Monthly Archives: April 2010
[Ditty Makes a Short Film] Part 2: Location, Location, Location
Back in March, I set forth my intentions to make a short film. Well, so far, so good — good enough that I can report that, without a doubt, on May 22, barring any catastrophes, we will in fact be filming.
I’ve been able to secure a cast and crew (i.e., beg my friends and family to help me out), and we were able to find a date that worked. Score one for Ditty. Next up?
SECURING A LOCATION
I sent an e-mail to the office manager of the building I wanted to use. It went something like this:
“I have a short film I’m planning to shoot in May that requires use of a couple of cubicles and an elevator, and I was hoping I might be able to use your facilities. I’m planning the shoot for a Saturday, so there would be no inconvenience to business as usual. I would also ensure that no confidential or company information was visible in any shot. Is this something your team would allow? I’d be happy to include a “special thanks” in the credits and answer any questions you might have about the film and crew.”
Unfortunately, my request was declined. Score one for People Who Make Ditty Sad. So, it became essential to move on to Plan B (and also to create a Plan C in case Plan B failed, too — I like to be as prepared as possible).
Plan B was to see if I could use the building where my lead actor and actress work. Thankfully, we received approval for the date we had in mind, so now we’re good to go. If not getting my first choice of location is the only problem I encounter on this shoot, I will be one happy camper, folks.
PREPARING FOR THE VISIT
Because I hadn’t seen the specific places we’d be using for the scenes, I wanted to schedule a location visit well in advance of the shoot. I asked for about an hourlong window of time, and I prepared a list of things I wanted to look for so I could use everyone’s time efficiently.
- Film issues: I wanted to take measurements (especially in the elevator), test movement and angles in the elevator, and test lighting. I also wanted to get an idea of the cube layout and look at where exactly my single exterior shot would play best.
- Set Dressing: I wanted to check for anything that’ll need to be removed from or covered in the cubes for filming (logos, personal information, confidential information, etc.), and I wanted to get an idea of the props we’ll need to bring in. I also wanted to see the color scheme we’d be working with.
- Logistics: I needed to check for outlets, any potential distractions, and any limitations on elevator use (is there an alarm that goes off if the door is held open too long?). When it gets a little closer to the shoot date, I’ll also look up nearby businesses in case we need anything.
THE VISIT
In short, I found out everything I needed to find out, and I only used about 35 minutes of my hourlong time slot. I pinpointed a few cubes I wanted to use and took some video so I can get an idea of how the colors play. I chose cubes that didn’t back up to windows so I didn’t have to worry about the time of day for shooting or about any silhouetting.
We ran into the Guy In Charge of Facilities, which gave me the opportunity to ask about the elevator buzzer. There is one, but he offered to give us the lock-open key for the shoot, which was serendipitous as it wasn’t something I’d considered.
It turns out that this key will be integral in getting decent shots, as there’s just not enough room in the elevator for the scenes to happen and for me to be in there filming. A buzzer would have been annoying for the actors, though not a deal breaker as I was informed it doesn’t alert anyone or anything. But this way we’ll have the best of both worlds. There’s also an outlet maybe 20 feet from the elevator, which is great.
Also important, the lighting in each location we’ll be using, including the elevator, is completely workable. I was worried about low lighting in the elevator specifically, since my camera gets a little grainy, but the elevator we’re using is well-lit, and the image looked fine in my test shots.
For my one exterior shot, the main entrance proved satisfactory. There are logos on the doors, but they aren’t too visible from back where I’d like the shot to happen. Worst case scenario, I can always cover them up pretty easily, aided by the fact that the doors are heavily tinted.
USING THE INFORMATION
Now that I have an idea of my actual set, I can start storyboarding and creating a shot list more effectively. I’ve recruited my Sister the Artist as production and wardrobe designer; now she can take a look at the colors and start thinking about a look that will hopefully pop on video. Basically, now I can start making a concrete plan for Shoot Day, which is both exciting and, if I think about it too much, nerve-wracking. But mostly in a good way.
Once Screnzy fades out, I’ll start working with more focus on the storyboards and shot lists. So, if you’re interested in following this little adventure, look for more from me in May.
April is Madness
April brings its own special kind of spring fever to my neck of the woods. The little kid soccer team I coach starts their season back up. My youngest sister starts playing high school soccer again. The lawn starts needing mowing again, and there’s that whole spring cleaning business, too. And of course there’s the short film I’m preparing to shoot in May. And then, on top of all that, I’m supposed to write a brand new screenplay? Apparently so. I know things are getting out of hand when I start resorting to a to-do list, and I know things are especially bad when, at the top of that to do list, I decide to add a little bit of motivational pep talk.
The sad thing is, the motivational pep talk doesn't even have any pep. It's as tired as I am.
But hey. “We are intrepid. We carry on.” Right?
So, if you, like me, are feeling a little overwhelmed this month, here’s how I’m dealing.
Make it concrete. The to-do list is not a joke, folks. Laying out the tasks you would like to reasonably accomplish is the first step to actually getting stuff done. When everything’s swirling around in your brain, it’s like staring at a bowl of alphabet soup. Nothing makes sense. Ditch the milk, take out the letters, and arrange them into something you can read. Plus there’s something really satisfying about marking off an item. When I get overwhelmed, I like to resort to the old-fashioned paper list, but there are some great online to-do lists out there, too. The one I use most often is gubb.net, but find one that works for you and use it.
Don’t forget time to relax. Put it on your to-do list. If you’re going a million miles a minute every minute of the day, your brain will stop working. Give it time to stop thinking for a bit, even if it’s only for 15-20 minutes. Read a book. Meditate. Watch a TV show. Catch a movie if you can spare the time.
Break the big tasks down. I ran into a tiny issue with my script suddenly developing a case of schizophrenia. I was essentially writing two completely different stories in the same script. The result is that, after having written 40 pages, I realized I pretty much needed to start over. I knew I’d be able to salvage a little from my original 40 pages, but the bulk of everything would be new. So, after a good push this weekend, I’m looking at writing 70 pages in the next 11 days if I want to have a complete first draft by the end of the month. That sounds like a lot. However, when I break it down, it’s really only about 6½ pages a day. That’s much easier to swallow.
Focus. I don’t usually have a problem using IM and twitter when I’m writing. I’ve got the weird Gen-Y thing where a little distraction usually helps me. However, I found this weekend that, with everything else already swirling around in my brain, adding IM and twitter to the mix whilst trying to write was not working. On Friday night, I wrote about one page in the course of two hours. Not good, folks. Finally realized I needed to sign off, and I managed to kick out about 5 pages in 40 minutes. Much better. Lesson? Focus on whatever you’re doing, and, if you’re having trouble doing that, eliminate any could-be distractions.
Be healthy. Don’t forget that you need your body in order to do this whole writing thing. Don’t give up eating well, and, if you’re in the habit of working out, don’t let it fall by the wayside. Additionally, as Tony Horton says, “Drink your water, people.” You can have your caffeine, too, but make sure your not letting your brain dry out.
Now, when we make it through the month alive, if you’re still jonesing for more screenwriting action instead of, I don’t know, a margarita-filled beach vacation, there are a couple of workshops happening the first weekend in May.
Here in Kansas City, the BlueCat folks are holding a full script workshop on May 1. I attended a 10-page workshop last May and came out of it having learned a lot. The chance to mingle with your fellow, local screenwriters is really valuable, so it’s definitely something worth checking out. As I’m writing this, there are just 3 spots left, though there is also an audit option (where you attend and get to take part in the discussions but don’t get your own script workshopped). Check it out here (along with a list of upcoming workshops in other areas).
Secondly, Julie Gray of Just Effing Entertain Me (formerly The Rouge Wave) and The Script Department is conducting a series of classes/workshops. On May 1 & 2, she’s got one in San Francisco. Julie’s blog is a wonderful source of information and motivation. I personally have used The Script Department’s services, and my phone consultation with Julie was extremely helpful. I’m hoping she’ll make it to Kansas City one day, but, for you lucky folks in the San Francisco area, her workshop is definitely something worth checking out. You can find all the pertinent info here.
That’s all for now. Keep on keeping on, as they say. April will be over soon. But not so soon that you should worry about not being able to finish your script. Right.
Haiku Review: 18 April 2010
So, I’m posting this something like 12 days after I intended, but it’s April and that means Screnzy + soccer + more soccer, and I’m busy. So sue me. But please keep reading my blog. 
Also, if there’s one thing that can be learned from my Haiku Reviews, it’s that I like Cary Grant. So here’s a picture to make up for the super-lengthy delay.
Aw, Cary! A flower and smoldering gaze for me? You shouldn't have!
Notorious (4 stars): Hitchcock delivers / Cary Grant’s best performance / plus great female role
The Cove (4 stars): surprisingly fair / with huge amounts of research / hard to watch at times
Lethal Weapon 2 (3 stars): the toilet bomb scene / is worth price of admission / on its very own
Precious (3 stars): good performances / but too melodramatic / for my normal tastes
Butterflies are Free (3½ stars): flighty hippie chick / befriends and falls for blind guy / in sweet funny film
The Bounty Hunter (2 stars): wanted to be like / His Girl Friday but failed / so miserably
HouseSitter (3½ stars): Steve Martin flustered / by Goldie Hawn’s odd antics / makes hilarity
My Man Godfrey (5 stars): like Easy Virtue / happy and before the war / kooky and awesome
The Big Sleep (4 stars): whodunit and why / Bogey and Bacall trade barbs / and light up the screen
She Done Him Wrong (3 stars): pre-code scandalous / plus a young suave Cary Grant / yes please I want more
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (2½ stars): kind of cute in parts / swimming pool number is weird / never quite grabbed me
Casablanca (5 stars): doesn’t get better / if you haven’t seen this film / please fix right away
Gone With The Wind (4 stars): i loved the first half / second was quite a downer / a gorgeous epic
How to Train Your Dragon (4 stars): like Lilo & Stitch / at turns poignant and so fun / want a dragon now
Chloe (3 stars): first half got five stars / but the end went off the rails / not in a good way
People Will Talk (3 stars): lighthearted movie / about serious issues / plus it’s Cary Grant
The Guild, Seasons 1, 2 & 3 (5 stars): hilarious look / at collisions of real life / and online networks
She’s Out of My League (3½ stars): a sweet knee-slapper / one of the better rom-coms / of the past few years
Desert Island DVDs
Over at the Fandango Groovers Movie Blog, Andy has challenged movie bloggers and bloggers who love movies to come up with the eight movies they’d want if they were stuck on a desert island and somehow miraculously had a working DVD player. You can find a list of participants here, along with Andy’s own picks here.
When considering the films I’d want, I found I wasn’t particularly interested in the films I consider to be critical bests so much as movies I can watch over and over again. So, while some of these movies might not stand up as the greatest films of all times, for me, they do stand up as some of the most watchable. And if you’re stuck on a desert island with no end in sight, I think that’s what matters. In no particular order, here are my picks.
Elizabethtown: Depending on whom you ask, this movie’s either a guilty pleasure or just a pleasure. Either way, it’s a movie I’ve come back to again and again. And its theme of dealing with failure seems pretty appropriate for being stuck on a desert island.
The Princess Bride: Probably don’t need to explain this one. Whether or not you’re a fan, you probably already at least know how fans feel about it. I’m a fan.
Easy Virtue: I’ve talked at length about my love of this movie. It’s layered, it’s funny, it’s dramatic, it’s poignant, and it’s got a great soundtrack, too. I’ve watched it something like five times in the past year, so I think it’s a safe desert island pick.
Lilo & Stitch: My second favorite Disney movie of all time. The quirky humor is right up my alley, so much so that I named one of my dogs after Lilo. Her name is Lilo. She’s awesome. So’s this movie. It’s not your typical animated Disney fairytale, so, if you’ve been steering clear of it because of that, stop. See it. You might want to take it to your own desert island some day.
Disney’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame: My favorite Disney movie of all time. Perhaps the darkest of all animated Disney tales, it also has an extremely underrated soundtrack, and it sports some of the most gorgeous animation of the modern era.
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl: This fulfills the eye-candy requirements for my island, and it also provides some inspiration for how to get off said island. As a bonus, it can act as a sympathetic companion when I run out of rum.
Now, I’m sort of cheating for my last one, but since they were filmed all at once, I think it’s OK to compromise and count it as my last two. So, for my last choice, I choose…
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (preferably the extended editions with appendices): For the record, if I had to choose two of these films, I’d choose The Two Towers and The Return of the King, but I’d really like to not have to make that choice. I mean, come on. I’m already stuck on a desert island. Cut me a little slack. These movies hit all the targets at varying times: funny, epic, gorgeous, inspiring, etc., etc. Plus, they take up a nice, big chunk of desert island life, and that’s probably a good thing.
Those are my picks. What are yours?
Haiku Review: 4 April 2010
I’m way behind on my movie recaps, so I’ll do half today and half tomorrow. Off we go!
The Awful Truth (3 stars): a husband and wife / suspect worst of each other / bring on the hijinks
How to Marry a Millionaire (3 stars): some pretty ladies / try to land themselves rich men / but find love instead
Easy Virtue (5 stars): i love this movie / i’ve said so a few times now / but it’s still quite true
Shutter Island (5 stars): Scorsese directs / another cinematic / thriller tour de force
The Wolfman (2 stars): i wish i had watched / an american werewolf / in london instead
Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog (5 stars): if the writer’s strike / brings entertainment like this / let’s strike more often
The Illusionist (4 stars): underrated film / about illusion and love / and the force of each
Girl With a Pearl Earring (4 stars): a study of art / and the way artists connect / in their unique way
Coco Avant Chanel (3 stars): stubborn as a mule / that was one of Chanel’s traits / and it served her well
Crazy Heart (4 stars): a country singer / trades his dignity for booze / but learns his lesson
Cop Out (2 stars): I wanted to laugh / they should have hired Abed / to write it instead
Pulp Fiction (3 stars): innovative, sure / but i wanted more of uma / and a bit less bruce
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men (3 stars): John Krasinski gives / an interesting showcase / of why most men suck
Don’t Bother to Knock (3 stars): Marilyn Monroe / gives an edgy performance / in unsettling role
Alice in Wonderland (4 stars): i saw some heart here / where a lot of folks did not / in Alice’s arc
[FridayFlash] The Easter Hare
I’ve been on FridayFlash hiatus for a few weeks due to a variety of excuses, but I’m back for at least this week with a quick Easter story. Hope you enjoy!
THE EASTER HARE
The children woke early and woke their parents, too. Part of having children is rising much earlier than necessary on at least two days out of the year, and this day was Easter.
Barely awake and hastily dressed, the adults were dragged outside by miniature hands on their sleeves. But as soon as they crossed the threshold into the cool, crisp air, an odd crunching sound found their ears. The children stopped in their tracks, nearly sending their parents tumbling over them. Now alert, they looked out over the yard.
It should have sparkled with foil-wrapped chocolates and candy-colored eggs. That was the deal. It was How Things Worked.
And admittedly, there were in fact eggs. Hundreds of them, perhaps. But these were not Easter eggs. No, they weren’t even hard-boiled, and they certainly weren’t chocolate. The brown and white shells, some in tact and others not, littered the yard. Egg yolk colored the tree leaves, and the viscous white dripped from the branches. And even though the air was cool, the sun was beginning to warm the surfaces, and a putrid smell was just barely beginning to rise from the yard. Tears filled the children’s eyes, and thoughts of teenage hooligans rampaged in their parents’ minds.
Before anyone could take action, though, a flash of white sped through the yard.
“Hey!” cried the little girl.
The flash became a fluffy, white rabbit, and it looked at her with sad eyes. “I’m too late,” he muttered.
“What happened?” asked the girl’s brother. Though he was not quite two years older, he put a protective arm around his little sister.
The rabbit grimaced, and then he scowled. “My idiot half brother,” he spat. “That’s what happened.”
“You have a brother?” the children’s mother asked.
“I’m a rabbit. Of course I have a brother. Six hundred and seventy-three, to be exact, and another twelve-hundred and eight half-brothers. And don’t even get me started on my sisters.”
“Are they all Easter bunnies?” the father asked.
The rabbit rolled his eyes. “Of course not.”
“Oh,” the father said, simply. “Then, which one did this?”
Fury flashed in the rabbit’s eyes as he spoke: “The March Hare.”
“The March Hare?” asked the mother, incredulous.
“Yes, The March Hare, and thank heavens there’s only one of him!” The rabbit approached the family now, and they huddled a little closer together. This was not the Easter Bunny the television specials and Hallmark cards had told them about. The rabbit put out his paws, as if expecting payment for something. But then, with a pop, two baskets, filled with the most beautifully painted eggs and decadent-looking chocolates the family had ever seen, appeared out of thin air. “Take these,” he said. “Sorry about the hunt.”
The rabbit turned around and surveyed the yard. His ears went straight up and then bent forward at a right angle, sending a beam of light over the yard. In an instant, the errant eggs were gone, and thankfully so was the smell. The rabbit screwed up his arms, prepared to dash away, but the little girl ran forward. Surprised, the rabbit stared at the little girl, and, surprised at herself, the little girl stared back at the rabbit. Finally, she threw her arms around his neck.
“Happy Easter,” she said. “And thanks.”
She let go and went back to join her family. The rabbit very nearly smiled. “You’re welcome. And Happy Easter to you, too.” And then, with a last curt nod in their direction, he was gone.
The children looked at each other, and their parents did the same, and then the boy — so wise beyond his years, as children often are before they grow up — voiced what they all were thinking: “This is the best Easter ever!”
© 2010 Elizabeth Ditty
