NOVEMBER GIRL SCHEDULE AND LOCATIONS

I am in the process of scheduling the next shooting block.  I was looking at Sunday the 13th but it was pointed out to me today that it is Mother's Day so that probably won't work for a full day so I am trying to reschedule some shoots for the weekend after and see if we can shoot just one scene in the evening.  It's a bit complicated but it comes with the territory.  I'm sorry for the delays in getting things scheduled.
On the good side I got a location for the warehouse fight scene.  It's a bit smaller than I'd hope so I'm going to have to do some work with the shadows to make it look bigger.  It also has plenty of boxes and shelves so it should be easy to stack things in the right place.  Will most likely have to try and take my own lights to get it to work. 
Still on the hunt for an office to use.  Going to try the Hall Mall and a few of the banks and realtors in the area.
Also still on the lookout for a few important roles. 
NATHAN: This character is November's love interest for the video.  Need a male anywhere from 19 to 30 to make this work.  Once I have that character I'll have all of the characters that November deals with so I can push forward on scheduling.
RANDALL: This character is the mayor's assistant who decides to hook on to her drive for success and a big part in the new world after the bombs.  This was written as a male character but I could do some rewriting if I can find the right actress.
MAYOR BERINI: Unfortunately the actress who was going to play this role has had to drop out.  I need someone who looks at least 30+ for one of the leading roles.
Will keep you updated and thank you for your patience.

NOVEMBER GIRL BOOTS ON THE GROUND

We now have boots on the ground.
We shot the first scene of November Girl this morning at the PATV parking lot.  The weather was pretty bad at first, windy and gray, but by the time we got shooting it had cleared up.  We talked about how in someway it was better being sunny because, stereotypically, scenes like the one were done with dark and dreary atmosphere. 
We didn't get as much done as I'd planned but what we did get done looked great.  Jessica and John worked the scene.  They work really well together and I almost wish it were possible to pair the two characters again.  John is much taller than both Jessica and Susanna so the staging was difficult but we made it work. 
Josh had made the suggestion of getting white board to help with the lighting and we made good use of that.  The way we were shooting it Jessica's back was to the sun and it was hard to get light on her face without restaging the whole scene.  We used the white board to help bounce the sunlight back at her.  I captured the footage afterwards and it works great. 
I'm going to try and set up a days shooting by location for May.  I'm using various tarps to make a tent for a trading post.  I'm going to go through the script and see if I can put together all the scenes set there and shoot them in one day.  It'll be a long day but we can get several scenes done.  It'll also be much easier than rebuilding the same set several times.
Will keep you updated.   

NOVEMBER GIRL DEVELOPMENTS

We're a week away from shooting the first scenes of November Girl. I can't deny that I'm amazed that this has come together so fast. It took a year and a half to get Secret Fortunes ready to go and this will be shooting in less than four months since origin. I'm expecting it'll take another three or four months before we finish shooting be cause we only can work on weekends and, then again, not every weekend but it's still quite a change. Secret Fortunes is giving benefits I didn't expect. Having such a solid project there is giving me lots of credibility so people can see the kind of work I do.
It's been interesting the way things have been happening with getting locations. I tried Ragstock and Iowa City City Hall and got completely shut out. Ragstock wouldn't even answer my emails and Iowa City just flat out refused. Stuff and the Haunted Bookshop were just the opposite and were very wonderful in wanting to work something out.
A posting at UI theater gave me a few contacts but they didn't pan out. I got an email from the Director of Theater at Kirkwood who says several students are very interested in being a part of this project. They have a production going on this weekend, he will pass the word along to them how to get a hold of me, and I'm hoping to hear from them in a few days.
I have most of the major characters all cast and hope to finish of the rest of them with Kirkwood students. I understand that this is a volunteer project for everyone and will do everything I possibly can to make sure they enjoy it. I will make it as convenient as possible and want to make sure that when they finish they walk away thinking how much they enjoyed the project. Most everyone has understood that and will work with me on this. There was one actress who asked about if I would pay scale and what kind of distribution system I had set up to get it into theaters. I explained to her what was going on, that this was a non-profit all volunteer production. I haven't heard from her since.

NOVEMBER GIRL START UP

We had some snow last week so I went to Iowa City on Saturday and checked out one of the HD cameras. One of the episodes of November Girl is a flashback episode that takes place in November and I needed as much stock footage as I could get of the city in winter. With a bit of editing and the proper narration it'll easily work as November footage. I just had to be careful about the kiosks I shot cause lots of them had notices for concerts dated in February or March. I'm planning on going back on Thursday of this week and get more footage with a few crowds. The city was pretty barren on Saturday. I'm going to whip up a few generic postings for November events and just put them up to get the shots in on one.
This one seems to be coming together a lot faster than the others. I put up a notice on craigslist and have gotten a few responses. Nothing concrete yet but still a promising start. I'm positive it helps having Secret Fortunes online and on PATV. It gives me some street cred when people see something done. Just hope to have a cast together so we could shoot some scenes during spring break when we get good light and temperatures but not a lot of people around.

SECRET FORTUNES WRAP UP

The video has been showing on and off for a week on PATV. Just by chance saw their schedule the other night about 30 minutes before it was being broadcast. It's really an odd feeling like when I see that someone bought one of my books. I always wonder if some strange person I've never heard of will finish it thinking it was good time or crap.
I've gotten some feedback from people and they have been very complimentary. No really intense reviews from people I don't know but very positive comments. I finally burned myself a DVD copy and watched it last night on my HD TV at home. It was really very exciting to see it. It's really turned out quite well if I do say so myself. Almost 200 hits on youTube as well.
I keep looking for ways to promote it. Checking around for film contests or other PATV stations that might want to air it. Even after all these years I'm still not used to promoting, in essence, myself. It feels kind of strange. I have to admit I'd prefer just to stay in the background.

SECRET FORTUNES VIDEO PREMIERE

I was at PATV today and Jerrod called me into the lobby. As it turned out Secret Fortunes was being broadcast at that time. It was very unreal to see it as it was broadcast. Couldn't help but wonder if anyone was out there watching it. What did they think? Did they like it? There have also been 120 hits of Youtube and I get the same feeling. I just hope whoever caught it at least felt that it was a good 20 minutes. Sure, it'd would be great if they fell in love with it and tell everyone else about it but I'd be happy as well if they just enjoyed a brief encounter with it.
I had a small premier at the studio today. Al, Ally and Jessica got to see the completed version for the first time. One of my biggest goal was that all of the people who contributed time and effort to it walked away feeling good when it was done. I'm positive I accomplished that after seeing their reactions today. Just for fun I put together a selection of outtakes and it helped everyone release a lot of energy afterward. Since most of the cast are women I also put together some shots set to the tune of "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" by Cyndi Lauper. I really think that was an excellent way to say 'Thanks.'

SECRET FORTUNES FINAL

It's done! It's up and running and found an online home on PATV's channel at youtube. I had originally planned to add it to me own channel but they won't let me upload anything that runs longer than 15 minutes. I just haven't been active enough on youtube. The only way I could have done it on my own channel was to cut it in two and I didn't want to do that. I'm glad it found a good home.
This version is slightly different from the first one loaded up last week.
One change is I added a few shots to the ambush sequence of Gallif reacting afterwards. Before it just ended after she strikes the attacker so it didn't have any personal touches to it. Now we see her looking at the body and can see that she did not enjoy the incident. It gives the impression that what she did meant something to her. She felt it.
The second change is putting another layer of footage over one of the whispers sequences. I was thinking that there should have been some shots of her grieving the deaths of her family and friends but going back and doing another shooting just wasn't practical. What I did was layer footage of her standing, looking shocked, and holding a blood dripping sword. It gets the message that she has been surrounded by lots of violence in her life and makes the question she asks much more meaningful.
I also decided that this is it. No changes. reedits or reworking scenes, etc. I really don't like when people do that to movies. It just makes things confusing and, sometimes, just takes away from the original. This is as done as it will ever be.
Hope you can enjoy it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKaSP02FMMs&feature=uploademail