filmmaking

No rush -OR- Pumpin’ the brakes!

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Between my attempts at brainstorming ideas for this new spec, I’ve been getting a real kick out of reading scripts from other writers. After completing one from a longtime associate, I asked about what inspired them to write it.

Paraphrasing their response to “This was something I’ve always to try. This is the script I mentioned a year or two ago, but took my time with the notes. Once I decided to write it, I had it written out in about two weeks.”

That may be part of my problem with mine. I’m too focused on trying to get it done that I’m ignoring the part about taking the time to make it right first.

It feels like it’s getting there, but also like a few important pieces are still missing. Once I can figure those out, I’m fairly certain more details will fall into place.

I’ve discussed this story with a few other writers, many of whom are familiar with my work. The responses have been more or less “You’ll figure it out. Just give yourself the time to do it.”

That’s the plan. Sometimes the best ideas come when I’m not thinking about them.

My self-imposed deadline of having a semi-respectable outline by the end of the month is still possible, but I’m not going to obsess about it. A majority of the story is in place; it’s the rest of it that needs figuring out. If it takes a little longer, that’s cool too.

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A few filmmaker friends have launched crowdfunding campaigns for their respective projects:

Alicia McClendon’s THE WOMAN WHO KNOWS

Kaia Alexander’s BLEED

Check ’em both out and donate if you can!

From the archives: One happy fanboy

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We’re preparing to take Ms V back for her final final year of school. Felt like the appropriate time to re-post this post from way, way back in May 2011 – when she was 8. This was a truly memorable experience, and I still have the shirt.

Enjoy.

There was no work done on the rewrite at all yesterday because I got to do something I honestly never I thought I’d get to: visit Skywalker Ranch.

If the name sounds unfamiliar, it’s the compound in Marin County (the one north of San Francisco) where George Lucas had set up Industrial Light & Magic after the success of STAR WARS.  ILM has since moved to the Presidio in SF, but Skywalker Sound and a lot of the administrative offices are still there.

A mom of another student at V’s school works at Skywalker Sound.  In fact, she won an Oscar earlier this year for Best Sound Editing for INCEPTION (her and two other guys).  One of the silent auction prizes at our school’s spring fundraiser was a private tour of the grounds.  Since there was no way we could afford that (I think it went for something like $275), I ran into her about six weeks ago at a school function.  I casually mentioned missing out on the opportunity to take part in the tour, to which she said she’d see if she could arrange something.

A few weeks later, I got an email saying that if we could be there during her lunch hour, she’d be happy to show us around.  Deal.

Our dilemma now was whether or not to bring V, because that would mean taking her out of school early.  My first reaction was it would be worth it, but the more we discussed it, we decided that this wasn’t an amusement park-type environment, but more an actual production facility, which your typical 8-year-old would probably find boring.

But I had heard they had a gift shop, so we’d get her something.

The Ranch is way out there on Lucas Valley Road, and it’s quite easy to drive right past it if you’re not looking for it. No signage; no big-ass Star Wars logo anywhere.  Just a nondescript driveway off a quiet country road.

You get through the gate and up to the security guard booth.  While the guard was contacting our friend, I couldn’t help but notice the EMT-type patch at the top of her sleeve.  Like a fire department logo, except with an X-Wing Fighter in the middle.  Cool.

We got our map and directions where to go, then drove ahead.

My first reaction was “It’s a lot smaller than I expected.”  And it is.  It’s not the sprawling estate I thought it would be.  Everything was a lot closer than the map indicated.

We passed the ball field, then the horse corral, the organic garden on the other side of the road, and then pulled into the Tech Building parking lot.  Our friend was waiting for us and took us inside.  The first thing you’ll notice is the abundance of movie posters for US films but in foreign languages.  They’re all over the place.

If you’re into sound or audio production, you’d feel as if you’d died and gone to heaven.  There are studios of varying size throughout the whole building, each equipped with sound boards that would seem more appropriate for the Starship Enterprise.  What was also cool was that the larger ones had a theatre-like design, so each room got the maximum results for what was being worked on.  We also got to see one of the humongous rooms that they would record orchestras in, complete with adjustable walls so you can actually tune the sound of the room.

Our friend is currently working on the sound for COWBOYS & ALIENS, but she didn’t show us any footage.  The movie comes out in July, and all of the post-production will be done up until just a few weeks before the release.  We found that very strange, expecting there to be more lead time between wrapping it up and the release, but apparently that’s become common practice for most studio films these days.

Although we were only in it for a few minutes, the screening room was simply incredible. About 300 or so seats with a nice big screen.  Apparently they were setting up for some kind of demonstration later in the day, but we got to see a short snippet of a scene from RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK in black and white, but with only the dialogue sound.  No music, no effects; just “throw me the idol, I throw you the whip.”  It sounded strange to hear it like we were on the set.

Then we stopped in the Foley Room, where traditional sound effects can be created. Walking on certain types of surfaces, dropping, smashing or manipulating something to get a particular sound.  Very similar to how they did sound effects for old-time radio.

We were then asked if we wanted to see the main building, which is the one in the photo above. Very Victorian-era architecture, reminiscent of a New England beach house. In some of the cabinets just off the main door are the only proof that George Lucas is connected.  On display are some lightsaber handles (I’m fairly certain they’re the originals), the fertility idol from the opening sequence in RAIDERS, the Crystal Skull, an AT-AT model from EMPIRE, Indy’s hat and whip (also originals, I assume) and what I thought was incredibly cool – Charlie Chaplin’s cane and derby.  I’m pretty sure Lucas could afford to buy them.

Our first stop was the library, which is two floors, with a wooden spiral staircase and a gigantic stained glass window in the middle of the ceiling.  No matter what department you work in, you can come here and do research on whatever you’re working on to get the utmost in accuracy.  I asked if George’s office was in the building.  It is, but I thought it would have been presumptuous to ask if we could see if he was there.

I asked if the gift shop was here, but it was in another building.  We zipped over to another building.  The gift shop is a whole lot smaller than I expected.  We got a t-shirt for V, one of those EMT-style shirts for me (Millenium Falcon in the logo – nice!) and a pair of lightsaber chopsticks (Luke green and Darth Maul red, which also have magnets in the bottom for the complete double-bladed effect).

Our friend had to get back to work, so we thanked her and headed home.  On the drive back, K asked what I thought about what we had just done.  I said I was really glad we did it.  I also confessed that I couldn’t help but think I’d love to go back someday when they’re working on a film that I wrote.

That would be quite awesome.

Well, that was an experience

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Last weekend was the shooting of my short film SHECKY, and it was definitely something most memorable. That’s me in the middle with some of my more-than-capable crew.

For the majority of two consecutive days, four actors, sixteen crew and two behind-the-scenes photographers occupied my house. Thank God my cousin was able to take the dog for the weekend or that poor animal would have lost her mind.

My wife and I did what we could to take care of everybody in the best possible way (i.e. food and beverages). A good part of it was purchased, some was donated, and some was homemade. Helpful tip – feed them well. They will notice and it will be appreciated.

When you write a script, there’s a good chance you probably don’t think about all the aspects involved in the actual making of the film. And believe me, there is A LOT. Probably a lot more than you realize.

Lighting and sound equipment, and the related insurance. Props. Set decoration. Wardrobe (which the actors provided). The aforementioned food (also A LOT) and related items (breakfast, lunch, snacks, plates, cups, coffee maker, drinks, etc). Hard drives to store the info from memory cards used during shooting. I most likely saved a chunk of change by using my own house for the location.

And paying your cast and crew. This is not something you want to skimp on.

Believe me – IT ALL ADDS UP, so definitely make sure you can afford it. You’re a producer, and that’s your job: to take care of all of that, and probably a lot more.

It’s probably safe to say that all those “behind the scenes” scenes you’ve seen in movies and TV are just the tip of the iceberg. Producing your own film, even if it’s just a short, is a HUGE undertaking. The closest comparison is organizing a wedding. Leading up to the actual filming, I made it clear more than a few times that this was my first time as a producer, so to please bear with me.

Everybody was great, patient, and very understanding. They were all experienced (except for one PA who was also a first-timer) for which I’m very grateful. Over the course of the weekend, just about everybody came up to me to say that they really liked the script and were excited to be part of the project.

As for the actual filming, it really is mind-blowing to see characters, scenes and dialogue you wrote literally come to life in front of you.

That being said, there’s also a lot of “hurry up and wait” while the crew gets the equipment ready for each shot and scene.

But then everything’s good to go and the director says “Action”…

Magic.

I gave myself a few days to recover (including dealing with some kind of sinus infection), and am now gearing up to launch the crowdfunding for post-production – another world of which I have a lot to learn. I don’t know how that’ll go, but am hoping for the best possible results.

Would I do it again? My initial response is “Lord, no.” But I suppose once this film is completely and utterly finished, I might consider it.

Emphasis on “might”.

One down, a gazillion to go

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Just two weeks to go until we shoot my short film SHECKY, and there are a lot of things I need to take care of. It’s a list that feels like it never ends, or at least like every time I check something off, two or three more take its place. I’m doing my best to deal with a few items each day.

I suspect it would be very easy for things to fall through the cracks, instantly rendering them as forgotten – which means they would inevitably be needed in some kind of vital capacity or else the whole thing is shot to hell.

Which is why I’m doing everything I can to stay on top of that list and keep things moving.

It is my objective to have as much stuff ready to go for that first day of shooting so that when everybody shows up we can get right into it.

It’s exhausting and challenging, and definitely a crash course in learning how films are put together – even if it’s only a short.

Like when we start out as screenwriters, there’s a lot I don’t know, so I’m taking the time to learn as I go. Mistakes will be made, questions will be asked, and I’ll learn from all of it.

Each day involves adding a few more items onto the list, or maybe a new expense (which also seem to keep showing up). It’s always good when I can check off one or two things as “taken care of”.

All of this is part of the gargantuan effort to see this thing get made. Confidence and support from the cast and crew remains high, so I’ll keep working on reducing the number of items on the list. Don’t know if it’ll ever get to zero, but I’m sure gonna try.

-Donations are still being accepted to help with any and all SHECKY-related expenses (hello, post-production!), so let me know if you’d like to chip in. Every dollar helps, and perks and tier rewards from the crowdfunding still apply.

Just put “SHECKY project” in the subject line and I’ll send you the appropriate links (Venmo or PayPal).

Thanks!

Me too, Indy

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As the crowdfunding for my short film continues (all donations welcome!), I’ve also donned my producer’s hat and am quickly discovering just about everything involved with putting the whole operation together.

I say “just about” because my more-than-capable director is handling some of the more technical aspects, but pretty much everything else falls under my jurisdiction.

For someone who hasn’t done this before, I’m taking the approach of “this is something I’m pretty certain needs to be done, so I better take care of that”.

And I am not understating it by saying there is A LOT to take care of.

From all the social media to get word out about the crowdfunding to making lists of props I need to pick up to reaching out to local restaurants about donating food for the shoot (with onscreen credit, natch), every day a few more things get added to the list.

Writing the script is challenging. Producing it is a whole different and much bigger ballgame.

It’s exhausting, and sometimes I feel pulled in multiple directions, constantly wondering if I’m doing a good job. But I will admit on a certain level I’m enjoying it. This is a project I’ve worked on for a long time, so doing everything I can to make sure it all goes smoothly, or at least as close to that as I can get.

And we haven’t even gotten to the post-production part of the conversation. I’m bracing for that one.

As I’ve said to more than a few people involved with the project, I hope they’ll be patient as I stumble my way through all of this. It won’t be pretty, but I’m doing what I can.

And here’s the link to the crowdfunding once again, which also falls under the category of “something that needs to be done”.