Wednesday, April 21, 2010

DAY 052: MAKING THE THRILLER FILM *****

It's  3:05 a.m. on a cold windy Weds early morn' - the wind - rushing and swirling - directly off the ocean. Day 52 of making the movie.  Yesterday was a great day/night on the pre-production front - the storyboard is moving along - and - is really exciting me. Much more than the last few times I've done
productions - main reason - this time I'm doing a storyboard - see, the script process - is labor for me. Well - let me qualify that - it's all labor - but - the script process in-of-itself  gets tortuous for me - I'm visual. I think visually - I talk visually - write visually. Creating the storyboard along with a rough script has made writing the movie a dream come true. Exciting. For I get to see what I'm telling - saying - writing. The fact that it's just a storyboard - and I can play with it - make changes - cut scenes - tighten scenes up - because hey - it's just the storyboard - it's not film - has created a scenario - for me - that has brought the fun back into writing the story/script.

In the past - the script has been something I HAD to do - after I got the jest of the story down ( the fun part ) - it all became all about -  format and sentence structure etc for me - and as I have always said - if I was interested in correct grammar and sentence structure and format - I'd have been an author - my passion gravitates to visual storytelling - and the storyboard has bridged that gap for me.

Currently I am halfway through the first act - getting more and more excited as I see the movie coming together - making notes as I move along - for I can SEE how the set needs to be built - platforms for the DP to stand upon - removable walls for the camera to flow into the next shot etc... on and on.

Random thought - whatever happened to ZZ TOP??

Anyway - one last note about story-boarding  - I'm loving how I can time stretch scenes I've drawn within the program to allow me to see how long to hold certain shots for maximum tension - and man - is this movie having some key tension moments - scaring the hell outta' you/the audience - that's gonna be a blast - kind of like - way back when I used to make all those haunted houses when I was kid. Nothing like seeing people scream and jump then hearing the laughter afterwards as they grabbed each other - that's always the kicker for me - when after the scream you hear the roaring laughter - that's when you know somethings worked - for me anyway.

Well - back to work for me - some more storyboard videos coming soon - and the members letter is going out to you all within 36 hours - hope you're signed up - some grand info for the members in that!

Stay creative - and talk soon my friends ;-)

I'm jus' sayin'

OKLAHOMA WARD

12 comments:

  1. It really is facinating getting to see the storyboard come together. Even though you will only show me bits and pieces - I am getting so pumped about the movie. It's going to be so cool getting the script and storyboard and being able to read it - but also watch and get an idea of what I'll be doing. <--- Speaking of - this is going to be quite a physical challenge for me, and I'm SO excited - BRING IT ON!! :)

    Um so - what DID happen to ZZ Top? lol

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  2. Well sounds like you are moving along. Can't wait to see what comes next. Does the storyboard show all the scenes or just the general hi lights? And if all the scenes, I assume we won't get to see all of it. Cloudy overcast day here in midwest, no wind at this time and no ocean to watch. lol Keep up the good work and keep us advised. We are looking forward to the actual filming.

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  3. Shirl - my storyboard will have all the scenes - in fact I am patching in a soundtrack and turing it into a movie with dialog and all - so I can get a feel for length of scenes etc - so yeah - I can only show bits a pieces. When I am done I will have a 97 minutes video with sound - very interesting and I will have a book with each page having a few of the frames on it and notes so the DP and I can read the story and look a the notes we all have on each shot. This time every single shot is gong to be spot on - no wasted time or shots. It is all about the pre work this time lol ;-)

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  4. Very intriguing. Moviestorm was a way to do a very similar run-through by making a low-key animation of the whole movie, but it used to be free and now there's a monthly charge. Cheap compared to what you got, surely with less control to see how everything should be set up. I am sure even the lowest version of your program would supply much more info.

    I've seen storyboards for The Empire Strikes Back and the camera angles and shot composition are IDENTICAL to the film frame! I imagine your's will come out about the same with as much detail as you are able to work out before hand?

    Looking forward to more videos!

    Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top can be found at the major auto auctions for collectors cars. He's up to his eyeballs in the hobby. I don't know about the other two.

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  5. What happens to the storyboard after the movie is made and distributed? Do you just scrap it, or keep for posterity? Or sell it or what. It sounds somewhat similar to cartoon cells of animated films. I know in other artistic fields, the cartoons are great. Many many years ago I was privilaged to visit a workshop in Philly where gigantic stained glass (old and new) were created. They were beautiful but I found the cartoons great too. And Chilully, the glass artist, sells his colorful "cartoons" of his preconceptions of glass works, which are shown like paintings. I watched the video trailer, Rejection, again and it makes me somewhat down to watch it. A realistic outlook is essential but optimism and hope needs to remain. I guess it could be used to weed out the weak and buck up the strong. You have to know what can be done and what is completely out of the question. Otherwise a good good morning with spotty sun out and mild weather. Coffee going and I'm ready to start my day.

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  6. Now thats an interesting concept - what to do with the books of the storyboard and the movie of it - well - I'm thinking - it might be grand to raffle all but three of them to the biggest fans of the movie AND the last three - signed by the whole cast - sold on the website on some sort of contest to the members only. Grand idea Shirl!

    And as for the trailer and letting git get you down - that's EXACTLY one of the questions asked to Paul the director - and his answer is superb - see it May 1st right here on the website ;-)

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  7. Exactly my thoughts on the storyboard, etc. I know some visual artists who start a new painting before an audience, and the artist announces, " if you buy it now before I put down one stroke, its only this much BUT if you wait until I'm half finished, it is this much (higher of course) and if you wait until I finish, you will have to pay this much. I was thinking, the storyboard visual scenes could bring up suspense in the fact that the scene they buy may be the top scene in the movie, or a moment of revelation, or so on. Just an idea.

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  8. Received your first email and promptly forwarded to as many friends as possible. Now what is this secret page you are talking about? Hope you get some new members from this attempt. We are all looking forward to the new movie and want to be a part of the process. Starting out another day, as I am sure you are, with lots of things to accomplish. Will get back to you later.

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  9. Well Monday morning and its chilly but sunny outside. Glad to hear work is progressing well on the storyboard. Can't wait until we can see some of the finished work and then the production! Just finished watching First Love first season and you think you've got problems! lol Have to pick up the second season and see what progresses. Breakin Bad was good last night. Where is a lawyer like that when you need them??? And the bad guys are BAD! Hope Hank is tougher and smarter than these two bad twin boys!! Then rounded up with a showing of The Tudors. Believe it or not, I do have a life outside of movies and tv! Worked all weekend on the 5 acres but nighttime is prime time! Keep up the good work and keeping us posted on the progress. Talk to you later.

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  10. First Love??? You mean Big Love - and yes - a very good series - very well written. It's one of those series that does not fit into the usual TV plot - and therefore - it is very interesting to watch how the writers handle moving the plot along. Very unique story I think. Very well acted.

    Breaking Bad just rocks. It's that simple - rivals so many movies that I've seen over the last years - it's not even funny. I love how the show will let a scene breath and build the tension without rushing it along. Not fast cutting and such - just good old plain tension building plot scenes.

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  11. A beauiful day here today even tho only in the 40's. But supposed to get up to the 60s this afternoon. Better than rainy and cloudy yesterday. Look for the Crawfords, Cory and Kris' memberships soon. Well I made a mistake and went to Amazon this morning already. Can now catch up on Big Love and Madmen soon. Course my bank account is smaller. So you plan on scaring the audience, huh? I believe you said the movie would be a horror movie combined with science fiction. Does adding the sci fi element make the filming and sets more difficult than just a horror film? Are we looking at an outer space monster (sounds tuff to me) or a mind altering monster? Jumping to other works, have you heard anything about the upcoming tv series being advertised about the nice town not being nice? Can you believe I can't even remember the name of the show? I notice this week they added the element of the mystery man being able to make people disappear. Hmmmm Didn't find that too amazing. Murder can make someone disappear! Not sure if we are talking a serial killer, a controlling insane person, or an alien being. Checked out a movie last week which I did not like at all! Bad Lieutenant with Nicholas Cage. Now Cage has been a favorite of mine for many many years. In fact I saw one of his earliest films being filmed in Tulsa, Ok many years ago. Wish I had noticed him more than I did. Mickey Rourke was there too. And I have followed Cage's films and loved many of them: Raising Arizona, Leaving Las Vegas, and many many more. Now I am not too crazy about films he is making, but this one was one of the worst! Hope he finds some better roles soon. That's it for now. Breakfast is calling! Talk to you later

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  12. You're right. It is Big Love, was that a Freudian slip? Hmmm. Yes, Big Love is well written and thought provoking. The concept is so against every principle we have been taught and this multiple family does not fit any stereotype we have of such, that it is fascinating. The compound fits the image we have, or at least I have. But again, the series, as Breaking Bad, etc., has me on edge all the time. Not only does it show an unbelievable life style but it covers the everyday problems of living "against the law" and the effects on children, job, and individuals. Talk about a reason (if you ever needed one) for the old single marriages, this series is it! Breaking Bad also reflects the "living on the edge and against the law". Interesting to hear all the justified reasons for making the drugs, which can be applied to any action which is considered immoral, etc. Even Dexter (a serial killer for gosh sakes) and his father justified the killings as okay due to the badness of the killed. And this in modern times, in civilized society. In Spartacus, he justifies the massacre as "blood for blood" and the horrible mistreatment of the slaves. You tell yourself in that time period, revenge and retribution was acceptable, and can believe his reasoning. The Roman Empire politics were very bloody, with murder used as a weapon of gaining power constant. In the Tudors, murder is done by government condemnation as well as secretly. We're strange creatures, aren't we?

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