Cazador del Oso
Scenes From the Storyboard
“A Jamaican Buffalo Soldier sent to Essex, MT to fight the “Big Burn” of 1910 becomes entangled with a local opium cartel and infamous whiskey bootlegger, “Anna” Josephine Doody; leading to his desertion into the Great Bear Wilderness and a serendipitous encounter with rural mail carrier, Mary Fields, who smuggles him to Bynum, MT where he is eventually caught by the cartel and their leader, “Oso,” resulting in a bloody gunfight.”
EXT. MCCARTHYVILLE MERCANTILE - NIGHT The camera stops on Yrrah’s mugshot posted on the end which reads: “Wanted, PFC Yrrah Ytrid - for abandoning his post in the line of duty, theft, murder.” Yrrah rips it off, crumples it up and stuffs it in his dreads, which he collects and ties into a bun atop his head. He looks around nervously, collecting his thoughts. TRACK FADES IN: “Hunting Bears,” by Zac Fawcett
Government-sponsored predator extermination programs of the late 1800s through 1917 included: Grizzly, Black bears, Wolves, Coyotes, Foxes, Mountain Lions, Bobcat, Lynx, Wolverine, Badger, Marten, Ermine, Otter, Mink, Fisher, Stoats, and even the Bald Eagle. When Charles B. Penrose, a doctor and surveyor for the Great Northern Railway enjoyed a day-off to hunt the fearsome Grizzly Bear high atop a 8800 ft peak overlooking the Nyack in 1908, he had no idea what he was in for. After glassing a nearby alpine meadow, he found a young white-phase griz in the alpine meadow nearby and shot it. As he approached his kill, a second and third bear (the bear’s mother and sibling) exploded from the pines nearby, charging him. Charles was able to shoot the sow twice before she ripped into him, rag-dolling him by the thigh. Before she could finish the job, she collapsed from blood loss. His companions were forced to commit surgery on him, and thanks to an active career as a doctor, Charles was able to successfully verbally coach them through life-saving surgical intervention, while bailing him off a 4000ft nearly-vertical cliff to the railway three miles below. The creek was later named Rescue Creek, the Mountain named Mt. Penrose, and the sprawling wilderness before them, the Great Bear Wilderness, after this storied event. (Fraley, Wild River Pioneers,pg 95-105, 2008). To the Blackfoot and Kootenai, the senseless killing of two white Grizzly Bears, likely heightened tensions between Colonial settlers. Grizzly bear, or “Boxiquay” in Piikuni, is believed to be half-man, half-animal, according to many North American tribes. The Piikuni do not refer to them by their name or speak of their name aloud due to their belief that it attracts them and their unpredictable natures, instead; they use nicknames when referring to them, to avoid unwanted invocation or spiritual attacks of opportunity. Sobriety in Grizzly country is important to uphold, because alcohol and drug use weakens one’s spiritual defenses. (Newbreast, Theda. Interview: 2/11/22). Cazador del Oso explores indigenous bear mythology to offer a heightened awareness of self, our inner dialogue from the Ego’s panel of unhelpful inner-voices; to playfully deconstruct the emotion-suppressing, violent “John Wayne” Western hero archetype. It’s a dub-Western with all the idiom’s cliches, offered through the lens of a Jamaican wildland firefighter.
EXT. ROAD BRIDGE - DAY MARY (CONT’D) What is it, Moses? She is clearly the least bit concerned, and turns her attention back to the ice bath she’s enjoying and the fine Maduro. She hums a tune and puffs her cigar. She grabs the shotgun and begins polishing the piece. Yrrah holds his awkward position, not sure if he should stay hidden, or if this fellow black woman, will be gentle towards him. He deliberates, worrying she could well be a bounty hunter all the same. He gambles on their colored natures, thinking he has a better chance at help from her , than with just about anyone else. Yrrah steps out from behind the tree to make his presence known. All too suddenly, Moses spooks, lunging into the carriage brake. Mary jumps up, spins, and FIRES the shotgun and Yrrah.
“ANGLE ON ANNA, who fires back at Fear, hitting him in the arm.” “Anna,” as the locals call her, is an ex dancehall madame turned whiskey-bootlegger. She spent years running from the law before washing up in the Nyack after being kidnapped from the dancehall in which she worked. She had lots of friends, and lots of enemies. Jealousy couldn’t leave her alone. Love triangles and conflict from and within her profession forced her into hiding. She became a whisky baronness, dropping crates of whisky via wooden row boat, at drops along the river/rail. A chance encounter with our protagonist wins her loyalty, providing life-support when things go south.
EXT. MOUNTAIN HILLSIDE - DAY Yrrah, sweaty from the climb, crests the hill. He stops and stares skyward as a red-tailed hawk surfs a thermal above him. ANGLE ON YRRAH’S FACE as the hawk’s nebulous shadow form dances across the ground’s irregularities, crossing Yrrah’s face.
EXT - CARIBBEAN ISLANDS ANGLE ON WOMAN, facing Yrrah. She has curly black hair, curves, and smiles at Yrrah. ANGLE ON YRRAH hiding in a tree, grinning, and dropping flower petals in front of his lover as she walks along a sandy trail near the beach. ANGLE ON WOMAN smiling, pretending not to notice him.
CUE TRACK “Sun Ra Dwellers,” by Zac Fawcett This piece is a dreamscape of our protagonist, Yrrah, bushwhacking through the wilderness of his mind. Unbeknownst to him, Despair watches from the alpine above, planning an attack on his bounty.
EXT. ELEVATION VIEW OF SLIPPERY BILL’S SALOON - DAY Oso enters the frame and walks up to the WANTED sign posted on the inside window pane. ANGLE ON OSO’S FACE. He draws a long puff from his cigar. The image of Yrrah and Oso crossfade with a slow zoom-in on Oso’s maniacal face dominating the scene.
ANGLE ON JENNY DEE, taking aim at Anger. She FIRES from her horse. CLOSE-UP ANGLE ON ANGER, who gets whipped back a foot by the round tearing through his torso. He falls to his knees, face goes pale, and Anger collapses in the dirt.
EXT. BYNUM -11:59am ANGLE ON FEAR, Fear makes way for Anger. ANGLE ON ANGER who rushes up to Dan, GRABS him by the shirt collar, lifts him up with his left hand and hits him in the face. Dan is knocked senseless, then takes a second blow to the face, and goes down.
“YRRAH steps out out from the boulder to confront Oso (in synch with the opening slide-guitar riff, in the film’s title track “Cazador del Oso Full Length)” ANGLE ON OSO, who steps out and moves towards him. (slide guitar B) CLOSE SHOT of Yrrah’s eyes, which squint in disdain and rage. (slide guitar A) CLOSE SHOT of Oso’s eyes, which return a disgusted, crazed glare back at him. (slide guitar B)
ANGLE ON RED-TAILED HAWK which appears from a low cloud cell, sun to its back, cries out, and tucks its wings as it begins to dive toward them. (in sync with the “red tailed hawk cry in the track, Cazador del Oso, by Zac Fawcett, at 0:30)
I scored this gorgeous and fully functional wind-up gramophone from my friend and bandmate, Neil “King Cornelius” Batterson. I was drawn to its combination of beauty and Newtonian physics given its prevalence of use during the late 1800s-1920s. When I was painting some other works for Cazador del Oso storyboard, I found this gorgeous crushed red-velvet to fabric at a second hand store down the street and brought it into the studio to create a backdrop that invokes a whimsical closing-of thick red theater curtains in an imaginary live-theater production “Intermission”. Once I brought the velvet into the studio and explored the draping contours, and the lighting, I couldn’t resist attempting a live still-life oil painting. What makes it even more unique and special to me is, I was using my late Grammy’s Sears-brand oil paints from the 1960s that ended up in my keep. -among all the oils I used in the creation of these images, her Sears brand oil paints were undoubtedly the highest quality, and remained perfectly usable. What a way to honor her life!
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