Dramatic Scene from The Underdogs

     One of the discussion questions for The Underdogs asked us what scene from the story that we would choose to film and how we would film it.  I chose to dramatize the scene of the cock-fight from the end of the novel, and I kinda had some fun with it, so I decided to expand here in my blog.  It doesn't seem like the most exciting scene, I know, but I think I managed to make it pretty interesting.  First, a little information on the way I interpreted the events. I thought that the cock-fight was a metaphor for the revolution.  The chickens represent both the revolutionary and the federal soldiers.  They are thrown into an arena to fight and they aren’t really sure why they do it, but they fight desperately until the other is dead.  The chickens are a great comparison because, like the soldiers, they are controlled by invisible hands, forces that are much bigger than them.  Here's how I would shoot the scene.  

First shot:  Venancio violently snatches a chicken out of a cage in a nearby hut.  Meco does the same with a different chicken.  Valderrama begins to play a solemn tune from the guitar.

Second shot: Flash back to a teenage boy being pulled away from his mother and forced to join the Federal Army.  A different teenager is kicked out of his home after having an altercation with the police- he wanders until he stumbles into a rebel army and joins their ranks.  The same tune form the first shot is playing all the while in the background.

Third shot:  The chickens are being prepared for battle with knives strapped on their legs.  The arena is set.  A crowd begins to gather.  The tune changes.  It is now more up-beat and excitable.

Fourth shot: The soldiers are training and preparing for war.  They're given guns and ragged uniforms.  They practice shooting at glass bottles. They take their positions on the battlefield, full of raw excitement, ready to kill the enemy.  

Fifth shot:  The chickens are riled up.  The men begin to talk loudly, eagerly anticipating the fight.  The music gets louder and faster.  Bets are made.  The men are yelling now.  The chickens are placed into the arena.  The music stops.  The men are quiet.  The chickens hesitate, their eyes darting around.   All of a sudden, they attack in a whirlwind of claws, feathers, and blood.  In a matter of seconds, a chicken is dead and the fight is over.  The crowd disperses.  The winning chicken is placed back in his cage.  All is quiet.  

Sixth shot:  The two soldiers, eager for their first fight, run into battle.  Having fired off their first round at the earliest sign of movement, they are forced into hand-to hand combat. They meet in the middle.  Everything around them is chaos.  Both soldiers are yelling.  One of them thrusts his bayonet into the other's chest.  At that moment, the soldier looks at the face of the man he's just stabbed.  He recognizes him.  As he holds the dying soldier in his hands, memories flood his brain.  All is quiet; time seems to stop.  He remembers two young boys, laughing together as they jump off clay banks into a peaceful blue river.  End of scene.