by Mister Jellyfish Mister » Fri Apr 01, 2011 6:55 am
Some more discussion on your thoughts...
[quote="1durphul"]So, I went and looked at the Georgie Boy art project and web page. I still think you've got some things to work out so that your art doesn't come across as bashing. (It still seems to be that the punchline is that he is gay.)
So, let me make a few suggestions on minor alterations:
1) pride. no former new york broadway gay would be caught dead in Reno. Make his current home Palm Springs, you don't have to change the motif, just the script. Your current motif works fine for Palm Springs. If you keep him in Reno have that be another wound, he knows he should be in Palm Springs.
>> We may not need to specify the town at all. The newest idea is that he made the mistake of touring "off Broadway" and got abandoned somehow. That way, it's open to interpretation weather he is in a different town or actually in Black Rock City and could not care less just because it's not New York which he still considers home.
2) faux-luxury. The interior shouldn't have any white walls. Make it lush with burgundy wall paper, and red satiny drapes/fabrics.
>> While touring off Broadway, he insisted on traveling with trunks full of his "pretty things" and we are already having a blast at thrift stores etc. gathering. Our seamstresses, Lightnin' and Posha are bringing in deep reds, royal blues and plenty of gold.
3) vice. Trade the brandy for a martini. Since he is older, it should be a plain martini, not a fruity one.
>> Gotta go with brandy as it sounds better in the song I wrote for him, plus I could only find a "un-spillable" brandy snifter and I love how it looks in his hand. There's also a nod to Jack Lemon's performance as Prince Hapnick in The Great Race as a certain lovely trucker's wife observed here.
4) vanity. i'd also suggest a backstage mirror (the kind with lights the whole way around) and have him alternate between talking to himself in the mirror, and talking to the dog. This might not work with the couch, a hand mirror could work. Martini in one hand, hand mirror in the other...
>>Indeed. We talked about the kind you are suggesting and it's tricky. Have to make sure it does not reflect back the stage lights to blind people or distract the eye from the things we are using the stage lights to point out during the interaction.
5) regret. Rent/torrent/stream "Paris is Burning" and pay special attention to the guy in the film putting on his makeup and talking to the camera about the early days of the balls. I think that is the type of feel in a character you should be aiming for. An old has been, or never was, who can't let go of something that he once loved.
>> Yes! You nailed it! It's the greasepaint, the stage, the applause. Can't find a video on line for that. I'll rent the movie and suffer through it.
6) love. The character should love something, whether it be his broadway past, or the dog, or the martini, he should truly love it. It doesn't have to make sense, it just has to be genuine.
>> You really got me thinking here. Reminds me of Hannibal Lector's inquiry "What does he covet?".
Much gratitude, 1dur.