Invisible Cities Production Journal: Entry #2

Today is October 5, 2007.

Writing.

Sometimes I really hate the writing process.

It always begins with a swarm of ideas and excitement…but somewhere along the way, I find myself lost in a sea of pages and words and slug lines.

I started writing Invisible Cities back in March of this year. I wrote off and on (as my schedule permitted), finally finishing a draft in August. At the time, I felt great about the work. A large part of the reason I am so excited about this project is that I do truly feel like I’m doing something that hasn’t been done before. There are no new ideas, to be sure. But there are an endless number of possible permutations of ideas. Invisible Cities is a film of permutations…old ideas spun anew.

A month and a half later, though, I find myself rewriting, rethinking…Some of the changes are indeed good ones. And for this I must thank my friend and writing partner, Doc Melville…Doc has helped during this whole process, offering feedback, compliments, and most of all patience. My first drafts are not the easiest things to digest, but Doc digested all of them. For me the first draft is just a chance to get a lot of ideas on the page. Sometimes, my early drafts feel like Hieronymus Bosch’s “Garden of Earthly Delights”, packed with images and ideas and concepts. Unfortunately, dramatic screenplays often require simplicity…

So, with the help of Doc and a few others along the way, I set about rewriting, simplifying, clarifying…It has been a slow process…and I can’t wait to be finished with it…I have more important things to worry about…casting…scheduling…budgeting…the list sort of goes on and on.

On to more exciting news…

The past two weeks have been all about making decisions, making phone calls, making this happen.

Lens Adapters.

A lingering headache I’ve been dealing with the past two weeks has been deciding on the right lens adapter. I’ll explain. I’m shooting Invisible Cities on a mid-range prosumer digital video camera; the Canon XL2. The XL2 is a very solid camcorder with a lot of great features. However, video is video, and I want this film to look as close to a film as possible. That’s where the lens adapters come in. The lens adapters, also called DOF (Depth of Field) converters, allow you to attach great lenses to the camera, achieving a “film look”. The problem, for a long time, is that these adapters were often very expensive, costing anywhere for 8 to 15 thousand dollars. Luckily, a group of people in recent years have begun creating more modest versions of these adapters at much more reasonable prices.

I’m trying to decide between the recently released Letus35 Extreme, or the Brevis35, or possibly some other brands…I know in the end they’ll all pretty much get the same results…but some have better management of light loss, some are sturdier, some are lighter and easier to work with…Choices…

I have cast the lead in the film. More details to come.

I also have found my composer(s). I am very, very, very excited about this. Music is very important to me. I think the success of the film often is connected to the music. Luckily for me, I found great people. I’ll officially announce the details soon…but trust me, this is going to be great.

That’s all for now.

I leave you with a movie recommendation. I’ll be recommending movies that I have been watching throughout this whole process.

Night On Earth (Jim Jarmusch, 1991) Recently released through the Criterion Collection.

Ian

Invisible Cities Production Journal: Entry #1

Today is October 1, 2007.

Recently, I left my home of the last five years, New York City, for my hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The goal:

To write and direct my first feature-length film.

With the rise of YouTube and digital cinema, Independent film has changed drastically for the better. In 1991, Robert Rodriguez made a little action film, El Mariachi, on 16mm for 7,000 dollars. It eventually went on to play at Sundance and was distributed by Columbia Pictures. Rodriguez proved you didn’t need a lot of money to make a decent film.

No one listened.

Twelve years later, an ex-engineer, Shane Carruth, made a brilliant time travel movie called Primer. Shot for 7,000 on 16mm film, Primer once again proved you didn’t need a lot of money to make a good film. Primer went on to win Sundance in 2004.

And still, no one listened.

People continued to make expensive films that didn’t connect with audiences. Hundreds of thousands dollars were spent on films that went nowhere.

Finally, some people listened.

The recent movement in Independent Film, the D.I.Y. movement, or “mumblecore” or whatever you choose to call it, has actually changed independent cinema for the better. Taking the emphasis away from slick (and expensive) production values, and instead pushing story and character, this new movement is currently redefining the meaning of independent cinema.

Filmmakers like Joe Swanberg (LOL, Hannah Takes the Stairs), Andrew Bujalski (Funny Ha Ha, Mutual Appreciation), The Duplass Brothers (The Puffy Chair), Aaron Katz (Quiet City), and Susan Boice/Arin Crumley (Four Eyed Monsters) are responsible for changing the way feature films are created and distributed. More importantly, these filmmakers, free from the restrictive structure of the Hollywood web, are free to explore ideas unfavorable with corporate executives yet completely relevant with the audience.

This new movement is partly responsible for inspiring me to begin work on Invisible Cities.

After a year of false starts, creative doubts, and an especially difficult winter, I decided to take action. I began writing the screenplay for what would eventually become Invisible Cities in March of 2007. Initially inspired by Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities, I drew mainly from personal experiences while writing the script. This film isn’t about me, though. Rather, it is about anyone who has ever left their home and had a tough time going back.

My hope with this journal is to accurately document my experiences during the making of Invisible Cities.

I will update it regularly, so please continue to check back for future updates.

In the meantime, I encourage all of you to check out a mix I’ve created in the ITunes store featuring music I listened to while writing Invisible Cities.

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewIMix?id=265571551