It’s usually called Hell Week due to the long, drawn out process of cue-to-cue and run-throughs. Hours are spent making sure the correct lights and sounds come on when they’re supposed to during a specific piece.

Screeching was easy – sound effects up, lights up, sound effects down, scene plays out, lights go down, sound comes up for a little bit, and down. Done.

Some of the other pieces had much more specific light and sound cues. Spot lights were set up for the musical numbers during Weirdo Love, and the background music had to play at just the right volume to ensure it didn’t drown out the un-amplified vocals of the performers. Diarrhea (which will be called just that because I can’t remember the full title) was the most complicated of the pieces as it spanned 10 scenes and multiple sound, light, and other visual cues. It is one entertaining piece, though. Lots of good chemistry between the actors and absurdity all around. The adlibs are freakin’ money, dude.

So now for the obligatory Screeching update:

Friday
The night started just a “titch” after 7:30. Sandy needed a ride up, and the traffic getting to Menlo Park from Mountain View took a bit longer than anticipated. But I walked in and instantly felt the energy and good vibes. I was looking forward to working efficiently so we could head out to Jen’s premiere. She had worked on an independent short as a producer and there was a screening scheduled for that night. It was going to be another date with the Screeching crew.

Sandy and Cristian snuck off to grab some pizza while Jen and I just hung back and discussed some notes. We talked about some blocking and pacing changes. Once Lane and Matthew got back, we went right into the vocal exercies. I had them stand behind the bench and sound out the letters of the alphabet, throwing them to the back row. I had them stand in three different areas of the room and had them run certain segments, specifically the ones that ended up being on the quiet tip.

Then we moved on to the scene work. We ran it once and the energy was a bit off. I was a bit surprised because we all came in energized. I know I was because I was ready for the weekend. But it was alright – to be expected with about 4 days off in between, you know? It ended up running somewhere close to 30 minutes, which concerned me because I had emailed them earlier in the day stating that we needed to focus on picking up the pace. We seemed to solve that problem though, but that will be discussed during the “Sunday” section of this post.

There were still some problem spots with the blocking, and this was my bad. I had let them work out the blocking on their own for most of the piece. I wanted to see how they would move with the lines they were given and the characters they developed. Both had REALLY good natural instincts, but I noticed some spots were just too static. I’ve made a mental note to put a bigger emphasis on blocking the next time around. I feel that perhaps I was thinking to much in terms of film, where the sublte movements of the characters would be caught within frame. But there’s no camera, just 40+ pairs of eyes, all focusing on different things. I don’t have the absolute control over what the audience sees the way I would if it was shot. So it was important for us to go through certain parts of the script to really map out where they should be.

Sandy expressed a concern about not wanting it to be too mechanical, and Jen felt that having specific marks to hit would be helpful. I feel the blocking adjustments we made were just right. Some were very specific, ie. “at this line, you need to be here”, whereas others were a bit more vague “somewhere in these set of lines, you should make your way to this spot”.

By that time, we were already late for Jen’s premiere and I felt really bad we missed it. Luckily, we all mounted up quickly and rolled out to the Mission to meet up with her crew. We got there and there was a second screening for us newcomers. In short, it was a well-shot piece – excellent composition, nice, fluid camera movements, and REALLY vivid colors. On a side note, I saw Michael Dougan’s name in the credits for Story Develoment. How the hell is that guy?

We had some further cast-bonding at the Lone Palm on 22nd and Guerrero. Good times. It was fun watching Sandy get eyed by these British dudes. Waiting 20 minutes for the bartender didn’t end up being as bad because he grossly miscalculated the cost of about 7-8 drinks. I know, that sounds totally cheap of me, huh?

Saturday
This was our scheduled cue-to-cue. I got there a bit late due to the stupid 85 to 101 interchange. God, that thing is retarded. Aureen’s cast was hard at work so we decided to go grab some lunch. Despite Jen’s whining (hahaha…just kidding Jen), we huffed it over to Whole Foods on 4th. Hot damn, was that a bad idea or what? I could not figure out what to eat! Each of us were tasked with a cuisine and we just went to town loading up our plates. I felt real heavy walking back to the Stiff.

So back to our cue-to-cue. As mentioned earlier, it was real simple. Locked down the lights within 15-20 minutes and used the rest of the time to run the scene. It looked better this time around, but stil really long. The blocking seemed much more natural and it was nice to see them work under real lights. Diarrhea moved in and we ate up a bit of their time, so I was intent on just stopping on a positive note. I let them go and that was that.

I needed to kill some time before Goh’s party later that eve, so I spent a lot of time looking through the script and seeing where we could pick up the pace, and see if any blocking changes could be made. I made a few notes so I could bring them up on Sunday.

Quick note about Goh’s party…Sam was there so I was able to chat with her a bit about Screeching and asked her about something Cristian had brought to my attention on Monday. It involved Lane and her desire to have a child. Cris wondered if it was really Lane that was supposed to carry the child, and after she learned of her barren-ness, Mona was the one who would do it instead. Sam told me that was not the intention, but it was a really insteresting aspect that would definitely up the stakes for the piece if that was indeed the backstory. She did say she would’ve written it differently if that was the original intention. I think she’ll be happy with it…I hope she’ll be happy with it.

Sunday
At about 10:20, I get a call from Cristian saying he’s stuck on the bridge. At about 10:28, I get a call from a recently woken Jen, who asked what time rehearsal was. My response was, “dude, at like 10:30″.

She said, “Ok, I’ll see you soon.”

Cris and Jonas rolled through just as I parked. (I actually got a spot on Natoma this time.) I came with donuts in hand and Cris came with a bag of chorizo/egg/cheese burritos in his. Damn, those were good.

Sandy called at about 10:40 and she’s late also. For a second, I thought it would be tough to get everyone going. I wasn’t too worried because I knew we were prepared, but i just wanted to get in a good run right before we all got together for the run-through. I really wanted to impress the rest of the cast and crew. It would’ve been Jen and Sandy’s coming out party of sorts…well, to the Bindlestiff Crew, that is.

I discussed the slight changes to the first part of the scene. I figured we’d work that part while waiting for Jen’s sleepy ass to arrive. They ran it once and it looked good. Jen came so I had Sandy and Cris run it again while I talked with Jen briefly about some minor adjustments to her blocking and pacing. We discussed some lines that could come in sooner, as well as some actions. We went back in, gave some notes to Sandy and we were ready to run it. We huddled up, settled in and got ready handle some business. I told them it was our last rehearsal and from here on out, it was it. Showtime. I told them to trust in the script, trust in the work they’ve done, and most importantly, trust each other.

I don’t know what it was, but it resulted in the best overall run we’ve had. We managed to shave off a few minutes, yet the intensity was kept all the way through. Jen was feeling it during her breakdown. I sat there completely engaged. After that run, we had a short discussion about it. They felt good, I felt good…we’re ready. They know what they can give each other. Now it’s all about recreating these moments 8 more times, and they’ll do it.

Then came the run-through. I wanted to make sure Jen and Sandy felt comfortable with rest of the crew. They’re completely new to the Bindlestiff culture, and because we rehearsed off-site a lot, they really haven’t had the chance to experience the atmosphere. We went through warm-ups together and I wanted them to see the other pieces.

There were some rough spots with the sound and light cues, but that’s to be expected. Cristian and Sandy were a bit confused with the timing of their entrance and the ambient sound was on for a bit too long. I decided to just cut the sound out early, especially since the girls tend to get a bit quiet. They ran the scene and the intensity was still there, a bit less than the run during rehearsal, but enough to provoke some tears from other castmembers. That was pretty cool. Maybe some of the audience members will cry too! Sweet!

We only got to run once because Jen had work and Sandy had already made plans. But that’s alright because I don’t want to overdo it. I need them to start hitting their stride by Wednesday so it’ll carry through to both weekends. I wish I could see them on opening night, but I know they’ll be fine…more than fine, actually.

Day off tomorrow…WOOHOO! (not like we rehearsed excessively or anything)

Another note to self…don’t ever let Sandy eat donuts. She picks off pieces of each one, so it looks like someone took a bite from each! I know that I only ate the outer ring of my old-fashioned chocolate donut and put the inner ring back in, but still!

Oh, and on a side note…here’s a conversation I had with Al-Jay (another filmmaker friend of mine who adores Ben Affleck and Kobe) regarding PDA.

celmatic: read PDA, dope man
celmatic: i feel envy
celmatic: and a small tingle in my loins
antonisrad: you dug it?
antonisrad: cool man
celmatic: scrabble banter was GOLD
antonisrad: i figure you’d dig that one
celmatic: heh
celmatic: you bastard
antonisrad: i think that was one of my faves

lyrics from Interpol’s PDA

…which also happens to be the initials for the short play I wrote for The Love Edition. I’m not a big fan of putting my work out there, because I may end up buying a ticket to watch my script translated to the screen by a 10-year old child protogenius (yeah, I made that word up, so what?) But I figure I’d do it just this once.

So here’s why…

Rach, who was cast to play Jules in the script and a close friend I talk to pretty much every day, was telling me how she thinks the piece will be completely different from my original intention. While I’m sure many writers feel the misrepresentation of intent by the director is probably the biggest screw job on the planet, I’m not one of them…at least for this particular script. Since I am a director myself, I very much appreciate and respect the whole interpretation dealio. As such, I’m looking forward to seeing a different take on this piece.

Secondly, from a writer’s standpoint, it’s important to understand how clear the intent really is within the text itself. If the final product was far from its original intent, then of course, it would suggest that perhaps there were missing pieces in the script that did not paint the picture accurately. So for me, if it turns out vastly different from the images I created in my head, I can look back at the text and start there.

Lastly, I’m completely okay with seeing a different take on the script because it’s still a work-in-progress. I thought about shooting PDA for the screen to practice the composition of a 2-person scene dealing with high emotions. I even had this crazy notion of trying to act in it! But I dunno…something about it still feels a bit incomplete, and perhaps hearing the voices of real actors (instead of the voices I create in my head) will lead me to the right discoveries.

I missed out on a chance to see a preview of PDA tonight (stupid OT at work!). And because I’ll be in NYC next week, it means I won’t see it until the second week of the run. It’s ok, though…I’m really more worried about Screeching than anything else right now.

So here’s the script in case anyone wants to read it (that means all 3 of you who actualy know this blog exists…in fact, 2 out of the 3 probably have the script already!)

(My favorite part of the script is when they start talking about their crazy Scrabble games.)

Oh, and this one isn’t for the kiddies…probably an R-rating because of gratuitous use of the F-bomb

Last day in Newark tonight. Another solid rehearsal. Thanks to Bobadave and the cold winter months, we have a park bench! I don’t know what made me remember that Dave had one, but when I did, I figured I’d hit him up for it. He quickly agreed to the loan, but assured me that it was only a 2-person bench, which is much smaller than I originally wanted. We had been rehearsing with benches/groups of chairs that would seat 4 derriers, not 2. So my options were to A) use the smaller bench and further limit the characters’ movements, or B) build a stylized bench with wood, paint, and screws. I pretty much threw out the idea of trying to do the “rental” thing because they were way too damn expensive. I wasn’t trying to take a chance that a refund/return would not be accepted. I’ve worked in retail too long to know the kind of shady shit stores pull on their customers. And honestly, I would not have been opposed to option B, but I figured that if the smaller bench worked, then we wouldn’t have to take the time to build the bench – we could use it on fine tuning the piece.

So we ran it once and I really liked what the small bench did. The most obvious thing it did was it put the characters so much closer together. When you combine 2 conflicted characters and sit them on a bench with minimum real estate between them, it yields instant tension. I kept thinking about how it would be that one scene from Chasing Amy that took place in Holden’s Ford Explorer (ha…how fitting, since that’s what Matthew drives) and putting them in a Geo Metro instead. But overall, the scene seemed to work. I liked that the proximity of the characters and the ensuing drama actually motivated the characters to get up out of a sense of clausterphobia. So I decided to keep it. The decision was mostly financial, but it was also convenient since I already had it in my possession. I would’ve had to take it back to Dave’s. (I know, I’m being a wussy, since it’s like super light) Another factor is that we can finally lock down our set. We’ve been going from folding chairs, to combo seats, back to folding chairs, real park benches, and finally tonight’s option. I want my actors to know what they’ll be interacting with, to familiarize themselves with it, instead of discovering something new each day we meet. So yeah, that’s that.

I also tried playing with having a ball roll in from the playground. Perhaps it would give some motivated actions for the characters, but I couldn’t figure out which times to throw it in at. Both did a good job with interacting, but I kind of felt that it just seemed to take the focus away too much. I realize something like this could totally happen, but in thinking about the intent, I really couldn’t figure out a good enough reason to have that thing come in. So I eighty-sixed that bitch. At least we got to play with the balls during the speed-through, though (yes! I managed to sneak in a dirty joke!)

But all in all, we have ourselves a show. We need to work on volume and projection, so that’s what we’ll do on Friday night. These guys work so hard and I appreciate every ounce of effort they give. I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished as a team. I took them through the relaxation exercise today and I asked them to think about where we started and where we’re at ,from the first read to tonight’s rehearsal. We’ve gone a long way in just 6 short weeks. It’s coming to a close soon and I know I’m gonna miss it. Learning with these folks has been amazing. It’s satisfying to see how invested they are in the script, story, and the process. It’s great that we’re all becoming friends. Conversations that started out as small talk have evolved into discussions about our personal lives. It definitely makes for a positive creative atmosphere. But really, I’m going to save all the sappy stuff for posts at the end of the run.

I’m gonna gonna sleep soundly tonight, still high on the amazing performances I experienced just a few hours ago. I’m starting to feel bad that I can’t be there with them on Opening Night. But they know how much Tess means to me, so they understand. I’ll just have to buy Sandy a drink, cuz I’m missing her birthday.

Notes:
-Sandy looks like she’s getting much more comfortable with her “screeching”
- Jen’s monlogue is pretty damn awesome right now, too

11 days, 5 rehearsals (1 dress) ’til showtime. It was an interesting weekend in Screeching-land. Saturday wasn’t the best of starts – wet, cold, and no one was there to let us in. Jen and Sandy were fresh off a long night of partying and I fought some stomach pains from the previous evening’s Chevy’s. And then Sandy got harassed by a toothless crackhead, who like L.L. Cool J, needed love. Eric the sound guy let us in around 11 but we were still missing our final cast member. The normally punctual Cristian Cardona (Matthew) was nowhere to be found, and it was unlike him to not inform anyone of his tardiness. The clock ticked away and the minutes were spent getting to know a little about each other. Turns out there was a misunderstanding with the times, but Cris came through with McNuggets and french fries for everyone. Man, I really forgot how good those damn things are!

So a good chunk of our rehearsal was actually spent discussing our respective romantic relationship statuses. We talked about the dating scene, long term/distance relationships, chivalry, courting protocols, past romantic experiences that have affected our own respective outlooks on love, romance, and all this sissy stuff. Basically, we were all becoming friends, not just collaborators.

To tell you the truth, it was really nice to take some time and do some cast bonding. I’m a firm believer that if you care about the people you are working with, especially on a personal level, the final result is that much more meaningful. While this will probably sound obvious to most, having 2 actors build a relationship ouside of the script will make the relationship between the 2 characters inside the script much more believable. And as a director, and for this play especially, I wanted to create an open atmosphere where concerns about the story and characters can be discussed freely. And if my actors felt comfortable with me on a personal level, it would be much easier to maintain that openness when it comes to the work at hand. But ultimately, I want my actors to care about each other, which would, in turn, result in the characters caring for each other. It starts a nice chain reaction of people taking care of each other, and I hope that my respect and consideration for them trickles down and flows freely amongst the cast.

So Saturday was pretty light – ran through the script maybe once or twice. But I wasn’t worried. I didn’t feel that we took a step back or anything. We ended rehearsal just after 2PM and geared up for some more cast-bonding in the Castro. Yup, you read correctly. Both Sandy and Jen have been doing a tremendous amount of research for their roles, which has really been a blessing for me. It’s amazing to work with people with such dedication. Anyway – Sandy found this lesbian party and invited us all to go. I’ll admit that I was a bit apprehensive at first, but I knew it would be an interesting, not to mention educational experience for me. We showed up a bit early, so we decided to grab a drink at Metro Restaurant/Bar down the street. Laughs and bonding ensued.

I’ll fast-forward to the good part. Too bad Jen had to go to work, because this is where it got pretty fun. So Sandy Cris and I walked over to The Cafe for this party called Delicious. Apparently, some lesbian promoters from L.A. come up every third Saturday of the month to throw this party. Strange thing was the party went from about 3:30-8:30. Weird. But hey, am I going to turn down the chance for a mid-afternoon buzz? Hell no! And with 2-for-1 margaritas to boot! I’m going to save some of my observations of the evening for a different blog, as i really want to keep this one on the Screeching tip. Needless to say, it was interesting to observe the dynamics in a lesbian club. Perhaps my recollections and observations will appear in a future script. I’m pretty sure that Sandy came up with some good stuff in terms of character development as well.

Which brings us to today, Sunday. I walked out of my car, and son of a bitch…it was glorious. No clouds, a slight cool breeze that hit your face at the same moment the sun started to make your skin warm. Then, it hit me…FIELD TRIP! On the drive up, I was so excited to tell my cast what we were going to do today. I wanted to find a park or playground, have them sit on a bench and work the scene. I wanted to place them in the environment and experience the conversation. I wanted to see how they reacted to the public-ness of their surroundings. That and I’d feel like crap if we were cooped inside all damn day!

So we walked from the Stiff to Yerba Buena. The girls ran lines as we walked. It was funny because I saw this one dude kind of look over as if trying to eavesdrop on their conversation. I wonder what he was thinking. Then we made our way to this HUGE playground right in between the carousel and the ice rink. The benches were occupied at first so I just sat them on the outer rim of the playground and they ran the scene. People were less then 5 feet away on either side of them, and they discussed their business right there. Kids crossed and ran around the two of them. It was great to see how careful they were with what they were telling each other. And even though they both rocked sunglasses, I could tell their eyes were just wandering, focusing on their surroundings. I’m hoping they can call back to some of these images – maybe that little Chinese girl in pigtails who kept climbing up the side, the girl in pink who ’screeched’ everytime she went down the slide, the childlike dad who played tag with his boys. When the lights come up and the three of them are there on stage, that’s the world I want them to be in. No black walls, no squeaking wooden chairs, no tungsten lamps shining down upon them. There will be a big slide to their left, some hopscotch ‘courts’ in front, and the swings to the right.

I liked what I saw from them today…A LOT. I imagined what it would look like in a frame. I saw moments where it would be a full two-shot, profiles of each character in the foreground while it racked to the other character in the background. I saw inserts of the kids, CU’s of Mona’s contained impatience, and the juxtaposition of Lane’s relaxed body language and Mona’s proper posture. It was so fun to watch these girls play today. I trust the choices they make, and I believe that they know the characters inside and out that any choice they make will still be consistent with the character and the theme of the piece. I’m really sad I’ll miss them that first weekend.

We’re almost there. These guys are going to show the audience something. I know it. I feel it.

I’m giving myself an extension on last year’s resolution. So this year, Beats Per Minute will be completed, at least the first draft of it. I don’t know what happened – started strong out of the gate, but folks, it’s a marathon, not a sprint. Within a few weeks, I had about 30 pages written. And now, one year later, including the 3 pages I wrote tonight, the script sits at 41. Damn, writer’s block is a bitch.

Last March, I took on the daunting task of co-facilitating a screenwriting workshop for Bindlestiff Studio in SF. Maybe telling people how scripts should be written convinced me that I really wasn’t ready to write my own. We stressed the development of the story into five distinct plot points. These five points would be the formula for the Hollywood screenplay. Of course, if I was putting myself in a position to teach other people, I better practice what I preached, right? You’d like to think so.

I was pretty happy with the first act, but where to go from there was the hard part. I was still unsure of what the overall themes were and I didn’t know what I wanted my protagonist to learn in the end. For me, this is the point where scripts just sit in the folder in my hard drive for several months until I get bored and decide to remind myself of what I wrote. The re-read gives me a chuckle and for a little while, I start to tweak the script to make the dialogue sound cleaner. Of course, nothing new is added.

The crazy thing is that I have a tough enough time with plot development for shorts, so what made me think that I could take on such a large project? And even if I did finish it, what the hell would I do with it?

Shoot it? Yeah, right. With what money? I can barely even scrounge enough cash to shoot a five minute music video, let alone a 100 page script with half a dozen locations.

Sell it? It’d be nice, but I haven’t made those kind of connections yet.

I guess it was mainly to feel a sense of accomplishment. I don’t want to have to take it here, but shit, man, I just turned 28 and slowly, I’m feeling like I want to have something to show for myself. I took some baby steps with the Bindlestiff productions, and even Tatarin, but I really wanted to write a complete work. A full-length screenplay is a pretty good goal. I figure if I can complete 10 pages/month, that would be 120 pages. Not bad…if you knew where your story was going.

The year wasn’t a complete waste though. While BPM was shelved, I managed to churn out a couple of short ones:

Repatched – A shout out to iPod donning b-boys/b-girls around the world. This was a concept I came up with during my time at Cogs, but revisited early last year. It came out much better than I would’ve thought and I would really love the opportunity to shoot that someday.

The Final Purification – A bold take on heaven, hell, and suicide. I’m very proud of this particular piece. I took some risks with this script, and it was tons of fun to write. It was originally written for the screen, but was converted to the stage for Stories High last October. I’m confident it’ll look pretty good on film, too. If I can shoot this, I think it would be a good calling card.

PDA (Private Display of Affliction) – Sissy love crap. I think this one could be fleshed out more, and I will probably get around to it at some point. Had to stop revising because the actors and directors needed the final draft already. You can see PDA next month at Bindlestiff. (excuse the plug, but I gotta) The Love Edition

So it’s back to BPM this year…at least until I get stuck, come up with a new concept, and finish that one while BPM turns into a three-year project.