It feels like a long time since I have written, though it has only been a little over a week. I got SO much done up at Mikey's cabin, which is good because I don't feel like I've accomplished much this week. But that's not true at all. Tuesday and Wednesday we finally shot the last of our pick-up days, involving actors Cheryl Scungio, Orlando Gonzales, and Johnny Benson. And of course Michelle was back with her crew.
Both were relatively short days. Tuesday was only six hours of filming, all at Fin Art, the gallery of artist Charles Lawrence, in Fells Point. We had already filmed there one full day way back in August during production, but there were a couple scenes we didn't have time for that day. There is no A/C in the gallery, so in August it was a million degrees, and Tuesday we had the opposite problem - no heat. But that is a lot easier to deal with and the day went FAIRLY smoothly. There was still one bit of a scene that we missed, I'll just have to live without it. The scenes that we did get are great and I really needed them. But we, as a team, weren't really clicking along that day, I felt. Chemistry was fine, speed just wasn't there. It wasn't exactly the same team that was together in August, and even if it had been we hadn't been together for a few months, so there was no groove. And something I love about my cast but often slows us down is their real-life chemistry. They all really like each other and they never stop talking. This happened even in initial production, but throw on top of that that they haven't seen each other in months, and it leads to me getting a little cranky because I have to call actors to the set several times, each time, and then ask for quiet several times, each time. But, you can never have it all. I'd rather have that and they just think I'm kinda bitchy than have actors who think I'm great but hate each other so they don't talk at all. Their real-life chemistry really shines through onscreen, and that in the end is what counts.
The scenes in Fin Art are some of my favorites, the set is SO rich and colorful, it is exactly what I wanted those scenes to be. I have said many times I could not be happier with the casting, but the same can be said of the locations. I am lucky to have a diverse group of loyal friends and creative compatriots who allowed me into their homes and businesses to use them as sets. Charles Lawrence's Fin Art is but one example. Others are Russell DeoCampo (The Wind-Up Space), Bill Dougherty (Dougherty's Pub), and Lynn Hafner (Dionysus Lounge) for my bar scenes, and I even have a scene in Baltimore Theater Project (thanks, Anne Fulweiler). Other friends who loaned me their homes, and sometimes their onscreen talent, are Phil Baty & Ron Peltzer ("Mrs. Simpson's" home), Steve Shen (interior courthouse scene), Dave Herman (Bentley's apartment), Greg Mirkin (Tony's house), and Caren Shelley (Gracie's house). Add to that some exterior scenes in Mount Vernon Square, Federal Hill Park, and the War Memorial, plus of course Government House (Mrs. Talford's mansion and Mel's apartment), and loads of Baltimore B-roll, and I have quite a rich and textured palette in my hands. It is truly shaping up to be almost exactly as I had envisioned.
Wednesday filming went a bit smoother. Knocked out the scene at Theater Project, one more scene at Greg's house, and FINALLY a certain car scene that we had filmed part of back in August. This was yet another lesson learned. SInce it was a car scene, I wasn't thinking of it as an exterior scene, and you should always shoot your exterior scenes first. But a car scene IS an exterior. Think about it, you have to have the trees and lighting match, and natural lighting is seasonal. Luckily, for me, it was a night car scene, so that wasn't quite as important. Not so luckily, for actors Cheryl and Orlando, it was a car scene in my car. A convertible. With the top down. And wearing summer clothes. And don't forget Orlando had to drive with a light shining in his face!
Cheryl was wearing a thin halter dress. I really don't even know how she did it. When I arrived at Theater Project earlier that day, around noon, by the time I walked less than half a block from my car to the theater, my fingers were numb. Cheryl had to do this scene in a car in motion at almost 8:00pm! As I walked up the steps to Theater Project, I was very aware of what I was going to have to ask her to do later, and I thought, it's a good thing this is the very last shot I need her for, because she is going to hate my guts after this. Orlando wasn't much better off, but at least he had long sleeves.
But they were troopers and did not even complain! They know it is a piece that was crucial, so they stuck it out.
Michelle was great, too. She doesn't have in her gear package the lights that are specifically designed for car interiors, and they are outrageously expensive to buy or even rent. But she promised me they would figure something out, and they did. The scene will cut together well. This was the scene that kept me up nights. If I didn't have it, I would be completely screwed, it was so important to the entire rhythm of the film.
SO, make SURE you get your car scenes during initial production!
Continuity... always an issue. No matter how low-budget your project is, bribe some anal-retentive friend into being your continuity person, and take photos of EVERYTHING. I swear, in my next movie, no one wears any jewelry! That killed me more than once. And if you are directing, you can't possibly keep track of these things, props, etc. When we were filming the last scene at Greg's house on Tuesday, Cheryl (Gracie) walks onto the porch with two bottles of wine in her hands. While they were setting up for the next part of the scene, from the interior, where she actually enters the house, I thought I'd be smart and expedite things a little. I needed some cutaways of the wine being poured, and the wine bottle with at various levels of being full, to indicate time passing. So I opened one of the bottles. And then the lights were ready for the next part of the scene. Where she enters with the two bottles. One of which is now open.
CURSES!!!!!
Luckily, most of my friends drink and Greg is no exception, and there happened to be a similar shaped bottle of unopened wine on his counter, so she carried that.
So. You might think I am a little scattered. But I know that there are plenty of people who, having read this, will want to see the movie just to pick out all these little things. That is fine with me, I will own my rookie mistakes, I am totally comfortable with that. But then, after seeing it once to nitpick the details, you'll have to see it again to catch the storyline that you missed the first time around. So you see, I am scattered. Scattered like a fox ;)
Showing posts with label michelle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label michelle. Show all posts
Friday, November 21, 2008
Friday, November 7, 2008
Continuing Education
As much as I like learning new things, it is also very frustrating to me, because when I am interested in something I want to know all there is to know and I want to know it RIGHT NOW. Never works that way, though.
I am well into the editing process now, though I only know the very basics. But as far as splicing the scenes together, I am getting the hang of that pretty quickly, and for the most part I really enjoy editing. Mostly because it doesn't involve scheduling a bunch of people whose schedules never match. I can roll out of bed and edit a scene or two in my pajamas, walk away from my computer whenever I am getting agitated and go right back to it whenever the mood strikes me. I have about 25 scenes edited so far (out of maybe 120), and ya know, I just keep on learning lessons along the way that will be oh-so-helpful if I ever put myself through the sweet, sweet hell of making a movie again. Which I am certain I will.
Such as, if ya gotta skimp somewhere (which you always gotta, unless you have an unlimited budget), skimp on the wide shots and NOT the coverage (singles/close-ups of individual actors). I did not know this. Wish I had. I kind of thought the opposite, that the whole, complete, wide shot was the most important piece of the puzzle, but it is really not. Watch any TV show or movie and dissect the scene and you will figure this out. You usually only see the wide shot for a few seconds at the very beginning, and then it is all coverage of the people speaking. Yet another lesson learned.
And a very, very, very important lesson -when the last second of the scene has ended, count to at least 3, if not 5, before yelling "cut". It helps enormously during the editing process.
And another thing, anyone who tells you, "Oh, you can do that in post," (a) usually isn't the person that would have to do that in post, (b) definitely isn't the person who will have to PAY for whatever-it-is being done in post, and (c) if they are the person who would be doing it in post, is just padding their paycheck. Your movie, ANY movie, will look better the LESS you have to do "in post". To see what I am talking about, rent a movie called (I think) "Duane Roane: First-Time Director". This stars Andy Dick (who normally, I hate). Having been through the process, every time he says, "We'll just do it in post," I about hit the floor laughing.
Lesson #381: Cutaways.
You can never have too many cutaways. You have, say, a scene where a guy is making breakfast for a woman who has spent the night. Say, this is the last scene you are shooting that day and you are behind schedule and don't want to go into overtime, and it is not a long scene so you do it, say, all in one take in a wide shot, maybe three times. When you go to edit that scene, say you see that in two of the three takes you can CLEARLY see the big fat light shining through the glass door to make it look like morning sunlight. So you are stuck with that one and only take that you can't see the big fat light in, which, say, wasn't even the best take that the actors did. But (a) you have no coverage and (b) you have no cutaways, that could have possibly covered the few seconds that you see the big fat light. The CORRECT answer would have been, instead of three takes of the wide shot, one take of the wide, and one coverage of each of the two actors, and a few extra minutes to film close-up cutaways of pouring a glass of juice, scrambling eggs in a pan, a fork moving eggs around on a plate, ANYTHING so you have something to cut to when an actor stutters for a split second or a BIG FAT LIGHT is in the shot.
Another thing that I don't think I have mentioned so far but have thought about/dealt with a LOT, between "Charm City" and "Juju" - make sure you have an Assistant Director. Now, I think that job title is extremely misleading, which is why I didn't have one on Charm City. An Assistant Director does not direct. If an Assistant Director (AD) starts directing, that person is overstepping his or her bounds. That is not their job. An AD keeps things moving, and if they are doing their job well, is often not very popular among the cast and crew. The AD's job is to make sure EVERYONE is where they are supposed to be when they are supposed to be there, if not 5 minutes ago. They are on the crew's asses to get the lights set up and camera ready, they are on props to have the set dressed, they are on the actors to be in makeup and wardrobe, and they are the one to "lock down" the set (i.e., to tell everyone to shut the hell up when the camera is about to roll).
I tried to do this all myself on Charm City, and it was extremely difficult. To this day I don't know if it was Michelle's idea or if her film crew took it upon themselves, but after the first 4 or 5 days, someone from the crew would pick up the slack and lock down the set, for which I was very grateful. I was so sick of hearing my own voice, and I am sure everyone else on the set felt the same way. As I am editing, I am especially aware of how stressed out I was at the time (which, thank goodness, I wasn't TOTALLY aware of in the middle of it all). It is apparent in my voice, and sometimes when the camera would catch me (Michelle likes to turn the camera on to the crew when we are running room tone), I looked so stressed, and to me, several years older than I am, and older than I look now when the weight of production is no longer on my shoulders.
Lesson, say it with me, learned.
I gotta roll now. Have to finish learning my lines for two scenes I have to do in Steve Yeager's acting class tomorrow. Plus Eric is showing up soon to set some things up to film at my place over the weekend. I used to have so much FREE time in my life before I got into all this. What the hell was I thinking?!? But, I kid... I've never been busier. But I've never been happier. I am finally doing what I believe I was really, truly cut out for, though just 2 or 3 years ago I could never have imagined doing this. It is a pretty awesome feeling.
I am well into the editing process now, though I only know the very basics. But as far as splicing the scenes together, I am getting the hang of that pretty quickly, and for the most part I really enjoy editing. Mostly because it doesn't involve scheduling a bunch of people whose schedules never match. I can roll out of bed and edit a scene or two in my pajamas, walk away from my computer whenever I am getting agitated and go right back to it whenever the mood strikes me. I have about 25 scenes edited so far (out of maybe 120), and ya know, I just keep on learning lessons along the way that will be oh-so-helpful if I ever put myself through the sweet, sweet hell of making a movie again. Which I am certain I will.
Such as, if ya gotta skimp somewhere (which you always gotta, unless you have an unlimited budget), skimp on the wide shots and NOT the coverage (singles/close-ups of individual actors). I did not know this. Wish I had. I kind of thought the opposite, that the whole, complete, wide shot was the most important piece of the puzzle, but it is really not. Watch any TV show or movie and dissect the scene and you will figure this out. You usually only see the wide shot for a few seconds at the very beginning, and then it is all coverage of the people speaking. Yet another lesson learned.
And a very, very, very important lesson -when the last second of the scene has ended, count to at least 3, if not 5, before yelling "cut". It helps enormously during the editing process.
And another thing, anyone who tells you, "Oh, you can do that in post," (a) usually isn't the person that would have to do that in post, (b) definitely isn't the person who will have to PAY for whatever-it-is being done in post, and (c) if they are the person who would be doing it in post, is just padding their paycheck. Your movie, ANY movie, will look better the LESS you have to do "in post". To see what I am talking about, rent a movie called (I think) "Duane Roane: First-Time Director". This stars Andy Dick (who normally, I hate). Having been through the process, every time he says, "We'll just do it in post," I about hit the floor laughing.
Lesson #381: Cutaways.
You can never have too many cutaways. You have, say, a scene where a guy is making breakfast for a woman who has spent the night. Say, this is the last scene you are shooting that day and you are behind schedule and don't want to go into overtime, and it is not a long scene so you do it, say, all in one take in a wide shot, maybe three times. When you go to edit that scene, say you see that in two of the three takes you can CLEARLY see the big fat light shining through the glass door to make it look like morning sunlight. So you are stuck with that one and only take that you can't see the big fat light in, which, say, wasn't even the best take that the actors did. But (a) you have no coverage and (b) you have no cutaways, that could have possibly covered the few seconds that you see the big fat light. The CORRECT answer would have been, instead of three takes of the wide shot, one take of the wide, and one coverage of each of the two actors, and a few extra minutes to film close-up cutaways of pouring a glass of juice, scrambling eggs in a pan, a fork moving eggs around on a plate, ANYTHING so you have something to cut to when an actor stutters for a split second or a BIG FAT LIGHT is in the shot.
Another thing that I don't think I have mentioned so far but have thought about/dealt with a LOT, between "Charm City" and "Juju" - make sure you have an Assistant Director. Now, I think that job title is extremely misleading, which is why I didn't have one on Charm City. An Assistant Director does not direct. If an Assistant Director (AD) starts directing, that person is overstepping his or her bounds. That is not their job. An AD keeps things moving, and if they are doing their job well, is often not very popular among the cast and crew. The AD's job is to make sure EVERYONE is where they are supposed to be when they are supposed to be there, if not 5 minutes ago. They are on the crew's asses to get the lights set up and camera ready, they are on props to have the set dressed, they are on the actors to be in makeup and wardrobe, and they are the one to "lock down" the set (i.e., to tell everyone to shut the hell up when the camera is about to roll).
I tried to do this all myself on Charm City, and it was extremely difficult. To this day I don't know if it was Michelle's idea or if her film crew took it upon themselves, but after the first 4 or 5 days, someone from the crew would pick up the slack and lock down the set, for which I was very grateful. I was so sick of hearing my own voice, and I am sure everyone else on the set felt the same way. As I am editing, I am especially aware of how stressed out I was at the time (which, thank goodness, I wasn't TOTALLY aware of in the middle of it all). It is apparent in my voice, and sometimes when the camera would catch me (Michelle likes to turn the camera on to the crew when we are running room tone), I looked so stressed, and to me, several years older than I am, and older than I look now when the weight of production is no longer on my shoulders.
Lesson, say it with me, learned.
I gotta roll now. Have to finish learning my lines for two scenes I have to do in Steve Yeager's acting class tomorrow. Plus Eric is showing up soon to set some things up to film at my place over the weekend. I used to have so much FREE time in my life before I got into all this. What the hell was I thinking?!? But, I kid... I've never been busier. But I've never been happier. I am finally doing what I believe I was really, truly cut out for, though just 2 or 3 years ago I could never have imagined doing this. It is a pretty awesome feeling.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Choices Made
If you think I was being a little bit of a baby the other day about the criticism of Charm City that I stumbled upon, I wouldn't necessarily disagree with you. I looked at it again, and it wasn't all that terrible, and had some truth to it. The larger part of my problem was not what was said but who said it, and the forum in which they said it. I won't waste any more time thinking about it, it is not that big a deal. It just caught me at a vulnerable moment so I may have overreacted a little bit.
You do have to have a thick skin in this business, as this stuff happens all the time. I try to be supportive of other filmmakers I have come to know, even if whatever they are creating is not really my thing. I learn a lot more (and accumulate more allies) by keeping an open mind than by ripping everyone else's work apart. I believe that there is no one that I cannot learn something from, though sometimes it is learning what NOT to do. But those lessons are equally if not more important than learning HOW to do things.
I know I made a lot of rookie mistakes on Charm City and I am fine with that. I would like to believe that 98.5%... okay, maybe 94.5%... of the cast and crew who worked on the film would willingly work with me again. And that's the other thing about this business, at least in Baltimore. You're going to end up working with people you are not crazy about if you do more than one or two projects, so the fewer lines you draw and enemies you make, the better. There might be cast or crew from Charm City that I would not hire again. But I will not always be in the driver's seat, there will be other productions (knock on wood!) like Juju that I freelance on and am not in charge of hiring or casting, and may find myself working side by side with someone not of my choice.
Anyway... I just finished three days of pick-up shots for Charm City. I think one more day and I will have everything I need. I need to get three of the actors together that day, and that has been tough, but we will get it done. They have been very cooperative and I am grateful for that. We really took our time with the scenes we shot this week and they look great.
Michelle wasn't available yesterday but my two lead actors were, so Eric filled in as DP for me so we could knock some stuff out. After we wrapped last night, Eric and I looked at a LOT of the footage from the 2 weeks of principle photography. I am really happy with it, all of the elements are there. The acting is great, the cinematography is sharp, and I have to say we had some stellar locations that combined make the film look even better than I had hoped for. I was initially worried about so much of the footage being shot in the interiors of bars, but now I think it will be fine, as it will be broken up with a lot of other stuff, and it is a well-balanced mix. We had three bars but they each have a different look and feel to them; five homes/apartments, which were even more distinctive - two very luxurious mansions, a warehouse apartment, a "masculine", straight-forward house, for lack of better description, and a more feminine, artsy house; our outdoor scenes (for which the weather was perfect) were very Baltimore - Federal Hill Park, Mount Vernon Square, and the War Memorial across from City Hall; also my friend Steve's house served as our Courthouse interior (and Steve as our Justice of the Peace), and Charles Lawrence's gallery in Fells Point doubled as Moxie Gallery. Those interiors were so rich and colorful, I can't wait to start editing those scenes. I am probably forgetting a few locations, but those were the main ones and I believe a good mix. We also have a few car scenes of conversations in moving cars.
What I am missing a lot of is single coverage, or close-ups of one person at a time. It is an ensemble cast and in some of the scenes there were sometimes EIGHT people coming and going from the same conversation. I'd still be filming if we did the wide shot and then shot singles of EVERYONE. So I had to make a lot of choices along the way of where I had to skimp on coverage to stay on schedule and under budget. These pick-up days have been nice because they were scenes that were important to get a lot of coverage and we took our time because we only shot about 2 pages a day. We averaged SEVEN pages a day during principle photography, and there were a couple days in there we did ten or eleven! But again, I think I have a balanced mix of scenes where I do and do not have coverage. And I myself LIKE scenes that show more than one person during the conversation. I think they help the actors to stay in character if they know the camera is on them. It is easy to let performance slip if you know it is someone else's close-up and you are not in the shot, plus it is easier, I think, for the actor not to OVER-do it if they are in a scene with someone else. Sometimes if they know it is their close-up, they ham it up a bit too much. And especially for a "talkie" with loads of dialogue about personal relationships, I like to see the body language of the person who is not speaking in the scene. I think in important moments that is just as important as focusing on the person who is talking.
So I can live with all of that. I find myself saying that a lot, now that I am in post. It's a good thing, because if I couldn't live with it, I still wouldn't have much choice in the matter. It is in the can and I only have a little bit of money leftover for post-production.
Well, I have to go finish putting together the schedule for Juju's pick-up days so I better get rolling. One more week of that to get through, then I can really concentrate on editing Charm City. Can't wait to really dig in.
You do have to have a thick skin in this business, as this stuff happens all the time. I try to be supportive of other filmmakers I have come to know, even if whatever they are creating is not really my thing. I learn a lot more (and accumulate more allies) by keeping an open mind than by ripping everyone else's work apart. I believe that there is no one that I cannot learn something from, though sometimes it is learning what NOT to do. But those lessons are equally if not more important than learning HOW to do things.
I know I made a lot of rookie mistakes on Charm City and I am fine with that. I would like to believe that 98.5%... okay, maybe 94.5%... of the cast and crew who worked on the film would willingly work with me again. And that's the other thing about this business, at least in Baltimore. You're going to end up working with people you are not crazy about if you do more than one or two projects, so the fewer lines you draw and enemies you make, the better. There might be cast or crew from Charm City that I would not hire again. But I will not always be in the driver's seat, there will be other productions (knock on wood!) like Juju that I freelance on and am not in charge of hiring or casting, and may find myself working side by side with someone not of my choice.
Anyway... I just finished three days of pick-up shots for Charm City. I think one more day and I will have everything I need. I need to get three of the actors together that day, and that has been tough, but we will get it done. They have been very cooperative and I am grateful for that. We really took our time with the scenes we shot this week and they look great.
Michelle wasn't available yesterday but my two lead actors were, so Eric filled in as DP for me so we could knock some stuff out. After we wrapped last night, Eric and I looked at a LOT of the footage from the 2 weeks of principle photography. I am really happy with it, all of the elements are there. The acting is great, the cinematography is sharp, and I have to say we had some stellar locations that combined make the film look even better than I had hoped for. I was initially worried about so much of the footage being shot in the interiors of bars, but now I think it will be fine, as it will be broken up with a lot of other stuff, and it is a well-balanced mix. We had three bars but they each have a different look and feel to them; five homes/apartments, which were even more distinctive - two very luxurious mansions, a warehouse apartment, a "masculine", straight-forward house, for lack of better description, and a more feminine, artsy house; our outdoor scenes (for which the weather was perfect) were very Baltimore - Federal Hill Park, Mount Vernon Square, and the War Memorial across from City Hall; also my friend Steve's house served as our Courthouse interior (and Steve as our Justice of the Peace), and Charles Lawrence's gallery in Fells Point doubled as Moxie Gallery. Those interiors were so rich and colorful, I can't wait to start editing those scenes. I am probably forgetting a few locations, but those were the main ones and I believe a good mix. We also have a few car scenes of conversations in moving cars.
What I am missing a lot of is single coverage, or close-ups of one person at a time. It is an ensemble cast and in some of the scenes there were sometimes EIGHT people coming and going from the same conversation. I'd still be filming if we did the wide shot and then shot singles of EVERYONE. So I had to make a lot of choices along the way of where I had to skimp on coverage to stay on schedule and under budget. These pick-up days have been nice because they were scenes that were important to get a lot of coverage and we took our time because we only shot about 2 pages a day. We averaged SEVEN pages a day during principle photography, and there were a couple days in there we did ten or eleven! But again, I think I have a balanced mix of scenes where I do and do not have coverage. And I myself LIKE scenes that show more than one person during the conversation. I think they help the actors to stay in character if they know the camera is on them. It is easy to let performance slip if you know it is someone else's close-up and you are not in the shot, plus it is easier, I think, for the actor not to OVER-do it if they are in a scene with someone else. Sometimes if they know it is their close-up, they ham it up a bit too much. And especially for a "talkie" with loads of dialogue about personal relationships, I like to see the body language of the person who is not speaking in the scene. I think in important moments that is just as important as focusing on the person who is talking.
So I can live with all of that. I find myself saying that a lot, now that I am in post. It's a good thing, because if I couldn't live with it, I still wouldn't have much choice in the matter. It is in the can and I only have a little bit of money leftover for post-production.
Well, I have to go finish putting together the schedule for Juju's pick-up days so I better get rolling. One more week of that to get through, then I can really concentrate on editing Charm City. Can't wait to really dig in.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Let the Games Begin (or, Continue...)
Today was a mixed bag. On top of my day job, which is in flux for reasons too complicated to get into, I'm trying to schedule both my pick-up days for Charm City and the pick-up days for Juju. I've got a decent handle on all three... it is just a lot of balls to keep in the air.
Some stuff in my personal life going on, too, making me reflect on decisions that brought me to where I am today. Things that initially make one think, oh my god, if I only would have done this or stuck with that, I'd be in a totally different place right now, life would be completely different!... and I would be, and it would be... and it would not be the right place or the right life for me, because where I am is where I should be. Where I am, I don't have all the answers, I am not at my final destination, I have not reached all my goals... how boring would life be if I did? I've gotten this far without running out of questions and the desire to learn more than I know now. Don't see that changing anytime soon.
I have finally, but just barely, started the editing process. Through a nice barter deal with a great guy, Charlie Anderson of Stratatek Studios, I am learning the ropes, one on one.
Though at first I found it frustrating (because I had to step away from my own project), now I am so glad that immediately after wrapping principle photography on Charm City I started working on Juju. Going back to look at the footage after not having seen it for 2 months gives me a great deal of perspective. I see now that there are some shots I didn't know to insist upon, and there are some shots that I insisted I could live without that I should have gotten. But still, I am confident that through the magic of editing I can come up with a decent product in the end. Could it be better? Of course! But that is what first features are for. Of COURSE I would love for this to be my big splash, and I'll do everything I can to make that happen. But will this be my masterpiece? God, I hope not! If so, there would be no place to go but down, right? I have no delusions of grandeur in that regard.
But I will admit that I would like for people to respect what I have accomplished to date, or, at a minimum, not shit all over it. At the same time, it is a fine line for me to walk. It is complicated... I am not sure how to explain it... egos everywhere, including mine, I'm sure. There are so many people I have met, and learned from, and just flat out revered. To name a few: Sean Stanley, Michelle Farrell, and Eric Thornett. These three are the Indie Holy Trinity as far as I am concerned. Flip back through previous posts just to get a taste of what they have helped me through, and continue to help me through. I started off knowing each of them by bartering services or resources that aided both parties, but more importantly now, they are my friends.
But I digress, sort of...
On my shoot, a few people chose to tell me, sometimes in rather harsh terms, what they thought I was doing wrong, or should do better, or basically should have known coming out of the womb... I tried to take it all in stride. I suppose sometimes I did and sometimes I didn't, I don't know. Nothing I couldn't live with, no mistakes I couldn't own. Never claimed to be perfect, or even know what I was doing. That's what first productions are for. It made me a better Production Manager for Juju. This was that production team's first feature-length. Sometimes when I just wanted to bitch, I remembered how it made me feel when people on my team on Charm City did that... and I kept my mouth shut. If it was something important, I would say it, to their (the producers) faces (not via email, or text message, or voicemail) and at an appropriate (read: private) time and place. Like any business, there is a hierarchy in filmmaking. If you want to cause a scene, create drama, you can certainly earn a name for yourself - among your peers and subordinates. But there are several things more important to keep in mind: (1) the people you are impressing by behaving this way are generally not the people who hired you, (2) the people who hired you are not likely to be impressed, (3) this business is an incredibly small microcosm, so (4) the people who hired you know other people who may or may NOT hire you.
But it is not just about even that, to me. It is about respect, and integrity. I am just a little disillusioned at the moment... today I found something online, accidentally, written about Charm City by someone who had worked on the production. Not only had I personally signed this person on to the project, and enjoyed working with that person throughout, I then went out on a limb to get that person hired onto Juju, with pay, and mid-production went further out on that limb to get that person more money.
Double-whammy to me is that person is female. Filmmaking is a Boys' Club, no doubt. I am not complaining, though, because it gives me an edge. Female Writer/Producer/Directors are few and far between, especially in the Indie world. It gives me a hook. I'll take it. But to be slammed by another female, a female that I hired, TWICE... who was nice to my face, who I gave more credit than that... it just makes me feel like a sucker.
On the other hand, this person is young, and though I don't think that is carte blanche for anything (and I hated it when people would say that, "oh, she's young," about me when I actually WAS young), it makes it easier for me to live with. As far as I know, she hasn't written, OR directed, OR produced a feature-length film. And she probably spent as much money going to school for it as people handed me to make my film, because they believe in me. So, you know, I can live with all of that.
Some stuff in my personal life going on, too, making me reflect on decisions that brought me to where I am today. Things that initially make one think, oh my god, if I only would have done this or stuck with that, I'd be in a totally different place right now, life would be completely different!... and I would be, and it would be... and it would not be the right place or the right life for me, because where I am is where I should be. Where I am, I don't have all the answers, I am not at my final destination, I have not reached all my goals... how boring would life be if I did? I've gotten this far without running out of questions and the desire to learn more than I know now. Don't see that changing anytime soon.
I have finally, but just barely, started the editing process. Through a nice barter deal with a great guy, Charlie Anderson of Stratatek Studios, I am learning the ropes, one on one.
Though at first I found it frustrating (because I had to step away from my own project), now I am so glad that immediately after wrapping principle photography on Charm City I started working on Juju. Going back to look at the footage after not having seen it for 2 months gives me a great deal of perspective. I see now that there are some shots I didn't know to insist upon, and there are some shots that I insisted I could live without that I should have gotten. But still, I am confident that through the magic of editing I can come up with a decent product in the end. Could it be better? Of course! But that is what first features are for. Of COURSE I would love for this to be my big splash, and I'll do everything I can to make that happen. But will this be my masterpiece? God, I hope not! If so, there would be no place to go but down, right? I have no delusions of grandeur in that regard.
But I will admit that I would like for people to respect what I have accomplished to date, or, at a minimum, not shit all over it. At the same time, it is a fine line for me to walk. It is complicated... I am not sure how to explain it... egos everywhere, including mine, I'm sure. There are so many people I have met, and learned from, and just flat out revered. To name a few: Sean Stanley, Michelle Farrell, and Eric Thornett. These three are the Indie Holy Trinity as far as I am concerned. Flip back through previous posts just to get a taste of what they have helped me through, and continue to help me through. I started off knowing each of them by bartering services or resources that aided both parties, but more importantly now, they are my friends.
But I digress, sort of...
On my shoot, a few people chose to tell me, sometimes in rather harsh terms, what they thought I was doing wrong, or should do better, or basically should have known coming out of the womb... I tried to take it all in stride. I suppose sometimes I did and sometimes I didn't, I don't know. Nothing I couldn't live with, no mistakes I couldn't own. Never claimed to be perfect, or even know what I was doing. That's what first productions are for. It made me a better Production Manager for Juju. This was that production team's first feature-length. Sometimes when I just wanted to bitch, I remembered how it made me feel when people on my team on Charm City did that... and I kept my mouth shut. If it was something important, I would say it, to their (the producers) faces (not via email, or text message, or voicemail) and at an appropriate (read: private) time and place. Like any business, there is a hierarchy in filmmaking. If you want to cause a scene, create drama, you can certainly earn a name for yourself - among your peers and subordinates. But there are several things more important to keep in mind: (1) the people you are impressing by behaving this way are generally not the people who hired you, (2) the people who hired you are not likely to be impressed, (3) this business is an incredibly small microcosm, so (4) the people who hired you know other people who may or may NOT hire you.
But it is not just about even that, to me. It is about respect, and integrity. I am just a little disillusioned at the moment... today I found something online, accidentally, written about Charm City by someone who had worked on the production. Not only had I personally signed this person on to the project, and enjoyed working with that person throughout, I then went out on a limb to get that person hired onto Juju, with pay, and mid-production went further out on that limb to get that person more money.
Double-whammy to me is that person is female. Filmmaking is a Boys' Club, no doubt. I am not complaining, though, because it gives me an edge. Female Writer/Producer/Directors are few and far between, especially in the Indie world. It gives me a hook. I'll take it. But to be slammed by another female, a female that I hired, TWICE... who was nice to my face, who I gave more credit than that... it just makes me feel like a sucker.
On the other hand, this person is young, and though I don't think that is carte blanche for anything (and I hated it when people would say that, "oh, she's young," about me when I actually WAS young), it makes it easier for me to live with. As far as I know, she hasn't written, OR directed, OR produced a feature-length film. And she probably spent as much money going to school for it as people handed me to make my film, because they believe in me. So, you know, I can live with all of that.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Post Time
I am so exhausted. I was driving today to return some of the gorgeous artwork that I had on loan for the production from Oletha Davis, Linda DePalma, and Ellen Burchenal, and I found myself wondering, "Why is my car going so slowly?" The answer to this question was, "Because you need to exert energy to press down on the accelerator pedal." Even that was an effort. I went to my friend Christie's going away party tonight - for five minutes. I just have nothing left for anyone until I can recharge my batteries for a few days. Tomorrow morning I head to Mikey's cabin in the Poconos to do just that.
Last night was the Wrap Party at the Wind-Up Space. Beforehand I took Michelle Farrell (Director of Photography), Michael Bordenick (Executive Producer), and Eric Thornett (Production Consultant, Touchstone, Sounding Board and Junior Therapist) to dinner at the always outstanding Prime Rib. I cannot describe to you how nice it was to relax for that little bit of time, and to be in such good company. I could not have survived this without all three of them keeping me sane. I feel so much lighter today, such a weight off of my shoulders. Of course, that may just be that floaty feeling I get from sleep deprivation.
The party was so much fun. Tucker and the boys rocked it out while we screened some raw footage (thank you Greg Almond!) on the big screen behind them. The Wind-Up is such an awesome place for just such a party, and for filming on location as well. It was cool to see footage of scenes we shot there playing on the wall in the very same space! I think the actors especially appreciated being able to see some of the work they had done come to fruition. It takes so long to edit a feature-length, I was glad to give them a bit of immediate gratification, and it was really fun for me also.
Later in the evening, from out of nowhere I was presented with a beautiful cake decorated with a "slate" that had "Charm City" and my name on it, a card signed by members of the cast and crew, and a gleaming golden, "Oscar", also with my name on it. I was astounded. Some people hate surprises or surprise parties. I love them. I have thrown several for other people, and I know how much planning and thought goes into anything like that. It meant the world to me that my crew and cast would be so thoughtful about doing something nice for me after I had worked them so hard for weeks. It was a moment of overwhelming satisfaction, appreciation, and just plain happiness that I shall never forget, and I thank every one of them from the bottom of my heart for giving me that moment and that memory.
I have learned so much in the last few weeks (and months) and I have so much still to tell you about, but I want to leave it there for now, I want to enjoy the feeling of this moment before rehashing everything that led up to it. It definitely had (and will continue to have, in post, I'm sure) its ups and downs, but for the most part it was simply an amazing experience, and the biggest challenge in my life thus far. That is no exaggeration. But here I am, smile on my face, and gratitude in my heart to all of the people who helped me to manifest my vision into tangible reality, I hope you are enjoying the moment with me. You deserve it.
Last night was the Wrap Party at the Wind-Up Space. Beforehand I took Michelle Farrell (Director of Photography), Michael Bordenick (Executive Producer), and Eric Thornett (Production Consultant, Touchstone, Sounding Board and Junior Therapist) to dinner at the always outstanding Prime Rib. I cannot describe to you how nice it was to relax for that little bit of time, and to be in such good company. I could not have survived this without all three of them keeping me sane. I feel so much lighter today, such a weight off of my shoulders. Of course, that may just be that floaty feeling I get from sleep deprivation.
The party was so much fun. Tucker and the boys rocked it out while we screened some raw footage (thank you Greg Almond!) on the big screen behind them. The Wind-Up is such an awesome place for just such a party, and for filming on location as well. It was cool to see footage of scenes we shot there playing on the wall in the very same space! I think the actors especially appreciated being able to see some of the work they had done come to fruition. It takes so long to edit a feature-length, I was glad to give them a bit of immediate gratification, and it was really fun for me also.
Later in the evening, from out of nowhere I was presented with a beautiful cake decorated with a "slate" that had "Charm City" and my name on it, a card signed by members of the cast and crew, and a gleaming golden, "Oscar", also with my name on it. I was astounded. Some people hate surprises or surprise parties. I love them. I have thrown several for other people, and I know how much planning and thought goes into anything like that. It meant the world to me that my crew and cast would be so thoughtful about doing something nice for me after I had worked them so hard for weeks. It was a moment of overwhelming satisfaction, appreciation, and just plain happiness that I shall never forget, and I thank every one of them from the bottom of my heart for giving me that moment and that memory.
I have learned so much in the last few weeks (and months) and I have so much still to tell you about, but I want to leave it there for now, I want to enjoy the feeling of this moment before rehashing everything that led up to it. It definitely had (and will continue to have, in post, I'm sure) its ups and downs, but for the most part it was simply an amazing experience, and the biggest challenge in my life thus far. That is no exaggeration. But here I am, smile on my face, and gratitude in my heart to all of the people who helped me to manifest my vision into tangible reality, I hope you are enjoying the moment with me. You deserve it.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Christmas Eve
That is kind of what it feels like to me right now. Call time is eight hours away. I really need to get to sleep. But I doubt I will be able to do so before 2:00am.
The great thing is though, I am feeling really good about everything. It was a long day of running around, a last minute trip to the Apple store, getting in touch with Al Letson who comes in from Florida in the morning to film his scenes this weekend, another trip to Sam's Club (this time for $600 - OUCH - but I got a lot of people to feed), read 62 emails and wrote 35 (I am not making this up), can't count the phone calls, met with most of my Production Team from 5-6pm, followed by dinner with my Film Crew and their load-in, followed by several more hours bouncing between them, wardrobe, catering, and delegating other production tasks. Michelle and her Film Crew tested their equipment and made sure everything is locked and loaded. Tomorrow morning we are making a movie! And I am actually SMILING about that for the first time in days!
I very much want to sit here and write for another hour or two, but I very much need to at least TRY to go to sleep. Lookig forward to getting Day 1 under my belt. Wish me luck.
The great thing is though, I am feeling really good about everything. It was a long day of running around, a last minute trip to the Apple store, getting in touch with Al Letson who comes in from Florida in the morning to film his scenes this weekend, another trip to Sam's Club (this time for $600 - OUCH - but I got a lot of people to feed), read 62 emails and wrote 35 (I am not making this up), can't count the phone calls, met with most of my Production Team from 5-6pm, followed by dinner with my Film Crew and their load-in, followed by several more hours bouncing between them, wardrobe, catering, and delegating other production tasks. Michelle and her Film Crew tested their equipment and made sure everything is locked and loaded. Tomorrow morning we are making a movie! And I am actually SMILING about that for the first time in days!
I very much want to sit here and write for another hour or two, but I very much need to at least TRY to go to sleep. Lookig forward to getting Day 1 under my belt. Wish me luck.
Zero Hour
First call time is 21 and a half hours from now. "Stressed," is not nearly strong enough a word. My dogs are staying clear of me. Al Letson, who gets into town tomorrow morning, tells me to breathe deep. Michelle tells me not to worry. Eric says I am not allowed to cry until 1/3 of the movie is in the can. Which is perfect, because that will be our first day off on Tuesday (after we have filmed more than 32 pages in 4 days). So, now I have plans.
Friday, July 11, 2008
The Good, the Bad, and the Moronic
The Good: I am ecstatic to announce that Rebecca Clear Dean has signed on as the Production Manager for Charm City. Rebecca brings to the table a Theater Arts/Film degree from a university in New York known as Cornell. Heard of it? I think it is supposed to be a pretty decent school. Rebecca's decade of film production experience includes working with A & E on several documentaries, including biographies of Jack the Ripper and Richard Burton. Later she served as associate producer on Wall $treet Week With Louis Rukeyser at Maryland Public Television, which aired on PBS from 1970-2002.
I am also quite pleased to tell you that Ms. Jancy Lister will be the Catering Manager for the production. As if we needed another crazy redhead on the set! Between Jancy, Joyce Scott, and Michelle Farrell, all of their far-fetched (but true) Baltimore stories are going to make my little romantic comedy look like chump change.
More Good: I finished the tweaks, so we now have a shooting script. Which is fortunate, as we start rehearsals in 5 days and filming in three weeks!
Even More Good: I am meeting with several local artists on Monday who will be loaning their work to the production. More on that later...
The Bad: not much bad, really. Full steam ahead. The only Bad is really what people like Michelle, Sean, and Eric forgot to tell me about, and that is:
The Moronic: a.k.a., the Haters. These mostly come in the form of anonymous internet postings from people who live their little lives in front of a computer screen searching for things to belittle and begrudge. My filmmaker friends probably didn't mention them because I am sure they tuned them out long ago, which would be my advice to anyone as well. Funny enough, these people never follow up their remarkably insightful critique (***sarcasm alert***) with anything such as, "If you want to see something good, you can check out the project I am working on at www..."
No matter. This business is not for the thin-skinned, that is for sure. As an artist I know that I cannot grow and improve my work without constructive criticism. I welcome it from people whose opinions and work I respect. Collaboration is a big part of the process, and to me, a big part of the fun. But if you are someone who actually gets things done, there will always be jealous wannabes out there who will try to undermine you.
That doesn't mean it is always easy to hear the constructive criticism. But before I dismiss anyone's opinion, I ask myself two things: (1) Is this person talented and productive in their own right? and (2) Was their critique delivered with malicious intent and nothing more?
I am also quite pleased to tell you that Ms. Jancy Lister will be the Catering Manager for the production. As if we needed another crazy redhead on the set! Between Jancy, Joyce Scott, and Michelle Farrell, all of their far-fetched (but true) Baltimore stories are going to make my little romantic comedy look like chump change.
More Good: I finished the tweaks, so we now have a shooting script. Which is fortunate, as we start rehearsals in 5 days and filming in three weeks!
Even More Good: I am meeting with several local artists on Monday who will be loaning their work to the production. More on that later...
The Bad: not much bad, really. Full steam ahead. The only Bad is really what people like Michelle, Sean, and Eric forgot to tell me about, and that is:
The Moronic: a.k.a., the Haters. These mostly come in the form of anonymous internet postings from people who live their little lives in front of a computer screen searching for things to belittle and begrudge. My filmmaker friends probably didn't mention them because I am sure they tuned them out long ago, which would be my advice to anyone as well. Funny enough, these people never follow up their remarkably insightful critique (***sarcasm alert***) with anything such as, "If you want to see something good, you can check out the project I am working on at www..."
No matter. This business is not for the thin-skinned, that is for sure. As an artist I know that I cannot grow and improve my work without constructive criticism. I welcome it from people whose opinions and work I respect. Collaboration is a big part of the process, and to me, a big part of the fun. But if you are someone who actually gets things done, there will always be jealous wannabes out there who will try to undermine you.
That doesn't mean it is always easy to hear the constructive criticism. But before I dismiss anyone's opinion, I ask myself two things: (1) Is this person talented and productive in their own right? and (2) Was their critique delivered with malicious intent and nothing more?
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Successful Sunday
Though my body and brain are limp with exhaustion, my spirit is wide awake and bouncing off the walls. Had a FANTASTIC round of callbacks today, I could not be happier with the way things went. I so wish I could babble on about all this to one of my filmmaker friends, but they are all hard at work on their own projects tonight. Sean and his crew are editing their sit-com, "El Presidente," though I did get to borrow cameraman Greg Almond for the afternoon to tape the auditions for me. Eric is off in Woodstock, VA, filming more footage for his period horror film. They only have two more (planned) weekends of filming at my place. And Michelle Farrell, my DP (okay, by now you should all know what a "DP" is if you didn't before)is in Philly or Delaware or somewhere filming a commercial, I think. It is hard to keep track of her, she has so many irons in the fire at all times.
So, good thing I have this blog so I have somewhere to prattle off, if not someone (live person) to prattle off to.
Let me just say, what a bunch of pros. Everyone showed up on time and off book (lines memorized), even down to the little ones. My young cousins, Joseph (nine years old) and Sean (seven), have a scene in the movie, and before getting here they were very excited about it. Once the camera was rolling, poor Sean had an attack of stage fright and started to cry. But I've seen Sean like this before, and he is a tough little trooper and works his way through it. He gets excited about things, like when the Orioles mascot came to his birthday party. He LOVES the O's mascot, he practically bursts if we are at a baseball game and we get to joke around with the Bird. But when the Bird came to his party last year, Sean got so nervous he was about to cry. He shook it off then and had a great time, and he did the same thing today. The boys got to punch each other and wrestle around and once they did that a time or two Sean was fine. I was very proud of them both.
I was proud of everyone there today. The actors took the process very seriously, and everyone was well-prepared. Especially for the actors with smaller parts, I appreciated their patience when sometimes it would literally be more than an hour between their scenes. While for the two actresses playing the role of Gracie, the lead, they had to perform for about two hours straight, and culminate their performance with an incredibly emotionally draining scene.
But I didn't hear a single complaint all day. We started around 1pm and ended right on time, a few minutes early actually, at 6:20ish. Then we moved across the street to my neighbor's gorgeous Victorian home for a cocktail party to blow off some steam.
An added bonus was how well everyone got along. During auditions, when they weren't upstairs filming with me, they were downstairs running lines, joking around, and playing pool. Great chemistry offscreen leads to great chemistry onscreen, so seeing that made me very happy. I got to chat with everyone at the cocktail party and they all seemed to enjoy the experience. I think they appreciated the organization that went into planning the day, that the day went as scheduled and finished on time. No one was more glad than I was when we finished the last scene. It really is quite draining. But somehow, still fun.
Then, of course, I have my unsung heroes: my cameraman, Greg, who I only asked at the very last minute to do this when someone else bailed on me; he even brought his own lights! Ann Mladinov, my casting consultant, who on top of being my second pair of eyes is never above doing all the little things that make my life easier, from making copies to moving furniture. Regina Guy, my awesome Production Assistant, who was first in and last out, kept the actors corralled and happy, did everything asked of her without complaint, and picked up the slack when my other volunteer PA no-showed. The day would have been really hard to keep coordinated and flowing without her. And finally, my neighbors and dear friends, Phil & Ron, who opened their beautiful home to us, prepared the food and played bartender(s)for our group, and were simply the quintessential hosts that they always are.
The cocktail party was the perfect way to wrap up the evening, as it truly embodied what I love about this town, and especially my immediate neighborhood of Mount Vernon. Native or naturalized, we "Baltimorons" are a friendly bunch, as generous in spirit as we are overflowing with personality. And believe me, that was a HOUSEFUL of personality.
So, good thing I have this blog so I have somewhere to prattle off, if not someone (live person) to prattle off to.
Let me just say, what a bunch of pros. Everyone showed up on time and off book (lines memorized), even down to the little ones. My young cousins, Joseph (nine years old) and Sean (seven), have a scene in the movie, and before getting here they were very excited about it. Once the camera was rolling, poor Sean had an attack of stage fright and started to cry. But I've seen Sean like this before, and he is a tough little trooper and works his way through it. He gets excited about things, like when the Orioles mascot came to his birthday party. He LOVES the O's mascot, he practically bursts if we are at a baseball game and we get to joke around with the Bird. But when the Bird came to his party last year, Sean got so nervous he was about to cry. He shook it off then and had a great time, and he did the same thing today. The boys got to punch each other and wrestle around and once they did that a time or two Sean was fine. I was very proud of them both.
I was proud of everyone there today. The actors took the process very seriously, and everyone was well-prepared. Especially for the actors with smaller parts, I appreciated their patience when sometimes it would literally be more than an hour between their scenes. While for the two actresses playing the role of Gracie, the lead, they had to perform for about two hours straight, and culminate their performance with an incredibly emotionally draining scene.
But I didn't hear a single complaint all day. We started around 1pm and ended right on time, a few minutes early actually, at 6:20ish. Then we moved across the street to my neighbor's gorgeous Victorian home for a cocktail party to blow off some steam.
An added bonus was how well everyone got along. During auditions, when they weren't upstairs filming with me, they were downstairs running lines, joking around, and playing pool. Great chemistry offscreen leads to great chemistry onscreen, so seeing that made me very happy. I got to chat with everyone at the cocktail party and they all seemed to enjoy the experience. I think they appreciated the organization that went into planning the day, that the day went as scheduled and finished on time. No one was more glad than I was when we finished the last scene. It really is quite draining. But somehow, still fun.
Then, of course, I have my unsung heroes: my cameraman, Greg, who I only asked at the very last minute to do this when someone else bailed on me; he even brought his own lights! Ann Mladinov, my casting consultant, who on top of being my second pair of eyes is never above doing all the little things that make my life easier, from making copies to moving furniture. Regina Guy, my awesome Production Assistant, who was first in and last out, kept the actors corralled and happy, did everything asked of her without complaint, and picked up the slack when my other volunteer PA no-showed. The day would have been really hard to keep coordinated and flowing without her. And finally, my neighbors and dear friends, Phil & Ron, who opened their beautiful home to us, prepared the food and played bartender(s)for our group, and were simply the quintessential hosts that they always are.
The cocktail party was the perfect way to wrap up the evening, as it truly embodied what I love about this town, and especially my immediate neighborhood of Mount Vernon. Native or naturalized, we "Baltimorons" are a friendly bunch, as generous in spirit as we are overflowing with personality. And believe me, that was a HOUSEFUL of personality.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
In the thick of it
Where does the time go? Whizzing by my head, for the most part. But, lots of progress. It is all coming together.
My Director of Photography, Michelle Farrell, is signed on and already has most of her crew assembled. She is amazing, I am SO happy to be working with her. On the technical side, renting her equipment gives me access to almost every piece of gear you can think of, dollies, steadicam, you name it...and we are going to be shooting in high definition on an HVX, which I am very excited about. I recently went to a production meeting with my script consultant, Sean, to see the latest on his own production he is working on. Some of their footage was in HD on the HVX, some was not, shot on a DVX. What a difference! I was sold.
Michelle knows her stuff, is so easy to work with, and keeps me laughing. I can't wait to actually get on set. Our shooting schedule is locked down, July 31 through August 12.
This week I'm taking another pass at the script. I HAVE to knock it down to 90 pages. Doing the casting calls helped me to recognize the fat I can trim. Trying to get the gist of a scene into a one-page side will do that. This week I sent out longer sides to the actors that are coming in for callbacks on June 8. I hadn't looked at the script for awhile, and I was afraid that if I trimmed the fat, I would be cutting out all the funny parts. But it actually makes it funnier, and a lot tighter.
I am looking forward to the callback on June 8. I have some very talented actors coming in, and I will have some tough decisions to make. Proper casting is crucial to the film. There are no car chases, gunfights, or sex scenes to distract the viewer from mediocre acting. This is a character and dialogue driven film, the actors, and the script, have to carry it.
I'm having lunch Thursday with my other investor. He sent me a tantalizing email a few days ago to entice me to meet him in D.C. - a photo of the check he has for me, for $20K.
Along with Mikey's $10K already in the bank, there is my production budget. Pre- and post- are out of my pocket (and plastic), and will probably total about $20K when all is said and done.
Depending who is reading this, you probably either think that $50K is a boatload of money, OR you're laughing right now. It goes fast, that's for sure. But I have enough to do what I want to do, the way I want to do it. I have some fantastic people around me like Michelle, Sean, and others who are going above and beyond to help me make a quality product. And I keep meeting more of them.
Another filmmaker friend, though I've only known him since January, Is Eric Thornett, of Piranha Pictures. Currently he is filming his latest, a period horror film, at the mansion that I manage. I have seen a good deal of the footage, and it looks AMAZING. This is Eric's fourth feature-length, and I am happy to have him and his crew around, even if it means that when I open my apartment door there may or may not be a headless corpse in a tuxedo sitting by the elevator. I absorb a lot from watching him work and just BS-ing with him and his production team. They are a very fun bunch, and they work very hard. It brings it home to me how important it is to choose the right people to become a true team.
Well, have to get ready to meet an actor that I found outside of the casting call, someone I saw in one of the films Michelle has shot in the past. I average two meetings a day for the rest of the week, plus rewriting the script, and attending the Stonehenge auditions on Sunday. Monday I am off to London for 10 days, to chaperone the theater students from the Baltimore School for the Arts exchqnge program with my friend Matthew's school in the UK, Songtime Theatre Arts. So you won't be hearing from me for a couple weeks, but stay tuned!
My Director of Photography, Michelle Farrell, is signed on and already has most of her crew assembled. She is amazing, I am SO happy to be working with her. On the technical side, renting her equipment gives me access to almost every piece of gear you can think of, dollies, steadicam, you name it...and we are going to be shooting in high definition on an HVX, which I am very excited about. I recently went to a production meeting with my script consultant, Sean, to see the latest on his own production he is working on. Some of their footage was in HD on the HVX, some was not, shot on a DVX. What a difference! I was sold.
Michelle knows her stuff, is so easy to work with, and keeps me laughing. I can't wait to actually get on set. Our shooting schedule is locked down, July 31 through August 12.
This week I'm taking another pass at the script. I HAVE to knock it down to 90 pages. Doing the casting calls helped me to recognize the fat I can trim. Trying to get the gist of a scene into a one-page side will do that. This week I sent out longer sides to the actors that are coming in for callbacks on June 8. I hadn't looked at the script for awhile, and I was afraid that if I trimmed the fat, I would be cutting out all the funny parts. But it actually makes it funnier, and a lot tighter.
I am looking forward to the callback on June 8. I have some very talented actors coming in, and I will have some tough decisions to make. Proper casting is crucial to the film. There are no car chases, gunfights, or sex scenes to distract the viewer from mediocre acting. This is a character and dialogue driven film, the actors, and the script, have to carry it.
I'm having lunch Thursday with my other investor. He sent me a tantalizing email a few days ago to entice me to meet him in D.C. - a photo of the check he has for me, for $20K.
Along with Mikey's $10K already in the bank, there is my production budget. Pre- and post- are out of my pocket (and plastic), and will probably total about $20K when all is said and done.
Depending who is reading this, you probably either think that $50K is a boatload of money, OR you're laughing right now. It goes fast, that's for sure. But I have enough to do what I want to do, the way I want to do it. I have some fantastic people around me like Michelle, Sean, and others who are going above and beyond to help me make a quality product. And I keep meeting more of them.
Another filmmaker friend, though I've only known him since January, Is Eric Thornett, of Piranha Pictures. Currently he is filming his latest, a period horror film, at the mansion that I manage. I have seen a good deal of the footage, and it looks AMAZING. This is Eric's fourth feature-length, and I am happy to have him and his crew around, even if it means that when I open my apartment door there may or may not be a headless corpse in a tuxedo sitting by the elevator. I absorb a lot from watching him work and just BS-ing with him and his production team. They are a very fun bunch, and they work very hard. It brings it home to me how important it is to choose the right people to become a true team.
Well, have to get ready to meet an actor that I found outside of the casting call, someone I saw in one of the films Michelle has shot in the past. I average two meetings a day for the rest of the week, plus rewriting the script, and attending the Stonehenge auditions on Sunday. Monday I am off to London for 10 days, to chaperone the theater students from the Baltimore School for the Arts exchqnge program with my friend Matthew's school in the UK, Songtime Theatre Arts. So you won't be hearing from me for a couple weeks, but stay tuned!
Monday, March 31, 2008
All Grown Up (or at least on my way)
Hurray! I did not have to set my alarm clock today. That was nice. And I had a great night's sleep, so I think I am back to normal (relatively speaking).
Quite a weekend. 5:30pm Friday I showed up on set for a short indie called, "The Mystery Date," written and directed by Arlette Thomas-Fletcher, who is also the President of the Women in Film & Video Maryland Chapter. I was recommended to Arlette by Michelle Farrell of Absolute Independent Productions as an AD (Assistant Director). I'm not sure if that was actually my title. I'm not even sure if I'm getting screen credit, I never asked. I probably will. But it doesn't matter. I got what I was looking for from the experience, and that is what is important to me.
Every book I have read and every person I have met in the business has told me the same thing - work on as many sets as you can to gain experience for doing your own work. I couldn't agree more, the experience is invaluable. When it is not your set, when you are not the Big Cheese, you really get a great perspective on the whole process from the inside out. As an AD (or whatever I was) I was pretty much smack in the middle of everything. I took my orders from Arlette directly, I helped to keep the actors and the PAs (Production Assistants) wherever they needed to be and doing whatever they needed to be doing. On this particular production, however, I think my experience was slightly Utopian. Everyone was so pleasant to work with! Everyone was really happy to be there, nobody complained when we ran over (which we did each night), just genuinely nice people and REAL PROS, even the youngest actors who were only 10 and 11 years old and who had HUGE amounts of dialogue.
I was also the Script Supervisor. Now that is no small task. Sometimes I assisted with blocking (which actors move where and when within a scene) but mostly I dealt with continuity and the lines themselves. Continuity, to put it nicely, is a bitch. But for some reason I kind of like it. Continuity is trying to remember every single frickin' little nuance of how a scene was filmed, and then make sure it is done that way again in every following take, especially for the close-ups.
A good example of patchy continuity is a classic, "The Wizard of Oz." Dorothy will be skipping along the yellow brick road, and her hair is tightly curled at the ends of her pigtails. Then they move from the wide shots to the cutaways when she is having a conversation with someone, like the Scarecrow. Close-up on Dorothy, her hair is tight and falls only an inch or two below her chin. Cut to a close-up of Scarecrow for some dialogue. Back to a close-up of Dorothy. Now her curls are loosened and fall several inches further down her chest! Back to Scarecrow. Back to Dorothy. Tight curls again! Many a drinking game has been borne of movie mistakes like this.
So that is the sort of thing I had to watch for. "Cross your legs the other way!" "Put your elbow on that pillow!" "Don't lean in, you're casting a shadow on the other actor's face!" Plus if someone forgot their line, I would feed it to them. Or if it was a scene where it was important they run straight through and I NOT feed it to them (because for whatever reason my voice could not be edited out later), I would have to remember where they screwed up, and try to help them find a way to remember the line correctly.
All in all, I think I was properly prepared for the experience, and approaching it the way that I described in my post a few days ago, like it was a wedding or any other huge event that I have already had plenty of experience doing, served me very well. Some things were a little different, because I was describing that wedding as if I were the Director, which I was not on this set. When you are an AD (or whatever I was), it isn't the lead actors that are your Bride & Groom, it is the Director (Arlette) and the Director of Photography (Michelle). But again, lucky for me, they are both pros and there was no major drama between them. I can see, though, how it could get pretty hairy if you are not in such an ideal situation, because there will always be differences of opinions from time to time about how something should be shot. In the end, the person who wins is the person who is writing the checks.
Friday's shoot was from 6:00pm-12:00am, Saturday's from 8:00am-9:30pm, and Sunday's from 8:00am-9:00pm. You do the math, I'm too tired. But I think everyone involved walked away from that set with a sense of satisfaction of a job well done, the knowledge that they were part of creating something that they can be proud of, and the hope of working with a lot of the same people on other projects in the future. Not to mention a new appreciation of their own pillow.
Quite a weekend. 5:30pm Friday I showed up on set for a short indie called, "The Mystery Date," written and directed by Arlette Thomas-Fletcher, who is also the President of the Women in Film & Video Maryland Chapter. I was recommended to Arlette by Michelle Farrell of Absolute Independent Productions as an AD (Assistant Director). I'm not sure if that was actually my title. I'm not even sure if I'm getting screen credit, I never asked. I probably will. But it doesn't matter. I got what I was looking for from the experience, and that is what is important to me.
Every book I have read and every person I have met in the business has told me the same thing - work on as many sets as you can to gain experience for doing your own work. I couldn't agree more, the experience is invaluable. When it is not your set, when you are not the Big Cheese, you really get a great perspective on the whole process from the inside out. As an AD (or whatever I was) I was pretty much smack in the middle of everything. I took my orders from Arlette directly, I helped to keep the actors and the PAs (Production Assistants) wherever they needed to be and doing whatever they needed to be doing. On this particular production, however, I think my experience was slightly Utopian. Everyone was so pleasant to work with! Everyone was really happy to be there, nobody complained when we ran over (which we did each night), just genuinely nice people and REAL PROS, even the youngest actors who were only 10 and 11 years old and who had HUGE amounts of dialogue.
I was also the Script Supervisor. Now that is no small task. Sometimes I assisted with blocking (which actors move where and when within a scene) but mostly I dealt with continuity and the lines themselves. Continuity, to put it nicely, is a bitch. But for some reason I kind of like it. Continuity is trying to remember every single frickin' little nuance of how a scene was filmed, and then make sure it is done that way again in every following take, especially for the close-ups.
A good example of patchy continuity is a classic, "The Wizard of Oz." Dorothy will be skipping along the yellow brick road, and her hair is tightly curled at the ends of her pigtails. Then they move from the wide shots to the cutaways when she is having a conversation with someone, like the Scarecrow. Close-up on Dorothy, her hair is tight and falls only an inch or two below her chin. Cut to a close-up of Scarecrow for some dialogue. Back to a close-up of Dorothy. Now her curls are loosened and fall several inches further down her chest! Back to Scarecrow. Back to Dorothy. Tight curls again! Many a drinking game has been borne of movie mistakes like this.
So that is the sort of thing I had to watch for. "Cross your legs the other way!" "Put your elbow on that pillow!" "Don't lean in, you're casting a shadow on the other actor's face!" Plus if someone forgot their line, I would feed it to them. Or if it was a scene where it was important they run straight through and I NOT feed it to them (because for whatever reason my voice could not be edited out later), I would have to remember where they screwed up, and try to help them find a way to remember the line correctly.
All in all, I think I was properly prepared for the experience, and approaching it the way that I described in my post a few days ago, like it was a wedding or any other huge event that I have already had plenty of experience doing, served me very well. Some things were a little different, because I was describing that wedding as if I were the Director, which I was not on this set. When you are an AD (or whatever I was), it isn't the lead actors that are your Bride & Groom, it is the Director (Arlette) and the Director of Photography (Michelle). But again, lucky for me, they are both pros and there was no major drama between them. I can see, though, how it could get pretty hairy if you are not in such an ideal situation, because there will always be differences of opinions from time to time about how something should be shot. In the end, the person who wins is the person who is writing the checks.
Friday's shoot was from 6:00pm-12:00am, Saturday's from 8:00am-9:30pm, and Sunday's from 8:00am-9:00pm. You do the math, I'm too tired. But I think everyone involved walked away from that set with a sense of satisfaction of a job well done, the knowledge that they were part of creating something that they can be proud of, and the hope of working with a lot of the same people on other projects in the future. Not to mention a new appreciation of their own pillow.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Being of sound mind...
Hey there. I just finished a four-night intensive class on sound design. Though it (the class) wasn't designed specifically for sound in film, I got a good grasp of the basics, which was very helpful considering I knew very little about it before the class. Of all the people I've been talking to in the industry, everyone has been telling me the same thing regarding sound: bad sound will kill your movie. Bad sound gives you away as an amateur. Do not cut corners when it comes to the sound!!!
Same goes for LIGHTING, another thankless job. Rarely does an average movie-goer watch a film, and notice GOOD lighting as it happens. If it is good lighting, it is natural and expected and it doesn't register, until maybe afterwards when you take more time to think about it. But BAD lighting can stick out like a sore thumb immediately, and is extremely distracting. "Why does there seem to be a spotlight emanating from the base of that potted plant straight up his nose? Mmm, not exactly flattering..."
These are a few of the thousands of things I am trying to absorb, as my friend Phil would say, "like a human sponge." Starting tonight, Phil and I and a few other alumni of our indie filmmaking class are joining our instructor, Michelle Farrell, to work on the set of a 15-minute indie. 30+ hours of free film school, basically. I know it will be a lot of work, long hours, and mostly less-than-glamourous go-fer work for me (Phil's a "grip," which means he gets to carry heavy things), but I am pretty psyched. I am a hands-on learner, and a much better student in action than sitting at a desk taking notes. Stay tuned to find out how it goes.
Oh, and I just realized I didn't follow up on the bank account thing. Setting up a business checking account for the LLC was easy. They do require your charter, notarized Articles of Organization, and Employer Identification Number in hand. As I expected that, I was good to go, and it didn't take any longer than setting up a regular checking account. The checks themselves are more expensive, and I think it cost about $60 for the first set of 125 checks. There is a monthly maintenance fee of $13 if the account doesn't maintain a daily balance of $3000. But it is important to keep your business money seperate from your personal finances, in case anyone should try to sue you down the line.
I can't wait to get started on the set tonight! Check in with me next week to find out how it turned out!
Same goes for LIGHTING, another thankless job. Rarely does an average movie-goer watch a film, and notice GOOD lighting as it happens. If it is good lighting, it is natural and expected and it doesn't register, until maybe afterwards when you take more time to think about it. But BAD lighting can stick out like a sore thumb immediately, and is extremely distracting. "Why does there seem to be a spotlight emanating from the base of that potted plant straight up his nose? Mmm, not exactly flattering..."
These are a few of the thousands of things I am trying to absorb, as my friend Phil would say, "like a human sponge." Starting tonight, Phil and I and a few other alumni of our indie filmmaking class are joining our instructor, Michelle Farrell, to work on the set of a 15-minute indie. 30+ hours of free film school, basically. I know it will be a lot of work, long hours, and mostly less-than-glamourous go-fer work for me (Phil's a "grip," which means he gets to carry heavy things), but I am pretty psyched. I am a hands-on learner, and a much better student in action than sitting at a desk taking notes. Stay tuned to find out how it goes.
Oh, and I just realized I didn't follow up on the bank account thing. Setting up a business checking account for the LLC was easy. They do require your charter, notarized Articles of Organization, and Employer Identification Number in hand. As I expected that, I was good to go, and it didn't take any longer than setting up a regular checking account. The checks themselves are more expensive, and I think it cost about $60 for the first set of 125 checks. There is a monthly maintenance fee of $13 if the account doesn't maintain a daily balance of $3000. But it is important to keep your business money seperate from your personal finances, in case anyone should try to sue you down the line.
I can't wait to get started on the set tonight! Check in with me next week to find out how it turned out!
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Only in Baltimore
Hey there. The last couple weeks have been busy, trying to manifest good ideas and potential collaborations into rock-solid plans and partnerships. As with everything in the film industry, it is a lot of hurry-up-and-wait, and it is difficult on some days not to get paranoid that it is all going to evaporate in front of my eyes like a desert mirage.
But I continue to meet and mingle with more local filmmakers, and if Plan A doesn't gel, people are stepping forward to me with Plan B, and I have a Plan C and even a Plan D, and if ALL else fails, I have enough financial support from a few friends and enough emotional support from countless friends to get the whole damn thing done by myself (Plan E).
But hopefully it will not come to that. Making a film is and should be a collaborative effort. It truly is art imitating life. You could get through it alone. But where's the fun in that?
Last night I went to the home of Eric Thornett, who is a local fimmaker and the founder of Pirahna Pictures (www.pirahna-pictures.com). He is about to embark on his fourth and most ambitious feature-length film, a period horror flick. A few weeks ago they had a casting call and Eric wanted to show me some of the audition tapes, as there were some good actors that he couldn't use for whatever reason, but thought might work for me for Charm City.
Eric is a great guy and one of those people that give me the hope and confidence that Charm City will be a success. Eric gets people to do amazing things - and their compensation is, "just for the fun of it". And people line up around the block to work with him! He is a shining example of how far personality goes in this business. If I have to resort to Plan E, I have my fingers crossed that I can charm people into doing half as much for me as people do for him.
What else has been going on...the past few Saturdays I have been taking a filmmaking seminar taught by another local filmmaker, Michelle Farrell, of Absolutely Independent Productions. It is a long day, from 10:00am until 6:00pm, with an hour for lunch and a break here and there. Under normal circumstances my attention span would die a painful death by lunchtime. But Michelle never stops moving (and never stops talking) and she is so funny that she keeps the class completely engaged from beginning to end.
Michelle had a premiere of her own this past Monday at the D.C. Independent Film Festival, for her documentary, "Unraveling Michelle." You see, Michelle used to be Joe. Check it out at www.unravelingmichelle.com, and if you have the chance to see the film for yourself sometime, I highly recommend it.
In our Saturday class at the Creative Alliance, the 15 students range in age from a junior in high school to a retired senior citizen, male, female, black, white, straight, gay, married, single. On our first day, Michelle showed us a trailer for her doc, so there was no mystery. I wondered if anyone would have a problem with her, but the next week not only did everyone show up despite the torrential downpours that day, but as a group we were a lot closer to being punctual than we were the first day.
The entire situation is among the daily reminders of why I love this town so much. It is never boring, and there are colorful characters around every turn. "Charm City," is my own Valentine to Baltimore, and I can't wait to deliver it.
But I continue to meet and mingle with more local filmmakers, and if Plan A doesn't gel, people are stepping forward to me with Plan B, and I have a Plan C and even a Plan D, and if ALL else fails, I have enough financial support from a few friends and enough emotional support from countless friends to get the whole damn thing done by myself (Plan E).
But hopefully it will not come to that. Making a film is and should be a collaborative effort. It truly is art imitating life. You could get through it alone. But where's the fun in that?
Last night I went to the home of Eric Thornett, who is a local fimmaker and the founder of Pirahna Pictures (www.pirahna-pictures.com). He is about to embark on his fourth and most ambitious feature-length film, a period horror flick. A few weeks ago they had a casting call and Eric wanted to show me some of the audition tapes, as there were some good actors that he couldn't use for whatever reason, but thought might work for me for Charm City.
Eric is a great guy and one of those people that give me the hope and confidence that Charm City will be a success. Eric gets people to do amazing things - and their compensation is, "just for the fun of it". And people line up around the block to work with him! He is a shining example of how far personality goes in this business. If I have to resort to Plan E, I have my fingers crossed that I can charm people into doing half as much for me as people do for him.
What else has been going on...the past few Saturdays I have been taking a filmmaking seminar taught by another local filmmaker, Michelle Farrell, of Absolutely Independent Productions. It is a long day, from 10:00am until 6:00pm, with an hour for lunch and a break here and there. Under normal circumstances my attention span would die a painful death by lunchtime. But Michelle never stops moving (and never stops talking) and she is so funny that she keeps the class completely engaged from beginning to end.
Michelle had a premiere of her own this past Monday at the D.C. Independent Film Festival, for her documentary, "Unraveling Michelle." You see, Michelle used to be Joe. Check it out at www.unravelingmichelle.com, and if you have the chance to see the film for yourself sometime, I highly recommend it.
In our Saturday class at the Creative Alliance, the 15 students range in age from a junior in high school to a retired senior citizen, male, female, black, white, straight, gay, married, single. On our first day, Michelle showed us a trailer for her doc, so there was no mystery. I wondered if anyone would have a problem with her, but the next week not only did everyone show up despite the torrential downpours that day, but as a group we were a lot closer to being punctual than we were the first day.
The entire situation is among the daily reminders of why I love this town so much. It is never boring, and there are colorful characters around every turn. "Charm City," is my own Valentine to Baltimore, and I can't wait to deliver it.
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