An Acting Life

Shooting The Trailer: Preproduction Day 6

January 28th, 2012

Oh, dear.  Maybe I should try a different coffee shop for these meetings; change my karma.

 

4)  Jerrie found us on a theater site where we had posted a casting notice.  She took the initiative to call me and ask if we needed a Set Designer.

 

“Oh, yes, do we ever!”

 

Jerrie had a resume full of theater set design.

 

“I am finishing a stage play right now.  I want to do more film.  This 2 minute trailer is perfect because there are so few sets.”

 

“Oh, by the way, I live in Marin and I can’t drive because I have bad vision.”

 

(Well, I have some bizarre disease which makes me occasionally stop the car and run to the middle of the freeway, waving my hands and screaming, “Just hit me!”)  So, I offer a PA to pick her up, to go shopping with her, to drive her to the set.

 

“No, says Jerrie, “No problem; I take the bus everywhere; been doing it for years.  I’m taking the bus now every night to the theater in the Berkeley.”

 

(3 buses over 2 bridges)

 

That evening, waiting for me on the computer is an email from Jerrie.  You guessed it.

 

“Sorry, can’t do it without a car.  Too much trouble on the bus.  I live in Marin, you know.  Very unreasonable.”

 

(1 bus over 1 bridge)


5) I am now wondering to myself how ANY films get made in this town.

 

My co-producer calls around for more recommendations.  Thus, we are referred to Call Me Minoaka.  Long phone conversation with Call Me Minoaka.

 

“Do you know this is a micro budget film?

 

“Do you know there are three sets and you only have two weeks to prepare?

 

“Do you know that your only assistants will be me (the Producer) and Makeup?

 

“Are you okay with animals on set?

 

“Do you have time to do this?

 

“Do you like the script?

 

“What are your concepts?”

 

Call Me Minoaka shoots me off sketches for each set.  Fast.  Good.

 

Call Me Minoaka sends me a shopping list with a budget attached.  Better.

 

Then Call Me Minoaka starts sending me hundreds of emails forwarded from Craigslist, in response to an ad she placed requesting a set designer for a two minute trailer with an environmental theme.

 

“Huh?  Aren’t you the set designer?”

 

“I decided to be the coordinator.  I will send you candidates.”

 

Great; not only has she flaked on the job, but additionally she has made 20 times as much work for me, because my work ethic requires me to respond to every single email telling these Craigslist folks that we don’t need them.

 

6) We are seemingly rescued by Sue, a busy director of industrials.  Sue sends me her man Sergei.  Sergei is, within the hour, hospitalized with bleeding hemorrhoids.   I ought to be, too.  It would feel better.

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Posted by shyman in Indie Filmmaking | 2 Comments »

Shooting The Trailer: Preproduction Day 5

January 22nd, 2012

We Hunt for a Set Designer

1)      First we were promised the famous Eloise, who had just finished a fully-funded feature.  Our  Director, who had just worked with Eloise on the other film, said Eloise was locked in; Eloise was all over it; she was down with it; she was on board; she was not only attached but signed; Eloise was hep to the gig.

 

“Eloise promised me.”

 

But our Director had inconveniently forgotten to ask Eloise if she actually WAS down with it.  Turns out Eloise was committed to a project in Prague.

 

2)      Then the big shot Monsieur le Directeur promised us Samuel, a great friend of his, a constantly in demand big-budget set designer who was dying to work with Monsieur le Directeur on a small film; but Samuel apparently was … ahem … committed in New York.

 

 

3)      Then, I met with Barbara in a coffee shop.  I looked at her sketches; I knew some of the local indie films she’d worked on.

 

Barbara told me,   “I know that being on a small film project is a lot of work and stress.  I know you don’t have a whole department.  I’m ready to do all the work myself; I don’t mind getting my hands dirty.  All I ask is to be paid mileage.”

 

When I got home that night, there was an email waiting for me from Barbara.

 

“I believe my destiny is to be a director, so I’m going to be making my own film next week.”


4)      Slightly less fussy now, I met Greta.  Greta had not done set design, but she brought her portfolio of interior design, fashion design and posters.  She had read the script.  She was particularly attracted to this credit-only project because of the environmental theme.  She showed me sketches of a proposed simple set.

 

She looked into my eyes and said, “I love your story.  I love indie film.  I am all, like, spiritual with the environment bit.”

 

I explained how tough it was to work on micro budget films.  She understood.  It was to be a spiritual adventure for her art.

 

The next day Greta called me.

 

“My guru in Vancouver is quite sick and I must go and sit by his bedside.  I am all spiritual with that relationship, like, you know.”

 

…tomorrow…more set designers…

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Shooting The Trailer: Preproduction Day 4

January 16th, 2012

I wanted to do “The Making Of” as a marketing tool.  There’s a local reporter with whom I have a tenuous connection. She does business news but wants to do art news. Perhaps a story of a laid-off tech worker changing careers to become a filmmaker would both tweak her interest and be a story her bosses would let her pursue. She could do it as a multi-part story, over the course of a year. Good publicity for us.  Fun for her.  Unfortunately, we do not have any footage of behind-the-scenes. She would have to come to my house late at night and film me typing madly in my 3:00 AM email fights with my co-writer.

 

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Shooting The Trailer: Preproduction Day 3

January 10th, 2012

  • Today I met with a great sound designer.  He has been in bands and recorded his music for years; and is now getting into film sound.

 

  • Today I met a sculptor / digital artist who wants to help with production design.

 

  • Today I talked to an experienced film production designer who wants to help.

 

  • Today I met a PA who wants to be behind the camera–too dang bad for him.

 

  • Today I met another PA, but both my assistant producer and I think he will flake out when he gets bored.  We can’t hire PAs who will flake out.

 

  • Today I got lost scouting exteriors up in the mountains.  I still lust after the private property.  How can we steal it and not get in trouble?  Oh, the views, the fog, the dramatic extremes, the crags and valleys, the rotted logs, the mud.  Drool.

 

  • Today my assistant producer finished all her tasks and asked for more work!

 

  • Today my co-producer also asked for more work, even though she was shooting pickups for another project.

 

  • Today my extras coordinator got me enough extras for every scene.  Even enough Chinese men to play software geeks.

 

  • Today I talked a colleague from my day job into being a driver and picking up my caterer every day.

 

  • Today I had to go into work at my day job.  Why on the weekends too?  Because they expect us to be totally dedicated to the job, like a religious cult.  At work I got into a fight with the CEO.  Stupid me.  Perhaps I should decline to go in on the weekends any more.  I’m sure my boss will yell at me tomorrow.  Screw them all.

 

  • Today my husband asked when he would see me again.  He said maybe in three months when I’m finished with this shoot.

 

  • Today I realized I haven’t been to acting class for months and I worry that I am out of shape and will be a horrible actor.

 

  • Today I realized that working in the corporate world has eaten away my insides.

 

  • Today I feel like a shell.

 

  • Today I regret my age, my wrinkles, my hair, my bad attitude, my brains.

 

  • Today I was shocked to find that my long-time friend’s daughter has been an actress for 20 years.  How old does that make me?

 

  • Today my long-time friend, the actress’ mother, died a drunk sitting on a curb outside the MoonPie Bar.

 

  • Today I love my craft and my life.

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Posted by shyman in Indie Filmmaking | 1 Comment »

Shooting The Trailer: Preproduction Day 2

January 4th, 2012

Today I scouted an exterior location.  The owners of the property are willing to work with us; they may even have wolves we can film.  They are lovely, wonderful people.

I am afraid, however, that my Director and Cinematographer will say the shots are not cinematic enough.  It certainly is not as spectacular as the private property onto which we trespassed when we scouted exteriors, not by a long shot.  The owners of that private property onto which we trespassed wanted us to have insurance before they would let us shoot.  Yikes, that would have been 25% of my whole budget.

I am thinking we should “steal” the property we really like.  It’s a remote parcel of several hundred acres.  If we get kicked off, no big deal.  However, since it is five miles up a rutted logging trail, if we get accidentally locked in while we are shooting, that would be a big deal.  We might starve to death before they come with the logging trucks and open the gate again.  Well, not starve, just be uncomfortable.  I guess we could try to crash my car through the gate, and film that effort for The Making Of.

Today I’m thinking if I were shooting a Tits N Car Crash movie instead of a film about saving wolves, I would have more money.  I would have been able to get lots of investors for Tits N Car Crash.

 

Today we began putting up a website as part of marketing campaign.  But I can’t put up any production shots because no one took stills.  Yikes.  I would capture some frame grabs, but I know they won’t be as good as production stills.

Today…what else?  The makeup guy somehow did not realize that this is a comedy.  He only does horror films–gore and scars and chopped up guts; so he can’t do our project.  Hee, hee, that cracks me up.  I will call dear Shawn, who can do any makeup.

What else, today?  Good stuff: I am meeting with a potential production designer, sound designer and super PA tomorrow.  Rik’s colleague in Green Theatre is willing to help as Production Designer; though probably she will back out after she hears how many overnight shoots we have.

Today I talked the BBC stock footage people into dropping their price…I am happy.

Today my director called me on the phone!  Yay!  He is out of an editing marathon that has gone for months.  Nice to hear his voice.

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Shooting The Trailer: Preproduction Day 1

December 29th, 2011


Today I got up at 3:00 AM to scout locations.  Drove 300 miles, sweating with a fever, looking for a perfect place to replace the location that said, “No.”  No location was perfect.

 

Mt. Rainier was very close to good.

I took a ton of test footage; but it’s so far away that it will cost too much in gas reimbursement and make everyone’s day 5 hours longer than planned.  Maybe the Cascades have something–I will check tomorrow.  Damn those people who said, “No.”  I so desperately want to steal that location, but my director is afraid he will be squashed by a logging truck who doesn’t know we are there…without permission…and so, sadly, I treasure my photos of the perfect location and keep searching for the next-best.

Today I did, happily, find some little gifties for the crew & cast—teeny little toy wolves.  I suppose the dog-actor will want something she can eat, instead of a plastic toy.  Fussy, fussy.

Today I haven’t heard from anyone except my co-writer.  I suppose all the rest of them still hate me.  Even my husband was a grouch to me, and he’s not even on the project.  I wonder if my cat still loves me.

Today, I am thinking that what I am never doing again is being producer and lead actor on the same project.  Either one or the other.  Maybe I never will produce again…I don’t like people hating me.

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Dear To Whom It May Et Cetera

December 23rd, 2011

The Red Queen said, “We should all try to imagine at least three impossible things before breakfast.” Similarly, I believe, we should all try to speculate wildly on the inner mental calisthenics of everyone we meet. At the least, it gives us exercise as generative & interpretive artists. At the top of the game, it gets us slapped at parties.

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Posted by shyman in Artists | 2 Comments »

Struggling Screenwriter, Part Three of One Zillion

December 17th, 2011

Now, we’re at the 9th draft.  It took me two years to have it click: to understand how to combine my imagination and my unique story with the rules of good visual storytelling.  I finally know, after two years of writing this, how to write a great screenplay.

 

Right now—well  not RIGHT now: right this very second I’m writing a blog and the hour before I took a procrastination break to read The Actors List—I’m going through an exercise to lay out every scene in my film.  For each of 132 scenes, I will:

  • Define, in Meisner terms, which character has the need and which the activity.  This is to make sure the scenes are dynamic and playable.  Nobody wants to go to the movies and watch water boil.
  • State the “value” (emotional state” of the protagonist at the beginning and end of the scene.  Meredith, my screenwriting partner, says not to do this.
  • say what the purported conflict is
  • say what the subtext is
  • say whether the characters each succeed or fail in their intentions during the scene

I am not an experienced writer and I need to fiddle with the words in many ways before I get text that works.

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Star Trek: The Next Generation

December 11th, 2011

 

Was Gene Roddenberry a socialist?

 

1)  Everyone has a job they love.

2)  Everyone has a job.

3)  Money doesn’t exist.

4)  Our mission is to explore and learn, not to conquer new worlds.

5)  Respect for all life.

6)  Free healthcare.

7)  Free healthy food.

8)  Leaders have their position because of their good judgement, not because of a large campaign fund.

9)  No job is “more equal” than another job.  Even the bartender, if she has knowledge of a subject, can come to the senior officers’ meeting and express her views.

 

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Posted by shyman in Television | 1 Comment »

The Self Referential List, Part Five

December 5th, 2011

 

Films about making films

  1. The Bad and the Beautiful
  2. What Just Happened
  3. The Deal

 

Films about actors

At first i thought Tootsie was just more stupid, repetitive, been-there-done-that cross-dressing and I refused to see it.  Then I read the script.  It’s funny.  More than that, it touches the heart because it’s about someone who desperately wants to follow his dream.


Films about Music & Art

  • August Rush

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Michelle is..

an actor, performance artist, screenwriter, indie filmmaker.  Her books are available at right on the front page of Reel Grok.

 

Michelle in profile

SHE wants YOU to cast HER in lead roles where sexy middle-aged women have hot affairs with younger men.


Senryu 38:

Many times I’ve said  //

“I love your work.” I was false //

I loved his body //


Senryu 92:

I wrote a screenplay//

My brilliant, unique story  //

Tits and car crashes //


Michelle can currently be seen performing in … well, is currently writing … a multi-media live / filmed performance with elements of insanity. In my work, my goal is to present fictional narrative entertainment that inspires people to change the world.

 

click to see a list of movies with cats

click to read more about my work