How to Kill Yourself in One Year #3 "hemingway"

photos from the (wet) Hemingway shoot

Franny seems engrossed in my lengthy game plan

no crew means no photog means sloppy cast/crew pics

a huge chunk of time was spent waiting for it  to stop raining

no really. I got pregnant to play this role...

babies' SECOND crew gig.  now they're talking participation...

yes. that is a sun blocker being used as a bo-bo reflector. what's it to ya?

and then some zany broke out.

and deeeeep thoughts...with hack jandy...

classic directing move...NAILED it.

Grisel laughs. she was the only one NOT rained upon

and then Franny made some kick ass guac.   

my "awesome" shot list...complete with life-like photo realistic story board drawings.

rehearsing...

this chick is so freaking beautiful it makes my heart hurt.

mother nature can oftimes try to produce...

I don't know why y'all are looking at me like that...I don't even HAVE an  umbrella!

trunk cam

the gorgeous and uber talented Franny Civitano as Monica

the results of trying to stage a directing moment

so this is the martini...or would have been if the f**king mic stand wasn't in the shot!

Cast for Hemingway

Jennifer White as the Pregnant Housewife (she actually allowed me to get her pregnant just to make this film...now THAT is dedication to one's craft, folks)

HTKYIOY #1 Veteran, Franny Civitano, as Monica (we can't get enough of her!)

now it's October Country...the third one. the third script.

hemingway

this is an ancient MP script...probably from their first  one pager contest...and one that I've wanted to make for quite (no pun intended) some time.

I've expanded it a wee bit for this incarnation...

How to Kill Yourself in One Year #2 "Lounge Act"

The First Time...

My lovely AND talented wife, Jennifer, comments on her process:

First timer

The idea of me directing one of these short films probably came from the fact that on my husband’s previous films, I can’t keep my ideas of what I think  would be good to myself…so it’s not that I really thought I could direct, but I knew I do have ideas…so my approach to this was not to get overwhelmed with the whole responsibility of the project, but to try my best to execute any ideas I had with the material & see what happens….I also really wanted to be open to anyone else’s ideas tooJ  I had after all directed College Night in undergrad & a few short plays in directing classes in grad school…so for this I wanted to think cinematically….I knew my actors were talented & would bring a lot of choices, no need to worry about the acting for this one…I wanted to see a story in pictures…which led me to the idea that for the first page, maybe my pictures could lead the audience to think …”hmm, what’s happening here?…why is he afraid or sweating it out?”…only to hopefully set up it being funnier once it’s revealed the reason for his fear…I wanted to convey a feeling in the shots that I set up of that of the male character…of feeling trapped in a situation…inappropriate …..I just went through the story and tried to “cover” all of the action with several setups & learned as we shot, that after I think a got the scene covered, that I probably didn’t need OTS & and close ups of 4 lines of dialogue!…next step is editing…another thing I’ve never done before…

we forgot to take pictures during the shoot...so please enjoy these hastily staged ones!

Babies' first directing gig

hmmm how do I tell my husband that his acting is schmaltzy?

Monica, GREAT...Honey, I said LESS schmaltzy

when you have no money, you have no crew, you have no still photographer

Yep. We shot this film in a bathroom. Here, Grisel tries not to choke on the  urine smell whilst setting up a smokin' take

Did I mention the bathroom reeked of urine? did I mention no AC??

hmmmm what this scene needs? 56% MORE SCHMALTZ!

Yes, pee pee goes in there.