Return of the Copperhead
Script Notes
Episode One, Scene One:
FADE IN:
1. MONTAGE:
A. EXT. BRIDGE: LONG FULL (NIGHT) (STOCK)
Bridge explodes in center. ("CAPTAIN AMERICA" EP. 10)
B. EXT. STEEL HIGH VOLTAGE TOWER: LONG FULL (STOCK)
Explosion at base of tower brings it down. ("DISC MAN" EP. 10)
C. EXT. WAREHOUSE: LONG FULL (STOCK)
Front half of warehouse explodes out. ("S.O.S. COAST GUARD" EP. 9)
D. EXT. RAILROAD: LONG FULL (NIGHT) (STOCK)
Two trains coming in opposite directions in SEPERATE CUTS.
A THIRD CUT shows the trains collide with terrific force.
("DRUMS OF FU MANCHU" EP. 1)
NTA offered to supply all stock footage except for any from "Captain America" for which they did not control the rights. This was not crucial as scenes of destruction are common so a substitution can easily be made, but it is unfortunate because Blackie particularly liked this one which is why he planned it as the first.
Return of the Copperhead
Script Notes
Episode One, Scene Two:
2. CONTINUED:
LANDERS:
He's too young and inexperienced to handle an
investigation this size.
NOLAND:
I think he has the right to try, and we should give
him that chance. Have you anything better?
LANDERS:
No. But this is obviously a ruthless gang that will
stop at nothing. We may be placing him in a situation
that he's incapable of handling.
At that moment the door behind Maxwell opens and BOB WAYNE enters.
BOB:
I assure you, Mr. Landers, that three years with
Uncle Sam's traveling show would sharpen anyone's
capabilities.
At the time that this was written Blackie had cast in his mind only a few of the roles. For most of the characters he was picturing actors that had appeared in all of the old movies and serials that he was so familiar with but who would at that time be much older or otherwise unavailable to play the part.
COREY, of course, was imagined and written as only Blackie could play it. Corey's foil, GREG, also had a real world casting but since that person wasn't available years later I'll leave his name out.
The problem was that (at Blackie's insistence) the role of BOB WAYNE / THE COPPERHEAD would be played by an actor who was at that time 17 years old. With the moustache he could pass for maybe 25. Hence the short duration of Bob's military career. By the time the camera actually rolled Michael Vaughn was 29 and Blackie decided that he'd prefer Bob without the moustache.
We could have rewritten the script as well but that goes to the matter of what we were trying to create. We made a lot of revisions to reflect what we could actually accomplish in the real world but ROTC was never intended to be a "modern" movie. The "roommate at the University" thing, even at the time that it was written, seemed to me a bit too naive but although we were compelled to film in the modern world we were trying to make a serial such as would have been made a generation or two earlier. A pastiche but never a parody. Some (okay, what the hell, all) of the "super science" aspects were a bit simplistic (control cells and negatronic waves) but were the sort of thing that might have been done in earlier serials. Some of the earliest drafts have references to things such as lasers, which were still kinda nifty new way back in '69, but eventually we adopted a more "the way the future was" point of view. As long as everyone in the serial took it seriously it should be okay. Keep in mind the target audience of the serials and leave your adult sophistication out of it, please.
Return of the Copperhead
Script Notes
Episode One, Scene Nine:
DISSOLVE TO:
9. EXT. INDUSTRIAL INSTITUTE: LONG FULL
This is an establishing shot of the building and grounds.
This building, an actual location, is presumably the house
of Parker's laboratory, and has a large parking lot along
side of it.
The script was written to be filmed in Worcester, Massachusetts. That may not be essential, but it was imagined as occurring in the real world there. To Blackie the City of Worcester was his back lot just like the Universal City back lot that he studied so much (and I'll tell you more about that, later.)
This is the first and, if recollection serves, the only place in the script where it is noted that the location is "actual." The significance of this is that at this early point in the script Blackie was writing a script such as might have been written for a studio, where third parties might need to be made aware of such details. By the time he was finished writing this sequence it was clear that the script was more personal to Blackie (see my note to Ep. 1-5.) and that such instructions would be superfluous. From this point on instead of:
30. EXT. THE RAVEN'S HEADQUARTERS
The script reads:
30. EXT. BANCROFT TOWER
And rather than:
46. EXT. PARKER'S APARTMENT BUILDING
The script reads:
46. EXT. 50 FRANKLIN STREET
There are references and "stage directions" throughout that refer to Federal Street, Portland Street, Foster Street and others that are not part of the story but were simply where the action would take place. Sequences occurring on fire escapes were written describing actual fire escapes that we had scouted and blocked out the action, often with Dave clambering up them without permission so Blackie could frame the action with his hands from various camera positions. Sometimes we weren't specific about a street or alley or warehouse district because we knew of several locations that would be suitable, though in some instances we'd have to find a building that would reasonably match stock footage. In Episode Two where it says:
21. EXT. WAREHOUSE: LONG FULL (ALLEY ADJOINING PARKING LOT)
Corey, Greg and an n.d. heavy step to the rear door, presumably
the warehouse.
We just said it was the warehouse so how is it now "presumably" the warehouse? That's because we knew that it was actually the alley and side doors of the Capitol Theatre. When we wrote EXT. BRIDGE and EXT. LAKE it wasn't necessary to specify that of course we meant the bridge at Lake Quinsigamond.
Return of the Copperhead
Script Notes
Episode One, Scene Twenty-five:
(TRACK FOR ABOVE CHASE FROM "CRIMSON GHOST" EP. 5 END)
This simple direction says so much about Blackie that it's hard for me to know where to begin. In some ways there's a whole biography wrapped up in it and I intend to write in some detail about him, but not tucked away in the script notes.
For now I'll just point out that Blackie knew (and could whistle) the complete musical scores for hundreds of movies. It was unremarkable, to him, that he would write car chases and fight scenes in time to the music found in various chapters of various serials.
Perhaps you don't find musical memory all that remarkable either, though I may be failing to convey the staggering volume of Blackie's knowledge. But wait, the script says "track," not "musical score." Check the fight scene in Episode Eight scenes 77 thru 91 where it says: (TRACK TO THIS POINT FROM "PURPLE MONSTER" EP. 12 MIDDLE). Blackie wrote these sitting at a typewriter, from memory, to match the sound track including music and sound effects. Afterward we'd review the chapter to confirm that he had the timing correct.
Throughout the script where it says "track" it means that this includes sound effects such as an automobile accelerating uphill, glass breaking, or a fire crackling. By matching the action to pre-existing sound effects it was anticipated that post production foley work would be greatly reduced, but it also means that this is a script intended to be directed and edited by a unique individual.
Just as there were places where we didn't specify the location because we knew where it was, so too I'm sure there are places where Blackie didn't note the musical score that he intended to be used. But I wouldn't know about that.