The 4 Horsemen

Aaaaaand.... we have a title. And a story no less. I'm quite proud. Draft? Draft you say? I'm workin' on it Mr./Mrs. Hurry pants! It takes time to hone such genius... of course I've heard it takes time to hone anything... even the ability to eat cereal can sometimes require days - nay - MONTHS to achieve some sort of mastery.

But, I digress... quickly. The script is coming along. My problem (as is the norm) is that I always have difficulty with the first 10 pages. Act One is always a chore, while Acts Two and Three come much more easily. In this case I've practically written the last two acts and am now just struggling with the first. I think I feel the most amount of pressure surrounding these first few pages as the audience is either going to be drawn in or walk out in those first few moments of the movie.

Of course, being afraid of those first few pages leaves open the room to be a procrastinator... as I always have been. If I can just obsess about an action line here or there... if I can pull my hair out over whether or not a "cut" is the right way to handle this transition (perhaps a dissolve is better?)... if I can bang my head against the wall over dialog like "hembras loca, me have tieso." Then I can actually prevent myself of getting a WHOLE lot of work done.

But enough of that junk, let's get to the nitty gritty (a phrase I absolutely hate, but find myself using numerous times throughout the day. What's it about? That's a good question. Plot wise it's about a gang of outlaws in 1895. They take on the personas of the Mythic Four Horsemen from the Bible. Pestilence, War, Famine, and Death. Together, they lead a gang called "The Horde" and cut a swath through the west. On the run, the four reach a small, isolated town in Montana and quickly ravage it. In the middle of the night, Famine (the leader) is attacked by a townsperson. The townsperson fails in his mission to kill Famine, but gets off a lucky shot from his revolver. It strikes Famine in the head... but doesn't kill him, rather induces amnesia.

This is the "inciting incident" if you will. How do the other 3 horsemen react to this? What does Famine make of his disturbing life? All questions that I try to answer. Sssssssslowly... but only in 30 pages... fun yay!

Anywho, enough with this pesky procrastination and onward to the writing thing.

Cherios... wait... Corn Flakes?

Under the Weather

I hates bein' sick. Seriously. I got this weird sinus infection thing going on and it's knocked me on my ass. I guess better now that I'm out of school and have the luxury of just sitting around this weekend.

Being sick has left me able to get some writing done (or at least get some thinking about writing done). Right now, with thesis time staring me in the face and the possibility of doing a western as said thesis, I'm trying to think of something kind of exciting to do. I've always wanted to make a western. I love the genre, but I guess more than that, I love a sub-genre of the western genre. I love the "Man With No Name" series of Clint Eastwood films. My personal favorite is High Plains Drifter. That's movie makin' right there. And so I've set my mind to making something similar... at least in tone.

Right now I'm seeing a strange expressionistic film about good and evil. Nothing new, but I'd like to put my own spin on it. That being said... it's a hell of a hard thing to accomplish without a budget. We'll see.

Anywho. Back to the grind of being sick. Couch time. I think I'll watch some Buffy... something to make me feel mo betta.

And the semester comes to a close. WOW!

Ye gads... that was an exciting two months... no really, it was.

With my second short film done (titled GONE) I'm feeling more confident with my ability to direct actors and create a visual voice for each piece I'm working on. That being said, it's hard work. And, more to the point, my big challenge still lies within writing. It's not that I'm a bad writer, as much as I tend to write films full of quiet moments and soft dialogs which talk about everything except what is actually going on. I like that in some ways, but it sets up a tone that's very monotonous at times. Hmmmm... working on it.

Now, with two short films under my belt (one of which I'm sending to festivals, for better or worse) I'm looking forward to my thesis film. Three scripts are in competition with each other for my attention. Two of which are drama/psychological studies... i.e. easy to shoot in terms of production. The third is a collaborative effort with another filmmaker and an actress to make a western. I don't know about that. It may work, it may not. I've always wanted to make a western, but the production problems that surround something like that are pretty impressive. That's not to say I'm writing it off, rather "approaching with caution". I'm not deluding myself into thinking this will be easy.

So, here I sit. Two years into my graduate degree (and only one year left) and 40 pounds lighter... I'm still chunky though... DAMMIT! But I feel good. My bad knee still bugs me, the rib I separated earlier this year still reminds me it's there, and the bills pile up. But I feel good. I feel like I'm doing what I always wanted to... and that's worth some aches and pains... definitely. ;)

Until next time, I am - and will always be - your Lonely Director.