The End

Well, the movie is over. Dead. Long gone. Kaput. Que? Yeah, we pulled the plug on production on Thursday, April 9, 2009. It had been a long journey of ups and downs, both professionally and personally, but the time of Get Back has ended. I don't have much to share here, because I have already talked with most involved, and have commented about it briefly on my own blog. Plus, until the site expires, there will be a full explanation on the website, so for now I just wanted to wrap up this blog. I've been keeping track of the production process from the beginning, and even just reading through this blog hints at how much we both learned from this whole process. The biggest key to it all is that there isn't an ounce of regret in our decision to call it. I can speak for Nick, too, because I know. It was the right decision, and we're moving on.

Oh, and just for final closure with this blog - here is what I look like today, clean-shaven and beautiful again.

We Have Audio!

Today (well, I'm writing this at nearly 2 am after hanging out with some friends from my acting class, so it's technically yesterday, but I haven't gone to bed yet so I am sticking to my guns on this erroneous label) we shot our first scene. Back on November 2 (haha, 2008) we shot the intro credit sequence. That was all just me, though, walking around and looking angry. We had a couple of failed attempts at shooting since then, but today was a smashing success. We shot Anthony's intro scene with Paul, and it was great. I had fun, even if it took me a few takes to really get into Paul. I needed this one, because if we had started with a more emotional or intense scene, and I wasn't in Paul's mindset, it wouldn't be so good. Herman was fantastic to act with, though. He IS Anthony, even though I didn't know him when I was writing the script. Likewise, it was really cool to have Michael and Karen there helping out, with Michael running audio for us. Heck - this was the first time we've ever had an established audio crew member. Haha, heck... it's the first time we've ever had a crew member ;)

Ultimately, it was just very exciting to finally see it all fall into place. I was the actor, Nick handled everyone very well as the director, and we all collaborated and had fun. Now that I've had a taste of Paul again, I can't wait to shoot the next scene. Being able to be Paul in front of the camera, with another actor, was a really exillerating experience. I've spent so much time with him on my own, and partially in rehearsals, that it was almost like finally giving birth to this performance that's been waiting to come to fruition.

But that's kind of a gross analogy, so I'll just say it was a really cool day.

I'm Tired

I'm done. I'm a teapot ready to be poured. It has been about 14 months since we had a finalized version of the script, and we still haven't shot any scenes. There are plans to start again this weekend, and I'm not complaining. This all came about after a recent talk with Nick. He wanted a final version, one that included all of the revised/insert scenes melded into one continuous copy of the script. I figured this would be a good opportunity to go in and polish up the rest of the script while I was at it. Whoops.

It took me a few days to reformat the script into a script-writing program Nick wanted to use (I write with an OpenOffice.org Writer template), and for the two days after I had tried to polish up lines of dialogue here and there, and make the action lines cleaner. I hit a point of frustration, though, where it just wasn't working, and I wasn't sure why. On the third day, however, I understood what wasn't working. The problem was... it didn't NEED to be changed.

I grew quite a bit during the writing process, so the opening scenes are weaker than the closing scenes and re-written scenes. It's not bad, though. I'm completely proud of the script as it is now, and altering it just wasn't necessary. My problem is that my mind doesn't stop. I have sat with this script for over a year with the knowledge that we'd eventually shoot it - but that moment still hasn't come. So, my mind is left to consider the script in every minute detail and of course I'm going to find little faults here and there. It's nitpicking, for sure, but I have been with this script for so long that I simply couldn't avoid it. I have re-written or created 6-7 scenes since the final version was printed, and they are all very strong additions, but by now I have to let it go. I decided that it was time for me to officially put the script to rest, with my blessing. So, this truly is the final entry that should wear the Writer tag.

At least, for now...

The Key to a Scene

When I first wrote Get Back, it was a very different kind of movie. It was an odd mix of serious drama and "cool" action... and as time has gone on, it has only grown and matured even more. One hazard of this maturity was that certain original elements no longer fit. Originally, Paul was to shoot two guns at the same time during a gunfight - just to give you an example. These ideas have slowly been weeded out as the characters and situations have changed. When we got together to rehearse the climax of the movie, we hit this problem again. The situation and characters had changed, and we had fallen into a very realistic take on things - and mapping it all out was just not working. We've been on a bit of a break since then, but the other night Nick and I talked on the phone, and the climax came up. We ended up talking it through for an hour; back and forth with good ideas and bad ones. We kept at it, though. At points we had gone so far as to add an extra character, and erase the scene completely... but the key to a scene is pretty much going to always be simplicity. Eventually Nick mentioned an idea I had the first night we tried rehearsing it, but there was still a fundamental flaw in logic that kept it from working. This idea would solve all of our problems, but how to make it work? Then, in a very casual manner, Nick said, "What if..." and he solved it. He not only solved it, but the scene is PERFECT because of it. Haha, that one little phrase he uttered completely fixed every problem with the climax, and in turn added even more layers of character complexity. I'm still in awe that we solved the scene so simply, and I have to give that one completely to Nick. He saved that scene.

Now, about that drive-by...

A Close Friend

Last Saturday, Nick and I met with Jaclyn and Jim for a quick rehearsal. It went well, and as always, we discovered new things about characters. After that we went to meet Todd at our main location, to map out the final scene. It posed quite a few issues to figure out, but it was a good thing. After the rehearsal with Jaclyn and Jim, I needed the release. Why? It was the first time acting with both of them together, and the scene we all share is a fairly tense one. With Jaclyn there, though, I finally realized just how defensive acting out that scene makes me feel. I was ready to kill someone - and that's all because of how in touch with the character of Paul I am.

I wrote a blog entry that I'll have posted on my site tomorrow (2.12.09). It's about saying a final goodbye (shameless plug HERE), and it got me to thinking... the time is coming where I'm going to have to say goodbye to Paul. Now, you'll hear me get very excited when talking about shaving and cutting my hair - I can't wait to look like myself again, however saying goodbye to my character isn't going to be as great. I fall in love with my characters. You'll hear those who say you shouldn't do that because you won't be able to allow them to have faults, but that is not a problem for me. Discussing a situation with Nick and Jaclyn, I was having a very, very hard time accepting what they were deciding. It wasn't as the writer, because I agreed that their idea was best for the plot, it was as the actor... I was having a hard time with it because that's just how my character Paul would react. It wasn't easy for me to swallow, because as Paul.. I wouldn't be comfortable or happy with things going that way. I wasn't rejecting the idea, though it seemed that way, I was just having the same emotional response as my character. So, to say that I get in deep with my characters is an understatement.

Come shooting time, I get even deeper into character, but before that day comes, I always prepare. For a movie Nick made a few years ago called The Lost, I played a hitman. Not a reckless or action-oriented killer, but a true, psychological take on someone who was little more than a shell of a man. The performance is EXTREMELY low-key... so low in fact that it may appear that I'm a lousy actor ;) What I did to prepare myself, though, was to take away so much of my own personality that I was left with what little this character had. That was a few months of preparation... Get Back has been in the planning stages since about November 2007 AND I wrote the bloomin' thing. For over a year, I have been studying this character and learning what makes him tick. It's been a very educational and rewarding experience, but realizing that it will end is a bit hard. Physically looking like myself again (all clean shaven and adorable) will certainly help, but it's definitely going to be hard saying goodbye to Paul. He's been on my mind for a long time, and it'll be weird without him.

Of course, he'll always be in there... somewhere.

Good News

Well, good news has come to my ears today - our main shooting location has been found. Wait, let me try that again. Our main shooting location has been FOUND!! That's better.

Most of the movie revolves in and around my character's house. Paul's house has been the number one priority location to find - and that has finally come to pass. After sickness and the holidays (what do you mean you'd rather spend time with family than shoot a movie?? I just don't understand you normal people), things have finally picked up again - right where they left off. Our next hurdle is finding a good bar to shoot in, but that is only for one scene. Paul's house just about starts and ends the movie, and is the set for some very important scenes throughout.

Haha, I'm really very tired... because I should be more excited about this than I am. Perhaps it's just shock, though, that is yet to wear off and tomorrow morning I'll end up running around the house like a madman. Perhaps. Anyways, thanks for the tip on the house, Todd... good find.

I look forward to seeing it, myself, to shooting this movie with some great actors, and of course, as always, I really look forward to shaving ;)

Second Month of Production

Haha, well... things are the same as they were last month - in that nothing has happened. Now that sickness and the holidays are behind us, though, things should start up again soon.

I hope.

I really, really hope.

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In other news, though, last week I finally sat down and read the script for The Dark Knight. Even just reading the script left me in awe at the end. It's a wonderfully written movie. A few days after that, Nick told me we should be rehearsing this coming weekend, so I picked up the Get Back script to go over my lines. As I read through, I fell in love with the story all over again. I'm not tooting my own horn, but I really love the layers that are in the script. It was a good story, that became a better script, that has improved even more so with rewritten/additional scenes. I wouldn't dare compare ANYTHING I've done to what was done in The Dark Knight, but in some ways, I find a similarity. Both deal with personal, human issues while in the setting of something more grand and potentially cliche. When people ask me what Get Back is about, I can't sum it up by saying it's a "revenge movie," because there is much more to it than that. I know I wrote it, so it's hard to not sound arrogant, but believe that it is only because of how proud I am of it that I talk like this.

As an actor, I can't wait to give life to this flawed, lost character. As the writer, I can't wait to see the wonderful nuances of the various characters and dialogue come to fruition as we shoot. And as a movie lover, I can't wait to see the final product. I hope we can put together something that isn't just "good for our level," or "better than what we've done before," or at the very worst a "cool" movie, but something that stands on it's own simply as a good, solid movie.

I hope.

I really, really hope.