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Central Library
Out Of Character
Name: Moony
Age: 31
Personal Journal: nope. still don't remember
Contact: https://www.plurk.com/Moony_the_Sly
In Character Name: Cosmo Brown
Canon: Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
Canon Point: Directly after Don and Cosmo successfully pitch The Dancing Cavalier to R.F.
Sex/Gender: Male/Male
Actual Age/Apparent Age:Not stated but I’m going with 27. That’s how old Donald O’connor was at the time.
Belongings: Aside from the clothes on his back, a pair of tap shoes, a harmonica and his wallet (which contains $3.50, an old calling card from his vaudeville days, and a ticket stub for the coat room at The Coconut Grove)
Skills and Powers: Highly, highly skilled dancer, musical composer, instrumental genius (piano, guitar, xylophone, harmonica, fiddle, banjo), singer. He is also a prat/vaudeville comedian which gives him high levels of stamina and acrobatic talents. Oh, and a brilliant sense of comic timing.
Bookmark Description: a collage of various pieces of sheet music with the vague silhouette of a banana peel superimposed over the center.
History and Personality:
History
Cosmo Brown was born at some point after the turn of the century (c.1903). By seven years of age, Cosmo and his best friend Don Lockwood are dancing and playing harmonica inside of the smokey pool halls for pennies. This starts both of their roads to stardom. Over the next decade Cosmo (along with Don) will work on improving their skills; dancing, singing, acting, as they preform in various amateur hours and contests. The amateur hours serve to push their need for the stage further, and by roughly the age of 14-15, both men set out together on the road. They perform in two-bit towns for enough money to keep them fed and with a place to sleep. Sometimes that doesn't end up happening but the two men continue on. Eventually they find themselves in sunny Hollywood, California. They take the first offer from a movie studio that they can and end up working as mood musicians at Monumental Pictures. At one of the movies, a western, Don manages to get the roll of a stuntman. After a few scenes, he gets bumped up to a starring role. Cosmo remains at his side, providing the mood music for all the romantic scenes between Lockwood and Lamont. All of this changes almost over night with the premier of The Jazz Singer.
Talkies (picture with sound) begin to take over Hollywood and Cosmo feels he'll be out of a job now that mood music isn't needed. R.F Simpson, the producer for Monumental Pictures, tells Cosmo that he's now the head of the new music department. For the next twenty-four weeks, Cosmo is busy building up a bigger music department. According to history from the time, many studios started from ground zero. Cosmo would have needed to hire musicians, over see the building of a sound studio and continue to write music scores, lyrical songs and incidental music for the short films being produced as talkies. It's at the rehearsal for one of these short films that Cosmo, watching his song being preformed, notices one of the dancing girls looks awfully familiar. With a grin he rushes out to find Don and manages to reintroduce Kathy Seldon and Don Lockwood. Cosmo excuses himself from the two as they look amorously into each others eyes. Several more weeks pass and it's time for The Dueling Cavalier to premier!
At the preview for The Dueling Cavalier, Monumental Pictures watches as disaster unfolds. The sound is off, Don's pants in the picture can be heard squeaking and Lina's voice and acting make it hard to watch the thing without laughing. Calling it a flop, Don, Cosmo and Kathy return to Don's mansion for a late dinner and pouting faces. Cosmo, along with Kathy, tries to lift Don's spirits after the failure. Over the course of dinner and a dance number the three come up with the idea to make The Dueling Cavalier into a musical. Don points out that it's a brilliant plan, except for one thing- Lina Lamont. The woman can not sing, dance or act. Cosmo comes up with the idea to have Kathy dub over Lina's lines and songs. A bit of persuading and Don agrees. The next day the two former hoofers pitch the idea to R.F. and The Dueling Cavalier is now The Dancing Cavalier!
Cosmo prepares to write a few new dance numbers and help Don choreograph the new numbers, when he finds himself in an musty, dusty old library.
Personality
There’s a lot to be said for a man who sticks by his best friend through the best days and stormiest nights. Being able to sit by and watch as that friend reaches stardom and accomplishes all the dreams, and still remain absolutely loyal...well there aren’t enough words for that. See, Cosmo Brown is that latter man. He’s loyal and steadfast, even when adversity comes rearing it’s ugly head. He’s the sort of guy that would offer a pal the shirt of his back! The shoes on his feet and trousers on his legs! He’d offer everything else too but we’ve got a code to follow here. It’s not hard to picture Cos being this giving, considering how he grew up. I don’t just mean his childhood, I’m talking well into his young adult life. He had to scrape by for everything he had. Sleep in cheap motels and deal with getting snubbed for pay by greedy show owners and agents. He’s slept on train and park benches, gone a few days without eating (which isn’t any fun when you’re working a physically demanding act).
The more comedic of the pair, Cosmo often gets in (and out) of trouble using laughter. His key song, "Make 'em Laugh", tells a lot about his character. First off, the entire bit is done as a way to cheer up his best friend. Don Lockwood is second guessing his talents, especially after Cosmo made a quip about the movies being all a like. In order to get a smile out of his friend, Cosmo does prat falls and verbal comedy, all while vehemently announcing how much comedy is needed in life. It's his greatest strength and it lends itself to his other quirks. Such as his shrewd mind.
The man is a genius. He can sing, dance and make up songs on the spot; not to mention that he can come up with plot ideas for a major motion picture on the fly. He's promoted to head of screen writing. He stays humble though, never bragging or even really bringing it up at any point in the movie. Even when it would have helped his station over Lina Lamont (who'd berated him for their entire time working together).
There is one thing that needs to be mentioned about Cosmo. It collects everything about his personality and role in the movie. He is the heart. He is the conscience of the studio, pointing out the flaws and hypocrisy that was rampant in 1920's Hollywood. He's also the one who pushes Don forward when the man is about to give up on his dreams because of the failure of the failure at the premier. Cos does this without giving any big, mentor style speech or giving some valiant sacrifice. He does it with a laugh, or few sung notes. He shows his friends and colleagues that things are changing and you can either grin and take on the world- or cry and fade into history.
Samples
Remember, we are looking most specifically at your writing samples. Put your best into it! If you tried our test drive meme, you may link the thread to the style it fits below.
First Person/Action brackets:
[The feed is...upside down.]
What the heck is this? Funny kinda mirror, showing a fellah upside down. Huh, boy do I look a sight. Gotta remind R.F that music directors need sleep too.
[He squints a bit, impossibly blue eyes glaring. After a moment he pulls a face and let's the tablet hang at his side. Have a lovely view of a pair of tan colored slacks.]
Now, where did we have the library set? Oh yeah. We don't have one.
[Bit of sharp tapping, he's still in his shoes from work.]
Either the studio is really raking it in, or this isn't the studio. *beat* Nice going Cosmo! You went and got yourself lost right after you big promotion! Don't that just beat all. Fallin' asleep in a Library...i haven't even been in a library since I was, well since...
[There's a brief pause (5 seconds to be exact).]
Come to think of it I've never even been in a library. Don'll never let me live this down.
[You can hear the eye rol in his voice. Eventually he shifts and his elbow clicks the feed off. Good night, folks!]
Third Person/Prose:
It had to be at least three in the morning. Maybe nearly half past by now, but Cosmo still wasn’t tired. Sure he’d gone without sleep before, who in Hollywood hadn’t? It just wasn’t something he was fond of. He just couldn’t turn his brain off. It kept swirling around, pieces of unwritten music floating around and dancing between whatever troubles the studio was having. And weren’t they always. Brother. If it wasn’t Lina sticking her pretty little nose where it wasn’t wanted, it was R.F sulking around trying to see how much money things were going to cost him. To think Cosmo had been excited about the whole music department thing.
“Oh who am I kidding! I am excited! It’s the greatest thing to happen to me since this whole thing started.” He huffed and crossed his legs, trailing his finger idly up the piano keys in a G key scale. Adding in his arpaggios he played for a few moments. The music swirled around the room like his thoughts, drifting from the familiar melodies of Cole Porter straight into a near cacaphonie of dissonance created by Cosmo himself. Frustration growing he slammed the keys and pushed off of the piano and geban to pace, “So if it isn’t the job, or the money.” He stopped with a click of his heels, fingers starting to count as he listened things off, “Lina’s been to frustrated to be her normal bit of annoying, R.F isn’t on my back, I’m not sleeping on the floor or mattresses ordered with extra lumps and Don.” His blue eyes widened and he fell back on the couch with a little sound. The thoughts stopped swirling and instead he saw his oldest and dearest friend. It had been only a few days since he’d brightened the man’s day but...that was it! Don was back in the dumps, still after the Baker’s Dozen. “Huh...well.”
He stood up and headed over to the lamp, turning off the light and letting the room sink into darkness, “Guess I better get looking around. If Don wants a little frosting in his life, well. That’s what he getting.” The click of the door signaled his exit, just as the first pale rays of dawn began to sink into the room.
Name: Moony
Age: 31
Personal Journal: nope. still don't remember
Contact: https://www.plurk.com/Moony_the_Sly
In Character Name: Cosmo Brown
Canon: Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
Canon Point: Directly after Don and Cosmo successfully pitch The Dancing Cavalier to R.F.
Sex/Gender: Male/Male
Actual Age/Apparent Age:Not stated but I’m going with 27. That’s how old Donald O’connor was at the time.
Belongings: Aside from the clothes on his back, a pair of tap shoes, a harmonica and his wallet (which contains $3.50, an old calling card from his vaudeville days, and a ticket stub for the coat room at The Coconut Grove)
Skills and Powers: Highly, highly skilled dancer, musical composer, instrumental genius (piano, guitar, xylophone, harmonica, fiddle, banjo), singer. He is also a prat/vaudeville comedian which gives him high levels of stamina and acrobatic talents. Oh, and a brilliant sense of comic timing.
Bookmark Description: a collage of various pieces of sheet music with the vague silhouette of a banana peel superimposed over the center.
History and Personality:
History
Cosmo Brown was born at some point after the turn of the century (c.1903). By seven years of age, Cosmo and his best friend Don Lockwood are dancing and playing harmonica inside of the smokey pool halls for pennies. This starts both of their roads to stardom. Over the next decade Cosmo (along with Don) will work on improving their skills; dancing, singing, acting, as they preform in various amateur hours and contests. The amateur hours serve to push their need for the stage further, and by roughly the age of 14-15, both men set out together on the road. They perform in two-bit towns for enough money to keep them fed and with a place to sleep. Sometimes that doesn't end up happening but the two men continue on. Eventually they find themselves in sunny Hollywood, California. They take the first offer from a movie studio that they can and end up working as mood musicians at Monumental Pictures. At one of the movies, a western, Don manages to get the roll of a stuntman. After a few scenes, he gets bumped up to a starring role. Cosmo remains at his side, providing the mood music for all the romantic scenes between Lockwood and Lamont. All of this changes almost over night with the premier of The Jazz Singer.
Talkies (picture with sound) begin to take over Hollywood and Cosmo feels he'll be out of a job now that mood music isn't needed. R.F Simpson, the producer for Monumental Pictures, tells Cosmo that he's now the head of the new music department. For the next twenty-four weeks, Cosmo is busy building up a bigger music department. According to history from the time, many studios started from ground zero. Cosmo would have needed to hire musicians, over see the building of a sound studio and continue to write music scores, lyrical songs and incidental music for the short films being produced as talkies. It's at the rehearsal for one of these short films that Cosmo, watching his song being preformed, notices one of the dancing girls looks awfully familiar. With a grin he rushes out to find Don and manages to reintroduce Kathy Seldon and Don Lockwood. Cosmo excuses himself from the two as they look amorously into each others eyes. Several more weeks pass and it's time for The Dueling Cavalier to premier!
At the preview for The Dueling Cavalier, Monumental Pictures watches as disaster unfolds. The sound is off, Don's pants in the picture can be heard squeaking and Lina's voice and acting make it hard to watch the thing without laughing. Calling it a flop, Don, Cosmo and Kathy return to Don's mansion for a late dinner and pouting faces. Cosmo, along with Kathy, tries to lift Don's spirits after the failure. Over the course of dinner and a dance number the three come up with the idea to make The Dueling Cavalier into a musical. Don points out that it's a brilliant plan, except for one thing- Lina Lamont. The woman can not sing, dance or act. Cosmo comes up with the idea to have Kathy dub over Lina's lines and songs. A bit of persuading and Don agrees. The next day the two former hoofers pitch the idea to R.F. and The Dueling Cavalier is now The Dancing Cavalier!
Cosmo prepares to write a few new dance numbers and help Don choreograph the new numbers, when he finds himself in an musty, dusty old library.
Personality
There’s a lot to be said for a man who sticks by his best friend through the best days and stormiest nights. Being able to sit by and watch as that friend reaches stardom and accomplishes all the dreams, and still remain absolutely loyal...well there aren’t enough words for that. See, Cosmo Brown is that latter man. He’s loyal and steadfast, even when adversity comes rearing it’s ugly head. He’s the sort of guy that would offer a pal the shirt of his back! The shoes on his feet and trousers on his legs! He’d offer everything else too but we’ve got a code to follow here. It’s not hard to picture Cos being this giving, considering how he grew up. I don’t just mean his childhood, I’m talking well into his young adult life. He had to scrape by for everything he had. Sleep in cheap motels and deal with getting snubbed for pay by greedy show owners and agents. He’s slept on train and park benches, gone a few days without eating (which isn’t any fun when you’re working a physically demanding act).
The more comedic of the pair, Cosmo often gets in (and out) of trouble using laughter. His key song, "Make 'em Laugh", tells a lot about his character. First off, the entire bit is done as a way to cheer up his best friend. Don Lockwood is second guessing his talents, especially after Cosmo made a quip about the movies being all a like. In order to get a smile out of his friend, Cosmo does prat falls and verbal comedy, all while vehemently announcing how much comedy is needed in life. It's his greatest strength and it lends itself to his other quirks. Such as his shrewd mind.
The man is a genius. He can sing, dance and make up songs on the spot; not to mention that he can come up with plot ideas for a major motion picture on the fly. He's promoted to head of screen writing. He stays humble though, never bragging or even really bringing it up at any point in the movie. Even when it would have helped his station over Lina Lamont (who'd berated him for their entire time working together).
There is one thing that needs to be mentioned about Cosmo. It collects everything about his personality and role in the movie. He is the heart. He is the conscience of the studio, pointing out the flaws and hypocrisy that was rampant in 1920's Hollywood. He's also the one who pushes Don forward when the man is about to give up on his dreams because of the failure of the failure at the premier. Cos does this without giving any big, mentor style speech or giving some valiant sacrifice. He does it with a laugh, or few sung notes. He shows his friends and colleagues that things are changing and you can either grin and take on the world- or cry and fade into history.
Samples
Remember, we are looking most specifically at your writing samples. Put your best into it! If you tried our test drive meme, you may link the thread to the style it fits below.
First Person/Action brackets:
[The feed is...upside down.]
What the heck is this? Funny kinda mirror, showing a fellah upside down. Huh, boy do I look a sight. Gotta remind R.F that music directors need sleep too.
[He squints a bit, impossibly blue eyes glaring. After a moment he pulls a face and let's the tablet hang at his side. Have a lovely view of a pair of tan colored slacks.]
Now, where did we have the library set? Oh yeah. We don't have one.
[Bit of sharp tapping, he's still in his shoes from work.]
Either the studio is really raking it in, or this isn't the studio. *beat* Nice going Cosmo! You went and got yourself lost right after you big promotion! Don't that just beat all. Fallin' asleep in a Library...i haven't even been in a library since I was, well since...
[There's a brief pause (5 seconds to be exact).]
Come to think of it I've never even been in a library. Don'll never let me live this down.
[You can hear the eye rol in his voice. Eventually he shifts and his elbow clicks the feed off. Good night, folks!]
Third Person/Prose:
It had to be at least three in the morning. Maybe nearly half past by now, but Cosmo still wasn’t tired. Sure he’d gone without sleep before, who in Hollywood hadn’t? It just wasn’t something he was fond of. He just couldn’t turn his brain off. It kept swirling around, pieces of unwritten music floating around and dancing between whatever troubles the studio was having. And weren’t they always. Brother. If it wasn’t Lina sticking her pretty little nose where it wasn’t wanted, it was R.F sulking around trying to see how much money things were going to cost him. To think Cosmo had been excited about the whole music department thing.
“Oh who am I kidding! I am excited! It’s the greatest thing to happen to me since this whole thing started.” He huffed and crossed his legs, trailing his finger idly up the piano keys in a G key scale. Adding in his arpaggios he played for a few moments. The music swirled around the room like his thoughts, drifting from the familiar melodies of Cole Porter straight into a near cacaphonie of dissonance created by Cosmo himself. Frustration growing he slammed the keys and pushed off of the piano and geban to pace, “So if it isn’t the job, or the money.” He stopped with a click of his heels, fingers starting to count as he listened things off, “Lina’s been to frustrated to be her normal bit of annoying, R.F isn’t on my back, I’m not sleeping on the floor or mattresses ordered with extra lumps and Don.” His blue eyes widened and he fell back on the couch with a little sound. The thoughts stopped swirling and instead he saw his oldest and dearest friend. It had been only a few days since he’d brightened the man’s day but...that was it! Don was back in the dumps, still after the Baker’s Dozen. “Huh...well.”
He stood up and headed over to the lamp, turning off the light and letting the room sink into darkness, “Guess I better get looking around. If Don wants a little frosting in his life, well. That’s what he getting.” The click of the door signaled his exit, just as the first pale rays of dawn began to sink into the room.