It's a historic night! Health Care Reform is about to pass, probably, which is amazing; this is the biggest thing Congress has done in my lifetime. I might tune in to CSPAN to see the final vote, but mostly I'm celebrating by editing.
I am 20 minutes into the rough cut, which means I'm a little past Act I in screenplay-speak, and I can get an idea of the basic shape and flow of the movie. What's weird is I feel like I'm watching Nick and Chelsea perform for the first time here. When I was in the room with them, directing them, I could only sense what they were doing, where they were emotionally, and try to push them one way or another. But on camera, I'm seeing some awesome, subtle, funny, powerful bits of acting which I didn't register the first time around.
I got more coverage on some scenes than others, and you can really tell in the editing process, because editing with lots of options is so much easier. Some scenes I'm fudging with camera trickery a little bit to keep the flow going. That's been my Prime Directive while editing; don't let anything jar the viewer out of the movie. Keep him/her focused and in the magic circle. Some scenes I'll have to get another shot or two. But I'm happy with my shot composition and thrilled by the acting, so I know I've got the raw material for a great movie here.
I'm getting a sense of my editing style, too. Not a lot of fades, a lot of master shots, judicious use of music. I'm taking a cue from the Coen Brothers, too, in choosing what acting takes to use. The philosophy: picking the most interesting, attention grabbing moments creates the most interesting screen performance, and can complement a naturalistic story as easily as overwhelm it. Better than picking the flattest moments in an attempt at verisimilitude and getting some mumblecore BS.
A year ago, I could only watch other movies and wonder what a movie I made would look like, what my style would be. Now I know. Pretty cool.
Projected deadline for a finished rough cut; April 30. After that, reshoots, dubbing, rights and polish.
Listening To: Liquid Liquid, Optimo. (Cowbell.)
