Author Topic: Live Action Noir in Production  (Read 169066 times)

fluffy

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Re: Live Action Noir in Production
« Reply #75 on: August 17, 2011, 12:37:41 AM »
So...

I have a friend who has a paid Showfax account (which lets you download the sides for free) and they let me peak at the sides. I won't upload them because I don't want to get my friend in trouble (the sides are time stamped). And I won't transcribe the script word for word on a public forum because I'm pretty sure that's illegal and I don't want to get this site in trouble.

I'm just going to briefly summarize here. I know that posters on TWOP and other spoiler sites often post summaries of Showfax sides, so I'm guessing it's ok? If it's not ok, Fellini, just say the word and I'll gladly delete them. Or you can delete them with your modly powers. Anyway...

Kirika and Mireille:

Spoiler: show

An early conversation between Mireille and Kirika, while they're assembling their guns in Mireille's apartment.

A lot of this scene is taken directly from the anime: Mireille asks for a knife, and Kirika does that knife flip thing and they stare at each other for a beat... taken right from that veggie peeling scene in "Daily Bread". Kirika muses on not feeling anything when she kills. The rest is basically their first conversation in the anime (the one they have in Kirika's house in episode one), with minor changes. No mention of a watch, and they already know about the Soldats.

(The main difference that stands out to me is that Kirika isn't a submissive puppy like she is in the anime. Here, she's more insistent and confident, in a creepy way. She actually reminds me a little of Chloe here, with her cool demeanor and creepy inappropriate smiling during tense conversations. )

When Mireille says that she'll kill her once they discover the truth about Soldats, Kirika doesn't just accept it like she does in the anime. She says she won't be Mireille's dog. She picks up the knife and they have a tense gun vs. knife stand-off. Mireille actually tries to shoot her but the gun isn't fully assembled  (and Kirika knows it because she has the missing part). For a moment, it seems Kirika is going to kill her, but Kirika backs down. Kirika says they're a team whether Mireille likes it or not.


Kirika and Milosh: (Warning: These scenes contain spoilers, and may result in a strong urge to scrub your mind with brain bleach.)

Spoiler: show

First scene: Here, Milosh is a student who reads poetry to Kirika. She says she doesn't know what love is. He kisses her, spouts more poetic BS. Kirika removes her clothes and bluntly asks him if he wants to "fuck" her. She isn't shy about it at all. They have sex and Kirika is really happy about it. She says she loves him, makes him say that he loves her too, makes him promise he'll never say it to anyone else.

Second scene: Kirika catches Milosh screwing another girl while declaring his love. Kirika is upset because he said he loved the other girl. Milosh tries to apologize and the other girl says he's a dog. Kirika mortally wounds the girl in a gruesome manner before stabbing Milosh.


John:

Spoiler: show

The first scene takes place at Yann's club, The Libertine. It's just Mireille and John being sappy and in love and talking about their new engagement; John has some kind of surprise planned for her.

It transitions into the introduction of Smith and his CIA buddy Lawrence Bruce, who are also at the club. They talk about John: He was a war hero, now he's basically a beatnik, blah blah. Everything they say here is mentioned in the character descriptions. Smith and Bruce go to talk to John and Mireille.

Next scene is Mireille's apartment - more John/Mireille sappiness. They talk about inviting John's dad to the wedding, they mention more stuff about John's background that we already knew from the character descriptions. Mireille wants John's dad to like her.


Smith and Mireille: - These parts of the sides contain spoilers for a subplot involving Mireille, Smith and John.

Spoiler: show
Basically, Smith has dealings with the Russians. He also owes Yann a buttload of money. He meets with Viktor, a Russian who wants Smith to do him a favor in exchange for money to pay off Yann.

Next scene is Mireille walking into Smith's office. She says Viktor just showed her pics of John with a dead girl in a hotel room, and she wants an explanation.

Smith says it's how he met John: it was years ago, before Mireille met John, and the girl OD'ed while she and John were getting high. John's dad hired Smith to cover it up. Smith gave those pictures to Viktor to use as blackmail material, to get Mireille to do what he wants. Mireille is pissed, and slaps him, says she could kill him for selling John out to the Russians. Smith says he'll make it go away if Mireille just does as she's told and acts as a courier for Viktor.

It's mentioned that Mireille has only known John for nine months.

Next scene is at Mireille's apartment. She's injured from some sort of scuffle. Smith shows up while she's cleaning up. He's upset with her for killing someone (I think his buddy Bruce, but I can't be sure from the little bits they've given here). Mireille is pissed, she shoves him against the wall and puts a knife to his throat. They argue about the job.

Kirika is in Mireille's apartment, sneaking around and listening. It's implied that Mireille is keeping her a secret from Smith.

Anyway, Mireille gives Smith some microfilm that she got during the exchange that they're fighting about. She asks him if he's seen John, since she left him while he was tripping on acid to make the exchange. They mention that Mireille still has to deliver something to Viktor; Smith says to give him some time. She says she wants John's file, and all of the pics and negatives of John with that dead girl, in return for making the delivery. Smith agrees and leaves.

Mireille meets Viktor, who refuses to give her the pics of John and threatens to keep blackmailing them both. Of course, Mireille kills him.

Next scene is Mireille's apartment again. Smith shows up to give Mireille all of the incriminating files on John. She tells him she killed Viktor, and he gets angry. He says he spent two years setting up his cover, getting Viktor to trust him, and now he has to do it all over again with a new KGB contact. Mireille doesn't give a fuck.

Smith makes a remark about what John would do if he knew Mireille was the assassin Noir. This angers Mireille; she grabs him by the junk, takes his gun and points it at him. She says that if he ever tells John about this, she'll kill him.

Mireille says that she really, truly loves John and just wants to settle down with him. Mireille says that as far as the world is concerned, Noir is now retired.


Yann: - again, this spoils the ending to a subplot, this time involving Yann and Brigitte.

Spoiler: show

The first scene sets up Yann as the owner of The Libertine. After a french couple pays him to get in, John and Mireille show up, they joke around a bit. They clearly know each other pretty well. When Smith tries to go in, Yann grabs him and says he owes him money; If Smith doesn't pay up in three days, Yann will come after him.

Next scene: Yann's office. Brigitte shows up. I think she's Yann's business partner. They're snippy with each other in an old married couple kind of way.

Brigitte asks if Smith still owes them money; she thinks there's something going on with him and Mireille. They deduce that Smith is probably trying to get Mireille to help him with his money troubles. Brigitte is protective of Mireille: She says that if Smith hurts Mireille, he should suffer. Yann says that if he doesn't pay what he owes, he will suffer. Brigitte says they need to be careful because Smith is CIA. Yann doesn't care. This is their city. They have a reputation and can't be perceived as weak.

Next scene: The Libertine. Yann punches the crap out of a big punching bag with his lieutenant, Benoit watching. But the punching bag actually has a person in it: some guy named Luc, who's being tortured for information. Yann says that if Luc tells him the truth, Luc gets a quick death. Otherwise, the torture will continue.

Luc says it wasn't him who betrayed Yann; Yann says he's lying because only Luc knew about the shipment. Yann says he'll let him live if he gives up the name of his enemy. Luc refuses, Yann shoots him in the kneecaps.

Brigitte shows up and reveals that it was her. She was the one who betrayed Yann. Yann is clearly hurt by this revelation. He shoots Luc and Benoit, saying that no one can know it was her. Brigitte expects to be killed next. He's very emotionally distraught over this situation. He says that he loves her. Brigitte, equally distraught, says she loves him too.

He tells Brigitte to go make him a drink; she leaves. Yann looks a the loyal men he just killed for her, and cries.

(I can't help but notice how this mirrors Mireille and Kirika's emotional conflict in the anime - are they transferring that emotional dynamic to these side characters, and doing something completely different for Mireille and Kirika this time around? Or is this deliberate foreshadowing?)


Alice:

Spoiler: show

Scene 1: Alice shows up at The Libertine, to confront John and Mireille about their engagement. She slaps John, calls Mireille a bitch, tells John that he'll regret this and flounces away.

Scene 2: Alice answers her door wearing nothing but a towel. Brigitte has shown up at Alice's apartment, wanting to see John. Alice refuses at first, but Brigitte pushes open the door, smashing it into Alice's face. Alices whines, calls her a bitch, says she broke her nose and dammit, she's a model! Brigitte grabs her by the hair, inspects Alice's bloody nose and says no, it's not broken. Brigitte takes the towel that Alice is wearing and shoves it onto her face to stop the bleeding.

John is there. Alice says that Mireille left him to run an errand while he was on a bad acid trip, and that Alice decided to look after him, resulting in them having sex. John is regretful about it, saying that he was too fucked up to know what he was doing. Brigitte points out that he'd better tell Mireille about this, or Alice will.

(Not gonna lie, I'm kind of liking Brigitte. She seems pretty badass. I wonder why she doesn't have a character description?)
« Last Edit: August 19, 2011, 12:00:57 AM by fluffy »

UNtrue Noir

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Re: Live Action Noir in Production
« Reply #76 on: August 17, 2011, 01:30:06 AM »
I'm a little reluctant to say that those descriptions were acceptable, but the lowest possible level of acceptable. For an adaptation. Still very against this whole story rewrite though. Fluffy, is it possible for you to PM the actual sides? Or are you uncomfortable doing that? Because I would very much like to see them.

I'm also liking Brigitte a bit too. Guess she's not the Altena.
What am I supposed to say? 'Hi my name is Jodie, I like watching sunsets, taking long walks on the beach, oh and I'm smoking hot'?

GhostFriendly

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Re: Live Action Noir in Production
« Reply #77 on: August 17, 2011, 03:44:24 AM »
Yann and Bridgitte have some good drama, but I didn't think much of Yann's character description and it might as well be another series.

Poor Kirika...I guess the silent/emotionless girl moe of Rei Ayanami isn't something normal producers can grasp. Kirika's meek and quiet nature makes her self destructive tendencies and murderous abilities that much more striking.

Foxmitten

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Re: Live Action Noir in Production
« Reply #78 on: August 19, 2011, 12:52:19 AM »
Having seen the character sheets, at first I was completely disgusted. I still am to an extent, but I must say that some of the changes intrigue me - I like the 60s time period, the raised ages of Mireille and Kirika, the drug abuse aspects sound interesting and I like how Kirika has a stronger personality. Hell, I can even cope with Kirika's willingness to fuck a stranger, so long as it's portrayed as an aspect of her addled mental state.

I'm still not happy about 'muslim cult' Soldats, I think that's an awful decision, it repulses me. And I'm not happy with the amount of American characters. It's not that I'm anti-American obviously, but really, is this what Starz thinks the audience wants? And this Smith guy and his 'badboy sexy CIA' self. Urgh. I was hoping he'd just be a redshirt who gets killed halfway through, but I don't think that'll be the case.

All I can say is that the IMDB message board for Noir (2012) is a platform for fans to be heard, if the makers are willing to listen. Thank you to the people here who got the information about it. I'll keep up with all the developments, even if I don't like them.

Foxmitten

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Re: Live Action Noir in Production
« Reply #79 on: August 20, 2011, 09:03:43 PM »
I didn't mean to kill the conversation...

Anyway, out of curiousity I googled the terms 'mireille dubois noir' and found that casting auditions are in progress. Here's someone reading for Mireille. (There's another video of another actress for Mireille too, but that one's locked.) http://vimeo.com/27277525

I am dismayed. No offense to the woman personally, but she seems a bit... well. More inclined to an adult genre, is the polite way of saying it. Not refined or aloof - her reading sounds vacuous, whereas Mireille is meant to be highly intelligent. And her accent, although English is probably her second language, is far too Americanized for her to pass as Western European. Does anyone else like her? Am I being too harsh/mean? I hope she isn't typical of the selection...
« Last Edit: August 20, 2011, 09:25:51 PM by Foxmitten »

noirlax

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Re: Live Action Noir in Production
« Reply #80 on: August 20, 2011, 09:56:46 PM »
I think this particular actress is playing in a way that is nowhere as classy as the original Mireille. But to be fair to her, if you look at another of her videos she can be more sophisticated. I'm afraid that's just been just how she's been told to act or audition like.
"Even when...I was in a crowd, I was always alone." Mireille Bouquet

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fluffy

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Re: Live Action Noir in Production
« Reply #81 on: August 20, 2011, 10:35:12 PM »
Ah, good find! I didn't think to look for audition videos. Yeah, I agree... I'm not feeling that actress at all. Completely lacking the intensity that Mireille requires. Also, yes, way too American.

There will probably be tons of ladies auditioning for these roles though, many of whom will make videos of their readings, so I'm not too worried about that particular actress getting the part. As for her being typical of the selection... well, she probably is, tbh. But hopefully that's where the casting director will do his job and find someone who stands out from the others.

After reading Foxmitten's post (welcome to the forums, btw ;)) I did another quick search and there's also videos of two girls reading for Kirika (not nearly calm/cold enough in their delivery, imo) and another woman who at least tries having a French accent while reading for Mireille.

Foxmitten

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Re: Live Action Noir in Production
« Reply #82 on: August 20, 2011, 11:06:04 PM »
Thanks for the welcome :)

Good work tracking down those ones. I prefer the second to the first Kirika, the first seemed more bratty, in a way. I suppose the angle for this Kirika is that she's no puppy and quite defiant. I don't know how that'll pan out for angst, it'll come across as an attitude problem, perhaps. We know she stands up to Mireille more, anyway.

The French accent was a good accent, I must say... the actress is Czech, judging by her name, I think, so it was quite realistic. Although I think Miri should have a more neutral accent. She doesn't seem a lilty character to me! I suppose I'm nit-picking. They're probably looking at hundreds of people, anyway, so I'll reserve my venom.

UNtrue Noir

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Re: Live Action Noir in Production
« Reply #83 on: August 21, 2011, 02:17:23 AM »
Err... is it just me or is this dialog terrible?

p.s. Welcome to the forum Foxmitten! :)
What am I supposed to say? 'Hi my name is Jodie, I like watching sunsets, taking long walks on the beach, oh and I'm smoking hot'?

Foxmitten

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Re: Live Action Noir in Production
« Reply #84 on: August 22, 2011, 03:01:58 AM »
Thanks, UNtrue!

Yeah, tell me about it. It sounds like an episode of Dallas.  ::)

origami

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Re: Live Action Noir in Production
« Reply #85 on: August 22, 2011, 03:11:06 PM »
wow.  this isn't really a loose adaptation; it's more like the anime inspired some elements of a different show.  This looks like a storyline more crafted toward a generic and somewhat sensationalist American audience.  Given that, I think it's safe to assume that the producers of this particular concept aren't really all that concerned with how us hard-core fans of the show (or even, really, casual anime fans) react to the material.  We're not the audience they are trying to win over -- I mean, it's a relatively small demographic.

I'm done.  I have a nice set of DVDs to visit whenever I want.
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fluffy

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Re: Live Action Noir in Production
« Reply #86 on: August 24, 2011, 02:42:40 PM »
Linking a few more audition videos just for the heck of it...

Another Mireille, and another who tries various accents

Another Kirika- this one's more aggressive in her delivery
Kirika again- this one at least referenced the anime for her choice of outfit :D
Kirikas everywhere

And a John and a Smith.


Foxmitten

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Re: Live Action Noir in Production
« Reply #87 on: August 24, 2011, 02:47:15 PM »
Fluffy, your detective skills are amazing. I'm gonna watch these after I've had a bath and 'zenned' myself so that I view them with less rage.

EDIT: Beh. None of them struck me as appropriate. Maybe the first Mireille, but her acting skills seemed lacking, it looked very forced and like she was trying not to smile half the time... don't know why. The second Mireille looked aggressive and a bit unhinged. I liked the French accent in the first video, don't know what she was trying to go for in the 'multiple accents' video.

The Kirika batch was largely forgettable. I did like how the one who dressed up anime style delivered her lines more, but she looked too old. And I cringed when the last one said "I'm reading for KiREEEka!" Good God. Hahaha.

Well, I feel like a judgemental bitch now. I'm still going to watch all the audition videos. Although if I do actually like someone, chances are they won't cast her anyway.  ;D
« Last Edit: August 24, 2011, 08:33:14 PM by Foxmitten »

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Re: Live Action Noir in Production
« Reply #88 on: August 24, 2011, 07:31:17 PM »
I think I'm going to avoid watching any auditions, so I won't rage unnecessarily. I'll just wait for the official cast announcement, whenever that is.

But I did see the first second of the Kirika dresser-upper, and I cringed as well lol.
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AlexShadow

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Re: Live Action Noir in Production
« Reply #89 on: August 24, 2011, 08:15:03 PM »
Every audition I see for Kirika, it looks like these people are in their 30s.  I can understand they probably won't want to cast an actual teenager for Kirika but really looks like Dawson Casting at its worst.  It can't be that hard to find a young 20 something year old Asian female.