking)!

Science of Sound

(Age 10-13) Max 12

There’s a destination a little up the road from the habitations and the towns we know. A place we turn the lights down low, the jig-saw jazz and the get-fresh flow. Tossin’ out jives and jamboree handouts – two turn tables and a microphone. Bottles and cans, just clap your hands, just clap your hands! Explore your creative potential in a professional recording studio where you’ll learn the basics of making and mixing your own music! Feel the rhythm, feel the rhyme, get on up, it’s jammin’ time!!!

Honey, I Shrunk the Elective

Microscopes/Physics/Observatory

Check out the tiny civilization that exists all around us as we use microscopes to inspect the infinitesimal. Make friends with an amoeba, magnify some mold and explore the jungle that lurks in your own refrigerator! Next, get some insights into what makes it all tick as you dive into the science that deals with matter, energy, motion, and force – that’s right, physics! You won’t need a notebook or pencil for this elective, it’s all hands-on and it’s all ridiculously fun! Lastly, direct your attention to the opposite side of the spectrum as you gaze upon the equally elusive orbs that adorn our sky at the observatory!

Exotic X-Ray Experience

Med School/?/Wild Things & Animal Games (Age 6-8) Max 15

Put on your scrubs, we’re goin’ behind-the-scenes at one of the sickest places around – Med School! Get a taste of this fast-paced environment that shows real-life applications of those principles you’ve only before read in text books. Get to know the workings of the most extraordinary and complicated machine known to man; the human body. Then we’ll check out some other species with a visit from Wild Things’ traveling animal demonstration. Get chummy with exotic creatures from around the world and if you have the mutant ability to communicate with our feathered, furry friends, this would be an opportune time to go for it!

Spacetastic Rocketeers

Observatory/Rockets/Physics (Age11-13) Max 15

Have you ever seen a white dwarf? No, I’m not referring to a short Caucasian.  A “white dwarf” is a star, approximately the size of the earth, that has undergone gravitational collapse and is in the final stage of evolution. That’s just one of the many cool things that gild our firmament, a realm that will be the focus of this spectacular space-age elective! Try to touch the sky with your very own air-powered rocket! Then explore the forces that make it all work as you get hands-on with some fabulous physics!

Cosmic Culinary Collision

Rockets/ Observatory/ Krista’s Kitchen Chemistry (Age 8-9) Max 12

Three, two, fun… BLAST OFF with this delectable elective (Dare I say, delective?) that’ll take you from black holes to banana bites! We’ll start you off by letting you launch one of our explosive air-powered rockets drizzled with our very own awesome sauce! For the second course, you’ll venture to the U’s very own observatory where you can gaze into the Milky Way! And for dessert, get your science on as you learn what makes your favorite snacks so divine. And no such endeavor would be complete without a TASTE TEST!

Animal Collective

Tracy Aviary/Wild Things/Animal Art (Age5-7) Max 15

Get ready to go ape for Animalea! You may very well leap like a lizard, frolic like a frog, dance like a dingo, or wet yourself like a wallaby for joy over this most extraordinary elective! Travel to Tracy Aviary and get a glimpse of some glamorous gliders and fine feathered foul. After that brace yourself for a Jumanji-style adventure as the jungle comes to campus with a live presentation featuring five exotic animals from around the world! Finally, release your inner animal in a socially acceptable way by creating your own animal art!

Brooke: Fever Dreams

Inspired by actual events:

——

In a tangle of sweat, blankets, heat, she struggled to lull herself into a quiet sleep. She kept her limbs still, unmoving. She slowed her breathing, and tried to focus on the steady rhythmic pumping of her lungs. Inhaling, exhaling. In and out.

But her mind was wild, suspended madly between worlds. She hovered on the brink of consciousness. As she drifted through these shadowy midlands she struggled to calm her senses–to let the comforting darkness of sleep wash over her.

But she was unable. Waking dreams, unpleasant incarnations of faded television stars and crusty characters from dime novels. She counted them off as they materialized before her. Suddenly she was no longer sleeping for just one, she was sleeping for seven. Seven frantic minds to calm before she could ever rest. They smirked at her, snickered and stared. “You will never sleep,” they mocked, “you are stuck here forever.”

Scott – Show and Tell: Listen to This…

Listen to This…

http://odeo.com/audio/16844993/view

Scott – SP ‘86

If I were to imply that I, Scott Parker, was the result of a Top Secret eugenics project sponsored by the NSA, most would think me insane.  But no delusions of grandeur can account for the blatent fact that I am a genetically superior specimen.  At 22 years of age I am the exact same size I was eight years ago – five foot ten, 125 pounds.  No matter what I eat I appear to lack the ability to gain or lose weight.  I’ve survived two years of Mongolia with it’s rugged climate and “exotic” cuisine (“If you don’t find the hair you ate it”) without an ounce of fluxuation.  I could literaly sit around all day every day stuffing my face with Crisco with no visible change to my physique.  My father’s employment by the National Security Agency makes it all too obvious; my parents were chosen by geneticists and forced to mate resulting in Yours Truly.  My four pudgier siblings, I assume, were just collateral damage.  So to the NSA operatives I assume are reading this right now, I am ready for my genetically superior mate whenever you are.

…because writing crap is better than writing nothing.  

Scott: Goblins – Last Scene

So this movie has been in my head for quite some time. It’s the one about the two that fall in love, change each other, and discover their new selves fit better elsewhere. You know… with the hair. I used to refer to this as “Sunset Soon Forgotten” but that’s the title of an Iron and Wine song so for now I’m calling it “Goblin” after Goblin Valley which is where it all begins. I’ve realized that I like a lot of things about it but the ending I came up with is contrived. So here’s a new, more subtle ending…

But first, for those unfamiliar with the film, a brief summary of it’s dramatic action:

Ryan meets Beth at Goblin Valley.

Beth is sad and bald. Sad because of the malfunctioning brain-chemicals she inherited from her mother combined with said mother’s recent departure. Bald from her leukemia treatment.

Ryan has long hair and really digs Beth’s “depth.” He finds her jaded perspective endearing and mysterious. He falls in love with her broken self and she falls in love with his love for her.

But Beth wasn’t always this way. The memories of her cheerful, simple self from years passed, when her brain-chemicals behaved themselves, add a tinge of bitterness to her current state.

In Ryan she finds a cure. Not only does he love her as she is, he likes her better this way. He makes her see that the new her is the real her and if people don’t find beauty in her depression, their devotion to her is shallow.

Ryan fancies himself a free-thinker. He is anti anything that even resembles The Man and as such refuses to get a hair cut and get a real job. This makes it difficult for him, however, to realize his dreams of world travel. It is suggested to him that he work at an airline for the employee travel benefits but that would involve settling for employment that utilizes none of his specific interests and abilities and therefore falls under the category of giving in.

They date. Ryan strives to “expand her world.” They make fantastic plans and buy one-way tickets to Brazil. Beth returns to school for one last semester (as she promised her Dad) after a long stint of online classes with renewed confidence. Ryan has his hair chopped off and made into a wig for Beth as further proof of his feelings for her. This relationship is intense.

At this point Beth hasn’t looked or felt better in years. Her personality blossoms and she remembers what it was like to be adored not for being different, but for being pretty, sweet, and humble – qualities Ryan certainly appreciates, but not as much as some of Beth’s new acquaintances. A boy sees in her a profound simplicity and promptly falls for her. And the feeling is mutual.

Beth breaks it to Ryan by pointing out that he made her who she is now, but that person is someone with whom he would not be able to fall in love with had they just met.

Ryan seeks closure by returning the plane tickets in-person. As he’s waiting in line, he notices that his hair is more-or-less professional-looking for the first time in a long time. After he is refunded for the tickets, he asks for a job application.

LAST SCENE

A shot of a plane flying away is followed by a frisbee gliding silently through a spring afternoon sky. The muttled sound of Ultimate players exchanging soft commands and sincere praise fades in as the camera slowly moves straight down, revealing heads jumping in and out of frame. As we get a shot of Ryan it is apparent by the mountainless backdrop that he has relocated. His long, fat side-burns suggest an elapse of some time as does his serene manner. His hair is still short.

The winded Ryan makes an assist and after giving the guy who scored a high-five walks to the side-line and signals for someone to take his place. He sits on the grass and as he catches his breath notices a girl sitting on a blanket watching the game who looks strikingly like Beth from behind. His curiosity getting the better of him, Ryan scoots up next to her and takes a probing look at her face. It’s not her. He sees that she’s noticed his attention and is uncomfortable.

Ryan: “Sorry… I just… I thought you were someone else.”

Girl: “Oh… Am I?”

Ryan: (laughs) No.

Girl: Well I’m glad I’m not someone else.

Ryan: Me too. (pause) So who are you rooting for?

Girl: My husband. You know Jack?

Ryan: Oh yeah I know Jack.

Girl: Today’s actually his birthday.

Ryan: Oh cool! So… you two gonna go do something special after the game?

Their conversation is interrupted as JACK limps off the field and RYAN leaps up to take his place. As he plays, RYAN shoots repeated glances at the couple on the side-line as they chat the chat of natural, contented lovers. He smiles.

As the game dies down, RYAN slyly rounds up the players on his team and informs them of a covert op. An uninformed JACK joins the circle for the traditional cheer. They put their hands together and on the count of three surprise JACK with a round of Happy Birthday, led by RYAN.

A few minutes later, as everyone is leaving, JACK and GIRL, now holding hands, approach RYAN.

JACK: Hey Ryan, you got plans tonight? Wanna come celebrate with us?

RYAN: I would but I’m flying to India.

JACK: (Thinking Ryan is joking) India? Dude, come with us, we’re going to Paris!

RYAN: Sorry. You guys take it easy.

They start off in different directions.

JACK: Allright. Later Ryan!

GIRL: Bye Ryan!

RYAN shoots them a peace sign and gets in his car.

The End

This is obviously a little different from your average Hollywood ending. It is supposed to feel extremely casual and light which is a big contrast to the rest of the movie. Ryan is calm for the first time. I also found the idea of introducing two new, inconsequential characters at the end intruiging. It’s supposed to almost feel like the beginning of a new movie, like a Romantic Comedy or something. Their interaction with Ryan marks his final closier which doesn’t happen with one dramatic epiphany but, like the floating frisbee, sinks in the sky until, in this scene, it gently comes to rests on the ground.