2011
– Last 100 Days
Prodigal
Altar Boy Countdown
T-26
Days to Go
5
December 2011
Goal:
1 hour per day working on the film
Details:
Listened
to Karen Everett’s filmmaker affirmations
Watched
Story Doctor Kit video #4
“This Film is preaching to the choir”
Include at least one serious voice
that stands in opposition
“The film was choppy”
Use location shots between scenes
Use music “stings” to signal
transitions
Write narration ins and outs
Cut on gestures (“Indiana Aria”
example)
“The film meandered. There were too many tangents”
Find links between ideas so arguments
build on one another
Cut repetitive characters (keep
characters that say it best)
Cut subplots that do not reinforce
(mirror) or act as a foil
Identify if your film is a
portrait/impressionistic (Crumb)
If it is a portrait, add a narrative
thread (Yosemite)
Shoot pick up interview if needed
Construct scenes with beats
(emotional hits move from one pole to an opposite pole)
Add a midpoint to guide character
transformation
Make sure the climax answers the
central question
Don’t let the denouement drag on
“There was too much information: cuts are too fast.”
Keep quiet for written text; no
narration or dialogue
Don’t use music with lyrics when
someone is talking
Craft a montage or musical interlude
Construct soundscape
Decelerate the pace visually
Read
“Story Focusing Exercises” from the Story Doctor Kit
Read
DOVES – Director’s Outcome Vision and Editorial Statement worksheet
Total time: 1 hour
Goal:
30 minutes per day music practice
Details:
Warm
up on the Doyle “Anihilator”
“It’s
Your Thing” – The Isley Brothers
“Talking
Loud and Sayin’ Nothing” – Living Colour version
Pat
Metheny Edtude #1 20X
Total time: 1 hour
Goal:
15 minutes exercise per day
Active
rest
Goal:
15 minutes per day working on the score for the movie
Details:
“Dies
Irae” – 25X on the Doyle “Anihilator”
“Dies
Irae” – octaves, dyads and opening/closing chords
“Granby
Street” – on the Doyle “Anihilator”
R&B
riff work from Gospel Skillz DVD
E
– B/D# - C#min – A R&B chordal riff
work. Focus on smooth transitions and
tone.
Total Time: 1 hour
Notes:
Twenty-seven
days and counting.
More Lessons Learned:
Work in “chunks.” Cars used to have the side-view mirror
warning, “Objects May Appear Closer Than They Are” and tasks should come with a
similar warning because many tasks appear be larger than they are. Facing a task that looms large, I break the
task down into smaller “chunks” and work on each “chunk” until the task is
done. I am rehearsing a piece of music
by Verdi from “Requiem.” The piece, “Dies
Irae” (Day of Wrath), is very short, but complicated. When I first looked at the tablature and
listened to the recording, I was intimidated.
“Dies Irae” connects with on of TQ’s interviews in the movie, so it
needs to be in the film (well, it needs to be in the film if the interview
survives the cut). I decided to break it
down into manageable “chunks.” The opening and closing chords are big “stretch”
chords, so I started there. I set aside
at least fifteen minutes per day to work on the piece. For the first few weeks, I did nothing but
finger the chords. After I was familiar
with the chords, I dedicated daily practice time to the solo run in the
middle. After the solo, I worked on dyad
and octave runs, which were the most difficult.
After working out all those parts, the next step was to spend each day
stringing all those parts together. Currently,
daily practice consists of playing the
piece as a whole at least twenty times.
Rather than playing it twenty times in one stretch, I play the piece
five times in a row, then evaluate how I played it, what I need to improve,
then go at it five more times. After
playing it twenty times, I isolate sticking points and work on them until I am
satisfied. By the time I am ready to
start laying down the score, the piece will sound great. The moral of the story is breaking tasks down
reduces the intimidation and give you smaller tasks to focus and build on.
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