Laray Mayfield
Made films the shows talk about.
Counted as craft. The films the hosts said they worked on, which the two lists below run through too: Zodiac (2007); Mank (2020).
Draws on
What the speakers say they, or a film of theirs, drew on. Each is a speaker's account: “the maker said so” when they report the maker's own words, “the host's read” when the read is theirs.
Citizen Kane (1941): 2 lines
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lineage (visual influence) · through Mank (2020), which they worked on as casting director:
Citizen Kane ⇒ Mank (the maker said so: David's interview with cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt).
Messerschmidt told the interviewer he wanted low, deep-focus photography evoking Citizen Kane, not noir.
“He's like, no, I want to do it low to the ground, lots of deep focus, evoking citizen Kane.”
Blank Check — Patreon · Mank with Sean Fennessey (Ad-Free) · 1:13:08 · David Sims (0.80 sure it was them) -
lineage (subject / source) · through Mank (2020), which they worked on as casting director:
Citizen Kane ⇒ Mank (the host's read).
Mank is partly inspired by Pauline Kael's essay on who truly authored Citizen Kane.
“it's in part inspired by that very famous Pauline Kale, story raising Kane, about the true authorship of Citizen Kane”
The Big Picture · Emergency Mailbag: The Oscars Are Streaming and Hollywood Is Fighting Over Trolls | The Big Picture · 0:58:09 · Sean Fennessey (0.55 sure it was them)
Collateral (2004): 1 line
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people (casting) · through Zodiac (2007), which they worked on as casting director:
Collateral ⇒ Zodiac (the host's read).
Fincher cast Ruffalo partly because he liked him in Collateral.
“One, Fincher really liked him in collateral.”
Blank Check — Patreon · Zodiac with Leslye Headland (Ad-Free) · 1:24:06 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
Donnie Darko (2001): 1 line
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people (casting) · through Zodiac (2007), which they worked on as casting director:
Donnie Darko ⇒ Zodiac (the host's read).
Fincher liked Donnie Darko and had Gyllenhaal pegged for a while.
“unsurprisingly, Fincher liked Donny Darko”
Blank Check — Patreon · Zodiac with Leslye Headland (Ad-Free) · 1:22:44 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
Jack Fincher: 1 line
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lineage (script origin) · through Mank (2020), which they worked on as casting director:
Jack Fincher ⇒ Mank (the maker said so: Fincher's own account as read from the dossier (outlet not named)).
Fincher's father wrote the original Mank script, which David set aside until years later.
“I'm handed this script that my dad wrote about all powerful directors ruining storytelling”
Blank Check — Patreon · Mank with Sean Fennessey (Ad-Free) · 0:48:09 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)
L.A. Confidential (1997): 1 line
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lineage (structure / influence) · through Zodiac (2007), which they worked on as casting director:
L.A. Confidential ⇒ Zodiac (the host's read).
Leslye says Zodiac feels like it follows in the footsteps of L.A. Confidential.
“zodiac feels like it follows in the footsteps of that.”
Blank Check — Patreon · Zodiac with Leslye Headland (Ad-Free) · 0:50:16 · Leslye Headland (0.80 sure it was them)
Robert Graysmith: 1 line
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lineage (adaptation) · through Zodiac (2007), which they worked on as casting director:
Robert Graysmith ⇒ Zodiac (the host's read).
The Salerno script, which Vanderbilt took over, adapted Graysmith's nonfiction book (with a speculative sequel bolted on).
“So it's sort of like an adaptation of Graysmith's nonfiction book and a speculative sequence.”
Blank Check — Patreon · Zodiac with Leslye Headland (Ad-Free) · 0:50:39 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
Rumor Has It: 1 line
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people (casting) · through Zodiac (2007), which they worked on as casting director:
Rumor Has It ⇒ Zodiac (the host's read).
Jennifer Aniston, on Rumor Has It with Ruffalo, helped him get the role.
“So rumor has it kind of helps him get this.”
Blank Check — Patreon · Zodiac with Leslye Headland (Ad-Free) · 1:25:09 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
Seven (1995): 1 line
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unmapped (why Fincher was offered it) · through Zodiac (2007), which they worked on as casting director:
Seven ⇒ Zodiac (the host's read).
Seven made Fincher the first choice for any serial-killer project, Zodiac included.
“Ever since he makes seven, if there's some serial killer movie, is getting sent it”
Blank Check — Patreon · Zodiac with Leslye Headland (Ad-Free) · 0:51:53 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
The Conversation (1974): 1 line
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craft (temp score) · through Zodiac (2007), which they worked on as casting director:
The Conversation ⇒ Zodiac (the host's read).
The Conversation's score was used as temp music while Zodiac was cut, then Shire scored it.
“they use the conversation score as temp score.”
Blank Check — Patreon · Zodiac with Leslye Headland (Ad-Free) · 2:14:21 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
The Lost Weekend (1945): 1 line
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craft (visual echo) · through Mank (2020), which they worked on as casting director:
The Lost Weekend ⇒ Mank (the host's read).
The election-night drunk sequence in Mank is called self-consciously reminiscent of The Lost Weekend.
“almost self-consciously reminiscent of the last the lost weekend”
Blank Check — Patreon · Mank with Sean Fennessey (Ad-Free) · 2:03:48 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
The Shining (1980): 1 line
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unmapped (stolen move) · through Zodiac (2007), which they worked on as casting director:
The Shining ⇒ Zodiac (the host's read).
Fincher steals the Steadicam move where the camera turns with the car and keeps it centered.
“Fincher steals that move of like when the car turns a corner”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Shining with Timothy Simons (Ad-Free) · 2:05:09 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
Drawn on by
What the speakers say drew on them or a film of theirs, marked the same way.
No line says anything drew on them or a film of theirs.
What the speakers said they did
Craft (2) everyone in craft
- casting director, Mank (Blank Check — Patreon, Mank with Sean Fennessey (Ad-Free))
- casting director, Zodiac (Blank Check — Patreon, Zodiac with Leslye Headland (Ad-Free))
What was said about them, by kind
No claims join them to a film or another person.
Fun items about them
None.