"Bring me that horizon!"

[dwgm]

Borrowed without permission from Pam at the depploversover30 Yahoo group -- occasionally there's gold amid the dross over there. Crossposted to arrrrr.



According to screen writer Terry Rossio, one should tread carefully when it comes to gangplanks. "They are not sturdy," warns the man who, alongside partner Ted Elliott, is largely responsible for the wellspring of Jackology that comprises Pirates Of The Caribbean, thus he's negotiated a good many gangplanks over the last few years. "You've got to have a sailor at either end, one to help you on, and the other to help you down onto the ship." They are precarious. Any sudden moves and you're in the drink.

Way back, during the shoot for The Curse Of The Black Pearl, back when studio rivals were sniggering into their Frappuccinos at this 'pirate' movie, there came another snag in the script department. Not unusual for a big movie - things change, so it pays to be flexible. That is why producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Gore Verbinski keep their screenwriters to hand down in the Grand Bahamas, or wherever their voyages take them.

On this day, to whisk Captain Jack Sparrow - otherwise but seldom known as Johnny Depp - from ocean to deck in one swift manoeuvre, the very able stunt team divised a cracker: up he would be hoisted by rope to land precisely at the helm of The Black Pearl. However...

"The script required him to land mid-ships and move toward the wheel," admits Rossio. "The new staging meant Depp had to say something to order his crew away, to leave him alone for the end shot of the movie."

Rossio and Elliott were summoned to the deck to come up with a line that was to be, "A bit more profound than, 'Back to work mates!'" Rossio immediately took off in search of Captain Jack, to give him the heads-up on the temporary hole in the day's dialogue. Naturally,Depp was cool - he's Captain Jack - even offering to give it some thought himself. He started to muse on the spot: "How about 'We venture forth over waves of adversity, beneath clouds of adventure, always searching for that elusive shore of our dreams...?'"

"Right" Rossio replied. "Something like that."

They tried everything, these two hip writers,... Verbinski wasn't buying, "Put the wind to our aft!" felt a bit Carry On. "To stations! Let go and haul to run free!" a bit waffly to be that great last line. They began to stew. The shoot had been strenuous for everyone. Then a cry came from the shore and Depp was seen racing toward the vessel at full pelt, his dreadlocks bouncing, those golden molars glittering in the Caribbean sunshine, waving a piece of paper over his head like it was peace in our time.

"So he's shouting, 'I got it. Got it!' " delights Rossio. "He bounds onto the gangplank, it bounces him into the air, and light as a feather he comes down, bounces up again, and lands gracefully on the deck."

Not only that, but on the piece of paper is one line. "Bring me that horizon," it reads. Depps smile is purest Jack, the cat who got the cream and just might have the key to the dairy concealed beneath his fur.

"I've got that scrap of paper pinned above my desk," sighs Rossio like a lovesick schoolgirl. "It is the best line in the movie. And we didn't even write it!"

Johnny wrote it. No, Jack wrote it.

~.~

Comments

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

Isn't that a great story? Makes me smile.