I am in Dallas tonight, pick Nils up at DFW tomorrow, and we drive the three hours to Shreveport. Bob, Darren, Jeff and the rest of the other crew is already there. Sean arrives Monday, and the actors get in July 7th for two weeks of rehearsal before we start the cameras rolling on July 21st.
We have a ton of shit to do before we start actually filming--extras and local casting, locations, set design, art directing, costuming--I could go on for hours about what all needs to get done. Well, actually, I can only barely describe it, because I have never made a movie and everything I know about the actual mechanics of pre-production I know from what I hear, been told or have read. Which is why we have excellent and experienced people who do know how to do those things. And I guess this is why movies are a collaborative art.
I have a ton of posts to write over the coming weeks, including a detailed introduction of each of the actors, and a lot of other things I think people will enjoy. And we are going to start introducing a new aspect to the production blog: Video.
A lot of video of almost all aspects of the production. Interviews, job descriptions, candid shots, all kinds of stuff. Up to this point, you guys have only seen this movie develop through the words of Nils and I. But starting in a week or two, you guys are going to start seeing the movie develop through not just our words, but through pictures and video of us and everyone else involved (and the words, because at least one of the actors is going to start writing entries on the blog. He already went over what he wants his first piece to be, and well...let's just say if it goes the way he wants it to, I am sure all of you will love it but it may send me over the edge).
All of this stuff will be behind the scenes, type stuff. Nothing we show will give away the plot of the movie, or the jokes, or the characters, or anything beyond the basic slugline that is already on IMDB. There is nothing I hate more than not be able to go into a movie fresh because all the funny jokes are in the trailer, or the behind the scenes material show scenes from the movie. Though I want to include the fans and the curious as much as possible on this site, I am going to do everything I can to make sure everyone--even the people who have read this blog from day one--can go into this movie completely fresh. You may know everything about how, where, when and what it took the make the movie, but you won't know anything about what is actually in the movie until you see it.
A lot of comedies don't do this--they put all the funny jokes in the trailer, or they release a ton of "virals" from the movie, or something like that. But they do that for a specific reason: The movie sucks, and they have to find a way to trick people to go to the theater and see it.
I am not going to do that, for two reasons. First off, I don't want to ruin any part of the theater viewing experience. I think the script is great and people are going to flip over this movie, and I think going in fresh will give them the best experience. Even though this isn't a plot based or twist-ending movie (e.g. The Sixth Sense or The Usual Suspects), there are enough things different about this movie that I don't want to give any of it away. Though this isn't true with all movies, with this one, the less people know about it before going in, I think the more they will enjoy it.
Second, I don't want to fool people or have anyone leave the theater thinking to themselves "I could have just watched the trailer and not needed to sit through that." Don't get me wrong--there are so many awesome jokes in this movie I am betting a good percentage of people will see the movie multiple times to get them all. And of course the trailer will have a few funny scenes in it. But I don't want anyone who has read this blog and followed the development of the movie to feel cheated or like they already knew what was coming.
Anyway, I get to Shreveport tomorrow, video starts coming in a few weeks, and we start shooting in less than six weeks. If I didn't realize it before, I know it now: This is real.
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