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CINEMANOVEL - DAY 29 of 22.

Other than a few film-within-the-film bits and a few pick ups…

We’re wrapped!

A couple of months ago Lauren Lee Smith and I decided we were finally going to make a film I wrote called CINEMANOVEL…we’d been trying to get funding for quite a while, but a “love letter to cinema” is not the most commercial pitch…so…we decided to do it ourselves.

With principal photography over, we’re one step closer to bringing the world of Cinemanovel to life.

Thank you to all the amazing people who helped make this possible: Kristine Cofsky (holy shit, we did this thing), Casey Manderson, Ines Eisses, Michelle Kim, Jeff Carter, Anna MacDonald, Casey Chan, Michelle Miazga, Mischa, Gaelle, and all of the other beautiful humans who gave their time and energy to this one. Thanks to everybody who came out to play in the background, helped out with gear/locations, and those who donated so generously on Indiegogo!

Now, we’re heading into post production, picture edit, sound, music, FUN!

First step: Editing.

My movie is born first in my head, dies on paper; is resuscitated by the living persons and real objects I use, which are killed on film but, placed in a certain order and projected on to a screen, come to life again like flowers in water.

- Robert Bresson

CINEMANOVEL: Day 18  (or 19 or 27)

LAUREN LEE SMITH and JENNIFER BEALS in CINEMANOVEL

Last night was one of the best times I’ve ever had filming a movie.

We didn’t have a location and we needed to grab a scene before Jennifer Beals had to fly back home…so…

We drove around, found a place, and shot.

Just me, Lauren Lee Smith, Jennifer Beals, Kristine, Casey, and Nanners. A couple of wireless mics, no lights, gear, nothing.

Just a fast lens and some imagination.

It was fantastic. More guerrilla style than anything I’ve done since WHEN LIFE WAS GOOD.

I can’t wait to share this film! The cast has been amazing. The tiny crew is the best in the world.

Even thought this is the most ambitious thing I’ve ever done, BY FAR, and the locations have been a nightmare to lock down (thanks Kristine, Ines, Casey, Michelle, and all), this film is visually light years ahead of anything I’ve made in the past, including A Night for Dying Tigers.

Shooting and lighting this film has been a lot of work, but it’s the most fun I’ve ever had behind the camera.

Tomorrow is either day 18, 19, or 26, depending on whether you count our “film-within-the-film” shooting days in the schedule.

Homestretch!

Catherine Michaud as Young Sophie (great photo by Kristine Cofsky)

CINEMANOVEL “Prep” is actually the “Production” of 8 1/2 little “Films-Within-The-Film”

“Little,” is the wrong word, however, as these small sections may be slightly more intricate and involved, at least from a “Style” perspective as the film proper.

We need them for playback in the film proper, so we’re deep into making that happen.

Without any real prep time, I’ll be heading into a lot of the locations and scenes with some idea (hopefully!), but no clear sense of the geography of each place.

This is a challenge, but it’s one I’ve decided to embrace.

I’ve done enough of these things to know there is an immediacy and creative energy that can be inspiring and liberating when you work without a shotlist.

Deep and heartfelt THANK YOUS to Kristine, Ines, and Casey for all the INCREDIBLY hard work they continue to put into this film. Gaelle and Anna too. Whew!

During this time we’ve also been getting “In No Particular Order” ready for its VIFF premiere.

Now we’re off to shoot another little film!

Prep continues…

Casting, auditions, locations, paperwork, fundraising, and all the rest. Whew.

Kristine and Ines are working hard on casting, locations, and paperwork, and we’re moving forward with momentum!

We’ll have a few key cast announcements SOON!

It’s a complicated thing, making a film. I re-read and tweaked the script last night, making a few key adjustments, enhancing the film-within-the-film sections and Jennifer Beals’ character, Clementine. Having Jennifer playing Clementine gives me so much to play with as far as range and emotional resonance. Jennifer is a fantastic actor who brings so much to the screen, and, having worked together before, I know she can do pretty much anything I imagine, and do it convincingly. Like Lauren (Lee Smith), Jennifer is a great collaborator when it comes to enhancing character and digging deeper.

The films-within-the-film need to be shot very soon, which is scary! Time to book that stuff and get shooting!

August 16, 2012

Well, it’s time to write stuff down.

We’ve been in prep for CINEMANOVEL since Lauren (Lee Smith) and I decided to go ahead and make the film a few weeks back.

We’re funding the film ourselves with some generous support from fans of independent film over at INDIEGOGO.

We’re hunting for locations, sorting out equipment, casting, and assembling the team.

Today it’s locations and casting.

Ines, Kristine, Casey, Lauren, myself, and a few others have been working on finding the perfect locations for the film.

We still need: something that might pass as a FERTILITY CLINIC (should look fairly medical, white walls, etc…), a MOVIE THEATRE, a sweet CHARACTER APARTMENT (hardwood floors), an old school PUB/BAR, and a few other bits and pieces.

Please email cinemanovel (at) gmail.com with any leads/advice/help.

Casting is up for today. We don’t have many roles to cast, but they’re all important!

Looking forward to setting the producer’s hat aside and digging into the script and the creative!

I can’t wait to get started!

CINEMANOVEL

We’re making an independent film.

Cinemanovel is an independent feature film written and directed by Terry Miles (A Night For Dying Tigers), starring Lauren Lee Smith and Jennifer Beals.

If you’re interested in investing in a feature film, please get in touch!

SUPPORT INDEPENDENT FILM

We’re making a film called CINEMANOVEL written and directed by Terry Miles starring Lauren Lee Smith and Jennifer Beals.

It’s a personal, “arthouse” film, and we’re really excited about this one!

We’ll be post updates and progress reports as we move closer to production.

Please help spread the word!

PS: The mock up poster is a “Funny Games” inspired screen capture from our last film, A Night For Dying Tigers.