Build a Scene
To help you get started, imagine a place you recently visited.
Fill in the blanks, where appropriate, with specific adjectives and nouns or prepositional phrases.
Time/Place:
Temperature/Season:
Lighting/Sounds/Smells
I see _________________________
I hear ________________________
I smell ________________________
I taste ________________________
Symbols/Images:
Movements:
I walk ________________________
I run _________________________
I hold _________________________
Dialogue:
7 comments:
Time/Place:
– Mid-Afternoon, isle seat on a Boeing 737
Temperature/Season:
– Chilled, crisp air blowing from the cylindrical vent overhead
– Transition from fall to winter – when the trees still have a trace of honeyed leaves
Lights/Sounds/Smells:
– Shady/shadowy with beams of light breaking through plastic windowpanes
– Dull chatter with no sharp noises or movements, rustling newspapers
– Smells like brewing coffee
– taste of tomato juice and salted peanuts
Symbols/Images:
– Fasten seat belt and no smoking sign
– Wide eyes and smiles from flight attendants – calming, inviting, everything is going to be alright.
– Plastic wings, patches, navy blue uniforms, service style hats, brass buttons
Movements:
– I sit -- strapped to my seat.
– I hold a napkin coated Dixie cup.
– I rock the cup back and forth in my hand making the ice shake inside the tomato juice.
– I stare down the isle watching the passengers, and occasionally, I glance at my companion for reassurance.
Dialog:
“Please return your seats to their full and upright position, and secure your tray tables.”
“Please take a moment to find your nearest exit, and keep in mind that it might be behind you.”
“Would you care for a beverage?”
Time/Place: 2:00 p.m. on a sat. at my apartment’s pool.
Temperature/Season: 98 degrees in the summer
Lighting/Sounds/Smells
I see children splashing and parents laying out, talking about their day jobs. Someone’s Mickey Mouse sunglasses are floating near the deep end where the kids are playing Marco Polo.
I hear the sound of constant traffic on University Boulevard. A dog barks from behind me as it manages to break away from its owner. One of the kids apologizes for splashing my paperback and I turn to hear my name from the manager of the apartment. I forgot to pay rent this month.
I smell chlorine and coconut suntan lotion. It’s an ironically tropical smell for a fenced in concrete area. There is a faint smell of body odor as I realize my dip in the pool washed off my deodorant.
I taste cigarettes. Salty cigarettes. The sweat dripping down my face has made it to my lips where it is absorbed by the filter of a Malboro Menthol Light. I can’t wait to quit. This might be the year.
Symbols/Images: Black stick figures jumping into the shallow with huge red Xs foreshadowing paralysis. A flashing dollar sign on an overpriced can drink machine.
Movements:
I walk around the pool. I know no one and the pool is full, so where can I jump in?
I run back up to my apartment. I can’t stand walking up stairs. I just assume run and skip every other step to get it over with.
I hold my keys, cell-phone (as if anyone was going to call) and a paperback. The damp copy of Vonnegut’s “Cat’s Cradle” is laid open to dry in my left hand. It's a good thing it ruined a couple of the chapters I was already done with.
Time/Place: November, 2006; Bahia Solano, Colombia
Temperature/Season: comfortable, a little chilly, wet season
Lighting/Sounds/Smells
I see rain, waterfall, foliage, jungle, rocks, rushing water
I hear the waterfall, Elkin instructing me in Spanish
I smell fresh air
I taste ________________________
Symbols/Images: broken sky through tree tops, undertow at the foot of the waterfall
Movements: water flowing off the cliff, climbing up the rocks, diving into the resevoir
I walk down a beaten path, through think foliage, waste-deep in the river, on top of rocks, across a fallen tree.
I run in anticipation as I get closer to the waterfall.
I hold my camera, a few rocks, some limbs for balance as I lose my footing.
Dialogue: something in Spanish, barely audible English from the reservoir as I’m halfway up the rock wall, conversation about how beautiful it is
Time/Place:
Late afternoon; Chapel Hill Cemetery
Temperature/Season:
Slightly cold; winter in the South. Chilly and wet at the same time but no chance of snow.
Lighting/Sounds/Smells:
The sun is going down. It’s still above the horizon – makes everything golden. The rain stopped about an hour ago. Everything glows – sunset reflected in water droplets.
Quiet sounds: leaves rustling, wind in the trees, water drips from the tree branches sounding something like crackling – static electricity.
Earth: the smell of wet dirt, rotting leaves. Fresh air, smog free.
Metallic taste, like a current of copper on the breeze.
Symbols/Images:
An open book, names and dates engraved on the pages.
Movements:
Walking slowly up a hill, leg muscles flexing, relaxing. Heat coursing through the veins – movement after a passive car ride.
A small bouquet of roses moves with the steps – back and forth their petals brushing each other, off-white tipped in pink. A delicate sheer ribbon binds them together – fluttering in the breeze.
Dialogue:
“I’m here, a year late, but I made it…I’m sorry.”
Time and place: 1 p.m. in downtown Mobile, on the front porch at Spot of Tea Restaurant, on a Monday.
Temperature and season: Warm, almost perfect 72 degrees in January.
Lighting, sounds and smells
I see: diners, swaying trees, the looming Cathedral, my sister, stray dogs and slow moving cars.
I hear: the soft splash of the fountain, voices, but it is mostly quiet.
I smell: grilled sandwiches oozing with cheese.
I taste: watered down soda and lettuce.
Symbols and images: unlit lamp posts, modern metal bike racks, signs, oak trees.
I walk: to my destination under oaks, past parking meters, on a small sidewalk where it seems many other feet have never tread.
I hold: a thin laminated paper menu.
Mood: Jovial and appreciative of the weather.
Dialogue: A messy, broken conversation with my sister, interrupted by the would-be city councilman beside me.
“Man that dogs going to get hit, walking in the street. He thinks it's Mardi Gras.”
Time/Place:
-Morning, sitting in a chair on the beach.
Temperature/Season:
-Very warm, slight breeze blowing.
-Summer, Mid June
Lights/Sounds/Smells:
-Very Bright, Sun shining
-Seagulls calling out to one another.
The waves are gently breaking on the shoreline.A small group of people are talking in the distance.
-The air tastes salty when the sea breeze hits you.
Symbols/Images
-Sign posted when you first walk on to the beach stating that the beach is "public and that there are no glass containers allowed".
Movements:
-I sit...in my beach chair
-I walk...along the shoreline.
-I run...back to the shoreline as the waves begin to break.
-I hold...my sunglasses as I look around the beach.
Dialog:
"Does this spot look good?"
"Did you bring the floats?
Time/Place:
43 degrees; winter
Lighting/Sounds/Smells
I see a small black ant quickly walking across cream color walls.
I hear the cars fastly approaching and quickly passing my bedroom window.
I smell bacon frying in it's juices, and grits burning as I catch the ending part of the news.
Symbols/Images:
I walk slowly to the bathroom as I prepare for class.
I run out of the door, already 10 minutes late, to face another day of traffic.
I hold on to the steering wheel as a chase the car in front of me.
Post a Comment