:: Mikel's Mind ::

:: Friday, May 31, 2002 ::

From a post on the Warren Ellis Forum:

Make with clicky

Some amazing stuff in here. Photos of modern ruins. Check 'em out.
:: Mikel 1:19 PM [+] ::
...

Met Pari last night, who's another film-maker in this area. She wanted to look over the audition tapes that I had to see if there might be some good people for her. Got some good tips:

1: Take a seperate sound recording of things like clomping up steps, opening doors, etc. from up close with the camera.
2: Turns out the onboard mic for my camera isn't bad, thankfully, though we still may be able to use Orion's super 8.
3: Get little shots of things in the room to use as cut-aways. I had read this before and forgot it. Bad Mikel.

It's nice to talk to someone else doing similar things. I'd love to get a little network going with other small film-makers. Where you can share some resources and knowledge. Hell, I'll eventually have an iMac with DVD burner...no reason not work out a way for someone else to burn DVDs of their stuff. Good karma returns to you and fostering creativity is a wonderful and amazing thing.
:: Mikel 11:25 AM [+] ::
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Comics that have come in today:

1 @$15.96 Books; SUPER--HEROES; ANARCHY FOR THE MASSES TP
1 @$6.27 Comic Books; AVATAR PRESS; WARREN ELLIS STRANGE KISS TP
1 @$6.47 Comic Books; DARK HORSE COMICS; LONE WOLF & CUB VOL 21 FRANGRANCE OF
DEATH TP
1 @$19.47 Comic Books; DC COMICS (VERTIGO); HUMAN TARGET FINAL CUT HC
1 @$1.95 Comic Books; MARVEL COMICS (MAX); HOWARD THE DUCK #5
1 @$1.47 Comic Books; MARVEL COMICS (SPIDER-MAN); AMAZING SPIDER--MAN #41
1 @$1.47 Comic Books; MARVEL COMICS (X-MEN); X--FORCE #128

This is a beautiful and wonderful day, though I have to wait a little bit before picking them up and am far too tired to get to most (any) of them tonight.

Sang at Karaoke last night and spent the evening in some wonderful company. Tired today, though.

:: Mikel 1:21 PM [+] ::
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We didn't get enough done tonight because we started late. If we'd have gotten started about 5:30 instead of 7:30, I think we could have gotten most, if not everything we had planned to do done tonight. We ended at 9:30, so an extra 2 hours would have gotten us a good amount of stuff done.

It's time to stop being cowed by the fact that we're doing things on a camera and focus on pulling good performances out of the actors. They're giving good performances, but there are tons of little things I'd love to bring out. We need the time to work up on the individual scenes and right now to do that, we sacrifice that ability to get much done. We need a rehearsal day.

Just got an odd phone call. I need to go.

Mikel
:: Mikel 10:20 PM [+] ::
...

It's a vicious cycle, and it does like to bite hard.

Just when you think you've accepted something, at least for a short time before circumstances are suppose to change, something comes along and removes calm and stirs things up into a strange fucking whirlwind. And it's probably nothing....

I think too fucking much.

Especially when I have a place to write it down. I'll have to find and smack Britt for that, this blog is all her fault.

I need to look over the footage we've already shot. Probably on Friday, so I can have Thursday completely off. I need a bit of time to rest. Maybe give Sarah a call and see if she wants to meet for lunch or something. At the least, I could use the hug, though it'd be nice to see her again.
:: Mikel 4:31 PM [+] ::
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Great quote from Daniel, one of my partners-in-comics:

I have hard times reading women, too....I mean, 99% of the time, I can't even find the words on 'em.

A-fucking-men, my brother.
:: Mikel 4:16 PM [+] ::
...

Recommended stuff:

Books:
History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters by Julian Barnes: This includes the best thesis on Love I've ever read (the 1/2 chapter) and a pretty cool idea of heaven. Wonderful, mosiac novel.
Armour by John Steakley: Best sci-fi novel I think I've read. Starship Troopers with great action scenes. Felix kicks my ass.
Vampire$ by John Steakley: Best vampire novel I've read. Made into a horrible movie, but one hell of a book.
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Klay by Michael Chabon: Comics are a topic that's close to my heart, but this is more about two boys growing up and dealing with their lives. It's a novel, and just won the Pullitzer. Amazing stuff. I'm not as enthusiastic about his Wonder Boys book, which I think it interesting but ultimaetly lacks something special. This is the real deal.

Music:
Toad the Wet Sprocket: I rediscover Toad every once in awhile. This time, while making a Mix CD for Melinda. Love love love the Toad.
Glen Phillips: Former front man of Toad. Different musical sensibility on his solo album, but the same soulfull lyrics.
Guster: Best band you've never heard. Two guitars and bongos and some great music.
Dan Bern: Got back into his albums recently. Bob Dylan with a keen sense of humor.
Nine Days: Really well done pop.
Old School Metallics: Before Black, these guys made symphonies with their albums. Master of Puppets is one of my all time favorite albums.

Movies:
The Iron Giant: Heartwarming and intelligent.
Magnolia: Inspiring.
Battle Royale: We've got nothing on the Japanese when it comes to action/suspence.
Reanimator: This has just been released in a special edition on DVD. This will be mine on Friday.
Iron Monkey: Need to get this wonderful martial art film, as well.
The Blade: Not with Wesley Snipes (though that was a fun movie), this is a kick-ass martial arts flick I need to find somewhere.
Bowfinger: One of my favorite comedies of recent years.
Almost Famous: A love song to his youth that everyone should see.
The Big Lebowski: Absurd and beautiful. Shut the fuck up, Donny.
:: Mikel 10:51 AM [+] ::
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Insomnia was....eh.

It's worth seeing and has some interesting ideas, but it lacks a tension it sorely needs. I'm interested to see the original. This one is supposed to be a re-examination of the original, which seems about the only reason to remake a film.

Got some shooting done last night and didn't reach a few scenes, as we were chatting for awhile. Can't say I regret that, though I suppose I can't really let it happen too often. I genuinely like the people involved, which is wonderful since I wasn't able to do mini-interviews like I prefer to do.

My little cousin Carson sat on my lap and called Action for a few of the scenes last night. He was actually pretty quiet and focused during it, which was cool. We got done with a scene and he'd pipe up (watching the monitor with me): "I liked that one."

There are times he's a pain in the ass, but there are times where he's unreasonably cute, too.
:: Mikel 10:32 AM [+] ::
...

Rode the bike a few times this weekend, which was nice.

I believe it was Mark Twain who said that nothing ensures a rainy day better then saving up for one.

Got a flat tire coming out of Insomnia. It was still flat the next morning and is just about worn through anyway. I doubt they'll be able to fix it, it's so badly worn, so I have to get new tires. Like I don't have enough right this moment to put money into. grr ack!

Checking the shot list for tonight....may try some stuff with scheduling...we'll see.

Any actors of mine (or tech) who read this, feel free to comment. I'd like to get all sorts of views....if this movie does decently, I may turn the journal enteries into the type of book I couldn't find on film-making.

Mikel

:: Mikel 2:10 PM [+] ::
...

Bill hasn't seen The Shawshank Redemption.

I'm not up on my criminal statutes, but I think that's some sort of crime.

Just got back from seeing Insomnia. Interesting...kind of like Frailty in that it's worth seeing once, but doesn't have the tension it needs to garner an enthusiastic recommendation. Apparently, it's a remake that reinvisions the original, explores new areas of it. That's as should be. Someone like Cameron Crowe remaking Open Your Eyes (as Vanilla Sky) and apparently pretty much making the same movie smacks of masturbation. (No pun intended.) We were robbed of a potential Say Anything or Almost Famous. I didn't even like Jerry McGuire, but at least it was a movie he wasn't copying from someone else.

Played with my cousin Carson today. He's 5 and thinks I talk too quickly. I love kids, but I didn't have the reserves today to be as active as he wanted me to be. I was tired and wanted to chill and relax after a bit.
:: Mikel 10:43 PM [+] ::
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Small note and word to the wise:

Next person who compares me to a teddy bear gets bitten. I'm dark and mysterious and alluring, god damn it.
(Is it teddy bear-ish that I originally mistyped that as dog damn it? Watch your answer, I do bite.)

Tried 2 more times to burn this damn CD last night and still had problems. I'll probably spend tomorrow and maybe even Monday out at the parents place...may just do it on their machine. Maybe I can hook the two up and do it that way. It's aggravating me, regardless. "Songs to Slit Your Wrists To" was the original, tounge-in-cheek title. I think it adequaetly sums up the frustration I'm having trying to burn the damn thing. Great songs, though. Fun songs are only good when you're in a good mood. Sad songs call to your heart at any time.

Today we had the big shoot at Tolono Unity High School. John Tilford is one of my person heroes.... partly for just being John, and partly for letting us do this. Didn't have as many people as we'd originally thought, but I think it worked out fine on that end.

Because of waiting for others to show (who didn't) and a technical difficulty or two, we ended up not finishing till 4pm. I lost a few shots that I wanted to get, though there are a couple we can do elsewhere with a neutral background and no one'll be the wiser. It may be Fake Shemp time soon.

A second Camera would help SO much.

Orion works well with the camera and seems eager to do this. This leads me to wonder, of course, WHY THE FUCK ARE THESE PEOPLE LISTENING TO ME? I know that I can put together a well told story, but most of these people don't really know me from Jack. Call yourself a director and people listen, I guess. My hope is that I earn it.

I think I'm at my best when working with people in something like this. I'm feeling sharper and more alive then I have in awhile...I've needed something creative for awhile. Been running on auto for too long. I got about 4 hours or so of sleep last night. Was there at 8:30 ( up at 7:30) and was there till about 4:30 by the time we got everything packed. I came home feeling energized, though sitting for a bit and then riding Bill's bike down on campus helped get rid of some of the excess energy.

I'll sleep well tonight.

Things I would have done differently:

This is the most complex shoot of the film. I should have cut apart the scene and pasted it onto the page in Shot order, to help out. I didn't and instead wrote it down, which slowed things down a bit. We repeated a few angles we didn't need to. Storyboards would be nice, but I can't draw for shit. Time was also a concern.

If we could have worked in a slightly longer lunch, but that was only because I enjoyed it.... Melinda and Ashlie are a joy and it's a shame I didn't get to know Danielle before. I was slightly in performance mode but, damn it, I don't mind that. It's the way I am around people when I'm not too shy, which happens when I'm plunked into a party or something with lots of people I don't know. I'm best in small groups or if I'm in charge or in my territory.

Part of it's the Spirit of the Wolf in me.... most of it's ghosts of the past.

That shit's been on my mind too much lately. The move is part of it. It looks like I'll be in Jersey...I don't think I got the job at Rockton, which would have been cool. Living with a friend will help. I'm tired of feeling like a Nomad in my own life. I flit in and out of social circles with alarming speed.... it never seems to last. This is probably as much my own fault... I hold people at arms length pretty well. But then there are situations like it used to be with Sarah, Lauren, Veronica, and Lyndsey.

I'd just go over and we'd hang and have fun. Cuddle on the couch. I'd kill to be able to just cuddle with someone. Being held is a wonderful thing and I miss contact. It takes me a little bit to get really physically comfortable with people in close proximity a lot of the time. I miss being able to go over there and just be for a while.

Fake, Plastic Trees just started playing. I'd call it synergy, but I am playing the song list for "Songs to Cut Your Wrists To." I love this song but it's so sad and majestic I always end up in ultra-introspective mode or just in one of those moods where you want to listen to it over and over again and cry softly as the sun sets over the forest. But I've got no forest, so I guess I'm fucked.

Sarah, who I was closest to, became harder to get in touch with after she started dating Brennan. A better man for her then Aaron, but damn competitive with me. I miss Sarah, she was one of the ones I could really open to. I need to get ahold of her and hang before I leave. At least have coffee, which we manage to do once in awhile. She was there when I desperately needed to feel like I belonged somewhere when I got back from Waukegan...I was so fucking adrift.

But I've spent most of my life adrift. There are times where I feel like things will always be like this and I'll never be okay with it. There are times I feel like it will always be like this and I will be okay with it.

I'm not sure which scares me more.

I don't dwell on it as much as I used to, but it hits me on occassion. There aren't all that many times where I feel that, in the end, I have a happy ending. It's like in the film... I can see the happy ending for everyone but Garrett. I hope to find it someday. I don't want to die like this, but I'll struggle through it just to spit at the devil in the eye, if I have to.

Mike, who's now going to do something to get himself in a less-philosophic mood.
:: Mikel 7:48 PM [+] ::
...

Welcome to the land of Something's Always Wrong.

Did our first shoot with Bill, who plays the father tonight. We did the silent montage scene with him and Melinda. It went fairly well. Bill took off and we went into one of the solo scenes with Melinda.

Sound problems.

We got through most of the scene but got a tricky microphone in the later part of the scene. Turns out it's not just the microphone. More troubles....joy o joy. We've been working on it and finally (sometime after midnight, gotten it fixed.) And I have to be up early. Kill me now.

I'm in the mode where I just need to stop thinking for awhile. Too much on my mind. Waiting for the hammer to hit, emotionally, but this isn't theatre.... it's when I do a theatrical thing that I care about that it hits, and it's usually not until the end. A few nights before Jack went up, I was barely able to make it through the evening. All I could think about was that no matter what happened, the single greatest friend and partner on stage would never see this wonderful thing I was doing.

I should visit his grave, but it's probably best to hold off until the movie's done shooting.
:: Mikel 12:43 AM [+] ::
...

Tonight will be an easier shooting. Checked it through today and there are 5 or 6 setups. We can use a few of the same angels for some of the shots in other scenes, which will be helpful. I think we'll get it done fairly quickly. yay!

Treatsie on Improv and other creative persuits (probably).

This got lost about a week ago, so I figured I'd give another shot.

When it comes to any medium, film, prose, theatre, improv, comics, the best and, likely, only reason to do something is so that you can create a piece that you would want to see or read or experience. No other reason. When you second guess what you want to please the audience, you start the road into mediocrity. People want to read Supehero comics, so we get a shit-ton of really, really bad super hero comics. On occassion, you have people who truly want to tell a certain story with Superheros and you get an Astro City, Miracleman, Watchmen, Tom Strong, Top Ten, Dark Knight Returns, Starman, Stormwatch (Ellis run), etc. You get a very small percent of comics that are actually worth reading among a glut of copycats that are trying to please an audience that's been dwindling for years.

But then you get things that matter to their creators: Lone Wolf and Cub, Whiteout, Fortune and Glory, Nobody, Channel Zero, Bone, Cerebus, The Invisibles, Transmetropolitan, Sandman, Leauge of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Goodbye Chunky Rice, Maus, Alec, Bacchus, Cages, Mr. Punch, Memphisto and the Empty Box. And you get something amazing that doesn't pander, that doesn't pull punches. These tell great stories that are accessible to someone who's not a fan of the medium of comics. (The ones who mistake the genre of superheroes for the medium that includes some wonderful works.)

With television, it's much the same. Sopranos is good partly because they're doing WHAT THEY WANT TO DO. They're doing their own thing. Buffy and Angel are at their best when doing this. The Prisioner was good, partly because of this. And with movies.... the best movies usually aren't blockbusters. But they find their audience and, sometimes, their audience comes out in droves when the film is on video. (Shawshank Redemption, anyone?)

But with Improv, we pander.

Oh, fuck, how we pander.

To be fair, Improv is a vastly different art form in that it not only has an immediate audience reaction (which theatre also does) but it's influenced by that reaction. Most improv seems to be comedic. Many improvisors become whores for making people laugh and, when they hit on something that will make them laugh, they milk it. Or, what's worse, (because milking the audience in the right hands can aid the scene greatly. Knowing when to stop is important.) is when someone goes to something they know will draw laughs just because they're getting nervous about it.

I've seen quiet audiences who've enjoyed themselves. One of the early Mafia shows went incredibly well, but the audience was quirky that evening and wasn't really loud in their laughter or applause. It unnerved the troupe. I gave a pep-talk later, because I thought it was a great show and the audience did like it, but they were shaken. Because the emphasis had been put on pleasing the audience.

Fuck the audience.

Do it for yourself and your audience, if you're dilligent and talented, will find you. This isn't an excuse for bad performance. If you can't tell a story, you can't tell a story. If you can't get an audience invovled, that's your problem. But the audience for the Waterboy is very likely not going to like Magnolia. This doesn't detract from the brilliance of Magnolia, it's just not made to be homogonized for the waterheads.

I want to do solo or small group improv so that I can work on the things I want to work on. Some of that's comedy, yes, but it's mostly about the truth in situations. I want to do shows that are equal parts funny, touching, and tragic. The solo improv I did in Oberlin got laughs...it was working. If we'd have had more times, the wrap up would have been heart-warming, I think. (Yeah, I know, I know. I do heart warming on occassion. Shut up.) There's humor in real characters. A boy who doesn't want to be alone goes to the arcade and actually gets to play games with someone. A mother freaking out because her son is playing a game with an adult who shows some compassion and goes ahead and pays for the kids next game. The guy not being afraid to tell the mom off. That's about where it ended, but I didn't have to go with gross exaggerations. I'm tired of that... they all become the same after awhile.

If they're expecting Who's Line, they're not going to like what I want to do, but I'm not going to tell an audience that I'm delivering what Who's Line does. I've done that for too many years and it's lost its joy. I don't want to do short form for awhile because all the scenes seem the same, when it's gamey stuff. The Mafia was started to do short form that was rooted in Character and Scene. When this melted away, I saw the pale shadow of what we'd began when I returned from Waukegan. But they were still better then most short form troupes. The problem was some of the new people, who ran roughshod over each other going for the laugh.

Some of the best performers we had, who weren't incredibly aggressive, were put off by no longer being part of a scene. Instead, they were lead around and had no imput. They'd lost the cohesivieness we'd started with.

Simply---it had become what I didn't want to do anymore. I tried to get it back on track...several were for it, but I realized quickly that it was time to move on, though it broke my heart to leave behind something I'd put so much into.

But you have to be true to yourself. Otherwise, we betray the audience as well.
:: Mikel 10:51 AM [+] ::
...

Thursday, May 23...

scratch that

Friday, May 24th. 12:44 am, though being just past midnight, the am seems wrong, somehow.

We've finished the first evening of shooting. The first scene, 38b, is done. (Not so named because it is part of a larger scene, but because it was written after I'd numbered the scenes and had to be thrown in between the existant 38 and 39.)

My actors and crew are going to hate me by the end of this, I'm sure of it. It seems very egotistical, when I step outside of myself and look at what I'm doing. I've decided that I have something to say and that it's important enough for me to take other people's time, energy, and efforts to work in a medium I'm very familiar with but haven't worked in before. And I do think I have a good story to tell. My actors, through their input, have made it better. We're dealing with what we can, technology wise, but I have a good eye for telling stories through pictures; both in comics and on stage. I can't know exactly how many warts are going to show up on it when it's being edited...I just have to hope we can improve what needs to look better.

Well, we learned a lot today. Erica and James were an amazing help and Marshaun and Melinda are a director's dream. I lucked out and had good people fall into my lap.... the way things often seem to happen. I've been able to trust that life will place me where I need to be, which it often does. I guess this is one of those times.

Tips to young film-makers from a young film-makers day 1:

A: Your cast and crew are gold. I need to buy these people drinks or dinner when I have some money.
B: Choose a shorter scene the first day. The one we chose was 7 pages long... with the exception of the cafeteria scene at the end, I think it's the most complex scene we have. This isn't, in and of itself, a bad thing, but we spent a lot of time getting used to working with the camera and lights. Setups that took 15-20 minutes in the begging were taking almost no time at the end. We got 7 pages of script shot, which generally equals about 7 minutes of screen time. We have about 40 minutes taped.... I'm half suspecting it was left on at one point between takes, but I could easily be wrong. we got good coverage and it's a complex scene that takes place in 3 rooms. It took us about 4 hours to shoot, once we were actually shooting. If we were to shoot the same stuff again, I think we could shave about an hour off the time, just for all of the little things that happened in the beggining.

I'm still hot from being so close to the lights.

C: The monitor is your friend. This gives you a better look at what it'll look like. Be able to concentrate on it. Have someone else listening through the headphones and telling you if there's any disturbances.

It's taking a little bit of time, but I'm getting used to zooming and manipulating the camera while looking at the monitor.

D: I'm not a huge Kevin Smith fan, but I certainly understand the beauty of his normal "set the camera and shoot" style. I'm not great with a camera yet and we did a few pans and such that I didn't like so much. The coverage and close-ups seem to have worked out well, though.

I am, however, hoping to use a few pages from the likes of pt Anderson, though....I want to be able to use the camera as a moving entity at times. I will not be afraid to plant and shoot. The script is good enough and the actors are doing it well.

E: Our cat sucks. Just in general...he could become a problem. So could Ivy. I'm going to schedule us to go through the scenes here as quickly as possible.

F: My roommates will also hate me by the time I'm done with this.

G: Now that the crew knows what they're doing, I can work with the actors during setups. This is generally a Good Thing(tm).

Much love,

Mikel
:: Mikel 1:00 AM [+] ::
...

Well, today's the day.

Had my interview...should hear back soon if I got it. If not, I won't hear back until I get a letter in the mail saying "Thanks for interviewing, but no."

Rehearsals and getting other things done have been going well. Parents have been awesome about helping out, which means I actually have had time to get a bit of sleep around doing other things for the movie. The cast is really great...I wish we'd had some more rehearsal time, just to spend with them. :) It also would be nice to take some time to go over more of the actual scenes, but we'll do that before shooting. I'm going to see if people are able to get together early the days of shooting so we can go over the scenes with a bit of time to play before hand...it'll save time when the crew is there.

It's nice to get feedback from people who are actually involved in the production. I find I'm even a bit looser with accepting and working with their suggestions then I am in a regular play. Last friday Melinda, Tim, Ashlie, and myself went through the script scene-by-scene seeing what needed to be fixed. That's all we got to that evening (and then I went to see the truly awful Star Wars. Don't bother seeing it.) but it was well worth it.

We actually have crew. yay!

I need a smaller monitor, but I'll deal with what I have now...it's kind of clumsy, but it'll work. Could use another pair of headphones for myself, but we'll deal with what we have...I've got a pair floating around somewhere. I need to get more things arranged for the shoot this saturday and check on if I need a permit for shooting outside....which it seems like I'll be okay without.

I'll let ya know how this went later tonight or tomorrow morning.

Mikel


:: Mikel 3:24 PM [+] ::
...

Things seem to fall in my lap, I swear to god.

I haven't put in much as far as applications yet, since I was planning on going to New Jersey. I knew I'd most likely end up with an English job which I wouldn't be too thrilled at because my heart and my energies are better in theatre.

So guess who gets a phone call today.

I've got an interview in Rockton, which seems to have quite an impressive theatre, on Tuesday. When I talked to either the Principle or Fine Arts person at the Job Fair, they seemed to absolutely love me. I never sent in an actual application because I wasn't sure if I wanted to be up North. I know very little about the Rockford/Rockton area and I'm not certain if I'll be able to do the theatre I want to do there. It will, however, cost less then New Jersey and probably give me a more fulfilling job.

*sigh*

Rehearsal last night was cool...we did improv characters work on the script.... got a few good things out that I'm probably going to use and explored Garrett's Relationship to Rachel and Alex more, which I think helped, since it's such a strange one. Have a few more scenes to add by the end of the weekend and then we should be good to go.

Recommended Movie: Battle Royale
:: Mikel 1:20 PM [+] ::
...

I lost a big-ass treatsie on Improv last week which pissed me off a little.

Had rehearsal last night...did some improv with the characters and I thought it went pretty well. Spending a bit of time getting the "voice" of the characters down a bit with the actors. I think the one tonight and tomorrow will help more....the family dynamic is fairly non-existant, so it feels like there's only so much that we can do.

Turned 27 today. Not entirely sure how I feel about that, but it helps that I'm finally getting around to doing this film. Had a dream about a class reunion last night, of all things. Too much to do. The comics and film things need to happen. I've spent enough time getting to where I need to be.

Now it's time to get to where I want to be.
:: Mikel 10:40 AM [+] ::
...

Going to be making a few additions to the script today.

A humerous scene with Garrett for first act--- maybe the 2nd. I'd like to include it a bit earlier, but the 1st act is pretty tightly structured. The 2nd act will probably give me more opportunity to put it in. Need another scene with the father early on.... adding Chloe to another scene so we can get a bit more into what the father's about. There are a few lighter scenes later in the movie, but it needs a touch more, at least at the beggining of the 2nd act. We'll see how it all works out.

Next week I'll be putting together some "chinese lanterns" from a place I found on the net and probably a dolly, as well. I may just get a wheelchair and use that. I could also use a smaller television to use as a monitor. THe ones I have are rather large.

Went out to Jupiter's with Matt and Ricky last night. Had pizza. Fucked up and ordered a SoCo, thinking it was a Southern Comfort and Coke. Turns out, fairly obviously, that it was straight Southern Comfort. A little stronger then I wanted. I ordered a coke and dumped it in, making for a very strong Southern Comfort and Coke. We played pool, watched the hotties (of which there were quite a few) and had a good time.

I sooooooooooo wanted to call in sick to work today. Don't feel like being here. Tomorrow, probably.
:: Mikel 10:23 AM [+] ::
...

Hearing your own work, especially as long as the script is, read out loud is a very odd thing.

Had our first read-through last night. Went pretty well, I think. Hopefully, while working through the characters, ways to improve the script will pop up. It was reinforced last night that the structure on this is a bit strange--- it's got an epic sensibility in that each of the three acts have a very different flavor for most of the characters. I think, however, that in the end it will work out.

It's good to finally get it started.
:: Mikel 10:24 AM [+] ::
...

First read through tonight.

After the read through I'm going to see what people's schedules are like so we can find out who's good for rehearsal when. I figure about 2 weeks or so of rehearsing characters...mostly improv character exercises. I keep thinking I'd rather stay away from the script for awhile and concentrate on the characters themselves with these actors... especially Kimmie, who I have some very specific ideas for.

Not sure how comfortable these actors will be with that, but I can teach them. It's what I used to do.

Went out drinking with Gorge (pronounced Whore-hey), Rueben, and, for a bit, Emily last night. Gorge, Rueben, and I ended up at C-Street's Goth night. Talked with a cutie there for a bit, but Brian (the other security guard) was being petulant and a dick after awhile.

Ruined my Mack, that mother fucker.

Had a grand old time. That's the kind of shit I don't do enough--- head out in a good mood. I was in 'performance' mode most of the evening and had a ball. Can't wait for the party this friday. Hoping to meet a cutie. :)

I miss performing. May see about doing some solo improv this summer. Need to do something while directing. Got bit by the solo bug hard at Oberlin. Not only can I do this... I can kick ass at it.

Mikel
:: Mikel 11:01 AM [+] ::
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Well, we are cast.

I was very pleasantly surprised at the level of talent that auditioned. Marshaun and Melinda seemed to "get" Garrett and Rachel immediaetly. Brian is an excellent child actor--he'll be playing Alex. Poor Alyshe will have to deal with the fact that I have very specific ideas for Kimmie. :) She'll do fine, I'm certain, but I want to make sure it's the give-and-take I prefer from directing. I don't like just telling my actors "Read the line THIS way." Bill will be an excellent Tim. Not quite as old as I had originally been looking for, but he's just the right age for Tim, actually. At 37, you're more likely to have a 16 year old daughter then at 55.

Read through this Tuesday. Have things to get ready before we do it.

Can't wait to get this started.

Mikel

:: Mikel 2:39 PM [+] ::
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