#heeeeeeeeeeres johnny

[hclfblccdarchive]

➰ ( CHRIS WOOD, CISMALE, HE/HIM) *✧.:°░｡ —- is that LUCA COLLINSWORTH?! you know them, right? they are the TWENTY FOUR year old HALF SEELIE SHADOWHUNTER !! they’re known for being CHARISMATIC & STEADFAST - but i’d be careful if i were you because they’re also IMPETUOUS & RETICENT.

hey look at that it’s me eLLE BACK AT IT AGAIN WITH ANOTHER DUMBASS CHARACTER. ok so here goes here’s a summary of this dumb dumb. 

LA born & raised, his mama was a seelie, his papa was from a pretty well to do shadowhunter family. so, them being together was a bit of a scandal and it’s kinda fallen to the kids to prove that a “half blood” can still be awesome ?? they’ve definitely faced some resentment, judgment, people being shitty towards them all their lives, just sayin. 

luca is the eldest brother. he has a sister, middle sibling, that he has just learned is actually his half sister. she is the product of his father having an affair with a mundane. his mother killed the mundane woman when she found out and left his father, his father brought his daughter to be raised with his sons believing they were full siblings. they have a younger brother but he and his brother are full siblings. he has just learned that his father had another affair with a shadowhunter and that he has another half sibling, though he doesn't know who they are yet. hint hint, it's elena brooks.

he is the golden boy, the big brother so he’s always gotta be the boss. he can be a bit of a douchebag to his siblings tbh, they’re competitive as heck ?? always challenging each other on shit ?? but also don’t u dare fuck with them bc he wil end you. only he gets to mess with his baby sibs ok ??

he’s got a bit of a hero complex like runs straight into the line of fire without thinking because I’M HERE TO SAVE THE DAY and it will probabLY GET HIM KILLED ?? someday. silly boy. 

he has been bffs with tessa since they were kids, they’ve grown up together and she’s literally his other half. if anYONE knows him the best, it’s her. so they became parabatai and now they’re literally bonded for life?? he lowkey, highkey, has the feels. he's realised his feelings and they terrify him because it could get them both killed or de-runed so he's being a bit of a shit and avoiding her in order to protect her.

he's had a lot of relationships but they've never really lasted a) because he's a fuckboi or b) because like anna calanoc they realised he was in love with Tessa.

he’s pretty easy to be friends with ?? but a little arrogant bc he kinda feels he needs to be ?? act like you think you’re the shit, maybe you will become the shit. but he’s actually a goofball underneath like lets nerd out together pls

drINKING BUDDIES bc lbh he’s such a bro; like if he were in college he’d probs be a frat boy whaT CAN I SAY

relationship with downworlders ?? actually not that fussed either way. he sleeps with a lot of them so can’t really be judgy and he’s half seelie. but like hasn’t really explored that side of himself bc felt like he had too much to prove on the shadowhunter side. but i feel like that could be fun, finding out if there’s any residual fae perks. 

this whole bond thing has fuCKED WITH HIM GREATLY. it’s one thing to be parabatai with tessa but having a stranger be tethered to him in this way is so uncool. he’s acting like he’s really chill abt it but he is freaking out and has no chill. like he is reCKLESS a lot of the time and he feels bad about that with tessa but he’s also like, she knows what she signed up to ?? but now that they’ve learned that your partner will actually die if you do, like wow that’s hella guilt.

he's currently (although no one is aware of it yet) under the influence of a spell. it is making him act generally like a class a douchebag, but particularly towards downworlders, he is cruel and progressively violent.

[a-misunderstanding-my-love]

OOC

//Damnit, y’all--I can log in to Lestat and Nicki but not Gabrielle b/c that email is not longer in existence and tumblr is trying to force me to get a new pw via email for that one. 

That was my first RP blog! I am so heartbroken. 

Oh, and yeah--I’m back, assholes. 

[themultiplatformgamers]

Heeeeeeeeeere's Johnny!

[dgcatanisiri]

Droid in the foreground: Heeeeeeeeeere’s Johnny!

Droid in the background: Maker-dammit, Dave, that reference doesn’t even make sense in this universe...

Droid in the foreground: You never let me have any fun.

[justxcomthings]

[image source]

JXT: Heeeeeeeeeere’s Johnny! 

[mehlsbells]

Introducing characters is an art form. I’ve been working on a TV pilot and while we’ve had the plot arcs nailed for months, making sure we get the characters across economically while being interesting and not too expository and using action while fitting them seamlessly into the plot and explaining how they relate to other characters without having them say something like “Oh hello there, my boyfriend!” etc . . . is not easy.

In film, you have a very small window. If your story isn’t about the character discovering themselves (Jason Bourne, Orlando) or if the character isn’t an established icon (James Bond, Elle Woods), you need to introduce them not just in a short span of time, but while keeping it interesting and establishing what this character is like for the audience.

As many ways exist as characters.

You can introduce them with assets other than their face:

  You can do it with animation and title sequences:

You can do it with epic entrances, you can be cheeky about hiding their face in shadows or under cowls like Aragorn in Lord of the Rings, you can have other characters hype them and then subvert it by introducing someone completely unlike the description, you can have them introduce themselves, you can do it via one of the greatest montages. Here’s a video essay of several ways.

And you can do it like Johnny Guitar, which is what we’re going to break down today.

The whole intro is in the top video. This slideshow breaks down the first several shots discussed below in #s 1 and 2.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

  1. The Situation: Standoff

The film’s opening 10 minutes have shown us Johnny Guitar (Sterling Haden) and given us a quick rundown of the history between the lead character Vienna (Joan Crawford) and the mob members. Vienna has given a 5-minute diatribe but Johnny has only ordered a drink, so we know their respective communicative styles. Then a group of four led by the Dancin’ Kid stumble through the saloon doors, and everything gets tense.

The shots show us the respective groups; tense, with the youngest gunslinger’s slightly trembling hand hanging over his gun, the groups staring at each other but grouped in seperate shots. Each cut goes back and forth from the sides of the room, and thus the direction the characters are staring: left, right, left, right.

  2. Heeeeeeeeeere’s Johnny

In a medium wide, as Vienna glares, a background character coughs and turns towards the bar. The edit cuts on his turn (this whole film cuts on the action or on the blink very well) to a medium shot of him theatrically pouring and slugging a shot of whiskey, then putting the glass down on the bar.

The glass rolls, we get a somewhat humorous wide-eyed stare of panic from a posse member (not the last time the film will use a character in such a way), and then the glass rolls towards the edge, closer and closer until . . .

Look at everything this shot accomplishes:

– A great little dolly-and-pan to go from closeup of glass to medium of character’s face.

– It brings into the scene a character who until now was sitting quietly minding his own business as the rest of the characters faced off.

– It shows he has quick hands (we don’t know it yet, because he doesn’t even carry a gun, but he’s a quick draw and quicker shot).

– He does it all without spilling a drop of coffee.

Then he literally steps between the two groups.

  3. Cutting the Tension

He sizes up the situation.

Asks one dangerous man for a cigarette.

Asks another for a light. (And if you don’t think that’s sexual . . . !)

Waxes rhapsodic about coffee and smokes.

Gives us his name. “Johnny Guitar.”

Then when scoffed at, coolly delivers a line which is technically a question but definitely a challenge: “Anybody care to change it?”

Besides looking good and generating tension of all sorts, what has this scene accomplished? It’s set two groups against each other for the rest of the film, and put a mysterious out-of-towner in the middle, where he’ll stay for the rest of the film. It’s told us his name, but more importantly who he is: a man not afraid, who’d rather defuse a situation but is confident in his ability to use brute force if he has to. A man with quick hands and a quick wit, who likes the little pleasures in life. Despite his words, his eyes tell us he loves whiskey and women. And we’re convinced he can handle all comers.

A perfect character introduction; expedient, effective, and elegant.

  #SceneStudy: Johnny Guitar. Now THIS is how you introduce a character. Introducing characters is an art form. I've been working on a TV pilot and while we've had the plot arcs nailed for months, making sure we get the characters across economically while being interesting and not too expository and using action while fitting them seamlessly into the plot and explaining how they relate to other characters without having them say something like "Oh hello there, my boyfriend!" etc .