Drizzt Do'Urden

[Q4T]

Yes, this is the correct (or at least correctest) place for this post. Just give me a bit to get to the point:

I'm Q4T from Q4Tproductions, and I'm working on making fan films of goblinscomic.com. I need a hand making another episode. (See? This is discussing the comic, in a way.)

So, where does Drizzt Do'Urden come in?

That's where this episode starts. An epic fight scene between Drizzt and some guys. Ideally recreated from the book. In the background we hear epid music and "Steve!" chanted over and over, gradually getting louder and louder as the fight gets more epic and intense.

Next, we cut to someone reading a Drizzt book and Herbert yells "Steve! For the last time! Put down the book! We're rolling up characters!"

Steve explains he wants to be a Drow Elf, and you can guess where the story goes from there.

That all explained, why do I need your help? Because, I've never read any of the Drizzt books, nor do I intend to. I'm just trying to gather enough information to make a fight scene as authentic as possible. Also, if someone can point me to a book and page number where a good fight scene happens, I'd be willing to replicate it. Keep in mind, I'm working with a stunt man, so I may need to epic things up a bit.

Any help?

[ThroughTheWell]

Drizzt is a drow TWF ranger with a magical black panther animal companion. A scene for him... greatly depends on where in his storyline you interupt him.

http://www.wizards.com/dnd/article.asp?x=fr/fx20010117d
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drizzt_Do'Urden
https://www.google.com/#q=Drizzt+Do%27Urden

I just don't see you being able to pull off the panther... and the rest is a lot for a 1 off gag. Plus I'd say there is a fair chance of stepping on intelectual property toes if you actualy call him Drizzt. And if you don't call him that, then you don't have the joke. Maybe you could just print the cover to one of the Drizzt books and have the char reading that 'book' in the background.

I see some Drizzt live action fan movies on youtube. At least 1, I don't see how you could say it was Drizzt and not some other drow unless they told you, and I imagine you might have a similar problem.

[ForgetsOldName]

A brief mention in a parody video would not violate any intellectual property laws. It might however annoy Wizards enough to make you take it down and then you have to go through hoops to get it back up. Honestly I doubt it though. They allow jillions of other videos.

[Q4T]

Yeah, cover of the book shall be the only mention of his name. I've been thinking about getting someone to call out "Do'Urden" but I'm not sure his enemies knew him by that name.

I just want to make a fight as authentic as possible, with the correct weapons and yes, without a panther. Anyone know where I can find a good Drizzt fight scene without having to read every single book myself?

[ThroughTheWell]

Drow come from the underdark (also black skin, white hair, pointy ears), so much of 1 book is all underground. Fight with a dragon or 2 is out. IIRC he actualy saved some giants who'd been throwing boulders... so that fight scene is out. Other scenes involve other major chars, or magic swords (scimitars), or demons. You can start to see the problems of filming d&d without special effects. Also, for much of Drizzt career, he's probably a better fighter than you can film an actor being. No, off the top of my head I can't think of a good fight that does not also have production problems.

[Q4T]

The actor is VERY good at acrobatics

[Q4T]

A scene without production issues is a very rare beast indeed. I'm just after the one with the fewest problems.

[Xavier78]

Because, I've never read any of the Drizzt books, nor do I intend to.

Then why use him at all? Just to drum up hits from fans? That seems pretty cheap and insulting to me, no offense. Using an unnamed Drow would suit you better if that wasn't the case IMO.

[Q4T]

True, but I can't find any good "Un-named Drow" books to pan back on. Making the cover art for "Un-named Drow" would be too much work for a cheaper gag still.

The gag is we pull back and discover that the character is reading a book. I have access to said books, but no access to people who've actually read them. Given that I'm pulling back, I want to be as true to this as possible. I don't want a fan to say, "No, he dual weilded scimitars! He never had a bow and arrow!" Meanwhile, while I'm at it, why not replicate a battle as close to authentically as possible? I may not get it perfect, but I should at least respect the fans enough to try.

Cheap, I understand. But insulting? I'm afraid I don't follow.

He's only Drizzt for one scene. For the rest of the movie, the same actor, costume and special effects becomes "Seth". Tarol's Seth.

[thinkslogically]

I understand that you don't want to read all 22 books, but the first one's only 160 pages long and presumably isn't that tough to get through. It seems a little lazy to me that you're asking other people to do your work for you when there doesn't seem to be that much effort involved in finding a little information yourself. Your player at the table could easily be someone who's just discovered the series and is so enamoured after book 1 that they decide to make that character. You don't NEED to read them all, but reading at least the first book should give you a feel for the setting and mood of the world that you can't get from a quick summary.

Book 1 on Amazon for $3.74 (used)
Wikipedia links to summaries of all the books

[Q4T]

Nice link. It seems the battle between Drizzt Do'Urden and Artemis Entreri is my best bet. I'll see if I can hunt down a few pages of it that are worthy of recreation. Anyone disagree?

Thanks for the support. Still unwilling to read an entire book, but all the wikis have been helpful. Read most relevant things there.

[Q4T]

I'm going to leave this post active for 24 hours before I start organising the shoot. I want to give people who know more than me the opportunity to explain why I'm a complete idiot for choosing this battle of all battles.

[ThroughTheWell]

Because, I've never read any of the Drizzt books, nor do I intend to.

Then why use him at all? Just to drum up hits from fans? That seems pretty cheap and insulting to me, no offense. Using an unnamed Drow would suit you better if that wasn't the case IMO.

I see why Q4T wants to include a Drizzt moment. THunt started Goblind with MinMax, Forgath, and 3 Drizzt-like drow in a party. Particularly, he had a scene involving all 3 drow each claiming to be a lone wolf forever shunned from his origins, aka a Drizzt origin story made funny by the fact that all too many players adoped said backstory as their own. It is similar to the joke about trying to name a MMO elf some variant of Legolas, since hundreds of players were doing the same thing. But if nearly every drow is a cast off from their society, not many would be left! So, Q4T is honnoring THunt's joke. So, I can't see insulting in that.

Having said that, at least the few books I read in that series were fair to excelent, and I recommend reading some on your own Q4T just for the fun and education of it. Mainly for the fun.

[WearsHats]

One of the many fights between Drizzt and Entreri does seem like a good call. Relatively little magic involved. Just two very skilled blade fighters.

One thing Salvatore (and his more hardcore fans) is a stickler for: His name is Drizzt, not Drizzit. Your tongue wants to put a second vowel in there, but it doesn't belong.

[Q4T]

Thankyou. I don't think I would've made that mistake, but the more potential mistakes I'm warned about, the less likely I am to make one.

[Q4T]

So all I need to do, is find the best scene of all the scenes between Artemis and Drizzt, find the corresponding book, and shoot to it. All I gotta do is choose all but one to not do, and do whatever remains. Sounds easy. Let's take a look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemis_En ... ppearances

What the!? Damn it! A little help guys?

Appearances
The Icewind Dale Trilogy

Main article: The Icewind Dale Trilogy

The Crystal Shard (1988) ÔÇö First look at Artemis Entreri, he only appears at the very end, but it leaves much to the imagination.
Streams of Silver (1989) ÔÇö Entreri is on a quest to capture the halfling Regis and recover the stolen gem, then return both to his guildmaster, Pasha Pook.
The Halfling's Gem (1990) ÔÇö Entreri successfully returns Regis and the gem to Pasha Pook, his guildmaster, though he was closely followed by Drizzt Do'Urden and company.

Legacy of the Drow

Main article: Legacy of the Drow

The Legacy (1992) ÔÇö Accompanied by his future friend, Jarlaxle, among other drow, including Drizzt Do'Urden's sister, Vierna, Entreri is sent to "take care of Drizzt and the others."
Starless Night (1993) ÔÇö Entreri returns to Menzoberranzan after his near fatal experience on the surface world. His loathing of the city leads him to deciding whether he should save a hated rival, or risk a life in the Underdark.
Siege of Darkness (1994)

Paths of Darkness

Main article: Paths of Darkness

The Silent Blade (1998) ÔÇö A split book in which it follows many different points of view, Entreri battles Drizzt Do'Urden in a duel to the death.

Sellswords

Main article: The Sellswords

Servant of the Shard (2000) (also the third book in the Paths of Darkness series) ÔÇö This story follows both Entreri and Jarlaxle in their struggle through the port city of Calimport. Jarlaxle's new toy, the Crystal Shard, begins to slip its own thoughts into the mind of its master. Entreri, noticing this, goes out of his way to save his friend and destroy the evil crystal.
Promise of the Witch-King (2005) ÔÇö Entreri and Jarlaxle have become bounty hunters, mercenaries for hire, and assassins all at once. They are hired by two dragon sisters to recover lost magical items of Zhengyi, a powerful lich who ruled over the region for many years before his downfall. Their journey eventually leads them to a small half-orc community where a Zhengyi artifact has been uncovered.
Road of the Patriarch (2006) ÔÇö Jarlaxle and Artemis' exile from the Bloodstone lands, their journey to Memnon, Artemis' reckoning with his past, and eventual split of the pair.

The Neverwinter Saga

Gauntlgrym (2010) - Artemis Entreri thought to be Barrabus the Gray.
Neverwinter (2011) - Barrabus the Gray is revealed to be Artemis Entreri by Drizzt Do'Urden.
Charon's Claw (2012) - Artemis Entreri tries to free himself from Charon's Claw's influence with the help of Drizzt and Dahlia.
The Last Threshold (2013) - Artemis Entreri travels with Drizzt and Dahlia to escape pursuit by the Shade Enclave.

Short stories

"The Third Level" ÔÇö A short story of Entreri's early years in the Realms of Infamy anthology
"Empty Joys" ÔÇö A short story of Entreri and Jarlaxle in the Best of the Realms anthology.
"That Curious Sword" ÔÇö Short story of Entreri from the Realms of Shadow anthology in the Return of the Archwizards series.
"Wickless in the Nether" ÔÇö Short story of Entreri and Jarlaxle in the Realms of Dragons anthology.

[Q4T]

I want to spend more time choreographing the fight and less time researching it

[rekuchn]

I suggest one of his yearly free-for-all fights at the fighting school. This does a few things:

1- It goes in the first book. This means the cover you pan out to see will the the most well known cover. Making sure the joke lands.

2- The arena they fight in isnt a big open place, but a series of corridors and hidden passageways in a dark area. This means you won't need dozen's of extras, no more than a few people in each scene.

3- Instead of trying to make en epic fight between to awesome guys, you get to have one awesome guy laying out a bunch of mooks. Honestly, it just makes it easier for your actor to look super cool.

[Q4T]

Nice! I love it! Now I gotta go look that passage up

[Hertzyscowicz]

I suggest one of his yearly free-for-all fights at the fighting school. This does a few things:

1- It goes in the first book. This means the cover you pan out to see will the the most well known cover. Making sure the joke lands.

2- The arena they fight in isnt a big open place, but a series of corridors and hidden passageways in a dark area. This means you won't need dozen's of extras, no more than a few people in each scene.

3- Instead of trying to make en epic fight between to awesome guys, you get to have one awesome guy laying out a bunch of mooks. Honestly, it just makes it easier for your actor to look super cool.

I was thinking of a sparring fight between Drizzt and Zak, on account of Zak's salle sounding like an easyish set. Of course, I haven't read a Drizzt book in half a decade so my recollection's a bit fuzzy.


...Of course you'd need two of the guy playing Drizzt to get that scene right.

[RedwoodElf]

I suggest one of his yearly free-for-all fights at the fighting school. This does a few things:

1- It goes in the first book. This means the cover you pan out to see will the the most well known cover. Making sure the joke lands.

2- The arena they fight in isnt a big open place, but a series of corridors and hidden passageways in a dark area. This means you won't need dozen's of extras, no more than a few people in each scene.

3- Instead of trying to make en epic fight between to awesome guys, you get to have one awesome guy laying out a bunch of mooks. Honestly, it just makes it easier for your actor to look super cool.

I was thinking of a sparring fight between Drizzt and Zak, on account of Zak's salle sounding like an easyish set. Of course, I haven't read a Drizzt book in half a decade so my recollection's a bit fuzzy.


...Of course you'd need two of the guy playing Drizzt to get that scene right.

If you block the scene right, you can use the same actor and one of the same rough height and weight, dressed identically, but always showing one of them only from the back (when you cut around to the other side, you swap actors)

[Q4T]

Thanks everyone for your help. This is gonna be a tough one.

A good feature is if the scene exists on the front over of the book it appears in. That would make for an awesome fade transition.

[Q4T]

It's settled! I shall shoot from "Starless Night" It has a really cool cover that I can fade to. Still waiting on the book to arrive from a neighboring library so I can make it true to the INSIDE of the book also.

[Q4T]

Update: Found the book online
http://www.geocities.ws/snkt_wtf/drizzt ... _Night.pdf

Found the cover online
http://www.artistsuk.co.uk/acatalog/sta ... ckwood.jpg

Now I just need the bit of the book where the cover happens.

It's a really long book. Could someone give me a page number?

(Yes I know, I'm the laziest person who's ever existed. Hey, I just spent 3 days writing the production schedule for another movie. I don't have time for reading 100 pages of Drizzt for one short scene.)

[nikohl]

Not to be a dick or anything, but if you can't research it, why are you doing it? It's your project :/

Ctrl-F through your PDF for a relevant keyword til you find the scene you want. Artemis or Zak or whatever you went for.