What I Love About Going Postal (Part 2)
Oct. 8th, 2007 11:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tealinPicking up from where I left off, with even more spoilers than before!
Mad Boris's madness
Mr Pratchett knows exactly when to do the internal monologue and when simply showing the character's actions communicates a story point better. Case in point: Moist raises the stakes and one-ups Hobson by demanding the saddle be removed from Mad Boris for his ride to Sto Lat: internal monologue. Moist runs up to his office, crams a handkerchief in his mouth and whimpers: actions speaking louder than words. I love that scene, it conveys so much of an emotional state and character so simply and clearly.
'... but not strawberry, because I hate strawberries.'
The image of Moist on the rearing Boris as a sort of suspended moment of anticipation to Boris's world going mad
Raising prices on stamps in Sto Lat as Moist's discomfort in the nether regions grows more and more pressing ... not only is this funny but that one piece of dialogue says so much more than the dictionary definitions of the words would imply.
... such as this: 'There's an inn next door. I've going to find a bath. I want a cold bath. Really cold. Got an ice house here? As cold as that. Colder. Ooooh, colder.'
Another bite for old readers: the Queen of Sto Lat. Now, who might that be? :) Though she must be, what, about forty now?
Charting the character arc: As of page 192, not being able to keep up this Post Office gig is a disappointment rather than an opportunity.
The description of Miss Maccalariat via Frau Shambers (and my grade 1 teacher, too, by the way), especially the line oh yes, argh, the cardigan; Frau Shambers used to stuff the sleeves with handkerchiefs, aargh, aargh. And Moist's subsequent mental speech to her. Come on, we've all composed speeches like that which we have never delivered....
Contrast that with Adora Belle ... Moist gets completely knocked off his feet upon meeting Miss Maccalariat but regains his composure, more or less the opposite of Adora Belle. Remind me to go into why I like their relationship so much if I don't get to it by the end of this list.
How long it takes for Moist to realize that Pump 19 didn't follow him to Sto Lat: he goes, he comes back, he meets Miss Maccalariat – that takes what, five or six hours? And then he is immediately distracted by the thought of Miss Dearheart again. (But not in a gooey way, in a cunning and character-ific way! Remind me to get back to this, again!)
Mr Gryle! And Mr Gryle's introduction! Zowee!
Moist's family history, as related by Mr Gryle: 'Father dead. Mother dead. Raised by grandfather. Sent away to school. Bullied. Ran away. Vanished.' It says all we need to know – more than we need to know, actually – but the fact that we hear it all from such a dispassionate, detached source and, more importantly, not at all from Moist himself makes it simultaneously sadder and less important. It informs us about him but the fact that he doesn't think about it tells us just as much if not more.
Will no one rid me of this troublesome Postmaster? (heehee)
A turnabout and double reversal: Moist uses the 'angel' tactic that Vetinari used on him ... but it doesn't work on the Upwright brothers. BUT it accomplishes the intended goal because it is a load of well-told horse puckey.
The Tower 93 ghost story
The sombre suit:
Because it must be treated like this on film. A hole in the screen. The description demands it, unequivocally.
Oh, Albert and the rest of them had met hundreds [of women], and had had all kinds of fun, including once getting his jaw dislocated which was only fun in a no-fun-at-all kind of way.
I know this is supposed to be a list of what I love, but I can't help reading things with adaptation to screenplay in mind, and if I were adapting Going Postal I would definitely cut the 'A Proper Brawl Doesn't Just Happen' thing. It is an overly involved setup for an entertaining background to the scene. I can understand what makes it funny, in theory, but for the sake of pacing it would have to go.
'What, with all these big strong men here to protect me?
Dropping change on the floor to clear the crowd at the bar
The benefit of high heels as a defensive weapon: it takes a relatively useless fact that we all learn in elementary school (the tip of a woman's heel exerts more pressure per inch than an elephant's foot) and applies it in a funny way, making sure to mention the elephant and not just the principle.
Well, certainly hanky, and possibly panky once we get to know each other better.
'Are you still going to lie if I ask you how?'
'Yes, I think so.'
'Good. Shall we go?'
(incidentally, this is the second time the sentence 'Yes, I think so' has made me all giddy with book-glee; the first was in response to Sirius saying 'Shall we kill him together?')
Peas are known for their thoroughness...
'Aarg, they're just pins!' and the accompanying mental image.
'I ate my grandmother. I gnawed her bones.'
The city pigeons being the equivalent of really nasty junk food to Mr Gryle: irresistible yet full of unpleasant consequences. Also 'effluent on wings.' Heehee.
The fact that it's Stanley Mr Gryle comes up against. How hilariously unexpected and yet perfect.
The idea that one must use the correct knife for stabbing murdering bastards, which the waiter will bring to you when you order one.
The timing when Gilt meets Moist, between sizing him up and shaking his hand. It's so clear and so PERFECT. Gilt's line. Moist's line. Gilt's line. Moist's line. Beat. (just long enough to built up tension so that–) Hand thrust forward (-looks for a split second like an attack). His timing is so specific, and so clear, just with text, I don't know how radio play directors (and, from what little I've seen of Hogfather, movie directors) can miss it. It adds so much!
Do not use stairs if burning.
Miss Dearheart caught a burning letter, lit her cigarette with it, and took a drag. 'No no, don't do it, you're being far too brave.' Femme fatale awesomeness at its most entertaining; oh the paradoxes and layers of emotional involvement in this scene.
Another exception for the 'downer' side of this list: Disney will never ever be able to make this into a movie or distribute it if someone else does because it's got smoking in it. Even though she may or may not quit by the end. Whether or not Disney would be the right choice for such a project is another argument; suffice it to say they have lots of great artists I wouldn't mind putting on it. :D And that morsel of hubris buys me seven more years in TV...
Moist goes into the burning post office because he is consciously trying to stay in character, while we know his actual character would absolutely not do it. But he has no choice. In fact the very fact that he thinks he has no choice demonstrates a little further progression in his character arc because at the beginning of the book he would certainly not have risked life and limb for a persona. It's not a complete reversal, though, that would be too drastic for credibility at this point; he goes in to stay in character, not because it is the right thing to do.
Moist's epiphany that this post office thing had been fun ...
... and then his fascination at thinking that thought ...
... and then his horror at the realization that he'd 'lost "it"'.
And the good thing about a stake through the heart was that it also worked on non-vampires.
The search for Tiddles is another scene where Moist's thoughts race away in horror, to the empathetic point where he realizes that however hard you try to look behind you, there's a behind you, behind you, where you aren't looking and backs his way along the wall.
My love for the Moist vs Gryle scene can only be adequately expressed with a storyboard. (Un?)Fortunately I have two other boards from this book that I want to finish first.
The asterisks in this scene – I love them but am annoyed by them as well because they feel, to me, to be the sort of fade-out-and-in that signifies where a commercial break would have been when you watch a TV show on DVD. It'd be just the right place for one, too.
If he were a hero, he would have taken the opportunity to say 'That's what I call sorted!' Since he wasn't a hero, he threw up.
The Waltz (after Moist gets his idea for how to rebuild the post office and is on a high) ... this usually takes me completely by surprise and the giddiness after such an intense episode makes me float all day, but that didn't happen this time. I think it's because I read the whole fire bit in extremely small portions so I never properly got into it, and I'd also skimmed this chapter beforehand for a commission so I knew when what was coming. Alas. Next time, perhaps! Also, if I were making this into a movie, I would set this scene not in the darkness of the wee hours but in the muted cold grey light of just barely pre-dawn because that would contrast very well, visually and emotionally, with the fire of the previous scene. It might possibly allow for a glint of early sunlight to hit the golden hat in a visual approximation of Moist's sudden insight, a sort of subtler take on the lightbulb gag. We can't film brain cells, as my screenwriting teacher used to say.
And I have half again as many notes to transcribe for the rest of the book ... Goodness me.
<< Part 1 - Part 3 >>
Mad Boris's madness
Mr Pratchett knows exactly when to do the internal monologue and when simply showing the character's actions communicates a story point better. Case in point: Moist raises the stakes and one-ups Hobson by demanding the saddle be removed from Mad Boris for his ride to Sto Lat: internal monologue. Moist runs up to his office, crams a handkerchief in his mouth and whimpers: actions speaking louder than words. I love that scene, it conveys so much of an emotional state and character so simply and clearly.
'... but not strawberry, because I hate strawberries.'
The image of Moist on the rearing Boris as a sort of suspended moment of anticipation to Boris's world going mad
Raising prices on stamps in Sto Lat as Moist's discomfort in the nether regions grows more and more pressing ... not only is this funny but that one piece of dialogue says so much more than the dictionary definitions of the words would imply.
... such as this: 'There's an inn next door. I've going to find a bath. I want a cold bath. Really cold. Got an ice house here? As cold as that. Colder. Ooooh, colder.'
Another bite for old readers: the Queen of Sto Lat. Now, who might that be? :) Though she must be, what, about forty now?
Charting the character arc: As of page 192, not being able to keep up this Post Office gig is a disappointment rather than an opportunity.
The description of Miss Maccalariat via Frau Shambers (and my grade 1 teacher, too, by the way), especially the line oh yes, argh, the cardigan; Frau Shambers used to stuff the sleeves with handkerchiefs, aargh, aargh. And Moist's subsequent mental speech to her. Come on, we've all composed speeches like that which we have never delivered....
Contrast that with Adora Belle ... Moist gets completely knocked off his feet upon meeting Miss Maccalariat but regains his composure, more or less the opposite of Adora Belle. Remind me to go into why I like their relationship so much if I don't get to it by the end of this list.
How long it takes for Moist to realize that Pump 19 didn't follow him to Sto Lat: he goes, he comes back, he meets Miss Maccalariat – that takes what, five or six hours? And then he is immediately distracted by the thought of Miss Dearheart again. (But not in a gooey way, in a cunning and character-ific way! Remind me to get back to this, again!)
Mr Gryle! And Mr Gryle's introduction! Zowee!
Moist's family history, as related by Mr Gryle: 'Father dead. Mother dead. Raised by grandfather. Sent away to school. Bullied. Ran away. Vanished.' It says all we need to know – more than we need to know, actually – but the fact that we hear it all from such a dispassionate, detached source and, more importantly, not at all from Moist himself makes it simultaneously sadder and less important. It informs us about him but the fact that he doesn't think about it tells us just as much if not more.
Will no one rid me of this troublesome Postmaster? (heehee)
A turnabout and double reversal: Moist uses the 'angel' tactic that Vetinari used on him ... but it doesn't work on the Upwright brothers. BUT it accomplishes the intended goal because it is a load of well-told horse puckey.
The Tower 93 ghost story
The sombre suit:
Because it must be treated like this on film. A hole in the screen. The description demands it, unequivocally.
Oh, Albert and the rest of them had met hundreds [of women], and had had all kinds of fun, including once getting his jaw dislocated which was only fun in a no-fun-at-all kind of way.
I know this is supposed to be a list of what I love, but I can't help reading things with adaptation to screenplay in mind, and if I were adapting Going Postal I would definitely cut the 'A Proper Brawl Doesn't Just Happen' thing. It is an overly involved setup for an entertaining background to the scene. I can understand what makes it funny, in theory, but for the sake of pacing it would have to go.
'What, with all these big strong men here to protect me?
Dropping change on the floor to clear the crowd at the bar
The benefit of high heels as a defensive weapon: it takes a relatively useless fact that we all learn in elementary school (the tip of a woman's heel exerts more pressure per inch than an elephant's foot) and applies it in a funny way, making sure to mention the elephant and not just the principle.
Well, certainly hanky, and possibly panky once we get to know each other better.
'Are you still going to lie if I ask you how?'
'Yes, I think so.'
'Good. Shall we go?'
(incidentally, this is the second time the sentence 'Yes, I think so' has made me all giddy with book-glee; the first was in response to Sirius saying 'Shall we kill him together?')
Peas are known for their thoroughness...
'Aarg, they're just pins!' and the accompanying mental image.
'I ate my grandmother. I gnawed her bones.'
The city pigeons being the equivalent of really nasty junk food to Mr Gryle: irresistible yet full of unpleasant consequences. Also 'effluent on wings.' Heehee.
The fact that it's Stanley Mr Gryle comes up against. How hilariously unexpected and yet perfect.
The idea that one must use the correct knife for stabbing murdering bastards, which the waiter will bring to you when you order one.
The timing when Gilt meets Moist, between sizing him up and shaking his hand. It's so clear and so PERFECT. Gilt's line. Moist's line. Gilt's line. Moist's line. Beat. (just long enough to built up tension so that–) Hand thrust forward (-looks for a split second like an attack). His timing is so specific, and so clear, just with text, I don't know how radio play directors (and, from what little I've seen of Hogfather, movie directors) can miss it. It adds so much!
Do not use stairs if burning.
Miss Dearheart caught a burning letter, lit her cigarette with it, and took a drag. 'No no, don't do it, you're being far too brave.' Femme fatale awesomeness at its most entertaining; oh the paradoxes and layers of emotional involvement in this scene.
Another exception for the 'downer' side of this list: Disney will never ever be able to make this into a movie or distribute it if someone else does because it's got smoking in it. Even though she may or may not quit by the end. Whether or not Disney would be the right choice for such a project is another argument; suffice it to say they have lots of great artists I wouldn't mind putting on it. :D And that morsel of hubris buys me seven more years in TV...
Moist goes into the burning post office because he is consciously trying to stay in character, while we know his actual character would absolutely not do it. But he has no choice. In fact the very fact that he thinks he has no choice demonstrates a little further progression in his character arc because at the beginning of the book he would certainly not have risked life and limb for a persona. It's not a complete reversal, though, that would be too drastic for credibility at this point; he goes in to stay in character, not because it is the right thing to do.
Moist's epiphany that this post office thing had been fun ...
... and then his fascination at thinking that thought ...
... and then his horror at the realization that he'd 'lost "it"'.
And the good thing about a stake through the heart was that it also worked on non-vampires.
The search for Tiddles is another scene where Moist's thoughts race away in horror, to the empathetic point where he realizes that however hard you try to look behind you, there's a behind you, behind you, where you aren't looking and backs his way along the wall.
My love for the Moist vs Gryle scene can only be adequately expressed with a storyboard. (Un?)Fortunately I have two other boards from this book that I want to finish first.
The asterisks in this scene – I love them but am annoyed by them as well because they feel, to me, to be the sort of fade-out-and-in that signifies where a commercial break would have been when you watch a TV show on DVD. It'd be just the right place for one, too.
If he were a hero, he would have taken the opportunity to say 'That's what I call sorted!' Since he wasn't a hero, he threw up.
The Waltz (after Moist gets his idea for how to rebuild the post office and is on a high) ... this usually takes me completely by surprise and the giddiness after such an intense episode makes me float all day, but that didn't happen this time. I think it's because I read the whole fire bit in extremely small portions so I never properly got into it, and I'd also skimmed this chapter beforehand for a commission so I knew when what was coming. Alas. Next time, perhaps! Also, if I were making this into a movie, I would set this scene not in the darkness of the wee hours but in the muted cold grey light of just barely pre-dawn because that would contrast very well, visually and emotionally, with the fire of the previous scene. It might possibly allow for a glint of early sunlight to hit the golden hat in a visual approximation of Moist's sudden insight, a sort of subtler take on the lightbulb gag. We can't film brain cells, as my screenwriting teacher used to say.
And I have half again as many notes to transcribe for the rest of the book ... Goodness me.
<< Part 1 - Part 3 >>
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no subject
Date: 2007-10-09 12:06 pm (UTC)'Yes, I think so.'
'Good. Shall we go?'
(incidentally, this is the second time the sentence 'Yes, I think so' has made me all giddy with book-glee; the first was in response to Sirius saying 'Shall we kill him together?')
Moist and Remus in the same post. *dreamy sigh*
I've always loved the waltz, it's such a... poetic moment, almost. To dance in a moment of adversary. Would make a ending to a movie-scene, really. They would dance and the camera would zoom out until the burning postoffice is just a tiny bit in the huge city and you could see the sunlight roll in in the distance. (Why yes I do have a mental movie going on when I read.)