Good Morning

Yesterday was a big day. It started with speaking to a large group of about eighty people, about a third of whom in turn spoke about me. They had very kind things to say. I've known some of them for ten years or more and they mentioned things that I had said to them many years ago and that had remained poignant to them. It was very touching. I had to dry my eyes several times.
I came home from that to find Christy and October in my dining room ready to work on our first on-camera scene of the year. We jumped into that and it was great fun. Christy played a Chechen woman. Her accent seemed very good to me and she really had fun with her broken English. We ruined quite a few takes with our laughter. I had written a brief outline of a scene based on an article in the NY Times. There was a line in the article that really spoke to me. I wrote it down and by the end of the week a scene grew around it. I like that it can be that simple. That if we pay attention to what grabs us, often something will grow out of it.
I've heard it described as seeing the blinks - where most people go round not seeing much in the first place coupled with a tendency to blink when nothing but ordinary life is happening. Artists see what happens in those blinks and render it for the rest of society.
Anyway it was a fun and challenging morning. It's difficult to improvise a scene and then turn around and cover it from the other side. We didn't have a scripty or time to watch playback. We relied on our memories and we'll soon see how good they are. Both actresses did good work and the vibe in the room was awesome. One of the things I'm trying to work on is developing my instincts. I turn on the camera and say, Ok. They start talking to each other. I watch until I'm not interested and say, Ok or Cut. I give them some quick notes and we go again. It almost seems too simple. Like, shouldn't I be doing more? I guess I've been doing this for a long time and the ease is the fruit of my past labors. I've never really stuck with something long enough to experience this sort of, dare I say, mastery. When I say mastery, I don't mean the all-time great filmmakers as much as say a master carpenter -- someone that does a specialized job well. I think I'll stick with skilled journeyman for now.
After being praised and then working for a brisk three hours behind the camera, I was knackered. A nap just made me feel jelly-brained. We went to a cocktail party and to a late supper. No movie.
I'm really tired of Fox Tower and Regal Cinemas. By the time prints get to Portland they're pretty tired anyway so it's kind of a misnomer to call Regal first-run theaters. The bulbs in the projectors at Laurelhurst and McMenamin's are pretty weak but they're cozier and they don't ask you a bunch of promotional questions when you buy tickets or popcorn. They had this sign at the Fox Tower concession counter that urged customers to see a manager if the employees didn't offer a certain promotion. I told them that I was going to steal the sign and throw it in the trash. Their eyes got smiley but they didn't dare say a word. I was like, Okay guys look the other way. They did and I took the sign and trashed it. It hasn't returned. Lately there's been a truly awful video of Three Doors Down singing some rock ballad about the National Guard during the First Look. It's painful. I remember back in the day going to see Patti Ricks at the Fifth Avenue up by PSU. There was a Pontiac commercial played before the previews and everybody booed and hissed. Twenty years later we sit and take it. If I'm by myself I just put my headphones on and listen to music. But even then I feel a little polluted. So it's kind of a resolution for me to avoid Regal Cinemas from now on. If I go I want it to be a sneaky double-feature or some other subversive act. I always try to time it so I ask a question when they're about to ask me if I have a Regal card. It's often successful and I feel like a Jedi for a brief moment.
I checked into the Regal Card thing. For a guy that goes to the movies as much as I do, I would get a free movie every six months or so. I don't want another piece of plastic in my wallet and some corporation tracking my movie viewing and concession habits in exchange for $18/year.
At the Laurelhurst theater, they run local ads before the films. They're stills that are very lo-fi in design. They even throw up some random photographs and paintings. Last time I was there they were playing Elliot Smith very quietly over the sound system. And it's three bucks and walking distance from my house. Cinemagic, Clinton Street and The Bagdad are cheap and walkable as well. So long Regal!
We all got tickets to Sing-along Grease at Cinema 21 in our stockings. We're off to do that in a couple of hours. Should be fun fun fun.

A big pizza pie,
signore direttore