NOVEMBER GIRL WEEK 15-16

It's really been an off couple of weeks. Getting lots of headaches every day. Finally got my eyes checked and ordered new glasses this week. Hoping they won't take to long to get delivered. I've been writing what I can so it's been irregular. Some days go really well and others it's hard to get much out. It's to bad cause I like what's happening and the way this is shaping up. I'm getting to the point where I feel confident enough to add some of the off kilter characters and start to deal with some real life discussions.
I did find one really big change that has to be made. In the prologue the United States is crippled by 13 nuclear bombs. I had lots of really cool reasons for that number that would be revealed later in the story. Problem is, after 16 weeks, I just realized that that probably wouldn't be enough to leave the U.S. in the state it's in. I need more bombs. I had to start over and come up with a new number of bombs and an equally nifty revelation for it later on. It's kind of a pain , but, at the same time, it's what makes writing exciting.

NOVEMBER GIRL WEEK 14

I'm afraid I didn't accomplish much this week. Real life and headaches have been taking lots of my creative energy away.

STARPOINT VIDEOS DAY 2

We shot a lot of footage but didn't get as much done this time. Susy had found a park near where she lives and took a bunch of pictures and suggested we go there to shoot some of the exterior scenes. It was great. There were some perfect locations there.

This tree was huge. It was on it's side and was still to tall for me to see over. Susy got up on it in costume and with the swords for shots. I was worried cause she took off her glasses for the footage and climbed a good 15 feet off the ground to get a good position for the camera. She's really great.

These roots give off a real spiderish feel to them. Susy laid down between them in costume as if she were resting and sleeping and it was a real attention getting image.






We shot the footage for the skeleton battle here. It was great because it was a flat, clear area with trees and hills almost 360 degrees around it so there was a lot of angles we could use. We were getting ready and cleaning it up when a man came in and asked us what was going on. As it turned out this wasn't in the actual park but his back yard. He was really cool about everything and let us stay. He brought his sons, one looked 4 and the other looked 8, out to watch us shoot.

We had two other locations planned to shot but they didn't work out as well. I wanted to shoot a few quick images at the Riverside Theater in the park but there was a wedding there so we had to skip it.
We also went to Al's friends farm to shoot a scene in the barn. Originally his friend was going to be a wounded man in a scene but he was sick and couldn't do it so we shot it with Al. They way he's laying you can't see his face so I have the choice of either shooting somebody else's face and inserting it or going back and reshooting it all together. Will have to see how it looks when I get in to editing. Jessica was coming over great in these shots so I'm hoping I can make it work.
I had to make a tough decision this time. I either had to stay and try to get the footage at the locations and lose studio time or give up the the locations and keep the studio time. I really wanted to finish the tent scenes but I went with the location footage.
My camera man didn't show up so Al and myself did the camera work. He has a steadier hand than I do so he could so the longer shots and I did the closer ones. I also did all of the studio shots. There is a crane in the studio and we could balance that for closeups and steady shooting. I was concerned about one shot because it is so important. There is a speech Susy gives that, ideally, the camera is slowly moving in on her. I was originally shooting Ally's reaction to it and was going to do Susy next time but she was hitting it on the mark so well I changed the position of the camera so I could get Susy's delivery. The first time went okay, the second time I blew it with the zoom, but the third time was a charm. I'm really excited about how that one turned out.
Ally really came through with that, too. She ended up spending a lot of time just waiting for us to get back to PATV to shoot. I feel kind of bad about that. Luckily both Ally and Susy agreed to come back so we can finish it. The next few weekends are full for all of us so it will have to be a week night. They are both going to let me know their schedules and I'll see which day they both are available and I'll take a day off of work.
This is turning out better than I ever could have hoped.

NOVEMBER GIRL WEEK 13

When I'm working on a books I always give it a rating to keep it on an even keel. In the Starpoint Mountain books I decided it would be PG-13 rated and I kept it that way. I remember doing one torture scene that I got carried away on, must have been a bad day, and I went way overboard. I looked back at it and immediately knew I couldn't use it. It went way to far for PG-13 so I rewrote the whole scene and toned it down. I kept it that rating in Welcome to Nowhere as well.
This book is R rated. Definitely. In the other books the characters were sexually active but I never gave them much details. You knew where they'd been and what they did but didn't get details. This one is much more graphic and there is no doubt what they did. The language is also more adult. Not necessarily cursing and swearing, I never like that in books or movies, just more open on blunt.

NOVEMBER GIRL WEEK 12

I wrote the Starpoint Mountain books keeping in mind that they would be PG-13 rated if they were movies. Sexy characters and, on a few occasions, they do have sex but it's all off the page and it's hinted as to what they've done. In Welcome to Nowhere I changed it to a PG rating. It was much more obvious what was going on between them. For November Girl I kicked it up to an R rating. She is a very sexy, and sexually active, character.
I think part of it that everything else is being done differently. I'm taking a whole new approach to this book and it's very exciting. In the past I've done lots of back story for the characters before I start writing. This time I did nothing. I just started and that was it. Anything the reader learns about the character they learn it at the same time I do. I'm also writing it in first person. I've only done that once before and that was changing a short story from third person to first.
The biggest risk on this one, and something I've never done before, is that I have no idea where this character's story will end. Seriously! I had a basic idea how Starpoint would end but didn't know how it would get there. On Nowhere I knew exactly where it was going and how. This time, literally, I'm just making it up as I go. It may turn out to be a fantastic work. It may go no where and be crap.
It's times like this I really love writing.

NOVEMBER GIRL WEEK 11

A very exciting and productive week for this project. One of my best writing weeks this year actually. Finally got a handle on this character and the world she lives in and it's really picking up speed. I'm kind of tempted to go and start over again. On the other hand I'm thinking of leaving it that way. The character was developing as she went and that makes for good storytelling.

STARPOINT VIDEOS

We spent a few hours yesterday rehearsing. I put up the set and had the general layout in place. Some of the lighting was good so that everyone could get a good idea of the room we were going to work with. It took me about 45 minutes to put the set together working by myself, could do it in half that with someone else. It looked pretty good. We also hooked up the microphones and one of the cameras was running when we were all together and I really got some experience at camera work. The guy I had originally lined up for the shoot is in jail, and most likely will be there for 6 months, so I recruited another. He also is a digital whiz. I had found a glacier photo to use but it had a person in it:

In five minutes he got rid of her and I had a usable background. It's really shocking that that was the same photo and the computer picked it and gave it a natural look that fast.

Also got the library and the shelf ready. Just need to find good thrones to work with.
I had three of my actresses, Suzy, Jessica and Aly, and one of my actors, Al and we worked through their scenes. We worked on the dialogue, changed a few terms that were anachronistic, and got some details on the costumes. It felt really good and it's coming together. Suzy, Jessica and Aly really hit it off and the harder, more dramatic scenes got worked over and smoothed out. I had been worried about the space because I wrote it thinking it would be in a real, full sized tent, but the one I put together didn't have as much room. I originally thought that we were going to have to go without it but they figured out a way to make it work.
We also worked on the possibility of the fortune teller using tarot cards. We talked about having her use the cards on some of the characters but not all of them. Right now I'm undecided about that route. I like the way it looks and works and there's some use for them but it also kind of grounds it in our world. Got a few weeks to think about that.
The only problem left is casting of the WOMAN IN LOVE and the FARMER. Suzy and Jessica think a friend might do the WOMAN IN LOVE part. I'm looking around still for the FARMER. I don't want to do it but may have to. There is a big advantage to shooting all the interior stuff in one day so we don't have to remount later.