Getting Ready to Shoot

So I discussed with my collaborator Matt the idea of pushing our movie shoot until September because we'll have a lot more access to film equipment at that point. So it looks that's what's going to happen.

Although I'm still going to act as though we're shooting this summer, if we shoot in September it really gives me more leeway to storyboard. Right now I have to have a first draft on May 1st. Then Matt and I are going to make both our material coherent and consistent. I imagine I'll do a few subsequent rewrites, and then the real fun begins.

The movie is a straight up crime flick in the style of film noir. I'm going to storyboard using blacks and whites and my brush pen. The goal is not to half ass it. I want to make a storyboard where the artwork can stand on its own merits. Most would say not to go that far for a storyboard because they are not necessarily meant to look pretty. However, I plan on importing the storyboards on to Final Cut Pro, doing a script reading (preferably with the actors we cast), and pacing the audio from the script reading to the storyboard on FCP, making a pre-vis. If the pre-vis is good enough, I'll add that to my director's reel, which currently is pretty skimpy.

Once I have a pre-vis of the movie, actors in mind, etc., I might use the extra time to find additional financing. I figure the pre-vis will be a great tool for that. Second, with my mini-DV cam, I'm really going to push my desire to film one short film a week. Shoot it one day, edit it the second day and then show it to people for their reaction. That's Sam Raimi's advice. There couldn't be a greater way to warm up for a feature film shoot and to continue beefing up my reel by making ten shorts or more. On another note, Matt and I are looking for subjects for a documentary. We're not just going to make one feature, we're going to make two. Our follow-up to the film noir will be a documentary and it will happen before next summer. I'm quite excited by the prospect of that. I'm also excited to continue working with the Seattle film community whom I've met a lot of in the last few months.

Last night, Liz said it was sexy how ambitious I was, but I told her it's only out of fear and desperation. Even though I'm still attending my school, being in Washington makes me feel less active than when I'm in San Francisco and constantly working on something, be it a friend's project or my own. Too many people who want to be filmmakers have no drive. They figure they'll go to film school and when they get out, work will be waiting for them. The way I see it, I have no other option than to just fucking make a film. I don't want to pull cables on someone else's film set, and after the high of co-writing and producing The Penitent Man, I need need need to create some more. The best way to be a creative type is to simply do it using what resources you have. I have enough to continue my journey as a filmmaker, and therefore I have to.