NOTE — Uh, well, for the purposes of attracting investment and public fundraising, I’d say that So Far Bound is a mix of Friends and The Avengers. — It doesn’t get much better than that! Okay, now that we’ve established that truth, please see the exercise below to discuss additional ideas and aspirations for the series.
A history of references.
— Bound is Bound. We love to do comps, though, to have something to hook onto. It’s also a lot of fun to think about, really, so below I’ve got an eight-pack of projects that can be references for the series. They’re not one-to-one comparisons, but rather each has general qualities that I’d like to try to have in So Far Bound. There’s one rule, though - no references below are after 1980, which is more or less contemporary times. We’ll go back further to projects in which maybe a little imagination is needed to consider what they’d be like if done in the modern day. Also, older films and series are becoming so goddamn lost that I just want to shout out some things I hope people might see. Let’s do it:
1920s: “Sunrise”
— I know, silent films are tough. I love an old movie, but even I struggle with a silent film sometimes. There are a few, though, that grab you and keep that phone at bay. Enter Sunrise, about a love triangle in the countryside. The thing I most like about Sunrise is the pure passion in it. At first it’s lust, then it’s love. Next, it’s loss before ending on life. At all times, in all the ways the passion is simple and stripped, made possible by the inherent stillness in silent films. … Sunrise is also just real pretty - like looking out a large window at a lush garden or a nice, city street. We take creative camera and editing work for granted now, but 100 years ago(!), when this came out, it must have been quite the spectacle.
1930s: “L’Atalante”
— Directed by Jean Vigo, about newlyweds who set out on the Seine River in a houseboat. First, let me say that my man Jean, I think, could have been the GOAT. He made two films: Zero de Conduite in 1933 and then L’Atalante the next year, in which he died at 29 years old from tuberculosis. The movies are exceptional and one can only dream of the heights awaiting. … I don’t have the right word to describe L’Atalante but the best word I do have is vibrancy. Even through its themes of cynicism and scenes of despair, there’s always something so luminous about the movie, achieved by its poetic shots and natural-feeling cinematography, sure, but mostly by its weary but still spirited characters.
1930s: “Stagecoach”
— Hang with me. I know we’re getting outside the box, but there’s a few qualities prevalent in most westerns that are also baked into Bound. First, there’s that sense of adventure inherent in westerns, especially the golden age ones. There’s also outlaws and posses and always a bit of edge from the fledgling, volatile times. In Bound, no one’s on the run, per say, but they were happy to get out of their town, and when the setting in Bound becomes tense, that edge or recklessness in most westerns may be layered in. But just like in Stagecoach, that edge or tension might be played more tongue-in-cheek. … Oh yeah, there’s also the obvious in Stagecoach, of individuals travelin’ - stuck in a box - together.
1940s: “The Third Man”
— Here we find the ol’ fish-out-of-water. An American goes to Vienna to visit a childhood friend and encounters a great conspiracy. In So Far Bound, I suppose, there’s eight different fishes out of their waters. They won’t encounter conspiracies, per say, but they may find themselves in states of disorientation as the place they land in and the people they come up against are, at times, a little off. In Third Man, that slight sense of mania plays throughout, with off-kilter [camera] frames and characters who all carry an undercurrent. But all that mood and weightier subject matter within the movie is kept upbeat by the heavy use of the zither, a banjo-like instrument, that lightens the experience.
1950s: “Some Like It Hot”
— Fun fact, the first (non-kids) movie I can remember sitting through is Some Like It Hot. When I was a kid in the ‘90s, we had one television (and thankfully no devices) and when it was my mom’s turn to watch TV, she almost always went to the Turner Classic Movies channel. We mostly stay who we were as kids or teenagers, as far as the things we like, so my affinity for Hot grew and now, here I am, wanting to make a project that is also, first and foremost, just a damn, good time. The movie, directed by Billy Wilder, about two guys who witness a killing and go on the lam, is the epitome of a fun time. Wilder made a lot of classics, but Hot will always be the favorite because above all, you’re just havin’ a blast.
1950s: “Summertime”
— Finally some color, huh? Summertime follows a spinster who takes a solo trip to Venice. It’s directed by David Lean, who also directed Lawrence of Arabia, one of my ten, favorite movies. I would love to try to bullshit that movie into a reference for Bound, but I can’t. Summertime, though, is interesting because it’s the last movie Lean makes before directing the epics he’s most known for (River Kwai, Arabia, Zhivago). Though Summertime is a smaller, intimate story, you can see Lean starting to play with a grander style of filmmaking which makes the movie feel larger. There’s a sort of majesty and grace, cloaked into the otherwise simple story. Also, Katharine Hepburn always brings both.
1960s: “Fun in Acapulco”
— In the ‘50s and ‘60s, Elvis starred in a dozen movies where he went off to someplace, sang songs and got the girl. The movies - God bless ‘em - ain’t good, but seeing Hawaii or Acapulco in technicolor and in mid-century styling isn’t a bad way to spend some time. What separates movies like Fun in Acapulco from other cool, “destination” movies is that their kind of kitsch but in the best ways. On the one hand, the vibe and the settings in Acapulco are “chic,” but on the other hand they’re like being in a Margaritaville. Who cares what it is, though? ‘Cause either way, you like being up in there. In Bound, we’ll hope to also have some style in place and in person, mixed with some homey sentimentality.
1970s: “MASH”
— Finally a TV series, huh? That is what we’re trying to do after all. MASH was about a group of American doctors, nurses and crew operating a mobile hospital in Korea during the war. It, too, was about people from one part of the world, living in another, much different part and featured the hi-jinks and tensions that ensue. It was a “sitcom,” but it could also, often, be the opposite of one. The weight of war in the background would lead the show to more serious or sincere plot lines, but even through its moments of meditation - and rebellion - the show always carried a fundamental sense of levity and endearment. … At the start and in the end, it was something for the times and something against them.
BONUS: “People Get Ready” by Aretha Franklin
— How ‘bout some music, too? If I had it my way, the whole damn series would open with a set piece featuring this standout song from one of the best albums ever. A good picture’s gotta have some soul, ya know? It comes from writing and performance, sure, but also you could just cheat and bring in Aretha to make ya face scrunch and ya knees buckle.
BONUS: “Caramelos” by Tito Puente
— For all my life, I was a rap, rock and soul head. Anything jazz-y was off the radar. When I started writing Bound, though, I wrote it with a Caribbean/South Atlantic setting in mind, and so, I listened to playlists with a lot of Afro and Latin jazz/music and now I think it’s maybe the most vital music on Earth. Ideally the score of Bound will have such influences.
So there’s Bound, in there somewhere — a fun, colorful time first, that can slide into drama or quiet, or mania or love when the times come. Please check out some of the projects above if you haven’t!