A quick analysis of Jason Reitman's 2015 Dazed script read vs the 2020 script read

Jason Reitman and the cast of the 2015 Dazed script reading

In 2015 Jason Reitman, the narrator for the 2020 virtual table read on Oct 11, 2020, organized and held a live script read for Dazed.  You can read more about it here:  https://www.slashfilm.com/dazed-and-confused-live-read/ (just ignore the part about how the actress playing Wooderson put a cigarette in her mouth for the "I get older" line in order to "make sure it sounded right" - we all know Wooderson didn't have a cigarette in his mouth at any point during that scene).

No one from the original cast was part of that 2015 event. I remember reading about it 5 years ago, but my memory has faded a bit.  However, as I write this on October 11, 2020 approaching this evening's script read, I realized one important thing that I had forgotten: Jason Reitman's 2015 read used the pre-production script.  You can see a February 1992 example of Linklater's script on this blog, of course: Draft Script 

Now let's talk about the problems with doing a table read of this movie.  I touched on these previously in another post, but I need to add a few so a quick recap is in order.  This is mostly to temper my expectations and keep them in line for tonight as much as possible 😁:

1) No virtual script read is going to be like the movie, and especially not this one.  Don't expect any of the actors to dress up like their characters (yes, some other Covid-era script reads have featured a bit of this and some props personally owned by the actors, like Mandy Patinkin in The Princess Bride's script read), but it's wise not to expect anything like that. There will likely be no music (see my post all about the soundtrack here: Dazed Soundtrack), and we know how much the music gives this movie a vibe.  There WILL be internet-related technical difficulties - people will step over each other's lines and the opposite will also happen - big gaps.  We've all been in Zoom conference calls and the like, so you should know the drill.

2) Dazed was not made as a normal movie.  Linklater told the cast that if the movie was simply them acting out his script, it would be a failure in his eyes.  He let them come up with ideas and lines on the spot and a lot of it made the movie.  In fact, some of the most famous lines in the movie were ad-libbed, specifically "Alright, alright, alright" and "You just gotta keep livin', L-I-V-I-N".  Look at that Feb 1992 script and you will not find these lines.  You'll find a larger part for Pickford, and a much smaller part for Wooderson.  Remember it was only during filming when things didn't really gel with Shawn Andrews (Pickford) and when McConaughey just burst onto the scene with his ideas for Wooderson that their screen time was reversed.  Pickford was supposed to be on the 50 yard line for those scenes, not Wooderson.

This will be the pivotal point for tonight's script read in my eyes - will they cop out and use the pre-production script?  If I was doing a read of the script and wanted it to be accurate and something the fans will not be disappointed in, I would have to sit down with the subtitles on and just write it from scratch based on the movie.  Read the first 10 pages of the Feb 1992 script - it has so much stuff that was cut, and is missing a lot of iconic lines, or the lines are there but were altered during filming.  People love the movie, not the pre-production script, so the source material for this read is, in my opinion, a bigger deal than Affleck not showing up, or having a few original cast members missing.

Having said all that, I again remind myself that there is really no way for this event to disappoint on a grand scale.  First, it's for a great cause.  Second, just to see most of the original cast interacting with each other over this movie will be a joy.  Even if the script read itself is a hot mess, I think the Q&A would be worth it anyway.  So I'm trying to keep that perspective!

Link to donate and watch tonight:  http://marchforscience.com/dazed

I'll be writing up a blog entry reviewing the evening, so look out for that.  Everyone enjoy tonight, the folks that acted this movie may never get together again, so cherish it.