Since the inception of "Our Story" this February and when pre-production started in April, I have had very little time to write anything, save for the production diary. That is indeed what I am claiming to have written tonight, but even it has fallen by the wayside as my muse is crushed under the weight of this behemoth. A wave of coursework doesn't help either, nor does a sense of responsibility.
Ironically, I have not had much time to edit my baby, either. Currently I have around nine total minutes of the film cut together. One two minute-or-so sequence will need to be recut due to the reshooting of some of its scenes. However, it is a comfort to me that the current cut has gotten a stellar reception so far, and not necessarily just from Zaque and Daniel; we have had people outside the project watch several scenes, and the response has been very warm. I am always reluctant to judge my own material, but I believe in this case I can safely say that "Our Story" is going to be very good.
I think I am going to make a return to prose after "Our Story" is completed, and begin work on a novel I have been stewing over in my head for about as long as this movie. I'm considering rewriting "Too Human," but that is far in the future and will play second fiddle to the novel, I hope. Prose is my first love, and our reunion should give me a better perspective on different kinds of writing. It's also very different in tone from "Our Story," which explores most of the same themes as nearly everything I've produced over the past two years as a writer.
So I suppose now, seeing as how this ride is finally slowing down*, is a good time for reflection.
It says something about the quality of our planning that exactly one mistake was made in the filming of "Our Story," and that it will not show in the final product. The footage we have is completely faithful to the script. All the lines are in there, including a few extra. Every scene went generally as planned, with a decent amount of coverage in terms of cinematography. A couple sequences have proved a bit difficult to edit, particularly the finale, because of their dependence on music.
I know that sounds ridiculous, but you have to imagine my fear about "Our Story" after the Apocalypse Now-style shoot of "Stalin and Hitler." That film was the epitome of a grand vision that failed to be due to lack of foresight...much like my much-lamented "Too Human." Because of how near and dear "Our Story" is to my heart, it was a relief to see that it actually went well and was reasonably organized the entire time.
Know what's funny though? In some ways it didn't, and this will probably change the way I write forever.
I have discovered during the production of "Our Story" that everything changes once you're on set with a camera in your hand. When you see your words playing out before your eyes, a curious thing happens: change. This sounds odd seeing as how I said everything remained faithful to the script, which it did...but the spirit of the words changed. Footage was recorded from angles the storyboards did not dictate. And why?
The real question is, "Who cares why?"
In the future, when I write for the screen, I will learn to leave a bit more leniency in my script. No matter how much time you spend poring over your script, and your ideas, and letting them soak into your brain, you are never fully prepared and you will never be fully prepared. "Our Story" has taught me that you cannot have an exact or definitive vision, because exact and definitive visions never come out exact and definitive. The filmmaking process is a morphing, shifting animal that you attempt to tame as you go along.
The things we don't expect are usually the ones that make the biggest difference.
Making a difference,
-JD
*at least until marketing and promotion begin...
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