A Feature Movie is Difficult to Make in Many Different Ways - Version 1.0

Back in 2004, after I shot My Most Difficult Case, I decided that my next movie would be a feature. I felt I was ready for it, but seven years have gone by and no feature yet. I’ve started to consider some of the difficulties I’ve run into. I hope that will help me overcome them.

I expect that my knowledge and views will change and become better organized. That is why I call this version 1.0.

How Much Can I Afford to Spend on My Transportation Planning Movie?

Lately I have asked people for their opinions about my idea for a movie about transportation planners. Some comments I got made me realize that many people have an unrealistic view of the economics of moviemaking.

How Much Money Might I Make?

So, what is the market for a movie about transportation planning?

The Crying Woman and the Art of Listening

The Crying Woman

I got back to The Crying Woman this week. I got about 850 words done Thursday. The next day I couldn’t write if my life depended on it. I find this is a very hard story to write.

I’m about 80 per cent through the story now. I hope to get the first draft done next week. It will need a lot of rewriting though. Of course, since I plan to turn it into a film eventually, I’ll rewrite it many more times before I’m done.

The Art of Listening

The Evolution of My Transportation Planning Story

I have embarked on a project to make a movie about transportation planning. This idea has been percolating through my mind for a long time and has a long way to go yet.

 

Early Efforts

I worked for over 30 years as a transportation planner. When I started to make films in the early 1990s, many of my co-workers encouraged me to make a film about transportation planning. I was reluctant to do that.

Issues in Transportation Planning #4: It’s All Bad News

“I never gave them hell. I just told the truth and they thought it was hell.” – Harry S Truman

I don’t know why I didn’t think of this earlier. After all, all through my career I was frustrated by how people reacted to bad news. Time and again I ran into a lot of flack about my “negative” attitude.

First Film Shot on My $100 Film Festival Film

After substantial procrastination, I’ve taken a break from my transportation planning stories to work on my short film for the 20^th annual $100 Film Festival.

Wednesday I picked up a camera (a Canon Scoopic) from the CSIF’s new production coordinator Yvonne. It’s been a while since I used a 16mm camera, so I had to practice loading the film. I had a heck of a time with the practice film, but when I loaded the actual film, it worked just fine.

Character Names

Over the years I tried several different approaches to character names. I’m still not sure which the best way is.

When I started I just picked names “out of the air.” It turned out that wasn’t always easy to do, and some of the names were uninspired. Later I developed names that were similar to mine, like Jack Gilmore in Line of Taxis. I thought this was a little too cute, so I dropped that.