Well, it's finally happening.After 21 months of twiddling my thumbs (AKA editing, buying a house, getting married, starting a new job, and moving twice), the world is finally about to see the Teen Movie Project. Maybe most surprisingly, it actually has a name now: My So-Called Movie. Not the most inspired choice, but it made me laugh, and well, isn't that sort of what this whole thing is about?So mark your calendars: August 19, 2013. 7pm at Shattuck Cinemas. This thing is happening....as soon as I finish editing it.
The Teen Movie Project is coming along. I spent the better part of this three-day weekend in front of my laptop with headphones on, editing 19 hours of footage into something resembling a movie.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the room, David sat in front of his laptop, headphones on, recording the "Elizabeth's Flowers" songs for the soundtrack.
Here is some relationship advice: pick the person who will spend his entire day off learning how to cover 90s songs for a movie project that maybe a dozen people will ever see. That one is a keeper.
As of Wednesday, the still-untitled Teen Movie Project is officially in post-production. So far, the "editing" process has largely involved sorting hours of video into folders and cringing at my inability to look comfortable on camera. Fortunately, I'm playing a teenage girl, so that should work out fine.
In other news, Star Wars Uncut has finally been released! And I was thrilled to discover that both of the scenes that Rhonda and I submitted made it in to the director's cut. You can watch the whole thing below, or skip to 20:56 and 1:58:57 to see our cameos. Sweet!
I work in theater, right? Not film? Just checking; I think someone must have forgotten to tell my day planner.
Exhibit A: The Entourage Video
At my work, there's a little-known program called Entourage that I happen to administer. Being the marketing department and all, we decided to raise its profile with a little informative video. Nothing special, just something visual we could use to draw a bit of attention.
Somehow it became this:
Yes, that's Rita Moreno in that video. Winner of the Oscar, Grammy, Tony, and two Emmys. And that's me, winner of the "Most Dramatic" award (Santa Teresa High School yearbook, 2002) which is...not quite the same thing. I wrote that script in about 15 minutes and the whole thing was terrifying. I wrote about it on the Berkeley Rep blog here.
Exhibit B: The Teen Movie Project
I don't know how we did it, but somehow we did it. It's over.
It took a month of filming and countless hours of scheduling, prop-making, costume-fitting, and hair-pulling, but yesterday we wrapped on production. Which is, I don't know, liberating? Terrifying? Now that it's done, there are no more chances to fix things or insert new great ideas, and it means I have to start the epic chore of editing this entire thing into one cohesive narrative. Although, to be honest, I'm really looking forward to that part. Because I was in almost every scene, I didn't have a lot of chances to really direct the thing. Fortunately, I had an amazing DP, who made it easy to let go and rely on his talent. I know he got some amazing shots--probably way better than if I'd told him what to do, anyway--and I'm looking forward to standing on his shoulders and making a movie out of his images.
And now it's finally time to relax. Haha, just kidding! I'm flying to England on Saturday and not coming back for two weeks.