The creative process can be a funky beast. I remember reading one of Alfred Hitchcock’s storyboards for
North by Northwest where he detailed the famous cropduster chase scene right down to weird little things like Cary Grant’s leg flying awkwardly upwards just so on one of his dives for cover (as you’ll see in the 89th panel shown in
this presentation).
Creators like Hitchock and Stanley Kubrick were well-known for being nearly tyrannical in their attention to detail and insistence on the finished product matching the vision in their minds. You might argue their films were finished before they even started. Was there any room for improvisation? For changing circumstances? In Kubrick’s case there had to be, since there was no way in hell he could keep a lid on someone like Peter Sellers, and in point of fact it seems
he didn’t even try. The rest of the production might have been tightly controlled, but whatever Sellers said or did while the cameras rolled tended to make its way retroactively into the script, as if there were spots there marked with the cinematic equivalent of “This Space Intentionally Left Blank”.
It’s funny because Kubrick’s far from what I might think of as an adherent of “
seat-of-your-pants” storytelling, but clearly he had some tolerance and even encouragement for it under the proper circumstances. Hitchcock I’m less familiar with, but film productions are such complicated things that surely he must have had to bend at times? (cue cameo appearance where he steps out and gravely informs me not to call him Shirley).
I find it impressive when someone has that level of drive and vision, birthing worlds and stories whole cloth right down to the smallest minutiae. Conversely, there are several classic films and classic moments in films out there that were more immediate and organic in their development, and yet no less enjoyable as an end result.
Rutger Hauer’s final monologue in
Blade Runner. The ‘
shoot the swordsman‘ scene in
Raiders of the Lost Ark. Pretty much the
entirety of Casablanca.
Somewhere in this tug of order versus chaos lies all art that ever was created and all that ever will be created, but at each point of the spectrum there are examples of greatness. The creative process may be a funky beast, but it takes all comers, and that’s a fairer shake than most things in this existence of ours.
13 thoughts on “540 – Trick Hello”
Scarsdale
Called it, she figured he’d do this, if by choice or by zombie voodoo. I’m sure the “friendlier” questioning will start soon, if she doesn’t just kill him out-right. Or just add him to the herd.
Crazyman
Gotcha!
Zombatar
This turn of events is a surprise only to Eustace. And, maybe, Eustace’s subconscious. After all, this way he doesn’t have to actually risk actually attacking Suzie, which gives him a greater chance of survival than actually attacking her. I wonder what he was promised/threatened with?
ConcordBob
Not to nit-pick, but since sights are on target, finger should be on the trigger. Especially this close.
The usual rule is “keep finger straight and off trigger until sights are on target”.
Dr. Norman (not a real doctor)
Not to nit-pick, but since that was current philosophies regarding trigger discipline have evolved.
Of course, it will depend on who you get/got your training from.
Experiments have determined that the fraction of a second to go from finger off the trigger to finger firing when appropriate is insignificant, and the risk of firing unintended is greatly reduced.
Dr. Norman (not a real doctor)
I did the google thing and I believe I saw how you reached this conclusion … but there are two parts to it – One should not omit the second part.
“Trigger Finger Discipline: · The practice of keeping your finger “off the trigger” until your sights are on target AND YOU ARE READY TO DISCHARGE THE FIREARM.” (Caps are my own)
Crazyman
She wants him alive so she can question him; otherwise, he’d already be dead.
ConcordBob
Good discussion on trigger discipline!
His skin is very pale / gray. Is this malnourishment, or has he been poisoned with a mind-control drug? I would have to go back and look a t all various of skin tone.
TKG
On a prior page we discussed what he’s likely got running in his system. I suggested that it’s probably Borrochero (Brugmansia arbora) which is already used by Colombian cartels to eradicate the free will of their victims.
ConcordBob
Oh, the gray is just the dim light. Here is McCarthy eating dinner, and has the typical white dude flesh tone.
https://www.zombieranchcomic.com/comic/531-inquisitional-etiquette/
Dawn
Yeah, I was trying to show that it was dark. But went with the old Hollywood method of adding a blue grey tint over everything.
Dr. Norman (not a real doctor)
Now can we satisfy my curiosity? Colt, Smith & Wesson, Ruger, or other timeline variant?
gamachinist
The hammer and lower grip shape look like a Colt Diamondback. Some Model 14 Smith & Wesson’s have a target hammer with the same shape. The upper shape of the grip panel looks like the left side of a Diamondback. The side plate doesn’t show screws. A Colt has the side plate on the left, so no screws would show. The back side of the front sight is kind of like a Colt, but the slope on the front and the barrel under lug shape is not. To sum up, a very good image of a generic revolver.