The Positive Dystopian Part III - Greenlight a Go-Go

Part Three

Milton's plan with the production was making progress. He had gotten himself an agent (or was that the other way round). The re-worked script had made it through the stage where green-lighting was being considered. Various meetings had been held about how the movie could possibly be made. Production supervisors, script editors, special effects experts, set designers and storyboard artists put together long ages of notes explaining difficulties and possible solutions. They all agreed the script looked fun but it also held many technical challenges.

Milton had to be careful and not offer ideas which were too ahead of their time – or at least he thought so until he realised they were already ahead of him even with the available technology. He learned that although it was envisaged as being shot in Cinemascope he was surprised to learn the Director of Photography had already requested that instead of the standard Bausch and Lomb lenses that lenses made by a new outfit called Panavision be used, based on the test footage he had seen on an Elizabeth Taylor Epic still being shot. Discussion was held about how they were going to get the footage from England – which was quickly turned around when one of the accountants discussed tax credits and funds held in the UK – the UK sequence would effectively be paid for by the UK tax man.

His ownership of the script and the effective control by using his independent company to act as the owner of the production, with 20th Century Fox bank-rolling in the form of a “loan” was tax efficient and meant the production could be listed as a loss on the initial start of the production.

The next part would be crucial – casting.

The main lead needed someone who looked like they could be the roustabout tough drinking oil prospector. There were a few to choose but always lead back to one man, John Wayne. This inevitably lead to who he could work with and look good on screen, who could match him. A list was pulled together of actors who could fulfil the requirements. As many were somewhat interchangeable this could be worked later on. The British cast would be less expensive but could be equally difficult but Milton stated he envisaged someone like James Robertson-Justice as the scientist who actually makes the discovery. The English Sequence would not be too big needed some crucial talent – in terms of actors they intended to initially contact the agents for:-

• James Robertson Justice
• Richard Wattis
• John Le Messurier
• David Farrar

With Sam Kydd being considered for the Door Security (The joke being made it was something about British Law and Sam Kydd appearing in all British productions – cue laughter.)

As with all productions a flurry of memos from the various Departments and senior executives ended up being mountains of back and forth questions. Milton at first wondered how they worked then settled them in his mind as being “Analogue Emails”. As budgets were being costed and drawn up a memo came from Spyros P. Skouras (the big boss) regarding the efficiency of British Crews. Milton listened to the call from the Production Manager to Skouras - “Yeah yeah, the word is they are slow, its true they are slow but they're quick – but when you get it back it looks great. They're used to not doing coverage if its not needed. Tell them what you want and you get it and then some. With special effects their guys are as good as our guys – and even better if you have to use travelling mattes or matte paintings. But they prefer to use Blue Screen whereas we prefer to use process.”

Milton learned the stages from getting the green-light to actual shooting was a long and hard one – even allowing for the fact there was effectively a full blown production line of available talent.

The day the official green-light came through. Much celebrating and posing for photographs. Scripts being printed, storyboards constructed and shooting schedules arranged, multiple First Units set up to cover footage shot on location in the USA and the UK, permissions and licences paid for. Even Jodrell Bank in the UK opened its doors to the film crews to shoot some of the sequences. First the sets had to be constructed, colour testing for the costumes, costume tests, film stock test to find the right combination, laboratory liaison in Hollywood and London, local casting and more.

Milton learned the shooting of a large scale movie at this time was like the moving of an army – but one where it has to clean up after itself. The Logistics crew had to be informed and prepped, the location mangers had to have the right equipment there – ready to use. The crane companies had to get to the right place and the stars had to have their “comforts”.

Two weeks into principal photography he walked towards the office assigned to him on the 20th Century Lot when he he felt that buzzing again from his phone, the Bluetooth signalling. He stopped and looked around but could not see who was signalling but knew it could not be far. He figured he was being signalled so he was aware his secret was not as hidden as he thought.

Milton travelled out to the Desert near Death Valley where they were filming the Oil drilling sequence. He realised the scale of the set would be smaller but was still impressed by the scale. He watched as he saw John Wayne, Ward Bond, Cameron Mitchell, Bruce Cabot, Harry Carey Junior, Ben Johnson and Pedro Armandariz carefully rehearse their actions, moves and minor stunts (and some not so minor) as they prepared for the shots and marked out where the cameras would need to be – and the time of day he shot needed to be done for colour, the sky and lighting. This was early in the morning but shooting would not commence for a couple of hours. He watched as these experienced actors discussed with the directors and technicians and then listen as new ideas came forth. Milton remembered that some of these actors had also been stunt performers themselves as they limbered up and got themselves ready. Milton noticed the make-up was a lot heavier and the lighting larger, heavier and hotter than those he had seen in the 21st century and still there were the reflectors and smaller fill-in lights. He expected to see an army of cameras but was surprised to see only 2 main cameras and a relatively small hand-held. However the size and bulk of the Chapman cranes really impressed him as well as the numbers of crew moving the equipment, but they did not get to the huge heights of the techno-cranes he had seen. He also noticed the rails were wider and stronger than ones he had seen before, but then the cameras themselves weighed hundreds of pounds more, especially when they were bulked out by their sound hoods.

He noticed that the actual camera crew kept the film in a heavily air conditioned van to keep the film cool. He knew the temperature could affect how the film reacted – and the price of colour stock and the effort of getting the material out here meant this was a cost which had to be carefully allowed for. That and the fact they would not continuously film as he had done with digital cameras. They were limited to a few minutes of filming per magazine – which contributed to it being a known ratio that a good day would only produce two minutes of usable footage.

The Unit Director recognised Milton and walked over to him glaring “I don't appreciate the back office looking over my shoulder!”.

Milton looked at him then spoke softly “I didn't come here to interfere – I came here to gawp. Things look okay. They look like they know what they're doing.”

The Unit Director relaxed “Oh yeah they do – they're practically directing it themselves – and I'm letting them. They know the script and they know the cadence and style. Don't tell the back office but we seem to be about half a day ahead – but that can change!”.

Suddenly a shot rings out, Milton ducks down hard as the Director, cast and crew continue as nothing happened. They all see him duck and start laughing. John Wayne's voice boomed out “Did something bother you there?”

Milton thought quickly and realised these were not men of the 21st Century but a tougher breed. The response came out before he thought about it – in the style of a fifties man “I thought my ex-wife had caught up with me!”. They laugh and come over and start showing scars received from current and ex-wives, girlfriends and mistresses (or so they claimed).

Milton saw an assistant director walking towards the set, a colt peacemaker in his right hand and the body of a rattlesnake in the other - its head clearly shot off.

Present Day

The Detective tapped his jacket pocket and felt the DVD which held the processed images he initially thought of as being just coincidental. He felt completely unsettled by what he noticed in the images. What he saw was impossible – it could not happen, It should not happen – but it appeared to have happened. All this time he had been looking at pictures of the man he was after. He had assumed they were just resemblances – like family looks which moved down the centuries.

He returned to his desk after visiting the AP Archives and then set about going through the information he had on record. He realised he would have to set up the data trail so everything looked correct – as if he had not been given an impossible clue. The Chief Archivist's warning about other enforcement departments expressing interests – but also seeming to know where to look at the start. He also realised by the way they searched they did not know their photographic history – the assumption of a default 35mm format meant they sequestered versions they would be happy with, but not realising they had effectively just locked away a Xerox.

The trail he could ascertain and explain to his superiors had gone cold – the guy had vanished. His report would have to reflect the apparent lack of progress. He knew he had the where and when – but they were logically impossible. He would have to find out the “How?”.

He contacted a friend who specialised in robberies a couple of floors up. “Hey Wilson, you know how strange shit sometimes seems connected – have you had any robberies which make no real sense? You know beyond the usual dipshit drug stuff – the 'what the fucks?' or 'You got to be Joking?'. I have a feeling I might find a connection.”

Wilson chuckled “Do you need a fresh pair of ears or eyes – or do you just need your eyes checked?”

The detective parried “Naah – I like them the color they are”

“C'mon up – I could do with someone else looking at some of these fresh, too”

The detective took the Milton Case file with him, carefully ensuring his private notes were not visible. Wilson called him into the room he occupied, files all over the place, some obviously very old and which should have been archived long ago. Wilson loved the cold cases – and he loved it when a bunch of cases got resolved when connections were found. But such successes were rare. Wilson handed the Detective a newish file – a copy from a different different sheriff's area given out just to ensure the record showed “all efforts made” - officially.

The detective looked at the file and read through it. The crime looked strange – totally pointless. He read further down and when he read the ages of the items recorded he stopped. His breathing altered slightly and a faint chill moved through his back. He noticed the report was from San Dimas – which was noted as being one of the safer areas in California, having only had one murder in 2018. The robbery was strange – sheets of dollar bills, uncut from the 1950's, unused and untouched. There was no violence, the damage had been minimal and other more valuable items had been unmolested. Of course no strange fingerprints, not even DNA. A copy of the newspaper report was attached in the file – its summary was almost as useful as the original Sheriff's report:-

“The number of notes stolen was small but they were all undistributed notes on sheets printed in the mid 1950's along with coins from that era. The San Dimas Sheriff's Department expressed its relief that the crime occurred without violence. The collector was somewhat bemused as the value of the notes was not particularly high and only of academic interest. The face value of the notes themselves was only few thousand dollars.”

He looked deeper in the file and saw that the sheets had been scanned for insurance purposes and there was a list of the serial numbers. The Detective looked at Wilson “Do you know if these are originals? I mean I can't see why anyone would bother forging something like this – but then you never know what has value!”

Wilson looked at him as if he was crazy “This stuff is real nerd shit. There would be no point in forging a note no-one has used. I did ask and the owner seemed to have all the documentation and provenances. What are you thinking?”

“A long shot – an impossibility. Have the numbers ever come up in connection with another crime? I mean if there is a possibility these were forged or duplicates it won't hurt to check.”

Wilson laughed out loud “That is a dumb idea. I like it. But I think the Lieutenant might get suspicious if it looks like I am doing so real detective work. I don't like the idea of typing all those number in though.”

“Wilson, ask the owner if he has a list of the numbers on a spreadsheet or word list. Its a little less work.”

Wilson looked at him and then down at the file about Milton “So what about this one?”

The Detective opens the file. “This one is real Hollywood shit. Milton Klausen, an independent film maker based in Brentwood, person of interest regarding a robbery from a Downtown Los Angeles Vault Storage Facility of a pristine-unmarked original Script. The Script was a signed copy placed in storage by Jerry Bruckheimer, and was of one his most successful films – the 1998 actioner “Armageddon”.” But you know what its like – Chief wants to keep the 'Studios' sweet. The dates of the robberies are close – just a day apart.”

They both said the word together - “Coincidence!” - then they both impersonated an old beat cop they trained with as rookies “I don't never trust 'coincidences'!”.

Positive Dystopan part II

The Positive Dystopian Part 1

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