“The Crying Woman” and My $100 Film Festival Film Updates - 2011 July 3

The Crying Woman

I had one very productive day on The Crying Woman this week. The whole story should run about 6,000 words and I wrote 2,600 in one session. I have another 2,000 to do.

I was optimistic that I could finish it off the next day but I got stuck. Before I started to write I read over the last bit I wrote the day before. I was disappointed because the woman sounded like a whiner. The story requires her to share how she feels, so I have to let her open up about how she feels. I do need to find a way for her to do that and not sound whiny.

I didn’t feel like writing after that. I gave it a shot, but just couldn’t get started. It is kind of foolish of me. I know that I can fix the problem in the rewrite and I should get on with the first draft.

This story is a substantial departure from what I’ve done in the past, so I will run into snags as I feel my way forward. I see this project as an opportunity to learn and grow. Some years ago I decided that with every project I would push the limits of what I feel comfortable with. It looks like this project will do this.

$100 Film Festival Film

I took another little step forward on my film for next year’s $100 Film Festival. Last week I checked on film processing.

This week I met with Murry Smith, the acting production coordinator at the CSIF. We talked over what equipment I would use on the project. I was quite happy to learn that they still have the camera I like to use.

While I’ve used the ARRI M and the Bolex, I much prefer the Canon Scoopic. I’m sure that more experienced cinematographers would say it is not as good a camera as the ARRI or Bolex, but I found it easier to use. Ease of use is important to me when I’m the camera operator. It has been a while since I have used it. For some reason I thought it was a Panasonic camera.

When I looked up more information on the camera just now, I was surprised to learn that the camera was introduced in 1965! The camera at the CSIF must be a later model, but it could still be 30 to 35 years old.

I talked to Steve Hanon, who shot Line of Taxis and My Most Difficult Case for me. He thought he could help me with this project. Howard Horwitz has already agreed to help. I hope that over the next couple of weeks I’ll get a test roll shot, and then I can move on to the project proper.

This post is a mirror from my main blog http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/blog