accomplishedness
A month ago, give or take, Jeff Mills told me he was coming back to Portland for a wedding, and maybe he could stay a day or two longer and we could hang out. "I'll go you one better," I said: "let's make a film." Like more than half the films I've made, this is how things begin. Brie and I were talking about cowriting some time, something neither of us had ever tried before. We knew our deadline, so we starting "bouncing" ideas back and forth for a week or two -- basing it off two disconnected idea-germs I had written down years ago, and a couple of anecdotes from Brie's charming past. (Side note: of the two ideas, one was purely by coincidence loosely inspired by one of my first conversations with Brie ever, though the only thing that I pulled from that idea was the unrelated name Wyatt.) Some things stuck, others fell to the wayside. Soon pages were going back and forth. It proved a surprisingly easy way to work.
One month later, give or take -- this past weekend, to be precise -- we shot a film. 9am the day of the shoot was the first confirmation that we had a location, which made things tricky and more than a little nerve-wracking. We just kept pushing forward, reserving and picking up gear, building a cast and a crew, spending money on props and food and wardrobe, and not knowing where (or even if) we would be shooting. Brie was a rockstar at production-coordinating, and she's the one who pulled the location together for us at the last minute.
The film involves cops, abandoned train cars, black eyes, miniature golf, and midnight make-outs between a slightly mysterious dude and an adorably dorky girl. It's got some low-level stunt work, costumes, and for being a thrown-together project it was shockingly huge. A crew of 12, gear from 4 locations (2K lights! generators! dual HD cameras! police cars!), and 2 long nights (one wrapping at 8:30am, running over 12 hours) and a third day for reshoots and pick-ups. It stars Jeff Mills, Megan Skye Hale, Jonah Weston, and Jerry Buxbaum, and does not have a title. The script is called Untitled Wyatt Adventures. The slate was labeled, for no reason, Suzie Rocket-Pants. We have no idea what we're going to name it.
It wasn't entirely smooth, but it was surprisingly and refreshingly disaster free. Although: it sure cost more than I'd planned, just enough to make the next two weeks very uncomfortable.
And so: now I have to find time between work and writing and girlfriend (!!) to edit the beast, which I fear may be tricky. The time-finding and the editing, I mean. It may involve boosting the levels into Digital Grain Country as well as reframing shots into a wider aspect ratio that 16:9. I can't even say for sure, as I haven't had time (or disk space) to go over the footage yet. A couple of days distance is healthy, anyway.
In other news, I haven't touched my feature scripts (with Wyatt behind us and the grant app for TWOMP in RACC's hands, I can now return to Ellipsis, the outline of which has adorned my wall for two months now). But the lovely lady situation is going great, thanks for asking. Hi, zeepow!
Off to rush to work, skipping breakfast yet again. So it goes!
One month later, give or take -- this past weekend, to be precise -- we shot a film. 9am the day of the shoot was the first confirmation that we had a location, which made things tricky and more than a little nerve-wracking. We just kept pushing forward, reserving and picking up gear, building a cast and a crew, spending money on props and food and wardrobe, and not knowing where (or even if) we would be shooting. Brie was a rockstar at production-coordinating, and she's the one who pulled the location together for us at the last minute.
The film involves cops, abandoned train cars, black eyes, miniature golf, and midnight make-outs between a slightly mysterious dude and an adorably dorky girl. It's got some low-level stunt work, costumes, and for being a thrown-together project it was shockingly huge. A crew of 12, gear from 4 locations (2K lights! generators! dual HD cameras! police cars!), and 2 long nights (one wrapping at 8:30am, running over 12 hours) and a third day for reshoots and pick-ups. It stars Jeff Mills, Megan Skye Hale, Jonah Weston, and Jerry Buxbaum, and does not have a title. The script is called Untitled Wyatt Adventures. The slate was labeled, for no reason, Suzie Rocket-Pants. We have no idea what we're going to name it.
It wasn't entirely smooth, but it was surprisingly and refreshingly disaster free. Although: it sure cost more than I'd planned, just enough to make the next two weeks very uncomfortable.
And so: now I have to find time between work and writing and girlfriend (!!) to edit the beast, which I fear may be tricky. The time-finding and the editing, I mean. It may involve boosting the levels into Digital Grain Country as well as reframing shots into a wider aspect ratio that 16:9. I can't even say for sure, as I haven't had time (or disk space) to go over the footage yet. A couple of days distance is healthy, anyway.
In other news, I haven't touched my feature scripts (with Wyatt behind us and the grant app for TWOMP in RACC's hands, I can now return to Ellipsis, the outline of which has adorned my wall for two months now). But the lovely lady situation is going great, thanks for asking. Hi, zeepow!
Off to rush to work, skipping breakfast yet again. So it goes!