LOOK BOOK FOR “RED RIDERS”

TITLE

“The Red Riders”

James Terault

1880’s cowboy gritty spaghetti western. Feelings and emotions from a past of sand and death.

A bounty hunter, Euan Murray, is on a blood soaked campaign of revenge against “Red” Jackson and his notorious gang, “The Red Riders”, who have killed his family and burned his home, and just so happen to be in possession of one million dollars.

FRAMING

COLORS/LIGHTING

This is a promotional poster for “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly” over in Italy.

From Sergio Leone’s “Once Upon a Time in the West”, this scene takes place as Frank interrogates “Harmonica” (the amazing Charles Bronson) and we are shown scenes of Harmonica’s past. The lighting in the eyes is one of Sergio Leone’s favorite tools to use to showcase a characters strong emotions.

From the scene of Clint Eastwood’s “The Outlaw Josey Wales”, Josey Wales witnesses a scene of depravity before him, with two men assaulting a Native American woman before dispatching of the men himself. This scene uses lighting to interpret Josey as this bright light of a saving grace to the dark, musty cabin he is entering.

In the final gunfight of “Once Upon a Time in the West”, the use of shadows (like from Charles Bronson’s hat) shows an uncertainty in the conclusion of the fight and a conflict in emotions.

This is a German promotional poster for Sergio Leone’s “Once Upon a Time in the West”. It feels bigger than life, as the smoke rises from the train into the sky to shade our main characters in a cloud of black uncertainty.

The idea for the color, feel, lighting, and look for my screenplay is dark, gritty, and bloody. I want to use shadows to shows emotions from my characters. Brown, beige, black, and dark colors contrasted against grays and whites for that authentic Spaghetti Western feel, and to distinguish each character’s motives. I want to use the sights and sounds you’d hear in an old west town to invoke that feeling of being in the past.

LOCATIONS

This is a Union prisoner camp that is shown in “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly”. This scene shows brutality on another level that prisoners of war sometimes experienced at the time.

This is the cemetery from “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly”, in which our 3 main characters have their final duel. It is such a harrowing and beautiful scene, with hundreds of dead soldiers surrounding the three, indicating that there will be death here. The scenery itself is also just beautiful.

This scene from “Once Upon a Time in the West” shows the construction of the American Railway through the untamed west. It’s a beautiful mosaic of a last scene as the camera moves far above the ground, showing the vastness of the desert and the work of all the railroad workers. I want to be able to replicate this feeling of large scenes of desert.

This is a picture from a video game, “Red Dead Redemption 2”, and it is considered one of the most beautiful looking old west games made, and those who say this are not wrong. From this image alone, the vastness of the world and the natural beauty the wilderness can share to people is something I want to capture. I want to encapsulate my audience in this wild, untamed land that is the Old west.

I want to create that authentic Spaghetti western setting, with the different terrains and the open rolling dunes, forested mountains, shoddily built towns, and the race to tame the Old West. The setting only adds more to the plot, as in “Once Upon a Time in the West,” the plot revolves around the setting changing, as the railway starts to take over the Old West and tame it. Having a setting that affects the plot is very important in a Western, because it is the setting that makes a Western a Western. I want to have the taming of the west affect my character’s journey to get his revenge.

INSPIRATIONS

Movie 1: “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly” By Sergio Leone

A close up of Blondie from “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly”, near the finale of the movie. It shows great emotion in one shot, with his cool demeanor reflected on the other two, Angle Eyes and Tuco, both with their fear determined expressions. Anytime I want to zoom in on Euan to take a greater look into his psychological state, I would want it to look something like this XCU.

This “frame within a frame” from the same movie is a powerful motif, as the noose has become synonymous with the character of Tuco. It excels at expressing his way of life, the fact that he is stuck as an outlaw, always destined to be searching for that next big hit till the day he dies. I want to use this powerful imagery to showcase different ideas, like perhaps expressing an idea of the pointlessness of war and death.

This open mosaic comes from a scene in the movie where the three main characters have all met up in a Union slave camp. Angle Eyes has somehow become a captain here, while Blondie and Tuco are both prisoners of a war they didn’t even join. I want to use this rustic style of architecture that Leone loves to portray in all of his movies as a way to build my setting perfectly, from the Old West towns to the Mexican compounds to the under-construction railways.

A shot from before the final duel, it showcases both the morbid morality of all the characters involved, fighting to the death in a grave yard of the fallen brave men of the Civil War, and also their standings in the strange trio they have created. By using strong visual elements, choreography and camera positions, I want to recreate a feeling like this, in which one shot can convey so much about a group of characters, or a place or a situation.

Another Sergio Leone classic, “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly” showcases everything a good western should be about. It has the classic duels with a new twist, it’s got crime galore, and it even has the backdrop of the America Civil war. The way in which Sergio romanticizes the old west with glorious wide shots of the world around his characters allows us to feel the freedom of the world, as our main characters ride across the scene on their horses. In this way, I want my movie to capture that same feeling of freedom, of large stretches of untamed wilds, to fill my audience with a sense of wonder at the world as it once was. The savagery, the solitary life style, and yet the community that births from it.

Movie 2: “Once Upon a Time in the West” By Sergio Leone

In “Once Upon a Time in the West”, it tells a tale of drama and intrigue, as layers of the story are slowly unveiled as the story progresses, such as how the main character, Cheyenne, actually has been out for revenge against the main antagonist, Frank, for far longer than the film shows. This movie details a true looking old west that’s more factual than most other westerns, show casing a harsh world, high stakes, and characters with real motives and aspirations. I want to replicate how Sergio Leone creates such a convincing old west setting and the way he builds tension, which through the “Dollars Trilogy”, is shown to be one of his greatest strengths.

Movie 3: “The Thing (1982) John Carpenter

A bit off from the others on this list, “The Thing” tells the story of a US science crew in Antartica suddenly finding themselves face-to-face with an alien with the ability to imitate life. Now while my story may not benefit from this horror style of movie, I more so draw inspiration from the characters and tension building techniques this movie utilizes. The in depth characterization of each crew member adds so much to the movie, rather than making them just flat states. Each of them has their own personality, their own goals and lives they lead, allowing the audience to really connect with them, and feel for them when the tension gets real. I was to use the feeling of real people that this movie creates with mine in order to move my audience with convincing characters that they can relate to.

CHARACTERS

Character #1: Euan Murray

The righteous, unbothered, and mysterious “Man With no Name” from the “Dollars Trilogy” is one of my greatest inspirations for my main character. His cool, calm demeanor and the way he dresses in a practical way and yet hiding most of his features with his famous poncho adding a sense of mystery. This image in particular comes from later in the final movie, “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly”.

Character #2: Jeffrey

Colonel Mortimer from “For a Few Dollars More” is posh, upright, and determined. I want Jeffrey to share these qualities, always holding himself to a higher degree than others and always thinking 5 steps ahead of everyone else. He always has a secret plan in his mind. I want to replicate the black, sleek design of Mortimer’s clothing along with his clean nature for Jeffrey.

Character #3: Leroy “Red” Jackson

Ramon from “Fistful of Dollars” is a rugged, ruthless gang leader of the Rojo brothers in the town of San Miguel. His clothing is perfect for Jeffrey, to show his tired, ruthless demeanor.

John H. Mallory from “Fistful of Dynamite” (A.K.A, “Duck, You Sucker!”) is a man of intrigue and rebellious nature, considering the whole movie takes place around the Mexican Civil war. I want Jackson to also have these traits, to want freedom for his people, and having regrets of a dark, deadly past.

Character #4: Cairo Inglasia

Tuco from “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly” is a self serving slob of a man with a regrettable past and abhorrent lifestyle of death, thievery, and numerous other crimes. In this way, Cairo will embody this kind of character, only truly thinking of himself, not caring for others despite what his words may indicate, though he has soft spots for family matters, and can be truly emotional. His clothing style also screams sloth and indulgence, with one scene where he dress up as a Confederate major as sloppily as possible. There’s also scenes where Tuco will change sides on a matter the second it becomes convenient for him.

I want my characters to have clothing that resembles their nature as people, how they see others and how others see them. They resemble their social standing and class as well as the skills they possess. They also resemble their past and how they became the people they are today. Not only that, just based on appearance alone, I want them to have certain auras about them, like how Cairo will be a greedy man, and can be seen to share these qualities based solely on his appearance.

MUSIC

This is Ennio Morricone’s “The Trio”, which is also played in “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.”

This is Ennio Morricone’s (I know, shocking) “Once Upon a Time in the West (Finale)”, which takes place as the camera rises into the sky high and shows a beautiful scene of desert in the last few scenes of “Once Upon a Time in the West.”

What I hope to achieve with the music in my film is for one, the authentic Spaghetti Western twangy guitar and the harmonica and the banjo and all the other stereotypical sounds you’d hear, but I want to add back that big band orchestral feel as well from these older movies. I want to give people goosebumps as they watch the movie, I want to move my audience near to tears with just the music alone. I want the music to embody the scene and the feelings of the characters and to display them upon the audience in a audial style without having to visually show them.