tsroaw: day three

after a pile of budweisers at the ambiguously gay dive, kirb's avenue, sam and i feel totally justified in heisting chunks of vermont cheddar and tubs of cilantro-laced three layer hummus from strange cabinets to decorate our (aka 'their') crackers. it is, at the same time, a crime which joel must never discover and a crime of which he will most inevitably know. deadlock.

so much action today. we took over a sound-studio-turned-mad-scientist-laboratory for about 14 hours of shooting at the sfsu campus. a completely different tone from what we've worked on so far. way-out-amateur-sci-fi, shot super-pro and taken dead seriously. kind of an ed wood vibe. aside from keeping things interesting, it took a decisive turn toward really defining the overall feel of the film. particularly in the final scene, a total space-out complete with racing cosmos and moonscapes. i realize that my vagueness makes the whole thing sound like borderline kook stuff, and i apologize, because that is the opposite of true. today was a shift in tides toward the feel of the real damn deal. and more than anything, it made me extra extra honored to be part of said deal.

major action for ellie and chris who swapped soliloquys for extreme close-ups in dr. botchkin's laboratory. what i mean is that chris delivered bulk dialogue, time after time, without a single slip while ellie faked revelations for a dolly shot that basically started in her nose. meanwhile sam, who left for set at seven with the crew, put in a horse day's work lugging and loosening and tightening c-clamps and still finding time to whisper angles in joel's ear whenever he saw an opening. bill didn't have much for lines today but he did impart some extensive music wisdom and stuck out the hours smiling. also notable on the teaching front: chris, who unloaded a month's worth of evolution knowledge and anthropology expertise on me and ellie between takes.

beyond that, miljenko made a cameo (and fully reclaimed the script of ace ventura: pet detective), bianca and wesley had a day in the sun for creating such a transformative alternate universe, kedar unloaded an urban legend about how pepsi killed his step-grandfather and his nana didn't care, jesse lit the room, jason made it tick, mackenzie took some tape and sinisa's steady eye caught it all without a wink. meanwhile, in the distance, summre, tetra and beth kept an eye on the infrastructure, keeping everyone well-fed, well-dressed and on time. and of course joel masterminded the whole operation and didn't even have a single heart attack. if i'm forgetting anybody, it's only because i had to clear out some space in my brain for such far out song titles as "ooh-ah" by jakki o, "float on" by the floaters and "the devil is dope" by the dramatics, all of which played at the bar tonight; none of which i can afford to forget. semi-colon.

ok. let's be honest. i'm incoherent. until that situation changes, i leave you with some more photos and an email from the boy, about 15, who i mentioned yesterday -- an enterprising actor/screenwriter with a dragon script and a gheri curl. this is his response to my email in which i demanded that he send me his story:

i wil when we can meet some were and talk about my script and i want to be the actor in this movie so dont think im the director im a writer and actor just to make that clear the guy that hold hair you tell him that what i told you becase want to now every thing goes in this movie thank you for being listing me this for under standing.

turns out his name is actually yosef. see you tomorrow!

READ: David Brooks on The Strange Rebirth Of Andre Weil
DOWNLOAD: The Floaters - Float On [mp3]


blurry sam goes to god.


chris recruits voiceover talent.


i kick it with jesus christ.

,ellie goes hendrix, totally at home in a god helmet.

goodnight!