net neutrality

Rob's blog

Check out Rob's blog. He has some kind words about When Life Was Good, but more importantly he talks about his new projects and some other film stuff you need to know about.

Narcissistic Fibrosis

One more note

"Our films have so many imitation emotions that if a real one ever intruded, it would shock us or make us laugh. Mike Leigh tells the story of the time a table collapsed on stage and, as the actors scurried to keep the dishes from tumbling, the sudden honesty of their performance revealed the falsity of the entire preceding play."

-Just one more quick point from Ray Carney.

Some words from Ray Carney

We have a mistaken notion that you make a movie after you've decided what you want to say. It's actually the reverse. You learn what you want to say by making the movie–like conversation, which would not only be more boring, but stupider, if we tried to plan it out in advance. Use film to learn.

* * *

Consciousness cannot precede expression. If you can storyboard your film in advance, if you know what's going to happen, how your characters are going to react and feel at every moment, save yourself a lot of time and trouble, skip the shoot and publish the storyboard. As Robert Frost said: No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader.Knowingness is the curse of our art. The director knows what his characters are; the characters know what they themselves are; and the viewer knows what everyone else knows. Watch your mind at moments when you don't know something: when you meet a new person; when you hear a loud sound at night but don't know what it is; when you're running out and looking for your wallet or keys. How does your mind function differently from when it is on autopilot? Most of the important parts of life are lived not in the state of knowing, but of not-knowing. Get that into your work. Let your characters experience it, let your viewer experience it. Look at the scene in Tarkovsky's The Sacrifice in which a loud sound is heard off-screen and a pitcher of milk spills. Why is it more powerful than if the cause of the sound were shown or explained? Don't explain more than life does.

* * *

If you don't change your mind about your characters and their situations several times as you make your movie, you aren't holding yourself open enough. You aren't allowing yourself to learn. Cassavetes re-edited his films over and over again, as his understandings of the things he had filmed changed.
The solution most movies urge is a continuation of the sickness they depict. They give characters problems to solve and then show them going about solving them. Their narratives are an extension of the business ethos that causes most of the problems in our culture in the first place. These movies never question the belief that we are what we do, what we control, what we own. We live in a capitalist culture addicted to the virtues of doing. But life is less about doing anything, than being something. If your film hinges on a figure's doing or accomplishing something, you are part of the sickness. You are making feature-length commercials for IBM.

* * *

Ever notice how much more interesting a movie is when you channel surf into it ten minutes after it has begun? Or how fascinating even a dumb movie is for at least a few minutes before the idiot plot kicks in? It gets boring the minute you figure it out, or as soon as the characters are given a road map to follow. How can you keep that openness in your movie, that state of uncertainty in the viewer (without, of course, relying on Hitchcockian tricks to stoke up fake dramatic interest)?

* * *

Why do we think film should be easier, purer, more idealized than life? Don't spoon-feed the viewer. Don't give him or her predigested bits of knowledge. The experience of a good film should be as demanding and raw and unassimilated as the experience of life.

MORE ESSENTIAL READING HERE

WLWG another day of magic

Terry shooting Dan and Casey and the crazy cute seals.




Brooklyn peeking. We said no peeking.





Here's Casey from WHEN LIFE WAS GOOD pondering the nature of the universal and the unconditional love of the Creatrix.


UPDATE:

Shooting is moving right along (just waiting for the rain to stop so we can shoot this afternoon). Our house is flooded. I finally wrote the ending of the movie (although this is my sixth ending, so we'll see...but it feels pretty good). The Casey and Brooklyn relationship is heading into murky uncharted and interesting territory. Should make for a great sprint to the end.

Actors schedules continue to inform the plot, especially supporting cast. It's been a very liberating and challenging process to shoot a film at the whim of whatever's going on at the time. Whatever happens, happens for the good of the film. That's how we do.

YUMI IN LOVE screens on Tuesday. Terrifying.

Thanks to Mona and Kristine for the photos! Thanks to Kristine, Casey, Dan, Rob, Mona, and the seals for a great day!

There Will be Blood.

http://www.cigarettesandredvines.com/main.php?id=N01

Life goes on

WLWG

For a film that's mostly improvised, this project has been harder and more time consuming as far as writing goes. I've done more writing on When Life Was Good then on any of the 9 feature film scripts I've written.

I know. Crazy.

I believe I may have completed the story...now, to see if that's true, I'll have to shoot it.

We did some "reshoots" (Rob cut his hair, so we'll have something to talk about on the commentary track) on Casey's roof. Just some points of information that needed to be clarified. I'm impressed by the actors more and more each day. I can't wait to finish this film and move onto the next one.

I'd like to shoot one more feature film before September rolls around, but I'm torn between three projects. HAMLET, CINEMANOVEL, and ZOE.

They are SO different. How to choose...

Brand New Teaser for When Life Was Good

JUNE 14, 2007

Brand New Teaser for WHEN LIFE WAS GOOD is up.

Shots

Some photos by Mona:

You can see the huge crew, the script for the scene, the food. The magic. The life.




WHEN LIFE WAS GOOD

Shot two scenes yesterday. Things went pretty well. Tijana was fantastic as the Energy Healer...Michelle was our amazing Chloe. Casey and Kristine extend their genius.

Nothing for today, but tomorrow should be huge. As soon as the Mcdonald's breakfast is digested...it's time to write the scenes for tomorrow. No rain.

Also, the teaser is back up.

WhenLifeWasGood.com

Casey & Mischa

Great stuff today with Casey and Rob (Casey & Mischa). Casey let us shoot up on the roof of his house. It looks pretty great (the actors were great as always), but the sound in this city...loud.

Every shot in this film is handheld, and I think that's the only way to do this. It feels right.

We have some other days scheduled. This also feels right. Sitting around waiting for a movie to happen isn't making a movie happen.

I'm tired and rambling and going to bed. I ordered a second wireless mic setup on ebay. Sorry credit card, but the movie comes first.

WHEN LIFE WAS GOOD - Teaser

WHEN LIFE WAS GOOD

Teaser

When Life Was Good - teaser

THE WEBSITE "Portal" styles. EVERYTHING under one "roof."

www.cinemanovel.com


WHEN LIFE WAS GOOD - Website

www.whenlifewasgood.com

All the best,

Terry

PS: When Life Was Good could certainly use an investor or two. Please visit one of our websites and email for more details. Thanks!