Strictly Personal

• Celtx: this is what I use most of the time.
• Scrivener: it has a screenplay module which I don’t use, mostly because it doesn’t translate well into Celtx. But the fullscreen mode is so awesome, so much so that I am writing my feature length screenplay within this application (in novel format). When I am done, I will port it over to Celtx.
• Montage: checked it out when it first came out and wasn’t sold. Should try it again.
• Final Draft: the expensive industry standard.
• Movie Magic Screenwriter: another expensive industry standard.
• NovaMind: motivation behind writing this. Looks great for organizing elaborate plots.

Atom Egoyan’s best work. One of the biggest reasons for me to quit business school and become a filmmaker. It was my secret film that nobody (at that time) had seen or even heard of. When people talked about their great films, I thought about Exotica. I aspired to make this.

I was working at the now defunct 68th Street Playhouse when the movie opened there. This is one of those movies I could watch over and over again. It was made for me at that moment and place in time. It was perfect for someone who couldn’t see it all the way through. Perfect for an usher to steal a moment and watch a scene from the movie.

• Love the structure. Eternally moving. Even now those characters keep in that tight circle.
• The powerful ending. It is not never about the plot as it is about healing and mystery.
• The scene where he sits there in that bare bedroom and turn on & off the light. Damn good. That was me then.
• The space of the strip joint. It was so well established. You wanted to be there.
• The see through mirrors at the strip club.
• Then there are the mirrors in customs, like the strip club.
• The gay relationship was odd.
• The conversation between the searchers. I can’t remember what they talked about but it just has this beautiful sadness. Love blossoming near death.
• Exotica = pets, exotica = sex.
• Perfect casting.
• The DJ’s intro to the girls. “What makes a teenage so enticing” monologue. It is brutally honest and yet introspective. Even today, when I buy fast food, I still remember his line that goes something like “they haven’t been spoiled with fast food”.
• Those haunting home videos.

Boy, I hate hearing myself. At least Andy sounded good, he has that warm radio voice. Listen to it here.

World peace excretions as I like to call them.

I won’t need a laptop if the iPhone works with a bluetooth keyboard or even with a keyboard with a iPod dock built in. I know somebody has to be working on this, especially now that there is all kinds of excitement for the iPhone SDK.

BTW, I am getting a iPhone 3G when my Blackberry dies.

Inquiring minds: Do you really need it?

Me: Yes, yes, yes. Please believe me.

Here is how it stands, I either get a laptop or an iPhone so I can work on the road. My G5 is getting old so I rather spend money on a new desktop instead of a laptop as desktops are generally better for editing and last so many more years.  An iPhone with a keyboard will not let me edit but I can write which is the biggest reason why I need a mobile device. See, doesn’t that make perfect sense?

Inquiring minds: You going to write  on that small screen?

Me: Yes, yes, yes. Why don’t you believe me?

This past weekend, Kel and I acted in someone else’s film. It was a big production, at least for a short film. Couple of notes to myself:

• Acting is fun. Especially when the director loves what you are doing. The old adage of “actors work best in conditions that are fun and encouraging” is so true. This was my first time in front of the camera in such an extensive way, so there is a chance that a more seasoned actor would appreciate more criticism. But I doubt it because I think it is such an instinctual thing. Criticism tends to bring out cerebral choices.
• Actors work when the crew is still while crew works when actors are still.
• Acting is so much about paying attention. Not concentration necessarily but attention. Be aware of what is happening in the moment. Don’t stress about it, relax. This worked for me, not sure it would work for every actor or every scene.
• I felt like a baby. Like I needed help. Whether it was simply getting something or even in terms of knowing what to do. Ajit the actor to Ajit the director, help them as much as possible. It is not about attention as the cliche goes.
• I was allowed to play with the character, the most fun. Ask actors to be themselves but having an adventure. Adventure can be substituted with many other words like fun, play, sad…

Can’t wait to do it again. Might take it all back if I look or sound like a moron.

May 2008 was a busy month for us. We were involved in so many productions including some of mine. Here are photos from that busy month.

One of my favorite quotes are the lines from Arthur Penn’s Little Big Man.

Old Lodge Skins, the wise Indian who wants to die looks up into the clouds and says:

Come out and fight! It is a good day to die! Thank You for making me a Human Being! Thank You for helpin’ me to become a warrior! Thank You for my victories, and for my defeats! Thank You for my vision, and the blindness in which I saw further! You make all things and direct them in their ways, O Grandfather. And now You have decided the Human Beings will soon walk a road that leads nowhere. I am gonna die now, unless death wants to fight. And I ask You for the last time to grant me my old power to make things happen.

The video.

Especially resonant is the thanks for becoming a warrior. This has something I have learned slowly and steadily. It doesn’t necessarily mean that I have learned to fight but that I have learned to be courageous to do what I want to do.

I spent this past sunday shooting some new scenes and reshooting others for Hello. Sorry. Whatever. I woke up the next morning so elated. I don’t think this has ever happened after a day of shooting. I am usually full of regrets. Mad at myself for this and that. But this time, it worked, I had resources, I had help, I was patient with myself, people were patient with me. And most importantly, the crew had a blast doing it.

Part of this I attribute to my maturity, both as a filmmaker and as a person. The other reason would be the presence of Todd Tinkham, a local filmmaker who played the part of cinematographer for the day. And…and…I had extras!

Lastly, this Obama poster captures what I am trying to say above. Things happen when people come together forcefully for a common goal. Great things.

Designed by Brazilian graphic designer named Daniel Molin. Found here.