the first time's always a little awkward
When I got the RACC grant to post-produce Open, they told me I couldn't do any work on it at all, not even editing, before January 1st, if I wanted any compensation from them for that work. So I shelved the entire project (a move that cost me well more than the three months I'd anticipated; I didn't get rolling again for almost a full year). To take my mind off the multi-thousand dollar production I'd just paused, I started talking to Jeff about doing another "sketchpad film," a one-day shoot based on a rushed script, using unrehearsed actors and a single controlled location. I'd done several of these before -- my Godard knock-off Love is Suicide ("#1"), my Theatre-of-the-Absurd knock-off Short Film ("#2"), my film built out of improv 1000 Pieces ("#4," since my attempt at #3 fell through), and my split-screen kinky silent film Bathwater ("#5"). I had months to kill, no steady job and no production in the works. It was time for #6.
It actually took over a month for things to fall into place, which is unusual for the sketchpad films, and the script was somewhat more complex than its predecessors -- so much so that the one-day shoot bloated to three before it was complete -- but the end result was Every Room is Empty, whose title I believe was a phrase from a dream, though I'm not sure anymore. Maybe I just made it up.
Many of my films have played to crowds larger in theaters grander, but none of my films have played in a legitimate festival before tonight's screening of the Northwest Film & Video Festival. Every Room is Empty, something I threw together to keep myself (and my comrades) busy while I waited for the year to roll by so I could return to a larger project, was the one to finally break my festival cherry.
The screening went well. I think it was one of the better films in tonight's shorts showcase, but I'm hardly objective. I'm pretty sure it was the strongest straight narrative work. In fact, I think I can safely say it was one of the two best films in that program (by far its strongest competition, a film called Passenger about a coyote riding the MAX, suffered only from its length). No offense meant to the other filmmakers, obviously.
I did have to go up front with many other filmmakers and talk about the film, and I cannot say I excelled at that portion of the night's proceedings. I was more prepared for Q&A than I was to just tell people what it was I'd made. I felt the story of making it on a whim and with poor preparation would sound self-inflating and falsely modest; I felt the story of losing nearly a third of my footage and having to improvise a third act in the editing would sound like apologetic backpedaling. So I mumbled something about writer's block and writing a story out of the inner monologues and inner dialogues that fill my head when I face the blank screen/page, and I handed the mic away as fast as I could. Like I said, I think I could have done a good Q&A session but nobody had questions; Thomas just asked us to tell the audience "something about our work," and I had nothing prepared to say. Plus, public speaking, yikes.
But otherwise the event went well, the film seemed well-received, and I saw some faces I don't see as often as I'd like. It's funny, I'm working on completing my eighth or ninth short film (depending on how you count Avalanche) and this will be my first "official selection" credit. And "official selection" isn't even that big a deal! Not like I won an award here.
Anyway, all that happened. ERIE is out there, did something, and has a second screening. That means if anybody reads this you have one more chance to go see my film, and please do. Friday night at 8:45pm at the Whitsell.
Maybe I'll be better prepared to speak to the group after. But I'll be honest: probably not. I'm a lousy self-promoter. Ask anyone. It's probably at least 50% of why I've been single for so long. But boy, that's a conversation for another night, eh?
It actually took over a month for things to fall into place, which is unusual for the sketchpad films, and the script was somewhat more complex than its predecessors -- so much so that the one-day shoot bloated to three before it was complete -- but the end result was Every Room is Empty, whose title I believe was a phrase from a dream, though I'm not sure anymore. Maybe I just made it up.
Many of my films have played to crowds larger in theaters grander, but none of my films have played in a legitimate festival before tonight's screening of the Northwest Film & Video Festival. Every Room is Empty, something I threw together to keep myself (and my comrades) busy while I waited for the year to roll by so I could return to a larger project, was the one to finally break my festival cherry.
The screening went well. I think it was one of the better films in tonight's shorts showcase, but I'm hardly objective. I'm pretty sure it was the strongest straight narrative work. In fact, I think I can safely say it was one of the two best films in that program (by far its strongest competition, a film called Passenger about a coyote riding the MAX, suffered only from its length). No offense meant to the other filmmakers, obviously.
I did have to go up front with many other filmmakers and talk about the film, and I cannot say I excelled at that portion of the night's proceedings. I was more prepared for Q&A than I was to just tell people what it was I'd made. I felt the story of making it on a whim and with poor preparation would sound self-inflating and falsely modest; I felt the story of losing nearly a third of my footage and having to improvise a third act in the editing would sound like apologetic backpedaling. So I mumbled something about writer's block and writing a story out of the inner monologues and inner dialogues that fill my head when I face the blank screen/page, and I handed the mic away as fast as I could. Like I said, I think I could have done a good Q&A session but nobody had questions; Thomas just asked us to tell the audience "something about our work," and I had nothing prepared to say. Plus, public speaking, yikes.
But otherwise the event went well, the film seemed well-received, and I saw some faces I don't see as often as I'd like. It's funny, I'm working on completing my eighth or ninth short film (depending on how you count Avalanche) and this will be my first "official selection" credit. And "official selection" isn't even that big a deal! Not like I won an award here.
Anyway, all that happened. ERIE is out there, did something, and has a second screening. That means if anybody reads this you have one more chance to go see my film, and please do. Friday night at 8:45pm at the Whitsell.
Maybe I'll be better prepared to speak to the group after. But I'll be honest: probably not. I'm a lousy self-promoter. Ask anyone. It's probably at least 50% of why I've been single for so long. But boy, that's a conversation for another night, eh?