MovieMaker The Art and Business of Making Movies » Login | Register  

May 21, 2012

ABOUT | CONTACT | NEWSLETTER | Search

acting

Email
Print

David Gordon Green Makes Snow Angels

Exploring the unique collaboration between director and actor

(Page 2)

The following is a copy of the results of my many dialogue and e-mail exchanges with Kate in regard to her character; lists of things we could use to define Annie and elements from her environment that we could use to reflect who she had become as we meet her.

Annie’s Appearance
*Aquatic earrings, but hates to eat fish
*Wears makeup… wears less and less
*Favors bright in her wardrobe—colorizing the winter months as if she’s in autumn
*Wears a man’s watch
*Wears pajamas until lunchtime when she can
*Always wears low-cut tennis socks around the house, dirty bottoms

Annie’s House
*Flowers and plants, frozen in harsh winter—
over-watered, over-protected
*Lamp light
*Cherry pits
*Kitty litter boxes but no cats
*Butterflies flattened in paperback books
*Space heaters
*Rigs things with Velcro
*Children’s stickers half-peeled off of furniture and walls
*Crayon drawings of houses and people in profile
*Cluttered hall tree… Where do I begin?
*Soft lunch boxes
*Collection of pens from seminars
*Stacks of old phone books
*Clocks everywhere—In 1687 they invented the minute hand. There’s no excuse to be late.
*Cigarette burns on low-cost furniture
*Garden tools inside
*Spotless dishes unless life gets the best of her
*Floral patterns/subtle clash
*Photos of good times in cheap frames
*Frozen plants outside
*Favors pale everything inside house
*Chain link fence
*Heavy comforter/white noise
*Keeps firewood inside
*Bowls of cocktail nuts and snack mix, but otherwise healthy as hell
*Will someone just sit next to her and be quiet?
*Curtains tied back in knots
*Lace and silk in simple places
*Aquarium with light and fish bowl with sharks
*Light blue/light pink
*Big TV with antennae
*A dozen unidentified remote controls
*Scented candles
*Aromatherapy pillows

Things That Make Annie Laugh
*Babies, monkeys, naked African warriors, old people dancing, stupid shoes, Jello, Sunday comics, “Benson,” “Newhart,” “Ellen,” Oscar the Grouch, worms, The Church Lady (“Saturday Night Live” isn’t as funny as it used to be).

Annie’s Likes/Dislikes
*Thinks rap music is funny
*“Can’t Fight This Feeling”—hates the song. It gets stuck in her head.
*Loves Bruce Springsteen—timeless
*Loves David Lee Roth, but thinks he’s a has-been
*Likes to watch the squirrels play in her yard
*Annie likes poems that rhyme/Percy Shelley
*These paintings of Andrew Wyeth’s: “Henriette,” “Willard’s Coat,” “Ice Pool,” “Tenant Farmer.” Wyeth is not interested in 18th-century buildings because they are 18th-century. He may care what age has done to the texture of a brick or stone or wood buildings, but in the same way he would be interested in the bark of a tree. What led to this tempera was the deer hanging from a graceful willow tree while a dry snow blew off the roof and disappeared in the howling wind. He did not know the tenants who occupied the house.

Annie’s History
*Brought a bag of toys when she babysat as a teenager
*Would sneak Glenn over and got a thrill from making out in other people’s houses
*10th grade spelling bee champion
*Summer camp was the best time of her life; first kiss was with a counselor
*Dad died in an accident at a train yard when she was young
*Honeymoon in Niagara Falls

Things About Annie
*Latches onto words like “rendezvous”
*Always pays her credit card bill on time; works extra hours if she has to.
*Always ends up being the caretaker
*Wants someone to treat her like a princess
*Drinks hot tea for her colds
*Efficient/strict
*Sits Indian-style on bar stools
*Can’t wait ‘til Christmas!
*Keeps old angel wings from a play she did as a kid
*Drinks Johnnie Walker when it calls her name
*Thinks tattoos are hot, but afraid to get one
*Owns 20 brushes
*Has nightmares about a bearded lady
*Loves her baby’s belly button—Animals that lay eggs don’t have belly buttons; posted on the fridge as if to remind.
*Has perfect pitch
*Has been thinking about taking piano lessons
*Always uses umbrellas, never wears a raincoat
*Scared of wolves from childhood fairytales
*Clips coupons, keeps on the fridge with magnets
*Saw potential in Glenn. He was destined for great things, sharpest wit in high school. The only guy that could keep up with her sarcasm and make her laugh. She fell in love with the unlikely guy when he did a book report in 11th grade English class about Robert Louis Stevenson and read out loud:
“Under the wide and starry sky
Dig the grave and let me lie
Glad did I live and gladly die,
And I laid me down with a will.
This be the verse you grave for me:
Here he lies where he long’d to be;
Home is the sailor, home from the sea,
And the hunter home from the hill”


SHARE THIS STORY

Del.icio.us this itemDel.icio.us

Reddit this itemReddit

Yahoo this item Yahoo

TAGS

COMMENTS | POST A COMMENT

Comment by zara clothing on 12/21/08 at 4:16 pm

Snow Angels- reminds me of a patriots game where the guy was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct for making a snow angel.

Comment by Draper Tools on 4/21/09 at 1:31 am

Keep your garden tools in good condition with these helpful tips.Cheap tools perform poorly and will need replacing sooner, so, purchase good-quality tools and keep them in top shape.Clean tools regularly. Brush or scrape off dirt and debris after each use, and store them out of the weather.

Comment by Promotional Magnets on 9/14/09 at 4:39 pm

*Clips coupons, keeps on the fridge with magnets

You should make her some personalized magnets.

Comment by icebabes on 6/29/11 at 11:30 am

ICE BABES is an Importer, Manufacturer and Wholesaler of top quality ladies clothing based in the East End of London. Our aim is to bring you value and quality with fast delivery, backed up with a reliable, knowledgeable & friendly service.

Comment by clothing manufacturers on 12/12/11 at 9:39 am

Keep your garden tools in good condition with these helpful tips.Cheap tools perform poorly and will need replacing sooner, so, purchase good-quality tools and keep them in top shape.Clean tools regularly. Brush or scrape off dirt and debris after each use, and store them out of the weather.Great post.

Comment by work wear on 12/12/11 at 9:39 am

I like this post friend.

POST A COMMENT

OUR PRIVACY POLICY | We will not publish or sell or share your email address or other personal information. Read more.

Name:  
Email:  
URL:  

Type the word you see below:

Comment:

MovieMaker Magazine

Magazine cover: Winter 2008This story was published in the Winter 2008 MovieMaker Magazine. The headline was:

Making Snow Angels

View this issue

Order this issue | Subscribe to MM

 

Blog/Forum/Poll navigation

Blog Forums Polls
Latest from the blog:
 
Andy Young
Directing on a Dime: Summer Reading List
posted 05.11.12

Blog

SITE DELIVERY OPTIONS

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE

  1. Ellen Page's Not So Still Life
    Don’t misunderstand: It’s not like Ellen Page is hiding out or lying low. But even as the Oscar-hype machinery is revving up to push her toward a well-deserved nomination for her star-making performance in Jason ... read on
  2. Marjane Satrapi’s Comic Relief
    Paris-based cartoonist Marjane Satrapi says she never set out to make movies. Satrapi is the author and illustrator of the beloved graphic novels Persepolis I and II, which, together comprise a funny, moving memoir ... read on
  3. Top 10 Movie Cities 2008
    From Austin to Albuquerque and plenty of places in between, MovieMaker's eighth annual countdown of the 10 best places to live, work and make movies in the U.S. ... read on
  4. David Gordon Green Makes Snow Angels
    When i began working with Kate Beckinsale on Snow Angels, we were trying to find elements rooted in reality that could give her character of Annie anchors of emotion—humor, frustration, aggression and sympathy. I knew ... read on
  5. Gus Van Sant Gets Paranoid
    Gus Van Sant is the perfect picture of an American independent moviemaker. He grew up on both coasts—in Portland, Oregon and Darien, Connecticut—before earning a degree at the Rhode Island School of Design, and then ... read on
  6. Michael Haneke Plays Funny Games With Naomi Watts
    A family is traveling to their country vacation home. As they drive, the parents take turns playing “guess the classical composer” (Schubert? Brahms?) with the CD player. Their son laughs approvingly in the back ... read on
  7. Paul Giamatti Takes 10
    Sooner or later, when cruising late-night television, you’re going to catch a glimpse of a no-name character actor who looks an awful lot like the famous thespian, Paul Giamatti. That’s because before he became ... read on
  8. Lights! Camera! Geritol!
    Today’s stars keep themselves in better shape than ever before, and audiences seem to like that. In fact, box office receipts for recent flicks featuring some of our favorite aging action heroes are so encouraging ... read on
  9. Ted Braun Discusses Darfur Now
    The impact of his first big-screen documentary may not be fully appreciated for years. Even with Don Cheadle and George Clooney as principle characters in the 2007 film Darfur Now, it’s not easy to get moviegoers ... read on
  10. Festival Beat
    From big to small, longform to short and online to nonline, MM takes a look at some 2007's best and brightest film festivals including Dominican International, Starz Denver, Austin and ... read on
  11. Rawson Marshall Thurber Unravels The Mysteries of Pittsburgh
    Just days before the January premiere of his adaptation of The Mysteries of Pittsburgh at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, Rawson Marshall Thurber shared with MM his journey from conception to exhibition. Now, in honor ... read on

RELATED ARTICLES FROM THE ARCHIVES

  1. 5/10/2012: “It’s Only Forever…”
  2. 5/7/2012: Avengers Assemble at the Box Office
  3. 5/4/2012: Super (and Not-So-Super) Hero Flicks
  4. 5/3/2012: Water Takes Center Stage in Last Call at the Oasis
  5. 4/30/2012: Think Like a Man Continues to Dominate