Inspiration from the cereal box

Our pick-up shots were put on hold until later in February, when all the plumbing work will be done in the studio. No good when there's clanging and banging in the background.

Until then I'm prepping all the background work. Met with my post-production whiz Matt, sent him and editor Scott the shooting notes (this is a story in itself, just getting them scanned, but I'll spare you the technical drama). Bought a new editing system with my annual bonus, got the Final Cut Studio upgrade, pulled out my box of CDs (from unknown bands so they'll be "nicer" to license) and now reading, researching, listening and watching for ideas.

I feel like a dork reading Sidney Lumet's book "Making Movies" but it's a good read. Interesting, factual, HONEST. He's having fun and making solid movies -- Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, Network, 12 Angry Men, The Verdict, Long Day's Journey Into Night, Murder on the Orient Express. I like his films but their look is a little gritty for me. At the same time, he thinks a lot about look, perspective, camera angle, color density, all of it. I like to believe that I think like that too, but maybe in a prettier kind of way. He's quite literal in his interpretation of the material, probably due to his theater background, and reading his approach makes me appreciate the art of filmmaking more deeply than before.

Went to see Jim Jarrett in his one-man play, "Meisner," about the great acting coach Sanford Meisner. The play was well-done although I have to say that I felt like I was getting lectured the whole time... but I guess that's who Sanford was. A real teacher. Jim sent me a personal invitation so I took myself and my friend Kris and enjoyed it immensely. For those of you new to this blog, Jim Jarrett was my first choice to play the only male character in this film, and I emailed him (and his assistant) several times over the past few months to see if we could make it work. He's a busy man but he would have been perfect. I was greatly disappointed that we couldn't make it happen. I think if I had called we might been more connected about it, but I was juggling just too many balls at that point. He's a talented guy busy with his school, and Maria was wearing too many hats.

Since I'm doing all this research, my Netflix list is expanding exponentially. I hope it rains more so I can watch them all this month. I feel like I'm everywhere & nowhere at the same time... and oh yes, that's the title of a Two Sticks song.

And thus, my tentacles are out. I'm out there feeling, touching, experiencing, so I can go into post-production with a lot more than what's currently in my little suitcase of tricks. I know just enough about editing to make me dangerous, so I've brought two more experienced people onto my team -- Matt Rhodes and Scott Daigle. My co-writer is also a creative editor, which means we will have a lot of little fingers helping out. I'll be noodling with the backup and working on a trailer. That should re-acquaint me with the footage and give me more details so I can be a better director while we're editing.

... oh, the trailer... now I have to go watch trailers...