March 21, 1994
Well, it seems like projects never end. I've been really busy over the past few months trying to get work and writing INDEPENDENCE DAY (Note: After the release of the Will Smith I-Day, the title was changed to Cold Storage). I really like I-DAY and it's a better written script than ONE VIEW ONLY. I entered I-DAY into the 94 Houston-Worldfest and I hope to hear some good news in a few weeks.
As far as TDF goes - I was talking with Pam Ginsburg, who is now the script supervisor on MY BROTHER AND ME. Well, she wants to get into post work, like editing. And she has talked to Karen Powell and to Operations about learning to edit. Well, if all goes well, and she is able to learn to edit, she's going to learn by editing TDF. Right now I'm trying to get the tapes transfered to Beta, in case we're able to use the Beta decks. I'll have to get the Lord's help on that.
DC's really cute. She said 'mama' for the first time this past weekend. She said 'dada' about two weeks ago. Unfortunately, she doesn't know what they mean or how much we loved those words coming out of her mouth.
Back to TDF. Paul was telling me that the man who created BABYLON 5 on tv has outlined the first 100 episodes! That's amazing. But, it makes the show so much better than STAR TREK TNG or STAR TREK DS9, because not everything is solved in the last five minutes of the show. On B-5, some questions are raised one week and answered four weeks later. There's a nice sense of mystery that TNG and DS9 really miss. Anyway, after hearing about the outline, I was like, hell, if he can outline 100 shows, I can expand TDF to 13 without much problem.
So, I went through the script and I was amazed at how little was covered in the seven episodes, and how much material there is to expand on for the new six. There were so many things about the characters and subtlties of the plot that were in my head, but never put down into the script, so expanding shouldn't be that much of a problem.
We're going to expand Ivan's involvement in the script by an episode. We're basically going to turn episode 4 into two seperate scripts. We're also going to add a episode where Poole and Nicole, while hunting the demon, stay in a hotel or something that held passionate events for them at one time in their life. I'm going to add an episode with a friend that Poole met on his travels that happens to come into town, revealing a lot of his hidden past. There's also stuff about the death of his parents and about Ed's underground network of friends that I want to work on. So, I'll keep you up to date as I find out.
Until next time...
PFB
Friday, October 16, 2009
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Happy Birthday Gabe!
My son turns thirteen today! He's officially a young man.
I am very proud of my son. He is compassionate and thoughtful and bright and athletic and caring. He's a better person than he is an athlete and he makes me laugh using his own unique sense of humor.
I am so blessed to have Gabriel Bauer as my son. Thank you Lord for such a wonderful gift. May you always guide him and give him strength, protect him and give him wisdom, inspire him and give him hope.
Happy birthday, my son! Welcome to adulthood.
I am very proud of my son. He is compassionate and thoughtful and bright and athletic and caring. He's a better person than he is an athlete and he makes me laugh using his own unique sense of humor.
I am so blessed to have Gabriel Bauer as my son. Thank you Lord for such a wonderful gift. May you always guide him and give him strength, protect him and give him wisdom, inspire him and give him hope.
Happy birthday, my son! Welcome to adulthood.
The Demon Files Journal - November 1993
November 4, 1993
Here ye, here ye. As of November third, in the year of our Lord, Nineteen Hundred and Ninety Three, the rough cut of The Demon Files was completed. After spending $80.00 at the Editworks to do the first four hours of the rough cut editing, I was fortunate to find out the Edit 3 here at Nickelodeon was put back together. After some strategically placed conversation, I was able to finagle the use of Edit 3 for absolutely NO MONEY!
Thank you Lord!
The first day of rough cut editing in Edit 3 happened October 29th. I found out that day that I could use it for free and asked if I could begin that night, during off hours. They said yes. So, that night I started at 7 p.m. and finished at approximately 12:30 a.m. The following Monday, November 1st, I edited from 7:30 p.m. until 3:00 a.m.!!!!! Dea was pretty upset. It was funny. At about 2:30 she beeped me. I call her back and she says "This is ridiculous!!!" Not Hello, Hi, How's it going! Fortunately I was on the last scene, so it only took me another 1/2 hour. Then, Tuesday, November 2nd, I went down to Edit 3 and placed the Voice Overs and the train noise.
What do I think about it? Well, I think, for the most part, it looks pretty good. It's nice to finally see all of these pieces of the puzzle put together in the correct order. Some of the sound is problematic and the visuals aren't top grade, but overall, I'm pretty happy. After the first two edit sessions I wasn't too happy. I told Dea that I wasn't sure if I was a good director. I thought I could tell a real good story, but I wasn't sure I could actually pull off directing it. But, once I laid down the VOs and edited the final action piece together, I felt better about myself. What I really need the next time is a lot more money and a lot more time. It was so hard getting everything packed into the few days. And the space, not to mention, the heat, made even the most efficient plans eventually waver in a pool of sweat.
I must admit I was pretty surprised at how long it took to edit the show together. Editing took about about 16 hours. That's about 2 minutes of finished product per hour of edit time. And that's a healthy chunk! Usually it falls into the 1 minute per hour area.
I'm going to "premiere" it at the next Starving Artists meeting, which is scheduled for November 16th at 7 p.m. over at Chris Linn's house. Steve Holland, who worked as cameraman for most of the shoot, is going to see the rough cut tonight after he gets done working for promos.
I was quite amazed how much the VOs really helped the beginning. Without them there's about 10 minutes of nothing, just images of a guy sitting at a train station. But now, with the VOs, the character's movements and actions have some sort of meaning. Music is the next step. I was going to use Jack Sloss, but he bagged me when I needed him to do some music for Fred Sommers of Sommersports (for the triathalon I filmed for him). The way he handled it was such unprofessional attitude, that I'm not sure if I want to work with him again. It was as if it was a huge hassle for him to do it in the first place, and when he didn't return my repeated calls when time was getting short, well, I think the actions speak for themselves. I'm going to call Randy Glass, an old college buddy who's working over at Epcot Center, and see if he can put something together. I'm not sure what his equipment limitations are, but I know for certain that he could do the job. With music, the piece should really come alive. Especially the transitory scenes.
My next step is to get the original footage transfered to 3/4" or Beta (depending on what I can afford) and work on finding some place to edit for nothing. After that I'll get the real music on, put the sound fx and fix the vocals, and then try and raise money to shoot a real pilot.
As far as ONE VIEW ONLY, Universal (basically for USA Network) passed on the script. A man there really liked it, but his boss didn't. It's now at a place called Wilshire Court Productions, which is some part of Paramount. Mike Fields (the guy at Universal) said they have similar tastes as his and that it should get a good read over there. Pete Bailoff said I should hear something back by the end of this week, but I probably won't here anything until after Thanksgiving. If it's bad news, I probably won't hear anything at all.
Dea, DC and I could really use the money. Clarissa ends in a few weeks and there are NO OTHER JOBS LINED UP AS OF NOW!! I hope the script sells before CHRISTmas. That would be the best present the Lord could give. Dea is so miserable up here in Orlando. I wish she would try to make it work here. She's just fighting it and fighting it, but I really think this is where the Lord wants me right now. I don't feel any pull away from here. And, unfortunately, there's nothing I can really do for her. I've offered, asked and begged, but I can't do things that she needs to do in order to make herself feel good inside. I just keep praying.
DC is a beautiful child. Yes, that's part the proud father speaking, but a lot of people have remarked on how pretty she is. Everyday she grows, the more love I have for her. She is so adorable.
Well, I have to get back to work. I will keep you informed of any further developments, exciting or not.
PFB
November 5, 1993
Well, tomorrow is Paul's birthday. He'll turn 32! Boy, we old get old quick (not that 32 is old, but that 18 doesn't seem that long ago). Steve Holland had a look at the rough TDF and he liked it a lot. He had minor problems with it, the biggest, which by comparison is pretty small, is that Poole shouldn't go back to the library for a second time. That should be cut as it is redundant. We should just move on to the next scene. After reviewing the tape again late last night (as we didn't get out of work until midnight! - ya gotta love when Mitchell, the Executive Producer, is in town) I thought he had a good point. It does seem a little redundant. It would actually work better, if I really wanted to keep the transitory scene, to have him going to the library after the Caldwell house scene (which is what I think I actually intended, but never really thought much about it - you know, it like works in your head, but it's not until you get another objective look at it that you see it the way you intended). Overall, I'm pretty happy with the directing. It's a competent Directing 1 attempt, but I've got a long way to go to become the master story teller in the same class as Hitchcock (which would fit around a Directing 10 class!). I think, for what I wrote, I told the story well, but as far as constructing the story as to best exploit the audiences feelings, well, I've still got a long way to go. I would need to set-up the audience better, by giving them more information.
I'm reading a great book called "Suspense Thrillers: Films in the Shadow of Alfred Hitchcock." It's tremendous (unfortunately I left it down in Clearwater when I visited last week - and it was just getting really good, too). I was at the point where the author was discussing the guilt factor in suspense thrillers. See, the director must manipulate the audience so that they 1) want the main character to do something (which eventually gets him/her into trouble) and then 2) makes them feel guilty when the main character, after doing what the audience wanted them to do, is put into danger. Like in Rear Window: We all want Jimmy Stewart to look out at his neighbors, we've all wanted to do that. But, when it gets him into trouble, we feel guilty because it's almost as if we forced him (or "willed him") into doing it, which led him to danger. And talk about feeling helpless. There's nothing more effective than basically placing the audience inside the helpless character of Jimmy Stewart - what a master Hitchcock was. TDF is more like a suspense-mystery, not so much like a suspense-thriller. Since I wanted to write a serial cliffhanger style series, I needed the audience to discover a little each scene. I'm not sure that if I gave the audience all the information (which you do in a thriller), they could wait 13 episodes for the character to finally realize what you've known for the entire season. So, in order to keep the audience in tow, and in the character's shoes, I wanted them to discover a little at a time, as the characters do. But, in debt to Hitchcock, I gave them a lot of clues that they could figure out before the characters do, which should produce that "thriller" aspect.
I still have to expand the seven episodes I have now into 13. Maybe, in doing so, I can turn it from a suspense-myster to a suspense-thriller. We'll see.
Also, as shooting went into the late hours last night, I was watching the rough TDF in Chris Gifford's office when Neena Beber (the head writer and co-producer, and a hell of a nice woman) came in and caught me watching it. She was intrigued, but I was embarassed. I told her it was just something shot on Hi-8 and she said "Oh, I have a lot of friends who do stuff like that" so I promised her she would see it before the Clarissa season ends. But, not to leave her empty handed, and perhaps help me in selling the script, I asked her, before she left, if she liked thrillers. She said it was her favorite genre. Well, I gave her my ONE VIEW ONLY script, told her it got fourth at the Houston/Worldfest, and that I'd like her opinion on it. So, after she reads that, and, hopefully, thinks I have some modicum of talent, then I'll show her TDF so she knows I'm not some uncredible wanna-be. If she likes it and has someone she thinks I should give it to, I'll call Pete Bailoff a call and tell him about it. She'll probably read it over the weekend.
Well, I gotta get to work (again). I'll write again soon.
PFB
Here ye, here ye. As of November third, in the year of our Lord, Nineteen Hundred and Ninety Three, the rough cut of The Demon Files was completed. After spending $80.00 at the Editworks to do the first four hours of the rough cut editing, I was fortunate to find out the Edit 3 here at Nickelodeon was put back together. After some strategically placed conversation, I was able to finagle the use of Edit 3 for absolutely NO MONEY!
Thank you Lord!
The first day of rough cut editing in Edit 3 happened October 29th. I found out that day that I could use it for free and asked if I could begin that night, during off hours. They said yes. So, that night I started at 7 p.m. and finished at approximately 12:30 a.m. The following Monday, November 1st, I edited from 7:30 p.m. until 3:00 a.m.!!!!! Dea was pretty upset. It was funny. At about 2:30 she beeped me. I call her back and she says "This is ridiculous!!!" Not Hello, Hi, How's it going! Fortunately I was on the last scene, so it only took me another 1/2 hour. Then, Tuesday, November 2nd, I went down to Edit 3 and placed the Voice Overs and the train noise.
What do I think about it? Well, I think, for the most part, it looks pretty good. It's nice to finally see all of these pieces of the puzzle put together in the correct order. Some of the sound is problematic and the visuals aren't top grade, but overall, I'm pretty happy. After the first two edit sessions I wasn't too happy. I told Dea that I wasn't sure if I was a good director. I thought I could tell a real good story, but I wasn't sure I could actually pull off directing it. But, once I laid down the VOs and edited the final action piece together, I felt better about myself. What I really need the next time is a lot more money and a lot more time. It was so hard getting everything packed into the few days. And the space, not to mention, the heat, made even the most efficient plans eventually waver in a pool of sweat.
I must admit I was pretty surprised at how long it took to edit the show together. Editing took about about 16 hours. That's about 2 minutes of finished product per hour of edit time. And that's a healthy chunk! Usually it falls into the 1 minute per hour area.
I'm going to "premiere" it at the next Starving Artists meeting, which is scheduled for November 16th at 7 p.m. over at Chris Linn's house. Steve Holland, who worked as cameraman for most of the shoot, is going to see the rough cut tonight after he gets done working for promos.
I was quite amazed how much the VOs really helped the beginning. Without them there's about 10 minutes of nothing, just images of a guy sitting at a train station. But now, with the VOs, the character's movements and actions have some sort of meaning. Music is the next step. I was going to use Jack Sloss, but he bagged me when I needed him to do some music for Fred Sommers of Sommersports (for the triathalon I filmed for him). The way he handled it was such unprofessional attitude, that I'm not sure if I want to work with him again. It was as if it was a huge hassle for him to do it in the first place, and when he didn't return my repeated calls when time was getting short, well, I think the actions speak for themselves. I'm going to call Randy Glass, an old college buddy who's working over at Epcot Center, and see if he can put something together. I'm not sure what his equipment limitations are, but I know for certain that he could do the job. With music, the piece should really come alive. Especially the transitory scenes.
My next step is to get the original footage transfered to 3/4" or Beta (depending on what I can afford) and work on finding some place to edit for nothing. After that I'll get the real music on, put the sound fx and fix the vocals, and then try and raise money to shoot a real pilot.
As far as ONE VIEW ONLY, Universal (basically for USA Network) passed on the script. A man there really liked it, but his boss didn't. It's now at a place called Wilshire Court Productions, which is some part of Paramount. Mike Fields (the guy at Universal) said they have similar tastes as his and that it should get a good read over there. Pete Bailoff said I should hear something back by the end of this week, but I probably won't here anything until after Thanksgiving. If it's bad news, I probably won't hear anything at all.
Dea, DC and I could really use the money. Clarissa ends in a few weeks and there are NO OTHER JOBS LINED UP AS OF NOW!! I hope the script sells before CHRISTmas. That would be the best present the Lord could give. Dea is so miserable up here in Orlando. I wish she would try to make it work here. She's just fighting it and fighting it, but I really think this is where the Lord wants me right now. I don't feel any pull away from here. And, unfortunately, there's nothing I can really do for her. I've offered, asked and begged, but I can't do things that she needs to do in order to make herself feel good inside. I just keep praying.
DC is a beautiful child. Yes, that's part the proud father speaking, but a lot of people have remarked on how pretty she is. Everyday she grows, the more love I have for her. She is so adorable.
Well, I have to get back to work. I will keep you informed of any further developments, exciting or not.
PFB
November 5, 1993
Well, tomorrow is Paul's birthday. He'll turn 32! Boy, we old get old quick (not that 32 is old, but that 18 doesn't seem that long ago). Steve Holland had a look at the rough TDF and he liked it a lot. He had minor problems with it, the biggest, which by comparison is pretty small, is that Poole shouldn't go back to the library for a second time. That should be cut as it is redundant. We should just move on to the next scene. After reviewing the tape again late last night (as we didn't get out of work until midnight! - ya gotta love when Mitchell, the Executive Producer, is in town) I thought he had a good point. It does seem a little redundant. It would actually work better, if I really wanted to keep the transitory scene, to have him going to the library after the Caldwell house scene (which is what I think I actually intended, but never really thought much about it - you know, it like works in your head, but it's not until you get another objective look at it that you see it the way you intended). Overall, I'm pretty happy with the directing. It's a competent Directing 1 attempt, but I've got a long way to go to become the master story teller in the same class as Hitchcock (which would fit around a Directing 10 class!). I think, for what I wrote, I told the story well, but as far as constructing the story as to best exploit the audiences feelings, well, I've still got a long way to go. I would need to set-up the audience better, by giving them more information.
I'm reading a great book called "Suspense Thrillers: Films in the Shadow of Alfred Hitchcock." It's tremendous (unfortunately I left it down in Clearwater when I visited last week - and it was just getting really good, too). I was at the point where the author was discussing the guilt factor in suspense thrillers. See, the director must manipulate the audience so that they 1) want the main character to do something (which eventually gets him/her into trouble) and then 2) makes them feel guilty when the main character, after doing what the audience wanted them to do, is put into danger. Like in Rear Window: We all want Jimmy Stewart to look out at his neighbors, we've all wanted to do that. But, when it gets him into trouble, we feel guilty because it's almost as if we forced him (or "willed him") into doing it, which led him to danger. And talk about feeling helpless. There's nothing more effective than basically placing the audience inside the helpless character of Jimmy Stewart - what a master Hitchcock was. TDF is more like a suspense-mystery, not so much like a suspense-thriller. Since I wanted to write a serial cliffhanger style series, I needed the audience to discover a little each scene. I'm not sure that if I gave the audience all the information (which you do in a thriller), they could wait 13 episodes for the character to finally realize what you've known for the entire season. So, in order to keep the audience in tow, and in the character's shoes, I wanted them to discover a little at a time, as the characters do. But, in debt to Hitchcock, I gave them a lot of clues that they could figure out before the characters do, which should produce that "thriller" aspect.
I still have to expand the seven episodes I have now into 13. Maybe, in doing so, I can turn it from a suspense-myster to a suspense-thriller. We'll see.
Also, as shooting went into the late hours last night, I was watching the rough TDF in Chris Gifford's office when Neena Beber (the head writer and co-producer, and a hell of a nice woman) came in and caught me watching it. She was intrigued, but I was embarassed. I told her it was just something shot on Hi-8 and she said "Oh, I have a lot of friends who do stuff like that" so I promised her she would see it before the Clarissa season ends. But, not to leave her empty handed, and perhaps help me in selling the script, I asked her, before she left, if she liked thrillers. She said it was her favorite genre. Well, I gave her my ONE VIEW ONLY script, told her it got fourth at the Houston/Worldfest, and that I'd like her opinion on it. So, after she reads that, and, hopefully, thinks I have some modicum of talent, then I'll show her TDF so she knows I'm not some uncredible wanna-be. If she likes it and has someone she thinks I should give it to, I'll call Pete Bailoff a call and tell him about it. She'll probably read it over the weekend.
Well, I gotta get to work (again). I'll write again soon.
PFB
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
The Demon Files Journal - September 1993
September 15, 1993
Well, a long time has passed and almost nothing has happened. Edit 3 has been out of commission since filming ended and won't be put back together for some time. I found a place (Video Production Center) that has an offline 1/2" straight-cut for $20/hour. That's not a real bad price. I'm pretty sure I could finish it up w/in 5 hours, or $100. Unfortunately, Dea and I have had absolutely no money. Things are so tight that we almost ran out of food. It sucks.
I talked to Shelly Maxwell about the CPN job down in Clearwater. Things look pretty good. I'm hoping that something will happen by the end of the week. Dea and I really need to get out of here. Even though Nickelodeon seems to be going in the right direction with the addition of Albie Hecht in charge, I just can't afford to work here anymore. Plus, Dea and I have no friends. I mean, I have a lot of friends here at Nick, but they're on a different level. They either gay, or single. Both of which don't lend itself to doing things that a couple with a 2 1/2 month old can do. I haven't told Chris Linn about my decision to move, if indeed the job becomes available, but at this point I don't really care. We have almost zero personal relationships with people in similar circumstances.
On the writing front, I decided that my next project will be a short I wrote called DREAM STATE, and will be filmed on Super 8. It's about 20ish pages long and I want to film it on color film, but I may have to do the B & W thing if I can't study up on color lighting/temperatures etc. I really need to get into the film arena. That's the only way I'm going to learn anything.
As far as TDF goes, I'm very frustrated. I really wanted it done by Christmas. Perhaps that's still within reach, but unless I get this offline done soon, then that day will come and go. I really need the offline cause I want to see many things: 1) if the storyboard, or the picture I see in my head, works when actually filmed. 2) What all of the sound problems are and how/if they can be corrected. I went to a seminar on the equipment in Audio 2 here at Nick and they can fix it, but it would be for a pretty hefty price. Only if the end product was really worth spending that much money on would I actually do it. 3) I need to give Jack Sloss a copy of the offline so that he can start working on the score so that the tweaking process will be easier. Since I've never had to work with a composer before, I would like to give myself as much padding with time/creative necessities as is possible.
So, until I get the damn thing offlined, nothing's happening. If only Bob Swan could donate another $100 to the cause. Can't really ask him though. That falls into the category of "WAY OUT OF LINE."
Well, I'll keep you informed if anything happens. Patience is not a real virtue with me. I should probably work on that.
PFB
Well, a long time has passed and almost nothing has happened. Edit 3 has been out of commission since filming ended and won't be put back together for some time. I found a place (Video Production Center) that has an offline 1/2" straight-cut for $20/hour. That's not a real bad price. I'm pretty sure I could finish it up w/in 5 hours, or $100. Unfortunately, Dea and I have had absolutely no money. Things are so tight that we almost ran out of food. It sucks.
I talked to Shelly Maxwell about the CPN job down in Clearwater. Things look pretty good. I'm hoping that something will happen by the end of the week. Dea and I really need to get out of here. Even though Nickelodeon seems to be going in the right direction with the addition of Albie Hecht in charge, I just can't afford to work here anymore. Plus, Dea and I have no friends. I mean, I have a lot of friends here at Nick, but they're on a different level. They either gay, or single. Both of which don't lend itself to doing things that a couple with a 2 1/2 month old can do. I haven't told Chris Linn about my decision to move, if indeed the job becomes available, but at this point I don't really care. We have almost zero personal relationships with people in similar circumstances.
On the writing front, I decided that my next project will be a short I wrote called DREAM STATE, and will be filmed on Super 8. It's about 20ish pages long and I want to film it on color film, but I may have to do the B & W thing if I can't study up on color lighting/temperatures etc. I really need to get into the film arena. That's the only way I'm going to learn anything.
As far as TDF goes, I'm very frustrated. I really wanted it done by Christmas. Perhaps that's still within reach, but unless I get this offline done soon, then that day will come and go. I really need the offline cause I want to see many things: 1) if the storyboard, or the picture I see in my head, works when actually filmed. 2) What all of the sound problems are and how/if they can be corrected. I went to a seminar on the equipment in Audio 2 here at Nick and they can fix it, but it would be for a pretty hefty price. Only if the end product was really worth spending that much money on would I actually do it. 3) I need to give Jack Sloss a copy of the offline so that he can start working on the score so that the tweaking process will be easier. Since I've never had to work with a composer before, I would like to give myself as much padding with time/creative necessities as is possible.
So, until I get the damn thing offlined, nothing's happening. If only Bob Swan could donate another $100 to the cause. Can't really ask him though. That falls into the category of "WAY OUT OF LINE."
Well, I'll keep you informed if anything happens. Patience is not a real virtue with me. I should probably work on that.
PFB
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
The Demon Files Journal - August 1993
August 9, 1993
Well, it's a WRAP! We finished shooting TDF on Sunday at around 3 p.m. The week was long and hard. So, sit right back and enjoy the tale, the tale of a...
It all started on Sunday, August 1st at around 8 a.m. My brother Paul Bauer (camera), Chris Linn (playing the character of Ed), Allison Lyons (audio) and myself (Poole/Director) moseyed our way down to the Arnold Palmer Hospital parking garage. We set the camera (provided by Karim Mitef) on the tripod (provided by Chris Linn) on the top floor of the garage and filmed Chris (as a anonymous driver) dropping me off and walking toward Ed's garage/home. After a few takes of that we used the $30.00 dolly I bought from Builder's Square 2 down in Brandon. We placed it on three pieced of 3 x 4 plywood and shot the close up of Poole's feet exiting the car, and dollying back to show Poole walking away.
After that we set up a shot with the camera's view through a bunch of strategically stacked loading flats and filmed Poole walking toward the garage. That shot turned out very nice. Then we again set up the plywood on the ground for a dolly shot of Poole actually walking up the ramp to Ed's garage. We put some more flats in the foreground to give the dolly shot an extra sense of movement. We ended the location shoot with some audio shots of the car arriving, dropping Poole off, and driving away, as well as just some ambient sound of the location to use to cover possible sound problems when editing.
We then went back to Chris Linn's garage where we filmed the interior of the garage scene. We started with the dolly shot of Ed telling Poole about his drug-sale-gone-bad story. It took quite some time to get it right. The rest of the day is mostly a blur, with the exception of the dolly shot closing out the scene of Poole saying "I need you to go to Apopka." We had to do that about a million times. We got done between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m., exhausted from the intense heat felt all day. It wasn't the smartest thing to schedule a shoot during the first week of August, but it was the only time I could get the actors, so the suffering was worth it.
Monday turned out to be a day of rest. I went to the Orlando Public Library to shoot the library scenes, but it was amazingly busy for a Monday morning. There were a lot of school kids around and the library wasn't too keen on the idea, so it turned out to be a day of just resting.
Tuesday was a light day. Steve Holland (camera) and I filmed Poole arriving in his home town down at the train station right next to the location we used for Ed's garage Sunday morning. The shots turned out really well and I'm very pleased. Later that day Sarah Peacock arrived and we rehearsed, made some nice discoveries about the characters, and then had a very deep and lively discussion about religion and society.
Wednesday was a day in hell. We filmed the Caldwell house and attic scenes. We filmed the Attic scene first in Jym Buss' garage. Ali couldn't make it that day, so it was only Sarah Peacock (as Nicole), Maggie Rasnick (as Caldwell), Steve Holland (Camera) and myself. It was stiflingly hot in the garage and the shoot seemed to take forever. Jym forgot to leave me the key, so I was going to have to drive out to Nick and pick it up. Fortunately, the Lord was shining down on us, cause Jym's new roommate showed up and opened up the place for us. I have to tell you the heat in the garage was amazing. It was so draining. Even though we had spent a good 4 hours in 110 degree heat, we kept saying "Man, it's hot!" like it was a new discovery. It was amazing. After the Attic scene we filmed the interior of the Caldwell house using Jym's dining room. The shots turned out nice. Then, we finished the day filming Nicole and Poole arriving at the house. I'm really quite happy with the shots.
When I got home, around 3:00 p.m., I was absolutely exhausted. Sarah went to visit a friend in Daytona and I crashed on the couch. About an 1 1/2 hours later Rachel Tench arrived. When I woke up I felt like I could've slept another eight hours. It literally took me another three hours to "wake up." It turned out the Steve Holland had a similar experience. We later realized that we probably had mild heat exhaustion since we didn't really drink a lot of fluid while we were sweating to death in the garage. We didn't make that mistake again.
We expected PB to arrive in town around 4. Rachel and I waited until 8:30 and she went to sleep over Maggie Rasnick's. After a few agonizing hours and increasingly frantic calls to his home in Miami, PB arrived around 10:30 p.m. He got a late start and had to fight traffic all the way up. I was quite relieved he was okay. I went to bed as soon as I got off the phone and struggled to wake up the next morning.
Thursday went very well, even though the workload was quite heavy. Steve and I had gone over the shots the day before and came prepared. Since we were filming in Chris Linn's garage for the police station scenes, we were determined not to have the same experience we had the day before in Jym's garage. It was also a great help to have Ali there for the audio. It's amazing what one more body can do to speed up production.
Anyway, the day went very quick and very well. We got done around 4 p.m. The highlight of my day was when Dea, my wife, and DC, my one-month old, came up to see me. I was so excited. When they left that night I was incredibly depressed. Just when I was getting comfortable with my baby again, off they went, back to Clearwater. It was very hard on me. And I'm sure being totally exhausted at this point didn't help either. As far as the filming goes, we got some really good shots. I'm sure this won't turn into another HOMESICK. If all else fails, the shots will be interesting and intriguing. It was a good day and the garage didn't really get hot until around 4 that night.
Friday was reminiscent of THE TERM PAPER. We started around 6 p.m. inside Chris Linn's house. Steve was unable to make it and Ali had to work, so it was only Paul, Sarah and I. Things started off slowly. Sarah, being a morning person, started to fade quickly. Paul, not used to the efficiency Steve and I had developed, started off lackadaisical. I, on the other hand, realized the long night we had in front of us. After the first scene (the Cafe scene moved to Nicole's house at dinner), which should have taken only an hour to shoot, ended up taking about 3 1/2, I decided a little directorial sternness was in order. After Paul and Sarah started joking around while we were trying to get a scene shot my face filled with controlled anger and said "Look, we need to be a little more professional here! I don't want to be here all night!" then I quickly walked into the kitchen to get something to drink. When I returned their focus had changed and we worked hard and consistently through the night. We ended up finishing at 7 in the morning! It was long, tiring, and mentally exhausting. But, again, we got some really good shots.
We got back to the apartment and showered. Sarah drove home and Paul and I prepared for Bob Swan (Miles) to arrive. He got there at 8 a.m. and we went to the Winter Park train station to shoot the opening of the story. As Paul and I were entirely exhausted at this point, the filming went quickly and efficiently. Again, the Lord shined down on us, and we were lucky to have a train arrive as we were finishing up, so we have a nice shot of Poole waiting for the approaching train. Bob then treated us to a much needed breakfast at the IHOP and Paul and I went home and crashed. After about 5 hours we woke up and saw "DAVE" at the dollar theater. It was a tremendous movie. On the drive home we both felt bad because we weren't the best of company for Bob. We were just so exhausted.
Sunday, we ended our shooting! We started by getting the Lake shots for the Voice Overs. Then, after we concocted some blood from Karo Syrup, flour and red food coloring, we filmed the opening murder scene at the lake behind our apartment. That went surprisingly easy. We then went to the library and sneaked the shots before anyone could stop us. After that we came home and did the newspaper article close-ups and the close-up of the knife marks in the floor for the Attic scene. Paul then left around 3 p.m. After about a 2 hour nap I got up and did the voice-overs. I wanted to do something that night, but I was so tired, I really couldn't.
Today, I'm back at Nick and I'm dubbing the Hi-8's onto VHS on Chris Gifford's machine while he's up in New York. Then I'm going to make a rough cut on the editing equipment in Edit 3, if I can scam it. I hope to have the tapes dubbed to Beta this week, if things are slow in the tape room. I'll keep you informed.
Until next time. PFB
Well, it's a WRAP! We finished shooting TDF on Sunday at around 3 p.m. The week was long and hard. So, sit right back and enjoy the tale, the tale of a...
It all started on Sunday, August 1st at around 8 a.m. My brother Paul Bauer (camera), Chris Linn (playing the character of Ed), Allison Lyons (audio) and myself (Poole/Director) moseyed our way down to the Arnold Palmer Hospital parking garage. We set the camera (provided by Karim Mitef) on the tripod (provided by Chris Linn) on the top floor of the garage and filmed Chris (as a anonymous driver) dropping me off and walking toward Ed's garage/home. After a few takes of that we used the $30.00 dolly I bought from Builder's Square 2 down in Brandon. We placed it on three pieced of 3 x 4 plywood and shot the close up of Poole's feet exiting the car, and dollying back to show Poole walking away.
After that we set up a shot with the camera's view through a bunch of strategically stacked loading flats and filmed Poole walking toward the garage. That shot turned out very nice. Then we again set up the plywood on the ground for a dolly shot of Poole actually walking up the ramp to Ed's garage. We put some more flats in the foreground to give the dolly shot an extra sense of movement. We ended the location shoot with some audio shots of the car arriving, dropping Poole off, and driving away, as well as just some ambient sound of the location to use to cover possible sound problems when editing.
We then went back to Chris Linn's garage where we filmed the interior of the garage scene. We started with the dolly shot of Ed telling Poole about his drug-sale-gone-bad story. It took quite some time to get it right. The rest of the day is mostly a blur, with the exception of the dolly shot closing out the scene of Poole saying "I need you to go to Apopka." We had to do that about a million times. We got done between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m., exhausted from the intense heat felt all day. It wasn't the smartest thing to schedule a shoot during the first week of August, but it was the only time I could get the actors, so the suffering was worth it.
Monday turned out to be a day of rest. I went to the Orlando Public Library to shoot the library scenes, but it was amazingly busy for a Monday morning. There were a lot of school kids around and the library wasn't too keen on the idea, so it turned out to be a day of just resting.
Tuesday was a light day. Steve Holland (camera) and I filmed Poole arriving in his home town down at the train station right next to the location we used for Ed's garage Sunday morning. The shots turned out really well and I'm very pleased. Later that day Sarah Peacock arrived and we rehearsed, made some nice discoveries about the characters, and then had a very deep and lively discussion about religion and society.
Wednesday was a day in hell. We filmed the Caldwell house and attic scenes. We filmed the Attic scene first in Jym Buss' garage. Ali couldn't make it that day, so it was only Sarah Peacock (as Nicole), Maggie Rasnick (as Caldwell), Steve Holland (Camera) and myself. It was stiflingly hot in the garage and the shoot seemed to take forever. Jym forgot to leave me the key, so I was going to have to drive out to Nick and pick it up. Fortunately, the Lord was shining down on us, cause Jym's new roommate showed up and opened up the place for us. I have to tell you the heat in the garage was amazing. It was so draining. Even though we had spent a good 4 hours in 110 degree heat, we kept saying "Man, it's hot!" like it was a new discovery. It was amazing. After the Attic scene we filmed the interior of the Caldwell house using Jym's dining room. The shots turned out nice. Then, we finished the day filming Nicole and Poole arriving at the house. I'm really quite happy with the shots.
When I got home, around 3:00 p.m., I was absolutely exhausted. Sarah went to visit a friend in Daytona and I crashed on the couch. About an 1 1/2 hours later Rachel Tench arrived. When I woke up I felt like I could've slept another eight hours. It literally took me another three hours to "wake up." It turned out the Steve Holland had a similar experience. We later realized that we probably had mild heat exhaustion since we didn't really drink a lot of fluid while we were sweating to death in the garage. We didn't make that mistake again.
We expected PB to arrive in town around 4. Rachel and I waited until 8:30 and she went to sleep over Maggie Rasnick's. After a few agonizing hours and increasingly frantic calls to his home in Miami, PB arrived around 10:30 p.m. He got a late start and had to fight traffic all the way up. I was quite relieved he was okay. I went to bed as soon as I got off the phone and struggled to wake up the next morning.
Thursday went very well, even though the workload was quite heavy. Steve and I had gone over the shots the day before and came prepared. Since we were filming in Chris Linn's garage for the police station scenes, we were determined not to have the same experience we had the day before in Jym's garage. It was also a great help to have Ali there for the audio. It's amazing what one more body can do to speed up production.
Anyway, the day went very quick and very well. We got done around 4 p.m. The highlight of my day was when Dea, my wife, and DC, my one-month old, came up to see me. I was so excited. When they left that night I was incredibly depressed. Just when I was getting comfortable with my baby again, off they went, back to Clearwater. It was very hard on me. And I'm sure being totally exhausted at this point didn't help either. As far as the filming goes, we got some really good shots. I'm sure this won't turn into another HOMESICK. If all else fails, the shots will be interesting and intriguing. It was a good day and the garage didn't really get hot until around 4 that night.
Friday was reminiscent of THE TERM PAPER. We started around 6 p.m. inside Chris Linn's house. Steve was unable to make it and Ali had to work, so it was only Paul, Sarah and I. Things started off slowly. Sarah, being a morning person, started to fade quickly. Paul, not used to the efficiency Steve and I had developed, started off lackadaisical. I, on the other hand, realized the long night we had in front of us. After the first scene (the Cafe scene moved to Nicole's house at dinner), which should have taken only an hour to shoot, ended up taking about 3 1/2, I decided a little directorial sternness was in order. After Paul and Sarah started joking around while we were trying to get a scene shot my face filled with controlled anger and said "Look, we need to be a little more professional here! I don't want to be here all night!" then I quickly walked into the kitchen to get something to drink. When I returned their focus had changed and we worked hard and consistently through the night. We ended up finishing at 7 in the morning! It was long, tiring, and mentally exhausting. But, again, we got some really good shots.
We got back to the apartment and showered. Sarah drove home and Paul and I prepared for Bob Swan (Miles) to arrive. He got there at 8 a.m. and we went to the Winter Park train station to shoot the opening of the story. As Paul and I were entirely exhausted at this point, the filming went quickly and efficiently. Again, the Lord shined down on us, and we were lucky to have a train arrive as we were finishing up, so we have a nice shot of Poole waiting for the approaching train. Bob then treated us to a much needed breakfast at the IHOP and Paul and I went home and crashed. After about 5 hours we woke up and saw "DAVE" at the dollar theater. It was a tremendous movie. On the drive home we both felt bad because we weren't the best of company for Bob. We were just so exhausted.
Sunday, we ended our shooting! We started by getting the Lake shots for the Voice Overs. Then, after we concocted some blood from Karo Syrup, flour and red food coloring, we filmed the opening murder scene at the lake behind our apartment. That went surprisingly easy. We then went to the library and sneaked the shots before anyone could stop us. After that we came home and did the newspaper article close-ups and the close-up of the knife marks in the floor for the Attic scene. Paul then left around 3 p.m. After about a 2 hour nap I got up and did the voice-overs. I wanted to do something that night, but I was so tired, I really couldn't.
Today, I'm back at Nick and I'm dubbing the Hi-8's onto VHS on Chris Gifford's machine while he's up in New York. Then I'm going to make a rough cut on the editing equipment in Edit 3, if I can scam it. I hope to have the tapes dubbed to Beta this week, if things are slow in the tape room. I'll keep you informed.
Until next time. PFB
Monday, October 12, 2009
Tourney Wins
Gabe has started to readily improve at his new level of baseball. He's been hitting the ball extremely well. This past weekend he only had one at bat where the ball was not struck with force. In one game he hit three line drives deep to the outfield, but two were caught for outs.
So, even though it doesn't look great on the stat sheet, it does show the improvement we were trying to achieve this year.
The nice thing about playing 13U baseball (meaning 13 and under) is that a combination of things levels the playing field.
Domination can reoccur in the upcoming years, since the field will remain the same size, but the players will get better and stronger. But, for right now, wins and losses come down to simply execution.
This past weekend we spent in Plant City where our team came in third place, going 3-1 in the tournament. Gabe and his teammates continue to grow and improve. It's exciting to see his passion for the game and his exceptional gifts for the game continue to flourish as his competition gets better. Even elite teams in the area have been asking about him.
It makes all of the hours at the ball field worth it.
So, even though it doesn't look great on the stat sheet, it does show the improvement we were trying to achieve this year.
The nice thing about playing 13U baseball (meaning 13 and under) is that a combination of things levels the playing field.
- 13U means that no player on the field is older than 13 years old.
- 13U plays at major league distances (60 ft mound, 90 ft bases).
Domination can reoccur in the upcoming years, since the field will remain the same size, but the players will get better and stronger. But, for right now, wins and losses come down to simply execution.
This past weekend we spent in Plant City where our team came in third place, going 3-1 in the tournament. Gabe and his teammates continue to grow and improve. It's exciting to see his passion for the game and his exceptional gifts for the game continue to flourish as his competition gets better. Even elite teams in the area have been asking about him.It makes all of the hours at the ball field worth it.
Microcinema Flashback - Note to Self (2000)
Also from December 2000 are some lessons learned on our first official foray into microcinema with a short film called Justice. We tested out the theory on a bad flick called Raw Footage, but Justice was the first attempt to really tell something with an intent greater than just getting something, anything on film.
by Pete Bauer
Well, as I wrap up JUSTICE I made a few mental notes on the things I've learned from my experience.
1) My wife loves me so much she allowed herself to be in this project even though every atom in her genome screamed in protest. She HATES being on camera, but she did it because the project meant a lot to me. And, that sacrifice meant infinitely more to me than making the film itself.
2) My best friend defined the term "best friend" by always being there, whatever day, whatever hour necessary to complete the project. Without him, or my wife, this thing would still be collecting dust in my desk drawer.
3) Along those same lines... spending time with my family and friends to make this project is worth the price you pay when you do these no-budget things. Their dedication drove me to complete the project while overcoming surgery and hurricanes. Leaving it unfinished devalues their sacrifice for the project and I couldn't let that happen, no matter how convenient dropping the project would have been.
4) After promising myself that I'd never act in any of my projects again, I was forced to take over a role abandoned by my brother and it made me realize the reason I'm ALWAYS in my projects... because I know that I'll be there when the director (me) needs me. You can't really say that about many people in this world (except for #1 and #2).
5) Storyboards saved my life. When shooting with no money and no time in places you don't have permission to be in, it's easy to get distracted and lose your train of thought. Having storyboards made sure that every shot I needed, I got.
6) Editing while you shoot rocks. Non-linear editing makes the process much easier. Every night, after shooting, I'd digitize and edit the project. I'd immediately know what worked, what didn't and what shots to add to fix it. And the fact that you can actually do all this stuff on a crappy little computer is amazing in of itself. Just a few years ago all of this would have been impossible... or damn expensive.
7) If a scene doesn't work either cut it or reshoot it. There's no excuse for keeping a shot or a scene in a project that will only undermine the purpose for shooting it in the first place.
8) MPEG-1 quality sucks. I had viewed most MPEG-1 projects on my computer from the web. It looks a LOT better using the pixels on your computer than it ever does "blown up" on your television. But, since the goal of the project was to use what I got, then I'll suck it up and take my lumps when everyone pans the thing for looking so pathetic.
9) Newly acquired access to an MPEG-2 digitizer made me realize that I'll probably end up re-editing this thing all over again once the thought of recreating months of work no longer nauseates me.
10) It always takes three times longer than planned to shoot a scene.
11) Creating music from Sony Mixman is easy and challenging at the same time. If it would only give you the ability to view your work in seconds instead of beats, life would have been SO much easier. I had to develop the virtue of patience in order to survive this process.
12) The hardest thing to maintain over months of shooting is the length of your actors' hair.
13) When acting in a project, never agree to use the clothes you like best. After wearing it off and on for six months or so, you'll end up wanting to burn it in ritual sacrifice to the gods of wardrobe.
14) Never have characters park their car in an empty parking lot. It looks extremely unrealistic. The only thing it conveys is the place they're going to is closed.
15) Direct with confidence. Amateur actors feed off of you... if they think you know exactly what you're doing, they do whatever you want.
16) Nothing can compensate for a story with bad logic... so fix it before you shoot it.
17) Getting people enthused enough to be in your project is not that hard. Keeping them enthused six months later when they're in the last scenes that need to be shot is MUCH harder.
18) It's nice to know that what you actually imagine in your head actually works on film/video.
19) You've wasted everyone's time and effort if the project is left unfinished.
20) You've done something right when your simple little premiere party costs more than your project.
JUSTICE sat in my desk for almost 10 years before finally getting done. It's evolved a lot since the original storyboards, hopefully for the better. But, no matter what the end result, the process of making the thing has been a great learning experience.
I can't wait to start on the next one...
*****
Note to Selfby Pete Bauer
Well, as I wrap up JUSTICE I made a few mental notes on the things I've learned from my experience.
1) My wife loves me so much she allowed herself to be in this project even though every atom in her genome screamed in protest. She HATES being on camera, but she did it because the project meant a lot to me. And, that sacrifice meant infinitely more to me than making the film itself.2) My best friend defined the term "best friend" by always being there, whatever day, whatever hour necessary to complete the project. Without him, or my wife, this thing would still be collecting dust in my desk drawer.
3) Along those same lines... spending time with my family and friends to make this project is worth the price you pay when you do these no-budget things. Their dedication drove me to complete the project while overcoming surgery and hurricanes. Leaving it unfinished devalues their sacrifice for the project and I couldn't let that happen, no matter how convenient dropping the project would have been.
4) After promising myself that I'd never act in any of my projects again, I was forced to take over a role abandoned by my brother and it made me realize the reason I'm ALWAYS in my projects... because I know that I'll be there when the director (me) needs me. You can't really say that about many people in this world (except for #1 and #2).
5) Storyboards saved my life. When shooting with no money and no time in places you don't have permission to be in, it's easy to get distracted and lose your train of thought. Having storyboards made sure that every shot I needed, I got.6) Editing while you shoot rocks. Non-linear editing makes the process much easier. Every night, after shooting, I'd digitize and edit the project. I'd immediately know what worked, what didn't and what shots to add to fix it. And the fact that you can actually do all this stuff on a crappy little computer is amazing in of itself. Just a few years ago all of this would have been impossible... or damn expensive.
7) If a scene doesn't work either cut it or reshoot it. There's no excuse for keeping a shot or a scene in a project that will only undermine the purpose for shooting it in the first place.
8) MPEG-1 quality sucks. I had viewed most MPEG-1 projects on my computer from the web. It looks a LOT better using the pixels on your computer than it ever does "blown up" on your television. But, since the goal of the project was to use what I got, then I'll suck it up and take my lumps when everyone pans the thing for looking so pathetic.
9) Newly acquired access to an MPEG-2 digitizer made me realize that I'll probably end up re-editing this thing all over again once the thought of recreating months of work no longer nauseates me.10) It always takes three times longer than planned to shoot a scene.
11) Creating music from Sony Mixman is easy and challenging at the same time. If it would only give you the ability to view your work in seconds instead of beats, life would have been SO much easier. I had to develop the virtue of patience in order to survive this process.
12) The hardest thing to maintain over months of shooting is the length of your actors' hair.
13) When acting in a project, never agree to use the clothes you like best. After wearing it off and on for six months or so, you'll end up wanting to burn it in ritual sacrifice to the gods of wardrobe.
14) Never have characters park their car in an empty parking lot. It looks extremely unrealistic. The only thing it conveys is the place they're going to is closed.15) Direct with confidence. Amateur actors feed off of you... if they think you know exactly what you're doing, they do whatever you want.
16) Nothing can compensate for a story with bad logic... so fix it before you shoot it.
17) Getting people enthused enough to be in your project is not that hard. Keeping them enthused six months later when they're in the last scenes that need to be shot is MUCH harder.
18) It's nice to know that what you actually imagine in your head actually works on film/video.
19) You've wasted everyone's time and effort if the project is left unfinished.20) You've done something right when your simple little premiere party costs more than your project.
JUSTICE sat in my desk for almost 10 years before finally getting done. It's evolved a lot since the original storyboards, hopefully for the better. But, no matter what the end result, the process of making the thing has been a great learning experience.
I can't wait to start on the next one...
Sunday, October 11, 2009
The Demon Files Journal - July 1993 Part 2
July 19, 1993
Well, things continue to slowly come together. Met with John Bauer and Don Koehler, Sr. to discuss incorporations, articles of incorps, selling shares, etc. It was very helpful and gives me a plan to help make Bauer 8 Productions and Echo Filmworks real entities. It was nice to talk about the business aspect of this stuff. I work on the creative side so much that I never think I'll actually make any money at this. But, after talking with them I have a game plan, a structured path that I can take to start the process of actually making a living at this stuff.
Talked to Shelly Maxwell and found out she got the job approved for her assistant at CPN in Clearwater, Florida and now she is going to try to secure the position for me. It may be a hard fight, but Shelly's got more energy and will power than anyone else I know. If she can't pull it off, it can't be pulled off.
Dea and DC are spending the next few weeks down in Clearwater with her family, who just moved into a nice 3 bedroom house. For a rental house it's very nice and spacious. I miss my wife and child very much. I was supposed to be down with them, but Chris Gifford (my boss) started me work on getting time codes for scenes that they want to enter in the ACE awards. Unfortunately (kind of), he started me on this Thursday. Well, there was no way I could pull off getting it done in two days, so he had me work another week, which is a Godsend, cause Dea and I desperately need the money. But, I will miss them very much. Even the two days I didn't see DC last week were hard. I mean, she changed so much in those two days. It's strange being a father.
One last thing. Dad Koehler, after moving into the house, was able to take everything out of the storage unit he had. Well, lo and behold, he has an extremely powerful light. So, the bright light problem I thought I was going to have, especially when filming the Attic scene with silhouetting Caldwell and the shafts of light in the garage police station scene. But, with this light, my problems may have been solved.
One more thing. I realized on the drive back to Orlando that there are some days that I may not have a cameraman. I know that sounds incredibly stupid, but with all of the other specifics I've had to deal with, I forgot about the obvious. It's just, that when ever I've done a project in the past, I've always had either Chris L. or Paul to camera for me. Well, they both have lives and jobs now and since the bulk of the filming takes during weekdays, that could be a problem. Chris Linn and I are meeting tomorrow night to make sure everything is scheduled correctly. Hopefully, that will include the cameraman. We'll see. But, even though I'm concerned about it, I know the Lord will provide. I mean, He wouldn't have everything fall into place EXCEPT the camere man! I just have to be patient and have faith.
Well, that's it for now. Paul is on vacation in NC, John is on vacation in PA and NC. I'm not.
PFB
July 20, 1993
Well, the days keep going by and I still have so much to do. I still don't know about the dolly thing. Lee Ann Larsen, who's working on "Legends" with Chris Linn, was going to check with her friend over at Disney, but I haven't heard anything back yet. How do you press someone to do you a favor? Well, that's my problem. I can't, really. I have to be patient, I guess.
Also, I made some additions to the script that I would like to state. I have two problems with the main character. First, his shame. It's mentioned in the first draft and since I haven't rewritten it yet, I have yet to address Poole's shame and such. So, a way I thought I could show what state of existence his "past" has put him in I decided to add a little bit to the Miles/Train Station scene. When Miles is sleeping as Poole writes in his diary, Poole will notice a couple bucks sticking partially out of Miles' pocket. Quietly and skillfully, Poole will reach over and steal the money. But, (as not to make Poole a total dick for stealing money from a bum) Poole ends up sticking one dollar back into Miles' pocket. I was worried that stealing from a bum would be too much, but it states clearly how bad this guy's life is and what he has to do to survive.
Another problem I had with Poole was his relationship with Nicole. Since the location and equipment won't allow me to shoot the scene as I want, I'll have to add another scene. The original idea was to show Nicole and Eric talking in the interrogation room. The camera would then pull back and show Poole looking through the window on the door, turning away in pain at seeing Nicole and Eric so close. Since Chris' garage won't allow me to shoot the scene that way, I've added another scene which also solves another minor problem I had. See, Nicole and Poole go up to Apopka to see Caldwell in the morning. They then go to a cafe at night and discuss it. The scene ends with Nicole saying they had to leave, because she needed to see Eric in the morning. Well, it makes no sense to have them at a cafe at night since it's only 1 1/2 - 2 hour drive max to Orlando from Tampa Bay. Also, the next scene was Nicole and Eric in the scene mentioned above. Well, that takes place in the morning also, and I thought the audience would have some confusion determining the day change since the Caldwell scene and now cafe scene, and the Nicole/Eric scene all take place in the morning. So, I added a scene after the cafe scene. Poole will be reading a xeroxed article of the Caldwell stabbing when he looks up, noticing that Nicole has fallen asleep on the couch. He smiles, then stares at her face, his strong love for her overwhelming him. He'll then get up, cross over to her and slowly move his face within inches of hers, their lips almost touching. Just as he is about to kiss her, he stops himself and steps back. He wakes her up, she goes to bed and he sits alone, depressed, etc. This, I think, better establishes his relationship with her as well as solve the time/day change problem I mentioned earlier.
Well, it's pay day. I have to go to the bank and to Consumer Credit to drop off a money order. Talk again soon. PFB
July 21, 1993
Well, I've been filling my depressing times away from my beautiful wife and newborn child by working as hard as I can on TDF. Yesterday had it's good and bad points. The bad was that Matt Day is going to Florida State University today, not in a few weeks as he had originally planned, so he will be unable to help on the project. Chris Linn and I went out with Matt and a few of his friends to Julie's Lakeside and chatted and stuff. It was a lot of laughs. The good was that Steve Holland, a very funny guy who's working on Welcome Freshman here at Nick., is on hiatus during filming week and he will probably be the cameraman throughout. We're going to look over the schedule and make some decisions there. After we figure out which days he can do it (hopefully all of them), we're going to go over the storyboards and discuss the shots.
The next person I have to get in contact with is Mark Rickles, to see if he can do sound. I really want him to do it. I trust him very much, he's very competent. I know this sounds bad, but I hope he's not working that week. I'm also trying to get Ali Lyons to help me during the first part of the week, before Rachel Tench gets in town and can take her place. The prayers just keep going.
I got a call from PB this morning around 8:00 a.m. He had to call so early because he's working some really strange hours. He liked the first script and is going to read the rest now that he's back from vacation. He also said he'd send me a picture so I can make the fake newspaper article. He's planning on coming up Wednesday, August 4th so we can rehearse the day before we shoot all of his scenes. If all goes really well, he could be outta there by Thursday afternoon. He's not planning on leaving until Friday morning, however, just in case the gods of video are against us.
Got a letter from Jennifer Cook the other day (actually addressed to Chris Linn and I since she didn't have my address). She's in South Africa working on a show for the Family Channel, a voice coach for a German actor. She'll be there until December. It's weird how people just pop into your life every once and a while.
I'm going to call Shelly Maxwell today to see what's happening on the job front. Since I'm going to be in Clearwater next week, I want to set up an interview for the job during that time. After that it will be very difficult to fit it in as Clarissa starts up in late August. Like Dea said to me last night, she hopes that when she comes back to Orlando after vacation that its in order to pack. God, I sincerely hope so.
Also met with Chris Linn after going out with Matt and friends. We discussed the schedule and found out that he will be unavailable for almost the entire filming. How convenient. Unfortunately, the show Legends is filming that week and it's going to be hard for him to work less than 12 hours a day, let alone help out on our day shoots. The next big prayer? NO RAIN DURING FILMING. If it rains, I'm seriously screwed. You don't think the Lord has that bad of a sense of humor, do you? I hope not.
Well, that's it for now. Until later. I've got a big list of things to do today. Hope I get them all done. It's getting down to crunch time. Adios - PFB
July 22, 1993
Went to KMart and picked up the handcuffs for PB's role (Eric) and some clothes pins for lighting purposes. Talked to Paul in NC and he's said he should be available for the Sunday August 1 shoot of the Ed and Poole scenes.
Got a call from Pete Bailoff today re: my One View Only script. He was very excited about the idea and thought it was very marketable. He said that it needed some structure and dialogue work, but that the idea was very good. He is going to talk to an important person at New Line pictures, as well as a cable company and a movie of the week person. He's going to see if he "can get you an option" on the script. He said I should know something in the next few days. WOULDN'T THAT BE COOL, TO SEE A SCRIPT I WROTE ON THE SILVER SCREEN? Too weird.
Well, that's about all for now (isn't that enough?). Until tomorrow. PFB
July 23, 1993
Pete Bailoff called again re: One View Only. He said he liked a lot of the aspects of the script, especially Michelle's lure toward the video camera and the lure/danger relationship it has with her. He really liked all of the "red herrings" that I have out there (it could be Eric the club owner, Jack, the delivery man, the husband, the Pizza Man, etc.). He does think, however, that rewrites are in its future, but he doesn't want me to do that yet because he wants to see if someone will pay me to do it first.
He is also going to send me a form to sign which basically gives him the right as "producer" to pitch the idea for a year period, after which I can try to get someone else to pitch it for me. Basically, his agent is worried that Pete could be doing all this work for me and I could have some other producer try to pitch it too. So, he's just covering his ass. He said if I didn't understand any part of it, or if I wanted to omit some things, or add some things, just to call and we would hammer it out. He's doing a project with New Line right now and is talking to them, as well as Universal Television, which did his "Quicksand" USA movie with Donald Sutherland and Tim Matheson. He's talking to them too. I should receive the form early next week. Don't worry, I'm going to read it very carefully.
Talked to Bob Swan, down at Aero Nova. He'll be playing "Miles" in TDF. I gave him his call time and costume/make-up notes. So, he's fine with coming in August 7th, at around 9 a.m. It's been a full few days. Now, I'll be off work for the next two weeks and will be putting this shit together. Come on Lord, keep things going, and KEEP THE RAIN AWAY DURING SHOOT WEEK! Thanks.
Until next time. PFB
Well, things continue to slowly come together. Met with John Bauer and Don Koehler, Sr. to discuss incorporations, articles of incorps, selling shares, etc. It was very helpful and gives me a plan to help make Bauer 8 Productions and Echo Filmworks real entities. It was nice to talk about the business aspect of this stuff. I work on the creative side so much that I never think I'll actually make any money at this. But, after talking with them I have a game plan, a structured path that I can take to start the process of actually making a living at this stuff.
Talked to Shelly Maxwell and found out she got the job approved for her assistant at CPN in Clearwater, Florida and now she is going to try to secure the position for me. It may be a hard fight, but Shelly's got more energy and will power than anyone else I know. If she can't pull it off, it can't be pulled off.
Dea and DC are spending the next few weeks down in Clearwater with her family, who just moved into a nice 3 bedroom house. For a rental house it's very nice and spacious. I miss my wife and child very much. I was supposed to be down with them, but Chris Gifford (my boss) started me work on getting time codes for scenes that they want to enter in the ACE awards. Unfortunately (kind of), he started me on this Thursday. Well, there was no way I could pull off getting it done in two days, so he had me work another week, which is a Godsend, cause Dea and I desperately need the money. But, I will miss them very much. Even the two days I didn't see DC last week were hard. I mean, she changed so much in those two days. It's strange being a father.
One last thing. Dad Koehler, after moving into the house, was able to take everything out of the storage unit he had. Well, lo and behold, he has an extremely powerful light. So, the bright light problem I thought I was going to have, especially when filming the Attic scene with silhouetting Caldwell and the shafts of light in the garage police station scene. But, with this light, my problems may have been solved.
One more thing. I realized on the drive back to Orlando that there are some days that I may not have a cameraman. I know that sounds incredibly stupid, but with all of the other specifics I've had to deal with, I forgot about the obvious. It's just, that when ever I've done a project in the past, I've always had either Chris L. or Paul to camera for me. Well, they both have lives and jobs now and since the bulk of the filming takes during weekdays, that could be a problem. Chris Linn and I are meeting tomorrow night to make sure everything is scheduled correctly. Hopefully, that will include the cameraman. We'll see. But, even though I'm concerned about it, I know the Lord will provide. I mean, He wouldn't have everything fall into place EXCEPT the camere man! I just have to be patient and have faith.
Well, that's it for now. Paul is on vacation in NC, John is on vacation in PA and NC. I'm not.
PFB
July 20, 1993
Well, the days keep going by and I still have so much to do. I still don't know about the dolly thing. Lee Ann Larsen, who's working on "Legends" with Chris Linn, was going to check with her friend over at Disney, but I haven't heard anything back yet. How do you press someone to do you a favor? Well, that's my problem. I can't, really. I have to be patient, I guess.
Also, I made some additions to the script that I would like to state. I have two problems with the main character. First, his shame. It's mentioned in the first draft and since I haven't rewritten it yet, I have yet to address Poole's shame and such. So, a way I thought I could show what state of existence his "past" has put him in I decided to add a little bit to the Miles/Train Station scene. When Miles is sleeping as Poole writes in his diary, Poole will notice a couple bucks sticking partially out of Miles' pocket. Quietly and skillfully, Poole will reach over and steal the money. But, (as not to make Poole a total dick for stealing money from a bum) Poole ends up sticking one dollar back into Miles' pocket. I was worried that stealing from a bum would be too much, but it states clearly how bad this guy's life is and what he has to do to survive.
Another problem I had with Poole was his relationship with Nicole. Since the location and equipment won't allow me to shoot the scene as I want, I'll have to add another scene. The original idea was to show Nicole and Eric talking in the interrogation room. The camera would then pull back and show Poole looking through the window on the door, turning away in pain at seeing Nicole and Eric so close. Since Chris' garage won't allow me to shoot the scene that way, I've added another scene which also solves another minor problem I had. See, Nicole and Poole go up to Apopka to see Caldwell in the morning. They then go to a cafe at night and discuss it. The scene ends with Nicole saying they had to leave, because she needed to see Eric in the morning. Well, it makes no sense to have them at a cafe at night since it's only 1 1/2 - 2 hour drive max to Orlando from Tampa Bay. Also, the next scene was Nicole and Eric in the scene mentioned above. Well, that takes place in the morning also, and I thought the audience would have some confusion determining the day change since the Caldwell scene and now cafe scene, and the Nicole/Eric scene all take place in the morning. So, I added a scene after the cafe scene. Poole will be reading a xeroxed article of the Caldwell stabbing when he looks up, noticing that Nicole has fallen asleep on the couch. He smiles, then stares at her face, his strong love for her overwhelming him. He'll then get up, cross over to her and slowly move his face within inches of hers, their lips almost touching. Just as he is about to kiss her, he stops himself and steps back. He wakes her up, she goes to bed and he sits alone, depressed, etc. This, I think, better establishes his relationship with her as well as solve the time/day change problem I mentioned earlier.
Well, it's pay day. I have to go to the bank and to Consumer Credit to drop off a money order. Talk again soon. PFB
July 21, 1993
Well, I've been filling my depressing times away from my beautiful wife and newborn child by working as hard as I can on TDF. Yesterday had it's good and bad points. The bad was that Matt Day is going to Florida State University today, not in a few weeks as he had originally planned, so he will be unable to help on the project. Chris Linn and I went out with Matt and a few of his friends to Julie's Lakeside and chatted and stuff. It was a lot of laughs. The good was that Steve Holland, a very funny guy who's working on Welcome Freshman here at Nick., is on hiatus during filming week and he will probably be the cameraman throughout. We're going to look over the schedule and make some decisions there. After we figure out which days he can do it (hopefully all of them), we're going to go over the storyboards and discuss the shots.
The next person I have to get in contact with is Mark Rickles, to see if he can do sound. I really want him to do it. I trust him very much, he's very competent. I know this sounds bad, but I hope he's not working that week. I'm also trying to get Ali Lyons to help me during the first part of the week, before Rachel Tench gets in town and can take her place. The prayers just keep going.
I got a call from PB this morning around 8:00 a.m. He had to call so early because he's working some really strange hours. He liked the first script and is going to read the rest now that he's back from vacation. He also said he'd send me a picture so I can make the fake newspaper article. He's planning on coming up Wednesday, August 4th so we can rehearse the day before we shoot all of his scenes. If all goes really well, he could be outta there by Thursday afternoon. He's not planning on leaving until Friday morning, however, just in case the gods of video are against us.
Got a letter from Jennifer Cook the other day (actually addressed to Chris Linn and I since she didn't have my address). She's in South Africa working on a show for the Family Channel, a voice coach for a German actor. She'll be there until December. It's weird how people just pop into your life every once and a while.
I'm going to call Shelly Maxwell today to see what's happening on the job front. Since I'm going to be in Clearwater next week, I want to set up an interview for the job during that time. After that it will be very difficult to fit it in as Clarissa starts up in late August. Like Dea said to me last night, she hopes that when she comes back to Orlando after vacation that its in order to pack. God, I sincerely hope so.
Also met with Chris Linn after going out with Matt and friends. We discussed the schedule and found out that he will be unavailable for almost the entire filming. How convenient. Unfortunately, the show Legends is filming that week and it's going to be hard for him to work less than 12 hours a day, let alone help out on our day shoots. The next big prayer? NO RAIN DURING FILMING. If it rains, I'm seriously screwed. You don't think the Lord has that bad of a sense of humor, do you? I hope not.
Well, that's it for now. Until later. I've got a big list of things to do today. Hope I get them all done. It's getting down to crunch time. Adios - PFB
July 22, 1993
Went to KMart and picked up the handcuffs for PB's role (Eric) and some clothes pins for lighting purposes. Talked to Paul in NC and he's said he should be available for the Sunday August 1 shoot of the Ed and Poole scenes.
Got a call from Pete Bailoff today re: my One View Only script. He was very excited about the idea and thought it was very marketable. He said that it needed some structure and dialogue work, but that the idea was very good. He is going to talk to an important person at New Line pictures, as well as a cable company and a movie of the week person. He's going to see if he "can get you an option" on the script. He said I should know something in the next few days. WOULDN'T THAT BE COOL, TO SEE A SCRIPT I WROTE ON THE SILVER SCREEN? Too weird.
Well, that's about all for now (isn't that enough?). Until tomorrow. PFB
July 23, 1993
Pete Bailoff called again re: One View Only. He said he liked a lot of the aspects of the script, especially Michelle's lure toward the video camera and the lure/danger relationship it has with her. He really liked all of the "red herrings" that I have out there (it could be Eric the club owner, Jack, the delivery man, the husband, the Pizza Man, etc.). He does think, however, that rewrites are in its future, but he doesn't want me to do that yet because he wants to see if someone will pay me to do it first.
He is also going to send me a form to sign which basically gives him the right as "producer" to pitch the idea for a year period, after which I can try to get someone else to pitch it for me. Basically, his agent is worried that Pete could be doing all this work for me and I could have some other producer try to pitch it too. So, he's just covering his ass. He said if I didn't understand any part of it, or if I wanted to omit some things, or add some things, just to call and we would hammer it out. He's doing a project with New Line right now and is talking to them, as well as Universal Television, which did his "Quicksand" USA movie with Donald Sutherland and Tim Matheson. He's talking to them too. I should receive the form early next week. Don't worry, I'm going to read it very carefully.
Talked to Bob Swan, down at Aero Nova. He'll be playing "Miles" in TDF. I gave him his call time and costume/make-up notes. So, he's fine with coming in August 7th, at around 9 a.m. It's been a full few days. Now, I'll be off work for the next two weeks and will be putting this shit together. Come on Lord, keep things going, and KEEP THE RAIN AWAY DURING SHOOT WEEK! Thanks.
Until next time. PFB
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