RICK: Is there room to fit Gambit in this story? It is a Marvel property after all. Someone suggested Wolverine make an appearance. You know, he goes around to different wars with his half brother so they can fight and kill and use their healing powers and snarl all over the French landscape...
Tone: This is THE Cap we have always wanted to see come to the big screen. He is larger than life. His exploits and adventures, perils and triumphs are sweeping, uplifting, broad, colorful, powerful, emotional, patriotic, and HEROIC! Cap is heroic. He is not a brooding mishmash of moral uncertainty killing everything in his path that stands against him. Cap is a force for good, untiring and unwavering. He believes in God! Country (the constitutional kind)! Truth and Justice! He seems old fashioned even in his time but his simplicity and willingness to act make him a born leader. This is the story of his birth in WWII, his becoming a legend, and his death and subsequent rebirth in present day.
The Cap I want to see is brutally honest about the horrors of war, the death, the destruction, the rape, the corruption on all sides. He fights wars because they need to be fought. Americans have a responsibility not to shirk from difficult tasks. We must not turn away from the face of evil but stare it down and stamp it out. Cap's victory is one of the spirit. No surrender, no capitulation, no compromise in the face of certain defeat or death.
My Cap has a pistol. My Cap kills in wartime. My Cap knows compassion for friend and foe alike. Into each dark hour, he steps not to save the day but to lead by example, to make others find strength they had given up on.
BEN: I don't know if I like the pistol idea. I feel like the original wouldn't have one. Although, ironically I feel he would pick up a Thompson and riddle Nazi's with bullets. Hmm. Perhaps it's the pistol of a commander? Paths of Glory has one of the most amazing battle scenes I've ever seen. Perhaps not so much what I saw, but what the platoon was doing, what odds they were running into and then the visuals on top of that-- amazing and terrifying. Kirk Douglas leads (literally) his men into battle blowing a whistle and waving his pistol.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
Emails #17: Marvel Alliance 2
BEN: Interesting design from the video game Marvel Alliance 2. (move the Flash graphic to the left)
RICK: Love the top half of Cap. Chain mail tunic looks very heavy and effective. Like belt. Needs weapon otherwise he looks like he is doing a home improvement show. Can do without ribbed legging however. Distracting. Shield is perfect. Looks heavy and made of solid steel. Colors also muted by dirt, diesel oil and blood. Looks like a frame out of our movie. Let's sue!!!
BEN: Agreed. I thought was thinking Cap's "feathers" could be made out of metal like Scale Mail. It would still be arranged like his suit whereas this is more straight-lined.
RICK: PS. Just WHAT does Iron Man think he is going to blast with his repulsor ray?
BEN: Heh, no worries, Cap wears adamantium undies :) Ever read "The Ultimates"? I'm getting a not-so-impressed feeling about it, but I haven't read or seen it. I guess Cap and the Avengers movies are going to be based on it. Meh. http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/joshw24/news/?a=15101
RICK: Love the top half of Cap. Chain mail tunic looks very heavy and effective. Like belt. Needs weapon otherwise he looks like he is doing a home improvement show. Can do without ribbed legging however. Distracting. Shield is perfect. Looks heavy and made of solid steel. Colors also muted by dirt, diesel oil and blood. Looks like a frame out of our movie. Let's sue!!!BEN: Agreed. I thought was thinking Cap's "feathers" could be made out of metal like Scale Mail. It would still be arranged like his suit whereas this is more straight-lined.
RICK: PS. Just WHAT does Iron Man think he is going to blast with his repulsor ray?
BEN: Heh, no worries, Cap wears adamantium undies :) Ever read "The Ultimates"? I'm getting a not-so-impressed feeling about it, but I haven't read or seen it. I guess Cap and the Avengers movies are going to be based on it. Meh. http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/joshw24/news/?a=15101
Friday, March 11, 2011
Emails #16: D-Day Footage
2-2-09
Rickster,
Praise God and Pass the Ammunition...
I meant to mention I thought the film postcard from Cap's dad while on a winter stroll. I kept thinking of Bruce Springsteen and other American musicians through time. I hate it when they put music in films expressly to sell albums, but like in the instance of Forrest Gump, that was a way to span the decades of the story. I listened to Bruce while writing 'Cap goes home.' Powerful. Started using Pandora to sample 40's music. Glenn Miller, Bing Crosby, Kay Kyser, Benny Goodman, Jimmy Dorsey and a couple others just dominated the charts. I think music is such an important part of our fabric that it can't be ignored in this film.
Thought I'd pass this along... Only a few years ago I learned that director George Stevens' had the only color film camera in WWII and his footage is hardly known. I really want to see D-Day: The Color Footage (1999) and George Stevens: D-Day to Berlin (1994) found a sample: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9aNpR6ggHQ
I was thinking also today that this really may not be all that expensive a film to make. It's not like Cap flies or spins webs or needs a computer generated counterpart all that much. There need to be explosions, but I don't think we need $200M. Surprisingly, Iron Man cost $186M. I didn't really see where they spent that.
Rickster,
Praise God and Pass the Ammunition...
I meant to mention I thought the film postcard from Cap's dad while on a winter stroll. I kept thinking of Bruce Springsteen and other American musicians through time. I hate it when they put music in films expressly to sell albums, but like in the instance of Forrest Gump, that was a way to span the decades of the story. I listened to Bruce while writing 'Cap goes home.' Powerful. Started using Pandora to sample 40's music. Glenn Miller, Bing Crosby, Kay Kyser, Benny Goodman, Jimmy Dorsey and a couple others just dominated the charts. I think music is such an important part of our fabric that it can't be ignored in this film.
Thought I'd pass this along... Only a few years ago I learned that director George Stevens' had the only color film camera in WWII and his footage is hardly known. I really want to see D-Day: The Color Footage (1999) and George Stevens: D-Day to Berlin (1994) found a sample: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9aNpR6ggHQ
I was thinking also today that this really may not be all that expensive a film to make. It's not like Cap flies or spins webs or needs a computer generated counterpart all that much. There need to be explosions, but I don't think we need $200M. Surprisingly, Iron Man cost $186M. I didn't really see where they spent that.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Emails #15: We Need A Symbol
1-29-09
Rick,
Thanks much! I'm not sure if we'll be able to fit many (let's call them) testimonials in the film, but I think any time we feel we must write "letters to Cap" we should do so without delay. I think those are snippets of inspiration-- the surfacing of subconscious, raw feelings about Cap. I realized that perhaps more than any of their other characters, Cap is Marvel's Superman. I think "The King" and "The Man" developed into creators interested more in dramatic characters than in idyllic ones. Cap is really their one ideal hero which makes sense given when Kirby/Simon created him. Any hero must deal with being good, but I think Sups and Cap have extraordinary expectations put on them. Cap is the light never wavering. Any human (or Kryptonian) would have a problem with that at some point. Surrounded in temptation and evil, his nagging doubt waaay in the back of his mind might be something Skull would exploit. Cap is the ultimate Aryan after all and holds favor of billions of leaders, media and people around the world. Lex always wanted Sups so they could take over the world, but not in such an absolute way as Skull would want. Of course, I have to admit that I know almost nothing about the Skull as most of my experience with him is from childhood. Actually, I haven't read very much Cap which, if I was really to write a film, I'd want to read every last comic. Anyhow, I think if Skull could actually be helping orchestrate how Cap is used in the field and just be moving all the pieces of the board to culminate into a moment when the audience will wonder if Cap will turn! In the end, Cap could still be considered an impressionable youth, depending. It's easy to forget that he's all of what? 18 when he goes off to war? Making him not much older depending on how long we keep him unfrozen. He'll have the maturity war forces on soldiers no matter what, but unless he stays unfrozen a long period, he'll still be young.
One other note, it's interesting to read about Cap's rising and falling popularity since his creation. In the 60's when he's unfrozen is pretty cool explanation for not being in print for over 10 years, actually. The only thing is, he was unfrozen by the Avengers. I suspect that is Marvel Films' idea for their film series. Such and ill-fated plan that is!
Rick,
Thanks much! I'm not sure if we'll be able to fit many (let's call them) testimonials in the film, but I think any time we feel we must write "letters to Cap" we should do so without delay. I think those are snippets of inspiration-- the surfacing of subconscious, raw feelings about Cap. I realized that perhaps more than any of their other characters, Cap is Marvel's Superman. I think "The King" and "The Man" developed into creators interested more in dramatic characters than in idyllic ones. Cap is really their one ideal hero which makes sense given when Kirby/Simon created him. Any hero must deal with being good, but I think Sups and Cap have extraordinary expectations put on them. Cap is the light never wavering. Any human (or Kryptonian) would have a problem with that at some point. Surrounded in temptation and evil, his nagging doubt waaay in the back of his mind might be something Skull would exploit. Cap is the ultimate Aryan after all and holds favor of billions of leaders, media and people around the world. Lex always wanted Sups so they could take over the world, but not in such an absolute way as Skull would want. Of course, I have to admit that I know almost nothing about the Skull as most of my experience with him is from childhood. Actually, I haven't read very much Cap which, if I was really to write a film, I'd want to read every last comic. Anyhow, I think if Skull could actually be helping orchestrate how Cap is used in the field and just be moving all the pieces of the board to culminate into a moment when the audience will wonder if Cap will turn! In the end, Cap could still be considered an impressionable youth, depending. It's easy to forget that he's all of what? 18 when he goes off to war? Making him not much older depending on how long we keep him unfrozen. He'll have the maturity war forces on soldiers no matter what, but unless he stays unfrozen a long period, he'll still be young.
One other note, it's interesting to read about Cap's rising and falling popularity since his creation. In the 60's when he's unfrozen is pretty cool explanation for not being in print for over 10 years, actually. The only thing is, he was unfrozen by the Avengers. I suspect that is Marvel Films' idea for their film series. Such and ill-fated plan that is!
Monday, March 7, 2011
Emails #14: Watch Out Red Skull
Mr. Alpi-
This is hot stuff. Indeed. Really like what you have done here.
Coupla' notes anyway....
RICK
EXT. GENERAL'S BASE HOUSE BACK PORCH
The general smokes a pipe as Cap stands watching the sun go down. Cap wears the dark, star-less version of his uniform. Cap's shoulders are forward and his eyes weary.
"I couldn't believe my own eyes. You are alive after all these years. I don't know if you remember me Cap. I was a private back in '42, fresh from boot camp and eager to get my head shot off killing Nazis. I was there the night you rallied the troops and we overtook a far greater German force. You were magnificent. Your bravery and passion kept us alive and helped us win that battle. I never forgot what I saw that night. True courage. True leadership...
"When the war ended, I wanted to find you to thank you. My inquiries were unanswered. Letters politely returned. So, I thought you were dead. World War Two was over and there was dancing in the streets. I decided to dedicate my life to service and you were never very far from my thoughts...
This is hot stuff. Indeed. Really like what you have done here.
Coupla' notes anyway....
RICK
EXT. GENERAL'S BASE HOUSE BACK PORCH
The general smokes a pipe as Cap stands watching the sun go down. Cap wears the dark, star-less version of his uniform. Cap's shoulders are forward and his eyes weary.
"I couldn't believe my own eyes. You are alive after all these years. I don't know if you remember me Cap. I was a private back in '42, fresh from boot camp and eager to get my head shot off killing Nazis. I was there the night you rallied the troops and we overtook a far greater German force. You were magnificent. Your bravery and passion kept us alive and helped us win that battle. I never forgot what I saw that night. True courage. True leadership...
"When the war ended, I wanted to find you to thank you. My inquiries were unanswered. Letters politely returned. So, I thought you were dead. World War Two was over and there was dancing in the streets. I decided to dedicate my life to service and you were never very far from my thoughts...
Friday, March 4, 2011
Emails #13: Going Home
1-27-08
EXT. GENERAL’S BACK PORCH - EVENING (PRESENT DAY)
Cap stands watching the sun go down. He wears the dark, star-less version of his uniform. Cap's shoulders are forward and his eyes weary.
The General enters smoking a pipe and carrying a thick folder. He slides Cap the folder, on the cover is stamped: TOP SECRET.
Inside, Cap finds yellowed sheets marked: Department of War. Super Soldier. Mortality ratio. 44F candidate, Steven Rogers.
The General stares at the sunset.
Cap looks through the pages in awe. Then, his brow furrows. The page reads: "...will be cryogenically frozen until such time as 44F can be properly controlled."
He tosses everything in a spray of yellowed pages.
CAP GOES HOME
Scenes by
Ben Alpi
Scenes by
Ben Alpi
EXT. GENERAL’S BACK PORCH - EVENING (PRESENT DAY)
Cap stands watching the sun go down. He wears the dark, star-less version of his uniform. Cap's shoulders are forward and his eyes weary.
The General enters smoking a pipe and carrying a thick folder. He slides Cap the folder, on the cover is stamped: TOP SECRET.
Inside, Cap finds yellowed sheets marked: Department of War. Super Soldier. Mortality ratio. 44F candidate, Steven Rogers.
The General stares at the sunset.
Cap looks through the pages in awe. Then, his brow furrows. The page reads: "...will be cryogenically frozen until such time as 44F can be properly controlled."
He tosses everything in a spray of yellowed pages.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Emails #12: No Ordinary Man
1-22-09
Benito-
All the ideas you mentioned are good ones. I think we should explore this further to see if we can come up with a powerful enough thread to make a movie treatment. So far we have a bunch of disembodied scenes that look nice and with a little bit of a feeling. What will we be writing about? I like the idea of letters. The reading of the letter in Saving Private Ryan is a particularly dramatic and important moment.
Benito-
All the ideas you mentioned are good ones. I think we should explore this further to see if we can come up with a powerful enough thread to make a movie treatment. So far we have a bunch of disembodied scenes that look nice and with a little bit of a feeling. What will we be writing about? I like the idea of letters. The reading of the letter in Saving Private Ryan is a particularly dramatic and important moment.
"What are these?"
"Letters, Cap. You have lots of them. They just keep coming."
"I don't understand..."
"Word about you is reaching everywhere, even stateside. Go on, open one."
Cap picks up an envelope and examines it. It reads: Send to: Captain America c/o U.S. Army. From: Martha J. Higgins of Battle Creek, Michigan. Postmarked a month ago. He opens it and unfolds two neatly spaced hand written sheets.
Dear Captain America,
I am not sure if you really exist or if this letter will find you. It was important to write this letter to say thank you for all you've done...
...I lost two sons in this war and both of them wrote about the action you took to lift the spirit of our fighting men in dark hours.....
...do not despair. There is only one fight worth winning. Our church group is praying for you....
Cap takes another.
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