It’s been 11 months, but it felt like yesterday…
In all honesty, a good part of me gets off on artistic accomplishment. When something comes together like this, the feeling is- quite frankly- near-orgasmic. No joke dude. This is crack for artists. True, this could fall apart in editing. The stationary shots could completely distract from the moving shots. Worst of all, I could get into serious f-ing trouble for how this was done. You know what? It’d be worth it.
The last time I did any filming on my Kubrickian short film “Unwinnable Hand: A Thriller in Two Movements,” I was on oxygen tanks, George W. Bush was president, and “No Country for Old Men” was on the verge of winning the Oscar for Best Picture. Now, months after the first movement- “Agitato”- was first made available online, and months before one of our main actors moves away, it was time to hit the home stretch.
Why’d I start with the most logistically-complicated sequence? Well, it was the easiest one to get cast and crew together for. Just four men, a car, a camera, and the open road. If you want to know how to get driving footage (with dialogue) done with 3 non-professional actors, one non-professional cameraman, and five hours to do it in, this is as good a way as any.
You know the story of Kubrick making Tom Cruise do 90 takes of walking down a hall for “Eyes Wide Shut?” I think we gave him a run for his money as me, Dave, and Mike did take after take, rep after rep of the same two pages of dialogue- first in the basement of Mike’s parents’ house, then in Dave’s stationary- but turned on- car (I really wish I could compensate you for the gas man) in the driveway (where we did the bulk of our close-ups and coverage), followed by a few passes on the road where all pf these reps morphed into a simply-shot sequence with a lot of room to move around in. (I can’t imagine how long this is going to take to edit.)
Just remind me to get those exterior shots of me leaving the car next time guys. My thanks to Ron, Dave, Mike (and his parents) for their hard work, their patience during the long shoot, and their allowing us to shoot where we did. Now to prepare for the next day of filming.
Thanks for listening,
Brian Skutle
www.sonic-cinema.com
www.myspace.com/brianskutle
www.myspace.com/cinemanouveau– Featuring deleted scenes, trailers, and more from “Unwinnable Handâ€
Click here to read my tenth “Unwinnable Hand” Production Diary.
Click here to read my ninth “Unwinnable Hand” Production Diary.
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Click here to read my fifth “Unwinnable Hand†Production Diary.
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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.
