Production Diary: Pre-Production Part One

On 08 June 2010, I posted an ad at Craig's List looking for crew for the film. The ad said this:

...

Well, I *could* post the text of the ad, if I hadn't deleted it already. I did that right before I started writing this blog post. The well-organized person within me said "Hey, let's delete that Craig's List ad before anyone else responds", and did it right away. The writer in me decided that the text of the ad would be a groovy thing to put in this "story so far..." kind of article. Only the writer in me is a little too stoned to speak up enough to drown out the well-organized person, so it's needs were heard too late. Bugger.

What the ad basically said was that I was looking for a camera operator to work on a low/no budget film called "Dark of Moon". The post was  written in my "laid back" style, because I'm just not ready to put on my "boring old business-man" hat just yet. Once this film is made, and 
we're trying to distribute it, *then* I'll write nice, concise, dreadfully dull prose meant to impress office managers and not scare away the generously wealthy.

Once I wrote the ad, a good friend of mine (who just happens to be an ace cameraman) sent me a message on Facebook telling me that what I  *really* wanted to say was that I was looking for a DP (Director of Photography, NOT "Double Penetration", you filthy-minded perverts!) / 
Cinematographer, not just a camera-operator. I guess I can craft a well-written ad (while spelling "colour" with a "U"...get used to it),  but the movie jargon stuff is still growing on me.  

The end result is, we now have a Director of Photography (who will be henceforth known as the DP, filthy minds be damned). I'll say just who once I get a few more crew positions nailed down, and then have a "meet the crew"-type post (which, while it may be more informative than the Ben Stiller film "Meet the Frockers", will almost certainly be funnier as well). So I took the ad down. About five minutes too soon.

Dammit.

Anyway, this is going to be the space where we, the cast and crew of "Dark of Moon", keep everyone apprised of our progress towards making this movie available to the public at large. I'll try to make this interesting...getting lost in the details may be fine for Virgos (myself), Capricorns (my DP), and other earth signs, but it can get dreadfully dull for anyone else. Being that this film is a comedy, I'll try to make this blog as entertaining as I can.

I'll probably be more verbose earlier on...as we start principal photography, my posts may just be scenes shot, people involved, etc. But I will try to keep up.

Oh, and I should probably spill the beans and announce my Co-Producer, because she'll most likely be writing bits to put up here fairly soon. Her name is Leigh Adamkiewicz, and I met her while writing the independent TV show "Quarter Bin". We wound up being the writing dynamic duo on THAT show, and she's been kind enough to volunteer to help me bring my vision to fruition on this film.

I'll also be announcing casting decisions once we have the cast in place. Anyone in Northeastern Ohio who wants to send in a headshot and bio to be contacted when we have a casting date, well...I'll be putting up a Craig's List ad soon, so I'll link to it once I have the ad in place. I'll also record the text of the ad here, so my more-organized self won't tidy another piece of my film's history into oblivion.

Until next time,

Cheers!

- Taliesin