Sunday, March 30, 2014

"Showtime"- Alejandro's "betrayal" of Talia

Double checking my posting log, this is my first entry on this platform since 1/26...
I wanted to post another entry or two involving my latest scribblings for this project, but I immediately got distracted by something else.

Then the Sochi Olympics happened and it's been hard for me to focus on much other than one of the Russian athletes.
Plus the fact I finally got some temp work going for me, so I've had little time for writing at all.

BUT on my commute the other day, I decided to listen to Nelly Furtado's album. The last time I listened to any of it, it's probably been months and I was starting to tire of hearing the same songs over and over... nothing new was really coming along.

My mind was buzzing with ideas and I couldn't get "Showtime" out of my head. At least not the visuals that come with it.
Visuals I most likely will never be able to use in the actual story, unless I decide to draft a music video screenplay for it. I did, however, create a catalog of sundresses that I see Talia, Vanessa and Scarlet prancing around in during this number.
I can't even figure what kind of choreography I'm visualizing. Kinda like ballet but without the legit steps like "en pointe" and "jutes"... stuff like that. But it's very feminine and free-flowing. The background has a Grecian terrace as a backdrop and they're dancing barefoot on cobblestones.

The scene I originally saw in my head was as follows:
Talia and the other girls are closing up shop for the night. They're packing up their things, putting on jackets, and Talia's quietly excited about going to meet with Alejandro.

Then I decided to make it a flashback in order to add more to Amber's storyline.

So the other day, I wrote a scene that takes place at the end of the first night described in my story. Meant to be Emilia's opening night as a dancer, opposed to just being among the several nameless back-up dancers the club picks up because they can afford to at least pay them minimum wage.
Alejandro offers his congratulations to everyone and tries to sweet-talk Talia, who is having none of it. In the opening track of this album, there's a solo rapped by a man somewhere in the middle. I picture Talia belly-dancing in response to Alejandro rapping [kinda like how Mayte had done for Prince in the past], all part of this act. But he jumps to the conclusion that she'd forgiven him and things get pretty intense.

The night follows where Vanessa decides to give Talia a hand and explain what went down.
In a nutshell, Talia went to meet Alejandro at his place, only to find him messing around with another girl.

I also drop a couple of plot pieces here and there leading to this. The biggest one is that Scarlet suggest a karaoke outing tomorrow night to help rebuild morale... ultimately leading to her meeting Juan Paulo for the first time.

Yesterday, or rather last night, I wrote out Talia's version of what happened in a 3rd person narrative. I decided also to kick it up a notch after she tells Vanessa what happened... to burn into her memory how cheap Alejandro made her feel, she decides to hook up with some of her clients... yeah, it's very sick and twisted, but I felt like that was something she'd do.

Today, I wrote Alejandro's take. Emilia decides to be the go-between and asks him about it.
Supposedly, at the same night Talia was going to meet Alejandro, he gets a visit from a clingy ex-girlfriend and Talia misinterpreted his hands all over her... which were that he was trying to break her grip on him.

It'll be interesting to see how this goes. Emilia knows this secret, but the timing is all wrong to say anything. Because Talia having deal with JP's unwelcome advances will take precedence. I wonder how that'll go on to affect the rest of the plot.

One last break-through I hit while doing this: I finally found Alejandro's voice.
Like Talia, he has a pronounced accent. My original thought was Ramon from "Romey & Michelle," but maybe there's a little of Mario Lopez as well.