So after finally returning the same two Netflix movies I’ve had for like 2 months, Million Dollar Baby was next in the queue. I couldn’t avoid the hype, with all the Oscar nominations 10 months ago, and that’s probably why it took me forever to finally watch it. I checked out Mystic River and enjoyed it. It was slow but the acting was superb…which is probably why that entire cast won that year. So Dirty Harry directed another one and I was like, ‘ok, so he probably blew his load with Mystic River, so this one might just be alright.’

Holy shit, was I wrong. I preferred Million Dollar Baby over Mystic River, but then again, you can’t help but fall in love with underdog movies, I guess. Paul Haggis is my new favorite writer. I loved the script for Crash and Million Dollar Baby was equally impressive.

Visually, it’s very sound (hee hee…get it?). I love the lighting – high contrast, lots of shadows. Freakin’ dope. Several shots stuck out

MED-FULL shot of Josey Wales where his head and shoulders were in shadow, while the rest of his body was lit. I’ll have to go back and analyze the scene to figure out why Clint wanted to do that.

Also, several TWO-SHOTS shot from behind the characters were very interesting to me. I got the sense that the director shot from that angle because you didn’t really know the characters too well yet. You just saw their body language and heard the dialogue, which, to me, let’s the audience guess the type of relationship they have. In one diner scene, most of dialoge is shot from behind Eastwood and Freeman, and right when an important line is said, the 180-line is broken and you suddenly see their faces. Again, I’ll need to revisit the scene for further explication.

Hillary Swank is a freakin’ stud. What is it about Edward Munny that gets the best, most real performance from his actors? I would love to be a fly on the wall during rehearsal or on the set. Man…I want to be like Clint.

It’s official – at approximately 7:45, I was able to call myself a director. I held my first rehearsal/production meeting for Screeching, the short play written by Jedi master Samantha Chanse. But I guess I should back up…

So a few weeks ago, I was on the brink of hair-pulling when I thought about who I wanted to cast for this piece. I had asked a few of the Bindle/RAP-folks, but couldn’t draw a commitment out of any of them. They were either busy with school, or work, or just plain not interested. Which is fine, you know? I would much rather have actors who wanted to be there. So the first person I cast was actually for the male role, which happened to be the smallest – probably no more than a handful of lines. I asked Cristian, who had recently experienced his first time on stage with RAP’s Banana Fairy back in the summer. I pitched him the project and after a few IMs back and forth about scheduling he agreed.

Woohoo! One down, two more to go!

At some point, the idea of holding auditions was thrown about, but I don’t know why I didn’t jump on it right away. Actually, I know why – I wanted to tap into the available talent pool that was within my immediate disposal. So I spoke with Raf about the possibility of setting this all up. He told me he’d secure the venue and send out a mass email. I took it a step further though, and I think this was probably the best decision I’ve made so far. I decided to post on sfcasting.com. Within minutes, I got replies from people who were interested in auditioning. Seriously, I need to do this every time. You’re pretty much guaranteed the actors want to do it, and the skill level is a notch above the norm also. You don’t have to deal with telling your friends that they’re not what you’re looking for. It’s definitely easier to reject a stranger.

So on a rainy Saturday morning, I walked briskly through the drizzle and made it to the Stiff. It took a while for the door to open, but we got in. For the most part, audtions went well, some were better than others. It was a tough decision, but then two girls came in and they each knocked it out of the park. I found my Lane and my Mona. The coolest part is that I could’ve interchanged them and it would’ve worked just as well.

It was cool to go through the audition process again. While there were certain instances where I seemed to not know where to take things, I really felt like a legit director. I knew what I was looking for, and I think, for the most part, I was asking the proper things to get what I ultimately wanted. With the limited time we had to rehearse, and with the meaty script, I knew I wanted some studs to come out and show me something. Jen and Sandy did just that.

Which leads me to tonight…

It felt natural to be there. It felt natural to lead the discussion and analyze the brilliantly-written script. It felt natural to ask questions, explore scenarios, and develop backstories. It just felt good. It felt like I knew what I was doing…which, in terms of me being creative, does not happen all too often. At times, I felt intimidated being among the two talented actresses, but they looked to me as the director. They really did. And that feeling of validation is unbelievable.

Of course, this was only the first night, and it can go to shit from here on out…but shit…it feels good to be a director, even if it would be just for one day.

Here is their homework assignment:
- be off-book by Jan 2nd
- think about your actions/blocking
- think about your costume

We’ll see what they bring in 2006. If all goes to plan, it’ll be a great start to the new year.

Stay tuned folks. More updates on the rehearsal process to come soon.

I was listening to Split by Golda Supernova and it hit me…I want to shoot a video for this song. I have nothing…no concept, just random shots of the individual band members lit very sparsely against a black background all in CU or ECU…that’s it. Videos these days are all flash, with cheap attempts at story, resulting in subpar (is that word hyphenated?) mediocrity.

Golda Supernova is a simple band, or at least I think so…no flash, just straight to the point. And that’s what one of their videos should be – a simple video that focuses on their performance and stage presence. They don’t jump around on stage or do anything uber-crazy, but there’s something about the way they perform that expresses a connection with the music they play.

When I come up with something, I’ll start planting the seed. To the drawing board I go.

Oooh! They released the new set of Director’s Series DVD’s. I got the first set last Christmas…maybe they’ll be stuffing my stocking again this year!