Location Scout photo by genius FIRST AD Bryan Knight.

Week three of PREP on RECOIL is in the books.

We go to camera on the 18th. Wow.

Working all weekend to get my preliminary shotlist looking more like a realistic shotlist. More meetings on Sunday.

I’m excited to get shooting!

CASEY, TIJANA, and DAN in “VAMLET”

Thursday/Friday were spent polishing four scripts.

NOW it’s full on editing VAMLET. I’d like to get a rough assembly finished by the end of the week. SO MUCH left to slog through.

Back to it!

Yesterday I took a break from writing to grab lunch and I remembered an email somebody sent a while back. It pissed me off all over again.

This person said they were inspired by the way I just went out and made WHEN LIFE WAS GOOD with myself as the only crew, how I just decided to make a film and then went out and made it. I replied to the message with a thank you and a brief “all you need to do is decide to make a film and then…you make it” message of inspiration.

Then I received a further message, pretty much asking for my help making their film, because, they said, unlike me, not everybody can just go out and make a film.

They pretty much wanted me to take their script and make their movie for them.

THAT IS SO WEAK

Something I learned very early on when making music transferred perfectly to film:

There will always be better filmmakers.

There will always be more talented filmmakers.

There will always be luckier filmmakers.

There will NEVER be a filmmaker who works harder than I do.

It was the only thing I could control, so I decided to control it.

SO, PLEASE

Don’t be a lazy fuck and expect people to create for you.

If you need equipment, find a way to buy it.

If you need actors, find them.

If you need a script, write one, get a friend to write one, remake The Tempest in a high school and shoot it on your iPhone, anything.

If things aren’t working out for you, if you’re not “getting the breaks,” if you’re not working on a new script because, even though nobody’s rushing to make the ONE script you have, you know it’s the greatest thing since Matrix Reloaded…if you spend more time talking about what you’re going to do or reading books and magazines and blogs about what you want to be doing, then you’re not doing anything.

All you really need to do is…something.

Now, I’m going to stop playing around on this blog and get back to writing.

Oh, and I procrastinate EVERY day. I find the secret to good procrastination is to switch back and forth between projects rather than the dishes, playstation, online “research,” etc…

“Jesus Christ, Alison, he doesn’t look remotely Swedish!”

FIRST RESHOOT required. A little out of focus action means a quick reshoot. Should only take an hour or two, only one main character involved. If you have to do a reshoot, this is the type you want.

EDITING

Editing is getting tough. No end to the chaos. No end to the footage. I have SO MUCH writing I need to do, and it’s impossible with all of this editing to get done.

This is the most editing I’ve ever had to do on a film. This is the “roughest” audio, the “roughest” picture, the “roughest” everything. This just means the film has a long way to go. I’ll get it there, for sure, but it’s going to take a LOT of time and work.

I may have to take a break from the edit and run away for a week or so to write. This writing needs to be done!

TIGERS

No word on anything on the tigers front as far as distribution, etc…but we’re hopeful something will come through soon.

I think it’s probably day TWENTY-SOMETHING.

KRISTINE COFSKY is BROOKLYN

Had a great day yesterday doing some talking head stuff extras (probably end credits or DVD extras, maybe in the film somehow).

The day before that was the BOAT (thanks Matt for the boat!).

Before that…something else…I can’t remember, but I think maybe we were at Kristine’s apartment?

It’s been a long crazy ride, and we’re still not finished. We’ll have to shoot another week or more when we’re back from TIFF.

It’s going to take a prolonged editing trip to get this thing ready for viewing. This will be the most difficult editing project I’ve ever undertaken (strictly from a footage point of view). SO MUCH to log and watch, two cameras, film-within-the-film, etc…

Looking forward to TIFF and Tiger time. It will be nice to take a break from production for a while. I’m really missing writing, and can’t wait to get back to the new script.

Editing and Writing will be everything until after Christmas.

NATURE’S TRIPOD

BIG day today. Thanks to everybody who came out and played. It was a lot of fun. Rob Carpenter went above and beyond, but that’s pretty standard for RC. Thanks Rob!

Tomorrow is another monumental day. I should be opening the “scriptment” to see what’s coming, but I’m loading and logging footage.

The stuff from yesterday is funny. Holy shit. Dan Richardson is back in Andrew Norman form with a vengeance.

Everybody is committed to this thing in a big way, and it shows.

We’re on DAY EIGHTEEN. If we had any money, this would probably be the last day of shooting, but, because we’re paying for everything on credit cards and credit lines with no real outside assistance, it’s DAY EIGHTEEN of TWENTY-NINE!

I’ve never been this broke, in the world, in the history of my life, but I had this idea and it needed to be shot immediately. It was the right call. This becomes more and more apparent with easy passing day.

Thanks to Glen Schaefer for the great article in Sunday’s Province!

Tomorrow it’s Andrew, Sven, and Casey, and then…the party.

Making a film this way is similar to the process of writing fiction or songs. There’s also a certain element of theatre at play, but the big difference is, rather than “one night only,” we’re capturing that energy for playback (over and over) at 24 frames per second. I’m approaching this film, as I did WHEN LIFE WAS GOOD, in a naturalistic documentary style. It doesn’t seem to matter whether it’s comedy or drama, I imagine I will always be interested in this style of filmmaking.

I still love long elegant cinemascopic takes and wides, and I’m sure the next film will be different, but, for now, making a film this way, with these great people, is the best medicine.

My friend Rob (Leickner) and I were convinced that a somewhat (or largely) improvised filmmaking method might be freeing and possible (WELL before I made WHEN LIFE WAS GOOD in 2007). I find that working from a very detailed scriptment filled with a lot of dialogue and situational stuff (as well as the plot elements) offers much more freedom than a more skeletal outline (ala WHEN LIFE WAS GOOD). With this new film, I’m able to go farther “off the grid,” because the grid is so much stronger.

Looking forward to tomorrow!

KRISTINE COFSKY is BROOKLYN

DAY SIXTEEN

I think it’s day sixteen.

Dan’s first day was fantastic. REALLY busy. Everybody did great. I finally got to show the cast a bit of what we’ve been doing (the small amounts I’ve been able to edit and the big opening sequence of the film within the film).

This is really what it’s about, I think, this style of filmmaking. Not knowing everything that’s going to happen. Not having the people or the time to do what those other films do. I love walking into a room with a scriptment, no shotlist, and the actors, and then…it’s just…go!

It’s a scramble everyday to try and remember everything, the art dept stuff, the gear, the schedule, etc…but it’s rewarding when the cast and Gaelle and I laugh.

It’s a mad rush to get it all in before we leave to promote A NIGHT FOR DYING TIGERS at TIFF, but if the first sixteen days are any indication, this is going to be a pretty fun movie.

TASHA and CASEY (PRISCILLA FAIA and CASEY MANDERSON)

DAY TEN

More film-within-the-film action. Michael Hamper is over from the island and Kristine has procured a great location.

The first scene from yesterday is some of the best looking stuff I’ve ever shot/cut. It’s from the film-within-the-film. I can’t wait. Kristine and Paul were fantastic and Sidney was a tremendous help!

I had a lot of Tigers stuff to do today, so I couldn’t edit.

Dan is coming in from England in two days!

Time to head out for the shoot.

Here we go.

Now we’re making a movie (within a movie).

Here is a shot from DAY ONE. No spoilers from DAY SEVEN!

KRISTINE COFSKY is BROOKLYN (again) in Life is Still Good

Me, ARNICA SKULSTAD-BROWN (Samantha) and CASEY MANDERSON (Casey) in LIFE IS STILL GOOD

CASEY MANDERSON (Casey) is going to clap for sync. I have a slate, but who gives a shit!

Day six is a day off.

Yeah, right.

Working on Tigers and Life is Still Good all day.

The opening (Brooklyn) sequence of Life is Still Good is roughly in there.

It will change fifty times by next Sept, but it’s fun and energetic (I think).

The big V begins tomorrow. Wow.

Let’s do this.