It actually started yesterday when I got to hang out with my two sisters and my nephew, who is currently approaching the ripe age of two. The sister that owns (?) him lives in L.A. so I don't get to see them very often. The last time I saw the little man he was still a non-walking, mostly drooling baby. Now he has legs that run and run and run. I didn't expect him to do anything other than run away from the scary man who hadn't shaved in five days, but he got right down to the business of counting for me. He can recognize his name when written down, knows the alphabet, and can recognize the planets. It's amazingly hilarious (and somewhat humbling) to hear him say Jupiter, "Dert-der-der." (He knows them, but that mouth coordination could use some work.) I'm pretty sure at that age I was realizing that my fingers could fit in my nose, and wasn't that an awesome discovery?
Today I put two more gigs of RAM in my desktop. I haven't even loaded the games that bog this beast down and I'm still excited.
Had to shoot pickups for Threads today. Made it to the Emerson studio and there were two of my favorite crew people there, Lucinda and Adam, and Adam's got his computer tuned in to this very blog. (I forget that people I know actually read it. Come to think of it, I never realize people read it as I write this. Uh...hi folks!) We hung out for a little while as everybody else filtered in. Great to see everybody again. They recharge my batteries. Make me realize how much fun/angst/love/pain/laughter/frustration/creation this whole thing is.
Adam, who's cutting the movie, said quite a few nice things about the job I did in the film. (Thanks Adam!) I got to see some of the original footage. I can honestly say I freaked myself out. There are some pretty heavy scenes in this flick. I put a lot into them. A LOT. It's nice, albeit mildly frightening, to see that what I was going for actually happened.
The day went pretty quickly, everything was fairly simple and laid out well. Ah, the magic of film. Some closeups for a bedroom scene were accomplished with a wooden box, a sheet, a pillow, and some black cloth draped over some chairs. I didn't even need to take my pants off. (...that sounds so wrong) A few other quick shots and we were chillin'. Left with more notices of auditions and, hopefully, offers of parts. As I walked back through the Common to get to my car I couldn't get the smile off my face.
Finished up by meeting a friend at the movies to see Smokin' Aces, which was surprisingly good, despite the drubbing the critics gave it. Sure, it's not The Godfather, but it was escapist fun done well.
Now if only I didn't have to go to work tomorrow...
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Two super cool web things...
..I've found recently.
Flight of the Conchords. You can see their performances here. I recommend you start with "Jenny." A friend of mine sat me down to watch it because it reminded her of My Best Friend Mike and my penchant for sitting on my porch and making up songs as we go along. (Incidentally, his one known talent is the ability to insert the word "Motherfucker" into any song. Yeah, sure, anybody can but not like this dude.) I was howling. HOWLING.
I also realize that everyone in the world might already know about these guys and I'm just the last to get on the train.
The other thing is What is Joppa? There's a great article on them here. I love the homegrown attitude they have. I love that it works. I love that people are starting to watch them. There's a debate a friend and I have about the increasing affordability of making movies/recording music. He argues that it will ultimately dilute the talent pool, making it harder for dedicated and talented artists to stand out. I argue that if anything it will make the dedicated and talented stand out more. The recent glut of badly made online movies and lo-no budget films illustrates the juxtaposition quite clearly. Well thought out entertainment like Joppa, in contrast, allows you to appreciate well done projects even more.
Oh yeah, I saw The Hitcher remake. Surprisingly, it wasn't all that bad. It just wasn't all that good. In fact, it's basically the same movie as the original, with a couple playing C. Thomas Howell's part. Basically it's all bones and no meat. It has pretty much the exact structure of the original, without any of the tension, or any real sense of empathy for the hitcher. And I'd love to have been on set to see the dynamics, because I've never seen two people playing a romantic couple look less interested in each other.
Top Chef is making me ill. Did anyone else hear that Marcel was attacked by a crazed fan?
24 rocks.
Flight of the Conchords. You can see their performances here. I recommend you start with "Jenny." A friend of mine sat me down to watch it because it reminded her of My Best Friend Mike and my penchant for sitting on my porch and making up songs as we go along. (Incidentally, his one known talent is the ability to insert the word "Motherfucker" into any song. Yeah, sure, anybody can but not like this dude.) I was howling. HOWLING.
I also realize that everyone in the world might already know about these guys and I'm just the last to get on the train.
The other thing is What is Joppa? There's a great article on them here. I love the homegrown attitude they have. I love that it works. I love that people are starting to watch them. There's a debate a friend and I have about the increasing affordability of making movies/recording music. He argues that it will ultimately dilute the talent pool, making it harder for dedicated and talented artists to stand out. I argue that if anything it will make the dedicated and talented stand out more. The recent glut of badly made online movies and lo-no budget films illustrates the juxtaposition quite clearly. Well thought out entertainment like Joppa, in contrast, allows you to appreciate well done projects even more.
Oh yeah, I saw The Hitcher remake. Surprisingly, it wasn't all that bad. It just wasn't all that good. In fact, it's basically the same movie as the original, with a couple playing C. Thomas Howell's part. Basically it's all bones and no meat. It has pretty much the exact structure of the original, without any of the tension, or any real sense of empathy for the hitcher. And I'd love to have been on set to see the dynamics, because I've never seen two people playing a romantic couple look less interested in each other.
Top Chef is making me ill. Did anyone else hear that Marcel was attacked by a crazed fan?
24 rocks.
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Sore!
Ow.
First day snowboarding yesterday. Gotta make use of this stupid pass, now that we finally have some snow. I didn't get a chance to go last year at all, so I was pretty nervous yesterday. Fortunately I made it through the day all limbs intact. So much fun. Today will be an inside day, however. Having not used those muscles in some time, everything hurts.
Went from there to the first read-through of The Crucible. Methinks we have a very fine cast, indeed. I look forward to seeing what we can accomplish together. I have to find a new voice for Hale, though. What keeps coming out of me naturally is way too low for my throat. Reverend Hale as portrayed by Clint Eastwood. Interesting maybe, but no thanks.
Working with several filmmaker friends has got me started in the research/learning game. Time I'm not spending at either of my jobs or acting is now being spent on learning:
a) Final Cut
b) Dreamweaver
c) studying for an A+ cert
Because I have too much time on my hands.
(cue Dennis DeYoung)
First day snowboarding yesterday. Gotta make use of this stupid pass, now that we finally have some snow. I didn't get a chance to go last year at all, so I was pretty nervous yesterday. Fortunately I made it through the day all limbs intact. So much fun. Today will be an inside day, however. Having not used those muscles in some time, everything hurts.
Went from there to the first read-through of The Crucible. Methinks we have a very fine cast, indeed. I look forward to seeing what we can accomplish together. I have to find a new voice for Hale, though. What keeps coming out of me naturally is way too low for my throat. Reverend Hale as portrayed by Clint Eastwood. Interesting maybe, but no thanks.
Working with several filmmaker friends has got me started in the research/learning game. Time I'm not spending at either of my jobs or acting is now being spent on learning:
a) Final Cut
b) Dreamweaver
c) studying for an A+ cert
Because I have too much time on my hands.
(cue Dennis DeYoung)
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Ok, for all you who wanted me to fix the computer, I'm actually almost done getting it all back in. The one smart thing I did was to print out the first completed draft. All I really had to do was remember some restructuring and I was there.
On the "throw out your first three scripts" thing I say nay! I've got a bunch of other ideas to start hammering into some shape of script, sure, but I wrote this one first because I LOVE THIS STORY. Whether I get it right out of the gate or have to redo the whole damn thing later, I will tell this story.
Saw the Equity tour of Chicago last night. Wow. It isn't my absolute favorite show but I'll watch it given the opportunity, especially if it's going to be done well. Man, was it done well. I'll have to check my program for some but I know Christopher McDonald played Billy Flynn and Ron Orbach played Amos. The rest had equally amazing pedigrees. Super well done. I really enjoyed Roxie. She had this bubbly, giggly thing going on that was way different than the soulless, evil that so many others try to portray her with. Really happy I saw it.
There's another one of those teaser trailers here. Under "selected works" there's a second teaser for Cillian. With my snazzy English accent.
Ok, I'm really not happy with this. The Hitcher is being remade. (That's the link to the REAL movie.) Why would you do that? The Hitcher is one of the best road/suspense movies ever made. You have no chance of doing better. None. It doesn't matter that I like Sean Bean, and would like to see him play more "good guys" every now and then (he always gets portrayed as the slug), it just won't work.
Why must Hollywood do this? Look what's been done to every remake, with the notable exception of the remake of Dawn of the Dead. That was awesome. Every single one has flopped. Every single one has been skewered by critics and fans alike. Sure, they got some teenagers money for a couple weekends, but they didn't really DO anything.
Grrr. I gotta go. I'm gonna re-write Red Dawn before anyone else gets to it.
On the "throw out your first three scripts" thing I say nay! I've got a bunch of other ideas to start hammering into some shape of script, sure, but I wrote this one first because I LOVE THIS STORY. Whether I get it right out of the gate or have to redo the whole damn thing later, I will tell this story.
Saw the Equity tour of Chicago last night. Wow. It isn't my absolute favorite show but I'll watch it given the opportunity, especially if it's going to be done well. Man, was it done well. I'll have to check my program for some but I know Christopher McDonald played Billy Flynn and Ron Orbach played Amos. The rest had equally amazing pedigrees. Super well done. I really enjoyed Roxie. She had this bubbly, giggly thing going on that was way different than the soulless, evil that so many others try to portray her with. Really happy I saw it.
There's another one of those teaser trailers here. Under "selected works" there's a second teaser for Cillian. With my snazzy English accent.
Ok, I'm really not happy with this. The Hitcher is being remade. (That's the link to the REAL movie.) Why would you do that? The Hitcher is one of the best road/suspense movies ever made. You have no chance of doing better. None. It doesn't matter that I like Sean Bean, and would like to see him play more "good guys" every now and then (he always gets portrayed as the slug), it just won't work.
Why must Hollywood do this? Look what's been done to every remake, with the notable exception of the remake of Dawn of the Dead. That was awesome. Every single one has flopped. Every single one has been skewered by critics and fans alike. Sure, they got some teenagers money for a couple weekends, but they didn't really DO anything.
Grrr. I gotta go. I'm gonna re-write Red Dawn before anyone else gets to it.
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Happy New Year, My Script is Gone
My laptop crashed.
I have three computers, but only the laptop had the whole of my first feature length screenplay. I've been in the heavy editing mode, trying to figure out if the thing is worth a damn. Last week, I got the Blue Screen of Death.
Another Windows re-install. I should become a Mac person. Of course, a repair wouldn't work. Safe mode wouldn't work. For complete hilarity, the flash drive I just bought (specifically for keeping my writing safe) hadn't actually had the script loaded onto it yet.
The good news. I had sixty pages of the first iteration on my office computer, so THAT most certainly went into the new flash drive. Also, after I finished the first draft (actually the second draft, but that's a long story) I printed it, so I could red-pen edit the thing. I have all those notes.
The bad news. Typing all the little changes from page one to page sixty is a royal pain in the ass. Also, I was on my third pass and stopped writing changes, just typing them into the computer, so all those are gone. I did some huge scene re-ordering, but I seem to be remembering that fairly well.
Sometimes I think it'll never get done. Actually, I know it'll never be DONE, but complete enough to show to people.
I hang my head in sorrow.
Oh yeah, Happy New Year, everyone.
I have three computers, but only the laptop had the whole of my first feature length screenplay. I've been in the heavy editing mode, trying to figure out if the thing is worth a damn. Last week, I got the Blue Screen of Death.
Another Windows re-install. I should become a Mac person. Of course, a repair wouldn't work. Safe mode wouldn't work. For complete hilarity, the flash drive I just bought (specifically for keeping my writing safe) hadn't actually had the script loaded onto it yet.
The good news. I had sixty pages of the first iteration on my office computer, so THAT most certainly went into the new flash drive. Also, after I finished the first draft (actually the second draft, but that's a long story) I printed it, so I could red-pen edit the thing. I have all those notes.
The bad news. Typing all the little changes from page one to page sixty is a royal pain in the ass. Also, I was on my third pass and stopped writing changes, just typing them into the computer, so all those are gone. I did some huge scene re-ordering, but I seem to be remembering that fairly well.
Sometimes I think it'll never get done. Actually, I know it'll never be DONE, but complete enough to show to people.
I hang my head in sorrow.
Oh yeah, Happy New Year, everyone.
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