Thank God For No Budget

Well, once again, the bar trilogy eludes me.

I found out, yesterday, that my schedule at work will change come next year. I expected it to happen. I mean, I expected there to be a shake up eventually. I just didn't figure it would be as bad as what I was told.

So, having given it some time to sink in, I've come to the conclusion that I have to postpone the bar trilogy until after my schedule change, which will come sometime in January.

I had to tell most of the people who I recruited for the project and hope that they understand. Fortunately, they did.

What hasn't changed is my work on my current project. In fact, I think it's given it greater life and power. It started as 15 minutes, grew to 20 and is now inching to 30. I have a great feeling about it and I hope that the cast & crew does too. With more time to fine tune the bar trilogy, I'll also have more time to dedicate to my current film.

I'm glad I don't have a budget or a studio to answer to. This would be a fucking mess.

One door closes, one door opens.

The chase for the bar trilogy continues...

-30-

Day 1: Play It Again, Sam

Our first day of reshoots for the car film went off fantastic.

Both Chris and Mike gave me lots of great footage to work with. And with Hank behind the camera, it really gave me a chance to work with the actors. My all purpose hand, Greg, was also key to putting it all together.

We called the cops this time and let them know we were shooting. Our weapon is now black and glossy, so it will most definitely attract attention. And not the good kind.

With Hank doing the cinematography, this film is going to look fantastic.

Even if I wanted to, there was really nothing bad to say about the night. With both our actors on top of their lines, we only needed to tweak the motivations behind them. This made the shoot go much, much, much faster.

The next shooting day might not be until Dec. 9th, but even if it work out we can shoot beforehand, the film is gonna be great.

The first photo is of the car, through the XL1's eye piece. Below it, Christopher persuades Mike to do his bidding. The last photo is of Hank and Greg between takes.

-30-

Reloaded & Rehearsed

After a couple of weeks off from shooting my latest project, I recast a role and have gotten back on track. With a vengeance.

Christopher, an actor who will be working with me on my bar trilogy, has come on to take over the car jacker role for the gritty little drama I wrote. He's a talented guy who came in script in hand and ready to read. I can still see some fine tuning is needed to get the same feeling we had with Quinn. Tonya, my wife, pointed out that Chris didn't seem unsure. In fact, his interpretation was a little to polished. We both agreed that what made Quinn's performance stand out was that the shaky, unsure performance he delivered wasn't contrived. It was real. He didn't have the script memorized, he couldn't get in character and he was just generally unsure.

Thankfully, Chris takes direction well and has a real strong work ethic. He's turning himself over for the first installment for the bar trilogy out right. I have a great feeling about this guy.

Chris is the guy to the left. Mike, his victim, is on the right.

We're on the road again!

-30-

Lending A Hand

Tonya and I went to help another film maker Saturday. It was really interesting.

I hadn't read the script, but I managed to jump right in there. Theo was helping a first time director, Hope, shoot a sequence in a car lot.

It was a great experience, helping someone else do their film. I even managed to chip in an idea or three along the way.

It felt really good to get out there and help someone else achieve their dream.

That's Theo and Hope, above, reading through the script as Hank prepared the camera.

-30-

Lost Another Great One

Robert Altman, one of the most unique voices in film history, died November 20th. He was 81 years old.

Altman directed "M.A.S.H.", "The Player", "Short Cuts", and "Nashville", among many. I think my first introduction to Altman was with "M.A.S.H" and later "Nashville."

I remember watching "The Player" and being blown away by it. I don't know if it was the direction or the acting or the editing, but it was so smooth.

"M.A.S.H." was so fucking good. There was so much missing when it changed format and ended up on the boob tube. I like the series, but it was nothing like the movie.

He will be missed.

-30-

Gotta Do What You Gotta Do

I've never had to "fire" someone. Not that I recollect. But yesterday, I released Quinn from his obligations to my film.

It was tough because I really do think the guy has some talent, but as I told him last night on the phone, I think I caught him at the wrong time. I believe, in all honesty, that he's got some real talent, but he still needs to find himself. To get in touch with his roots. He's incomplete and I think that's hurting him right now.

So, I spoke to the others and let them know, before I spoke to Quinn, about my intentions. My wife was surprised that I went through with it. I kind of am too. But I made my decision, as I told Quinn, for the good of the film.

I made a call early yesterday to line up another audition. A guy who had previously expressed interest and who I was lining up for December's project. I'm hoping that after Christopher, the new audition, we won't have to look anymore.

Of course, that means that I'll have to recast his sister. Ugh.

All this movement has prompted me to push back my start date for the next project by nearly two weeks. I figure that with the extra time, I can get pick up shots and any additional material. I hope that's enough time.

-30-

Day 2: On The Road

We managed to go back and reshoot the walking scene with Mike. I may have not mentioned it before, but he looked like he'd just committed a crime in the first run from the previous night.

We went back and reshot it with the help of Theo, his daughter and my old garage sale wheel chair. The shot looked much better with the wheel chair as a dolly.

While we did that, I had a new crew member, Greg, come in and work with Quinn as script supervisor. He helped him rehearse while we got the leftovers done.

Then we took the last couple of shots of the pair driving out before heading to the location of the end sequence.

We took out time blocking things out and working out the lines to conserve battery time since I DIDN'T CHARGE MY CAMERA and all we had was Hank's. My camera, which seems prone to failure from time to time, was finally working and I didn't have it charged. Ugh.

Still we went through it as best we could. The location was underneath a freeway exchange blocks down the first location. Lots of freeway support columns, dirt and darkness. Too much darkness. We had a bitch of a time lighting the actors. The camera kept trying to adjust and several times, I had to call cut because everything was out of focus.

Quinn was working much better, but still asked a million questions and offered a thousand a apologies. He managed to get through the night with very few serious flubs and fewer excuses.

Along the way, we managed to come to our first really cool story of the shoot. Almost getting shot by cops.

This marks the second occasion that armed, police officers have halted things during a shoot.

Theo saw the cop car from Broadway. It had the spotlight on and was scanning us. When he came around from the N. Alamo side of our location, he had a friend and was how flooding the area with lots of blinding, white light.

Theo says, "Damn, we need to see if they'll let us borrow that light." We laughed.

The lead officer walked up to us and drew his gun. He kept it behind him, but we could see it. His partner had unsnapped his holster and had his hand on his weapon.

We were told to sit down on the floor.

Officer 1: What are ya'll doing here?
Theo: Filming a movie. (chuckles)
Officer 1: You all got a permit for that?
Me: I didn't know we needed one.
Theo: (chuckling) We're just filming a movie.
Officer 2: (to Theo) You think this is funny?
Officer 1: (to me) Put the camera down.
Me: Sure.
Officer: We got a call that someone had a gun. Is there a toy gun around here?
Mike: It's in the car.

I put the camera on the top of the car and went back to take my seat. Quinn had been laying down on the ground, playing the victim and was now sitting up and had his hands raised. So did Greg. Theo was still chuckling. The first cop went to the car and searched for the gun. Satisfied that it was fake, he returned to our impromptu line up.

Officer 2: This isn't funny. Someone could get hurt.
Officer 1: What are ya'll filming a movie for?
Me: For contest.
Officer 1: Alright, let's see some ID's.
Theo: (offering the script) Wanna read the script?

So, with that, we were told to notify them of our activities and we proceeded to finish up the last shot of the film.

Looking at the dailies, I'm not happy. We had lots of light and camera issues. It was quite frustrating. Not to mention that Quinn still wasn't on the mark. His blank expression came right through his mask. Never mind that he didn't know where to look when Mike wasn't at his mark.

Right now, I'm wondering when this film will get done and if a certain actor will be around to play his part. The wife suggests I reshoot everything with Hank, but I'm not sure when he'll be free. Never mind that "CODE" is coming up in just a couple of weeks. I still have so much to do for that.

I have to make some tough choices here in the next day or two.

-30-

Day 1: First Night

I'd like to say that everything about the first night of filming went fantastic and that we got a lot done.

The reality of the matter is that we had camera issues and actor issues.

Quinn, the actor who had promised to give me his best performances and a great work ethic, launched into apologized and stumbled over lines and stopped takes several times to inform me that he could do better.

Thanks to Hank, we had a camera. But, as he'd informed me when he gave it to me, he wasn't entirely sure what the life of the battery would be. Once camera batteries get old, they're ability to hold a charge just isn't the same. We managed to get two good takes from inside the car.

Having watched dailies, I went from angry to frustrated to feeling triumphant for getting two great takes in a four hour shoot. Two.

Once Quinn gets going, I think he's right on the money. But if I have to wait that long to get him going, there might not be a place for him in this film. And then I'll really be pissed.

-30-

Happiness Is A Warm Gun

I spent the latter part of the afternoon painting a gun. With interior latex paint. Yes, house paint, you heard me.

Earlier that day, Tonya and I watched dailies from the previous night's rehearsal.

I've never really done rehearsal. Not for movie stuff. I remember doing it when I was an actor in junior high. It has to help. It just has to. Last night's events left me a little frustrated.

Quinn, the young kid whom I saved a really important role for, was ill or uncomfortable or I don't know what all through last night's lines. He started off well, but quickly took a turn for the worst.

He struggled all night with his material. He was unprepared. Thing is, I know he can do it, he just needs to convince himself. He mumbled. He stuttered. He apologized. He repeated.

For a brief moment, I was unsatisfied enough to call in a backup. Tonya and I talked about it. He would simply be notified of this.

I called him early in the morning and let him know, in no uncertain terms, that I had made concessions for him to be in the film and that if his performance didn't improve, he would be replaced.

I have a really good feeling about this film. Despite the slap-dash way I'm throwing it all together, I think it has a lot going for it.

-30-

Rehearsals, Day 1

We had a good, but short, rehearsal last night. At least it seemed short to me. Still, it was productive and I think that both Quinn (left, black shirt) and Mike understand more of the motivations their characters.

Hank, who I had lined up for cinematography, wasn't able to shoot this for me, but he did lend me his 1 CCD camera to shoot it myself. So, camera crisis is over. My camera is still in working order, for the moment, so I'm going to devise a way to use it, for as long as it's not glitchey.

Quinn has read very well. I have, and continue, to have a good feeling about him. When he reads, he picks up on little nuances and inflections that I've put into his lines. I expected that from Mike and he's come through. Mike has a very good work ethic. He likes to get his hands dirty and get in there to work out prop problems or anything that might come along.

This being my first real rehearsal since "Time", it's going to take some getting use to as far as letting the actors take the reins and read without any serious direction from my end. I have to tell myself, "They're not fully into the script. They're just rehearsing. Can't distract them from the lines. At least, not yet."

I think everything is going to work out well. Better even. As my sophomore offering, The Road has a lot riding on it. And most of it is for me.

-30-

The Road: Prelude To Rehearsals

We are set to rehearse tonight on my new screenplay. A full rehearsal, not like we did a few nights before.

This little project has great potential. I think it will fair strongly once we get it down and flush out the kinks.

I still don't know how I will shoot this if Hank can't make it. Even less if I can't borrow a camera from someone. This is gonna be tough. Especially with the shooting just a few days away.

If my camera survives the week or weekend, it would be awesome, but I'm not putting my eggs in that basket.

I just want Mike & Quinn to be ready for whatever comes along.

-30-

It Starts With Paranoia

After shelving my door-opus "OPEN", I've decided to move into grittier ground with my adventure/drama short "The Road".

The idea began when I was leaving work one evening. I often park at our company's fenced in lot. Most parking downtown charges so I feel like I'm being a bit thrifty this way. The parking lot is a few blocks down, so I walk for a bit, but it's free, so...

At night, the lot is usually empty and my truck is all alone under the single street lamp, surrounded by darkness. I've often held my pocket knife in my hand just in case. There's always homeless people or people who have just hit the plasma place down the street. You never know.

So it starts from paranoia and goes into kidnapping, ransom and violence. And for this task, I've recruited two actors who I feel are opposites. I think that they both have talent which has yet to be really measured.

The guy in the green shirt is Quinn. I literally picked him off the street during the filming of "A Matter of Time." He's looking to dig himself deep into a good role. I don't know if this will be that role, but it's got definite possibilities.

The guy in the grey, button up was also in "A Matter of Time." His name is Mike. His role should have had more meat to it, but due to a loss of a character, it got trimmed. He's been in a lot of indie films around town and does voice over work. He helped me do the voice over work for my film.

I have a feeling that this film is going to be a real challenge, but I'm looking forward to it.

Since we don't have very many sets, I'm hoping this will be a two day shoot, but I'm prepared for four. I think that four days are much more realistic, but I think that working out the details for this film will give us all a chance to get the most out of a two day shoot.

We'll rehearse two days before we shoot and try to get as much blocking done before we get to the actual locations.

And then there's "CODE"...

-30-

Rehearsals & Planning for "Open"

I didn't do a great job with rehearsals the last time around. Fortunately, the two actors whom I've got working on my next project are pretty good about coming down to rehearse.

They're a very cooperative pair who live near College Station. They're also married, which helps my script since the characters are a couple.

This film doesn't make me near as nervous as the last. But it makes me aware of the pitfalls. Rehearsing, storyboards and planning the blocking.

Dustan and Laura, the actors, I believe will be very good in this and I may cast them in something else.

I'm excited about both the next projects, but I'm SUPER excited about the Trilogy.

More to come.

-30-

"I don't like that, so far, off to a bad start..."

Okay, so I'm not as prepared as I thought I'd be.

The script isn't fully completed because I lost two locations and now I have to do rewrites on the fly.

The weather might be bad this weekend. It's been raining these last few days and I'm not sure the weather will improve. (goes to weather.com) Okay, Sunday might be washed out.

Which then brings me to Sunday. Since Hank is busy with Eric's shoot on Saturday, he might not be in good shape to shoot Sunday. Which sort of gets double washed out.

So, we've got one shot at doing this with the Friday shoot. I might have to trim the pages down. Eliminate some scenes and make it more compact. I have no problem with that, but it might be a little less fun. I don't know.

I'll talk to my wife-slash-producer and get her take on it. She has a good way of putting things in the proper perspective.

Fun, fun, fun. And I sincerely mean that. This takes a lot of work, but I can't tell you how truly exciting it is to be doing this. Even if this works out to be a 7 minute film, it's gonna be awesome.

-30-

Now what?

So, I've sent my last movie around, emailing the link from person to person, trying to get some reactions.

The actors and crew who have thrown it around say the response has been great. Everyone who has seen is has liked it. At least as far as I know. I wouldn't be hurt if someone said, "You know, you could have done this better..." or "I didn't really care for the plot..." or "You stink as an actor..." Constructive criticism, in other words.

As I've said before, I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out.

But, now what? So I can officially call myself an indie film writer/director/producer. What good does that do me if I only have one film under my belt? Well, I'm currently in the process of fixing that.

October
I've cast and am aiming to shoot my next short in about two weeks. We'll most likely rehearse this weekend and by the Oct. 22, we'll be done shooting.

The actors I've cast are a married couple from out of town. They've got really good chemistry and seem to be really open to direction. I don't foresee any real coaching with them, but I'm sure there will be little things we'll be able to adjust along the way.

As usual, I've already run the script past my wife, Tonya. She's just got a gift for suggestions and for finding plot holes. I can gauge how fast most people will pick up on something depending on how fast it takes her to pick up on it. She's fast. I think I've mention that when we watch a crime thriller or some mystery, she'll often have it all figured out before the plot twists and turns attempt to leave us in the dust. She liked the story and made some great observations so I know it will be good.

November
I really want to do an adventure film, but I don't think I'm quite ready, logistically, for that yet. I want to spend a few dollars on some good prop guns and maybe even some squib rigs. So, what I've opted for is a more gritty film than the one before it. This one has just one set and two actors. It will be some closed quarter shooting since we're filming in a car for the majority of the film.

I think I might have this film cast already, but I'm going to audition some backups just in case. The two guys I have lined up are good. Both had small roles in my first film. They're definitely contrasting personalities and I think that's what's gonna make it work.

I'm still finishing up that script and finalizing the details for the shoot. Not to mention the fact that I've got to find a car that will let me and the camera man sit with the actors. Otherwise, I'll have to resort to walkie talkies and another vehicle and that means more gas money. Like I said, still working out the details.

The gritty aspect of this script will help me find the path I need to do more high tension dramatic materials and eventually, adventure films.

December & Beyond
For the holidays, I plan to start production on "Code", part 1 of The Bar Trilogy. I've started casting this now because it's gonna take me some time to really line up the right people for the roles. I've got a lot at stake on these three. They tell a story about me and the most important people around me, in a loose sense. "Write about what you know." That's what they say. They talk a lot and say all kinds of shit, but this I believe.

The first film is really going to dictate the way the other two are shot. And as it stands, the first film isn't completely written yet. With the ensemble cast, I'm really looking to develop each character from film to film. Not to mention the fact that I'm really looking to feature some great, original songs for each film. As it stands, I currently have a band from Fort Smith, Arkansas, Blind Punch. The founder of Punch is a guy I met through my best friend, Ben. Chris Jones is a uniquely talented and driven individual who I always wanted to work with. Until recently, I wasn't sure how I would accomplish that. Chris and his band have agreed to lend their music to the films and I'm lucky to have them.

January and February will bring parts 2 & 3 of the trilogy. I'm considering recruiting other bands for the soundtrack. I'd envisioned each film having it's own soundtrack/band. I'm still not sure about it though. Depending on how the first film feels, that's when I'll make my decision.

The Future
I've told a few people that after the trilogy I might dive into a full fledged feature, but honestly, I'm not sure about that. I'd like to; I have material to work with and even if I didn't, I could write it. I just want to make sure I'm not doing another "Caught In The Rain." My first attempt at a film and my first big failure. I still long to reshoot that, but I think I won't revisit that script again for some time.

I'm very excited about the coming months. The process is addicting. Not to mention the fact that I'm working towards my ultimate end: a career in film making.

Ride along with me, I promise I'll make this fun.

-30-

His Name Is Bruce Campbell

I've got a bunch of heroes. Martin Scorsese. John Frankenheimer. Shane Black. But there are heroes that don't always resonate with the public. Like Bruce Campbell. He is "Ash" from the "Evil Dead" trilogy.

Recently, my brother text messaged me with great excitement. Most text messages are generally ambiguous, but when it comes to my brother, I can tell. Especially when it comes to something like meeting Bruce Campbell.

So, my brother texts me and tells me, "I'm going to meet Bruce Campbell." I'm in Texas; he's in Buffalo. I'm just as excited as he is.

A few days later, he calls me and tells me all about the book signing and his long conversation with Bruce. I say long because my kid brother, my blood, got me three different books, all autographed by Bruce. And during this time of signing, he had a very cool conversation with him.

I'm not gonna go into the whole thing here, but I will say this. During the conversation, Bruce shared something with him which he prefaced with, "Here's some trivia.."

Apparently, Bruce was persuaded to write his first book, "If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor" by the "PC Guy" from the current Apple advertisements. The "PC Guy" is named John Hodgman and according to Bruce, was the reason for his first novel. Hodgman is a published author (Areas of My Expertise) and a contributor to both the New York Times Magazine and the Daily Show w/John Stewart. How's that for interesting. My brother also mentioned that he worked for Apple. Bruce followed that up with a comment about how he knew all these movie makers, since he was in the "business", and he was the only "idiot" still using a PC.

From the entire conversation, Bruce Campbell sounded just like I'd always hoped he'd be like. What's more, this was his first book signing tour and he still managed to take pictures and sign things that weren't his book. He is and will continue to be one of my heroes and inspirations.

-30-

A Julian Cordero Film

What's my next move? Good question.

I was talking to my wife this weekend about my next project. I'm rather torn, but I have so many ideas that I'm not sure what would merit the most attention.

I want to do a shoot 'em up flick, but I hesitate in writing it out. That's ultimately what I'll do in my first feature length film; I'm not sure if I'm ready right this minute for that.

I definitely want to do something contemporary and not too brainy. I thought about doing that introspective, heartbreak short I was going to shoot in Arkansas. That was something I was feeling at the time and I'm just not feeling that now. Not to say that I have to feel it. It's just too... boring.

My son, Terrance, pitched me an idea about a movie with superheroes. That sounds intriguing. My wife would love me to do a trilogy of shorts where I adapt my planned feature trilogy about relationships and the weirdness that men do... Did that make any sense? It's about relationships, about men, about drinking... about life.

I've been thinking about it more and more and more and more and I'm leaning towards starting the trilogy as shorts, to see if it can be done. This will ultimately show me whether I can fully develop each film in feature length.

But that idea about superheroes can be done in soooo many ways.

There are just too many things. And that makes me smile. Why? Because it tells me that I'm not going to get caught in a rut and just do movies about the same thing. I have westerns and actions films and period pieces and documentaries all trapped in my skull. I just gotta let them out carefully.

I recently joined two groups at Meetup.com:
San Antonio Actors Meetup Group
and The San Antonio Indie Film Meetup Group

Networking, at this level, has a lot of benefits. Although I've noticed that a lot of the other groups in town trash talk and bad mouth. You'd think that maybe you'd want to make as many allies as you could in case you need crew or actors or anything that might help you sharpen your skills.

Granted, if you don't like someone or you don't work well with them, there's no reason to work with them.

I don't know. Maybe that's the idealist in my still lingering about somewhere.

I'm gonna hammer out Part 1 of The Trilogy this Friday. I have high hopes for this one. I hope I can live up to them.

-30-

World Premiere

Tonya and I attended the world premiere of my film last night. It was well received and got really great response.

I won't lie when I say I was nervous as Hell. My first completed film and it played on a large screen. The only unfortunate thing about it was that the sound in the the venue, aptly called "The Venue," wasn't very good. A lot of the films didn't have great sound and they sounded even worse.

The highs were great. We got a lot of laughs in all the right spots. I even had a couple of people tell me they really loved the film. It felt really great to know, first hand, that they enjoyed it.

Sadly, we didn't win the overall award. But as my first offering out of the gate, I wasn't expecting to. My future offerings will be much stronger.

The picture in this post is of the company logo. It was HUGE on that big ass screen. The future logo will be animated.

-30-

Keep swimming

Aside from my short film, I've also been working on other projects.

I'm working on a sci-fi project with another indie director. We're looking to try and get it sold or funded. I'm trying to write it in such a way that it won't be hard to shoot locally, but has the ability to bend to a real budget. Eric, my collaborator, also has plans for a sci-fi TV comedy which he has written a pilot for. He wants me to write an episode of that too.

Not to mention that I've got a great idea for a script with a powerful female lead. I want to shoot a trailer for that and fully flush out the script. I think I could shop it around if I was able to show potential backers what I had in mind.

My dream project is a series of films that I've dubbed "The Trilogy". They started out as one film about a man on a mission to decipher the female mind, but have painfully evolved into something much more. So much more that it requires three films to do it. Only one film has been started, the second has an outline, but the third is still in limbo.

I venture to say that I've got enough ideas in my skull to last me a long, long, long, long time.

9/11 has also been something I've been thinking about. I praise and condemn Oliver Stone for his film. On the one hand, he was brave enough to tackle an event that is still so fresh in our collective consciousness. It is important that we tell this story and that we tell this story now. On the flip side, I know that there are a lot of people who are still dealing with the tragedy of 9/11 and those of whom it has affected personally. I think we all have some stake in what happened that day in September. I might have not been there or known anyone who died in the attacks, but I considered myself a New Yorker that day. I think we all were that day.

I want to do a film, mostly for myself, for purging, about 9/11. I'm caught up in all sorts of things about 9/11. It's my Kennedy assassination, it seems. I'm fascinated, sickened, angered and saddened about Sept. 11th. I need to turn that pain and hatred into something useful. For myself. For anyone who wants to see it. I'm not sure how I will approach the subject yet. I'm still in planning.

There's so much to do and so little time, it seems. I hope I get a little time.

-30-

Almost

I've been staying up late. Real late. Little by little I've put together the entire film. No music. Sound is still rough. A few cuts have jagged edges. I have big bags under my eyes. But it's basically done.

I see movies different than I did before. I mean, I use to pay attention to the edits, but they seem to be more prominent. Like raised type on a business card.

Last night my wife and I watched the rough cut. I'm not thrilled. I'm happy, not satisfied. I think the satisfaction won't come until I do this for a living. But I'm happy. Happy to be doing what I was meant to do.

I think I got some great performances from my actors, but I didn't get their best performance. Some actors were just too inexperienced or just didn't come prepared. Still, the scenes aren't horrible and their performances aren't either. I'd work with all of them again.

By the same token, I wasn't nearly as prepared for this as I had thought I'd been. I saw so many things that I could have done better or shots that I could have worked better than what I had planned. If I had storyboarded this like I had planned, it would have looked sharper and would have seemed more deliberate.

The sound isn't clean yet. I know that will help the feel of the film by leaps and bounds. And I haven't put the music down yet either, so I know that will help too. I'm already planning my next project, at least the production aspects. I have a few ideas of what I will shoot next. Right now, I just need to get this film in the can and out to the world.

-30-

Networking

Sometimes, it doesn't matter how low on the ladder a contact can be. He just needs to be able to give you what you need.

During my time at Rumbo, I use to walk through the parking lot across from the Milam, on the Soledad side, every morning. And every morning I'd spot the lot attendant from across the lot. He'd wave and I'd wave back. I think the most we ever said to each other had to do with weather. He was always cool, always courteous and always waved.

I had to run downtown before work to get some pickup shots of the Milam building today and I saw him. We spoke for a bit.

He commented on how he hadn't seen me for a while and asked where I was working. He said he'd heard about all the layoffs and about how he'd heard there would probably be more.

I had my camera and tripod with me so he instinctively asked what I was doing. I told him I just came to get a shot of the building. With that, I went to it.

I got a so-so shot of the Milam and then went inside to get some room tone for the scene with Luis walking to the office.

When I left, I stopped by to say later to the attendant. Now, this may seem kinda fucked up, but I didn't even get his name. But we talked a bit more, shook hands and as I was leaving, he said, "Whatever you need out here, just come and see me in the morning."

Making contacts rules. Making a new friend rules harder.

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Post Toasting

Luis emailed me yesterday and said, "Hurry your ass up and finish the damn thing so i can see what it looks like."

I don't think he really know what's involved in editing. lol

It's been a couple of weeks since I wrapped on principal photography. Much to my dismay, there were several problems with the existing footage.

The pick up shots we took to correct the parking lot shots with the boom in frame worked out well, but they didn't have great sound. The sound was place on a separate tape that was in my camera.
I misplaced the tape.
Yes. I misplaced it.
So I went back and looked at the footage we had shot originally and was able to salvage it using a cropping technique in Final Cut. Wheew.

The internal mailbox footage that Hank shot was good, but it didn't really show the opening of the mailbox like the one I shot. And there was yet another problem with it. The mail they used was mail that they found in the mailbox, not the 'stunt mail' that we had used on the first day of shooting. What sucks most about it is that Hank went the extra mile and removed my name tag from the mailbox and place one with Rick's last name on it.
So, I went back to the original footage and looked at the second round of internal mailbox footage and found the best one. Then, using the magic of editing, I was able to apply the cuts in and out in such a way that you don't even notice my real name is on the inside of the mailbox door. Unless you slow it down to half speed. lol.

Luis went to see a film group friend, Mike, to record the narration. Mike has a home studio and allowed me to send Luis over to get it on cd. When I got back, I swung by Mike's and picked up the recording. It sounded fantastic. He and Luis did a great job. It was natural and well paced. Only one problem.
In my haste to leave for Houston, I hurriedly compiled the narration from the original script, made some additions and subtractions and sent it to Luis. I tried to make sure I changed everything that we'd either altered or dropped. Sadly, I missed one thing.
It has to do with the sudden change of locations from the gas station to the parking lot. Rick's narration specifically mentions the gas station in such a way that might be difficult to edit. I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet, but I've got some ideas. I think that I might be able to splice in a word or two from some other part of his reading or cut a word out somehow or even have Luis call me and give me some dialogue that I can dump into an audio program and clean up. I'm gonna consult with Mike to see if there's a way he can help me.

Lastly, there were little pick up shots I wanted to get with Luis, but didn't get around to it. I've got an idea of using a stand it that won't be directly seen and grabbing some shots for filled in certain sections. I'm not comfortable with the idea, but I want this to feel good if not look fantastic. The front 5 minutes are the most crucial ones for the development of the story, I think. As it stands, it's working well, but I'm going to need some additional footage. Fortunately, I think I'll be able to do it all on my own. The optical issues that my camera was experiencing seem to have cleared up long enough for me to give it a shot, so to speak.

I'm really excited about the editing portion. It's a whole different animal and I think I have a greater understanding of what it means to chop a film.

The last thing I'll have to do is score the thing. That part I'm not looking forward to. But that's another blog.

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Day 8: The End

The last day of principal photography started with me being nearly an hour late for the first scene.

Fortunately, I made up by bringing cold water and lemon lime sodas to the location. It was a hot mother fucker. My wife, Tonya, got good and cooked. When we got home her face was dark red. My forehead, neck and even my nose were red. But I digress.

Theo, one of the people I credit with really helping me realize this film, found a piece of broken glass on the street a day before that we were going to need for a scene in which he arrives to his car to find the window broken out. What he found was actually a pane of glass with some kind of tint film on it. The glass was broke, but stuck to the tint. Hank and I broke it apart and scattered it on the hot asphalt to better simulate a window break. I think it worked out well. Theo had a blast yelling out cuss words as he walked into the scene.

In the last post I mentioned that we'd still be short one actor. It was for one of the pivotal scenes for the protagonist, Luis. Fortunately, I found a guy to play. Will came to the cattle call IFMASA had sometime back and I wondered if he might be the guy for the gig. At the time, the part was built a little different. Now I just wanted to fill the spot with the best person possible.

Everything was set. Or so I thought. I called Ariel, the guy who would play the drunk angry guy. I couldn't get a hold of him, at first, but when I did, he told me that he would be unable to make the shoot.

*sound of needle scratching the record*

Yes. I lost the actor I thought I had locked in. My back-up plan was a flimsy one. I would ask one of the Rumbo guys, Bruno, to come downstairs and fill in. Hey, it was better than no plan at all. Bruno's doesn't speak great English, but since it's an alternate take, he doesn't have to.

In the middle of my preparations for ritual siboku, I decided to continue with the shoot. I got Jared and Britney squared away for the fight sequence. We did a few takes of the punch, some close-ups and then the wide shot.

Britney is a really sweet girl. Unfortunately, she doesn't have much experience and not a lot of range. But I wanted her to cut her teeth on something simple. I think that I'll have to be very careful on her scene. The wrong cut and everything will fall apart. Her partner in the scene, Jared, is fantastic. He's got energy and he really got into the part. I hope to work with both of these people again.

Will sat off set and rehearsed his part with my wife's help. Then a crazy thing happened.

While I was setting Jared and Britney up for their alternate take, a guy walking by recognized Jared. Turns out Quinn, the passerby, was an actor friend of Jared's. He's a stout guy. Smaller than Will. But he had the look of a guy who could commit a hate crime, lol. The scene had originally called for Will's character to be the short one and the part of the drunk would be the tall one. The tables were turned, but what was about to happen worked out better than I had planned. Well, not better, but it worked out.

Quinn's an actor. I'm a director needing an actor. The decision was simple.

I offered Quinn the part on the spot. I gave him the scenes, let he and Will rehearse off set, in the parking lot and I returned to Jared and Britney. There's an alternate take where Britney is to be slapped. I blocked them so I could get the hit, but not the fall. In fact, I really wanted not to get a lot the action at all. I wanted the audience to imagine the rest. But I shot it win Britney taking the hit and falling off frame.

After we wrapped Jared and Britney, we moved onto a shot we missed with Theo and Luis. They would walk out of the Milam building and down the street. Knocked it out quick.

Then came Will and Luis. I'm not sure how many productions or films Will has been involved in, but he was a bit green too. He had the right instincts during his rehearsals, but when he got in front of the camera, it was a bit stilted. I don't feel I got his best performance, but I can't expect perfection when I'm not perfect either.

I have to say, Luis has become quite the veteran. Each time he got into his part and gave me a take, it got better and better. I can't wait to see what else he does.

Luis and Will went through their scene a few times. More than a few. We struggled with them hitting their marks and with the lighting situation not being optimal. Hank, my DP, was his usual, inventive self and gave me the most of what he and the environment had.

When we got Luis and Will done, we had to set up our walk on, Quinn, and Will. This one took a little more doing since we didn't have any real rehearsal time and Quinn didn't know he was going to be picked off the street for this. Hank and I set them up and reset them and reset them until we both felt we had something worth shooting. Still, we got some interesting takes.

Quinn is a good actor, but he turns it up too much. Once he found his groove, it was good. He and Will found a happy medium to their scene and I think we got some usable footage. I want to be happier about their scene, but considering all the trouble I had to get it shot, I'll take what I can get. The magic of editing will be on my side.

The last thing we did was a pick up from the Jared/Britney scene. It's the interaction between Luis and Britney.

Britney took a lot of coaxing. I don't think she fully realizes how she has to become another person. I think she just hoped that delivering the lines would be enough. We all had to basically give her some motivations. At one point, Tonya took her and made her jog around the parking lot to help her fake a sense of panic and distress. The breathlessness helped a little, but when she got her wind back, we had to give her more cues.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not from the Actor's Studio. I just wanted the girl to succeed first time outta the gate. Both Tonya and I felt that we should give her a chance to break in.

The martini was a gag take. It actually worked out pretty good. And on Hank's prompting, I found a perfect spot for it.

If felt good to get it all in the can. Well, not all of it. The real shooting is through. I need to fix that internal mailbox take that I've been screwing up. That and Luis' narration.

But other than that, principal photography is done!

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Day 7: Still Jenny From The Block

What? You have no idea what the title to this blog means? It means that J-Lo, otherwise known as Jennifer Lopez, was in my film today.

Nah, not really. But she was at the hotel next to the coffee shop we shot at. Let me start from the beginning.

Sip is a little coffee shop at the corner of Houston and St. Mary's that I was introduced to while I was working at Rumbo. Whenever we had to do a photoshoot for the fashion page and we needed to find somewhere hip and available to shoot, we'd try there. I stopped in there a few shoots ago and they graciously agreed to give us run of the place.

Just before we started, Juan had told me that Jennifer Lopez and her husband Marc Anthony were staying next door and that her security entourage had been in the day before for lunch. He said that J-Lo swears by the hotel, The Valencia, and that the hotel even special ordered her some super expensive pillows because J-Lo just loves them. Anyhow, I didn't give it much thought and we began our day.

Well, the shoot went great. We set up Naomi (aka Samantha) and Luis (aka Rick) on a bar next to the windows facing St. Mary's and shot from outside the cafe. Juan, the cafe manager, even came outside to clean the windows for us. Talk about class. We shot inside and even got to use the wheel chain in this back-track, spin dolly move for the alternate ending of the movie. We did have some minor issues with lighting, but Hank, as resourceful as any great DP is, got it figured out.

I'm getting to the blog title, don't worry.

We finished shooting the Samantha/Rick scene and moved outside to shoot the scene with Theo (aka James).

So, we're fixing to shoot the James/Rick scene. Hank loaded the camera into it's protective bag to keep it cool while he and Theo went back to the vehicles to fetch Theo's wardrobe. Naomi, Luis and I stayed behind to watch all the stuff. The entire time we were there, a tall, lean black guy with dreads had been watching us as he stood next to this black four door SUV. This was J-Lo's security guy. They were fixing to take her someplace. I think they thought we were either news media or paparatzi because the security guy kept eye-ballin' us the entire time we were sitting there.

Hank and Theo came back and we set up to shoot. I went inside and told Laura, the on site manager, that we'd be outside and almost out of their hair. When I came out, they had just loaded J-Lo into the vehicle and were pulling away.

We were sitting at the corner of Houston and St. Mary's on the Houston side. As J-Lo-Mobile started forward, Luis says, "Can we wave at her?" I said, "Knock yourself out."

The GMC stopped at the light and was right next to us. Luis starts to wave. She had the window rolled down, turns to Luis and says, "Hey, how's it going?" The light turns green and the car makes a turn and is gone.

All of us giggled at the prospect that J-Lo might have thought we were going to take her picture so she decided to be "Jenny From The Block" long enough to give us some face time. HA!

Anyhow, enough about J-Lo.

The rest of the shoot went just as good, but with sound issues. The day we'd showed up to scout the location, traffic was low, sound was low and it seemed to be a little more empty. Well, not today. We had buses every 15 minutes, lots of people driving cars with really loud engines and just about every other piece of ambient noise you could dream of. The boom was catching everything.

We tried taping it to the wall, under the table and between Rick and James, but we were still catching all kinds of pollution. Eventually, we settled on getting the master shot with them talking, despite the noise and doing two pick up shots on both of them to catch the dialogue.

The martini was Theo and Luis walking down this path above the Riverwalk on their way to the coffee shop.

Oh, I almost forgot, I semi-auditioned a guy that I'd seen at the IFMASA cattle call a month ago. Will Carter Jr is the actor's name. I had to scrap my original Frantic Man idea: a small, squirrelly guy and go for a tall, black guy. I think he can pull it off. I hope he can pull it off. What I'm looking for is the energy, not so much what the actor looks like. It's been so hard to cast that part that I'm not sure what other direction to go in.

With all luck, everything left will get done tomorrow. And what is that, you ask?:
1. Theo's broken window scene
2. Frantic Man meets Rick
3. Frantic Man meets Drunk Guy
4. Rick saves the day
5. Rick & James leave the Milam

I'm nervous and excited at the proposition of tomorrow being the last day of principal photography.

I still have high hopes that Naomi will be able to come out one last time so we can get her and Luis in their alternate take at the HEB parking lot. But if she can't, I've already found a way around that.

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Day 6: Back To The Future

Today's shoot was totally improvised. I had nothing planned, no storyboards, no clues. It's background stuff for a voice over by Luis where he explains...well, you'll just have to see the film.

Luis, the male lead, is at home with his new wife, played by the lead actress, Naomi. They're doing bills, watching TV and reading mysterious emails.

My particular favorite was the stuff we did with them watching TV. The living room can get very dark when you close the shutters in both the dining room and the living room and turn off the lights. It could almost be night. So, we closed every one of them, turned off the lights and put the TV on. I wanted to give the sensation of them watching TV without the sound. You know how the light reflects back onto you when you're in the dark. Depending on what's on the screen, the room can be dark or kind of lit. It's a real mood setter.

We sat Naomi and Luis on the couch and then I proceeded to find something in my movie library that might have lots of lights and darks. I came up with "Backdraft". I figured that with all the explosions and fire sequences, it would be great. It sure was. We filmed one take with just the light from the TV. Then Hank, my DP, suggested we try one with a bit more light from a clip lamp we had with a low watt bulb. Hank had constructed these reflectors from cardboard and aluminum foil. We bounced some light from the lamp onto the actors and some from the TV screen. That worked well. Then we tried doing some just from the clip lamp, hitting them directly from the front. We had tried other options and the homemade reflector was casting a shadow from a different angle than the TV. Bouncing the light from the carpet to the reflector, to the actors worked great. I watched the monitor and Hank did the effect. Fantastic. I'm gonna be especially careful with that scene. The mood it sets is just awesome.

We also reshot the internal mailbox scene that I fucked up before. I used my Sony, opened up the view screen and flipped it around so that the actors could see what they were doing and how they looked. Before, it was kind of hit and miss as to where they were on frame. This way, I could look at the camera placement and they could see that they were where I wanted them. I haven't looked at the footage, but it think it will be great.

We have a really heavy day tomorrow. I've got to find some glass and break it for a scene with Theo. Rumbo didn't ever email me back about coming up to the office, so I'm guessing that they don't want me back. We'll just have to find a way around that. We have footage of them leaving the building. I'll just have to find some creative way to add something where we don't have to even set foot in the Milam building. I think I have an idea. *Insert evil laugh here*

Tomorrow is also the coffee shop scene. I think it's so cool that we got Sip, a popular downtown coffee shop, to let us shoot there. It's gonna be fantastic. It's a real trendy place that's gonna look so good on camera. Nevermind that it's in a really great. We've got two scenes there tomorrow. Naomi with Luis and then Luis with Theo.

Then on Sunday, we have the ambitious, yet action packed Frantic Man scene and the "Fight" scene. I'm still chasing down the actor to play Frantic Man. I'm not sure what I'm gonna do. Then I have to rig something for the fight scene. A roll of quarters that will explode as Luis hits Jared, the drunk guy.

It's down to the wire. If I can pull this off, I'll have Luis come by the house and record the voice over stuff Monday and Tuesday. He leaves for El Paso on Saturday. I still haven't told him that I'm not sure we're gonna have a wrap party.

This is kind of nerve-racking and exciting all at once. Man oh, man.

-30-

Day 5: A Kiss Is Just A Kiss

The big scene between Luis & Naomi went very well. With the video storyboard I did days ago, Hank and I didn't have to guess at where we'd put the cameras. I wish I'd done more of those. There's still time, especially with the fight scene, the frantic man scene and the two coffee shop scenes coming in the final weekend of shooting.

Both Naomi & Luis really benefited from the rehearsals, but they starting delivering their lines a bit flat on two takes. We managed to get plenty of coverage. I think it's going to look fantastic.

We had to shut off the AC to cut down on the ambient sounds while we had them boomed. And, FUCK, was it hot. Speaking of hot...

...We went back to the parking lot and grabbed a few of the shots that where we had the boom coming out and the alternate take we missed. It was freaking hot. I think we managed to keep the continuity (as far as natural lighting), but it was scorching. Thankfully, we weren't there long.

Next weekend is going to be a mother fucker. We've got another shoot at my place on Friday. Then on Saturday, we have two shoots at Sip, the coffee shop downtown. Not to mention Frantic Man's scene, the scene we missed at the Rumbo office and the fight scene in the parking lot across the street from the Milam. Whew. It's gonna be freaking heavy!!!!

I'm not even sure what we're gonna do about a wrap party yet. I know Luis has to leave at the end of the month and I will be in Houston about that same time too. I don't know. I might have to take him out for drinks and dinner separate from the group.

Either way, I'm excited at the prospect of having it all in the can and looking forward to pulling my hair out in post. Written, produced, edited, scored and directed... by me. Wow.

-30-

Day 4: Taking It To The Streets

You'd think that with soaring gas prices gasoline stations might want to get a little positive press by letting a small indie film crew shoot a two minute sequence at their pumps. No show. Every single one of the gas stations I approached said no. A couple of them didn't even let me finish my sentence. There was one, which shall remain nameless, who said this to me:

Me: Hi, is your manager in?
Gas station person: (suspicious) Uh, yes, I'm the manager. Is there a problem?
Me: No, no. My name is Julian and I'm currently directing a 30 minute film. I was wondering if it might be possible to film...
Gas station manager: No, no! Thank you.

So, the scene changed radically. We went from gas station (which had the potential to be covered and provide some shade) to open parking lot (which was hot and caused some grief).

Thankfully, I had some help from two other IFMASA members, Ellen & Modrea. They lent their minds to respin the scene and then pitched in to help film it. I found a good lot that wasn't too busy for a Saturday. The magic hour loomed and then came and then went. We managed to capture some of it, but lighting issues played havoc with each take. Not to mention the fact that after I screened the dailies, we had the boom in two different shots. In one of them, it was a reflection. In the other, the boom pole and mic cord were on bottom right hand of the screen. Then we had a mini light peek it into another shot. We were so worried about the light that we just ran through a couple of scenes without checking the frame. A separate monitor would have helped us a bunch. I'll have to invest in one after this gets completed.

Then we had the grocery store parking lot shoot. We got there just as dusk was running out and night was fading in. Hank was worried that we'd have to shoot the scene with our smaller, single CCD chip cameras in order to grab as much ambient light as possible. He ended up shooting with the XL1 and the shots were great.

To make matters more complicated, the scenes we shot at both parking lots require alternate takes, which we failed to shoot. So now, we have to do more pickup shots at both locations. One we'll do tomorrow after the Luis & Naomi's big scenes and the grocery store one we'll have to grab next weekend.

Still, despite the small setbacks, it was a productive shoot and we got lots of usable footage.

-30-

Day 3: Cyber Punked

We had a great shoot today. I've tried not to shoot in sequence so it will make me be more conscious about what's going on in the frames.

My video storyboarding plan has fallen short. But today I did manage to get Naomi & Luis to do some rehearsing for their big scene together.

Anyhow, Hank, as usuall, came through with some great stuff. The shoot today was pretty short. We just needed to get "Rick" reading the crazy email he assumes is his friends' idea of a good joke. Hence the title of today's blog.

Again, Luis' lush character got to have a beer. Compared to the other beer bottles we've had in this shoot, this one might be a bit more obvious.

I'm having a great time. I feel much more confident about my abilities now than I had when we fired off the first frame. Much more than in "Caught In The Rain". Working with the actors has been very interesting. It was much easier to explain the character's motivations to the actors than I thought. And since this is the first indie film both my leads have done, it's been a learning experience for all of us.

We have Luis & Naomi's two big outdoor scenes tomorrow after 5pm. I'm not sure what to expect. Hopefully, we'll be able to catch that magic hour that directors hate to try to chase. Dusk is really hard to grab.

-30-

Day 2: Office Space

Let me just say that working without a net is exciting and frustrating. I didn't storyboard or video storyboard the office sequence like I wanted to. And it bugged me all day.

We got into the office fine, but after we got there, we were short two actors. One of which had a bunch of lines. I stepped in front of the camera for my director's cameo. A little more than Hitchcock; a little less that M. Night Shyamalan. My big line is:

"This town is full of freaks."

I'd like to thank the Academy...

We moved all kinds of stuff around to dress the desks a little better. The phone on my old desk still had my name on it when you picked up the handset. It's only been a few months. LOL. There was no one there at all, so you'll see me walk around a bit during the office scenes. If I'd have had a wig and another shirt and pants, I would have gone that route.

We got some great footage. Theo, who plays a secondary role, really came through with his part. He really explored his character. Luis gets better every day. I noticed a few times that he dug in and pulled out little gold nuggets in every scene. My DP, Hank, was full of ideas and suggestions. That makes my job a thousand time easier.

I'm not gonna say that I didn't get upset with any of them. There were a couple of times that I didn't feel I was getting what I wanted. I mean, this is my material. But I don't say anything or dwell on it because I know that I have my faults too. I took the lazy approach a couple of times and we had to take some pick-up shots to compensate. No one is perfect. But we worked great together.

We did get to walk down to the coffee shop I had in the script, "Sip," and managed to get the green light from the owner to shoot there. That was really good news. The bad news was that we had to cancel Day 3. Lacking the skinny, nervous guy for the first part of the day just killed that. Not to mention the fact that I have yet to get clearance to film across the street at the parking lot between Travis & Houston streets.

By now you've noticed that I've never really said what the film is about or dropped any hints as to the genre. I won't. In fact, if you don't know anything, you'll have to keep coming back here to get more info.

I'm going to have to get to work on some storyboards for the shoot between Luis and Naomi, the lead actress. I want this to be intimate and sincere. They're both good actors. Now I just gotta get them good, together.

I'll post screenshots of the shoot as we didn't have anyone there to shoot behind the scenes stuff.

Day 3 is cancelled. Day 3, Take 2 will be this Friday.

-30-

Day 1: A Beer A Day...

Hank, left, Luis and Julian talk about the mailbox scene. Tonya Cordero/Big Bang PE

Julian signs off on shot. Tonya Cordero/Big Bang PE

Luis sits at the computer with his morning beer. Julian Cordero/Big Bang PE

Things went well on the first day. While it didn't seem like we got a lot done, it felt good to be behind the camera again.

Luis, the male lead, got a kick out of drinking a beer at 10 am. He worked quite well. I still see room for improvement, but he's doing a fantastic job.

Hank, my DP, has been fantastic. He's insightful and always has a good idea under his belt. Not to mention the fact that he's very knowledgeable as far as photography goes. He's got a good feel for it all.

We got some of the first scenes in the script in. The main set up. I think we shot a great deal. I'm wondering, having looked at the dailies, if we're gonna need so much for the intro.

Tomorrow is our shoot at the Rumbo offices. It might seem crazy, but there's still an actor missing. Two actually. I'm going to readjust the script to make the scenes a bit tighter and not require those two missing parts. I think I can make it work.

Here's some shots that Tonya and I took during the shoot.

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Is This Thing On?

Lost an actress, gained an actress. I went with the runner up after a mess of scheduling conflicts with the original selection. I'm just glad both are talented otherwise I'd be up shit creek.

Tomorrow is my first official day. I'm nervous. Well, jittery. I think I have so much more knowledge about directing and about the business than I did when I tried doing my first feature length film, "Caught In The Rain."

I got a myspace message from a guy who I use to talk film with from time to time. He's doing some film editing. He asked about that old flick.

Anyway, I hope that the film looks and sounds as it's suppose to. I really care about the script and with me being behind the camera exclusively, it gives me the chance to really coax the right kind of performance from the actors.

More emails to send. More things to plan. Later.

-30-

Here We Go....

Well, the makeup artist might not be available for all the dates we're shooting. She's bringing home the bacon and since I'm not a paying gig, she's got to worry about those that do. I totally understand that. But she said she might be able to work on a couple of days. I hope those are the days we bring in the lead actress.

Oh, then there's that. The woman I selected had conflicts with the dates I scheduled her shoot for. She sent me an email telling me that she couldn't move the dates and thanked me for the opportunity. I quickly emailed her back and told her that I'd push her scenes to the weekend before her commitments in hopes that she'll be able to do it.

My DP is ready for this weekend and I've got to send the email out to make sure everyone is on board for the heavy shooting day on Saturday.

We start with basic scenes on Friday, all the stuff at the front end of the script.

Is this getting heavy? No, probably not. But I think it will.

-30-

Major Location Locked Down

One of the more important locations, a location that I had always thought about using as I was writing the script, is officially locked in.

My old work place, Rumbo, agreed to let me come in on July 8th and knock out the scenes for my film.

I have to admit that I'm a bit surprised that they said yes. I think they still feel sorry for having let me go. Regardless, I plan to shoot quick and get out. Especially since you can really see the progression of the day from the 8th floor view. If it's suppose to be noon and the sun is starting to set behind the actors, it's gonna look like I didn't do my homework.

I've got two other major locations that I still have to approach: the parking lot across the street from the Milam building and the convenience store where Rick and Samantha, the lead characters, will meet.

I'll drop off the release next week for them to sign. I'm not taking any chances on that. They're asking for a list of people who will be at the shoot. It's gonna be a big group. I'll probably get that to them at the same time.

Preproduction hasn't gotten too hectic yet, but I imagine that once we start to shoot, there will be lots to post. I'll try to keep the blog a little more up to date. I'll even post pictures of the cast. I like this place I'm at.

"Other writers, producers, and directors of low-budget films would often put down the film they were making, saying it was just something to make money with. I never felt that. If I took the assignment, I'd give it my best shot."
-- Roger Corman

-30-

Charging Ahead

In the last couple of weeks, I've made great progress on my film. I'll start shooting July 7th. Really. There's nothing "Al Gore is President" about this.

The original cinematographer got replaced. Sadly, he's not aware yet. With my camera broken, I had to make a concession to find a guy who could not only shoot the film, but who also had a camera. I've seen a film he shot for a friend of mine and it wasn't bad. I liked it. He's got a Canon XL1 and from the sounds of it, he knows his stuff. I spoke with him today. He's locked in.

I'm also going to meet with a makeup artist that one of actors in the film suggested. Turns out she got some info on the film and it really interested her.

Did I mention that I'm nervous?

For all my starts and stops, I can't stop this now. I'm very glad about that.

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The Actress

After a long and fruitless search, I finally found some candidates for the lead female role in my short film. You'd think I was casting "Cleopatra" or something.

I thin all three women are sufficiently different...yes, I said three...that they will bring something different to the audition. I'll be having them read with Luis, the lead actor.

I'm anxious to see who will come across better. I stripped the character of ethnicity having originally created her as Anglo. Of the three that are reading for her, one is Hispanic and one is African-American.

This has been a hard part to cast. I hope other female parts won't be this difficult.

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When it rains...

As if by some crazy spark of inspiration that struck my like a Louisville Slugger to the cranium, I'm suddenly on fire with ideas for work.

Well, first on my most current project. "Time", as we'll call it, has been re-green-lit again. The indie film leader, Mary, is going to let me use her Cannon DV to shoot my film. With my mic and mixer that's gonna rock. Secondly, she lined up a great casting call and she said we're gonna have a ton of people. Some are coming in from as far as Dallas. One might even come from Florida.

What does that mean? That means I gotta get off my duff and get my film shot.

I had submitted two ideas to the group for our showcase in August at our last meeting. My son watches a lot of wrestling, which incidentally I've started to do too. So I wrote a story sort of about that. The second submission was a comedic take on the spy film, but in short form. Mary said that the people coming to the casting call have expressed a lot of interest in that one.

The wrestling thing was snatched up by a kid in the group who loves wrestling and really wants to direct something. The treatment I wrote for it was kinda vague, so during this moment of inspiration, I gave the whole thing a different twist and opened up the possibilities.

It felt really good for the words to explode like that. Felt like I had cork in my brain and it was just pulled.

The creative batteries just needed a recharge maybe or more fuel.

Snakes on a plane, man. Its all just snakes on a plane.

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If at first you don't succeed, quit fucking around.

I've been writing again. For a project that a producer from the indie film group is trying to sell. For myself.

I've been on these screenwriters' blogs recently and have found some great ones. I'll be posting them on my links. With all my false starts, this is the closest I feel I've come to making something happen with my "work".

Despite what I've said to friends and family, I've always feared not being good enough. I shrug it off and tell people, "I'm afraid of succeeding." Bullshit.

There's a lot to be hopeful for these days. My involvement with this indie film group has given me a place to find additional support. Not that my wife's wasn't enough. Her kicks in the ass have served me well. But now it's time for me to do what people have been expecting of me for 20 years. Enough talk.

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Loss of Cabin Pressure

Well, it's been a while since my last post. A long while.

My camera is still broken, but I have a job now. One up one down. The casting never really went like I wanted. The guy I had lined up to do the film just moved to California to star in a Disney stage show. I've got the script finalized though.

There are a lot of upsides however.

I joined a local film group here in San Antonio.
Indie Filmmakers Association of San Antonio

It's group of local screenwriters, directors, producers and actors who join together and produce work that is later showcased by the group at a local venue.

The group's leader and founder has a love for the craft and wants everyone to succeed. I think this is something that's beneficial for all. Especially me. She's plugged into the scene and has all sorts of resources to tap from. We're gonna set up a casting call to fill spots for another project she's involved in. Afterwards, once I get the project set up and shot, we'll be able to showcase my film and many others.

The group has also allowed me to link up with people I can collaborate with. Currently, there's a guy who I'm linking up with to write a sci-fi spec script. He wants to sell it, but he'd love to shoot it. I'd just love to have my first project sold and grab my first writing credit.

I feel good about this all. But I have to get my camera fixed soon. I have that mic and the mixer and no camera. Grr.

Things are looking up again.

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Filling In The Blanks

Casting will begin this Friday and might go on for a couple of days. Jaime, my wife and a couple of trusted friends will help me in this respect.

I've never conducted auditions before, so this will not only be fun, but very uncharted territory. I was fortunate to find a couple of sites with postings by other directors who have had similar experiences and was able to pull some tips from them.

I figure that it will take at least two weekends to do the casting. I want to find the right people for the gig. Even though this will be a non-paying event, I think that there could still be a decent amount of talent willing to work for a resume piece. Not to mention the fact that if it all goes well, maybe we can acquire funding for a bigger production later.

Still, I can't help but be a bit nervous about the process. I use to know a ton of actors, years ago in Corpus Christi. They were always willing to act for free and more than willing to be involved in other aspects of production. I hope I can make lots of connections on this first run.

I did some acting years ago. They were only stage plays in junior high, but I was able to get a lot of parts. I'm gonna dig deep and use that for the benefit of the cast and hopefully be able to draw some good performances.

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Inspirations: The Hire - BMW Films

I find inspiration in a lot of films and shorts. A few years ago, BMW enlisted the help of some A-list filmmakers to promote their vehicles. The films were all tied together by one actor, Clive Owen, and featured the directing talents from the likes of Ang Lee, John Woo, John Frankenheimer and Tony Scott, among others.

The stand out film, for me, is done by Wang Kar Wai. His credits include Chungking Express, In The Mood for Love and Happy Together. His most recent work is a film called 2046, which, frankly, I'm not sure I can explain. Just drop his name into IMDB and get the details there.

Anyhow, I wanted to share my favorite BMW Film here. I was lucky enough to find it on YouTube.com.

Stand out line: "There's always something waiting at the end of the road. If you're not willing to see what it is, you probably shouldn't out be there in the first place."

Enjoy the film.

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Let The Real Work Begin

Well, that elusive first draft of the script is finally done!

Everything is going better than I had expected. I figure that as I get more momentum on this project, and with reasonably good planning, I'll have something I can really be proud of.

I'm getting some trusted friends to give me feedback on what I have now. I need the input to help me chisel out the final shape. I know that I'll have to do some rewrites during filming, but I'm more worried about coming into the shoot with a script that I won't have to punch too many holes into.

This is exciting stuff.

I did some tests with the new equipment and we're well on our way. Once we get the casting going, then I'll sit with Jaime, my DP, and do some video storyboarding.

I'm going to keep the crew thin. I'll be doing the location scouting, the score, editing and any PR work that needs handling. I'll need to fill a few behind the scenes posts, but I'll worry about that in a week or so.

On to the rewrite.

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Can you hear me now?!?

Been a while since my last post. Lets get to it.

My microphone arrived yesterday. I ordered it from B&H Photo and Video. Good reputable company, reliable products and fair prices. It's an Azden SGM-1X. Works well with the Azden portable mixer that pipes right into my Sony MiniDV. The sound is amazing. I've had a couple of "shotgun" mics, but this is new one is pro-gear. I bought one from Sony, which worked well for just basic, home movie type stuff. And I even bought one from Wal-Mart. Neither one can do what this new one can. Wow. It sure does make a difference. Even if the plot sucks and the acting is bad, at least the picture and sound will be great!

The script is nearly completed. I'm just a few pages away, in the middle of the 3rd rewrite. Mind you, nothing has been really corrected. I'm just working on the dialogue and the story. I'll get some help with the proof reading later. And, of course, I'll adjust things here and there until I have actors to read for the parts. I'm looking forward to adjusting things during rehearsals. I'm not looking forward to doing it during shooting. I mean, I know it has to be done sometimes, but I hope to have things ironed out before we ever start rolling one frame of film.

After nearly 7 years of waiting on a new project, all the pieces are really starting to fall into place. Not like before. I'm not attacking this like I did before.

Testing the mic and camera this weekend with a small project. I might post it if it looks good. Shit, I'm not even sure what the Hell it will be.

Stay tuned.

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Check, check, check one...sibalence, sibalence.

Well, the microphone has been ordered. I expect it will arrive sometime next week. Actually, I know it will. 'Bout the 23rd, UPS said.

I need to get a good set of headphones and figure out how to make a boom pole. They want $100 some places for a fuckin' boom pole. Necessity is the mother of invention.

And speaking of inventions, my wife, Tonya, found me a very interesting contraption.

I own a Steadicam JR. My folk bought it as a birthday gift for me just before I started my ill-fated feature, 'Caught In The Rain.' It was a fucking dream. I mean, it was wonderful. Fluid shots, running or walking. Just fantastic. While trying to adjust it in the middle of a shoot, I overextended a joint and SNAPPED the thing in two. I was devastated.

Well, Tonya found a website where a guy offers his take on camera stabilization.

Little Great Ideas' Steadycam

The inventor has test footage on the site, so you can see what you're getting if you build it yourself or buy his kit. I'm not sure if I'm hip on it, especially since I've seen how fluid the motion is with the real deal. He does say that the footage was shot before he had a real handle on the rig. Practice does make a difference. Even when my rig was solid, it did take me a while to get the hang of it.

B&H Photo & Video, Steadicam JR

I spoke to the Tiffen guys, the official repair shop for Steadicam products, and they said it was about $165 to fix the rig, plus the $20 for a whole new package of accessories (I somehow lost most of the counterweights and cables).

Not sure yet what I'm gonna do about all that. I want the video to be smooth, not Hill Street Blues style.

I'm just glad I have the mic on the way.

What's on tap next? Finishing the final 9 pages of the script. That's the most important. Location scouting comes next. I have a couple of places in mind. Then casting. I'll do revisions and corrections on the script along the way too.

Momentum continues.

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Money

Well, if all goes right, once my wife and I get our taxes back, I'm gonna spend a few bucks getting much needed equipment. My Steadicam JR needs fixin' and I have to have a good microphone and boom, so I'll probably spend nearly $300 bucks on that. Beyond that, I hope I don't need much more.

Script changes are going slow. Haven't had a chance to sit down and hammer away at it like I want. I'm also gonna do a quick treatment for it. I figure this will help me after the film is in the can.

Optimisim as high and I'm feeling extremely hopeful. I think this project will not only reach completion, but it looks like with all the help and input I'm getting, that it will be a good one.

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Keep Flowin'

My wife and I were discussing the script yesterday and she pointed out a few incredibly helpful things. Sometimes, sitting inside the bubble, you can't really appreciate it for what it is. Her insight (or out-sight, lol) has helped me a great deal. The story will seem much more rounded and sincere. It was an aspect that it lacked.

I shot a trailer for the film, something just to keep myself busy, a few weeks back. I wasn't happy with it; I'm still not. It was badly lit, poorly voiced over and, thematically, it just sucked ass. But I figured that it was a good way to kick start the creativity machine. I filmed a few bits for a new trailer, which I'm still doing a concept for.

And earlier, I managed to squeeze out a couple more ideas on how to improve the flow of the script and some details that were still unresolved.

I watched 'Hustle & Flow' this week and it inspired me. It's a great film. The dvd extras were good too. Gave me some fuel for my film.

More to come.

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Momentum

I got in contact with the guys over at Futureme.org about using their site in the film and they gave me their seal of approval.

I had been tinkering with the idea for the script for a while until I ran into their site. It made it all gel.

If you've got an e-mail address you suspect you'll have for many years to come, send yourself an message...into the future!!!

Future Me

Enjoy.

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Breakthrough

I tend to write better at night. Ideas flow easier. If I wake up and grab some coffee, I can't crank things out as easily as if I get home, decompress, spend time with the family and then write. I'm just not a morning writer.

Last night, I was able to break the block I've been having on this script. I managed to get the body of the plot worked out and I managed to squeeze in the idea I had about the multi-verse. It's gonna be good.

What I've been really worried about was having to invest too much time and money into having special effects or complicated stunts or anything that might require a big production. What I've done, effectively, is found a way around them with a few decent plot devices.

I think I might go over 30 minutes, but not by much. 35 maybe. I need to finish the script and then figure in how long the credit sequences bookending the film are gonna be. But that won't be until I've got a cleaned up copy of the script.

Felt good to break through. Hope to keep up the momentum.

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Can't Tell The Players Without A Program

Well, I've decided against being in my own film. My wife, who can see right through me, is right: I do want to act. But I've decided against this being my time to do so. With all the crap I have to do, I don't want to worry about my performance being stilted because I had a thousand things to worry about.

My wife and my director of photography are gonna help me cast the film. I consulted with a friend who's wife is an indie director and he's gonna give me leads on where to scout for talent. I figure that we'll go through a couple of dozen actors before we find what we want.

It's exciting to think of my wife helping me on this. She's got a keen eye for details and she's much more organized than me, so it will be a great help.

The few people whom I've told about the film concept have been really receptive, so I'm thinking I'm on the right track. I think that the film will fair well and might even have feature possibilities if we can get it all done in time and it finds a proper home (distribution wise).

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"I'm having...trouble." - Robocop 2

The script is giving me a bit of trouble. I can see the feature possibilities and it makes the scope grow bigger. I only want 30 minutes, with credits at both ends.

Also, I've been doing some reading on string theory and the concept of multiple universes (two very pertinent things to the subject matter) and it's making me think of all kinds of possibilities for the resolution of the plot.

I'm already 1/3 of the way into the script and it's rolling nicely. I think that with some work, I can have this ready in a week or so. But I have to hammer away at it with great resolve.

I'm concerned with rushing through it, but at the same time, I want to be able to finish it and polish it later. I think that's the way to go. Either way, I don't want any aspect of the script to suffer, so I'm gonna take it easy.

I feel good. Very good. The Austin Film Festival will be the launching pad for the film. I entered a script a couple of years ago to Project Greenlight. Sadly, I didn't make it past the first round. But I got a 90 page script out of it that I still plan to develop more.

Things are looking up.

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What Came First?

I've written scripts and stories based on a title. Nothing more. I have a script, my first, failed feature film, "Caught In The Rain." I had the title before I had the script. In fact, the title existed almost 8 years before the script idea was ever conceived. It started out as a poem. I use to write a lot of poetry. I was very tortured in my late teens. I had a bunch of notebooks just crammed with one liners and all sorts of nonsensical crap. I took the Jim Morrison approach to my early work one night, while still living with my parents. I attempted to burn all my work in a garbage can, dousing it with some lighter fluid. I was purging my creativity. I didn't make it very far. My mother had her sights set on preserving my work.

Before and after the poetry bit, I wrote short stories. My high school buddies and I made up a fictional CIA team of mercenaries called, "The Death Squad." There were four of them. My character was the linchpin of the group. They all used aliases, but later faked their deaths and returned to the real world, under their real names, to run their team off the reservation. They used money they'd collect during their black ops to fund their intricately devised hideouts and fancy weaponry. They all had specialties and very distinct personalities. Each one of us created our own characters and later, I did most of the writing. But we all did one chapter in this incredibly long epic where we went after the mob bosses in our respective cities and then introduced our character's replacements, who would turn out to be their sons. It was wild. When my friends and I split off, after high school, the storyline broke into two timelines. In one, I was killed by two of the other members of the team and in the other, we split off, amicably and led our own lives. I wrote the latter. A very disgruntled buddy of mine wrote the timeline where I got killed. He killed me. Our friendship was very fractured.

I wrote as much and as often as I could. I carried notebooks for most of my life. My dad bought me a computer early in my teens, an Apple, and I really started to go at it. I started my first novel when I was 17. I never finished it. But there were other false starts. Lots of them.

I didn't always keep a journal, but I threatened to start one frequently. There are fractured bits of time, saved on floppy discs and type written pages all over the place. One could make a fairly accurate progression of my work and my personality with them.

Eventually, when I realized that I wanted to be involved with film, I decided to take the novel and just write a screenplay. It would be easier. I started looking up script formatting and checking out books on filmmaking from the library. Once I got the basic gist of it, I began to dream up ideas for scripts. "Caught In The Rain" came about just before "Boondock Saints" was released, but I didn't move on it then. I waited until I had a video camera and even bought a Steadicam rig to shoot it. I made it about a quarter of the way before the rig broke, my cast bailed and I lost inspiration. I've managed to piece together a scene not too recently during a shoot at the house of my production assistant's cousin. It was the end of the script where the bad guy gets owned. I have to say, for my lack of planning and the bad blocking, it wasn't half bad. I shot the scene myself, had three actors, one with a real gun and managed to get myself in the scene via a VHS tape. It turned out great. I was really hyped that night. I still have the video of the first reading of the script we had at the bar I worked at.

I've done a few things since then. I've written a bunch of stuff and pieces of things I'll include in scripts to come. I still think about writing a novel. I think I've got one good one in me. I've got dozens of scripts that are just ready to be written.

One thing at a time.

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Fire Inside

There are countless films that feed this fire I have to be a writer/director. I could go into a rant that would take me a few hours and I could drop a hundred titles. But I credit Richard Donner's "Superman" with being the film that ignited the fire.

If you know me, you know my feelings about Superman. I love Superman. But it wasn't the hero that made me love film, it was the tag line on the poster. "You Will Believe A Man Can Fly." I believed. Without a doubt. Now, I want to make other people believe.

I collect posters, ticket stubs, press kits, the tear-away part of my Netflix rentals, dvds, VHS tapes and anything else I can get my hands on. I've recently started writing down, on the tear-away parts of my Netflix rentals, the movies that I saw and my rating. I keep a film guide on my living room table and tell my wife and kids to always keep it there. IMDB is a fixture on my Firefox toolbar bookmarks at home and work. And I try to learn all kinds of inane trivia about the making of movies, actors and Hollywood in general.

My friends say things that I write down in a notebook that I carry in my back pocket. I work the dialogue into my scripts. I've got all kinds of ideas.

I carry my miniDV camera everywhere I go. I've got stock footage coming outta my whazoo. I mean to use every bit of it too.

Some nights, I just stay up and write, watch a movie and research some obscure movie on the internet- all at the same time.

Am I addicted. You bet your ass I am.
But all of this is nothing if I can't do three things:
First and most importantly, share it all with my wife. She shares her passions with me and revels in my love of mine.
Two, to write and direct movies in Hollywood. No one should knows this much crap about movies and not try and make some.
And finally, to make my parents proud. They've supported me, like my wife, in this insane endeavor to become a filmmaker since I was a kid.
I am truly blessed. Now I just gotta get up off my ass and do this.

"Look, if you had one shot, or one opportunity
To seize everything you ever wanted-One moment
Would you capture it or just let it slip?" - Eminem

Gotta get crackin'.

My Mission

I'd like to get as much down about the inner workings of this film I'm working on, not just for others to read, but as a sort of catharsis. I find that when I get thoughts jotted down, it flushes out some of the blockage that I experience.

I also want to keep a record of this, and of future projects, so that I can look back and say, "What was I thinking?" or "I'm a freakin' genius!!" or "Random thought here!!"

This is gonna be fun!

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