New Year's Eve

I feel that I have already written my New Year's Eve blog update when I was feeling very reflective a few days ago. I usually do look back on the year but a lot of the time I find myself looking forward to what is ahead with excitement and optimism.

I haven't done much in the way of pre pre production this week but I have really enjoyed being off and on vacation. With that said I do plan on looking for a shooting location today. I really didn't shoot my test footage but I did light up a small dark room with the JVC cam and I believe it will be plenty of light! I am excited about that! I was afraid it might be a bit too dark but it is bright and will cast some eerie shadows!

Yeah, excitement and optimism! That is what 2005 is for me, a year where anything can and will happen! Some very unexpected things, some very very good things, some great things and I want my friends with me for all of them!

Yesterday Was Movie Day!

Was it ever!
I did the Lord of the Rings EE marathon and topped it off with a very very cool (Not that LOTR isn't by any means) small movie, Before Sunrise!

Sometimes I'm just late on the draw. I love it though when I come across these little gems of cinema! It all started when I was reading a filmmaking magazine and Richard Linklater was talking about Before Sunset and exploring these characters again. Well since I had never heard of Before Sunrise it didn't mean a lot to me, just another sequel. So I had forgotten about the article and a friend of mine mentioned Before Sunrise after she read a script of a short I wrote and how it was a really good movie. So after forgetting about it AGAIN I was browsing the aisles and came across a combo pack of Before Sunrise and Before Sunset for one low low price!

So I got them!

I'm happy I did! Very happy! I'm not a huge Ethan Hawke fan but he was pretty decent in this and Julie Delpy was AMAZING and reminded me of a friend in a lot of different ways!

If you ever get the chance to see these movies, do yourself a favor and do it!

Pre Pre Production Week

I now have a freebie week!
There are some things I'd like to get done this week as you have all read so far, such as secure a location, distribute the script to a few interested people, minor things like that.

If I don't get any of them done then I'm just fine, if I get a couple of them done I'm that much further ahead!

I am going to concentrate my efforts on the location however and possibly get an ad together for auditions.

I had planned on possibly shooting some test footage but that might not happen this week, we'll see. I believe that my cam light might be too bright, which might be hard to believe for a single light shoot in a very dark place but yeah, it is a possibility!

Just another minor thing to work out if it is too bright. It might be perfect and cast the amount of shadows I am hoping for and keep a couple of the expressions in shadows or exagerate them to scary proportions!

Merry Christmas!

To everyone out there in cyberland
To everyone who isn't with their friends or family
To everyone who has everyone around them
To everyone who doesn't have anyone else to share with this Christmas
To everyone who does
To everyone who is in pain
To everyone who is in joy
To everyone I call friend or family
To everyone who can't stand me
To everyone who calls it Chirstmas
To everyone who doesn't celebrate


Grace and Peace to you all!

Strange But Good Weekend!

This has been a good weekend but it has had a couple of strange moments. Not strange in a bad way but strange in a good way that I wasn't expecting. Everyone who has followed this blog knows that I've been winding down for the year until after the Christmas break to begin auditions and rehearsals next year. Well I am going to scout locations and get a few minor details in order between Christmas and New Year's day but nothing major compared to the audition process.

So I've been spending time with friends and kind of getting away from my project just a little bit. Well it started Friday night when a friend and I decided to attend our (nearly) weekend movie. We started at Chilie's and my friend showed up with a couple of other friends so we had a mobile party at that point! So we have a drink and head over across the street to the theater to be in time for the 9 p.m. showing. Well we got our tickets to Spanglish (very good movie) but they informed us that we still had nearly an hour to wait. So we walked across the street to Applebees this time for another quick drink and for a snack to kill some time.

Even though I feel I look older than 21 the staff didn't really think so, which I kind of took as a compliment and had to walk back across the street to get my ID. But there was some good that came of it and that is our bartender seemed interested that I was going to make a feature film and so I sent her a script via email. Perhaps she will audition! She seemed to have the innocence of one of the parts that I had written and kind of giggly as well.

So one lesson I have learned is this, try to get everyone around you to audition! You never know how many people will show up when they happen and you will probably need as many people as necessary!

So after the movie I headed home as it was nearly midnight and I was kind of tired. The next day I had a fantasy football league Texas Hold'em tournament to attend which I got second place and felt pretty good about that! I won 60 dollars! Then my friend had called and said a friend of his was having a poker night and asked if I would help him learn some basics and the rankings of the hands. So we headed over to a coffee shop and went over some basics. Then headed to the party and I did fairly well then too!

So yeah! It was a good weekend and I am looking forward to the week after this week to get some locations secured and some small stuff out of the way!

2004 Good or Bad?

Well here I am, sitting down to update my blog and the only thing that keeps rolling around in my mind are all of the bad personal drama things that have happened lately. So is 2004 the worst year of my life? No, not at all. It just seems that I have a hard time remembering all of the very good things that have happened this year.

I have had some AMAZING moments this year!!! Some perfect moments in fact! So why is it that when you think back over a year's worth of living you only tend to remember the bad parts?

I have met some and bonded with some other people this year that I know I will be involved with my entire life in one way or another.

I have written and rewritten a few different scripts, one is of course the subject of this blog. I have learned so much about film and the art of making one that I feel like I'm ready to make a feature film.

I have grown, lived, experienced, been hurt, been heartbroken, have nearly died laughing so hard, have had moments of (In my own mind ofcourse) brilliance and stupidity. I've done many things and haven't done a lot of things I had planned to do.

I've had more gray creep out of my scalp.

So in this philosophical state that I'm in right now of honesty I guess I can say for sure that this year has been good to me. I know I know, it probably sounds like I'm whining, especially after this next bit but I'm not, well at least I don't feel like I am.(could also be a moment of my own stupidity here)

I haven't experienced a profound tragedy as many people have this year.

I haven't been stricken by a disease as many other people have been this year.

I haven't been without shelter, job or food.

I haven't had my world completely crumble and fall apart even though it felt like it lately at times. I have still made it through so far.

So why after all of the things I have just mentioned do I still only recall the worst parts more than the others?

Is it natural? Are you sick of rants like this instead of my filmmaking experiences? Yeah me too.
Believe me as magical, tragicly beautiful, empty, full, joyous, and sad as 2004 was, 2005 will be all of that and much much more!!!!

I Love DVD Tuesdays!

DVD Tuesdays, yeah that is a great day of the week!
Well it is when something good is being released!
Today I picked up the extended edition of Return of the King, Collateral, and I, Robot.
I'll start with the movie that all of you will start to criticize me for first I, Robot.

I know I know, let me say that I had no desire at all when this one opened. The closest I came to seeing it was when American Chopper did the I,R bike. But I'm a fan of DVD and this one looks like it will make a good viewing experience despite the movie. A put your brain on pause while it plays type of movie. I need those every once in a while.

Collateral. Now that is nearly my type of movie. Yeah it had some flaws but its style was very very good. Dark, not only the lighting but the material was dark. The music was dark, the mood was dark. Two very desolate people who really don't connect to anything around them or anyone find each other one night in the city that has so many people in it that it would be hard to connect with anyone. How is that for irony? They do connect with each other but even though the circumstances are twisted. They see a bit in each other that they actually like even though that side of the relationship is behind what is being said. Now I know at least one person who might be reading this who is thinking that I just told them all about how I don't like it when people read things into a movie that really aren't there. I really do see a little bit of Vincent and Max liking each other even though their roles in life are very different, they are very much alike. Yeah I like this one!

Now for a movie that is more of an experience! Lord of the Rings: Return of the King!
One of the greatest epics ever committed to film in the history of film! Good vs. Evil, Black and White, no Gray. Truth is very simple and well defined. Evil must be defeated or the world will perish. The scope of this trilogy of films is something that might very well never be repeated in my lifetime. The Greater Good. Self Sacrifice. Dare I say, Love Your Neighbor? I think so. One of the scenes that really stands out in my mind that sums up this series is a very simple one towards the end. The four hobbits are sitting in a pub while everyone around them is celebrating. Not celebrating the victory of Good over Evil, they have no clue that there was even a conflict let alone that their world had nearly come to an end (Yeah I know about the scourging of the Shire, I'm talking movie not books here) if it weren't for the actions of two of the most unsuspecting of folk. The four hobbits are somberly drinking a mug of ale, the people around them have no idea the sights these four had seen, the experiences thay had experienced, the sacrifices they had sacrificed. They had grown in a way that the others around them could not connect with and they had a hard time connecting with their own friends and family again. The one place that they had fought for to keep safe and how they longed to return only to find that the battle of Good and Evil had nearly made them unable to return in a way.

Some movies are more than a movie, a select few redefine the art of cinema. I have a friend who is a photographer, I have an amazing feeling that they will do for photography what Peter Jackson has done for cinema with this amazing piece of artwork.

Now That I'm Done...

With the script in its current state I really don't have a lot to post about so what I think I'm going to do is encourage my friends who are writing scripts now to get them going and finished by the time that Locker is finished!

I have talked to my friends and they are very anxious to get a project going AFTER this one is wrapped up! Originally that is what I was hoping for after we wrapped up our last film....a year ago! But it just never happened. This time it is different, we are better prepared, we have a solid film idea to work with and at least two more on their way!

Our circle of filmmakers, I believe, is the genesis of a real film community in Oklahoma. I think Oklahoma can play a important part and become a place where indies want to come to film! Kind of the way Austin is now, which I personally believe isn't going to be all that for much longer. We have established a solid core of people here where we are at. We have the equipment (I'm currently saving for a XL2 as I type this), talent, ideas, and the drive to create something special right here!

I'm proud of my friends, we are a diverse group and everyone brings something different! Yeah, this is going to be a wild ride!

Done!

My final draft is now done! That doesn't mean that there won't be changes later on when I get the actors involved or the location secured. Physical location could dictate or an actor or crew (me) could come up with a better idea about something later on but for now, yeah, I'm happy with it!

So one milestone down a few more to go! This is going to be a wild adventure! Glad you are along for the ride!

Possible Final Rewrite To Start Tonight!

Alright I know I've been close to this before but I really really want to script to be right!
I know I know, how is it ever going to be right if you keep giving it to people for opinions and then making changes?! Right?

Well I just believe I'll know! When I read it and think to myself, "It's done!" yeah, then it will be!
I realize that in rehearsals things will chage a little bit but that is allowed, I want the script to be 99.9% perfect! I am allowing myself a margin of improvement when I get the actors involved but the script is what I am concentrating now, as you all know!

So that brings me to the whole point of this post, tonight I am starting what could very well be the final draft! After taking in lots of opinions from friends and new friends I have never met but offered to read and give me unbiased opinions! Again Thank You to everyone!

So now I'll quit posting and get to the other writing!!!

Positive Evening!

Last night was real productive in terms of meeting with my friends and getting some real good, positive input for my script. There are some lines I might be switching to other characters, some added dialogue, a few lines here and there to add or take away.

Most of all I believe that when it is cast and the actors put the emotion behind the lines it will change yet again. I think overall though it is 98% ready. The story is there. The lines are there for the most part. The plot holes are a minimum at best. Yeah, I think it is close! We get the Christmas Holidays out of the way and this project will roll!!!

I am going to suggest to my friends that we get busy writing a script so that we have a project waiting after this one is complete. I believe that we will have more momentum after this project than we had last time and we can carry that over into the next one!

Many Thanks!

To all of you who offered to give me your unbiased opinions on my script, I thank you!
It is great to know that not only are some people reading this but they are interested in helping out when they can!

You all have been very supportive and a heartfelt thanks to one and all!!!

Alright, I have taken some comments to heart and am doing a minor re write. I know not all of the opinions are in yet but this is some stuff that after reading it a few times made more sense to do differently. It isn't major at all but is making it better!

Weekend's 'a Coming!

A friend and I plan on seeing Alexander this weekend. He likes Oliver Stone and I really don't but Alexander sounds so bad I don't mind paying to see this debacle! It is sort of like paying to see Plan 9 From Outer Space.

Anyway there will be some serious script discussions going on as well as I start to gear up for full swing pre-production after the Holidays! Holidays? I hate PC stuff!!! After Christmas and New Year's Day!!! That sounds better than Holidays anyway. Anyone else remember when the NCAA Football Champ was crowned on New Year's Day? Yeah me too. Well now that I've gone very off topic with my own blog I'll get it back on track!

Well since I have a few loyal readers who might be concerned about my personal well being. I am doing much better. My rough patch is smoothing out and I feel that I'm on the leading edge of something wonderful with this project! In fact I have felt so good about things lately that I might even start a script for the next project. I am sort of handcuffed with the holi....er....Christmas season coming up and I am as organized as I can get at this time, so why not start throwing some ideas into the script software and see what happens?

Bad idea? Well at the moment time is on my side. You can burn me in effigy later on if this project falls apart because another project takes center stage. It won't, I'm so excited about this one that I would hold auditions tomorrow if I thought anyone would show up!

Good Reviews?

Well here is what is going on right now with my project, since that is the main focus of this blog.
I have let around 10 people read it and have had a very very positive set of responses.
Good?
Yeah it helps me think I did a good job however I have gotten very very few negative comments which leads me to two conclusions.

1. They are my friends and are being nice so they don't try and hurt my feelings.
2. It is good.

I am going to find a neutral party to read it over and see what happens then. I have told everyone not to be afraid of hurting my feelings because if something is bad and it needs to be fixed that I really want to know or explain why it is the way it is, in which case I may not be as clear as I thought I was.

So far I have received some good comments about making it longer which I think I am probably going to use. I have also received a few very good constructive comments about some minor things but none of that really addresses the story as a whole and wether it is good or bad.

I know I have a optimistic nature but when you have a piece of work that is going to be a big project for you then you just want to know where you stand with it.

Monday Morning!

I decided to start letting people read my final draft of my script for feedback. I worked real hard to close every plot hole I could think of however sometimes there might be one I didn't think of pop up. So far no one has found any and generally think of it as good and would be a good movie. Which is good since that is what I want to do.

Yes I know that I shouldn't trust friends with feedback like this because they probably don't want to hurt my feelings with a bad opinion but I did anyway. I have also sent it to some online friends who will be very honest with me. So I am confident that between them all I can discern what is good and what needs work.

Yeah, it was a strange weekend. It was a good holiday weekend and I wasn't at work but I'm about ready to go there now. I do look forward to the day when I can take off my uniform and sit in a director's chair. I know its a longshot but I think that this could break through. Why not?

It is probably one of the best examples of no budget filmmaking I could come up with that can be shot with no budget. Believe me that if I had a budget someday I could make some amazingly good stuff however this will be good with no money so....

Rewrite Finished!

Yes I was planning on it taking about 3 days however I am happy to say that it is now done!

Basically once I had the basic story I wanted down with one rewrite I just went through and made the dialogue better. Taking away words here and adding them there. I went through line by line and gave some lines to other characters and took some from others.

I am happy with it in this current state. I know it will evolve a bit here and there once it is rehearsed and then a bit more when it is filmed.

OH! I also got the WGA registration back already! I am happy about that too! I now have a registered treatment and draft! I feel protected!

I have a get together later on with my friends to discuss this and I am excited about that! I honestly think this idea has potential to be something bigger and maybe get a small amount of attention. At minimum I think it will help propel another project, which is what I am really after!! I want to keep working at being the best filmmaker I can be!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

My four day weekend begins this morning! The rewrite will get started after I get home from dinner. Well maybe, depends on what creature feature is on Scifi today...

Some friends and I will be getting together this weekend to discuss the project and see a movie or two. I am looking forward to this!

I know it seems my posts are shorter and shorter but believe me when there is more to report I will be doing a lot of posting! I think this blog might be included in the press kit, I'll have to think about that.

Rewrite Ahoy!

Despite a lot of personal drama in my life lately (actually probably one of the roughest patches I've been through in a long long time) I have decided to do the rewrite myself.

I think I am going to use this to accomplish a story with lots of feeling and emotion and I hope it comes through the way I intend, there will be some therapedic value to this project now.

I think I can accomplish the rewrite this weekend in about 3 days. I am off work Thursday and the only one working Friday so I plan on taking my laptop to work and starting this again and have it carry on into the weekend!

Long Evening/Day

Went to see The Grudge last night with a good friend. He liked it but I found myself wondering why they don't make scary movies anymore.

I can't remember the last real scary movie I saw.

The script's rough draft is done now. Now it is time to sit back a little bit and see what I need to do with it. I have two options
1. Re-write it myself.
2. Hire a re-write.

No, I'm not sitting back and relaxing in the least. I just have to make a decision about where to go next with it!

Finished?

Well I think I am finished with the rough draft. It isn't my target length at all. It is almost 50 pages so yes it still needs work.

Can I make a 70 minute movie out of a 50 page script?
Well the script for Once Upon A Time in the West was less than 40 pages and it was a epic nearly 3 hour movie...

Yes I think I can do some things to help the length of the movie and I believe that I can do a very very good job to make this a very scary movie! The one I have in my mind!

Am I still excited? You betcha!!!

Writing Every Day Is Paying Off

And to my surprise I am now over 40 pages!

It is tough but I am making myself stay at it! If I continue to do this I should have my 60-70 pages by late next week! Then I will decide on what to do next, either re-write it myself or hire it done and see where that takes the story.

Excited? Yes!

I know the past few posts have seemed very similar, however I feel that progress is being made and that is good for me!

Still Working!

Yes it is still coming along! I have found a way to use a childhood game in a very eerie way that should really effect people! It is very cool!

I am happy with it so far. I'm trying to get it written once and then after that I'll get the rewrite done. After that, if it is better, then the casting gets done!

I am so looking forward to this project, it is better than my last project right now.
This one is going to be big!

Even More Progress!

Yes progress has been made in writing the script!
Is it tough?

Toughest thing I've done in a while, which isn't saying much, I have a union job....

Is it getting better? YES! The story is coming along well! The only problem is getting the required amount of pages out of the story. Yes I am still shooting for 70 minutes which roughly equals 70 pages of script. I know how to film it and it will take up screen time but for the most part I am still shooting for 70 pages, any minute above that is frosting!

Progress!

I have written 6 pages and rewritten a few more from the 31 page draft my former writer gave me the other day. Is it done? No, it needs work, hard work but it is coming along!

I feel I need about 70 pages. The script is now up to 37 so only 33 pages left!
One character has been killed off already! Now all I have to do is kill off 4 more in 33 pages of script!

I am having a blast doing this, from the responses I have received from some of the writers on the Yahoo groups list, this is a very hard to impossible script to write. I think I will keep the emails that say this as motivation! Yes the hardest part is coming up but if I get 70 pages then I know I can make a 75 minute movie!

33 pages left to write and 15 pages left to re-write.

A DIY Script?

Well after sleeping on the fact that I am again scriptwriterless it might just be better to try to write this myself.

Yeah it will be tough but in the end its sucsess or failure will be mine and mine alone. it might be better that way.

So first step is first, write a 70-75 page script.

Primer, a 2004 Sundance winner was about 70 minutes long, I can do that, I can create this story in one small location with six characters and keep it interesting for that amount of time!

Until.....

The next roadblock comes up. My writer said he wasn't the right writer for this job. He did a good job for what he gave me but said he just wasn't able to give me what I asked for.

So back to square one? Nope, he gave me some good ideas and took some ideas in a direction I wasn't expecting and they might work!

So if square one was divided into, well four squares, this would be square one from square one.

Am I shaken? A bit but I've had worse happen but this is minor compared.

Well away we go, onward and upward!

Faster than expected!

The writer I have hired has already turned in a first draft, although it was much shorter than I expected it was good. It was short film length, the problem is that no one will buy a short film for distribution.

I am in the process of typing out some notes to send back. I think that hiring a writer instead of doing it myself might be a very good way to get a shootable script!

Writer Hired!

The first step has been taken and is now complete! I have hired a writer to give me two drafts of Locker! First is due by first week of January.

Yes this is exciting!

This is the first time I have actually hired someone to write something for me. I sent him my treatment and some of the high points I want in the script and a rating to shoot for. So now we'll see how it goes!

The Crossroads

Hello World,
I find myself at a crossroads so I thought I would start this blog so you can follow my progress and see how things turn out in my personal and professional lives.

So here is the situation of Blugill, filmmaker. No it isn't my real name and yes I know it doesn't have an "e" in it but that is intentional, maybe someday I'll get to that story.

About a year ago I became friends with a man named Chris, he had a script ready to shoot and I had the equipment. He set up the auditions and we had a very good cast of local actors. We shot his movie and we even had a rough cut "premiere" of the movie. It was a lot of fun! I don't believe I worked harder on a project and had as much fun! So I decided then that I was going to give it my best to be able to be a filmmaker full time!

So when you live in a small Oklahoma town it is very difficult to find like minded people. Believe me it is very tough to get a project off the ground. I just canceled my first project last night in fact. Yeah, that is one of the reasons for my need to vent right now and pour some things out to you. So I have this idea to do a episodic comedy that would be shot about every two weeks. It would be similar to Clerks but take place in an Internet Cafe called The Hard Drive Cafe, cute right? Yeah that is what I thought too! The episodes would be small enough that they could be shot in about 2 hours so I wouldn't demand a lot of my actors or their time. Well time passes, I have scripts ready to go, I make up fliers for the auditions and put them up all over town and finally the day for the auditions comes AND.......No one shows up. No one except for my friend John who was in Chris's movie and someone I have become pretty good friends with. So do I get down? Yeah for a little bit. Then I decide "screw it" I'm going to do it anyway! Yeah without a cast I can still figure out some way to make it work. So I start hitting people up in person to become a part of this project. I fill out the cast and then lose my main character.

Alright another set back but not a problem. I ask around and find another actor who would be interested in being in the project except he works every other Saturday. Not a problem! I think it will work now! Well now it is November, the Holiday season is coming up and my lead actress is about to go back to New York to school. Another set back. At this point I believe that a feature film project would be better to work on.

I believe that I can shoot a feature film in less than one day! Yes you read correctly! ONE DAY!
Yes it will be shot with a Canon XL1s and not with film but still it will be about 75-80 minutes long and will be good! Well better than the small indie film fest darlings that have done well this year like Open Water and Saw which was just stupid! I enjoyed Open Water though, the girl in that was hot! Worth watching for her alone!

Let me go back a little bit, the Oklahoma Film Commission sponsored the Dov Simens seminar in OKC. Instead of the normal 400 dollar fee it was a mere 50 bucks! It was a very eye opening experience that I would recommend to any filmmaker....er....Producer out there. His best suggestion for no budget filmmakers out there such as myself was to get a great script in one location, add drama and tension and shake well. I came up with a pretty good single location idea where everything is stacked against the characters. Six main characters stuck in a bad location with no hope of getting out soon.

Now with the help of Chris and a few others I have told this idea to (who like the idea a lot) I believe I will be able to get enough people to shoot in this feature film! I honestly don't think the location will be that big of a deal. I plan on hiring a Gaslight producer to run my rehearsals. I think that what I am going to do is this, rehearse my actors for about 1-2 weeks so that they have this DOWN COLD! Once that is done we will go to the location and shoot this at one time. The majority of it takes place in one fairly small place and well pretty mcuh be self edited except for the beginning scenes. Simple right?

Well the ultimate plan is this:
1. Get the script written (looking for a writer now)
2. Cast and rehearse.
3. Shoot, edit, and finish.
4. Start looking at the film fests that are available when this is completed. Dov says you should only give your premiere to those fests that the acquisition executives attend, Sundance, Telluride, Toronto, Tribeca, etc.
5. Hopefully it is a bigger hit with the audience than Saw was to me! I make a great distribution deal, get my name promoted and sign a 3 picture deal. Yeah the Robert Rodriguez dream!

So what is the status now? I have put out my request for a writer on two Oklahoma Yahoo group film lists. Have had two replies and have sent my treatment to them (yes it is registered with the WGA per Dov's suggestions so I am protected) and have yet to hear back from them.

If there is no writer up to the challenge then I will give it a try myself, I'm not the best writer but I'm not THAT bad.