And Walking Arm In Arm, You Hope It Don't Get Harmed, But Even If It Does, You'll Just Do It All Again
--"On The Radio", Regina Spektor
Cadence and Elliot, otherwise known as the screenplay I'm writing, is loosely based on my first visit to Macon, GA to see Breanne. A lot of the scenes and dialogue I have lifted straight from what I can recall and what I remember of how things played out. But, as with all things I lift from my own life, some things have been dramatized to keep the soul of the story intact. No, I have never tried conning her out of fifteen hundred dollars. I won't lie, though. The thought had crossed my mind when I first met her. No, her parents never caught me in bed with her. Again, the thought did cross my mind too. And, lastly, I never had these cute scenes of brushing the bangs out of her eyes. For that you have to shift locations and time just a tad.
I actually visited another friend under similar circumstances. I visited my friend Jina in West Virginia on a whim. Her mother had called me up about a month before her fifteenth birthday and asked if I wanted to surprise Jina. I thought it was a great idea and made preparations to travel across the country for my one and only meeting with who I considered my best friend at the time.
When I actually arrived and was greeted by her mom and sister the nervousness I felt is the well from which I drew some of the emotions that Elliot feels in my script. I wasn't nervous when I met Breanne; she wouldn't let me be. But I was superbly nervous when I was meeting Jina. One, she didn't know I was coming. Because of that I had no idea if she would be presently surprised or slightly disappointed. I didn't know if the same magic I felt in talking to her through letters or over the phone would carry through to talking to her in person. Two, I would be staying over at her house. If the meeting didn't go right, we would be stuck together for the next four days. Three, what's worse, I wondered if I'd be the one disappointed. All these problems could have even been easily resolved if it hadn't been for the clandestine nature of the encounter.
I surprised her at breakfast and, to my relief, it was a good surprise. Aside from the curious glances I received from the homogenous patronage of the restaurant--being the one Asian guy in a sea of Caucasians was an experience--the meal was completed without a hitch. I'd thought about incorporating that into the story as well, but I thought it best that experience remaining solely associated with Jina. There are some things that, even for me, remain proprietary to the individuals I went through them with. Other things I patch together if it makes the story better, but that, that shall ever remain Jina's.
However, a vivid memory I absconded with for use in Cadence and Elliot was how I kept repeating "I can't believe I'm three thousand miles away from home." I thought the nature of the comment and the emotional bewilderment behind the statement fit in well with how it'd be like for somebody to be meeting up with a person they hadn't seen before in person. As aforementioned, I wasn't nervous meeting Breanne. I also wasn't very trouble about being so far from home either. By that point I'd already flown across the country. The novelty just wasn't there any more by the time it came to fly to Georgia and stay with Breanne's family. With Jina, though, I must have repeated that statement thirty or forty times within the first four hours. It really was a shock to come to the realization that if anything bad happened I couldn't just run or drive home. That feeling about being out of element, out of my comfort zone, and out of control, was a feeling I wanted to play with when writing my screenplay. I wanted to match the main character, somebody who always tries to stay on top of the situation, with a situation that's beyond his experience and with an individual who, so far, no one has been ever to bridle or curtail.
In Breanne I had the character because, even after thirteen years, I don't think anyone's ever got a complete handle on what makes her tick or ever really told her what to do. In the situation with meeting Jina, I had the perfect situation, so that's why I said it was a hodge-podge of two different stories.
Lastly, the biggest break from what actually happened and what I've written down so far in the story is the fact that when I met Jina there was more of that shy, disarmed affectation that it prevalent in the screenplay. Basically, I had this lingering crush on her that colored the four days I was visiting with her. It wasn't that I was trying to put the moves on her, but every touch, every glance, and, yes, every opportunity I took to brush the bangs out of her face was a revelation about just how much I adored that girl. I mean--talking on the phone I knew I liked her, but it wasn't until I met her in person that I came to know just how much that was. I don't know if I fell in love with her because our time together was so brief, but that feeling of discovering emotions I never knew I had is where my whole screenplay springs from. It isn't about two people who know from the get-go how they feel about one another. They have some idea. Yet it's in the sparks and grinding of coming together in person where the actual connection is forged. Some of that went on with Breanne, but, mostly, it was quite the opposite. I think it was clear how we both felt for one another, but we spent the entire time trying to hide or camoflauge it.
The other huge element I took from visiting Jina that time was an idea I stole from the opening line to The Story Girl, the idea that the reason we like roads is because you can never quite be sure what will be at the end of it. It's not necessarily how you leave things with a person that you remember most about seeing someone. I left things relatively well with Jina. We had some great talks and I thought there was a connection forged there.
A month later I was mailing her stuff back to her after I'd burned them.
With Breanne, we left things pretty bad after I had visited her. Yet a month after that we were conversing and making plans to see one another for her next birthday.
That's what I pulled from visiting Jina, the idea that you can do everything right with a person and it still might not work out. If the two people aren't meant for one another, it doesn't matter how well the small things go or how hard you try. Some couples were never meant to persist. On the other hand, when you get the right two people together, even the big things like breaking hearts and crushing dreams can't kill the friendship. I think that, if I had to put it into words, is what the theme of the screenplay is. I took the idea from Jina, but it relates to Breanne too.
The idea is this. It's okay to want something to work out with a person. It's even okay to make plans in case it does happen to work out. But you can't pin your hopes on careful plan and hoping how you feel is strong enough to see you through. You've got to take your lumps and be aware for when the right opportunity comes along. If I took my disappointment with Jina into my dealings with Breanne, it could have killed any chance for a long-lasting bond. Just like if I pick at everything that isn't up to snuff with Breanne, it may prevent me from finding those same hopes and desires with somebody new.
That's where this screenplay is at, hopefully, and that's why I say it deals with a lot more than recounting my story of meeting Breanne. It has a lot of my meeting Jina in there, there's a bit of my meeting Tara there, and probably a half-dozen other incidents and conversations I've had with various people over the years. If anything, it's more of a story of how any two people come to the realization of where they stand with one another and how those two people come to move past that realization.
That's the story I'm trying to tell.
Yours Swimmingly,
mojo shivers
Cadence and Elliot, otherwise known as the screenplay I'm writing, is loosely based on my first visit to Macon, GA to see Breanne. A lot of the scenes and dialogue I have lifted straight from what I can recall and what I remember of how things played out. But, as with all things I lift from my own life, some things have been dramatized to keep the soul of the story intact. No, I have never tried conning her out of fifteen hundred dollars. I won't lie, though. The thought had crossed my mind when I first met her. No, her parents never caught me in bed with her. Again, the thought did cross my mind too. And, lastly, I never had these cute scenes of brushing the bangs out of her eyes. For that you have to shift locations and time just a tad.I actually visited another friend under similar circumstances. I visited my friend Jina in West Virginia on a whim. Her mother had called me up about a month before her fifteenth birthday and asked if I wanted to surprise Jina. I thought it was a great idea and made preparations to travel across the country for my one and only meeting with who I considered my best friend at the time.
When I actually arrived and was greeted by her mom and sister the nervousness I felt is the well from which I drew some of the emotions that Elliot feels in my script. I wasn't nervous when I met Breanne; she wouldn't let me be. But I was superbly nervous when I was meeting Jina. One, she didn't know I was coming. Because of that I had no idea if she would be presently surprised or slightly disappointed. I didn't know if the same magic I felt in talking to her through letters or over the phone would carry through to talking to her in person. Two, I would be staying over at her house. If the meeting didn't go right, we would be stuck together for the next four days. Three, what's worse, I wondered if I'd be the one disappointed. All these problems could have even been easily resolved if it hadn't been for the clandestine nature of the encounter.
I surprised her at breakfast and, to my relief, it was a good surprise. Aside from the curious glances I received from the homogenous patronage of the restaurant--being the one Asian guy in a sea of Caucasians was an experience--the meal was completed without a hitch. I'd thought about incorporating that into the story as well, but I thought it best that experience remaining solely associated with Jina. There are some things that, even for me, remain proprietary to the individuals I went through them with. Other things I patch together if it makes the story better, but that, that shall ever remain Jina's.
However, a vivid memory I absconded with for use in Cadence and Elliot was how I kept repeating "I can't believe I'm three thousand miles away from home." I thought the nature of the comment and the emotional bewilderment behind the statement fit in well with how it'd be like for somebody to be meeting up with a person they hadn't seen before in person. As aforementioned, I wasn't nervous meeting Breanne. I also wasn't very trouble about being so far from home either. By that point I'd already flown across the country. The novelty just wasn't there any more by the time it came to fly to Georgia and stay with Breanne's family. With Jina, though, I must have repeated that statement thirty or forty times within the first four hours. It really was a shock to come to the realization that if anything bad happened I couldn't just run or drive home. That feeling about being out of element, out of my comfort zone, and out of control, was a feeling I wanted to play with when writing my screenplay. I wanted to match the main character, somebody who always tries to stay on top of the situation, with a situation that's beyond his experience and with an individual who, so far, no one has been ever to bridle or curtail.
In Breanne I had the character because, even after thirteen years, I don't think anyone's ever got a complete handle on what makes her tick or ever really told her what to do. In the situation with meeting Jina, I had the perfect situation, so that's why I said it was a hodge-podge of two different stories.
Lastly, the biggest break from what actually happened and what I've written down so far in the story is the fact that when I met Jina there was more of that shy, disarmed affectation that it prevalent in the screenplay. Basically, I had this lingering crush on her that colored the four days I was visiting with her. It wasn't that I was trying to put the moves on her, but every touch, every glance, and, yes, every opportunity I took to brush the bangs out of her face was a revelation about just how much I adored that girl. I mean--talking on the phone I knew I liked her, but it wasn't until I met her in person that I came to know just how much that was. I don't know if I fell in love with her because our time together was so brief, but that feeling of discovering emotions I never knew I had is where my whole screenplay springs from. It isn't about two people who know from the get-go how they feel about one another. They have some idea. Yet it's in the sparks and grinding of coming together in person where the actual connection is forged. Some of that went on with Breanne, but, mostly, it was quite the opposite. I think it was clear how we both felt for one another, but we spent the entire time trying to hide or camoflauge it.
The other huge element I took from visiting Jina that time was an idea I stole from the opening line to The Story Girl, the idea that the reason we like roads is because you can never quite be sure what will be at the end of it. It's not necessarily how you leave things with a person that you remember most about seeing someone. I left things relatively well with Jina. We had some great talks and I thought there was a connection forged there.
A month later I was mailing her stuff back to her after I'd burned them.
With Breanne, we left things pretty bad after I had visited her. Yet a month after that we were conversing and making plans to see one another for her next birthday.
That's what I pulled from visiting Jina, the idea that you can do everything right with a person and it still might not work out. If the two people aren't meant for one another, it doesn't matter how well the small things go or how hard you try. Some couples were never meant to persist. On the other hand, when you get the right two people together, even the big things like breaking hearts and crushing dreams can't kill the friendship. I think that, if I had to put it into words, is what the theme of the screenplay is. I took the idea from Jina, but it relates to Breanne too.
The idea is this. It's okay to want something to work out with a person. It's even okay to make plans in case it does happen to work out. But you can't pin your hopes on careful plan and hoping how you feel is strong enough to see you through. You've got to take your lumps and be aware for when the right opportunity comes along. If I took my disappointment with Jina into my dealings with Breanne, it could have killed any chance for a long-lasting bond. Just like if I pick at everything that isn't up to snuff with Breanne, it may prevent me from finding those same hopes and desires with somebody new.
That's where this screenplay is at, hopefully, and that's why I say it deals with a lot more than recounting my story of meeting Breanne. It has a lot of my meeting Jina in there, there's a bit of my meeting Tara there, and probably a half-dozen other incidents and conversations I've had with various people over the years. If anything, it's more of a story of how any two people come to the realization of where they stand with one another and how those two people come to move past that realization.
That's the story I'm trying to tell.
Yours Swimmingly,
mojo shivers
posted by mojo shivers @ 6:17 PM
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