The quiet before the storm

It's Monique here, live from Scottsdale.

I went home this weekend for the annual check up (that had to get rescheduled due to the New Mexico trip) and to visit my mom. The weekend was pretty nice. I had some mild shenanigans. I hung with my brother and his girlfriend... it was a night of licks and flicks, my favorite combination. I had some well needed alone time. And, I did a bunch of errands that I've been putting off. I even managed to be mildly productive, as I spent a good chunk of time prepping for the epic casting call we are holding this weekend.

I think that's what I really need right now... my actors. I have a location locked, and am a bit surprised and nervous at how easy it was to lock a model studio for a few days. I have one more location that needs tending to, and then I'll be set. Once I have my locations, dressing is easy enough to deal with... but the actors, that's the wild card. 

In my flick, the performance is really the make or break of the whole piece. To a degree, performance always is, but it is especially so in my case. Perhaps my nerves about performance are a combination of the strange relationship that my characters have and the fact that the rest of my crew is super competent; I'm not even stressed about those details (which is terribly nice in a way, nerve wracking in another).

I think that's enough "wild mind" for today.

Lovesies,

Mo

Currently watching: "I Love You, Man" 

Lazy Day

As I sit enjoying one of the last lazy weekends I'll be able to have for some time I am struck by how calm I feel. My day has been an interesting mix of productive and useless. I ran some errands, did the dishes, worked on my script, wrote my character descriptions and some logline attempts, and have also watched an absurd amount of television. 

When the programming on Food Network was too underwhelming I found myself watching some show about wedding planning on one of those channels that would have shows about wedding planning. I couldn't help but think about how if/when I ever get married I'll be so much more together than these crazy people. My logic? It's pre-production. It's the exact same process, same stress over details leading up to one short weekend, and even the type of details are similar. There are costumes, locations, set decorations, catering; it's the same type of obsessing we've all been doing for our projects now. 

That's why it's comforting to know that my current strange wave of serenity is able to occur as I kick my pre-production into gear. I have a new zen-like mentality that I wonder if I'll be able benefit from, or even sustain longer than this weekend. Now that I have a script that I'm happy with I have an alarmingly passive que sera mindset that everything will fall into place. Should I trust this calm and embrace it? Should I get back to my anxious ways and feed off the stress as usual? 

Do it to it,

Sarah 

Yay New Things!

As Monique so proudly declared earlier: our blog is transforming anew! Since we are now happily reunited and are no longer living in Summer Fantasy land, the new direction of our lives is our our senior projects! 

Despite the fact that other classmates of ours have been deep in pre-production for weeks (*cough* Monique *cough*) and I have been lagging slightly behind, I think that today feel like the official starting point of this project for me. Today in class we planned out the shooting schedule for the semester and I now have official shooting dates to work towards. This makes it real. Too real. Good real. My story currently exists as a treatment which is being made into a script by Katie, whom I trust greatly as a writer. Once this script gets nailed down it's location scouting, casting, rounding out the crew, and getting down to business. I finally feel ready and excited. 

It's on. It's so on. 

New blog direction calls for a new sign off:

Do it to it,

Sarah 

Out with the Old, In with the New

Now that our internships are over, Sarah and I have picked up our Tucson lives, and entered a new phase: production.

And with that comes a new phase of our blog. So, this entry is the ceremonial good-bye to our old traveling blog. *moment of silence* 

This entry is also the ceremonial hello to our new production blog. *sound trumpets*

What will this new blog cover, you may ask. Well, I'll tell you! It will be a personal look at two film students attempts to create a short film from pre to post. We'll bitch, rant, moan, make lists, and recollect the hilarious and (hopefully) rewarding experiences we are about to undergo.

Lets begin. NOW!

Sober me up

In need of some blood.

I just got back from the last minute internship in Santa Fe. The plane got in yesterday around noon and I said a weeping goodbye to Sin.D and Jenny, two NALIP staff members who flew with me on their way back to LaLa. It's strange being back.

NALIP was an amazing experience, no doubt. We worked everyday from 7 to 10, drank and chilled afterward, then did it all again. I've never worked so long in my life. The experience was varied as well. I did production office work, ran random errands, was an extra on set and got to sit in on some of the classes the program was holding. I made a bunch of new friends and a couple of strong contacts as well. There was definitely some shit times - I found myself in a few terrible situations. But all in all, everything worked out in the end.

Though I'm happy to be back in Tucson, I'm starting to miss my New York life. I miss not having to worry about school or money or friends or life (there are a few F stresses in there). All those things that got put on hold the moment the senior screening ended are back and waiting. And the biggest thing I've realized is that I need a little me time. I need a break from all the people and responsibilities. I need a moment to relax.

Bottom line is, I had the best summer of my life, take with it the good and the bad. I just hope life stays on that path. I'm working on seven short films this year, one being my own. That's a lot. I am back on the job hunt. Parental funding is being cut down immensely, and I was told that in May, I'm officially on my own. No more money, no more insurance. It's done. It's gonna be a heavy year. I'll decide tomorrow if I'm ready for it.

Less-Than-Three You, Monique

Listening to: some show on Food Network - What would [insert some guys name] make?

T Town, the you and me town.

So I'm back in our hot hot hot Tucson house. Tomorrow will bring roomie Tom Tom Tom and the first of three seven-hour work training days. You win some, you lose some. 

So as I'm sitting and sweating and shmittenkitten-ing (how did I survive for so long without this blog?!?!) I'm trying to stay calm about the fact that I'm sitting on the edge of senior year. And I need Monique to be home STAT. And I need babywine. And I need our air conditioning to kick in. And then all will be well with the world. 

Stuck

I'm in The Hometown Lull in addition to my writers block. I've outlined 3 different scripts since being here, one is promising but that hasn't kept me from thinking about all the ways that it's flawed. Will I ever be inspired again?

At least I'm relaxing, kind of, to the best of my ability. I'm excited to get back to Tucson in a week but terrified that we're that close to starting the semester and I'm still so clueless. Despite my lack of direction I'm stoked for this year. Since Jesse will be making his triumphant return to Tucson it makes me realize how much happier I am since freshman year when I met him. It'll be the usual crew plus Jesse plus legal drinkers all around and I just hope that we're all able to play as hard as we work this upcoming semester. And I want neighborhood dinners, damnit. I want them now.

For now I'm doing "home things", like hanging with my sister, seeing the few high school friends that I still like seeing, going to a Red Sox game tomorrow night - my first in 4 or 5 years - which I'm very excited for. Whenever I visit Boston in the spring or summer I'm always reminded by how much I love the city, but am increasinly saddened by how little of a life left I have in it. I'm admiting to myself now that I'd actually like to have a life in Boston again one day, I just don't know how soon that day is.

Bye kids,
Sarah