We could have been much greener

Jacob is now well into his offline edit - I've watched the first three minutes, and it's cutting well. Onscreen, René is wonderfully funny and soulful as I expected, just more so. Jesko will love himself. And why single them out? It's all coming together smoothly and artfully.

So, while I run around taking care of production accounting details and other things, I reflect on one part of the experience that maybe wasn't so great. And this is that, sustainability-wise, the production was so wasteful. All of the plastic and paper and styrofoam used in craft service alone was many orders beyond what it could be ideally. We produced a nice film, but also produced many, many bags of garbage.

I wonder if anyone out there has thought of a greener, cleaner way to service a production?

The poem: bouncing off a moving target

So Jacob is now editing IN THE COOLER, and it will be completed in a few weeks.

In the meantime, let's take a look at process, shall we?

This whole project was sparked by a poem written years ago. The script for the film we shot transforms the poem into mise-en-scène and dialogue. There are other bits of dialogue, too, suggested in the script or improvised on set. The see how the poem informs the script, then becomes part of the script, which then becomes incarnated by real actors on location, it's good to go back to the source.

Some may think: "how did this inspire that?" And the answer to that question is the mystery of the creative process. I think I know what I was on about when I wrote this thing. I think Jacob and Jesko and Robert and René totally got it, too. I think Actor Tony understood, but when I was confused and asked Director Jacobsomething about why we were doing a thing a certain way, he chided me, saying something akin to: "pay attention to what you wrote! "

Ultimately, even this is ink on paper, or dots on a screen. A moving target, which we may have succeeded in hitting, but not pinning down:


IN THE COOLER

Through a small slot in the heavy metal door

Hauptmann and The Doctor

Observe The Writer at work.

He scribbles desperately:

If He is the Great Physician

Is this God’s Waiting Room?

Are we being admitted to the Final Examination?

Oh, these lives

Piled like so many old magazines

To the infinite ceiling …

Maybe, maybe in those eternal pauses between seconds

When we sit here, frozen like statues

He comes out of His Office

His meaty thumbs absent-mindedly peel back

Page after page after page…

Hauptmann giggles, and points a bony finger:

“Words are his cage, Herr Doktor.

He thinks they might form some key,

Dig some clever underground passage.

But look at his feeble, womanly attempts!”

My words, I think, are bluish dots on Bounty white clouds

Who opened this blue door?

Who let out this torrent of word upon word?

I know they’d like me to dissect this poem

And rearrange the words upon words

And still your eye and my heart

Never satisfied with unmeaning

Would construct a new meaning.

I would love so much to reach out beyond these words,

Hold your yearning heart next to mine,

And lay out our hearts and souls

Like childish treasure bracelets

In the angels’ careful, grateful hands.

Listen, you!

This is the pouring out of my noisy self

These scribbled words are my mumbled testament

This is my sleepless yearning, yearning, yearning…

Hauptmann ran a white sleeve under his dripping nose

And laughed:

“This trap of yours is ingenious Herr Doktor

Words will never be meaningless to him

Which would be his only escape

Instead every newspaper,

Every empty advertising gesture

Will create a nightmarish world of his own imagining.”

“Yes, Hautpmann,” the Doctor whispered coldly,

“We will break this Polish cur yet.”

What an incredible experience

So, after three days of shooting, we've concluded production of IN THE COOLER. It was a wonderful experience: no tension, no problems, a smooth road all the way. The performers were all superb, the crew efficient and professional. Everyone was in good, uncomplicated cheer, giving 110%. We are very, very lucky to have been supported this way!

Our third day shoot was in one of the coolers at Moishes in Montreal. I spent a lot of time on camera - this was the Poet's lair. A lot of fine two-handed scenes with Jesko and René. If nothing else, this will be a funny film thanks to them.

Here a few shots from the day. Jacob starts editing next week. We predict a launch in mid-October.

DAY 1

An incredibly smooth shoot so far — we are working at a whole new level. Jacob is focused like a laser and cool as a cucumber. The cast and crew are flawless.

Here are a couple of screen captures from the RED camera.

Rehearsals are done

We just finished two nights rehearsal for our shoot. Jesko was working with the members of our cabaret troupe ("Zirkus Foxglove,") while Jacob and I went over various production details. While they danced, he and I also spent some time alone going over my performance as the Poet. Very exciting- we can see this thing taking shape before our eyes. We used the offices (empty at night) of Montreal/Amsterdam/Paris Commercial Creativity company Sid Lee, which has been very supportive (especially its video production arm, Jimmy Lee, which is co-producing with us.)

Here are a couple of iphotos from rehearsal, plus a title card by my old friend the artist Paul Abraham, who has been lending his considerable talent to these adventures since 1994.

Tomorrow, we head into the Corona Theater for Day 1 of shooting.

IN THE MAKING video

As promised, my brother Bob has shot and edited a series of interviews with us to see if a clearer picture of what we're doing might emerge. You can watch it here:

One week Out

We shoot a week from tomorrow. We're almost ready. Our cast and locations are nailed down, and most of our crew and equipment.

Earlier in the week, we visited the theater again for a technical requi with our DOP Alex, and lighting/gaffer king Walter Klimkyw, who has shot in the theater many, many times. (I have known and worked with Walter since 1985 - he is ageing very gracefully.)

As we get closer, we're nailing down certain aspects of performance.

René Bazinet has joined the creative process. Jesko, Jacob and I met with him at Cafe Shaika in NDG last week. It quickly became apparent that the cabaret performance at the Corona should be centered around a two-step between René and Jesko. René was bringing a lot of enthusiasm, energy and intensity to the process. I think that, for Jesko, collaborating with René in this way is an unexpected career challenge and delight. René is a kind of mentor for him. I hope the result on screen will be exciting and unique, and especially interesting for those interested in clown work.

The pictures you see came from that session. Sans René, we had just finished a series of videotaped interviews with my brother Bob, for this site and for an eventual EPK. Boy, do we like to talk. Bob will have a huge editing challenge. You can get a sense of how relaxed we are - it's a good process.

Jacob has delivered a final, revised, script. I am still unsure of The Poet's motivation in certain sections, and we will need to work on this together before we shoot, so I don't completely suck.

Jacob and Jesko are off to Quebec City this week to buy costumes.

I'm pleased to note that my cousin Alec Gieysztor and my friend and co-worker François Lacoursière have confirmed that they will be part of the cast.

Once again, a short film becomes a snapshot of a life, trailing back for decades, in progress.