I shot this joint. And it was cool. Felt real fortunate to be working with as talented a cast and crew as I had. Cannot say enough about those folks.
Think I got a piece of equipment robbed, but you know, things happen. I think I have to file a police report. Good thing I have insurance.
Now begins the editing process. I hate editing–well, I don’t hate it, but it’s just not something I usually like to do on my own pieces. I’ll probably get the ball rolling, however, just because I’m pretty sure I’m broke now and won’t be able to afford an editor for some time.
In the meantime, I’ll just take my time. Hope to have this thing done by Spring.
I’ve got mad stuff to catch up on. I have mad movies to see. I still haven’t seen Avatar. I need a new job. I need to get my life together.
That’s this week. Getting my life together. Massive updates, soon.
Day 1 Call sheet.
New shooting script.
Board a little bit.
Print evvvvverything. Scripts. Breakdown Sheets. Contact Info. Hole Punch Everything
Shit.
Finish — breakdown list – scene by scene — what each means, why it’s there, the result you would like — highlight major beats…list objectives, action verbs etc. (why do I wait so fucking long to do this?) Just take it day-by-day. Do it before each day.
This shoot is cake. Sort of.
Met w/ actors. They’re going to do well. Pleased.
Budget is going up. #bad. Good thing for credit cards. Need to stay w/in estimates. #challenges.
Can only afford a cargo van Thurs and Sun.
Need to find A.D. By Friday night, otherwise, we are in for a very unnecessarily rocky start.
Shooting 5pm-5am.
Pick-Up Day. Credit Card is Getting Rocked. Saving Receipts. Thought Process for the Tentative Schedule.
Thursday–The Day of Many Calories Lost
08:00-10:00 Wake, Grab Groceries, Fix Breakfast, Try Best Not to Crash From Itis
11:30-12:30 – Pickup Cargo Van
12:30-01:30 – Rental House – Pick-Up, Load
02:00-03:00 – School-Rig Pick-Up, Load – Check, Load
– Art Director Swipes Card, Buys w/in Reason –
03:45-04:15 – Back in BK – Unload most valuable stuff at apt. so if we get robbed I don’t lose upwards of $50,000 worth of equipment
04:15-04:45 – Drop D.P. Off – So she can nap?
04:45-05:30 – Crafty Pick-up
– Art Goes Up — 05:00-08:00PM --
05:30-06:00 – Pick-Up from Ikea…when? fuck.
06:00-06:30 – …comes by, starts checking out sound gear, bounces like a thief in the night
06:30-7:00– ….something should be happening here.
06:30-07:30 – Discuss Art, Wardrobe, More if we aren’t already
07:00-07:30- P.A. picks up paintings, drops off Oranges
07:30-08:30 – ….. we meet, bring shit up my 4th fl walk-up (extra fun)
08:30-09:30 – meet w/ A.D. for Sat/Sun
08:30-12:30am – pre-light happens
09:30- Rehearsal w/ Actors
10:30- Take Van Back to Manhattan, Save $
Whenever done, crash and burn…
That bed is looking real good right now, but I can’t sleep in it. Actors need it. Let’s get it.
Mad shit to do. Why I’m blogging? I shouldn’t be.
I feel good, though. Took off work to give myself more time–think I’m leaving this job pretty soon, anyway, one way or the other, but hopefully for greener pastures.
2nd Interview for this other place tomorrow.
Rehearsal not until day of shooting. Not good, although I’ve done it before. I once recorded sound on a piece where we had to rehearse each scene for the first time before we actually took (shot) each scene itself. 8 pages in a single day. Not the ideal way to do things but if you have good actors and you’re focused, it can be done.
I hope to be a little more focused, but we’ll see. A lot of shit on my plate.
…very nice.
In a daze.
The situation in Haiti situation is extremely sad. I feel like I never knew how many West Indian people I’ve come to know until I started seeing stories, anecdotes, worries, concerns, prayers, flying across my twitterverse, which, oddly enough, has become my primary source of news.
Mad people I know are being affected. Funny how you can be pretty apathetic about a serious disaster until you see the devastation it’s wrought in the lives of the people near you, even people you barely know.
My thoughts?
China needs to stop bullshittin and give more money.
From my FB vis-a-vis China’s lack of giving:
“I’ve read their economy seems to be currently booming out of bloody control and they have a surplus of capital swilling around that they’re managing extremely well (at least for the time being) and well on their way to revitalizing and reforming the global economic climate at-large.
I’m just like, the NY Yankees have raised half a million, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie raised a million, the U.S. (in spite of still having to hobble through our period of crippling recession) claims to be giving 100 million and the entire nation of bloody China is unwilling to give more than a 1 million dollars to a country in need?
China is going to emerge as the predominant superpower over the course of this century and the nation of Haiti literally doesn’t have a god damn thing, has never had a god damn thing and is likely to be more destitute than ever before.
Flavor Flav could probably raise a 1 million dollars. Shit is wack.”
Also, Pat Robertson and Rush Limbaugh are douchebags beyond belief. Like, beyond fucking belief.
–
If you read this, txt musician Wyclef Jean’s Yele Organization hotline at “501501,” which supposedly has less overhead than that of the Red Cross and will supposedly facilitate more direct contributions to people that actually need them. But I invite people to do their own research.
See where you can donate locally. There’re going to be a bunch of events in Brooklyn and around NYC for sure. One will be tomorrow evening at Katra lounge, I believe, as well as various gatherings of people collecting things–but I’d like to get more info before I just write something down that’s incorrect.
If you follow me on twitter, I might tweet about it. @tahirtweets.
–
In other news…
I’m shooting in a week and I need to focus now more than ever.
Took off work for the better part of this week.
I’m shooting. I’m doing a lot and I need to move. That’s all. Whenever it gets to this point, your attention just tends to blur, and you’ve got to keep things in line. I have a lot of stuff on my plate, but fortunately, my production isn’t as production heavy as a lot of other student productions have been. But all the more reason why my shit needs to be extra tight.
7 Days. Moments of truth.
…
Shit I need to do.
Lock this damned script down. (it’s almost there, I swear)
Rehearse.
Get and beg for free shit. (Food, props, art direction stuff, etc.)
Get crew.
Get familiar with my Netflix queue.
Draw.
Get a grip.
Oh boy.
It doesn’t even feel like Christmas.
I’m in NY, I’m cold and I’m broke.
Screw everybody with their Christmases.
I’m going to be at the store dealing with jerks.
Merry Christmas.
Nah, but for real, Merry Christmas. I’m not at all as angry as I sound. It just really doesn’t even feel like Christmas since I won’t be going home this year. A little homesick, that’s all I’m saying.
Gotta make this money, man.
Seems like all there is is money and the willingness to try to get it. But at least I’m employed.
At least I’m employed.
.
So I’m finally shooting something. I got the greenlight. Now the only one that can screw up stuff is me. Dope.
I’m going in 5 weeks. So why am I blogging? ‘Cause I don’t feel like making phone calls right now. This 40hr work week has me feeling like somebody’s grandpa. Having done straight for about 2 months, now, I see why most people just come home, eat a sandwich, make babies (if they’re lucky) and go to sleep. This stuff is stressful and taxing. But that’s why I left MD–to attempt to go the distance.
The holidays have approached and it doesn’t feel like Christmas at all–probably because I’m away from family for the first time, spending my days in a red t-shirt, hocking technology of various kinds to people.
Cell phone cases that are nearly all the same in some form or fashion. Car stereo adapters. I answer questions for self-important, often lazy people. Good people, too. Inquisitive people. Bothersome people. People that get their kicks by displaying their technological-savvy to people that don’t care to be impressed by their knowledge. Pushy people. Germy people. European people that don’t speak English well, lean into your face too closely to ask you a question, then lean closer when you back away. Questions I’ve answered over and over and over and over again for hours on end. Walking around a store for hours on end trying to “position” things to people, many of whom aren’t even there to buy anything I might be considering selling them. Smiling. Fist-bumping. Feeling like a bother. Not wanting to be bothered. But it’s work. It’s teaching me patience, it’s teaching me how to sell stuff and it’s way way better than being unemployed, I think.
5 days a week. 11 hours a day, I am a slave. Then, I come home and must pre-produce. Cook. Clean. Launder. I try to get my shit together. This is what life is like. Time is the greatest asset that I have and the only thing that I can use to make any moves with. I need to move.
I need to–
- Lock my locations
- Lock this bloody script – which I feel good about even though it needs some work
- Lock the “heads” of each section of my crew
- Call around about getting free food w/ my nonprofit status (through my fiscal sponsor)
–
Fortunately, I have actors. Talented actors. I think we’ll collaborate greatly.
I need crewmembers. When you’re out of school, crew costs. It’s not like at film school, where everyone is helping each other out in an effort to gain favors. People need to get paid for the time and rightly so. But do I have the bread? Not sure. Hopefully people will still lend a hand. I’ll at least have good sandwiches.
So much to do. 5 weeks will sneak up on you, too. I gotta get going but all I wanna do is sleep.
These guys do it well.
