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...