Between 2 and 330AM, KB, Gabs, Fauvell, Brigums, and I sat around the couches and brainstormed some truly terrible titles, some intentional some not. Here are some of them:
CHASING BRUCE
MISSING BRUCE
CLEARING
FOOTPRINTS IN THE SALT
SALTY AIR
INTO SALT AIR
EVERYWHERE BUT HERE
EVERYTHING IS POISONED
TAKE
GHOSTBUSTERS 3
Just before bed we thought of one that I think may work. Any last minute thoughts???
TWELVE HOURS LEFT!!!
Yes, no, maybe?
Come one, come all to the NYC screenings September 3rd and 4th! We are doing one in Queens at the amazing ATTIC STUDIOS and also one in Manhattan at the historic BLEECKER STREET THEATER. The screenings are FREE and there will receptions following both. Please come and help us celebrate the culmination of this amazing adventure!
We still have 30 hours of editing to go, but we stop all work at 11:59:59PM TOMORROW!
Love to you all!
-ML
Sorry 14-year-old Mormon fans – Brewvies got FULL BAR status in November so to see the Four Week Feature you’ll need to buy a fake ID or just wait until Sundance!*
*We have not been accepted to Sundance. But maybe we’ll have a private screening at the condo DURING Sundance!!**
**Did I just invite a bunch of 14-year-olds to Keith’s condo? Hmm. Probably should end this post immediately.
SEE ALL YOU OLD FOLKS SUNDAY!
-ML
So much happens every day, that one sort of blends into another. Anecdotes and accidents get lost in the shuffle. We got two flat tires yesterday. The day before we drove the wrong way on a highway for 45 minutes. Days earlier we almost got chased out of our wonderful motel location by co-owner “Uncle Gary” who arrived at the door of the motel on a tractor and had a classic encounter with Keith Boynton. Derek Van Gorder is losing his mind. These incidents and countless others are melding and metastasizing into a sort of 4WF lore and will certainly be recounted in the coming days and weeks. But for now, since my words are failing me, some pictures …
Breakfast of Champions
Clint did not think Keith would drink a water glass full of syrup. He was wrong
In Wyoming, even the Dominoes guy drives a 'Stang
A couple of Z's
Kings of the kill, me and Fauvell, Chad on the ground
DVGenius, at the height of his powers
Shadows: Fauvell, me, Lee
Getting late in the Saltair Flats
Making movies. What else is there?
-ML
This will be short.
We have adjourned for the evening, having brainstormed for the better part of four and a half hours. We discussed and dissected 10 images – all of which were interesting in their own ways – many of which were striking in their similarity.
The brainstorming was a wild, rapid fire adventure into the creative and insane minds of our teammates. I hope we remember some of it. I’m told there is video, but I am sort of afraid to see it. We’ll put it all in the DVD extras.
Tonight we came up with of about 6 film premises. Later today we will reconvene and expand a few of these during the course of two massive brainstorming sessions, that will in large part will determine the future of the film. It feels like we are making a movie-creature and the next 24 hours is the time for our idea-sperm & thought-eggs to combine and lay down the DNA for the monster that will emerge in the coming weeks.
Did you follow that? Yeah, me neither. I’ll edit this tomorrow. Promise.
-ML
10 days, 3 timezones, 1 crazy whirlwind.
As Keith mentioned many days ago, I was in Los Angeles to shoot a short film, which was called The Rooster. We were at a horse ranch in Thousand Oaks, CA; place of serene beauty, which was an interesting contrast to the insanity of filmmaking. The script written by the Emmy-nominated Danny Strong, it co-starred Strong himself, Danny Masterson of That ’70s Show fame, Carla Gallo of every television show you’ve ever heard of, and ME, of, um, my infrequently visited website. It was pretty wild making a film with actors whose work I’ve seen before, a writer whose previous work I adore, and a fantastic director who I’ve known for years but who have never worked with professionally. I’m insanely excited to see what becomes of it!
Me in trendy clothing??? MUST be a movie!
This film is not nearly as serious as this still would indicate.
In a moment of calm, Carla and I Facebook, but not each other
A zonkey, or z-donk.
On earth, a little heaven.
Night
We wrapped The Rooster at 4AM, and at 730AM I was on a Jetblue flight bound for JFK. I had three nights in Brooklyn to unpack, do laundry, forget to pay rent, and repack. On Wednesday at 3PM I was on a Jetblue flight bound for SLC.
Yesterday Keith and I snuck into a brand new luxury hotel, The St. Regis, which has one of only two funiculars in America. Well, we sorta just walked right in. Turns out there’s not a lot of vagrants in Park City, so you can kind of just go wherever and people don’t ask any questions. It’s like being Canada, but with only rich people.
I can't even afford the bottled water here.
Fauvell will definitely be skinny dipping here before the end of August.
Tower of fire, unlit, hotel roundabout
The funicular is about to hit that poor insect!!!
Now I am at the condo in Park City, drinking as much Peets coffee as my nerves can stand, blogging, and preparing for 11 hours from now, when a brand new day will begin with a creative explosion the likes of which I’ve never seen.
Then then,
-ML
More from the original John G.
DRAMATIC ACTION IS PARABOLIC.
CHARACTER WANTS TO DO X
IT BECOMES LESS AND LESS POSSIBLE.
THINGS HAPPEN SO THAT S/HE HAS TO DO Y.
Beats are units that make up parabola. The parabola is the skeleton. Beats are the muscle. One parabola leads to the next.
People do not want to change. They hang on as long as they can until it is painfully clear that they MUST change.
I will go into the kitchen to get cookies.
I enter the kitchen.
But there are no cookies here.
The wall caves in behind me. I cannot return to my bedroom to watch Family Guy on Hulu.
I must escape this kitchen and continue my search for cookies.
A little kid tells Jerry to fuck himself. “Who had I become? Just another shark in a suit?”
Jerry has a breakthrough – he hates his place in the world. He DECIDES to write a memo. To help save himself.
“And then it happened.” He sits down and writes and writes and writes. “Fewer clients. Less money.” He mass produces it. “EVERYBODY got a copy.”
“Boom.” He realizes this is a horrible mistake. He frantically calls the hotel reception…
…but the manuscripts have already been sent out.
Although he is cheered wildly the next morning, director Cameron Crowe forshadows what will happen soon – sure enough, he is FIRED.
This begins the next parabola where Jerry C.1: Decides to keep all his clients, C.2: and calls them, desperately fighting against the Bob Sugar’s rumors and leverage. C.3: He cannot keep pace with either and then gets stuck in a conversation with motormouth Rod Tidwell who throws Jerry’s “more personal attention” line back at him. As the “on hold” lights on the phone become fewer and fewer Jerry must prove his loyalty to Rod by screaming “Show me the money.” C.4: At the end of this conversation, there is no one left for Jerry to talk to. C.5: Jerry must move forward with just Rod, Dorothy Boyd and the fish.
Ironically enough, now he has less clients and less money, which is what he was preaching in the first place. And by the end of the film, that mission statement that caused him so much pain does end up saving him.
Man, making movies is easy!
-ML
Modern life is pretty absurd sometimes. I don’t know how we get anything done with all this reflecting on how we get things done.
At any rate, WELCOME TO THE TEAM LEE!
Characteristic ridiculousness.
-ML
SCENES ARE BUILT ON BEATS.1
This goes back to Stanislavski. Beats are the byproduct of two (or more) character’s incompatible agendas. Only one can be successfully realized and often it takes a very long time for the protagonist to get what s/he ultimately desires. If not, Lord of the Rings would have gone something like this:
FRODO
Give me the ring. It must destroy it.
GOLLUM
Here is precious, for you!
Frodo throws the ring into the center of a nearby volcano. Evil dies forever.
THE END.
The beat is like a possession in football. Whoever has the ball tries to advance. Whoever is on defense tries to stop the other’s advance. If they are stopping the RUN, the offense is likely to CHANGE TACTICS and mix it up with a PASS. Evenly matched teams produce the most dramatic, most entertaining games. Evenly matched characters have the same effect. Blowouts are boring.
*****
BASIC BEAT RHYTHM
Two characters: A & B
You see the wit and relationships in the negotiations. The characters come alive.
An example from the shooting script of Pulp Fiction. Vincent races to his drug dealer’s house with a woman who is overdosing. He needs his dealer’s help. The dealer does not want to be involved in any way. Drama and dark comedy ensues.
VINCENT – OFFER
Lance, this is Vincent, I’m in big
fuckin’ trouble man, I’m on my way
to your place.
LANCE – WEAK BLOCK
Whoa, hold you horses man, what’s
the problem?
VINCENT
You still got an adrenalin shot?
LANCE
(dawning on him)
Maybe.
VINCENT – REVISED OFFER
I need it man, I got a chick she’s
fuckin’ O.D.ing on me.
LANCE – STRONGER BLOCK
Don’t bring her here! I’m not even
fuckin’ joking with you, don’t you
be bringing some fucked up pooh-
butt to my house!
VINCENT – IMPASSE
No choice.
LANCE- IMPASSE
She’s O.D.in’?
VINCENT- IMPASSE
Yeah. She’s dyin’.
LANCE – NEGOTIATION
Then bite the fuckin’ bullet, take
‘er to a hospital and call a lawyer!
VINCENT – NEGOTIATION
Negative.
Moments later, in person…
LANCE – NEGOTIATION
Have you lost your mind?! You
crashed your car in my fuckin’
house! You talk about drug shit on
a cellular fuckin’ phone –
VINCENT – NEGOTIATION
If you’re through havin’ your
little hissy fit, this chick is
dyin’, get your needle and git it now!
LANCE – NEGOTIATION
Are you deaf? You’re not bringin’
that fucked up bitch in my house!
VINCENT – NEGOTIATION
This fucked up bitch is Marsellus
Wallace’s wife. Now if she fuckin’
croaks on me, I’m a grease spot.
I’m gonna be forced to tell
‘im about how you coulda saved her
life, but instead you let her die
on your front lawn.
OFFER ACCEPTED.
Easy!
-ML
