Budgeting and Scheduling

I've spent the last week working on a script breakdown of The Diamond Chasers and now I'm creating and fine tuning an actual budget. I'm also gearing up to rewrite the script based on notes I'm awaiting. All of which mean, I suppose I'm in pre-production. It's a tenuous time because – ah heck, it's filmmaking -- the whole nature of the animal is tenuous. Anyway, budgeting this movie is daunting. Unlike The Last Broadcast, which I basically made out of pocket, and Ghosts of Edendale which was made with plastic and foreign promises, The Diamond Chasers is quite a bit bigger. So, of course, the much larger pile of money that will be spent is partially dependent upon the actors, who are partially dependent upon any number of things, including which way the wind blows.

The budget being bandied about is also quite modest – not really 'action movie' money. It means that I'll have to pull in the belt and think very creatively. So be it, I'm certainly one of the most qualified directors ever for that job.

Anyway, there is something mildly exciting about this point because it is forward motion to the project. For the moment, I better not detail any more lest I thoroughly jinx things. I'll just put it this way -- Outlook is hopeful. Hey, I even had new business cards made. That may not seem important except that I've never made a movie specific business card unless the movie was relatively close to rolling…

Hopefully The Diamond Chasers will follow in that tradition. It's a project that has been around in one way or another for many years. It's high time to get the thing into the air.

Anyone have a good price for a 48''x30' rubber belt conveyor? Preferably located in the Midwest?

All work and no play, but Johnny is happy

The Me7erg Ergohuman office chair by Raynor is quite a great piece of engineering.

Before you think I've sold out and am shilling for the company, I'm not. It's just that I've been spending twelve and thirteen hours glued to my chair, in front of the computer and – no pain. Wow, wonderful! Since plenty of people peruse this blog because a google search for a good office chair has led them here, I thought I'd mention it once again. It deserves it.

I'm in the midst of building the pre-vis for The Diamond Chasers and yesterday, I goofed around with adding some sound. Something I say every time I post a movie or show of some sort is how important sound will be. I've said this to countless past clients as well as many a test audience, however, I never cease to be amazed by just how effective music is. Every time I add sound (music and/or effects) to a project, I am as amazed and thrilled as the first time I did it. Doing this pre-vis has given me a chance to experience the drug-like rush without having spent the millions (which it would be in this case) of actual production. As I'm watching some of the roughs, with sound, I firmly believe that if I can't fast track the movie based on these, I should go into carpet sales. Or maybe masonry. I've always fancied that.

Anyway, short story – I am deeply immersed, not exercising or eating and slowly going insane as I maneuver little people on, over and into virtual biplanes.

But man, am I having a good time and my back isn't aching.

Tomorrow I start recording voices for the pre-vis. First up is a friend of mine who, in addition to TV and film acting, does quite a bit of game VO (voiceover). I'm looking forward to hearing him do some accents and eccentricities.

Soon my masterpiece vill be complete!

Antics 3d Pre-vis Tool is Amazing

Generally, I try to title my blog entries with something clever – something that might not make sense till the entire entry has been read. This is a practice shunned by those trying to get the most readers possible. Rightfully too; people looking through the various feeds, and google searches, etc. – would have no idea what the heck "The Old Grind", "Itchy Fingers on Keyboard", or "Partial Reveal" are about. I don't care as I'm not obsessing about building a reader base or anything of the like. Not at the moment, at least. Ironically, the most frequent searches taking people to this blog are for the ME7ERG Ergohuman office chair (which is the incredibly great chair I'm sitting on now as I write this) and Miniwax Polyshades (awful product btw), which I described when I was building a DVD shelf.

I break my tradition of obscure blog titles because I DO want people to surf to this entry – to learn more about this product.

I'm currently pre-visualizing several scenes from the movie I'm in pre-production on (to be known from now on as The Diamond Chasers) and have to report – this is one of the coolest pieces of software I've used in a long time. I'm excited in the same way I was when I moved from tape to digital editing with audio so many years ago; the same feeling as going from a typewriter to a word processor. This is a radically important piece of software. It works and it works well. It not only makes it possible to visualize a movie before it's made, it enables one to really practice directing; honing visualizations or creating entirely new ones one that might never have been thought of on set - where the ever present knowledge of cash vanishing into the ether rightfully stifles the creative musings of a director in flux.

Incorporating ik (inverse kinetics), lighting, character movement – as well as gaming logarithms AND some AI, this stuff is nuts. It's a big program and it does bog down the computer after a while, but man o man… so cool. I am not a 3D person, as I previously wrote, but this software really allows people who don't do much with 3D to avoid the mind-numbing modeling and other work, and get right to the creative stuff – creating a scene.

I will be putting the actual pre-vis online when it is finished, but for the moment – I tease with twenty seconds of part of it. There's still geometry crashing through itself, lighting and shading is super basic and still in test mode, timing isn't right, I'm still playing with camera angles – and it's obviously silent – but it gives an idea of what can be done with this incredible program.

A week without a blog entry

There are a couple things disturbing about that. First, I’ve been trying to maintain a routine of writing these blog entries at least two or three times a week because it’s good exercise, and I guess, entertaining for some. More bothersome is the fact that it actually seems like only a couple days ago that I wrote the last entry. Where did this week go? Seriously, where did it go?

I have been getting feedback from several people about the screenplay. There have been a few reoccurring criticisms and the inevitable adamant feelings about certain aspects. All opinion must be weighed carefully, pondered as objectively as possible. There is always a point when everybody, including the original writer, thinks they are absolutely correct about what needs to be done to make the script perfect. The thing is that two entirely opposite opinions about the same thing can be right – or wrong. I actually had two different critiques of the exact same line in this last set of readers, one commented on it being great, the other on it being crap. It’s also important to separate what people’s personal desires in a story are from what the actual story is about. And you must do all of this through the searing pain that is inevitable when asking people to honestly tell you if they think your baby is cute or not.

Feedback. It takes a scar-tissued ego to not get knocked down. Even for the experienced, it’s difficult -- and that’s when the people giving you the feedback don’t have an ulterior motive that has nothing to do with the script. However, good feedback – Gold, I tells ya. Pure Gold.

Bottom line: as expected, I will be making changes to the screenplay. I think some will be quite significant too. After looking at it and the various notes for the last week, thinking about various levels of reworking, from junking it, to saying “it’s done” – I think I may be on my way to having a new map. For several days I felt as though I had just climbed a mountain, only to see an entirely new and equally brutal mountain range ahead. In the end, while there is quite a bit of work ahead, much seems as though it will remain the same.

I’m hoping it’s like a well designed car that has a bad clutch. Yeah, you gotta rip a lot of stuff apart to get to it, but once you fix that part, all the rest of it runs well.

At least the readers have generally been agreeing that it’s not a Yugo.

it's biGGER

Just got done with the newest draft of the 'untitled action adventure romance' story.
As per everyone's suggestions, it's bigger, bolder, more romance, etc.




I'm at that point where I feel a bit shell shocked. It's typical of that "Fade out" point in writing. Do you celebrate? Do you keep quiet? Do you go back to page one and start again? When it's version coughchoke.6, you just take a deep breath, stretch and smile a little (not too much).

I'm going to read through it, try to knock a couple pages off, and then ship it off to the illustrious "group". If it gets the thumbs up from them, it gets a last brushup/rewrite and then -- next stage. It goes out. Out to the world out there... producers, agents of various sorts, who have been patiently waiting.

Additionally, the lowres-storyboard-vis-version of it can begin. More on that as it happens.

Thumbs down from the "group", and it's back to Go. Do not collect two hundred dollars, don't dream of Boardwalk.

It’s always something

This evening, as we’re relaxing, the cat started acting funny – sniffing around the floor, trying to locate a smell. I heard a ‘bonnng’ sound, like a pipe being hit, but didn’t think too much about it. A little while later, Marianne started thinking she smelled something burning. I smelled something but wasn’t sure I could place the odor. Yet. I started walking around, checking all culprits that could make burning smells – oven, heaters, computers, and finally, putting my nose down to floor level at a power strip, smelled the odor; not something burning, rather, the faint whiff of skunk... but getting stronger. I took a flashlight and started walking the perimeter of the house to see if there was a way a skunk could have gotten in and under the house. Almost immediately I found it. Mesh at a vent had been pushed in quite dramatically. This was a pro.

Great. A vent at a place where I couldn’t get to from the inside -- much further than the mysterious room I found under the house when we first moved in. Marianne, in no mood to talk about it, got snappy, as is her wont when something doesn’t appeal to her, and vanished. To bed, I surmise. Feminist diatribes aside, there are certain things that are the guy’s job, and 'skunk in the crawl space' would seem to fit that bill handily. So, I did a quick google to see if there was some neat remedy. Not wanting to spray fox urine everywhere, as suggested in one "Skunk Away" website, I realized I would have to roll up the old sleeves and get to work. Being reminded at another site that, not only are they the most rabid animals in California, but also nocturnal, I decided that there was no time like the present, the present being night.

I grabbed a flashlight and set about trying to get the mesh reattached to the vent from the outside of the house. Not an easy feat, as it was pushed in and there were only abut four inches of area with which to work. Using some number 12 gauge wire, which has become my all purpose bailing wire, I was eventually able to tie the mesh against the vent.

It won’t win prizes, but it will keep the skunks out.

Or in...

I’ve been re-writing and started playing with some software called Endorphin. I’m planning on using it for some animations which will be part of some animatic-storyboards I’m starting to build as part of the package for the Diamond Road Pitch. Pretty cool stuff, and if moviemaking and CG are of any interest to you, I suggest checking out their demo.

I still haven’t gotten around to writing any kind of review for the enemies of Stefon Avalos CD, but that should be coming soon. This cough still gets nasty towards the end of the day, which remains my excuse as to why my blogging remains iffy. I just don't have the urge. However, every day is a day better. If you get hit with this bug, be prepared for a one month ordeal. My recommendation is to get a vaporizer and use it every night. Among all the cold and flu remedies, that has been the biggest single help.

Did I just hear something rattling below my feet?

I have to go now.

The season finally begins

Have I written lately that I love my new chair?

I do, I really love it. I’m actually caressing parts of it. I know – that’s weird. I’m in a honeymoon period with - a chair. Let me continue for a sentence or two longer. When I stand up after a long day (like today), it doesn’t feel like I’m standing up after sitting at all. My body doesn’t require readjusting… I’m simply, standing now. This chair is awesome.

Okay, enough.

New season of ROME and EXTRAS began last night. It’s not television, it’s HBO. Pretty amazing stuff. Rome is one of those shows that will be appreciated more with time. Pretty much every choice they’ve made, I’ve approved. The last season ended with a gored and bloody Caesar gasping like a fish out of water staring at Brutus - as Brutus struggled with his conscience to stab him. When he finally does, Caesar gives him a look that says those words. But he doesn’t say them. He twitches and dies slowly on the senate floor in a pool of gore. It’s devastating. It’s Brilliant. This season opener had the funeral of Caesar. Rather than see the speeches that Brutus and Marc Antony make, we hear the plebs talk about them after the fact. Brilliant! Frame after frame of this show is artwork. Visually, almost any single shot could be frozen, blown up, and framed as a work of art. It’s some of the most beautiful cinematography I’ve seen.

EXTRAS is amazing on a different level. Ricky Gervais has made the comedy of humiliation an artform. The Office (the British version in particular) was amazing, but I can really relate to Extras much more closely. Of course it’s because I’m in the business upon which he’s commenting, and because, like The Office, it’s spot-on accurate. I will say that there are a few jokes that are strictly British. I smiled at one, a none-too-subtle jab at a comedian, though I didn’t specifically know who the comedian was. Had I known, I’m sure that smile would have been a laugh.

Moving on - Though a cough and frequent blowing of the nose remain, I’m finally well enough that I’m back to writing in a big way. This feels like the first day of the New Year. Everything till now has been a haze of feeling-crappy. Happy New Year everyone!

Today was a good day, and as day turns into evening, will hopefully continue to be. I hit a slight slow point – not lack of direction – just a slight dragging of interest, hence this quick entry.

The third act is undergoing another metamorphosis, the ruling having been made at a writer’s meeting about a month ago to ‘make it bigger’. Presently, it’s wordy, easily weighing ten pages too much, but it’s headed in the right direction. It’s certainly going to be ‘bigger’. The movie at this point is getting studio-picture size. I keep getting told not to worry about it, but the no-budget indie filmmaker in me is writing with a slightly dubious expression on his face. I’ve always written things in the past with the idea of having to find the money for them at some point. I have a pretty good idea of what’s easy to pull off, and what’s not. Blowing things up, for instance, is surprisingly inexpensive. A barroom brawl - not so inexpensive. Even now, as I’m re-writing this last act, I think, “well, if I framed it like this…”

This image will give you a slight inkling into the climactic battle. Just an inkling, cause trust me, there’s a lot more...

Writing on Game day

Got the second to last action scene knocked out yesterday. It was a good day, twenty odd pages of writing. These are the days one struggles for months to get to. In a typical day, I will write five pages of words. However, these words are generally questions to myself, thoughts about the back story, forward story side story behind story, and so on. Meta writing is what we call it. writing about writing. It’s useful and necessary, but it can also be one of the more insidious tools of procrastination. So, when I say it was a good day, twenty odd pages of writing, I should say – twenty odd pages of screen writing.

INT. OFFICE - DAY

A small room, crammed with bits and pieces of electronics,
computers, video and audio editing equipment and musical
instruments. Sun streams in from the window in front of the
office desk, bathing everything in a golden light -- another
perfect California Day.

STEFAN AVALOS, a tall, dark and extremely handsome man sits
in front of his laptop computer, typing furiously.  He taps
the keys with the furious speed of a man trying to beat a
clock. He mumbles to himself as he types.

                   STEFAN
         AMEN! I'm writing! This Action
         Scene kicks ass. This is such a
         relief after the hell of circling
         this stuff. Oh… that's gotta hurt…
         that'll get the audience cheering.

The phone next to him RINGS. He lets the machine take it, not
stopping for an instant. The fourth ring activates the
machine's message -  and BEEEEP.

                   PHONE (OS)
          Hi, Stefan, This is Norm. Say, I
          have an extra ticket to The
          Clippers game tonight. Let me know
          if you're interested. Call me as
          soon as you can.

Stefan stops typing for a moment and stares towards the
machine with the now, blinking orange light.

                   STEFAN
                (murmuring)
          Clippers… That would be great, if I
          can get these pages done and sent.

He looks at the cursor on the screen, caught in mid-sentence.

Then his fingers start pounding the keys of the notebook once
again.

That kind of writing.

So, last night, as you perhaps read in a screenplay somewhere, I went to a Clippers/Heat (basketball for those of you not aware) game at the Staples center. Excellent seats and an excellent game – a nail biter to the final buzzer. Basketball at the Staples Center - one of the ultimate L.A. experiences, it sure was a great way to reward a fine day of writing. Additionally, basketball is fun to watch, especially live. Not like Baseball. I’ve been to three Baseball games in my life. The second time was because I’d forgotten how bored I was the first time. The third time because it was at Dodgers Stadium, and I thought mayyybe it was a Philly thing. Ha.

Basketball – Any time. Let me know.

Final Score for the December 05:

Writing 22, procrastination 0
Clippers 101 Heat 97
Tequila 2 corona 1

I hope the above post looks right... formatting this bugger was a major pain.

East for a bit

I’m sitting in an air terminal in Minneapolis. A direct flight from Philly to L.A., I didn’t see the part where we stop in Minnesota. No wonder it’s a seven and a half hour flight.
I’m on my way back from Pennsylvania, where I spent a long weekend. Back in town for my father’s 80th birthday, I also was able to do a few of the things that used to be routine there. I spent a couple hours shooting guns at my friend Joe’s farm, where I also stayed. An AR-15, an M-1 Carbine – the grouping on the target looked pretty darn good, till I started at it with a Glock.


Later, I drove the roads of Bucks County, marveling at the destruction the last strong rains have wrought.
One of the pilgrimages I make every time I go back to Pennsylvania is to the airport that was the inspiration for Diamond Road so many years ago; Van Sant Airport.

A beautiful day, I watched two bi-planes practice their take off and landings. To my ears, the sound of a biplane flying past as it takes off is one of the most glorious sounds there is. No matter how many times I’ve heard it, the thrill remains the same. There simply is nothing to match the roar of a radial engine as it blasts past you.

Yesterday, my last day in Pa, found me going back to Van Sant – an addiction that can’t be shaken. A friend of mine who still lives in Bucks had never been there, and that was enough reason to go and show one of my favorite places in the world. Staring at the parked classic airplanes parked on the grass found me succumbing… And with my friend urging me on, there was no escape.
Within minutes I was putting on a soft leather helmet and goggles and climbing into the front open cockpit of a 1943 Stearman Biplane.






With a “Clear”, the pilot, Azhar, fired up the engine and soon, we roared down the runway and into the sky. As we flew into the sky, I have to admit, I had to fight hard not to tear up with (ugh) joy. I’m currently tearing up from that previous corny sentence, yet it is absolutely true.

Announcement, seat calls, general boarding -
I’m now forty thousand odd feet above the Rockies, where the snow caps are reflecting brilliantly. Quite a view! A 757 is not nearly as exciting an airplane to fly in as a Biplane, but the views are unbeatable.

We, Azhar and I, flew around the Bucks County area for about twenty minutes. Being a Stearman, a trainer biplane, I had all the controls and gauges in front of me. Obviously, I didn’t touch anything, but it was interesting to watch what was going on – when I wasn’t looking over the edge at the scenery a couple thousand feet below me. Azhar was in the open cockpit behind me. Towards the end of the twenty minutes, he tapped my shoulder and made a straight-up motion with a flat open hand. When I nodded gleefully, up we went, into a somersault.
Just like the movies – Sky sky sky, then the horizon ground coming from above, then ground gound ground, and then the horizon skyline coming from above.


A short moment later, we did a Barrel roll, and then touched down – the gentlest landing I’ve experienced in any aircraft.

It’s an experience I recommend everyone try at least once in his or her life. If you live in the Bucks County Area, do it at Van Sant; the nicest bunch of people in one of the most scenic airports there is.

Today’s the day
In a few hours, once I’m back in L.A., I will be doing a DVD signing. Today is the re-release of The Last Broadcast. Did you get your copy yet?

As I have already done before, I will remind you again-- Go to www.thelastbroadcastmovie.com and check out all the info.

So, back to work tomorrow, back to the real world (if Los Angeles can be considered the real world). May the feelings of soaring in biplanes remain – and may you too experience the same if you have not already.

Beach Crawl

It’s getting hot. Early. Too early in the summer, I say.

I wired up an exhaust fan in the attic, and have been able to bring the overall temp of the house down about ten degrees. Every degree counts when you break 100 degrees. Thankfully, no forest fires yet.

Several nights ago, three days after the full moon to be exact, we, Marianne and myself and our friends (I will call them Mathboy, Opera Girl and Spawn) went to the beach at 10:00 PM with flashlights and beach blanket. Mathboy had been telling us about a childhood experience and we went to also witness it. First, we watched a truly spectacular Moon rise over the ocean, and then we saw the purpose of our journey -- the Grunion Run. I, not being a fishing type of a guy, didn’t know much about Grunion. They are small fish that have the absolutely fascinating trait of crawling, yes crawling, up the beach after a full moon to “get it on”. Females drill a hole into the sand with their tail, and deposit eggs, whereupon, the male hops in and does his thing. Then back into the ocean they go. Or, if they are unfortunate to do this when the public is out, into a bucket more likely, as children of all ages ran around the sand grabbing the fish.
It all happened at the Cabrillo Aquarium and if you are a Socal local, I recommend it. It was a really fun, and wholesome event – for the humans, not the fish. It was also a great way to check out the aquarium, as it too was open. There was a certain vampiric quality to looking at the various fish at midnight. No lines, no crowds, no sun.

Bonfires on the beach completed a classic vision of a southern California night. I could very easily have imagined Frankie and Annette popping out from around the large lifeguard stand.
Perhaps, because the movie the aquarium showed that explained the “Grunion Run” was made around 1955, or perhaps the simple glee with which the kids were running around trying to grab small fish, overall, the entire thing had a certain 1950’s vibe to it.
In a good way.

The L.A. Film Fest starts this week. In an attempt to be an actual “A” list festival, rather than merely pretending to be, they seem to really be going all out. It faces the eternal hurdle of being in a town where people are inundated by movies and film festivals. It’s hard to get excited for every single one. However, it has developed, and I’m looking forward to it, namely because:
Several friends have movies programmed, specifically Louis Pepe and Keith Fulton’s, Brothers of the Head, and my old “The Last Broadcast” partner, Lance Weiler and his movie, Head Trauma. A heady fest, shall we say? Perhaps not. Sorry. I’ll be playing host to a couple people from the East Coast. It’s always interesting to see the town through fresh eyes.

The remastering of The Last Broadcast is finished and delivered to the distributor.  It took a good month and a half to do the job. It’s nice to be done with it. The DVD will quite something; close to four hours of material in addition to the movie. I think something that will appeal to many people, which isn’t even listed as an extra, is that I incorporated the score into the chapter selection screens. Thus, the DVD, for all intents and purposes, is also a soundtrack album.  In doing this, a lot of requests from over the years will finally be fulfilled. It was interesting to go through all the old music tracks, clean them up and remix them. It really hammers home how much the technology has advanced in the nine odd years sine we began that movie.

Writing continues, interspersed by reading scripts, playing the violin, and continuing my latest hobby/fascination of building studio grade audio gear. The microphones having been such a success, I’m undertaking a significantly more difficult project. It will be my official “summer hobby project” – a high end Two Channel Microphone Preamplifier. Lots of components with real electricity coursing through them, I hopefully I won’t let the smoke out of any expensive parts - or myself.
I’ve been ordering up lots of the parts online, but for the moment I’m going to hold on actually placing the orders. Though very convenient, generally cheaper, and less likelihood of the wrong parts, a certain visceral feel is lost by online shopping. For that, a trip to a huge electronic surplus ‘junkyard’ is in order. I’m reminding myself to have fun with the journey as well as the final product. Also, the ideas that spring from these excursions can’t be matched with electronic catalogs.

I’m sure it will be a blog in the future.

3 pages

Okay, to really open up for ya - - - to whet your appetite - here are the first three pages of the screenplay for the next project. I formatted this as close as possible to the actual script, but hey - it's a blog, it won't be perfect.

Enjoy.
SMA

Diamond Road V2 2005

FADE IN:

EXT. CORNFIELD - DAY
A gentle wind plays on the baby fresh leaves of an enormous green COTTON FIELD. A cloudless blue sky above completes the perfect dream of a day.

The quiet is broken as three bright yellow AIRPLANES (old AIR TRACTORS) SCREAM past overhead.
In unison, they release a yellow powder which drifts downward toward the field.

CROPDUSTING!

I/E. COCKPIT - CONTINUOUS
The cockpit of the first airplane VEERS into view - EDDIE DUNGRIN, 24 a slickback haired, James Dean with a sense of humor - flyboy at the stick.

The radio CRACKLES:

RADIO VOICE
Betcha can’t.

EDDIE
Of course I can. I just don’t wanna.

RADIO VOICE
Right.

Eddie wrestles with himself.

EDDIE
Dammit. Okay. Watch me.

I/E. ANOTHER COCKPIT - CONTINUOUS
- Piloted by SCOTTIE, 23, Eddie’s best friend. Burly with curly hair, he is slightly more responsible than Eddie. Only slightly, but it’s enough to see that trouble is on the way.

SCOTTIE
Bad idea, Eddie. Don’t do it.

BACK TO:

I/E. EDDIE’S CROPDUSTER COCKPIT - CONTINUOUS

EDDIE
It’s no big deal.

His face belies the words. Whatever it is, is a big deal.
Eddie concentrates as The GROUND races by. In the far distance, sticking from the field, a FLAG on a pole quickly approaches.

RADIO VOICE
Fifty bucks.

Eddie concentrates. The bet is on.

EXT. FIELD - CONTINUOUS
Eddie’s airplane SCREAMS past, a yellow blur, flying low to the ground.

INT. EDDIE’S CROPDUSTER COCKPIT - CONTINUOUS
The flag approaches. Eddie dips lower.

EXT. FIELD - CONTINUOUS
WOOOMP, the propeller slices through the flag, turning it to instant confetti. The airplane buzzes past.

INT. EDDIE’S CROPDUSTER COCKPIT - CONTINUOUS

EDDIE
Yeah, baby! Fifty bucks.

EXT. EDDIE CROPDUSTER - CONTINUOUS
A secondary WATERING POLE suddenly appears from nowhere. The landing gear slams into it, and with a SCREECHING rip, the left wheel TEARS off the bottom of the airplane!

INT. EDDIE’S CROPDUSTER COCKPIT - CONTINUOUS
Eddie pulls back on his flight stick, pulling the airplane to a higher altitude.

EDDIE
Uh, guys - what happened?

SCOTTIE
Geez, Eddie. I think you
tore up the landing gear.

Scottie pulls his airplane under Eddie’s and looks up through the glass canopy. Underneath the belly of Eddie’s airplane, the twisted landing gear vibrates in the wind.

EDDIE
Well?

SCOTTIE
It’s going to be a rough landing.
Your left side is gone. You’ll
have to land it on the right side.

His airplane arcs away from Eddie’s.

EDDIE
Damn it.

EXT. GRASS STRIP - MOMENTS LATER
Scottie stands on the edge of the landing strip, next to his airplane. He watches as Eddie’s airplane drifts slowly toward the ground.

INT. EDDIE’S CROPDUSTER COCKPIT - CONTINUOUS
Eddie holds the stick tightly, guiding the airplane as best as possible to put the majority weight on the one remaining wheel.

EXT. GRASS STRIP - CONTINUOUS
The airplane descends timidly - in a near stall. The single wheel hits - bounces - hits again.

Dirt flies as the strut that held a missing wheel rips a ditch into the ground. The airplane travels forward on the remaining wheel.
The airplane hops off the ground and then back again.


Hopefully you can see the rest at the movies in a couple years.

The writing begins

Well, the official beginning of script re-re-rewriting has begun. After spending a good two months on the outline, I feel that I may have the skeleton upon which to build - er re re re rebuild Diamond Road (as it is currently entitled).
I'm guessing that it's such a radical redux that I will rename the script as well.
The Adventures of Eddie Dungrin. Hmmm... sounds like Richard Dreyfuss would be the lead in that. No. Don't think so.
I'll have to give it thought. Kind of a shame cause the last scene of the movie now is of eight diamonds laying on a long desert road as a pickup truck drives away.
Diamond Road, get it?

I hear that the house closing is coming this week. We're trying to enjoy ourselves as much as possible though we take turns waking up with stress nightmares, or whatever. I feel like someone nearing an execution.

I started looking at rentals today. Good news is that in spite of the real estate purchase INSANITY that continues to abound, rents haven't gone up much.

The whole real estate crash/bubble thing is starting to make the main news, so I really have the feeling that we're going to start seeing the cracks in the financial walls getting larger pretty soon. Check this Blog out if you're getting the urge to buy.

Marianne and I went to a drive-in this past weekend! Yeah! This used to be a favorite past time of ours in Pennsylvania as there actually was a drive-in near where we lived. Alas it is now a Target center. That, let me tell you, is Bucks County, PA's loss, not gain.

This past Saturday night, the breeze coming in through the open window really gave me the Drive-in urge. Feeling a bit melancholy, I set about looking for something that might still exist. After going through depressing lists of drive-ins that were no more, goggle actually found that one still exists in L.A. County. Better yet,it wasn't too far from us - located in the City of Industry.
Slight digression: When I heard that was an actual place one could live, I had visions, (in Black and White of course) of people marching to and from work, Trader Joes, etc. ala the Fritz Lang's 'Metropolis'.
In fact it is pretty much a train yard, freight, automotive repair type of place.

They have a DRIVE IN!

We got there with time to spare except for one snafu. We had to cross a set of said train tracks and a freight train happened to be rolling past. A freight train that was about two miles long.
Twenty odd minutes later, we finally were on our way again. We went to see "Kingdom of Heaven" (eh) while the rest of the crowd was evidently there for "Revenge of the Sith". I pondered seeing that as the first time I saw Star Wars was at a Drive in during a birthday party. I was nine. Anyway, we watched Ridley Scott redo Gladiator. When the crowds settle down, I'll spend my bucks on a digital presentation of Lucas's last (hopefully) star wars movie.

Back to the drive in. Many nine year old will have the same fond memories of Sith that I have of Star Wars. A beautiful summer night in California with jedi battling it out. Before our movie started, I walked to the concession area centrally located to get Popcorn. 'Sith' was just beginning and I have to admit, the kid in me got a thrill out of hearing the Star Wars theme reverberate from about eight hundred car stereos. You could even hear it coming from the cars on the road still pouring in. Nowadays, with the squawk boxes replaced by FM transmission, you get to hear movies much better, and from much further away than the old days.

I think I see a tradition beginning. Lawn chairs, some boom boxes, friends and a double feature on a summer night for seven bucks per person. Life doesn't get much better than that, does it?

Oh, guess what our second feature was?

xXx State of the Union. Okay, our buddy Johnny is the evil henchman, but I never thought I'd watch that again on the big screen. We sat through it though and goofed on it. I don't think Johnny would mind. Dammit, we paid for it, we're going to goof on it.
Good for the heart. If you're feeling down, go to a drive in with someone fun. Make noise, laugh. It may not be the best way to see a movie, but it's one of the best ways to experience one. Trust me. You'll feel better.

drying out

Okay, back again... able to get the supply and get the needle in my arm. Ahh, relief.

I returned from the christmas holidays to L.A. on New Years Eve. The phone was dead due to rain - a reoccuring problem that is supposedly fixed everytime we gripe to the phone company. This time though the rains didn't stop coming. Mudslides, floods, etc. The news of southern California for quite a bit of January. My personal pain - we didn't get the phone line running until Jan 21st!! Can you believe it? 22 days without a landline, internet, fax capabilites!!!
I came to decide upon two things. 1. The phone company needs to get their act together and 2. I don't think Socal would fare so well in a mini-major disaster. huh.

The movie is on PPV now. Started January 1st. So far the feedback has been pretty good.

Of course there are also the people that don't like the movie so much -- and frequently they feel the need to make sure everybody knows their feelings.
There is an interesting inverse curve on the internet in terms of opinions. Youth, brash and convinced it's always correct (I know that between the ages of 12 and 22, I was never wrong and my opinion on movies was at least as good or better and of course more valid then anyone elses)
is the most likely to populate message boards, forums, etc. It makes for quite a skewed sense of reality on many things. I've found myself, as time goes on, having to read between the lines quite a bit more with reviews of pop culture. The writing of a thirteen year old can be mistaken with that of an adult, and therein many a problem can be created.

What to do? I don't know. Maybe google will come up with a filter that filters out by age?
Let's see... if a message uses the word "wuz" instead of was or "u suck", or if allusions to "bit torrent", warez, rulez, etc. are used - that could be a start.

In other "Stefan Avalos" news, I'm formally in the rewrite stage of "Diamond Road". Finally, it's beginning to move. I actually found that using a notepad and pen was a good way to shake the dust out of my head. I guess sometimes a computer is too easy to do nothing with.

Well, with hopes that my DSL stays alive and that the weather stays beautiful, I plan on more blogs. There is that continual promise of mertous writing - maybe this week.

C U l8ter :)