editing Hatboxes

The Hatboxes shoot wrapped late the night of Wednesday, 26 June.  Our editor, Justine Gendron, submitted a rough assembly not quite two weeks later.  A rough assembly puts the best footage in the order the script dictates.  That version came in at a little over 21 minutes.  You could see everything, but it did drag.

Justine and I have met four times since, refining the film as we go.  As of today, Hatboxes is coming in at just over 17 minutes, right on target at about a minute per page of script. 

Editing detail, Hatboxes, scene 4.

This is no time to get sentimental about the words on the paper, or even some thrilling little fragment; if something doesn't serve the story, it has to go.  Whole scenes have made their way to the cutting room floor (now a dated metaphor, since this is all happening digitally...what used to be "slice" is now "click").  We don't want to rush the story, but we also don't want to drag it down or burden it because someone (usually me) can't let go of something.  An unnecessary turn of someone's head, a line that is, in the end, just "yadda-yadda," one blink too many:  gone.

What's astonishing is how much the actors brighten towards incandescence as we tighten the film.  Its emotional heft seems to be deepening, too.  Like everyone else, I'm anxious to see it when it's done.

Susana Darwin

after the Hatboxes shoot

Not surprisingly, there wasn't much time during the Hatboxes shoot to draft blog posts, but we did keep up with our Twitter feed (backwards chronologically):
https://twitter.com/#!/search/realtime/%23hatboxesthemovie



© 2012 Brave Lux. All rights reserved.



The shoot lasted for six days and went well.  We ran into some glitches beyond our control on the first day (the sun does move inexorably; so do the planes approaching O'Hare from the east and the Friday late-afternoon commuter trains), but beyond those, we kept to our schedule, ate very well, discovered that some cats are good at assisting with data wrangling, and came away with some very good footage.

Photos of the overnight shoot (Urban Orchard interior, day 3):
http://flickr.com/gp/esteban_monclova/4b1x5M/

Photos of the night shoot (exterior of the apartment building two doors from my house, day 5):
http://tinyurl.com/6salu8n

I learned more about HVAC controls in those six days than I had known living in 27 different places over my entire lifetime.  It's astonishing how noisy air conditioning can be.

I learned that while the shooting schedule may look modular on paper, when it comes to making scheduling changes, considerations beyond the cold linearity of time and geography require a filmmaker's attention.  It seemed to work out for the best that the two most intense scenes got shot on the last day, but that was a lucky break.  The cast and crew of Hatboxes were an exceptional group of professionals, and working with them was an honor.

I learned that hearing the ingredients in Cheetos read aloud at Hour 11 of Shoot Day Six is unaccountably funny.

We'll keep you posted on our progress.  We've already received a rough assembly of the film, and it looks quite promising.

Susana Darwin

2 Days before Day 1 of a 6-Day Shoot

The Hatboxes shoot is getting close.  This was part of the Hatboxes day today...

At 1:46 am, the first AD circulated an updated shooting schedule.

At 2 am, the director of photography circulated notes, which the producer responded to at 3:10.

At 3:35, I received a message asking what size Hatboxes T-shirt I want.

At 5:28, awakened by an 8-pound cat with 20-pound paws on a mission to snuggle, I replied that I'd like a large shirt, please.

At 6:15, I watered the garden.  Very relaxing; the time it takes is the time it takes.  Glad to see some tomato blossoms.  Contemplated despising something vital to the Hatboxes endeavor:  PayPal (user experience too often worse than voice-mail hell, if you know what I mean).

Handled a couple of pieces of Guild Literary Complex and West Andersonville Neighbors Together business.

Replied to a thread about the weirdos that come out of the woodwork when you put something out there...narcissism never dies.

Reviewed the 1:46 am shooting schedule and got dizzy considering how this whole thing went from "What if...?" almost two decades ago to "Day 1 Friday:  Shot 16 EXT. DALEY PLAZA – DAY Daley Plaza – 118 N Clark St:  6:30 am Setup..."  Quite the rainbow...

 8 am:  learned that we are now only $486 ($111 as of 7:30 pm) from our Indiegogo fundraising campaign goal! [21 June:  we cleared it, and then some!]

Gotta love the lighting equipment list:

(2) Juniors (2000 watt)

(6) Babies (1000 watt)

(6) Tweenies (750 watt)

(3) Betweenies (300 watt)

(3) Inbetweenies (150 watt)

(3) Inkies (100 watt)

(2) Mighties (2000 watt)

(2) Mickies (1000 watt)

(2) 4ft 4bank kinoflo

(2) 2ft 4bank kinoflo

(16) Baby stands

(6) Combo stands

(2) Mombo stands

Mailed a postcard to myself so we can maybe use its bar code sticker on a prop (It read, "CHANGE YOUR SOCKS!" if you must know).

Then I discovered that a pair of overlapping errors have created a scheduling conflict for one of our actors.  Circulated some options to the crew. [21 June:  1AD created a fine solution.]


Researched some last-minute wardrobe questions.

In the afternoon I picked up a couple of props...

(I'm a sucker for elegant design)
...and chatted with the folks at Farragut's about the wrap party.


Picked up enough bagels to feed all of Suriname for a day—thanks, Einstein Bros!

6 pm:  Rehearsals!  Great to have such smart, thoughtful people to work with.


At the end of the day, Etta Worthington, our intrepid producer, turned up with food and equipment and ideas and a to-do list that promises another busy day tomorrow.


Susana Darwin

What People Are Saying

It's nice to be talked about. Usually.  We're happy to have a couple of media outlets run stories about us recently.

One is the Forest Park Review. 

 

The other article appeared in the Windy City Times.

Announcing Our Cast

We are delighted to announce the actors that have been cast for roles in HATBOXES.

Miriam will be played by Robyn Okrant, a veteran actor of Chicago theatre and indie film.  Miriam is an orthodox woman with three children trying to deal with her husband's abandonment of the family and of Orthodox Judaism.

Playing Nadine is Kat O'Connor, who studied acting both in the US and London, and has acted in theatre and film productions in Chicago.  Nadine is a secular Jewish lawyer who has been out as a lesbian for years but is trying to figure out what it is she's longing for.

The estranged husband of Miriam is Aaron, also a lawyer,  who will be played by Tom Hickey. He recently had a role in the pilot for Underemployed and has played many roles on the stage for companies like Straw Dog Theatre and Lakeside Shakespeare.

Nadine's friend Lena is a creative business woman, free spirited, energetic and witty. She will be played by Fawzia Mirza. She was in the new film Scrooge and Marley, that is currently in post production, and has appeared in many Chicago indie films.

Rounding out the cast is Maya Boudreau who plays Hannah, the 15 year-old (and oldest) daughter of Miriam and Aaron. Maya is a graduate of New York University. Locally she has performed with  companies such as Lookingglass Theatre and American Theatre Company.

Generosity and Intimacy in "Mad Men"

*

Mad Men was coming perilously close to losing me this season until the episode "Christmas Waltz," which features an extended sequence between Joan Harris and Don Draper.  After Don hustles Joan out of the agency before she does bodily harm to the dingbat receptionist who'd allowed Joan to get served with divorce papers, they slip deliciously into the entitlement beauty brings...at a Jaguar dealership (where else?).  With exquisite timing and self-assurance, Don and Joan play off of each other and off of the poor salesman and walk away to test drive a shiny red midlife crisis coupe.  Who else could get away with writing a $6,000 check for a $5,600 car and shrugging, "If we don't return it, consider it sold"?

Joan and Don wind up at what Rachel Maddow would probably call an "old-man bar" and drink the afternoon away.  The splendid writing gives the performers room to play as they get deeper into their cups.  Layers of friendship and attraction and accumulated time and experience between Don and Joan allow Hamm and Hendricks to listen to each other and hand the scene to one another in a spiraling accumulation of power and good will.  It's a glory of intimacy and generosity.

Susana Darwin


*http://blogs.amctv.com/photo-galleries/mad-men-season-5-episode-photos/episode-10-don.php

The Casting Director

Casting. It’s fun. It’s maddening. It’s tiring.  It’s sort of like doing a puzzle—trying to fit the pieces together. For HATBOXES, we only have seven roles. That should be easy, right?  But besides being able to act, the person has to look right for the part.  The children must be believable as being part of the same family, for example.

So, to help with this task, we employed the skills of a casting director.  But for so few roles, such a short film, why use a casting director, you might ask.

We decided we needed someone with connections to actors and to talent agencies. And so we brought on Anthony White of Anthony White Casting.

Starting his casting career in 2008, Anthony White was first introduced to the casting world working as casting production assistant with Los Angeles based Reality Casting Company, Doron Ofir Casting. He later worked as a casting assistant for both Sharon King Casting and House Casting.  As an independent casting director, Anthony has cast several independent feature, commercials, industrials, music videos, and short films including ads for Lexus, McDonalds, and Cover Girl.

So Anthony pre-auditioned many actors before the director got to see them.  And ultimately that saves a lot of time.  And, because of Anthony’s connections, we were able to cast from a larger pool of actors.

We’re happy that casting decisions have been made and will be announced very soon.