9 min read

DOUG - PART 3

A good friend/nemesis/teacher and mentor Doug Ashcroft died early last year and looking back on some of the messages exchanged between us after he'd moved to Germany with his partner brought him back to life for me this morning. I find it amazing how his larger-than-life personality re-emerges from the words written down as if he's right back in the room holding forth. He often signed off 'Corleone', fancying himself to be the head of his own one man mafia although in truth he closer resembled more a cross between Don Ciccio and Clemenza.

Here he was advising me back in 2015 on whom to cast for a gangster movie he had been encouraging me to write for a full length feature screenplay. I think it's safe to say that he possibly over estimated my talents in these hilarious (at least to me) exchanges.

I guess only time will tell if he's right. ;-)

2nd May

Doug : Just so you would get my handle on the STYLE and PRESENCE of your lead character. Here are some of the greats who could have been moulded into it.

1. Burt Lancaster 2. Lee J Cobb 3. Edward G. 4. Cagney (but would need some work) 5. Rod Steiger (IF you could curb his overacting, mannered presentation) 6. Bill Holden 7. George C Scott 8. Robert Ryan 9. Robert Stack 10. Dana Andrews 11. Herbert Mom 12. Anthony Hopkins (would not need much Direction) 13. Alan Ladd (dye his hair) 14. Raymond Massey 15. Jason Robards 16. Anton Differing.
All of these I think would have brought something to it. If I was an actor I would select 2 or 3 of these and saturate myself in their work. Not to become a Carbon Copy but to absorb nuances.

What I especially love here is Doug talking about improving screen actors who were (mostly) already dead as if all they needed were a few more coaching sessions with him personally.

All of the men I have mentioned would bring something ... but not all had everything including.

  1. Sheer physical presence .. Lancaster and George C Scott.
  2. Latent Menace combined with Facial Expressions ... Robert Ryan and Bill Holden
  3. Intelligence, lurking nastiness etc. Of course I would reject from YOUR lead role some of my favourite actors including amongst others:
  4. Borgnine (too overtly nasty looking)
  5. Widmark (too lean, voice not right and unconvincing in such a powerful role)
  6. Conte (good in his early films but seemed to degenerate into mannered, I'm acting gestures.)
  7. De Niro (does not really convince me .. too overt.

Also I do not favour over the top brutality for the sake of it. Better for me is latent threat and menace. That's how I keep the Capos in line.

3rd May

Doug : Sorry, Consiglierie, John Hamm's face is not right. Just like too many others. He would never unnerve a hardened hit man sitting opposite him. If Lucca Brazzi had the intelligence he would scare hell out of anyone. But Lucca will always remain my top button man

Because of your undoubted expertise and BEFORE you write anything on your Mafia Project I have some things to write to you on Monday. Believe me I think you could write a blockbuster. See you tomorrow

4th May

Doug : I am CERTAIN you can eclipse even the Godfather saga.

This was one time I felt Doug was guilty of understatement. :-)

If the first 5 or 6 minutes of the opening scene does not: Create impact visually and auditorially; Arouse Emotion; Create Suspense, Tension, Arouse Curiosity; Make the heart beat faster. Etc. Then I will switch it off.

Study carefully the opening Scene of Gladiator. This says it all.
So as many of the senses as possible must be drawn out, right from the word go. Unfortunately, as good as it is, the opening Scene of The Godfather does not quite achieve it.

This was typical of Doug to casually deploy shock and awe statements like this with no real regard for their impact on the recepient of his opinion.

And think on this before you write anything.
Machiavelli, wrote many important works of History including, 'The Prince.' But what is important is:

  1. Before he sat down to write, he bathed and put on his best clothes. He believed it was a privilege to ASSOCIATE with the great figures of the past.
  2. He sat in silence and WAITED until his chosen characters APPEARED before him.
  3. He listened to their conversations and speeches as they emerged from his subconscious.

I knew the writer/initiator of the crap series Coronation Street. She did a similar thing and often called her husband to, "listen to what these characters are saying to each other. Thomas Hardy saturated himself in Nature and Folklore so when he sat down to write, he WAITED until the elements appeared before him so STRONGLY that he EXPERIENCED them with ALL his senses before he wrote anything.You MUST read in detail the last half of Chapter 36 and the whole of Chapter 37 of, "Far from The Madding Crowd" (you can read it online). Look how he brings in EVERY one of the senses. You can HEAR the thunder crack, FEEL the texture of the frightened toad and slug. SEE the lightning flash again and again SMELL the atmosphere as the storm begins TOUCH the swilling rain and gathering wind. My emotions are still stirred forty years later when I EXPERIENCE the plight of the animals and smaller creatures in these chapters.
So your Opening Scene MUST impact or else your project will remain amongst other mediocrities.

When a Student asked me for the details of a specific area of Henry VIII reign, I sat in silence in my room relaxed right down and whispered what I wanted to know. Then I WAITED. Before long the whole scene appeared in my room. I HEARD Henry and his Minister, Cromwell, discuss the matter and WATCHED what happened. To cut a long story short, the details were bang on and my student got an A Grade.

Now as for you.

  1. Decide WHO you would choose to play your lead (for me it would be Robert Ryan)
  2. Do NOT force it, but sit quietly and RELAX.
  3. Call up your character in a whisper and WAIT as the subconscious unlocks and he will appear
  4. Pay close attention to how he is dressed (do NOT imaginatively create it)
  5. Listen to how he speaks, what he says, how he moves
  6. WATCH were he is going, what he is doing and who he meets
  7. LISTEN in to the conversations if any.
  8. Let him take you through each scene ( obviously not all in one session.)
  9. It will be so impressed upon you it will be NO effort to write it down.
    So you must LIVE with this person/s and bypass the cerebral construction altogether.
    Because I have confidence in your intellectual, emotional and sensitive acuity I KNOW you CAN create an emotionally stirring and visually impacting work.
    But it must neither be forced nor rushed.

7th May

Doug : Good Morning, Consiglierie.
There are many examples of power your lead character can manifest.
Facial expression is one.
Another is style of delivery
A third is the use of measured vocabulary. In this connect ion it is well worth studying Martin Sheen in Season 1 of 'West Wing'. Two examples come to mind:

  1. After the Syrian attack on the U.S plane, Sheen declares in measured tones, "I will blow them off the face of the earth with the fury of Gods own Thunder.'
  2. When the strike of the truckers has reached logjam, Sheen makes both sides STAND and gives them 5 minutes to sort it. He then delivers the ultimatum. That should it not be resolved he will issue an order to nationalise the various firms and to the striking workers that he will issue the order for them all to be called up for military service.
    When one of the bosses objects that it is unconstitutional, Sheen responds with, "I have fourteen lawyers in the White House who say I can."
    Then without more ado and in an unhurried style he walks out of the room.
    This is writing and impact at its best.


I tell you truthfully that tears roll down my cheeks (do not tell my Button Men) in the funeral scene of WW episode 12 (season one) where Toby has arranged a guard of honour to fire over the coffin of a homeless Korean war veteran.
The kids singing in the Whitehouse transposed against the slow measured pace of the guards of honour, the crisp rifle shots, Toby's face etc.
This is a scene which punches the gut like a sledgehammer. It is worth STUDYING again and again and again if you can bear the pain. Only a true genius could write like that.

Have a crack at it in YOUR Project

💪Corleone

Two further thoughts.

  1. Do you realise that you and I have been pals for over 20 years.....no going into the emotional reunion in the bar.
  2. I have never bullshitted in my whole life. So, neither have I the slightest doubt about my own intellectual abilities therefore I MEAN everything I said about YOU and your ability to write a staggering blockbuster.

I EXPECT you to SURPASS the Godfather. Bugger the rules of structure.
I remember Barbirolli speaking of my all time Heroine, Jacqueline Du Per. She had been criticised (unfairly) for extensive flamboyance. Quick to defend her Barbirolli argued that if she had not done so there would be nothing to prune away in later life.
So get it drawn out as it comes. Structure Later.

This damn typing. Du Pre not Du Per

Consiglieri,
It is like a vast jigsaw. Draw out from the subconscious the scenes that are given to you. Draw them out one after another.
Do NOT try to fit them together into any kind of structure. Just get the buggers OUT.
When all is done then and then only fit them together. In this way there will be no clamp on the subconscious release.
This will ENSURE greatness.

8th May

Doug Corleone: There are 2 things  I am going to tell you.

  1. I worked for years with a preeminent mystic. Google him. Dr Jacques Rangasami O. B. E.
    He and I at set times of the day used to communicate telepathically with each other. What Jacques does not know about mystical power is not worth knowing, except his knowledge and practice of the Runes ( my forte) is not worth knowing.
    I knew NOTHING of his family background and one day in his house I saw a picture of his father.
    He waited whilst I put my hands over the photograph and closing my eyes relaxed and internally asked for details.
    Soon a vision appeared which I accepted and did NOT edit. First a Cross appeared erected in the middle of a dusty square. Next two nuns were shown. Following this three huts with straw coveted roofs. One hut was dark inside and no one entered except his father.
    Then the vision, which made NO sense to me faded.
    Instead of editing it. I reported what I had experienced to Jacques. Had I pruned anything away it would not have been spot on.
    Jacques was NOT amazed, having EXPECTED me to be able to pull it out. As I KNOW and EXPECT YOUR abilities to increase one hundred fold.
    Jacques then explained that I had 'seen' the Catholic (cross, nuns) area where his father had worked.
    His Father had volunteered to work in a primitive leper colony (huts etc) and he was responsible for entering the hut were the lepers had died and carrying them out. You will see if you Google Jacques that he is an eminent sculptor. But THIS is the key point. He approached a block of stone etc, placed his hands upon it and let his subconscious call forth from the stone WITHOUT per planning or structure. He then chipped away the stone to reveal the 'given' image.

Now for part 2. I am so confident and delighted in YOUR abilities I want you to do this .

  1. Select a quiet place for an hour EVERY DAY without fail
  2. Set out your glass as explained and as it clouds over whisper what you wish to receive
    For example Monday, "I need to see my Leading Man"
    Tuesday "I need to see the characters who will be involved"
    Wednesday I need to see " scene two"
    I am sure you get the idea: no structure just pull out what you want. DONT try to either make sense of it or edit it
    Then write down what you experienced. Pay very CLOSE attention to detail, clothes, movements, (if you are lucky sounds) colour and location of objects.
    Your Block buster is being written for you.
    If I did not have TOTAL Confidence in you I would have declined to work with you as I have refused others.
    💪Corleone

It is NOT a one way process. My work with you is calling up the old powers within me. I am FLYING now.
I tell you truthfully, you are entering the most exciting journey of your LIFE.

It is a great quality of human beings to encourage and inspire others, no matter how much they are possibly cementing a grand Quixote-like delusion in the mind of an individual.

For taking the time to offer his own unique and quirky approaches to scene writing and for being a great believer in me, I will be forever grateful to Doug.

And now, having lost a few champions of mine on earth, I'm having to reference the past to remind myself what they said so I don't forget, even if some of the methods are somewhat mad.

Doug : You MUST watch. John Dowland's "Come Again Sweet Love Doth Now Invite" William Ferguson's upload. NO OTHER.
it is so thrilling. Sung from the HEART. It is like watching Michael Corleone on stage. I repeat it MUST BE William Ferguson's Upload on You Tube.
Please, please, please watch

Tears to my eyes. Watch his gestures
Now get to work on my request

⚡💪Corleone