Sorry for being away for so long- it’s been a crazy few months for me, as you can read about in my “Creative Happenings†blog on Sonic Cinema.
Well, after many months of postponements for a variety of personal reasons- most recently, my hospitalization with pneumonia in September (I woke up on the day we were suppose to film actually)- “Unwinnable Hand†has gone back in front of the cameras for the first time since June. The plan was to finish up all filming at Ron’s parent’s house yesterday (Sunday), and commence from there.
But life, as it always has seemed to do on this film, intervenes. Sick children (which I can work around- just come in later dad…). Impromptu sectionals (no prob- we’ll start earlier, and I’ll work quick). And tardiness of key players (when I say 11am people… ïŠ). To say we didn’t get everything I hoped to finish up done is stating the obvious as this point, but to say it didn’t really matter is something of a surprise. While we didn’t get to everything I wanted to Sunday, we did get enough done to where we shouldn’t have to film over at Ron’s parent’s house again. Not that they aren’t hospitable folks- they just don’t have to worry about the inconvenience of having a tiny film crew and an iconoclastic filmmaker trying to work out a schedule with them anymore… ïŠ
That said, the subtitle of this particular blog rang true in every way, shape, and form yesterday when working on the big scene of the day- a short flashback with Ron and Dave where more is implied than actually said. It’s a compelling scene on the page- the trick would be to make it work on film; as it has with every other scene, the editing should benefit that greatly. The trickiest part is getting the right performances…and the flow of the scene. To say my actors have had it rough with my dialogue is putting it lightly- they’ve had some hard-core marble-mouthed lines to contend with. But God bless them for working with me- they’re making it work onscreen (just wait until you see a scene with Mike and I- it’s almost enough to give you chills the way it works…)
Yesterday, in particular, was quite a high-wire act, as lines were chopped, reworded, and rearranged on the fly during on-set rehearsals, making memorization a tricky proposition (just wait until you hear the commentary about THIS scene; this is guerilla filmmaking at its’ best folks). But you know what? I like what we got, even if we were fighting time and our amateur status as thespians to make it work. I’m really looking forward to editing this thing together.
In addition to the big scene, we also got pickups for the end of “Movement IIâ€- as well as a quick insert for “Movement I†I realized I might need- in the interim. The only thing we didn’t get to was the last scene with the four main guys- myself, Ron, Dave, and Mike- but location isn’t important to the scene, as I hope you’ll see when the time comes. It made me feel bad that we didn’t get to the big thing I wanted Mike there for, but he did get in front of the camera for one of the pickups, so it wasn’t completely pointless for him being there (that and the fact that he provided an inspired idea for our line reading problems). Next time I’ll make sure you are a big part of the scene.
Thank you again to everybody- Ron, Dave, Mike, Ron’s parents, and of course my co-cameraman Chris- for their help in this venture. I couldn’t do this without you. There’s more to come…including- hopefully- the first movement of the film online.
Thanks for listening,
Brian Skutle
http://www.sonic-cinema.com
http://www.myspace.com/cinemanouveau– Featuring deleted scenes, trailers, and more from “Unwinnable Hand”
http://www.myspace.com/brianskutle
Click here to download or watch Brian’s first video diary after the first day of shooting.
Click here to read my eighth “Unwinnable Hand†Production Diary.
Click here to read my seventh “Unwinnable Hand†Production Diary.
Click here to read my sixth “Unwinnable Hand†Production Diary.
Click here to read my fifth “Unwinnable Hand†Production Diary.
Click here to read my fourth “Unwinnable Hand†Production Diary.
Click here to read my third “Unwinnable Hand†Production Diary.
Click here to read my second “Unwinnable Hand†Production Diary.
Click here to read my first “Unwinnable Hand†Production Diary.
Click here to read “Red Cup Mafia,” another short script I wrote in November 2006- inspired by some recent happenings at work- that I hope to film in the future through Cinema Nouveau Productions.
