Romantic Misadventures - Feature Film

Get it out for sure.

As for improvising, well I know a director that did that recently. He worked on an indy feature, and was working with some big Quebec stars (here in Quebec Canada), and he decided to throw out all of the dialogue and just have the actors improvise everything. However to do this properly he got two cameras so he made sure to capture all the shots needed.

I'm sorry to hear about the rejection (not sure what you mean by that), but you gotta keep going. We all face problems when trying to get our films done. In the end, it's all about getting the film made. Like they say "the mission is all that matters", well in our case "the film is all that matters."
 
Hey Billy. I'm glad I finally got to catch up on this thread. Sorry to hear about all the obstacles that have come up as you've been trying to prep your film. I think I know what you're going through as I recently struck out with a girl I was ga-ga over. I know it sucks, but at the risk of sounding pretentious, maybe it's a blessing in disguise. Perhaps it's the missing piece of the puzzle and you can use the emotional turmoil to inform the film. I speak from experience when I suggest this. I've been trying to crack the story for my TimeFest entry for months, but have been spinning my wheels the whole time. Then the female situation occurs, I hit a pretty low point, and eureka. I make a huge break-through with my script. It's pretty strange. I'm actually thankful that I went through the heartache. If I didn't, I doubt I would have been "raw" enough and in my own head enough to figure out the story I wanted to tell. So keep your head up, Billy. Push on. Set a date to begin production (assuming all pre-pro and locations are generally taken care of) and just START. I love the idea of you doing improv. I know you say you have doubts about what you want to say with this film, but don't worry. Just say whatever's in your heart. It'll be honest and the audience will definitely pick up on that.

Feel free to message me if you need someone to bounce ideas off of.

Take care and good luck.
 
Thanks for the support, guys, it really helps.

I'm going to be staying with my sister in San Luis Obispo this week. She'll be in school most of the time, and I won't have much to do, so I'm going to take the opportunity to just write, hopefully. I really need a change in scenery. I won't have any distractions. Although she's informed me that there's a good art house theater there, so I might check that place out if possible. I'm going to take my notes and outlines and just write. Maybe the beach will bring some inspiration, as corny as that may sound. I just need to get out of smoggy Bakersfield.
 
My friend and lead actor, Roscoe Myrick, is leaving me for Portland Tuesday. He told me I should come to Portland with him and make the film there. He's going to be teaching an acting class there. I found this notion very intriguing. He said I could probably find people more enthusiastic about the arts, who will actually be interested in the project. It's very tempting, not just because I'll get to work with him still, but the idea of leaving my parents' house, leaving Bakersfield, for like two months, crashing in his place, hanging out and shooting in another town, and to come back with a film shot. I'm really considering it.
 
I'm talking to some people at the college about having a casting call there later this month. I'm also going to be doing tech for a play here in town, so hopefully I'll meet some actors and actresses. I went to San Luis Obispo last week and wrote a few new scenes, and a solid outline for the seventh draft of my script. I've written quite a bit since I got back.
 
The new draft is coming along very well. The play is going well too. For someone with zero experience, I'm doing pretty well with operating the lights and stage managing. The cast and everyone has been encouraging. There's some really talented people in the show, some of which I'll give my script to, and hopefully hear back from.
 
Local band The Grizzly Owls have agreed to let me use a song of theirs, "Rifles and Hemlines" which you can listen to on their myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/thegrizzlyowls

I'm absolutely smitten with the song, and am excited to be able to include it in the film. I might use it at the end of the film. In exchange, I'm going to make a music video for the same song for them.

Also, someone else in town is shooting their own "mumblecore" movie, and I've been asked to DP it. I agreed. It could be fun. We start this Sunday.
 
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I just finished writing the seventh draft of the script. I've started approaching the actors from the play I did. The first two people I approached with the project are interested. Let's hope they'll be fully on board when they read the script.
 
Cast is almost locked. I'm going to make copies of the script and hopefully have a table read next weekend. After that I'll have to lock some locations, order the tape stock, and I should be good to go by the beginning of July. The scheduling is going to be tricky, as everyone works, and I don't even know what my work schedule is going to be like each week until Sundays, when management does the schedule for each week. So I might have to do it week-by-week, possibly even by day as we go along, to work around everyone's schedules.
 
Two of my lead actors just backed out, so I have to push everything back once again. I'm going to try and arrange another casting call. Hopefully people will show up, and hopefully I'll find the right people for the roles. And hopefully they'll have free time to devote to the project. It would seem that the movie gods really don't want this to happen. A friend has been telling me about my social awkwardness. and perhaps it's why I can't get people to get behind my projects. She's supposed to be playing a role in the film, but she told me months ago, when sh first read the script and when I first cast her, she was thinking of not doing the film, even though she liked the script, because I was so weird and awkward. We got to know each other better, so my awkwardness around her went away. Am I just too weird? Do I drive people away from working with me because of that?
 
Hi Billy, I'm intrigued. Could you be kind enough in telling me what went wrong ... you had the tape, you had the actors, you have a camera, right? Why don't you shoot? Really, what's stopping you?

Here's the thing: you don't need anybody to make a movie. You're all it takes. Announce to everyone you want to work on your movie that you're shooting on such and such a day, at such and such a location, at such and such a time ... and be out there with your camera, and when it's time to begin, turn the camera on.

You're now making a movie. Everything will fall in place. It might not be the movie you intended to make, but I guarantee it, it will be better than the one you didn't make :-)
 
The problem is unreliable actors. The two who just quit, understandably, have less free time than they initially thought. Half of the film is composed of scenes between their characters. On the other end of the spectrum, there's actors who agree to do it, and flake completely. This is the problem with trying to make a film in Bakersfield. The film community exists, but it's relatively underground compared to the theatre scene. I was talking to a filmmaker friend at a party, and he's had a lot of the same problems. His solution is to cast out of Los Angeles. Casting out of either town has a pretty big trade-off. There are local actors who are talented, who actually show up every day of filming, who do it for free. But there's also a lot of flakes. In LA, you'll find more eager aspiring actors who will jump at the chance to do the film. Unfortunately, I don't have the money to pay them, or the money to shoot in LA (not to mention I don't live there, I don't really know the town well, and I can see problems in scouting locations and getting access to them. Whereas here in Bakersfield, I have a ton of friends who will let me shoot for free in their homes, and if you're shooting guerilla-stlye on the street, the cops don't ask for permits. As long as you don't bother anyone, they'll just leave you alone). So I'm of limited funds to pay professional actors, and the amount of reliable, talented actors in this town is limited.

A friend of mine, who works for the board of directors in a theatre I've worked in, offered me time with the theatre to hold a casting call. I'm going to set that up, but this time, advertise the hell out of it, three weeks to a month in advanced, this month. I'm going to hold the production until September. When/if casting is successful, the actors will have a month to prepare for the film, as will I. Plus, there's still quite a few people who have stuck with the project for several months now, who have become good friends who won't bail on me. Two of them will have tons more free time by September. Plus, I think I'd rather shoot in the fall anyway. I think it'll be more aesthetically-pleasing in terms of the look of the film. No matter how well you plan things, anything van, and probably will, go wrong. So let's hope this two-month delay will pay off in the long run.
 
Ok, Billy, I'm going to give it to you straight. Like me you don't have money but you want to make a feature film. I understand where you're coming from. We have the opposite problem though :-)

Look at this clip: http://www.felliniesque.com

I had an actor who did a scene for me one day. I thought he showed promise, so I asked him if he knew an actress who wanted to work with us. He said yes. I talked to her on the phone. I said come out to Hollywood Blvd. by the Chinese Groman's theater, dress as a character parading on Hollywood Blvd. Do you have a costume, I asked. Yes, a fairy costume. I said, good, we'll go with that. Can you dance? Yes. Ok.

On the day of the shoot we met and I walked out with them on Hollywood Blvd. I turned the camera on and I said, "Dance."

This is the scene. The little bit about the symbol on her shoulder and his neck, I came up with that on the spot.

Now, you got to remember this: your actors aren't movie stars; they're not box office. You won't get a negative pick-up. Ok, there's one a billion chance. Forget it. You've waited too long.

Next time you meet a couple of actors, turn the camera on and tell them, "this is a relationship movie -- action!"

Then when you have 50 scenes like this, begin editing them together.

Give the actors the script that you already have, but forget about the script yourself. Don't even bring it with you to the set, and don't ask them if they still have their scripts. Just ask them to relate to each other. Everybody knows about Romantic Misadventures. Those are the most common types of relationships people have. LOL

Make a movie, Billy. Quit procrastinating. You ain't getting younger.

I saw an actor on Good Morning America several years ago. He worked on a Clint Eastwood movie. He said one day he was sitting in his car on the set of the movie and he was banging on the steering wheel and pounding the dashboard getting himself psyched up to do the scene. He said he turned and looked out of the driver's side window and saw Ol'Clint looking at him. He went back to his pounding the wheel. Clint Eastwood walked up to him and put his elbow on the door and looked the young actor straigth in the eye.

Clint said, "Look, buddy, do whatever you have to do; just don't forget to do the line."

If you're doing an Alfred Hitchcock movie, okay, plan, storyboard ... but this is a relationship movie; explore, invent, dream things up....
 
Interestingly enough, i'm doing something similar with my short. There is certain scenes where the dialogue is extreemly important and other scenes where it's not important at all. So what i've got is an in-between... but I want to make another short where the actors are just doing improv the whole time because I truly believe in improv you find the truest emotions. (i've had a year of acting classes in college... last year).
 
Thanks for the advice and support, guys. It really keeps me going. Trust me, I'm sick of procrastinating and pushing things back too. I think maybe I did try to rush it this last time though. I finished the script on May 31, and tried to have it all ready by July 7. And I came close, but I think I did need more time. So hopefully the next couple of months will help. I hope I'm not just trying to rationalize this. The casting call will be the first sign on how things may go.
 
egyptianboxer104 said:
CONTRACTS

even if you're not paying them, they're using your time, and you're probably loosing some money when they drop.
Click to expand...

Do you usually draw up your own contracts, or are there existing ones you can download, or copy from somewhere else, and fill in all the blanks yourself?
 
Dear Asleep at the Wheel,

Oh, it's been so long since I've heard from you. Did you miss me? Sorry I haven't been paying much attention to you. I got caught up in another script, and various other projects. I'll be honest. For a while, I really stopped caring about you. You were very intense for a while, and I got frustrated. I'm sorry. But I still love you. You're still a story I'm burning to tell. I just needed a break for a while, that's all. But guess what?? I might be doing you as a stage play now! A friend of mine, who's on the board of directors at a local theatre, has informed me that there's two weeks in March where they have nothing planned, and they're looking for something to do. So I gave her an older version of you. I know, I know, it's exactly you in your most presentable form. You're even written in a different format, for a different medium! But I figured it'll at least give them an idea of what I'm going for. So the next board meeting isn't until the 1st of December, and even then, it could be even longer before we find out if we're getting produced, so keep your fingers crossed.

If we can do this, maybe we can find a dedicated cast, and even test out your content with an audience. Maybe after the play is done, if everyone is on board for the movie, we can shoot it immediately after. It'll be like a long rehearsal for the movie, and everyone will already know their characters, not to mention their lines! Who knows? Maybe this is what we need to bring us close together again, like the old days. I already have ideas for how it can be done onstage, and I've even written a few new scenes. Even if the stage thing doesn't work out, you'll still be my film, and we'll still get you finished, no matter what. Remember, you've always been my film, and you always will be. I've missed you, and still love you, and I always have.

Love,
Your dedicated Writer & Director,
Matthew Roger Kieley

P.S. Can I get a mod to do us a favor and change the thread title to "Asleep at the Wheel - Feature Film, Written & Directed by Matt Kieley"? Thanks!
 
everyone will become ghosts if you sleep at the wheel any longer :-)

just go to your window, stick out your head and scream: actioooooon!
 
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