Thursday, March 24, 2011
Friday, March 4, 2011
The Pier
The opening scene of the film takes place on the Santa Monica Pier. Jonathan and I (along with Mike Lutz) lived on 3rd and Ocean Park
And it should be noted that JC, Mike and I had three things in common. We were broke. We knew everything. And now armed with a college degree, world domination was only a few years away.
For the first time there was nothing but clear, unwritten future ahead of us. No professors, no coaches, no parents, no girlfriends… nothing. Looking back on that time in my life I realize how naive I was about a lot of things. But one thing I did get right was to dream big. Short story long, there were many crazy nights we found ourselves down at the pier. If you have spent any time inSanta Monica
The problem with this idea… to legally shoot on the pier, with insurance and the whole nine, it would require a lot of things and all those things cost money. More money than is budgeted for the entire film. So I have been working on alternative scenes but nothing seems to work. I mean the pier is it. There is nothing else.
Last night... I came to terms with the only option. Stealing shots. I have been stealing shots or shooting at locatons without prior consent or permits for the past 10 years as an indie filmmaker. There are very few films, indie and studio alike, that do not practice this. I have no problem doing it. I was hesitant because when you steal shots at a location like the pier you cannot record sound. This would mean we would need to do a voice over for the pier scene. I am not a fan of VO, especially when it is used to solve a problem. I do however like the idea of hearing the main character, Samuel’s thoughts over the scene. This opening scene is a flashback. This moment in time will initiate Sam’s quest. So a stream of consciousness might work well.
My whole point in writing this was because late, late last night after coming up with this idea I decided to dig through old notebooks for inspiration. I came across a poem I wrote just after meeting my wife. I am not sure it works for the scene but it does sum up the feelings between the two main characters… in four lines no less.
Secretly she cries
She burns like the sun
Make no mistake
I cannot look away
And it should be noted that JC, Mike and I had three things in common. We were broke. We knew everything. And now armed with a college degree, world domination was only a few years away.
For the first time there was nothing but clear, unwritten future ahead of us. No professors, no coaches, no parents, no girlfriends… nothing. Looking back on that time in my life I realize how naive I was about a lot of things. But one thing I did get right was to dream big. Short story long, there were many crazy nights we found ourselves down at the pier. If you have spent any time in
The problem with this idea… to legally shoot on the pier, with insurance and the whole nine, it would require a lot of things and all those things cost money. More money than is budgeted for the entire film. So I have been working on alternative scenes but nothing seems to work. I mean the pier is it. There is nothing else.
Last night... I came to terms with the only option. Stealing shots. I have been stealing shots or shooting at locatons without prior consent or permits for the past 10 years as an indie filmmaker. There are very few films, indie and studio alike, that do not practice this. I have no problem doing it. I was hesitant because when you steal shots at a location like the pier you cannot record sound. This would mean we would need to do a voice over for the pier scene. I am not a fan of VO, especially when it is used to solve a problem. I do however like the idea of hearing the main character, Samuel’s thoughts over the scene. This opening scene is a flashback. This moment in time will initiate Sam’s quest. So a stream of consciousness might work well.
My whole point in writing this was because late, late last night after coming up with this idea I decided to dig through old notebooks for inspiration. I came across a poem I wrote just after meeting my wife. I am not sure it works for the scene but it does sum up the feelings between the two main characters… in four lines no less.
Secretly she cries
She burns like the sun
Make no mistake
I cannot look away
ps. Do yourself a favor and check out Angus and Julia Stone
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