Strike, days 94 and 95; Production, day 3
Our final day of shooting consisted mostly of chasing actors with cameras, my brief homage to Point Break. We also had our first and only company move — just two blocks, to a tiny medical clinic in Eagle Rock. One by one, we wrapped our actors, until we were left with just one regular and one guest star.1
At lunch, I gave my sincere thanks to a crew I really enjoyed working with. I’d long taken it as a given that production is stressful, but this honestly wasn’t. Yes, we had a bit of padding in the schedule, but we weren’t dawdling. It felt most like shooting Part Two of The Nines: a small, nimble crew and the freedom of constrained expectations.
Now we move on to editing. We’re cutting on Avid, but I’ve been using Final Cut Pro to check out footage as well. So far, I’m a fan of the P2. If we were shooting multiple episodes, we would need to find a slicker workflow, but our dumping-to-MacBook worked fine for this.
I’d hoped to make it to the picketing at NBC yesterday, but the cold I’d been medicating for the past few days took over. In the age of the internet, being sick doesn’t keep you from working, but it makes it hard to muster enthusiasm for much. I’m alternating DayQuil and Diet Coke in hopes of attending the WGA meeting tomorrow night, but that’s on the bubble.
Talking with writers last night, there was widespread belief that the end of the strike is approaching. And yet it doesn’t feel like the end — or more specifically, it doesn’t feel like what an end is supposed to feel like. There’s a profound lack of closure. Bob Fisher will shave his strike beard. I’ll have beer with my Van Ness crew. But you can’t throw a parade when there’s so much work to be done.
It’s going to be brutal trying to get the town started up, figuring out which movies are still happening, which TV shows are going to try to finish their seasons. You know when there’s a big evacuation — fire, hurricane — and the residents are finally allowed back to their houses? It will be like that. The first few days will be just about finding out what’s still standing.
I have six features in various stages of production and development, all of which will need tending in the first few days after we get back to work. Three months is a long break. I haven’t read a word in these scripts, or jotted a single note. I’ve forgotten half the phone numbers I used to be able to blind-dial. So going from stand-still to sprint is likely be rough.
- I realize how weird it sounds to call an actor in a short a “guest star.” The point is that if this were a series, he wouldn’t likely be in future episodes. ↩
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February 8th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
I think the cold you have is wreaking havoc on most of Los Angeles. At the risk of sounding like a crystal meth lab tech, can I recommend that you get the Dayquil that has pseudoephedrine? Just in case you’ve somehow gotten the far inferior kind.
February 8th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
Six films in various stages! omg you make me feel totally unproductive… Doesn’t Alvin Sargent write like one script a year? John how many scripts would you say you average? That’s great to be that fertile. (know this is not a #’s game, but still!)
Well @ least I fought off my cold: WATER WATER WATER & chamomile tea did it for me FWIW.
Hope the strike does end soon and FEEL like some sort of ending for all. But I do have to say, for a newb writer this strike has given some of us a chance to have stuff (that was gathering dust) looked at and/or covered (which I’m greatly thankful for).
Still can’t believe it’s been 95 days.
WGAers hang tight & keep it up :cheers:
ps: Point Break… good chase. Serpico even better ; )
February 8th, 2008 at 4:26 pm
How are you working on Avid with the P2 footage? Just curious. I have yet to edit the stuff from my HVX on avid, although I really want to because Avid is my first love and I miss its interface so much.
February 8th, 2008 at 5:33 pm
Spotted some production/direction signs around Eagle Rock today that said “Spolin.” Hmmmm…
February 8th, 2008 at 7:03 pm
I just hope that the strike is over and everyone realizes how hard it has been on the writers.
February 9th, 2008 at 7:58 am
I just wanted to send a quick note to thank you and all the WGA members for the sacrifices and sturggles of the past 3 months. I must admit that when this whole thing started I was wondering what the fuss was all about, but reading about the strike on your blog and other places, so many stories of working/blue collar writers struggling with their mortgages…I can’t thank you enough for all that you do for future guild members. A most sincere thank you!!
February 9th, 2008 at 10:59 am
John, I know you probably have everyone you need on your crew, but if you ever need any editing/sound editing, I can do some. I’m a little creaky because my current job at the Mouse has kept me away from equipment for a while, but I have been able to learn ProTools, which I love.
Hope the show’s going well. I’m keeping my fingers crossed (very difficult to type) about Saturday’s meeting.
February 9th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
CONGRATUALTIONS ! Just read the news at local newpaper politiken in Denmark ( link: http://politiken.dk/kultur/article469669.ece ) that the strike is over. I read that writers will now get compensation for distrubution on DVD and Internet. The details are not explained in the article and it might not be a perfect deal, but it certainly is really a step in the right direction.
I say CONGRATULATIONS ! Jørn Buch Larsen ( Aarhus, Denmark )
February 10th, 2008 at 3:37 pm
Hi John,
I’m fascinated by your comments about not writing in the final paragraph. Of course, I understand that when on strike – you don’t work, but how do you reconcile that with a burst of creativity that writers are prone to?
How can you not write down ideas for current or future projects? How do you prevent ideas from fleeing from your memory like an escaped convict?