To any Sergio Leone/Good, the Bad, and the Ugly fans, need help

[Scarface98.9]

For a film production class I'm in, the current assignment is to make a music video. It can be about anything, within reason. We were shown a lot of Michel Gondry/Spike Jonze videos, subconsciously making everyone think their movies should be just like those, and considering the number of amateurs in the class, it's gonna lead to a clusterfuck.

I've decided to go the opposite route. I'm going to take a piece of music from the score of Once Upon a Time in the West, from Ennio Morricone, and parody/homage the style of Sergio Leone. The main "story" of the music video is 2 guys playing a game of War, a card game that literally never ends. I have a few ideas, but I don't think they're going to fill the length of the song, even when edited.

So my question is: For fans of Leone, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, and other movies by him, what are some of the essential parts of his style to parody and incorporate into the scene, and if you have any ideas that could make the scene more interesting, let me know.

[HeavyFknMetal]

Closeups of the eyes, that is essential.

[Monotreme]

I'm no Sergio Leone expert, but I do find that what is common in his movies are the themes and the characters, and not necessarily the visual style. It may be difficult to parody him on such a small scale, although the idea certainly sounds interesting. Aside from close-ups of the eyes, Leone is also the master of the extreme long shot. Also don't forget the very dynamic use of the widescreen 2.35 : 1 aspect ratio he uses in his westerns - not wasting any room in the frame.

It interests me that you were shown Michel Gondry videos. If there is one music video director that no other human being will be able to even scrape the heels of what he can do, it's Michel Gondry. The man is a wizard. I swear, some of the stuff he does is just impossible, it's mind-boggling how the guy works. Jonze, on the other hand, has a very simple style. Good luck to your classmates if they think their video needs to be like Michel Gondry's...

[Scarface98.9]

Originally posted by Monotreme


It interests me that you were shown Michel Gondry videos. If there is one music video director that no other human being will be able to even scrape the heels of what he can do, it's Michel Gondry. The man is a wizard. I swear, some of the stuff he does is just impossible, it's mind-boggling how the guy works. Jonze, on the other hand, has a very simple style. Good luck to your classmates if they think their video needs to be like Michel Gondry's...

Yeah, that was the thing that got to me. Only a few people in the class have much film knowledge, and we were shown some of the best oens around. I know my strengths and weaknesses, and don't have the imagination or resources of Gondry. So doing the Leone parody is what I know I can do.

[JohnnyMo]

along with exreme closeups Leone liked using the foreground and background in one shot....in both aspects something was there to catch your eye..something was happening...also he liked to set the mood...just pulling you into what is about to happen..like at the end of the good teh bad and the ugly....the 3 main characters stand facing each other in the cemetary ready for a gun battle for 10 min....

[Nachokoolaid]

Extreme close-ups.

Have a VERY wide shot, and then have a zoom into a character or action. If it's a card game, have the "behind the gun" shot that is often used. Instead, have them draw a card instead of a gun. Have like a very long opening shot, uncut, leading up to the characters. (try to stage something like a newspaper blowing across a yard, or tumbleweed or soemthing, but the shot can't be multiple shots, just the one continued for a long time).

That's all I can think of.

[Nachokoolaid]

Also, when you zoom, tilt the camera. (think of the Good, Bad and Ugly) finale how the camera also tilts on a few of the zoom shots).

[Bonham]

Along with the eye closeup, I'd give a closeup of the hands too.

Maybe a long sweeping take of a bunch of people watching the game. It always seemed like the extras were part of the scenery.

Also, try to cast Eastwood......if you can.

[Tony_Montana]

Another thing he likes is dwelling on the trivial. Like in Once Upon A Time In America the bit with the boy eating icecream, and also the bit in Once Upon A Time In The West with that guy trying to catch a fly with his gun.
Actually come to think of it, he likes dwelling on stuff in general.

[Mr-Blonde]

I think that in his westerns, Sergio would often apply some kind of a filter to his camera that would slightly change the colors and brings out the purples and reds in sunsets and so on. Especially when he'd do beautiful panoramic shots of the landscape in the setting of his shots. Of course you will also need to edit your film to flow within the Ennio Morricone score in the same manner that Leone so effectively did.

[BiLLsPreStOn]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I think I remember that in Fistful of Dollars the camera goes to Ramon's perspective after he gets shot (as if you were looking through Ramon's eyes). The camera sways as he collapses.

Of couse, you should parody the dust blowing across the road as Clint walks into town for the final gun battle. Though that's a rip from Yojimbo...

An imitation of Clint tossing the corner of his poncho to the shoulder to reveal his gun might work as well.

Maybe one of the card players could enter the apartment wearing a wet rain poncho. He could toss on corner to the side to reveal the deck of card in his hands. The other player could be burning a pizza in the oven that's creating the smoke blowing across the poncho'ed character as he enters the apartment. Zoom in on the pocho'ed characters face and have him say "I think you pizza's done.'

The 'Mexican Standoff' is also a recognizable scene from the spaghetti westerns that has been copied by other films. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_standoff

[bigred760]

I was thinking:

-have three players - you can play War with three players

-have all three have facial hair like they do in TGTBATU

-set where they're playing in a desert, or somewhere like the movie's setting

-have the characters come in and sit down somewhat similar to in the movie

-as was already mentioned, eye shots watching the other players are essential, as is the extreme long shot (maybe tables of various lengths if you can find 'em)

[Scarface98.9]

I have a few more details since the last time I posted about the movie. One of the problems about the location and such is that it takes place in the backyard of a friend of mine, and that there's no real desert-y looking places around here. The few that are around are private property or have been too rained out. We also need outlets for various things. So some of my parody shots won't look nearly as epic since it's in a fairly enclosed backyard. As it is right now, I'm taking parts from Leone, and adding in some twists of mine. The outline is this:

The opening follows a guy (the hero) entering the house, with everyone backing away from him (wearing a poncho). He slowly sits down, facing "the villain". The game starts slow, and after each round, a ring girl comes by, holding up a sign saying what round it is (since War literally never ends, it's gonna have thousands of rounds eventually). Since the piece of music I wanna use only has about a minute of good material in it, I'm going to mix in a few other spaghetti western themes. The hero ends up winning a lot of rounds, and frustrates the villain. A montage will follow, and have the spectators become increasingly interested and have various Leone trademarks. I film it on Saturday

[Monotreme]

I don't think a desert is necessary. The poncho and the visual style will be enough to echo Leone's style. You don't also need to set it in an old wild western town in the desert. No worries, and good luck. Out of curiosity... do you storyboard? And if so, how many shots are you expecting?

[Scarface98.9]

Originally posted by Monotreme
I don't think a desert is necessary. The poncho and the visual style will be enough to echo Leone's style. You don't also need to set it in an old wild western town in the desert. No worries, and good luck. Out of curiosity... do you storyboard? And if so, how many shots are you expecting?

I do storyboard, though storyboarding this movie's really difficult since a lot of what I do will be changed around in editing, and I'm coming up with new ideas all the time. I'm not sure how many cuts I'll be expecting, though I know if Leone was directing the same scene, he wouldn't cut as much as I likely will.

Also, I forgot to mention: the rest of the story. After montages of the games, it gets down to the point of the hero having every card except the villain's last one. They draw one more time (after a direct lift from the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly) and the villain loses. The hero cheers and celebrates with his girl, then the villain quickdraws a gun and shoots him (complete with old fashioned fake gun sound). Everyone looks around in shock, he nervously walks away and the video ends

[Scarface98.9]

I filmed the movie today, and know I'll have to get some more shots on Tuesday, one of our pickup days. In all, it went pretty well, though will be hard to edit and watch at points since Sergio Leone, shot with dv cameras just doesn't have the same feel. There're some good shots, but was hard getting used to shooting for widescreen and getting the right angles. When the movie's done, I'll post it and get Schmoe opinions on it

[Tony_Montana]

Looking forward to it!

[Scarface98.9]

As a note, the movie will likely be online sometime next week. It's one of my favorite things of all the movies I've directed, so I hope all else feel the same way

[m_burlock]

It sounds as if it's too late to post this but anyway. Have your "hero"/protagonist/"Man With No Name" smoking one of those little and dark brown colored cigars(?). If I'm not mistaken Clint's character, the "man with no name", in each of Leone's films that Clint was in, his character always smoked such a cigar(?).

[Scarface98.9]

Originally posted by m_burlock
It sounds as if it's too late to post this but anyway. Have your "hero"/protagonist/"Man With No Name" smoking one of those little and dark brown colored cigars(?). If I'm not mistaken Clint's character, the "man with no name", in each of Leone's films that Clint was in, his character always smoked such a cigar(?).

Clint did smoke that little cigar, but I couldn't find any around here, and the cast weren't big on smoking anyways

[m_burlock]

Originally posted by Scarface98.9
Clint did smoke that little cigar, but I couldn't find any around here, and the cast weren't big on smoking anyways

Oh well.

[Scarface98.9]

Below is a link to a movie I made recently, a music video, done to "The Trio" by Ennio Morricone and done in the style of SL as a labor of love. It's gotten some good remarks by people who don't know anything abou Leone, so I'm proud of it. Let me know what you think

A few notes:

-The link isn't the link to movies I"ve made. I made it with another pseudo-studio, but my actual studio site is:
www.myspace.com/fubar_films

I just used the Livermoron site to host it

-I did a commentary for the DVD, and on the website, there's a behind the scenes feature done during production.

-If anyone asks, I'll explain about the bums.

Here's the link:
http://trebes.homeip.net/server/lmf/...details&id=168

Enjoy!

[Monotreme]

Server's overloaded or something, so I can't download it... Can't you put it on Google Vid or Youtube or something?

[Scarface98.9]

Originally posted by Monotreme
Server's overloaded or something, so I can't download it... Can't you put it on Google Vid or Youtube or something?

It's gonna go on youtube in a few days. Excuse me while I go beat the ass of my editor

[Scarface98.9]

I've tested it out on other computers and it seems to play fine. Anyone still having problems playing it?

[Scarface98.9]

Okay, some issues were fixed and the MOVIE IS ON YOUTUBE QUALITY . Link below:

www.myspace.com/fubar_films

It's called The Trio, and is on the main page