Concept Pictures

1. Sheila is soooo not cell phone savvy. Sure they seem just like those communicator dealios from Star Trek, but Kirk made it look so easy. Oh well, no twitter no cry.

2. Don't help the homeless... Boulder has some problems with it's homeless population. I don't mean that the homeless are particularly numerous or hostile here. I mean that we just don't want them. Our begging laws are semi-draconian and every time the homeless shelter tries to move anywhere the nearest neighborhood complains. In the meantime we power down our fair-trade vegan lattes and god help you if you forget to recycle. The song "Easy to Be Hard" from Hair was written for my town.

3. "Beatniks and politics, nothing is new." 

4. Hippies will evidently pray to anything. In an earlier draft of the script I had a sort of mini-arc where Sheila thought she was turning into Shiva. That got mostly dropped in the current incarnation, but I still have several scenes where she is rubbing ash all over herself.

5. I have a long and involved dance sequence. It is also a dream sequence. Sure, no one does either of those anymore... But, um, it's an homage. Yup, definitely not something I would put in any other movie. I'M BEING HOMAGE-Y NOT WIERD OKAY!

6. Sheila may spend a little too much time at the begging of the movie huddled up asleep. But look! Her sweatshirt matches the flowers!

7. The economy is bad news man. No one should have to spend 8 hours a day asking strangers if they have a minute to save the children. That's okay... Sheila manages to turn her campaign job into a slightly better paying internet guerilla job. And play spy vs. spy with the Boulder Obama campaign's other top guerilla while she's at it. 

8. Sexualized advertising can be a little shocking. But it's Sheila's fault right? She believed in the sexual revolution.

9. Tommy getting into the dragz. Tommy isn't a transsexual, he's just into gender subversion. Or something. Who knows with kids these days? Aaand, who can guess what movie this picture is inspired by!

 

10. What does change mean to you? Sheila's had enough change for the time being, but she's working her butt off for Obama anyway... 

11. Sheila and Tommy spend a lot of (okay, fine, maybe too much) time sitting around in coffee shops having faux-intellectual discussions about nebulous social-studies issues. Hey, they say to write what you know.

you can find stuff on craigslist!

I had to put a lot of thought into what exactly I'm doing with my sound money today. Basically a lot of people on a forum (shout out to indietalk, the amount of psychological reassurance I get there can't be bought) yelled at me to rent or hire a sound person with equipment and use my money that way. 

Once upon a time, before I made my first project, I was way down with the whole renting dealio. Technology moves quickly, and it can make more sense to rent what you need per project rather than trying to constantly purchase whatever is on the cutting edge. But renting on The Fighters (1st proj.) was a catastrophe. I wasted way too much money on a camera that spent way too much time sitting around. Since then I've been buying, the net result of which is I am able to even think about making this movie for under $5,000 because I already have a camera, quasi-lights, a mic, etc. 

Long story short, buying has worked well and renting has worked not at all. I'm sure that someday this'll change but I am where I am.

That brought me to option-hire-a-sound-guy. I didn't think I would end up going that route but I posted an add on craigslist just to see if I got any responses. I got a lot. Instantly. I may actually like craigslist again. Howevahs, I did run into the issue that I thought I would - the people who I am solidly convinced would do a better job than me I really don't think I can afford to compensate even remotely in the league of their worth. There was at least one college kid who I am going to stay in touch with, but he didn't have samples. Tip of the day, always have at least some kind of portfolio easily accessible. I should probably take my own tip, I don't have a demo reel. 

Anyhoo, student guy nowithstanding I've pretty much mentally come full-circle. I am probably going to buy what I can, use it to the best of my ability. But it's good to think about things right? Even if I spent all of my "pre-production" time today chasing my tail?

Well, not all of it. I was finally able to muster the to clean ze apartment today.  I was only able to work up the motivation by telling myself that I was "prepping my primary set." Oy veh.

Don't Panic - Part 1

Realizations that I have recently had.

My script has 110 scenes. Some of them are tiny. More of them are not.

At our best our shooting pace is only moderate. 

Because of our work schedules most of our shooting days will be half or quarter length.

I am going to have to keep track of costuming for continuity on a scale that never quite hit me.

I want to use the actor's clothes as costumes and thus don't have total control over where they are.

In order to shoot in my apartment I have to &^$#&$*&% clean it.

Time to go learn how to create perfect schedules...

Lucky Pennies

I spent a lot of time the other day counting up the spare change that constitutes a healthy part of funding for this project the other day. I've come to the conclusion that pennies are bad for me. They have a quality that I find impossibly seductive -  they are such a small denomination that when you count them out you can end up with hundreds. If you don't think too hard, (okay, at all,) owning hundreds of currency is amazing! It's money! And there is hundreds of it! And if you check every single penny to make sure that it isn't randomly valuable, you pretty much get to splash in a small puddle of currency for hours. If you squint, it's the next best thing to bathing in Cristal. Long story short, my general sense of perspective is being slowly warped by spare change. 

But I love my pennies. All this change really does add up. Not quite to the point where I'm going to be buying Sennheisers out of nickels, but at the very least I can see my entire dv-tape budget being taken exclusively from the spare change I've gotten. Pretty groovy. 

Sheila In The Modern World!

Helloooo party people!

If you're here you probably know who I am (if not, boy is this awkward). This is my site for my current movie project, working title Sheila In The Modern World.

In short,

"If you can remember the 60's you weren't there."

Sheila can remember most of the 60's but her recollections come to a screeching halt in May 1970 when she is shot in a student rally. She wakes up alone, hungry and tasting stale drugs in May 2008. Sheila has to wrestle with the history, politics, and values of a globalized neo-capitalist post-modern world. In other words, get a job and deal with an awkward roommate love triangle. 

Sheila needs your help. 

If you can spare few bucks, no amount is too small to be GREATLY appreciated... a large portion of my budget is currently being raised out of spare change :)

And please keep an eye on this project:

A.Because watching a production process is neat.

B.Attention=excitement=optimisticallyenoughfundingtomakethispuppywork.

C.Because you can't handle living in the modern world either.

Aaaaaaaand... Logistics!

The Bizness End

And now a little bit on the logistics and future of this project. I'm using a "Times" font, that's how you know I'm serious. 

What I currently have in terms of production expenses include a camera, shotgun microphone, access to locations, costumes, and some truly awesome actors. I am still trying to raise funding for additional sound equipment, and for a small portion of the film that will be shot on 8mm.  My estimated cost for sound equipment is $700. Shooting on 8mm with digital transfers could be up to $300. I will have additional expenses during post-production, including the cost of film-festival entry fees, but those will be raised primarily once the project is completed. 

Unfortunately, due to the fact that this is being made on spare change, Sheila In The Modern World will not be coming to a theater near you. After post-production is complete I will be submitting Sheila to as many film-festivals as I possibly can, and if I've done my job we'll get into festivals that have some level of recognition. I also plan to organize a variety of film-screenings throughout Boulder Colorado (so Sheila may be coming to a venue near you!) If you have any goods or services that you would like showcased in the Boulder community, email me at sheilainthemodernworld@gmail.com to discuss sponsorship options.

That's that exciting story.

Peace Out!