Subject: Just the facts, ma'am From: buzzard@eng.umd.edu (Sean Barrett) Date: 1991-06-14, 01:36 Newsgroups: alt.tv.twin-peaks Well, we've heard enough theories to last a life-time. Herein I'll give a more detailed "script" of the black lodge sequence, with just a few comments here and there. Anyway, much of this is impossible to make coherent (the maps, that is). I attribute the "errors" not to continuity problems but just to the fact that Lynch doesn't care--not that the black lodge is in the mind, or dreamlike, but just that Lynch didn't bother to spend time making it topological; not for symbolic reasons, but just because he doesn't care. I've long held Lynch as a director who does weird things for their own sake, not for symbolic reasons. But that is my prejudice. Before I do the black lodge sequence, here's two other bits. Ben and Donna's mother waiting downstairs, words fly; BH:Donna, it isn't your parents fault, it's mine. D:My parents? Who are my parents anyway?! BH:I only wanted to do good. I wanted to be good. And it felt so good to tell the truth. After all these years. {It seems to me that this *is* BH confirming it; he says, 'it *felt* so good', past tense, as if he has told Donna the truth, that is, she's right, and he hasn't denied it.} At the bank (this actually happens after the beginning black lodge stuff) Thomas Eckhart is not wearing glasses, nor visibly carrying any. The glasses that go flying are not his; if they were, Lynch would have at least shown them somewhere during the sequence. Nobody has commented on the joke on Audrey; she didn't chain the bank door shut, which would normally be the whole point of this sort of disobedience (disrupt the normal flow of things). The vault looks like this: ====== - Audrey - ====== / XX / path taken by Dell et al XX / ! / !XX____/ !XX / ! /XX ! /XX ! ! !\!/ +---------------------------------- Audrey watches them walk back, then closes the door again mostly. When Dell is called back out, Andrew quickly opens the door; Dell couldn't have gotten much further than where Audrey is. We get a shot of the inside of the box: the note says, Got you, Andrew Love, Thomas We get a reaction shot of Andrew and Pete (Andrew scared, Pete puzzled), then a shot of an explosion in the box, coming outwards; reaction shot of Andrew & Pete brightly lit fade to white; outside the bank, two windows and the door blow out with a lot of smoke, but the near window frame is relatively intact afterwards; Dell's glasses fly through the air. The Black Lodge sequence. Speech is indicated with the character's initials at the left. Actions occur tabbed in one; camera directions are tabbed in two, although only some are provided; descriptions are also tabbed in two. My comments appear in { } for "factual" comments, {( )} for subjective comments. cast: DC: Dale Cooper LM: LMFAP, Little Man From Another Place LP: Laura Palmer G: Giant M: Maddy C: Caroline A: Annie WE: Windom Earle Coop leans over shining flashlight on "puddle". DC: An opening to a gateway. {( Sounds like *he* thought it was oil. )} Coop walks through the curtain, still caryying flashlight. Looking down a red-curtained hallway, with a statue of Venus at the far end. Floor has a red & white striped zigzag pattern, running left and right. Coop emerges near left, no longer carrying flashlight. Coop walks down hallway, exits far right. Looking across a square room: +----------------E--+ where coop first enters ! ! ! o++ ! small table, "coop's chair" ! o ! lamp ! ] ! LMFAP's chair ! ]s ! other chair, statue ! o ! lamp ! ! ! ! +--D----------------+ Zigzag pattern across floor "vertically" (in this diagram), consistent with hallway. Coop emerges from "E". Lights out, strobe light; floor looks black & white in the strobe. LMFAP comes out in close shot from D (although you can't tell that), {Notice how curtains fall behind him instead of being pushed out in front} with spotlight shining on him; as he dances forward, lights come back up but strobe remains on. Coop reaction shot, back to downward shot on LMFAP. LMFAP dances across room by someone (turns out to be lounge singer) wearing black pants. LMFAP looks at Coop, then sits. LMFAP turns to look at singer. Singer sings with poor lip-synching (although it doesn't appear to be backwards). LMFAP looks at Coop during lines "I'll see you in the trees." At end of song, curtains behind singer are backlit. Singer fades out. [commercial break] [various stuff; bank scene; RR Diner scene] SP {own voice + slowed voice}: I'm in the Black Lodge with Agent Cooper. Camera moves down curtained corridor, no statue at end. someone: I'm waiting for you. [Too low pitch for LMFAP, but not BOB either] [commercial break] Coop has taken his seat. LM: When you see me again, it won't be me. LMFAP gets up, rubs foot on floor as if to kill insect or put out a cigarette; sits back down. {(I think this is just one of many 'this looks neat backwards' things)} LM: This is the waiting room. LM smiles. LM: Would you like some coffee? LM smiles, then grins mischeviously. LM: Some of your friends are here. {Very badly pronounced; sounds like 'a rear' not 'are here'} Cooper's eyes follow someone walk across the room as we hear heels walk across. Laura Palmer sits next to LMFAP, but sitting on edge of seat facing Cooper. LMFAP turns to face LP. Close-up on LP; her eyes are clear. LP: Hello, agent Cooper. LP winks backwards. LP holds out hand, then snaps backwards. {(Another 'neat backwards' thing or two.)} LP: I'll see you again in 25 years. Meanwhile. LP "strikes a pose". Change of camera angle; LP is gone. Cooper looks at LMFAP, then away, then back, then away: SDC is sitting next to LMFAP, holding coffee cup. LMFAP gets a surprised look while looking at Cooper's face. SDC: Wooh! woo-woo-woo-woo ("indian" whooping noise). LMFAP turns to look at SDC. Hallelujah. [to LMFAP] LM: Hallelujah. [to SDC] SDC struggles out of chair, and walks slowly to Cooper: SDC: Coffee. Coffee. Coffee. Coffee. Coffee. Coffee. Cooper looks down in direction of cup, then back. Giant stands stiff and straight where SDC had just been. Giant walks back over to chair and sits down. Camera has both LMFAP and Giant in frame; each of their heads are equally left-of-center and right-of-center respectively, and the Giant's head is as near the top of the screen as the LMFAP's is near the bottom; that is, they are nearly equals while showing their vast difference. G: One and the same. [Sounds more like 'tha' then 'the'] Reaction shot of Cooper, then the Giant is gone. LMFAP rubs hand, looks odd backwards (counter-clockwise). Cooper plays with gooey coffee. At end, LMFAP begins talking; camera cuts to him a third of the way through speech: LM: Wow, Bob, wow. Fire walk with me. Shot of billowing fire. Beginning of a backwards LP scream. Lights out, strobe on. Cooper looks around, apparently seeing nothing out of ordinary, gets up. In new angle, we see LMFAP has disappeared. Cooper walks in direction LMFAP came in, *not* in the direction he came in. Back to a hall, Cooper walking same direction as last time; no strobe lighting. (All scene changes are to normal lit scenes unless otherwise indicated). +-----------------------------+ !S ^----------------------v ! <--camera +-----------------------------+ Cooper enters on the right of this diagram, and walks to the left. Cooper parts curtain, and looks in. He sees an identical room, from the point of view of 'E' (exactly the same as where he came in to the first room). Cooper retraces his steps in the hallway from the same camera angle. Cooper enters "first" room (no strobe) from D (where he had left). LMFAP is back in his seat. LM: [pointing at Coop?] Wrong way. Cooper leaves again, we see him walk right-to-left again from same camera angle. Reenters "second" room, but now he's at position D in it. LMFAP laughs. Cooper reaction shot. LMFAP walks to chair, sits, laughing whole time. LM: Another friend. LMFAP gets back up, walks behind chair, while we see a female silhouette walking across, on original diagram would be above the top, walking left-to-right, to emerge at E. As Maddy emerges at E, LMFAP hides behind chair. Maddy is wearing the same dress that Laura was. {Maddy pulls the curtain closed behind her. Imagine it backwards.} Can't see Maddy's eyes close enough. M: I'm Maddy. Watch out for my cousin. {(There seems to be no reason to interpret "cousin" other than literally, considering who appears next.)} Cooper turns to walk away; Maddy fades out; Cooper looks back over his shoulder. Cooper walks back down the hallway left-to-right, same camera angle, the statue still there, and goes through the curtain. The room is now empty but the curtains are back-lit. Cooper enters, walks into the middle of the room, looks down to his left. LM: Doppelganger. {The LMFAP is oriented wrong relative to where Cooper is, the direction Cooper looked, and the floor diagonal tiling.} Cooper looks 45 degrees to his left (roughly towards E). Laura Palmer, now with glowing light blue eyes, is striking the same pose. LP: Meanwhile... Spotlight on Laura, lights fade, strobes come on. Laura screams backwards. Camera jumps back to show Laura on a "two-way" chair. Laura screams twice while backing up over the chair. Laura screams as she charges the camera (and Cooper). A flash of Windom Earle, orange-or-natural lit as opposed to the white spotlight. Cooper turns and runs out. Laura screams again. Hallway, same camera angle. Cooper walks "right-to-left" again (to room "2"). Cooper enters room, but we never see it; partway in, he looks down, sees blood on his hands and chest; he moves, and we see a trail of blood from where he came in. Cooper turns around and stumbles out. Cooper walks slowly against the curtains to his left down the hall. The camera starts close up, on the right in the diagram; there is no longer any statue. Partway down, it switches to behind Cooper. As he's just about to enter, it switches back to the original position for a closup. Cooper enters, closeup on him. DC: Caroline Caroline and Cooper are lying on the floor, bloody. Reaction shot of Cooper. Annie and Cooper are lying on the floor, bloody, Annie wearing Caroline's dress. DC: Annie [whispered] Annie! Annie sits up, looks around blindly. DC: Annie Lights out, strobe on, empty floor {The floor even looks red & white with the strobe on this time.} DC: Annie? [whispered, like in 'where are you?'] Hallway, camera slowly moving down the hallway, noone in shot. (And no statue) We hear footsteps as we go. DC: Annie? Annie? [whispered] From inside, we see Cooper's shadow walk up to entrance. Cooper enters. Looks around the room, apparently seeing nothing. Closeup of Annie, wearing pageant dress, normal eyes. A: Dale. I saw the face of the man who killed me. Shot of Cooper. DC: Annie? [whispered] Cooper shakes his head. DC: The face of the man who killed you? Side view; Cooper has his left hand on Annie's right arm. A: It was my husband. DC: Annie? [whispered] A: Who's Annie? Cooper reaction shot. C: [out of shot] It's me. Shot of Caroline, over the shoulder. C: It's me. It's me. DC: Caroline. Side view, Annie in Caroline's dress. A: You must be mistaken. I'm alive. Annie reaches her left hand up to touch Cooper's face. Cooper does a triple take. Over Cooper's shoulder shot of glazed-eye Laura. Laura screams. After she stops, Cooper jolts, a little late. And now it's Windom Earle. WE stares at Cooper, then smiles. WE: Dale Cooper. Shot of a curtain. Annie fades in wearing the pageant dress. Jump back to a shot of Annie in the middle, back to the curtain, while in the middle of the room WE frames her on the left, Cooper on the right. WE and Cooper turn to look at Annie. Close-up on Annie, and her pleading, doe-like eyes. Annie fades out. Back to same side view of WE and Cooper. WE turns to Cooper and laughs. {WE's laugh is "double-backwards"; it sounds almost like a normal laugh.} WE: If you give me your soul, I'll let Annie live. DC: [slowly] I will. Over Cooper's shoulder of gleeful, then purposeful WE. Back to side view. WE swings a knife up into Cooper, who is pulled forward by the blow, and then falls backwards, out of shot. {(leaving WE holding the knife far to vertically for my tastes.)} Billowing flame is crossfaded with the image, and then the sequence repeats backwards: Cooper comes up from the floor onto the knife, leans backwards as WE pulls it out of him then they both "relax". Lights out, strobe comes on. We see Bob is grabbing WE by the back of the neck. Bob laughs grossly backwards. WE begins a long drawn-out scream. BOB: Be quiet. WE ends his scream. BOB: Be quiet. Bob laughs strangely backwards, turns to Cooper. BOB: You go. He is wrong. He can't ask you for your soul. I will take his. WE screams. Cooper reaction. Shot of WE and Bob. Bob pulls his hand up away from WE. A column of flame "bursts" "upwards" from WE's head, then is sucked down into it, followed by a reverse explosion into it, followed by Bob grabbing his neck again. WE is no longer moving at all; his head is bent down. Cooper turns around and leaves, we see his silhouette disappear as Bob laughs. On the other side, we see a hunched-over figure's silhouette coming along to the other entrance; as the person emerges he spins around in the curtains for a bit, and then hurries up to Bob. It is a glazed-eyes Cooper, and he laughs with Bob. In the hallway, the camera is now at the "left" end on the diagram, and Cooper emerges from the near end and walks towards the far end, but stops part way when Leland (with normal hair) emerges from the middle of the curtain on Cooper's left. Close-up of Leland with glazed-over eyes. L: I did not kill anybody. Cooper walks past Leland, who walks up close to him as he goes by. {(As if in "reverse" Leland was getting out of Cooper's way.)} Cooper pauses as he's about to go through, turns back and sees Cooper-2 stick his head out from the end near the camera. Camera is now at the other end, close to Cooper. Leland is looking at Cooper, smiling, and at the other end is the Cooper-2. Cooper goes through the curtain. Leland turns to Cooper-2 frowning. Cooper-2 walks up to Leland, smiling. Leland begins laughing. Cooper-2 grins and walks up to the curtain, turns partway to the camera. Cooper-2 seems not to have glazed eyes, possibly because they could only afford one set, or they forgot to process it, or however they did it. Cooper-2 goes through curtain. Cooper traverses this path, hurriedly: (c = camera) +--^------------+ ! .....<.... c! +------------.--+ ! . c! ! .! <-- this room is strobe-lit !.! this room is empty ! .! this room has zig-zags going the wrong way ! .! +--.------------+ c ....<.....! +------------.--+ cooper Cooper-2 runs through the strobe-lit room from the same camera angle, although half way across the camera switches to behind him--except, wait, this room has the zig-zags going the right way again. Cooper runs down a corridor with the camera behind him (same shot as last corridor shot), but halfway down Cooper-2 appears behind him. Cooper runs through the curtain with Cooper-2 in hot pursuit. Shot of original waiting room, roughly from D; Cooper is immediately in front of us, having entered at D. Cooper pauses to look back, then runs across room to E (going in front of his chair); meanwhile, Cooper-2 runs behind him, catching him right at E. It seems there is a scuffle, but just as Cooper-2 catches Cooper the lights go out, strobes come one, and a moment later Bob sticks his face, laughing, into the camera. Glastonberry grove, curtains, spotlight... etc. buzzard @ eng.umd.edu Merriversity of Uniland, College Purgatory, MD 20742 I was objectdestroy()ed by bob on ubermud and all I got was this lousy .sig!