On the Second day of Shakespeare.

Crikey! Forgot a post yesterday. Oh well.

I'm going to talk about money today. I'm going to reflect on how much money was spent and what I learned from spending that money.

Here is what the top sheet looks like for the final cost report turned in to my capstone instructor, Lisa Cook:

First off let me explain a couple things-

I had originally budgeted for approximately $2200. This is what I had projected to spend (this includes a 200 contingency). The total budget, $2500, is what I actually had to spend. So in actuality I had an extra $300 dollars that I didn't tell anyone about.

Why did I hide $300 dollars? It was more of a mind trick I sometimes do when I budget in my every day life. I only allows myself to spend a fraction of what I actually have in case of an emergency.

Though this time around it didn't really help much, because I kept thinking about that extra contingency. I didn't keep my spending down as much as I should have. But at times I had to spend a whole bunch of money at once and I couldn't really keep an accurate record of what I was spending (at the time). My mind was preoccupied with a lot of logistic problems as well, and throwing money at it was the best fix - one day I had to rent a U-HAUL to store some pieces of set dressing, and I didn't account for not knowing anyone with a truck to move it. That set me back a good $100. And renting ANOTHER, bigger truck the week of production was also pretty damn expensive. This is mentioned in the top sheet above.

We also spent more than I expected in camera gear, but I think it was probably the best purchase made, other than food. I budgeted roughly $350 on food, but a lot of the food was bought and prepared fresh so I had to spend a little more (one day we had leftovers though, which wasn't too bad).

Anyway, things I learned:
- Make sure you rent your trucks and find your transportation in advance. Really shop around for the best deals.
- Budget a little extra on food if you really want good food

Thanks to Christina for helping get this budget report together, and for helping to get all the receipts organized during the production. She's a real life-saver!

Lots of updates today. First week of school, what can I say?

During the first week of school I asked myself if I had bitten off more than I can chew with 4 classes, each involving their own special amount of attention from me. I probably did and I will likely learn this by the end of the semester. Right now I am just going to take things as they come to me.

New draft of the script here. After hearing some of the lines out loud of the previous draft, a lot of things didn't gel with me, so I included some more character development in places that I thought should need it, while also deleting or shortening scenes, and trying to keep some of the funny in it too.

One thing that a lot of people have been commenting on the script is that Dr. Shakespeare's name is too distracting. Perhaps if you read it off the page, seeing "Shakespeare" every two or three lines would be distracting. Though characters only say it once or twice throughout the whole script. When we reach the end product it won't as distracting as people currently think it is. That's a promise.

And as for why he's named Shakespeare.. Well, that's a good question. Many things go unexplained in the film, kind of like when someone gets shot in a cartoon and nobody gets hurt. In one scene, for example, Junior brings up the question of where they get all the donor bodies from - the film nor any character ever offers an explanation. The film is intentionally full of questions without answers. His name is one of those questions.

Pitch is next week. I'm making a powerpoint including some storyboards that Beth and I drew up, plus it one or two that I've animated. I'll post those after the pitch along with how the pitch went next post. I will have one of my producers join me for it as well.

What's that? I have producers? After searching high and low for a producer, I now have two:
Welcome Christina Hebert and Lindsay Garvin to the project! They will offer logistic and scheduling advice as well as recruiting a talented crew for me.

Chris Tharp has graciously signed on to DP. He'll be recruiting his own camera crew and I'm very excited to be working with them as well.

Matt Deicke has also been working hard for me as well as my casting director. He's been immensely helpful and we even have a casting session set up at Full Sail on September 5th. We hope to have a big turnout. I have even posted ads on various local casting websites.

Some bad news with my Production Designer, Sara. Her school schedule doesn't allow her as much free time as she'd hoped so she had to resign. Completely understandable. But luckily, her boyfriend, Mike Santini, is prepared and available to take over the position. Sara will be taking an advisory role from now on, but I appreciate all the effort she has already put into the project.

That's all for now folks. I will let you know what happens after the pitch!

The crew so far.

The newest, more final version of the script can be downloaded here. Fixed typos and a new ending!

What? New ending? What's wrong with the old one? I'll talk about that when I have a slower week.

There were a few snags in recruiting crew. Kind of feeling like I'm running behind, but I hope to have my key players set by the first Capstone class: Producer, Production Designer, DP, and 1st Assistant Director.

So far let's list everyone who's signed on 100%:
Production Designer: Sara Englehardt
Set Builder/Key Grip: Jayson Caissie
Storyboard Artist: Beth Stuebben

Not a bad start, I don't think. Sara was the Production Designer on A Beautiful Belly, a local UCF-affiliated feature that I had the distinct pleasure of working on over the summer. We met to talk about the script earlier this week and she had some amazing ideas. Jason and Beth are both good friends of mine with their own special skills, and I've done a lot with them this week as well.

I had a producer, but now I don't. I've sent out emails to prospective people interested, based on a list received from Lisa Cook, and some friends for possible referrals. So far I've gotten about 3 bites and I'm waiting to hear back from them. I'm talking to someone about Cinematography, though I have not had a chance to meet with them. Same goes for the 1st A.D. position.

I've completed the storyboards with Beth, so hopefully I will have those available to post soon!