v. 5—The da Vinci Code + North By Northwest + Memex + The Birds

The various versions of the troublesome bird scene so far....

v1. Church (partially shot)
v2. Slide Library
v3. Laundry room (partially shot)
v4. Laundry room second try

This is the scene when Ben does some research, finds a little about the meaning "ex nihilo" and is scared off by an unnatural bird event. Here's potential version 5. If anything, documenting how I try to solve this cinematic problem shows my creative process. Watch things. Rip them off. Believe that what I come up with is going to work. If it doesn't, repeat process. I think this is the sum of my artistic ability.

In The da Vinci Code book, there is a scene where Robert Langdon drops in a library to do some important research while on the run. If I remember correctly, this scene was changed in the film: Langdon borrows someone's internet device in a bus. This makes the scene more cinematic by keeping everything moving—literally because they're on a bus, and dramatically because they can cut out the boring librarian searching stuff.

I think something like this could work. We could actually get rid of the entire Laundry room scene. Let's say Ben is still in the desert. He finds the shrine. Now he's driving away from it and he's looking at his portable internet device. In keeping with the gadgets in the movie, it's a clunky thing like a portable version of Vannevar Bush's memex (see image above). He's driving and doing his research. Scary pictures. Then all of a sudden, whoomph, an attack from the sky.

In this version, the device takes the place of Rod Taylor in the birds. Ben is really paying attention to this device like Tippi Hedrin pays attention to Taylor. Putting the scene out in the desert makes Ben more vulnerable. Like the famous biplane sequence in North by Northwest. With Ben mobile and driving, it keeps the story moving. And he can dramatically turn off the road when attacked... everything bumpy and handheld. Visually the idea is that the view through the windows is going to be blown out so that anything coming at the truck is going to be hazy at best. This is a natural look that makes sense for the desert.

Of course, keep in mind that the equivalent scene in the da Vinci Code triggered Tom Hanks' memorable and often-mocked line, "Ive got to get to a library—fast!"