Close but no cigar

SHOOTING DELAYED
Foul weather played a part in the cancellation of my latest shoot. Well, foul weather and the fact that I never got the location I desired locked down. Actually, it wasn't so much that I didn't get the one I desired; none of the ones that Theo looked into were a lock.

"The Road" has been plagued by starts and stops. Most notably, a stop for nearly a year.

Out to shoot the end sequence, which originally took place outside, in a field, I had to re adapt the script for it to be an interior shoot, due to a rainy cold front we had last Monday.

I figured that we could hijack a parking garage and use the ambient lighting in place of fill lights and bounces. Although we'd probably need some kind of key lighting somewhere. Still I was willing to take a chance.

It got later and later and before I knew it, it got foggy as Hell, so I just pulled the plug on it.

We're going to try again, next Tuesday. I'm trying to line up a rehearsal day so that we've got the lines down and some of the blocking.

MIXED IN
I was finally able to attend one of those San Antonio Film Commission mixers yesterday. I arrived quite a bit late with my brother in tow, but it was an interesting time. I saw one of the actors, Mike, who's appearing in "The Road", not to mention Theo, Hope and a few other recognizable faces.

It was interesting to see so many people. I'm guessing a lot of them have been involved in the scene for some time. I didn't get to meet too many people, but, honestly, I was just there to get a glimpse of the scene. I'm glad my brother was able to go. Turns out he knew a few faces there too. Being a Mac Genius, he will undoubtedly work on many of the Macs these would be filmmakers own.

Well, that's all for now. I'll report back after rehearsals.

-30-

There Goes My Hero...

Martin Scorsese is probably my favorite director. I enjoy interviews with him or articles or books about the man. Especially when he injects his own thoughts, motivations and ideas about film and film making.

Yesterday a friend at work who is also an avid film buff, told me about a site where Scorsese had apparently done a commercial in Europe. Its for some kind of champagne or wine or something.

I don't know what it is about Europe that actors and directors feel that there's no stigma to doing a commercial or filming one. Maybe they just throw them bags full of money or something.

Anyhow, after watching the "film" Marty did for this champagne, I said, "Damn!" I mean, it's fucking Scorsese so you know it's gonna be good.

Here's the link: Scorsese's booze ad

Enjoy!

-30-

On 'The Road' Again...

Oh, I just had to use that title.

Well, I'm struggling with editing two films right now. One that I directed; the other I did not. The second is KICKING MY ASS. Its hard to cut without being intimately acquainted with the materials or really knowing the vision of the director. Or the writer for that matter. Ugh.

So, despite my better judgement, I'm going to get back in the director's chair while I cut these other projects.

I finaly got Chris and Mike, the actors from my car jacking picture, locked down for a night shoot a week from today. I've also got my ever handy cinematographer, Hank, back on board, so I feel confident this will work out just as good as the first round of shooting.

I edited the initial footage a while back and man does it look fantastic. I think only my wife, my parents and maybe two others have seen it. Its the grittiest thing I've done so far. Profanity and violence galore. I know that will probably get the film excluded from several indie showcases. A lot of them tend to have you scale back the profanity. But I say, FUCK THEM. I thought indie film was about uncensored voice.

The end of the year is almost upon me and I need to know that I was able to complete another film from first frame to final cut. 'The Road' will have taken me nearly a year to complete. That's just insane. Gotta get it done.

-30-

Holidaze

I've been caught up in some personal things right now and I haven't had time to post anything, even though I've wanted to.

Balance, I keep thinking, balance. But I find none. Yet.

Coming back, I promise.

-30-

Drunks, Day 7: Well Oiled Machine

Mike rounded up Heidi, Theo and his son, Michael the day before to rehearse what had, up to today, a difficult scene. Since I started working in film, I have noticed the quality that rehearsals add to a shoot. Today was no different.

They all rehearsed yesterday and came in today with a strong game. I took them through a dry run, to allow Hank to get the camera angles worked out. Before we knew it, we had gotten some really great shots.

Michael, Mike's son, is a natural. This kid has natural talent. He takes direction well, remembered everything we wanted out of him from previous shoots and delivered a great performance.

Heidi, who takes acting classes with Mike and Theo, still has some learning ahead of her, but she takes direction well and asks questions that help hone her skills. I predict that she will eventually blossom into a fantastic actress. She has her doubts about her abilities and expressed as much. I tried not to flood her with useless knowledge, instead concentrating on what I thought she needed to convey in her role. She did great.

Theo is a class act and a really great actor. He always brings his 'A' game. And he can take a punch in the gut. Over and over and over and over and over again. Michael kept having to punch him, an act he thoroughly enjoyed, throughout the shoot. And Theo was a trooper with every hit. He'll always be on the top of my casting choices when I have something right for him.

Mike is a terrifically talented actor. Although, I have to admit, I haven't been happy with his take on a drunk accent. I tried talking to him about it in the beginning, but I think something was lost in translation. Regardless, he brings real sincerity to his part which really makes him shine. He's willing to do whatever it takes to make the movie work. As an actor and a producer, he's tops.

Rounding out the cast is Tim, who also takes classes with Mike & Theo. He's a very useful guy to have around. Not only is he a very natural, very gifted actor, but he's willing to jump the fence and crew if it's needed. He's been on boom for the previous shoots. He's now playing the cop who will have a run in with Theo & Mike in the film's finale.

Hank. What can I say about Hank? He's my ace in the hole. He did some great work on a couple of hand held shots. Without him, I know my work would lack a certain style and maturity. I need to get myself up to snuff in case he's not available for other projects. I hope to work more with Hank as the year progress.

We closed out the day with an impromptu rehearsal for next Sunday's climactic ending to this film.

I am anxious to start editing. More to come.

-30-

Drunks, Day 6: Shooting Around

Greg wasn't able to make the shoot we had last Sunday (Sept. 30). We were missing the majority of extras, our second camera man (Sky), but we had everyone else. Jason, our bartender, really didn't want to be there. I think he had some plans with his wife, but he came out because he'd committed himself to Mike. I dig that in an actor. And he wasn't dragging ass; he came to work.

We managed to get it all done pretty quickly after setting up. We went through a couple of dry runs before we worked out how everything had been done the first time out. Hope and Vicky, the two actresses who are victims of Mike's drunken blathering were both very patient as I walked them back and for from the front door to their seats, over and over again. Before long, we'd run through everything we needed to do and at last, managed to finish all the interiors for our little film.

Having to shoot around Greg's absence was a bit difficult at times, but we managed to get it all taken care of. It will be up to me, in editing, to fill in any holes or apply cover ups to anything we might have too much of or not enough of.

Next up, we rehearse with Heidi, Mike's son, Michael, Theo and Policeman Tim for the final sequence.

I'm really looking forward to finishing this. I enjoy the work, but I'm anxious to start one of my own projects. This film has taught me quite a few things about directing someone else's work. That being said, I'm going to be more cautious about working with my own.

-30-

Drunks, Day 5: Shoot The Shoot Again

After being forced to do things over and over again, last Sunday's (Sept. 9th) shoot went pretty good.

Our new bartender, Jason, was on the mark. He required very little direction from my end and had previously done some bartending, so he wasn't a newbie behind the bar.

The New Bartender

We set up pretty quickly, having taken lots of continuity shots to go by and fired up with almost no problems. Almost.

Once again, something got left out. Hank har originally lent his floppy Outback-styled hat to Ventura, who was the fill in for one of the first cast members to drop out of the film.

I had to go back and look at the first sequence of the film to see if there would be any kind of problem using some of the footage we'd already had in the can. At first, it looked like we might be able to, but when I looked at it all, the previous bartender's face and tattooed arms were visible in several good takes. I had to make the call: we'd have to reshoot the intro. So this would free us up to put Ventura in a new hat or go without one. The hat looked good on him and lent itself to his character, so we went with a new hat.

The Pour

Having two cameras on set is always handy. We were able to get the primary take and have a secondary angle for coverage. Not to mention the fact that when it came to tight quarters, like behind the bar, our second camera, a Canon GL-1 was easier to take off the sticks and go hand held. I made work of that by doing some hand held stuff with the sequence with Ventura and the giant beer.

Having a small crew is great because you don't have to wait on a lot of people to get fired up, but I'm finding that I'm going to need a larger support staff. And I'm finding out the hard way. After examining the footage from this weekend, I could just kick myself in the nuts. We've got boom mics and people who should be out of frame reflecting off mirrors. And this was after my speech about clearing the frames before each take and how it was also partly my responsibility. Which means I'm just as much to blame, if not more so, for these flubs. Thankfully, we've got several takes and covering angles that might allow me to cover up those mistakes with little effort. I'm not going to say that for certain, but I'm confident and hopeful that said statement will apply to everything.

As for the support staff, I'm going to need a continuity manager and an assistant director. There might be use for an assistant of some kind, someone who can float from job to job and handle a myriad of things (script supervising, location/actor relations, etc.) I'll have to really sit down and think about what's the best thing to do so as not to complicate things too much.

Still, even with the small problems we had, we got through the work very quickly and got the shots we wanted.

Sky, on B camera, had this great idea to help make Theo's fall even funnier. We had originally had Ventura and Mike look at one another, in separate takes, once Theo hits the ground. Sky suggested a low angle shot where the bartender, who we never shot during the fall sequence, looks over the bar and shakes his head at Theo and then calls for the bouncer to do his job and we see Ventura and Mike peek their heads into frame and look down at the fallen Theo. It worked out great, but we had a few problems during the first couple of takes. Ventura and Mike didn't look at each other at the same time. They kept moving in and out in bad time. Eventually, we did manage to get a good take, however.

Are you okay?

With my impending birthday coming this Sunday and my family coming into town, we won't get to shoot this weekend. Theo is going out of town the following Sunday, so that's another weekend we won't shoot, but that Sunday we plan on blocking the outside sequence with all the available players.

We're all determined to see this through. Mike especially, but I'm not far behind. This will be my third film. There's three projects on the horizon now. Maybe even blowing off the dust from my 'road' picture and finally finishing that.

Lots to do. Lots to do.

-30-

Big Bang Films on IFC.com

Well, I've got my first film up on IFC's Media Lab online. It's kind of exciting to see it on the web. The counter says there's been 50 hits so far. Here's the link:

Big Bang Films, FIXER

If you can, please leave a comment. Or come back here and leave a comment.

I think the film might be entered in a short film festival in Cali called "The Vines", but I need to check the rules & regs about it being on Media Lab.

More to come.

-30-

Drunks, Day 4: You're Fired

Okay, so last week's shoot didn't go over very well. Not only had we not gotten in contact with Hank, my regular DP, to confirm him, but the centerpiece of the entire fucking shoot bailed on us AGAIN.

We sat around for a while with our thumbs up our asses and waited. And waited. And waited. Finally, all we could do was set up stuff on the bar as we had before and take pictures for continuity's sake.

Mike was pretty frustrated and I can't blame him. I could have been at home with the family, but instead I had to replan what will surely become a new shoot of sorts. There was a lot of stuff with a bartender that we needed to get and now, we'll have to reshoot everything that the guy was in. Ugh. We gave that shmuck 3 chances. Casting seems to also be working against us. Mike is considering letting our second camera operator, Sky, fill the part. I'm hesitant about that since he's not an actor, but then beggars can't be choosers.

Oh, and did I mention that a featured extra who has come regularly wasn't available for the shoot? Oh, yes. And that might also throw us for a loop. How I'm going to work it out right now, I don't know?

Still, I know this is the kind of thing that's going to happen from time to time. I just hope we can get it all together this coming Sunday. The word is that we'll be there setting up at 9AM, but I'll believe that when I see it. Don't get me wrong, this bar is giving us free reign over the place, but anyone you're not paying for a service won't always come through like you expect. Sometimes, dealing with glitches in that department makes me wish I had a large pool of cash to sweeten these pots.

I guess we'll see how things go on Sunday.

-30-

Bio Hazard?

I've got a lot of ideas for films. There are a few ideas that I have which involve writing, and maybe even shooting, a bio-pic. I've started a script for a film based on one of my comedy idols, Bill Hicks. I started it a few years ago and I write on it from time to time. I'm trying to carefully craft it to do as much justice to his life and his comedy as I can.

Recently, I had a dream. A dream of another bio-pic. But I can't say of whom. I can only say that if I do it right, I might be able to end the year as I had hoped- with a script sold.

I'm going to attack this in a very unorthodox way. I just hope it works. Then maybe I can concentrate on the Hick's script.

Stay tuned for more cryptic posts.

-30-

IFMASA Film Showcase

I submitted my last project, "Fixer", to the film showcase of the Independent Film Makers Association of San Antonio. The film had originally been On The Lot-bound, but then wasn't due to a flub in the application process. I forgot to send a physical copy of the film. Duh.

Having had some time to look at it, I realized that I could trim a few seconds here and there. I also realized that I forgot to lay down a separate audio track to add more ambiance to the film. And finally, I misspelled the name of an actor.

Unfortunately, I won't get to see how it does. I haven't had a chance to spend too much time with my family lately. First things first.

I look forward to hearing how it fares. I only regret that I won't be able to see the audience response for myself.

Currently, the link to the IFMASA site is down, but I'll make sure to update it as soon as it comes back up.

-30-

The Saga Continues

Okay, I'm back.

Well, it's been kinda quiet on my end and I should have been yelling and screaming. I've got some stuff I want to post about filmmaking in general. Some really great links for people interested in the biz. Lots of really useful stuff.

Anyhow, I'm currently sitting on my Powerbook dumping in footage from "Drunks". I'm also working on editing Hope & Theo's last film. It's interesting just being the editor. But I know I have to stay true to the vision that Hope and Theo have for this film. Not to mention I have to record my own voice over. I'm looking forward to it.

Tomorrow, we continue with the "Drunks" shooting. We don't have much time, so I have to make sure when I show up to the set, I have a tight shot list. To compound problems, Greg, who stepped from behind the camera to fill in for an actor we lost, has some sensitive time constraints that we must work around. It might even require us to shoot without him, which means I'll have to figure out how to shoot around him.

Setting up and getting ready.

This will be the first time I edit on a laptop. I kind of like that idea since I can carry it around with me and edit whenever I like. It does leave a lot to be desired in the way that I don't have a really great, static place like my iMac's. Still, this Powerbook is top of the line and suped up, compliments of my brother.

We'll only have one more day of shooting for the finale of "Drunks". The dreaded external sequence. We had originally shot a bunch of footage for that and a lot of it turned out to look quite bad. It was just lack of planning that started on the day we couldn't get in the bar. I wasn't ready for that and I should have been. I had spoken to Mike, the producer-slash-actor, about reshooting everything. And we even started to do it. I had hoped that we could keep a few of the shots we had in the can, but now it appears we'll have to reshoot, no matter what. Michael, Mike's son, was forced to cut his hair in order to play football. He had this full head of curly hair that really gave him a fun, playful look. I haven't seen him yet, but Mike was kind of aggravated that he had to shave his head, considering he just spend some serious cash on headshots for the kid.

I'm really excited about tomorrow and grabbing the rest of this footage will put us closer to finishing this. Or at least to approach the editing process. We've been running the interior, bar sequences without music, so I'm also looking forward to scoring the film.

And the year isn't even over yet.

-30-

Something Goofy

since I'm into killing time on the Internet, I thought I would promote the pass time. For this purpose I posting a link to a comedy trailer, to kill a minute or two.

Balls Mahoney, Man of Action

while I know there are a thousand other things I should be doing, I couldn't help but put together a quick trailer from a cell phone video that Fred (some of you may no him; others beware) sent me. It features him and one of his trademark sayings, "You ain't lyin'!"

I threw it into iMovie and made up some titles with Motion and BAM! There it was. You might want to blow it up a little bigger when you play it. I underestimated the font I used, so it might be a pain to read.

Anyhow, not bad for 30 minutes, huh?

-30-

Support Indie Film

There's a couple of guys who I met back in my Corpus Christi days who have been involved in indie film in one way or another for quite some time and who have been putting out quality materials.

I was fortunate enough to meet Chris Ambriz during my time as editor of our college paper. At that time, he and his partner in crime, Louis Alvarado, were busy putting together a vampire film called, 'Darkblood.' It was screened at our college drama department and played to a packed house. Chris is incredibly talented and very driven. Chris is also a self taught special effects make-up guru. Visit him at Night Creature Productions and check out his work.

I met Robert Perez Jr. through his brother, Richard, also during my time at the college newspaper. We always had intentions of working on something together, but I ended up moving away before we ever did. Since I last saw him, he has tackled the duties of, not just acting and writing, but producing, editing and directing. He's got a great eye and serious talent. If I'm not mistaken, I believe Robert is also a musician. His production house, Zerep Films, has recently complete work on their latest film, 'Fate.' Click on the production house link for more information on his new film's release.

I'll also be posting links to their work on the index for future reference.


-30-

Drunks, Day 3: Troublemaker

Setting up.

This last Sunday, I arrived at the bar with shot list in hand. I had copies for Sky and for Mike, so we could all be on the same page.

It took us about an hour to get fully situated and that was after a thirty minute unload. Its obvious that I either need to get my ass in gear or bring someone on to manage time better.

As usual, there was someone missing from the cast. This time, it was our bartender, Chris. Mike said he'd called him the night before, but it was obvious after some time, that we'd have to find a way to shoot around him. So we got started as best we could.

Now that we were inside the bar, we used Theo's clamp lights to sub for the light kit that Hank had used before. I think we got the light pretty much the same as Hank had lit it originally. Amazing what a few bargain lamps and high watt bulbs will do. Oh, not to mention the thick napkins we used to cool the light a little.

With the shot list, we were able to get things going much faster. But we were limited on what we could accomplish since we were missing a key player. In fact, the bartender's absence zeroed nearly half of what we were going to shoot.

Hope whacks Mike.

We had to go back and reshoot a key scene where Mike gets nailed on the face with a purse swung by Hope. Originally, we had completely omitted that action. Fortunately, we had everyone we needed to get that done.

Most of the extras we had from the first day of shooting showed up, minus two or three. But since we already had certain key scenes done with them in the background, I figured I could just go back and grab some room tone later to layer it on the new footage. If you can't see them, at least you can hear them.

It all went pretty quick this time around. Even the real bartender noticed the difference. As usual, she was cooperative and gave us room to do what we needed.

Theo laughs.

I did some hand-held stuff for cutaways using Sky's Canon GL2 for the scene where Theo falls with the bar stool. That was one of the good things about having to come back and do pick-up shots for that fall. I got to experiment with the look of the film. We did as much as we could, thinking of small ways to add to what we already had. When we got to a stopping point, Mike ordered some pizza and we took a break to eat and wait for Gerald, our bouncer, to arrive.

Gerald bouncing the drunks.

When Gerald arrived, we knocked out his stuff in three takes and broke down to set up outside. Heidi, the mom to Michael, was on time constraints and we were really getting to the wire. I figured while we were outside, I'd try to do some hand held stuff with the GL2 for the scene where Michael punches Theo in the gut. We were still dealing with that lighting issues, much as we did on Day 2.

The exterior setup.
Heidi & Michael.

The sun was bright and hot and ruining my shots. I thought with hand held shots, maybe I could move around and find the light as the actors made their way down the sidewalk. The look might be a little more "Hill Street Blues" than needed, but it might liven up the exteriors since the interior shots were all static.

And right about then, well, that's when trouble reared it ugly head.

The tattoo shop that had previously loaned us some juice to power our lights was now up in arms because we asked a couple of customers to step out of a shot. See, it started out like this.

Now that we had our original cop, Tim, we placed him out in the alley as we had always planned. Heidi and Michael would now come from the opposite direction, from behind a suburban. The suburban was parked directly in front of the tattoo shop and Tim was coming out right next to them. We were having all kinds of problems, again, with this scene when I noticed the three guys standing outside the tattoo parlor, smoking. Mike walked up to them and asked them if they could stand in the alley and smoke while we tried to get this shot. I guess one of them got irritated with him and notified another guy inside. This guy was a bit more confrontational.

Angry guy way in back.

The guy in question was wearing a white shirt, had a curly mop of hair tucked underneath a ball cap and came out militant as can be, asking for permits. Theo immediately launched into damage control mode and began to talk to this guy. We were all being polite. There had been no hard words exchanged or anything. But this guy kept insisting on seeing our permit and repeating that we could not tell people what to do on a public sidewalk. We explained that we asked, but this wasn't good enough for him. Before long, Mike, Theo and Tim were standing at the front of the shop. I walked over.

Me: Fuck this. Come on, lets get back to it. Let them stand wherever the fuck they want. We don't need this shit. Fuck it. Lets just shoot this.

I was pissed. This guy was just being a prick and I didn't want to have to hear his shit. But this is another one of those lessons best learned now.

We started to set up the scene again, disregarding the pedestrians outside the shop when two squad cars drove up. They slowed down when they saw us and promptly slid into the alley next to the tattoo shop.

There was a guy outside, a guy with lots of ink and some facial piercings standing at the doorway. He had a blackberry headset and was wearing sunglasses. When the cops strolled up, Mike and Theo walked over and we all began to talk. The guy with all the ink was the manager. And between him, the loud mouth with the hat and us, we all tried to state our case for the cops. They asked us for permits and we told them we didn't have any. I'd read that for filming in city parks and most city property, you needed to have a permit. But not for filming on the street. Unless you were going to divert or stop traffic. What we didn't count on was that pedestrian traffic also applies.

The law arrives.

We started to pick hairs about our asking for them to move and their right not to move. Or their right not to be on camera. By the end of the conversation, the inked manager was cool with us and we were cool with him. Just not with that asshole in the cap. He'd pissed everyone off. Had he just come out and not been confrontational like he was, we probably would have been fine with it all.

The lesser known, fat Ramone.

By then, the shoot was, well, for the lack of a better word, shot. So we wrapped for the day.

This makes my third run in with cops during a shoot. First on the 'Mexican, American' trailer, then on the defunct 'road' picture and now this. Its beginning to feel like a right of passage.

All in all, it was a good day. We got a lot of footage in the can, but we're still a day away from finishing it all. I think if we prepare right, we can wrap this coming Sunday. I hope.

-30-

Drunks, Day 2: What Can Go Wrong, Will Go Wrong

June 3rd should have started different. It should have been easy and we should have gotten a lot done. Fact of the matter is, we got very little done and it wasn't very good. I dare say, it wasn't very useful at all.

It started harmlessly enough. I was late getting to the set to find that everyone was still outside the bar. Mike had been trying to reach the bartender, Melissa, to let us in and wasn't having much success. In fact, he wasn't having any. We were suppose to start at 9AM and we waited to start shooting until the sun was good and high in the sky, after Noon sometime.

I had spent the days prior to the shoot getting a shot list put together. I realized that I should have done this from the get go, but better late than never. With what we'd shot before and since we were set to start at so early, I figured we could get all the interior stuff shot and then move to the exteriors some other time. So when I mocked up the shot list, I didn't include any exteriors, save the intro to them.

After noon, we knew we weren't getting in the bar. So we figured we'd start the exterior stuff then. It was hot, we were frustrated and tired. Mike's son, Michael, and a woman from Mike's acting class, Heidi, came on for a scene that Mike had penned after the last shoot. It was a great scene that would added more laugh appeal to the film. And since it was so new and I didn't knock out a shot list to include it, we'd have to play it by ear.

Now, I learned a valuable lesson from that day. A lesson that I'm still learning even to this very minute. "Be prepared, junior, be prepared." That was Bruce Willis' last line in 'The Last Boyscout'. I've learned to rely on Hank on the set. He provides a wealth of ideas that I sometimes can't come up with on the fly. June 3rd has taught me that I have to be self sufficient, cause when the going gets rough, the going can kick you in the balls and if you're not looking when you get up, it'll do it again.

Theo lit up.

The rest of the afternoon was a nightmare. We had waited so long to start and were taking so long with each take that the sun was moving across the sky faster than we could get it together. The shadow line on the ground was crawling faster and faster. And with all that sun we had plenty of back light issues with Theo, who was standing facing the shadows. Fortunately Theo brought some clamp lights and we bolted two of them onto a light stand, ran an extension cord from the tattoo shop next door and hoped it would work. We also couldn't get my truck into the original parking space we had the week before, so we had to shoot around it.

Michael, walking away, taunts Theo.

It wasn't all bad. Michael, a very sharp 11 year old, came through with flying colors and really made us all work better. Heidi really wanted to work and it showed. Sky tried his best to give me what I wanted. And I tried as hard as I could to keep it all together.

I drove to work afterwards thinking about how bad I'd done. I didn't feel right about my direction, about my cinematography and about some of the performances.

Still, it was another lesson learned and another day doing what I ultimately hope to become my full time job.

-30-

Drunks, Day 1: The Lay of The Land

The Bar
First days of shoots are always hard for me. It was especially difficult this day because I was directing a film I didn't write. Normally, I'm on the set with all the knowledge in the world that I know every line inside and out. Well, not always, but you get my point. I read the script a couple of times, but didn't commit it to memory like I should have.

Our shoot began May 27th. The bar we got to occupy was great. Had lots of character and all sorts of things to work with. But then, it also had stuff we needed to get around. Like the light coming from the windows. Fortunately, my trusty, creative cinematographer, Hank, was on the scene. We also had the help of Sky, an up and coming camera operator that Theo & Hope, two other filmmakers, discovered. Theo and I stay in very regular contact. As a matter of fact, Theo and Hope are both in this film. Greg, who worked on the now defunct "road" movie, also came on to crew. He ended up with a non speaking roll after the highly amusing barfly that Mike, the actor/producer, had originally given the roll to failed to show up.

Mike, left, and Theo

The bartender who came to let us in, Melissa, showed up about an hour late, but then let us stay an hour later to finish. We were shooting from 10AM to 2PM, but ended up there till 3PM. Once inside, Melissa was very helpful and gave us run of just about everything in the bar. She set up the counters and even went as far as to give us run of the taps to pour real beer.

Once we got set up, we ran through a few scenes, worked out a few details and tried to make up for the missing cast member with Greg. It was an adjustment with Greg since he's much bigger than the guy he was filling in for. The character was more for comic relief given the look of the original "actor". Greg still did great, even though I know he was a bit apprehensive.

Vicki, left and Hope

We rounded out the rest of the cast with Hope, a new actress named, Vicki, the bartender, Chris and an assortment of friends and relatives of Mike.

The first few hours ran slow. I was off my groove completely and was letting my lack of preparation really get to me. I hate to think I got a little nervous, but there were all these people in the bar. I've gotten use to getting things done with just a few people, counting actors. I think I'm just coming up with excuses for the plain and simple fact that I wasn't on the mark.

At least not until the second half of the shoot. We had a small stunt where one of the actors is suppose to fall back off a bar stool and hit the ground. The actor-slash-executive producer brought an inflatable mattress for the actor to fall on. We rehearsed the stunt several times, adjusting the mattress and doing anything we could to keep it from moving so that the actor, Theo, wouldn't break his neck and head. The stunt went off without a hitch and looks great on film.

After that we shot stuff with a guy named, Gerald, who we'd auditioned a while back during an open cattle call at a local mall. Gerald would play our bouncer. He's tall, over 6 feet. Just a big guy. He made short work of the drunks and threw them out into the street.

We wrapped the day with Theo and Mike being tossed into the street and playing it up hardcore. Mike threw himself into a parking meter and Theo ran into my truck, falling into the bed and then out of it with lots of comic edge. It was fantastic.

We didn't get as much accomplished as we thought, but I felt good after we were done.

Little did we know what would await us next.

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I'm Shooting Something, I Swear

Ugh. I've been trying to keep my head from exploding.

I'm currently directing a film written by someone else. Its...different. At one point, I had two cameras.

I'm still feeling a bit pressed at times. But I think I've found out how not to get that way.

Anyway, I'll post more about the two days of shooting tomorrow.

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The Spider That Could

I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts from KCRW, The Business, yesterday that talked about how Spiderman 3 might be the most expensive movie in history.

The Most Expensive Movie Ever Made

If you don't get to click on the link above, they key to the story, according to Radar Online is that Spidey 3 cost a whopping $500 MILLION DOLLARS. Yes, half a billion dollars.

Analysts speculate that this will mean great things for studios who have been itching to dump money into films, but have decided against it because they don't want to be looked on as the ones who started the trend.

Isn't that something? So there it is. Now, when a studio wants to spend $350 million on a film, they can say, "Hey, at least we're not spending $500."

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Where is it going?

I love to write. Screenplays took over my life about 10 years ago when I decided to try and write my first. It was a full feature length script about two brothers and a heist. I still think of rewriting it and sculpting off the rough edges. It has possibilities. But I so often become terrified that I'm not telling a real story.

There are just some movies that you can either tell where the story might take you or you can tell where the plot is going to end up. Is there a difference? Yeah, I'd say so. If you have an idea where the story might lead you, then you haven't been given all the information. It keeps you invested in what the characters are doing and you want to see how the story will develop. Are you wrong about Mrs. Hackenburger's involvement in the murder of Count DeMonay? Many movies make the tragic, and now seemingly formula, mistake of setting up the movie in the first 30 minutes and dragging you along until it's predictable end.

Like that piece of crap movie that my son and I saw, Hills Have Eyes 2. I let my son make that mistake. Will he make it again? Probably so, but not with his own money. That floating turd of a movie didn't even meet the previously stated requirement of taking 30 minutes to set up the gag we'd eventually be drug through. We already knew what it was about. It was about deformed, mutant people killing innocent, yet stupid, trespassers in visually horrific ways. The premise, hardly enough to be considered a plot, has been set. Insert gore and shock value. There should be a new category for movies like this. Because they don't fit in horror. Maybe just calling them gore. Not even good for a grindhouse type experience because they aren't slasher films.

I was recently on a website that I really enjoy called First Showing where I read a post about the site's creator/writer experience when he saw Disturbia. Seems he went to an art house cinema and found himself with a Dollar Movie nightmare. Here's the link: Film Projection Movie Quality.

Anyhow, it spurred me to find a review of Disturbia. Normally, I read a few of them, just to see what critics have to say. I don't live and die by a critic's review of a movie, but I do admit it has some bearing on whether or not I go see it. Most critics found that Disturbia, while well made and well paced, was a cinch to figure out after 30 minutes. Slated at 106 minutes running time, that leaves 76 minutes, not including the 4 to 6 minutes of credit time to basically try and get your seat's worth out of the 8 to 10 bucks you just plopped down to see it.

My wife wants to see the movie, so we'll most likely go. I actually still have some desire to see it, despite my belief that it's a mall-bunny adaptation of Rear Window. You never really know until you go and see it, you know?

I've spent the last week thinking about how critical the writing process is. About how there are some people out there who don't just want to be given the entire story. About the real movie experience that my kids and even people my age, never got or don't remember. About what a real movie, despite how crappy the production value or shitty the acting, can bring.

I remember lobby cards and murals and the big to-do that meant you were at the movies. I remember drive-ins, the first 3D movies and when a bucket of popcorn cost $1.25. But I remember when a story was what you got when you saw a movie. Not a set-up. And they use millions of dollars to do it.

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