MONDAY, JUNE 9, 2008 - DAY 15
I began cutting Scene 2 today with my editor Gena Bleier.
She was the editor on Andrew Wagner's STARTING OUT IN THE EVENING and is a joy
to work with - a wonderful collaborator. The problem is that the scene is
actually made up of two separate scenes intercut as a "parallel
action," and one of the scenes isn't complete. The reason: I didn't finish
shooting it. The reason I didn't finish shooting it: 1) one of my actors (who
shall remain nameless) showed up to set 40 minutes late for the afternoon call
time, and 2) some actors didn't know their lines.
There was a reading of Dee Rees's feature screenplay
PARIAH tonight in the Wasatch Room. It went really well, as it is a well
written, funny and poignant Black *** coming-of-age tale set in Brooklyn.
TUESDAY, JUNE 10, 2008 - DAY 16
It snowed today at breakfast. It was amazing because it
wasn’t even that cold. According to the Sundance people who were here on The
Mountain earlier than everyone else, winter ended the third week of May (i.e.
the week before us directors got here).
If you look closely, you can see the snow falling in Utah's summer sky.
I spent the day editing Scene 2 again. Because one of the
two scenes being intercut into the "parallel action" of Scene 2 is
unfinished, there is definitely an imbalance in the overall scene. I also tried
to use black "slugs" between the intercut scenes in a Jarmusch-esque
editing experiment. I guess it will be determined whether or not this
experiment worked tomorrow after Scene 2 is screened for the Creative Advisors.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 11, 2008 - DAY 17
I screened Scene 2 for the Creative Advisors early in the
afternoon. Afterwards we all assembled in the Wasatch Room to discuss the work. Apparently the Jim Jarmusch inspired black
"slugs" between the intercut scenes didn't go over too well. Curtis
Hanson (dir. L.A. CONFIDENTIAL, EIGHT MILE) thought that the “black outs hurt
the scene,” and that the energy between the characters is most important in the
scene. His advice was to “zero in on the moments your are getting and not
getting” and then do pick ups for the moments you didn’t get. I agree: although
the black outs initially helped solve a location issue (we were shooting in an
empty stage for a tenement building courtyard and need the black outs to bridge
a “spatial gap”), they eventually became a detriment to the scene.
In addition, one of the Creative Advisors, Gyula Gazdag
(dir. HUNGARIAN FAIRYTALE), made me realize that not finishing the second scene
of the two scenes comprising the "parallel action" was actually my
fault - and not just in the classic sense that everything that happens on set
is ultimately the director's fault. Gyula was one of the advisors that actually
visited my set. While on it, he realized that instead of focusing on the meat
of the second "scene" - the dramatic essence of the "scene"
- I focused too much on getting the pretty dolly shots leading up to the meat.
The lateness of one of the actors to set didn't actually hold me back because I
used that time to practice one of the dolly shots with a stand-in.
The rest of the day I spent rehearsing Scene 3 in
Rehearsal Hall 1. Fernando Leon (dir. MONDAYS IN THE SUN) showed up to the
rehearsal and quietly watched me work on the car interior scene with my actors
sitting on some dining room chairs in front of a makeshift wooden steering
wheel (since the actual car we are going to shoot in wasn't on set by then).
Afterward we went over my shooting plan together and he offered some great
suggestions for shot coverage in the car tomorrow.
Charles "Rock" Dutton (dir. THE CORNER) showed up for the
Blocking Rehearsal and watched as I went over the shot coverage with my DP and
crew. Afterward he spoke to the actors for quite a long time, telling them
stories about Tupac in Hollywood, giving them suggestion about craft and advice
on how to move forward in their careers. They were obviously psyched to be in
his presence.
THURSDAY, JUNE 12, 2008 - DAY 18
I shot Scene 3 in Rehearsal Hall 1 today. Fernando Leon
visited the set and seemed to have a good time watching us. I think we all -
cast and crew - hit our stride today; we got everything we needed "in the
can," and had time to experiment a little with the lighting of the closing
shot of the scene.
The set: an empty studio with a car in it.
T.J., Lara and Carmen begin setting up the lights.
T.J., Andy and Jared build the "street light" rig. Jared eventually had to spin this thing in a wide arc over the top of the stationary car in order to make it look like the car was passing under street lights while driving. It actually worked really well.
The actors (from left to right) Anthony Gaskins (blocked by the camera), E.J. Bonilla, Shawn T. Andrew and Julian Joseph prepare for the scene.
Julian Jospeh prepares for an "over the shoulder" shot.
A view through the monitor.
"Hurry up and wait!" E.J. Bonilla (as Third) and Shawn T. Andrew (as Adrian).
And "Gumby," my Sound Mixer...is just plain crazy.
I met with Charles "Rock" Dutton at lunch. The
guy is an inspiration, and he apparently really likes MEADOWLANDZ. He suggested
I take the script to HBO. He thinks they would be interested in producing it. I
would love for him to be involved in some capacity - maybe as a producer.
Bob Elswitt (d.p. PUNCH DRUNK LOVE) screened THERE WILL
BE BLOOD tonight. During the Q&A he told crazy stories about shooting the
film with P.T. Anderson. They definitely have an interesting work method and
philosophy. Apparently all the crewmembers have to be "filmmakers"
and no one yells "action" or "cut" - everyone just kind of
exists on the set in a perpetual state of readiness. Elswitt says the process
allows for some really great work (i.e. performances), but can be seriously
exhausting.
FRIDAY, JUNE 13, 2008 - DAY 19
I edited Scene 3 with Gena pretty much all day. It was
one of those strange editing days in which, at first, the scene seemed fairly
easy to cut, then, as the day progressed, the scene seemed subtly problematic.
More specifically, I based the coverage of the scene around a master shot in
the backseat of the car that just didn't want to cut with the other footage. At
first we decided that the shot just wasn't going to work because it was an
interior of the car and was too jarring when cut into the scene from the shots
taken from through the windows from the exterior. We experimented with cutting
around it and after this proved futile I insisted on using the backseat master.
Eventually the shot ended up cutting pretty well with the rest of the footage
and we realized that the problem wasn't so much the angle as it was the
"cut points." Once we stopped experimenting with other angles to make
the scene work, and more with the cut points of the mastershot, we found a
solution. Again, Gena was nothing short of amazing, as lot of
Creative Advisors were milling in and out of the editing room, looking over her
shoulder, and firing suggestions at the back of her head. She handled the
combination of limited time and a packed editing room brilliantly.
SATURDAY, JUNE 14 - DAY 20
I screened Scene 3 for the Creative Advisors today and
they all seemed to really like it. There were still some “notes,” of course,
but I dare say it was an unequivocal success.
Gyula Gazdag (dir. HUNGARIAN FAIRYTALE) reinforced the
fact that the issue with the backseat master shot initially “not cutting” had
less to do with “angle” and more to do with “cut points.” Michael Almereyda
(dir. HAMLET, NADJA) thought there was an “eerie oddness” in my light and sound
draining experiment at the end of the scene. Charles “Rock” Dutton (dir. THE
CORNER) thought the weariness of the characters was captured, partially due to the
lack of music used in the scene. I had to admit that this had more to due with
the lack of time given to us in the editing room. If I had another hour, I
probably would have tried out some music – at least some hip-hop coming from
the radio. I think he and Michael are right, though. There’s something about
the eerie quietness of the scene that works.
Whatever happens in the final week, I will always have
Scene 3.