Made Crooked

The Little Movie That Could

2010-04-23T15:37:00.001-07:00

I swear this project is not dead in the water. I've prepaid an editor for its completion. As soon as we finish Dangerous Writing, I'm jumping over to Made Crooked and seeing it through to the end. I promise.

Loggers

2008-04-22T10:00:00.001-07:00

Duh. I grew up here but I totally forgot that's what we call them in Oregon. We don't say lumberjack.
Of course I realize this much after the fact. Logger Storytime doesn't quite roll off the tongue in the same way.

Some Light at the End of the Tunnel

2008-02-24T08:27:00.000-08:00

We shot the Brokeback Mountain stuff last week. We went up to Mt Hood and ended up shooting just down the road from the house. It went well. Kind of strange to be dressed as a cowboy all day, though out in East County nobody seemed to notice. It was also a bit strange to play off of the film now that Heath Ledger has died. But we don't reference the film in terms of character so it didn't feel so irreverent after we did our shots.
We're shooting a scene with Rose tomorrow; which will be her final scene, the final scene of the film as well as the last thing we are shooting for the entire film. It seems like we should have a wrap party, but with a third of our cast and crew of nine not living in Portland, it doesn't seem quite right.
While on the plane home from NY I had the idea of writing a song for the film. Since I've never written a song before I thought it would be one of those ideas that I would never get around to. However, I sat down last night and wrote it. I like it a lot. I may have Rose sing it. We'll see. I sent it to the composer last night.
Yes, we have a composer/music supervisor lined up for the film. His name is Mike Spicer. He's a very prolific musician and producer. If he can't do it, he knows the musicians in town that can. I know him from high school, where appropriately enough we became friends in a music class sophomore year. I later managed his band and he was one of the first people in my life to recognize and encourage me as and to be a storyteller. I hadn't seen him for twenty years, but we ran into each other and have reconnected in a profound way.
I got a notice from IFP, that's the Independent Feature Project, about their upcoming Rough Cut Lab. I had a screenplay selected for the IFP Market a few years ago, so I'm on their mailing list. I'm going to submit Made Crooked to the Lab. This year's Lab is being moderated by Scott Macaulay, independent producer and editor of Filmmaker Magazine. It's an opportunity to get some input on putting the final touches on the film as well as developing a festival and marketing strategy. It's also a chance to get an endorsement of sorts and to share the film with people outside of what's primarily been Jordan and me. The important thing for me isn't so much whether Made Crooked is selected but that it feels qualified for submission to such a thing.

Until Soon,
Neal

NYC Wrap

2008-02-11T14:57:00.000-08:00

Sitting in JFK waiting for our flight home. It's been a great trip. We finished with exteriors on a very cold and windy afternoon yesterday. It started snowing within fifteen minutes of wrap. I liked the things we found. Joey had a very strong reaction to the material that changed the tenor of the ending for the better. Helping him through his difficulty, especially the loss of time that it required was frightening. Rescheduling things stressed me out, but now that it's over I'm glad things worked out exactly as they did.
We're close to finishing Made Crooked. I'm very excited to present it to the world. We've been talking about how different the movie is from almost anything we've ever seen. And how it almost matter whether people like it or not, because it will be such a different movie viewing experience.
With this film, it seems that every time I start to feel good about it, something comes up. I don't know whether to shut up or just accept the peaks and valleys. I kind of doubt that I'll shut up.

Two Down

2007-12-29T12:47:00.000-08:00

Well we've shot two of the scenes that I'm hoping will frame the original footage. David was first. We got some good stuff of him while doing pilates. We shot Tara at Reed just yesterday. Alex Cassidy played Tara's boyfriend two years down the road looking back.
I love working in the quasi-improvisational way that we've done this film. I know what I want them to say and have it all written down but in feeding it to them verbally it seems to free up wonderful errors, the actors' impressions and some unexpected moments that are the heart and soul of the film.
We're going to NY in February to shoot Joey's looking back interview and the video he surreptitiously watches on his laptop.
I feel some clarity toward Made Crooked right now. I was really inspired by Vincent Caldoni's Cathedral Park. He stuck with the film in spite of its obvious problems and made the best of them. In the end the film has a heart that transcends his level of technical experience and the limits of a $10,000 budget. I've always felt Made Crooked has a lot of heart and I'm glad to find ways to let it continue to thump.

December 2007 Update

2007-12-10T17:28:00.000-08:00

Spent the afternoon working with Jordan on two of our many unfinished projects. I feel very positive and energized. I don't always feel like that in post-production, but I sure will take it when I can get it.
We reviewed Made Crooked for the first time in a couple of months. Rather than feel lazy about it, I think it's actually healthy for it to sit for awhile. I am undergoing a process of acceptance. It doesn't stink, in fact parts of it are quite good, but there are bits that just don't work. The challenge has been to find a way to get the good parts out into the world. I had a strong idea awhile back in the Fall but accomplishing it was going to beyond our resources. I recently had another idea that I think will work. I noted the areas of the film that needed help again today and wrote lines for the actors or in some cases questions to prompt their own responses. I'm hoping to shoot those additional scenes while David and Tara are in town over the holidays. And if my idea works I'll go back to New York to see Joey to shoot his scenes.

Made Crooked Update

2007-08-14T18:09:00.000-07:00

Out of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing was ever made.

Immanuel Kant

We're still plugging away at this little film. We decided it's worthy of venturing out into the world, maybe premiering early next year.

Thanks,
nc

Bank Robbery

2007-05-23T07:14:00.001-07:00

On second thought ...

2007-05-23T07:09:00.000-07:00

We haven't given up. Been toiling away on cutting Made Crooked. Looks like it may be a film after all.
Stay tuned.

Resignation

2006-11-10T09:49:00.000-08:00

On 11/9/06 9:07 PM, "neal@nealacorl.com" wrote:

> I have some news regarding our work together. The time has come for me to
> let you know that the experiment did not yield the results that I, and I'm
> sure all of us, hoped for.
> We have a record of some very fine and interesting work by all, but we do
> not in my estimation have the necessary elements to make a feature film.
> No one is at fault, nor should anyone feel that we failed. We tried to do
> something extremely difficult to accomplish under the best of
> circumstances.
> I learned a tremendous amount from the experience and wish to thank you
> all for your contributions.
> We are in the process of cutting all of the scenes together in story order
> to put on DVDs for everyone. We will make every effort to include the
> best performances and camera work, but we will not force anything. There
> will be gaps in the story and inconsistencies in the photography. I look
> forward to seeing the story laid out. As I look forward to having a
> record of our work. I think there will be bits that you will be proud of
> and that you could use on a reel. There's certainly a lot of great stuff.
> Soon you will have a copy of your own to judge for yourselves.
> Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments.
>
> With Respectful Gratitude,
>
> neal

I appreciate receiving the following responses from some of the people with whom I had the privilege of sharing this experience:

hey neal,
it was truly a pioneering project, with rewards that i feel aren't bound to
a conventional end product. i heartily believe it's all about the journey.
thanks for letting me come along.

::: ::: :::

Neal,

You pursued MADE CROOKED with tremendous heart, and now you're
letting it go with both tremendous courage and focus on the important
things. Good on you.

Our "Acting Retreat" will remain a turning point for me in my
artistic life. Thank you for that.

Fondly, and gratefully,

::: ::: :::

That blows. Understandable though. Thanks for the heads up. Had a great time and as always learned a bunch.

::: ::: :::

White Flag

2006-11-04T20:01:00.000-08:00

I'm sick to my stomach. I've been trying to cut some of the opening scenes of the film together. The performances are pretty good -- powerful emotion with some funny bits, too. Problem is that the two cameras are shooting incompatible stuff. By the time we shot these scenes I was exhausted and as such I let the cameras work on their own. They were tired as well. Understandably so.
Angles, energy, composition, continuity -- none of this matches between cameras. I don't see a way in to tell the stories. In the three scenes at the grill that happen continuously the camera changes every time. The biggest problem is the mismatch of energies. I can't move from a static shot to a shot that's jumping all over the place.
I'm considering putting together an assembly of the entire film regardless of these issues. Just lay it all out there as a record of the work we did. Put it on DVDs for everyone and make a decision about whether or not to pursue this experiment any further at a later date.
Right now I just want to vomit and go to bed.

nc

Pink Slips

2006-10-18T10:01:00.000-07:00

Just after we shot the bulk of Made Crooked, I created a board of index cards representing each of the film's scenes. Quite a number were covered with pink post-it notes indicating they were to be shot. After the past two weekends, we have but three pink slips remaining: Joey getting hit in the eye with a birdie, the Brokeback sequence and Joey's NYC Here We Cum video.
Peter Bauer has been busy with Urban Scout, but found the time to take me to lunch yesterday to catch up with Made Crooked. He was surprised to hear we had already shot the bank robbers sequence.
We flirted briefly with aligning a deadline for our editing with a film fest deadline. I rejected this as I want to maintain my loose and forgiving attitude toward this project. So far this has been a very valuable exercise for most if not all involved and I want to preserve that spirit. If an entertaining and provocative film emerges from our efforts, it will be a welcome bonus, though overall I am determined to avoid expectations.
I just want to continue to have fun with it.

nc

Joey's Fantasy Jog

2006-10-11T11:37:00.001-07:00

Joey's Fantasy Jog
Originally uploaded by Signore Direttore.

Made Crooked Bridge

2006-10-11T11:37:00.000-07:00

Made Crooked Bridge
Originally uploaded by Signore Direttore.

Travis Incognito

2006-10-11T11:36:00.001-07:00

Travis Incognito
Originally uploaded by Signore Direttore.

Made Crooked Goof Offs

2006-10-11T11:36:00.000-07:00

Made Crooked Goof Offs
Originally uploaded by Signore Direttore.

Breakfast Club

2006-09-29T10:23:00.000-07:00

Watched all the tapes from the breakfast scene last night. Relentless coverage. Two plus hours of nearly coninuous shooting. Very interesting to see where actors connected to something, where they forgot about the camera and where they 'acted'. All of which has a time and a place that's appropriate.
I liked the bits where the actors tried to tell what little of the story that they were aware of, especially when I wasn't in the room. There was a scene with Tara telling Rose about something that happened the night before. Tara was clearly playing along as her character. With special emphasis on playing. She wasn't acting or turning something on, but simply having fun with the circumstances of the story that had unfolded so far. Everybody did this, very impressively most of the time.
What's really cool about this type of working is that the actors would venture into telling the story very realistically. For instance, Tara was having trouble working the microwave to which Rose resonded something about 'if your father would update the kitchen ...' and she let it trail off because it wasn't something she or Tara was responding to. In effect, she was throwing the line away. An excellent skill that is very difficult to master that came out of Rose's connection to the moment-to-moment work in the scene. She was really in it - connected to her lack of connection rather than forcing a connection to the text.
Likewise with David and Joey who were both having a blast navigating the relationships and situations. Which is what people do in life - we tell our stories continuously in minor and major keys in order to discover who we are. People that tell you who they are effortlessly are bombastic, static blowhards. So to see David try to find out who the visitors are and likewise himself in the face of their presence rang very true. David the actor was struggling to find, shape and hold onto his character much as David the character was doing the same. The bulk of his reactions, affectations and mannerisms read as if they're of a human trying to play the part of a man, father and fiance rather than an actor trying to create a character.
It was fun to watch him unravel. He tries to hold his own with the hikers and get some breakfast. Finally after an hour of total domestic chaos, he breaks down and screams for some cereal.
This wasn't scripted or by design. Had Rose, Joey and Tara been able to come up with something better than coffee, two tiny bowls of instant oatmeal and a few slices of toast in an hour, the scene would have taken a different course. A course that we would have made serve the story. But as it was, there was this huge, well-equipped kitchen and three people in charge of cleaning it and preparing breakfast. For whatever reason they couldn't get it to together. I don't know if they were being lazy, waiting for direction, confused or if they were either totally incompetent or acting as if. I don't want to know, nor do I think anybody has a clear and truthful answer. It doesn't matter, it was perfect.
We'll probably cut that scene later on in the edit. There's so much raw material there that we can make the scene support any other ideas or limitations of surrounding scenes.

nc

Indian Summer

2006-09-28T14:58:00.000-07:00

Man, this weather is perfect for shooting our final scenes. But we aren't. Schedules are not meshing. Time to get motivated again.
I have an idea for the bank manager character in the bank robery scene that should be fun.
We are continuing to prepare the film for cutting. And we have begun the task of compositing the green screen scenes which look like they'll be as good or better than expected.

More later,
nc

Tapes, Tapes, Tapes

2006-09-03T09:21:00.000-07:00

Jordan and I have begun the process of digesting the footage from Made Crooked in script order. We've been bringing it into the system since a short time after wrapping principal, but I needed to step back from it and watch tapes without thoughts of cutting. Especially with this style of filmmaking - the strange hybrid of intentional, improviastional and documentary.
Personally, I like to let footage sit as long as possible before looking at it. It helps reduce my expectations of my original mental picture of what the film will look like. More often than not a director has to let go of his or her vision and adapt to what was captured. It is especially true in the case of Made Crooked as we are commited to not reshoot anything. We can't afford to open that can of worms for financial reasons primarily, but it also defies the spirit of the attempt to accept whatever happened as valid. This has been as much an exercise of trust and letting go as a filmmaking endeavor for me and, hopefully, the others involved.
Often when watching the tape I will start to express frustration at a camera angle or an actor's behavior. I quickly calm down and look at the possibilities, often finding that what is there works on a level more profound than my immediate expectation of meeting convention. Yet another case of only through limitation can there be creativity.
An example of this is that I would have a very specific idea of the scene in my head and in the script. But I didn't show the script to anyone aside from Jordan. I would then be in the scene as an actor. In the hot tub scene I have my back to the cameras, have made a choice to remain in one place and have communicated the blocking in such a way as to acheive a rough outline of what I wanted but left much up to chance. To compound the randomness, I assigned one camera to another part of the house. In my mind, that other camera would capture interaction of the family as they came and went outside to the hot tub. What we got was a lot of empty kitchen with the occasional passing through of a single family member. Watching it I had to suppress thoughts that I wanted it to be more chaotic and random. By dismissing that futile wish, I immediately saw the chaos of the separation of the family via its intense isolation. Their coming and goings were very random, which will be easily underscored by the intercutting of the exterior hot tub scene.
I discovered something else last night that has been pestering me for awhile. When David is in pajamas he wears glasses. The first night that the hikers stay, David searches the house for his children and fiance at bedtime. It turns out that he is alone in the house and that his family has gone outside with the strangers. He stands at a window and watches one with the kids. Then he goes to another window and sees the other with Rose. I was very drawn to this image before we did it, but even more so once seeing David through the camera. It had to do with his face and his glasses.
I also had this expectation of David to be more ruthless and tenacious. I didn't direct David in that vein, but I mentioned my surprise to him a few times. In the end I think the way he crumbles yet struggles to put a face on his fall from grace is wonderful. Still I had this more sinister impression nagging at me. Until last night when I realized that David reminds me both physically and thematically of Burt Lancaster in Sweet Smell of Success, one of my favorite films. J.J. Hunsaker wears horn-rimmed glasses and he's always sternly observing and finally spying on his sister, with whom he has a twisted protector relationship.
It really comes as a relief, as I'm finally able to throw off the subconscious association that has been been a hiccup in appreciating David's choices.
It's a very strange sensation to watch scenes from without that I experienced so intimately from within. It will be interesting to see how this affects the edit - whether things I felt within the scene but that didn't end up on camera will play. If the absence of something can thereby be communicated if given the space but not necessarily the specific image.
More will be revealed.

nc

Lumberjack Fantasy Sequence

2006-08-22T14:49:00.000-07:00

The idea going into Made Crooked was to maximize production values wherever possible. I knew that shooting seventy scenes in three days was not going to be easy let alone pretty. Rather than traditional coverage, which is extremely time consuming and difficult for actors without a lot of experience, we opted for a handheld scheme for key broad dialogue scenes wherein the speaker was on-camera and a second camera picked off reactions, spoken or otherwise. For the shorter scenes we locked the cameras off and took more time with the mise-en-scene. I knew that this would still be insufficient. Basically it would be a bunch of people talking. Which can be great, but often isn't anything more than the writer, director and actors fallling in love with the words on the page and ignoring what's under them.
That's where the idea to tell some stories within the story that could be shot at a later date came into play. It would give us an opportunity to get out of the cabin and still maintain unity of place.
The Lumberjack sequence is Tara's way of expressing her longing for men that are strong and gentle, rather than coercive and weak like the men in her family. She concocts a story of a menage a trois and a fight to the death over her. I knew we wouldn't have time to do this over the weekend and even if we did, I wanted Tara to know that we were making a film, remembering that the actors came to the cabin under the pretense of an actor's retreat, and that I wasn't sliming all over her just for kicks.
To solve this problem, we could rent the cabin again at a later date, shoot the sequence in a similiar location or recreate it on a stage. I chose to recreate it on a stage, but rather than build the set we shot plates of each room of the cabin and then projected them onto set paper. Then we traced the foreground elements onto fome-core, cut them out and brought them closer to the camera. We then built a platform to serve as the bed or table or whatever. The light from the projector lit the actors.
I had the orgy scene from Clockwork Orange in mind as a model. Kubrick shot that at 2 frames per second. The scene took twenty-eight minutes to act out yet lasted only forty seconds on screen. They get totally naked, dressed again and naked again to the tune of The William Tell Overture. We too did ours to William Tell at 12 fps but remained fully dressed as vintage lumberjacks throughout as we mimed a playful and sometimes exlicit threesome.
We shot the intro to the scene on a green screen. Jordan, Efrem and I worked overnight Saturday to prepare both sets. I took off at 3:30 to grab a couple of hours of sleep while Jordan and Efrem tarried on until our 7am call time.
I stopped drinking coffee recently and planned on allowing myself a cup Sunday morning. I was so invigorated by the work we were doing that I didn't find it necessary.
I really admire the dedication and good spirits of everyone on this project, especially Jordan. Without his tireless dedication the project would not be possible.

Best,
nc

Lumberjack Melee

2006-08-21T17:57:00.000-07:00

Lumberjack Melee
Originally uploaded by Signore Direttore.

ESP Sitting In

2006-08-21T17:56:00.001-07:00

ESP Sitting In
Originally uploaded by Signore Direttore.

Travis the Lumberjack

2006-08-21T17:56:00.000-07:00

Travis the Lumberjack
Originally uploaded by Signore Direttore.

Behind the Camera

2006-08-21T17:54:00.000-07:00

Behind the Camera
Originally uploaded by Signore Direttore.

Urban Scout

2006-08-19T09:45:00.000-07:00

See Peter Bauer/Urban Scout, one of our producers, in all his post-apocalyptic glory in this week's Mercury.

http://www.portlandmercury.com/portland/Features?issue=51720

We Are What We Are

2006-08-04T09:11:00.000-07:00

One of the things I love about a film like Made Crooked is it spits in the eye of ambition. I also love the title because while I did not make this film in order to profit from it, I can not say I have been anywhere near pure in my actions and intentions in relation to the film and its makers.
I ask that we continue to consider the work of God, or whatever that term means to us. God is a process of being not becoming. Our egos lead us to wanting to not only know, but to control the results. We want to seek rewards. We want to become something else.
Alas we are what we are: made crooked.

Tara the Tiger

2006-07-29T12:37:00.000-07:00

Tara the Tiger
Originally uploaded by Signore Direttore.

Mirror Lake

2006-07-29T12:31:00.000-07:00

Mirror Lake
Originally uploaded by Signore Direttore.

Mirror Lake

2006-07-27T09:06:00.000-07:00

We went up to Mt. Hood yesterday to shoot a scene of the hike that Travis and I went on after breakfast. Joey tagged along much to the dismay of David. We shot our leaving and returning during principal photography.
The plan was always to shoot anything that didn't happen at Capstone Lodge at a later date. Yesterday was a perfect day. Climbing the 700' in 1.6 miles with packs loaded with gear on a hot afternoon wasn't easy, at least for me. But it was lovely, especially arriving at the lake. I'll post a photo later on.
Jordan was on his own with the camera. We recruited a young film student that I persisted in calling Sam all afternoon. His name is Charlie and he was a big help, handling sound, assisting Jordan and keeping track of our gear as we moved around the lake.
We kept the scenes very simple. My attitude towards this thing is pretty loose. I definitely know the story we're trying to tell, but I'm not holding onto the results too tightly.
I'm not sure if it's unwise to not be watching so much of it through the camera or monitor. Of course I'm in front of the camera a lot. But I don't watch playback. I don't want to risk rewinding the tape and it takes a lot of time. On this project I would rather trust.
Much of what will be revealed in the editing of Made Crooked will be just how keen my instincts are. It's scary to think they suck. And just as scary to think they might be pretty damn good.

nc

Green Screen

2006-07-25T09:30:00.000-07:00

It was hot this weekend. Triple digits. But we persevered.
The focus was on Tara smashing the badminton birdie in slow motion. I had Mike Mills's music video for Air in mind. We didn't acheive anything as poetic, but it was cheeky and fun.
Jordan did us all a huge favor by coming in the previous night to set up the green screen and pre-light it. He was bummed that he couldn't get it any closer than half a stop. Maybe that's why he drank the sixer of Red Stripe that I left for him. He said there was no water, but I think it was the shame of that background not being perfectly lit.
Tara did a great job. She was a "real tiger, baby." I was doing a ridiculous impression of a EuroTrash fashion/soft-porn photographer to keep things light. All that sort of stuff is so artificial: Arch your back, lean forward, lift your elbow, let your hair flow, move your arm in a mechanical motion, jump at the same time, smile ... Be a tiger!
Okie was there with his amazing camera. I love that thing. Slow mo with no dropped frames. Instant playback. Handles the chroma like it's 4:2:2. Oh, I love Dave for more than his camera -- so laid back while being Okie on the spot.
We did a lot of fun stuff with the birdie after Tara left. Can't wait to see it composited.
The pace at which we shoot the pickups is so different than being on set. We take our time. A half day to shoot 1/8 of a page. Decadence! Half day pre-light. Bacchanal!

Not Getting it Right

2006-07-11T12:08:00.000-07:00

It really takes some effort to get used to ignoring expectations. Looking at the footage from Made Crooked is a task of not looking too closely for what I preconceived or even what might be expected in a conventional sense.
I notice a tendency to want to get moving, to get my hands dirty, in most of my pursuits. (Patience, or lack thereof, is a persistent theme in my life.) Walter Murch speaks of his first time with the material when he takes notes of his impressions. He ignores technical issues of how it's going to cut together.
All projects benefit from this patience. This project, shot so unconventionally and on the fly, demands it. I suppose one of the lessons in this project is that to complete a film takes time. Perhaps we shot the bulk of it in three days but we'll make up for that fluidity in the editing phase. Maybe a future film might take longer to prep and shoot, but will come together more readily in the edit.
I've sat down a couple of times with Jordan looking at Made Crooked and kvetched that a scene wasn't shot the way I had asked or the focus was on the wrong element in the frame. I really need to sit down and watch the footage as Murch does. This is what we have to work with - we didn't make any mistakes. We did our best. Sometimes our best was superb and evident. Sometimes our best provides us with an opportunity to look at the film in new ways.
I recently saw a classical play that tells a compelling and relevent story about ambition and abuse of power. I know the theme only by knowing the text. What was presented on stage didn't tell me that story. I would have to think very hard what story I saw and heard the other night - certain sections and elements of the original came through - but overall I am not so sure. A benefit of the film medium is we recorded what the actors were doing and expressing and can abandon the script as necessary as we discover the story (ies) that we told.
I wanted to shoot some pickups at Mirror Lake on Mt Hood this weekend. Schedule conflicts prevent such an ambitious location, so we'll be doing it in Forest Park. Instead of relying on the beautiful scenery of my first choice, I asked myself how I wanted to juxtapose the goings-on back at the cabin. I found much more interesting choices and ideas of telling the story. Things I might have missed had the focus been on getting everyone up to the mountain this Sunday.
More evidence of not getting it right is that the sex scene that is to be intercut with the rest of the family hiking wasn't shot as we rehearsed. (Initially an irritating bummer as it was the only scene we rehearsed for the film.) Once I got past wanting it to be right/according to my expectations, I saw the opportunity to avoid a pretty throwaway hiking scene. Every scene in a film should count, so all these mistakes ultimately keep us honest.
I am so glad to not be getting it right.
Did I just say that?

nc

Feeling the Effects of the High

2006-07-03T10:30:00.000-07:00

There's a Mexican rock song from Caifanes called Aqui No Es Asi that has a line that translates roughly as, "You come from there and you don't know your destiny ... Invoking forces that you'll never understand."
It's been several weeks since the shoot. No accidents. Not the name of the film. Not the subject matter that poured from my sub-conscious. Whenever I heard that song, and I heard it a lot while living in Mexico, I interpreted it as an admonition to the gringos that came and mucked about without really knowing what they were doing. Or of the white folk that involve themselves in Native American spiritual rituals.
I feel like I messed with something I knew nothing about and am now faced with finding out how to deal with what has surfaced.

I am afraid to see what ends up on screen.
I am afraid to see what my life will look like.

nc

Big Ol' Angel

2006-07-03T10:25:00.000-07:00

Big Ol Angel
Originally uploaded by Signore Direttore.

Pickups

2006-06-16T20:18:00.000-07:00

Our first pickup has been scheduled for next Tuesday evening. We're grabbing an insert of Joey IM'ing his boyfriend. I've been thinking it might be funny for his thumb to fly over the keypad - but upon further thought it seems to me that that doesn't fit with the rest of the film. I'm not sure. There seems to be a hyper/sur-real quality to the film. Perhaps we'll shoot it both ways.

It was nice to sit with Peter and look at the board. It's the first I've thought of the film for awhile. I fondly recall its production, but I'm not anxious about its completion. Which feels right for now.

nc

Checking In

2006-05-27T09:10:00.000-07:00

There are eighty-two scenes in Made Crooked. We've logged and captured the first ten. I could jump in and start cutting anytime. I am taking the weekend off - going to Bend with my family to see Beck today and spending the remainder of the weekend in bed and going for quiet walks and meals.
I'm hoping to clear a few more nagging tasks off of my agenda before I sit down and get to work.
One of the things I'm trying to remind myself of is the idea that editing film is storytelling. Too often it is easy to look at editing as a technical issue. I get anxious to complete my previous ideas and work, rather than to continue the discovery process of making films. I'm pretty good at letting go of what I've written when directing. It's time to get some practice letting go of what I've directed in the edit suite.

I shaved my beard. Nice to feel my face again. It gives me an excuse not to rush into shooting our pickup scenes.

As I experience life after filming this one, it seems that my subconscious was at work on some crazy deep levels. I'm not getting too crazy in my assessments of it all, but it's there.

Considering,
nc

The Cutting

2006-05-20T07:54:00.000-07:00

And away we go. We took a couple of days off after last weekend to rest and give ourselves a little time to recover before looking at the footage. We invited Peter Bauer to sit in as we wanted him to have the opportunity to bail on his producer's duties if he thought the footage was garbage.
Because there were no slates or clappers, the cameras roll on and on, reframing and finding focus, much like a documentary. There is a lot of tape to watch, a good deal of it unwatchable. It's tempting to try to watch it all for usable moments. It's more like mining for gold. It requires a patient eye. Patience is a worthy exercise.
I got to tell you --There's GOLD in them thar tapes!
Peter loved what we showed him. He's on board to help us finish shooting our pickups and addtional scenes. It will be interesting to preserve our improvisational spirit with a more intentional approach.

Back to the footage for a moment - it looks like everyone is having fun, even when we're crying. Everyone appears to be in their bodies responding to what's happening. Things are happening, there's a story being told on various levels. Rose looks so beautiful in a couple of her scenes. Her physical beauty is clarified by the wonderful presence in her work. David looks relaxed and engaged in his struggles as David Wheeler. Joey is alive and allows himself to go for the ride of being Joey Wheeler- he turns his pain into a rebelious hilarity. Tara is present and responsive to the moment, bringing beauty and tenderness to the screen. Travis is quietly eager to listen and participate verbally, emotionally and physically. I don't know what to say about myself at this point other than I allowed myself to think I looked handsome at one point. I'm having fun, that's for sure.

The acting is quite visible at times - a certain tension waiting to listen or speak, hesitant physical actions. Not hack acting, but not great acting either. I think it works. I find it charming. We're actors. Not great actors, but not bad actors. We each have our moments where we're lifted up to our characters. When we're tentative about it, that's honest, too.

More Fassbinder than Cassavetes. I don't want to say one is better than the other, but I will say this -- I love making movies and in terms of sheer volume Fassbinder is the clear winner. He died at 38 yet made over 40 films in the fifteen years before his death. Some were fast and dirty, more than one is a masterpiece.

We didn't make a masterpiece. But we made a film. In a weekend. We told a story with our bodies, minds and hearts. And that's pretty fucking cool.

Believe,
nc

Credits

2006-05-17T11:59:00.000-07:00

Rose Stuart - Rose Sherman
David Millstone - David Wheeler
Joey Boyd - Joey Wheeler
Tara Piccolo - Tara Wheeler
Neal A. Corl - Neal
Travis Huntington - Travis

Jordan Karr-Morse - Director of Photography
David McMurry - Okie Cam
Efrem Peter - Light and Sound
Travis Huntington - Director's Assistant

Peter Bauer - Assitant Producer
Eric Gorski - Visual Effects and Production Assistant
Neil Kopp - Executive Producer

Neal A. Corl - Writer, Director, Producer, Production Designer

Special Thanks
Nicola Corl
Heath Lourwood
Greg P Schmitt
Joel Stirnkorb
Gearhead Grip + Electric
Pacific Grip & Lighting
DTC Grip & Electric

This list and my gratitude will grow as we move into post

Principal Photography Wrapped

2006-05-16T17:24:00.000-07:00

My plan worked. Three days of shooting resulted in the better part of a feature film.
More later.
I'm tired.

nc

Countdown to Crooked

2006-05-11T06:58:00.000-07:00

Been busy prepping this thing. Schedule, shot list, shot design, rewrites, crewing.
It's an odd hybrid of intentional filmmaking, improvisational ensemble work and documentary. It hasn't been easy letting those invovled to understand it is not a free-for-all yet can not be entirely plotted, composed and planned. I certainly want to go about it with a very loose approach, yet I know that without limitations and structure it will be a mess. Creating that structure is the task at hand as we go into the weekend. It's a fine line of control and expectations.
I've had some hard lessons this week. Heath and I had a confrontation regarding exactly that issue of planning. The clash was ugly, but we've recovered and decided mutually that this project was no longer something he wanted to pursue. He is a very good actor and would have brought a lot to the screen. A great replacement returned to town and contacted me within an hour of the unfortunate spat with Heath. Travis is not the actor that Heath is, but he is a goofy bastard that brings an element of raw unpredictability. Certainly, a very different energy. Another benefit of Travis is his experience behind the camera and his willingness to be hands-on with gear and other production needs.
Peter Bauer and Eric Gorski are prepping the 100 tapes and the script/schedule. My approach to sides and the script is innovative and not something I have ever heard of anybody trying before. Sort of a mini cue card system. The actors are not going to get a script. Rather I am cutting the script up scene by scene and handing little peices of dialogue to the actors as we go.
What else?
Nicola is doing the grocery shopping.
I am going to try to get some rest for a bit later today. Ha!

nc

Jitters

2006-05-07T22:37:00.000-07:00

Rolling into the final week of preparation for the film. I can't do all that needs to be done. There's only one way to make this thing work -- let it go. By design it has to be what it is. Freaking out is not going to help.
It is really fucking hard to embrace the unknown.
Super tough to let the work inform.
I finished writing David's brokeback Mountain rip-off story. I added a brutal racist coda.
Being in one place and not having to get everyone on a schedule is very supportive and requires less work than the usual production.
I have to work out wardrobe and trust that people will come up with something workable. I'm sure they're all going to wear clothes.
I am letting go of much of the cutaway stuff from the stories within the story - so many costume changes for Heath and I.
We'll have to go up to the lodge and steal exteriors, rent it again or come up with some crafty compositing. Who knows.
Jordan and I have some fun ideas for that stuff.
Should be interesting.

I have to buy 75 tapes for principal photography.
75 hours of footage is a Tetrabyte of Hard Drive memory.

That's three solid days of footage to sort through, log, capture and select.
Going to have to get into FCP multicam.

nc

Email from David

2006-05-06T08:38:00.000-07:00

> I'm jealous of my wealth, which is enormous. I'd sooner give you
> $1,000 than loan you $100. I'm letting Rose hang around because I
> don't want her to get a chunk of my fortune, though she costs me to
> keep, in the style to which she has no doubt become accustomed. I'm
> worried about my son's future though I haven't done anything to
> direct it. I'm liberal, but wish he were not gay. My daughter
> puzzles me, but she charms me, too. I see her put on of a Brooklyn
> dialect as a means of cutting out her own space in the world,
> something my son may be trying to do by being gay, but in him, this
> irritates me.
>
> Good.
>
> I'm having trouble with the relationship of my jealousy of my wealth
> to keeping Rose around--it just seems so much cheaper to toss her off
> with a couple million bucks, if I'm worth so much.
PRIVATE INFO EDITED
>
> Okay. Intellectually, I get that this may not be how other people
> frame it. I have a family history which puts liberal values and
> personal generosity at the center of an ethos of helping others and
> making the world better. PRIVATE INFO EDITED
>
> My grandfather could never understand WASPish parsimony or greed.
> The corporate scandals of the last five years disgust him (hmm--this
> is useful, actually.)
>
> Okay.
>
> Expose myself rather than hide in 'getting it right.'
>
> So.
>
> When would I have rather cut my own arm off rather than give my
> rightful inheritance to an interloper?
>
EDITED
>
> Why?
>
> Something is coming in on me as I type.... Strong feeling, but no
> images yet. I'll try to stay with it.
>
> About this being "your movie:" I'm still stuck in wanting to get it
> right. I feel the urge to close down. Grrrrr. I'll try to stick
> with the fear rather than evade it, expose myself.
>
> David!

MY RESPONSE:

David

I like what you're thinking. Now let the bits about Joey and Tara go.
Relate to them as your classmates. I know many parents of teenagers
that feel as if they don't know them. Let go of your ideal that you would
be a different parent. Indulge your selfishness. Let yourself be charmed by Tara but seduced by her physical attractiveness as well. Look at her, check her out. What has your baby girl become?
Allow yourself to not relate to them. To scoff, quietly and openly, at
their immaturity and lack of life experience.

One feature of this retreat is to let go of too much intellectual
preparation By limiting the info given to actors as well as limiting the
time in which to get it right.
What can you reveal about yourself in this role?
That you wouldn't want your son to be gay?
Not my first choice.
That a nineteen year old girl turns you on?
Tara is sexy.
That you want to punish opportunism?
Goddamn, entitled users!
That you're afraid of yourself?
I sure am.

Thank you for letting me know your conflict with parsimonious waspish ways.
I'm going to give you an adjustment. None of your wealth is liquid.
You've blown all of your liquid assets on wild e(go)ose chases. (a big
stretch, i know)
You may never have to work a day in your life, but you can't do what you
want with your money.
College will be paid. Your kids have their own separate trusts and are
not relying on your inheritance. Credit card bills from your fiance's
shopping sprees will be paid. None of your property is in your name.
Cash withdrawals are limited.

Think of the pre-nup as protecting you from looking foolish rather than
from giving any money to Rose. Without it she would realize that you have
little as soon as you married. That might prompt her exit. However the pre-nup
may be a gambit to keep your status in her eyes. She may not agree to not get anything, but she'll live the life without knowing there was nothing to get in the first place. It's risky. That's precisely why you haven't presented it to her yet.

Let's keep it simple. How about this: Stay away from Rose. Ignore her.
Let her take care of house cleaning and cooking. Evade any questions of
setting a wedding date. Assume she's fucking around, as you are. Fucking
your house guests right under your nose is another story, of course.

Thanks again for your work on this,
nc

All In

2006-05-03T23:19:00.000-07:00

So we set up a place, lit it, mic'ed it and got down to it tonight. Everyone is really excited.
I asked Jordan how the performances looked. There were none, he said. Just people talking and interacting. Aha.
That's what the director ordered. Except I didn't order it. I allowed it. Brings meditation to mind.
Setting up a structure in which to explore, moment to moment.
I have the suspicion that I am on to something profound beyond getting a film out of this.
I'm really learning something about letting go. Since I'm not so good at letting go of the reins, it actually requires more energy than taking hold of them. I suspect that will change with continued practice. Makes sense why I'm resistant to letting go however -- it doesn't come easy.

We missed Rose tonight.

Tara made it and I was happy to see the energy she brought to the group.

Neal

Group Rehearsal

2006-05-03T06:50:00.000-07:00

Tonight we all meet under the same roof to tell stories and let the cameras roll.
I think we'll start by going round and stating our expectations of the weekend. Interupting with amens and ahems as the impulses come. I would like to see one camera on the speaker and the other catching reactions. With both cameras reframing as we go. Sound wise, I want to hear the overlaps. At least in our test tonight. I love the sound in McCabe and Mrs Miller.
After we've gotten our expectations aired, I would like to go round and read from fairy tales. I'll ask them to put it into their own words. I am going to make up cards with a line of dialogue on each to offer to someone to interupt the speaker with that line and see how that plays out.
I'll also be working on Heath's and my presence. How I will direct from within the circle/scene.

Discovery.
I want Jordan to post something here. I'll put a little urging on him today.

nc

Tara

2006-05-03T06:40:00.000-07:00

Tara is one of the actors going on the retreat. She missed class a week ago. When I saw her last night, I was reminded as to how little I know her. She's a bit of wild card for me regarding the weekend.
I like the work she does and I like her enthusiasm. She seems to have a chip on her shoulder under her pleasant demeanor.
I'm confused by her devotion to her job as I am with any actor that stays with a service industry job that offers little schedule flexibility.
Scheduling is one of my biggest frustrations with actors. So often I have offered actors the chance to work only to be met with a lot scheduling conflicts. Because I am all too willing to put making films or theater ahead of everything, I find it confusing to say the least.
My task is to give last night's interaction with Tara some thought in relation to the circumstances I have in mind for her (character).
Getting to know Rose was very helpful. I will try to make a similiar effort with Tara.

viva,
nc

Flash

2006-04-30T23:06:00.000-07:00

I met with Drew Anderson http://plastichut.com tonight about doing the animation sequence that reveals some of Joey's secrets in Made Crooked.
Whenever I tell someone about the attempt to shoot a good bit of a feature film in a weekend, people are both sceptical and willing to help. In those moments I want to assure them that it will be good. I refrain as best I can manage, for expectations are the death of creativity. That's my theory in not telling the actors what I'm up to. Saying we're doing a bunch of exercises and it doesn't matter how they turn out is much different than saying we're trying to make a feature film in a weekend, but it doesn't matter if it works. People have too much invested in the results that way.

neal

Up Until Now

2006-04-29T17:29:00.000-07:00

Huge sigh of relief. Nobody is going to read this until after the fact as I'm not going to tell anybody about this blog. I've been containing this secret for weeks now about an upcoming project. As it is very exciting, keeping an online record of it seems important.
We're making a film that four of the six actors don't know is being filmed. Hence the title taken from the quote previosly posted
I'm not a Bible toter or quoter, but this is really resonating with me. Very cool to think none of us are broken but crooked. And that we can't fix ourselves. Maybe becuase we don't need to be fixed as much as straightened out a bit.

A month or so back I decided to put on an acting retreat through the acting studio of which I am owner and coach. At first it was going to be a getaway to do some intensive work as well as an opportunity for the actor-students to bond a bit. Only five students signed up. Odd number, so I knew I would be doing a scene. I thought I would assign scenes from an existing film that we would rehearse and shoot over the weekend. I invited a cinematographer that I had just met to come along. The Anniversary Party came to mind. I was about halfway through that script when I had the thought it would be amazing to come up with a story that could be contained by the actual events of the weekend. Seemed very ambitious, so I didn't give it much thought.
At least that was the plan. It went to work on me and within a day or two I had the crude beginnings of a story. I was excited, but a little scared to sit down and start writing. I thought perhaps I was giddy and drunk on the idea and that nothing would end up on the page. I did it anyway.
There was a story. Not a great story, but it was fun. I have seen a number of digital features recently that were medicre at best, yet they were generously received. It occured to me as I raked them over the coals critically that while I might have been 100% correct in my negative assessments, I wasn't having any fun. I decided to let myself off the hook and be as bad or worse as these other hacks.
Initaially I came up with some sort of two couples in the woods and some bank robbers looking for a hideout in the woods take them hostage. All sorts of deviance was pondered. That idea didn't last long. I was watching Six Feet Under one night. It was the David abduction episode. it made me sick. I yearned for a return to plain old character development. I got to thinking. Maybe the visitors were angels that came to help a crooked family get straight.
I wrote a treatment and an annotated outline. I got a second cameraman excited about the project. I decided to tell the strongest actor of the lot and to make him my on-screen ally as well.
I'll bring this up to date with some additional posts very soon.
I'm also going to invite Jordan, the Director of Photography to post.

Neal

Made Crooked

2006-04-29T17:05:00.000-07:00

Consider the work of God;
who can make straight what he has made crooked?

Ecclesiastes 7:13 (RSV)