Tortured

Well... not literally. I think any artist worth their salt has been mentally tortured from time to time. Here I am now, being tortured... and like it I DO NOT!

Perhaps this needs some backstory. Fair enough...

I've been working on a script for about 4 weeks now. It's slowly taking shape, but it's a major struggle. For those of you who don't know, writing is hard. Writing well is even harder... and I don't think there's a "level" of difficulty for GREAT writing. Suffice to say, I haven't achieved it yet and doubt I ever will. My skills lie with understanding shot making and working with actors. Writing is necessary and I have to fight to make it all work. Maybe all writers do. I don't know many so I suppose I can only surmise. I just used allot of S's...

Anyway... I write. I try to write. I've worked with my writing professor now, as well as two other collegues and, I have to say, nothing has helped. This story is strange and not quite firing on any one, compelling, cylinder.

And, as difficult writing may be... I think writing short films is even MORE difficult. There is just so little that can be put into 15-20 pages to help with characters/background/and emotional journey that it becomes very difficult to have a complete piece which both makes sense and is emotionally satisfying. Right now, I'm still missing both.

The end is kind of emotionally satisfying... but the story doesn't quite make sense. I'm sure I'll get it pieced together. At least 70% sure. I've done it before... I SHOULD be able to do it again. Until then, I'll sit... and try to write... write one scene... then another... try to figure out what my character wants... try to figure out what the entire script is "about"... try to make a cup of coffee that doesn't taste like soapy water (seriously... what the hell is with this coffee maker in the grad lab?!?!?!)

I'll try... and I'll keep y'all informed.

Your Lonely Director,

Nick J.

The Last Horseman

Hey... TITLE CHANGED! Imagine that ;)

Sometimes you wonder how smart you really are... well, I do anyway. I set out with the best intentions. I wanted to make something GLORIOUS for my thesis. I approach every film I make with the attitude that I may never make another film ever again. Thus I can put all of my creativity toward whatever project I'm working on.

With that in mind, I decided to write a 20 page Western. Complete with horses, guns, blood and masks (that's probably pretty weird but it makes sense in the script... I hope). Yay for me... I made something that could be considered... "expensive"... maybe even "unreasonable". But, hey... who ever got anywhere by being reasonable... don't answer that, my fragile little psyche can barely handle the stress of this thing right now.

Anyway, all kidding aside, I'm very happy with the script. I just sat down and watched the tremendously good "The Proposition" which has a very similar feel to what I'm trying to accomplish. It's help me shape a couple of scenes that I was having trouble with from the get go.

We'll be shooting on 2 DVX100B cameras. I've had a ton of luck with them and, even though I was offered the chance to shoot on the XL2, I just haven't been as impressed with the Canon pulldown. In the end, it's all about drama and story anyway so it wouldn't matter if we were shooting on a PD150... well it would... I lied.

So as this moves forward, I'll try to keep y'all updated. It could be something really good. Could all fall apart in my lap. If that happens I'll just keep quiet for a little while and hand it off to my trusty editor... who just so happens to be me... so I guess that doesn't help much.

Sincerely,

Your Lonely Director; Nick J.