Archive Twenty
October 7,
2006 - Tidbits on the Road
Random chaos searching for renewed order and design ...
Just got
back up to Shasta today, and trying to keep the momentum going.
Will start setting up my "War Room" this coming week. Huh,
you say? Yeah, well I'm setting up a pre-preproduction
office in the spare building on our property. Getting it
wired for electrical and phones and the such. Up until now
it really hasn't been used for anything, but now it's where I put
my left brain to work, and organize and strategize the rest of the whole process
and production before we actually get it all going. I've
heard it said that directing a feature film is like commanding an
army. So hey, I get a war room, right? As long as it
doesn't morph into a Iraq-type scene. Anyway, I figure being
a General, as in generalist, means helping all the specialists do
their job and keep with the general big picture. Meaning,
I'd better surround myself with people who are more talented than
me if I want the big picture realized into a special film.
But first, I got some strategy to put together before the tactical
momentums of production begin to blow my way ...
Just heard
from my script analyst. I should get the script back with
all his notes in about a week. Can hardly wait to get that
going. No really, I'm ready. I need to get this going,
and just hope he's got input I can really use. Can you tell
I'm getting a little antsy about all this? I'm getting ripe
here. I mean, how long have I been working on this project
now? ...
Well,
guess what? It's been three and a half years. Yup,
that's right. Let's do the math. When I started this
blog in March, 2005, I originally gave myself 18 months to get
this done, which would have been Sept. 15, 2006 (last month).
Obviously, didn't happen. But I had already been developing
the story for almost two years. Granted, not full time, but
still I've put some serious time in these past 3 1/2 years.
So yeah, my chomped-up bit is about chewed up and my chops are
sore. C'mon already ...
Anyways,
will take a break from it all next weekend at the Mt. Shasta Film
Festival. It starts on Friday the 13th, and yes in Halloween
month. Probably need to avoid ladders, women with brooms and
dark felines ...
J-Alden
October 13,
2006 - Story, Cast, Vision
Directorial focus, intent and execution ...
I thought
it might be entertaining so see what some well-known, but very
different, directors say about taking the helm (in their humble
opinions):
"Regarding
the mistakes that a director should never make. There are a
great many, and I think I've made them all. But the greatest
is probably to think that you need to show everything you're
trying to say. In fact, the cinema often achieves its
greatest impact by refusing to show what it is attempting to
evoke." -- Wim Wenders
"A film is
the setting of an idea to images. But more secretly for me,
it has always been a way of exploring something more personal and
more abstract. My films are always very different in the end
from what I originally imagined. Therefore, it's a
progressive process. I often compare a film to a pirate
ship. It's impossible to know where it will land when you
leave it free to follow the winds of creativity." --
Bernardo Bertolucci
"The most
important thing a director needs is a point of view. When
you see a movie, it you're alert, it's the thinking that went on
behind the movie that's interesting, really. The rest is
just...scenery. Even the script. In the first ten or
fifteen shots of a film, you can usually tell whether the
director's thinking and what he's thinking about." --
Oliver Stone
"There are
two levels of content in a film: the visible and the invisible.
What you put in front of the camera is the visible. And if
there is nothing else, then you are making a TV movie. The
real films, for me, are those where there is something invisible,
which can be seen--or discerned--through the visible part, and
only because the visible part has been arranged a certain fashion.
In a way, the visible part has been arranged is a little bit like
a filter which, when put at a certain angle, allows certain rays
of light to go through and allow you to see the invisible.
Too many directors today do not go beyond the visible level." --
Jean-Luc Godard
"Remain in
control of your film from beginning to end. It's better not
to make a film at all than to give up the power of final decision.
Because if you do, you will suffer immensely. And I know
from experience." -- David Lynch
"There are
two main reasons why I make movies. First, because I always
had trouble communicating with people, so films are a way for me
to create a bridge between myself and the rest of the world.
And second, because I like to explore, to discover things about
people and myself." -- John Woo
"Directing
is a purely personal experience. Which is why I think you
must discover film language by yourself and you must discover
yourself through that language. If you want to learn film,
maybe a shrink would be more useful than a teacher!" --
Pedro Almodovar
"There are
many errors a director must always try to avoid, of course.
The first one that comes to mind is probably to avoid doing
anything that doesn't contribute to your vision. It often
happens, in the middle of making a film, that you will have a
clever idea, or something that you want to try out. But if
this idea doesn't belong in your film, then you must have the
honesty, or the integrity, to put it aside." -- Woody Allen
FYI, all
these quotes (and a lot more) come from interviews in the book,
Moviemakers' Master Class. Check it out. Soon, my take on my taking the helm. A new revelation ...
J-Alden
October 21,
2006 - Quick Notes
"I became a director for self defense" -- Mel Brooks ...
Been at
The Screenwriting Expo the last couple days, wearing both my
screenwriting and directing hat, meaning attending sessions
related to one or the other. But tomorrow I'm going to be
wearing my producer's hat, as I'll be attending the
No Budget
Film School. Enough to make an aspiring triple hyphenate
a multiple personality. That should make me someone with
lots of personality. Right? Maybe I ought to act in
this too and really go overboard. Right ...
Just got
the script back from the analyst. And I certainly wasn't shy
about opening the package. I ripped that baby right open.
Unfortunately, I've been so busy I've haven't read all the notes.
Just the general overview. Apparently he's very pleased with
this draft and was very liberal in his compliments about it.
Now I'm suspicious. Is there another shoe to drop somewhere,
or do I just have a harder time taking praise than criticism? ...
Anyway,
can't wait to sink my teeth into that, and either pump out another
draft or shine it up with a proper polish. Either way, I'm
game ...
Back to
the SW Expo. Today I bought a piece of software I've been
eyeing for a while.
FrameForge 3D Studio.
It usually costs $400, and I thought that was too steep. The
cheapest I've been able to find it at resellers is $320. I'm
glad I waited. I got it today for $250. They were
having a one-day sale on it, at the trade show that is part of the
Expo. Once someone demonstrated it for me, and showed me a
game controller you can use to operate the program to actually see
how you scene can look once you've storyboarded it -- Wow! I
was sold. This is one cool program. Once I've got the
hang of it, I'll let you know it goes ...
J-Alden
Comments --
The Journal of Short Film releases Volume 5 -- 10/24
The
Journal of Short Film
released Volume 5 (Fall 2006)
today. This volume celebrates the one-year anniversary of the
Journal and maintains its commitment to diversity,
experimentation, and independent work. The JSF is a quarterly DVD
providing its subscribers collections of exceptional,
peer-reviewed short films. It was the first DVD publication to
make the Top 10 list of BEST MAGAZINES in 2005 in
The Library Journal.
The biggest news surrounding
Volume 5 is the JSF’s focus on a single location of vibrant
filmmaking -- Philadelphia. Many of the volume’s filmmakers come
from Philadelphia, and the collection demonstrates that exciting
work is happening in different communities all over the world.
Recent rumors of the acquisition of the Journal by Google proved
to be unfounded, earlier this month. Despite Google’s acquisition
of the online video service YouTube, the JSF remains steadfast in
maintaining that short film deserves a better medium than the
Internet.
Karl Mechem, Publisher
The Journal of Short Film
www.theJSF.org
October 26,
2006 - The Paradox
"Despite all the energy that I've put into each new project
to make it different, in the end I've been making the same film
all my life " -- Claude Sautet ...
Life, a
grand paradox. Up, down. Left, right. Black,
white. Horizontal, vertical. Soft, hard. Light,
dark. And on and on. Or does life just give us the
parameters, the framework to work within? The tools, the
means to explore, discover, create? And we are here, or try
to be, to fill in the details? In this utterly simply
complex lab of creation. Maybe like how one might create a
film? Writer, Director, Producer; as if in, Architect,
Engineer, Builder ...
Thirteen
days ago I mentioned a new revelation I experienced in trying to
bring this project to fruition. Something that actually
surprised me about myself, but something that should be obvious,
even to me. And something that probably won't even surprise
you at all, as it certainly doesn't seem like such a big deal once
I write it all out. But still, I do feel somewhat
uncomfortable revealing this. But what the hey, it relates
to the development of the film ...
Believe it
or not, I'm a very private person. That may seem a bit odd,
especially being in this very public business, and here I am
writing a very public blog to the world. Course, who knows
who's really reading it for sure. My traffic stats seem to
vary a lot, and I'm not sure how reliable they really are.
Maybe it's just Uncle Louie, Aunt Lucy and all my cousins ...
Anyway,
onward. Periodically over the last couple years while
ruminating over the snail-like pace of the film's development, I
get a pounding pang of anxiety. Right in the gut.
Should I really be doing this? Is anyone going to like it?
Will they get it? Will they get up and walk out? Or
not buy it? Why am I doing this? Taking out such a
large chunk of my life, and just throwing it up for everyone to
see? Am I nuts? What am I doing? What am I thinking?
...
Now
granted, most of the time these things come to me when I've put in
long hours that day and I'm fairly exhausted, and then my mind
takes hold of my emotions and runs away with them. And the
next morning I feel fine, and ready to get back to it. But,
it got me wondering. Possibly, these are deep-seated
insecurities that have some objective basis, and when my guarded
facade breaks down, a different kind of reality breaks through.
No, this is not the revelation ...
Reality,
illusion. An audience of One. An audience of Many.
The Paradox. All fibers of the mix. Now, for the
revelation. Another paradox. As much as we filmmakers
must make our films for an actual audience, we must first make it
for ourselves. Yes, to get rid of all the worries and
concerns of how we will be accepted, we must do this. No big
earth-shattering divination here. But for me, a biggee.
I now know for sure, that if I make a film that I would truly want
to see myself and make it to the very best of my abilities, then I
will be happy and satisfied with the result. And I can't
worry about what everyone else feels, thinks, believes. Is
that egotistical? Maybe, but I really can't worry about
everyone else's (other than my collaborators) concerns, because in
the end how can I ever really know? I feel very strongly
that if I satisfy myself, and because I do have high standards,
then an audience will be there waiting for it. Just
realizing that really frees me up, and focuses me even more.
Which is actually what I need at this point of the process ...
And next
time, I'm going to announce something that is really paradoxical
(and a bit daring) from what I just stated above ...
J-Alden
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