Oh oh, what's going on here? Dayum you're sexy people, Chelsea and Nick.
This still is from 48:15 into my rough cut, which means we're a little more than halfway. I had to take a few days off for a comedy boxing match with my sister in front of 1000 fans in Las Vegas (my day job is a weird one), but now I'm back on the grind, for some of the trickiest scenes in DB. I just finished editing a scene we shot on the fly in secret in a bar in Hollywood, in very low light. It looks quite cool actually, very stylized, though most of the sound will have to be redubbed. But we only had a bare minimum of footage to work with, obviously not ideal now that I've put on my editing hat. Even trickier was the first in-moving-car dialogue. We didn't set up any special rigs or anything, we just shot while driving with a couple artfully placed lights around the interior. Again, cool shots, but continuity is a bitch; when some takes are in motion and others are stopped at a traffic light, stitching it together is no mean feat.
And now there's a love scene, one of two in the film, thorny for a whole different set of reasons. This isn't a straightforward romantic love scene, either, there's a lot of emotional ambiguity for both characters. How do I keep that subtext without being entirely unerotic? Lots of shots or a single take? What sort of music, if any? Is slow motion cheesy or involving? Most crucial, how much to I want to test a viewer's comfort level?
This is on my mind in particular because I just, finally, watched "The Room", which lived up to my very high expectations. What a hilarious and sad movie. Nearly every shot in the movie evinces the question "What the fuck was Tommy Wiseau thinking?", but in the four soft-focus, very long, entirely inappropriate sex scenes, you get at least part of the reason; Dude think's he's a stud, and wants to show the world. It's a lesson in why you shouldn't star in your own movie, but also in the dangers of letting the audience become really, really uncomfortable, particularly not even three minutes into the movie. At the same time, allowing a little squirming will get people talking, and thinking, and curious what these characters will do next, and really, isn't that all you want as a storyteller?
There are a lot of lessons in the Room. Among them: If everyone were nice to each other, life would be a lot better. Also, don't do drugs, don't betray your best friend, and don't announce that you're pregnant just because you want to make things interesting. That really isn't a good enough reason.
Back to work. I can't wait for y'all to see this. This summer, people. Be ready.
Listening to: Mark Lanegan Band, Methamphetamine Blues (And I DON'T WANNA LEAVE THIS HEAVEN SO SOON)
