Since The San Antonio Stage Script Study Group opened its “Page to Stage” series (with the ironically titled Closure), we’ve enjoyed great meals, great discussions, and the kind of behind-the-curtain insights you don’t always recognize when you’re in the audience.
And that held true with our latest meeting. Continue reading
Were I to put a lesson to the production of Magnolia, it would have to be that patience, persistence, and preparation ultimately pay off. (Were I to put a lesson to my blogging, it might be that I rely a little too heavily on alliteration – but that’s a post for another day…)
Over six weeks, we’d had to make occasional adjustments for locations, actor availability, and especially the weather. We’d faced drought one week, deluge the next. But Nikki and Chadd had brought a great team together, so we were able to keep moving forward, knowing that as long as we kept doing our work, it would still come together.
And in our last weekend of principal photography, it really did come together. Continue reading
It pretty effectively goes without saying that filmmaking, especially independent filmmaking, is a process of adjustments. The unexpected will happen; there’s no way around that. And while I’m not entirely convinced it’s possible to expect the unexpected – if you could, it wouldn’t really be unexpected, would it? – it’s still possible to prepare for it, to be ready to make the necessary adjustments to get the shot.
Over the last few days of production, Magnolia has been an object lesson in how to be ready. Continue reading
I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be,
Am an attendant lord, one that will do
To swell a progress, start a scene or two…– T.S. Eliot
There’s a character type, originally created to build drama, that has instead become the most enduring running gag in science fiction.
And there’s a particular clothing item, of a particular color, that has been forever ruined by said character type.
If you know anything of the genre, then you may have an idea of where I’m going with this.
Or you may not…
Continue reading
My first experience as a PrimaDonna production assistant (a PDPA, if you will) was on Dating Danielle, almost exactly 5 years ago this weekend. I have a lot of great memories of those 48 hours, but one of the greatest has to be the spirit that developed between cast and crew, as we all bonded while shooting on one of the hottest days of the year.
August is funny that way… Continue reading
Even today, there’s still something to be said for the experience of seeing a movie in a theater.
I know that more or less goes without saying, but every so often I repeat said experience and remember why it matters, without entirely knowing how to articulate it. Times like that, it’s better just to let the movie speak for itself.
Which is pretty easy when we’re talking about my favorite movie.
Continue reading
While I’ve enjoyed my recent forays into performance (from Site 13 to Glamour in Glitter to my appearance at Texas Comicon), at heart I’m really a behind-the-scenes guy. I love the process, the work of making movies that most moviegoers may never see.
So I’m thrilled to be getting back to the other side of that camera for PDP‘s next project.
“I believe movies are one of the great American art forms and the shared experience of watching a story unfold on screen is an important and joyful pastime.”
– Christopher Nolan
My love of movies, and of the moviegoing experience, being more or less in the public domain, I’m aware that some among you may be waiting for my own comment about yesterday’s events.
In all honesty, I wasn’t planning on saying anything, not because I don’t care, but because I do. I don’t want to contribute to the noise that’s passing for dialogue right now. I don’t want to be a party to the rush to explain, to blame one or another facet of our society for what we can only know as the vile, heartless act of one man; the endless coverage that can serve only to make a media darling out of one more murderer. That frenzy’s not for me. Continue reading
I bought a book today.
That may require some elaboration… Continue reading
The thing I’ve noticed about my Favorite “Forgotten” Films series isn’t that most readers actually remember the films I’m writing about (the series began when I realized that everyone I know seems to recall these films, hence the use of quotation marks). It’s that nobody is surprised I love them. I’m not sure whether that’s a comment on how great these films are or on how well you really know me, though I appreciate it as a compliment either way.
That in mind, I’m fairly sure today’s entry will maintain the streak, as the film in question occupies a special place in a lot of hearts beyond my own… Continue reading
Lee Hurtado, Writer 