January 6/January 12, 1998

Hard to believe it was 1998 when we really started moving forward on this. Previously Rick Ganz and I had worked to get two movies going forward, even casting both. But right before we could get them off of the ground they would fall through.

For the record, they were "Lucky Ones"(a standard kids-trapped-in-woods horror with some interesting kills) and "High"(a slacker-with-a-gun that I wrote from an idea from Rick). We actually had a poster for "High" featuring Rick with a girl he may have been banging. The sans-chick poster is above, presented only for posterity and my embarrassment--that's what a guy with Photopaint(not Photoshop) and no skills can come up with.

I felt like this was my last chance. I couldn't go through the whole process again, telling friends/family that we're doing a movie only to have it collapse. So it was with a bit of desperation that we went headlong into this.

January 6, 1998
The shooting script is done! And I thought the script was tough. The shooting script is a detailed list of how I'd like the movie to look when it's done. Of course, this is only my version of the shooting script. But for me, this is easiest, since I can now see what shots I need.

So I had to watch the whole movie in my head, scene by scene and write down the shots. In case you're not used to my lingo, CU is Close Up(head shot), MED CU is medium close up(forehead to adam's apple), MEDIUM is waist to head, OTS is over the shoulder, WIDE encompasses the whole room.
Keep in mind that these are my definitions of the shots. D.P.'s have wide-ranging definitions of the shots; everyone has their preferences.

January 12th, 1998

Working on the script breakdown now. With this, you're breaking every scene down into its parts and especially trying to keep track of who's in the scene, what special F/X are needed, what time of day the scene is, and any props that might be needed.

There's other stuff that can be included. The more info you put in now, the less time you'll spend hunting for that info later.