Making a Musical
A point that I brought up in the S.W.O.T. analysis of the idea was my lack of musical ability, or any education in music whatsoever. I can't play an instrument, read or write sheet music, and my singing is not above reproach. The idea for the story hinges entirely on the pianist character in question having enough songs for enough characters that their appearance in the second act is significant to the audience, and is the basis for the film's conflict.
A Merry Band
Something worth noting off the bat about this concept is that, at least for the first act, it requires a noticeable enough number of background actors. Mr Shillingsby, the titular pianist, needs to be performing for somebody and, seeing as his place of employment is a saloon, the 'somebody(s)' in question would most reasonably be the customers in said saloon.
Additionally, beyond simply coming to grips with the magnitude of extras who would be required, there was also the matter of how many characters the Pianist needs to have invented in order to be credible as such a renowned and extraordinary musician, and also whether there will need to be any other major characters who are facets of the real world and weren't the Pianist's creation. I settled on having only one; the bartender/saloon owner, as I feel that all that's required is for a non-fictional entity to exist in the canon so as to validate the Pianist's experiences as real, and to give a reaction to the fictional characters that differs from the Pianist's.
Mr. Shillingsby.
The widely-renowned pianist who works in Trevor Jenkins' saloon. I don't claim to have the ability to write songs so memorable or create characters so intriguing that they'd be told of for miles around, but I'm the creator and writer of this concept, so Shillingsby's songs are, in fact, my songs, which means that I - who cannot play the piano - am the greatest pianist who ever lived.
Jokes aside, the purpose of Shillingsby in the narrative, despite conceptually being the main character, is really to further the stories of the other characters who arrive during the second act: the ones he created. While Shillingsby is responsible for their backstories and existence, he does little to contribute to their stories moving forward. I haven't yet decided whether or not I'm going to provide some explanation as to how exactly Shillingsby's creations came to life (partly because I never came up with one) because I don't know if it would actually benefit the plot any more than simply keeping it ambiguous. Ultimately I feel that it doesn't really matter how Shillingsby's characters came to be in the real world (within the film universe), but what matters more is how exactly Shillingsby interacts with them when they do.
Trevor Jenkins.
The barkeep is more of a secondary character, but as the only non-background entity that isn't one of Shillingsby's creations, I felt it would be beneficial to at least give him a meaningful presence, even if not a particularly lengthy one. I think it's important to see how Shillingsby interacts with a real person, and how he talks about his characters with one, so that the audience has a point of reference for Shillingsby's character and nature before he's thrust into the impossible situation of socialising with his own works of fiction.
Additionally, I think it would be good for the audience to have a point of reference for Shillingsby and his temperament, and how exactly he's viewed through the eyes of the audience for whom he makes his stories. Shillingsby is the audience's proxy to the narrative, and is mostly the character through whose eyes the viewers experience the film, but he's also a revered personality in the film's universe, and so I think another character who can spell out exactly how much Shillingsby and his works mean to people so that the audience are aware of that, and also of Shillingsby's humility, will help to endear Shillingsby to the audience.
Guy McMann.
Guy McMann, the primary protagonist of Shillingsby's creation, is supposed to be the most literal and black-and-white version of the Western lead archetype. Of course, being an all-American hero created by a passive townsman in the 1800's, he is the picture of how a great hero was viewed back then: he's big, burly, and he solves his problems with his guns and his fists. Given that the character is over-the-top simply as a concept, I thought it would be fitting to very simply name him Guy McMann, a name made only of 'masculine' nouns.
McMann also plays a part in the history of the villain of Shillingsby's creation, Black-Eyed Murphy. Murphy's 'black eye' is actually his absence of an eye, which was stabbed out by McMann in a battle. This will be the majority of the story in Murphy's musical number, and will be Murphy motivation for attacking McMann and the others in the film itself.
Hector Stane.
I needed an expendable character to be McMann and Pierre's motivation to stop by the saloon. Hector Stane is, on the surface, a cowardly, sinister character. He's a highway robber who's constantly bailed out of trouble by his posse, and who ultimately led them to their deaths at the hands of Black-Eyed Murphy out of carelessness. But I also want him to be sympathetic, and to endear himself to the audience as he slowly dies of his wound over the course of the second and third act.
Chelsea Pierre.
Chelsea Pierre fits the 'tough as nails' archetype, and I wanted to use her as an opportunity to have a protagonist who doesn't need to be an all-American hero; somebody who can be a bit more ruthless. Pierre fights with throwing daggers and a lasso, which I feel helps her murders of villains to feel a bit more bloody and personal, and also gives me an opportunity to experiment with shooting some more dynamic weaponry and combat, rather than just superimposing more muzzle flashes.
With McMann being the 'greatest hero in all the West', I didn't want he and Pierre to be competing for the title. Though I could just give the title to Pierre and limit McMann's scope instead, I've decided to limit Pierre's scope because, being as he is so intentionally archetypal, I feel McMann should be the more wide-ranged hero. Pierre instead protects a town called Dufresne and its surrounding area. It's a town that was under siege from bandits and raids, but it was the first place to welcome Pierre when she came over from France, so she scared the bandits off as thanks and keeps the town safe.
Black-Eyed Murphy.
Once again written to be the ultimate example of his respective archetype, Black-Eyed Murphy exists as a representation of exactly how Mr. Shillingsby would conceive a representation of pure evil. Murphy is bloodthirsty, ruthless, and mows down anybody who stands in his way. It's a controversial debate in cinema as to exactly how many casualties a film should include, but I'm personally a big fan of extremely high stakes: the more people the villain kills, the better. Hector Stane will be introduced with a gaping wound inflicted by Murphy, or perhaps even wounds from torture, and will die of his wounds. I'll also have Murphy wound both McMann and Pierre, and have him kill Trevor Jenkins. I haven't made up my mind yet as to whether Shillingsby will survive the film or sacrifice himself.
The Works of Mr. Shillingsby
Below are the songs that I wrote for each of Shillingsby's characters. While the lyrics are all wholly original, all four songs are set roughly to the melody of Marty Robbins' rendition of Little Joe, the Wrangler, considered a classic cowboy ballad. This is partially because I feel that the melody is simply unparalleled in terms of recognisability and stylistic accuracy as a Western song, but also because, as previously stated, I cannot play an instrument and, though I did try, I proved almost impossible to compose an original melody that was actually any good.
Location Tests
From the inception of the concept I knew that a setting akin to a saloon wouldn't be too difficult to find and, as luck would have it, there's a bar immediately down the road from the college that suits the concept perfectly.
There are some modernised aspects in the pub that will need to be carefully avoided, though it is fortunate that the dark tone of indoor settings in Westerns allows for me to increase the white balance while filming and the exposure while editing, which is completely white-out the windows, thus obscuring any vehicles or passers-by outside.
The biggest obstacle with which I'm having to tackle when considering this concept is the presence of the piano in Jenkins' saloon. The existence of the entire plot revolves around Shillingsby playing the piano, and around the musical numbers which are set to a piano melody, so it's a crucial part of the concept. It's possible to shoot the scenes with Shillingsby playing the piano in a different location and then use some camera tricks to make it seem as though he remains in the same location after he steps away from the piano and into the pub set above, but this still doesn't solve the problem of how I access a piano in the first place.
There's also a scene I'd hope to include that features Guy McMann stepping out of the saloon and confronting Black-Eyed Murphy outside. While the dialogue would likely need to be dubbed, as the green-screen studio in the college is obscenely echoey, I have proven myself capable of using the green-screen to put an actor in the desert before, as it was a part of my Unit 9 project.
Costume tests
The benefit of working with such archetypal characters is that there is a huge wealth of sources from which to garner inspiration for their costumes. The downside is that the need to make each character distinctively archetypal means there are certain aspects of inspiration from which little can be drawn, as straying too much from the stereotype, while in now way a problem or something to avoid in film, contradicts the origin of the characters within the fiction.
Guy McMann.
The purpose of McMann's wardrobe is for him to be immediately recognised by the audience as the archetypal lead, the 'cowboy' character.
The stetson, waistcoat, and holster are obviously a given. One thing I noticed while looking through Westerns is that a surprising amount of the male leads wear a blue cotton shirt, a colour I wouldn't normally associate with the Western tone.
In these costume tests I wore a blue shirt myself and, as happy as I am with how they turned out, I think McMann's character would benefit from a wardrobe that's lighter in colour, as his influence isn't one of gunslingers, though that's certainly what he is, but taking into account how he perceives himself and how he is conceived by Shillingsby as an infallible hero I feel it would make more sense to give him some paler clothes.
Chelsea Pierre.
Dark and intimidating were the goal for Pierre's wardrobe. From how these costume tests turned out I think the outfit would benefit from just a little bit of light to help the character feel less uniform, as the slickness of the monochrome costume makes it feel a little more modern than I would like. A blouse in lieu of the henley would be all it takes to achieve this, adding both the lighter colour and the less uniform tone.
Otherwise, though, I'm happy with the result. I hadn't envisioned the character with heels, and my actress gave her a little more attitude than I expected, but a lot of shooting is going to revolve around the actors, and ultimately a film with such a distinct tone can be taken from good to great just through post-production, so the comfort of the actors is worth taking into account.
Black-Eyed Murphy.
Murphy is probably the character who has gone through the most redesigns, as the antagonists in Westerns are a much more diverse group than any other archetype, leaving a lot of conflicting aesthetics from which to choose the best influences.
The costume test provided left ended up with a slightly more modern aesthetic akin to No Country for Old Men, which certainly isn't a bad thing, but isn't what I expected.
I think the character will have to go through another redesign. As much as I like the costume it's not as rugged as I'd hoped and my actor wasn't very comfortable in it, due to the temperature and the limited range of motion.
A route I might head down for the character is more of a hunter/trapper wardrobe, with an assortment of pelts and scarves. I like the idea of giving Murphy a poncho rather than a coat.
Also included, below, is a test reel for the VFX that will be used for the appearance of Murphy's gouged-out eye in the shot where he removes his eye-patch.
This was achieved simply by masking around my actor's eye and imposing a specially made image of an eye cavity in the space, which is keyed to the movement of the actor's face so that the perspective follows the direction he's facing. The piece of flesh or sinew that crosses over the eye socket is simply imposed on, and is again keyed to specific points on the actor's face so that it maintains the correct position and perspective as the actor adjusts his expression or the direction he's facing.