Finishing the movie

It only takes one or two bad screenings to fix a movie that you know is close. In this case my mom, Mary Bonner (an actress in the movie), Lily (my girlfriend), and Dom Bartolini (the future sound designer) all had the misfortune to see the work-in-progress. Immediately I knew there was something wrong. The moving parts were all there, but it lurched. The scenes moved and looked right to me, but there was still something unclear about it, and I could see it as my viewers watched with blank faces. It was clear there was still work to do.

So back to the drawing table. There were problems with the beginning, just getting the movie off the ground, and with the end, pulling it all to a close. I focused on the basketball scene, at fives minutes the most challenging film editing I've ever done. I spent more time on it than any of my previous movies, and quite clearly, it didn't work. It was too long, too much basketball. The two hours plus of footage with two cameras yielded choppy results, a movie in of itself. I decided to table the second half of the scene and see if I could put it back in later, as a flashback. I did the same with the other scene at the beginning of the movie, a scene in a cafe, pausing only to introduce the characters and what they faced.

No movie can be too good out in the real world when you lock yourself in a room and stare it for a long time. But you gotta do that to know your movie, to find it, I think...

I set up a camera with a shotgun microphone and forced myself to read voice-over for an afternoon. I wrote and re-wrote, I made stuff up. It is amazing what a rolling camera does for your creativity. It forces the issue. I watched the movie, I drank beer and wine, I watched it more, and drank coffee. It started to come together. I started to see it.

When you get to the point where you can add credits, it's actually pretty fun. You are there.

It feels good, like there's a weight off my back. Today I made 40 VHS copies of the cut and sent them out to friends for some final feedback. We'll go from there... Anybody up for a drink?

"Personal Soundtrack" Screening in NY and LA

"Personal Soundtrack" will be screening as part of IFP/NY's Buzz Cuts program on Tuesday, September 14 at the Pioneer Movie Theatre in the East Village, and at the IFP/LA’s Cinema Lounge shorts program on Monday, October 25th at 7:30pm at the Temple Bar in Santa Monica (Wilshire & 11th St)!

Buzz Cuts (in New York) costs $5 but you get free pizza and beer if you come to the reception beforehand. Cinema Lounge (in LA) is free and open to the public, so we encourage you to spread the word to get people to check out the program.  It is a fun, relaxed atmosphere that serves drinks and food and a band usually plays right after the program ends at 9pm.

IFP is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting independent filmmakers and films, and both branches seem to have their own spirit, which is why this is pretty cool.  Some of their efforts include publishing Filmmaker: The Magazine of Independent Film and presenting the annual Independent Spirit Awards and Los Angeles Film Festival.  With over 10,000 members, IFP is among the leading non-profit film organizations worldwide.

Press Release: "Blatantly Subtle Holds Screening, Demands Recognition"

Like somebody's immortal words, to an outsider, things might seem to appear "All quiet on the Northeastern front" in the world of Blatantly Subtle. But off in the distance, this reporter, at least, can hear the sound of an upcoming offensive in the world of cinema. The troops have been organized, the plans have been set into motion, and on Nov. 14th 2004, at the Cantor Film Center, Blatantly Subtle plans to unleash its own version of the D-day offensive against the American cinematic landscape (editor's note: the opinions expressed in the official Blatantly Subtle Screening Press release in no way reflect the opinions of Blatantly Subtle. Blatantly Subtle is a nonviolent organization, but thoroughly enjoys using war analogies to heighten drama and tension within paragraphs).

Blatantly Subtle plans to unleash three new short films upon the American psyche, films so incredible that they aren't films at all, but videos that look like films. "How I Got Lost", " A Love Thing", and "Sell Out" will premiere, and put the world on notice, because there is a new sheriff in town, and it's name is Blatantly Subtle. "For once, I think we'll actually have all the movies done before the screening starts, which I think is a good sign" claims BS Co-Founder Sam Mestman (and director of the movie "Sell Out"). "I'm not thrilled about having to buy an extra plane ticket for this, but I'm a team player," admits Joe Leonard (BS co-founder, director of "How I Got Lost" and the man in charge of the ever-expanding BS-LA studio, "but whatever, I'm going to make the fuckers fly out for the LA screening." Well, Joe, word around town is that it'll be worth the inconvenience, as sources have confirmed that BS plans to have at least one, and potentially several (hundred?) industry representatives, producers, and celebrities at the premiere, not to mention the fact that the future stars of the film world (the cast and crew of the new movies), will also be in attendance. "Seriously, I'm going to tell practically everyone I know about this, and I think they're planning, like, a mailing and stuff too," says actor Jace McLean, "I mean... I know, like, a LOT of people." "If they manage to pull it off, I'll be there right behind them," claims director Brian Friedman ("A Love Thing"), and spoken like the true Canadian that he is.

The reality is that BS is ready to go legit, and the snowball is now finally starting to roll down the hill. From this reporters perspective, it's about time. "Yeah.... we're awesome," Jill Frutkin, actress/co-chairman of BS casually explains, "and it's time the rest of the world realized it." Truer words have never been spoken, Jill.

How to edit

First of all, it is impossible to edit for more than five or six hours a day.

You need to find a routine. For example, find one or two other things to do a day. Recently I have been going to job interviews to pass the time. I also rent three movies a week. (There is a three for the price of two deal at 20/20 video in Burbank.) I also go out of my way to make friends with people I don’t know.

In the morning, I make coffee. Sometimes I buy it, so I have somewhere to go. When I come back I check my mail. I am like a kid at camp with mail. In the late afternoon I go running. In between there are nearly five hours of productive time to be had.

If you don’t have patience you don’t have anything.

What you have to do is make friends with your movie, with the characters, the settings, the scenes. You will need these friends to finish the damn thing. If you don’t have anyone to hang out with it will be easier to make friends with your movie. If possible, move to a place where you know no one and will live alone.

You will have to confront yourself. Now. How to edit a life. First, look back. Second, remember the sensations. Finally, rewrite.

Rewriting as you edit your movie is the only way to learn something from your movie. Let your new friend, your movie, tell you where it will go. It knows best. If you trust it, maybe it will lead you somewhere.

A note of warning: you may be inclined to worry about what you originally intended. I originally intended for my life to be different from what it is. But that is no way to live. Not when you are alive each day and able to know who you are.

Rewrite rewrite rewrite. You have to own the movie of your life, if that’s the direction you are going to go.

The other trick I know is, edit the sound first. The stuff that sounds right will make anything look good. Or, to put it another way, do whatever works.