Chris Rock, Dennis Dugan, Adam Sandler and My Wife, Betty K. Bynum!!!

Helloooooo….

Well, I am wrapping up work on my current Adam Sandler project (“Untitled” so far) and will be hitting the streets looking for some gigs.

The money must keep flowing.

The director, a very cool gentleman named Dennis Dugan has given me additional scenes to do than the original plan.  Thank God, as another film I had going fell apart (for the time being) and I need the income.

Dennis often has to “sell” his vision and ideas on scenes to Adam, who is a smart businessman and knows what he wants. Dennis knows how many frames he needs to sell his point.  Some people want to see a lot. Adam and his crew have so much going on that little is good and filling.

I’ve been working on boards for mostly gags.  Certain scenes in this movie have mild to mid stunts attached in addition to C.G.I. or “practical” or on the set special effects.

Just last Friday, Dennis let me sit on a meeting with he, his first A.D. and a C.G.I. company vying for a job on the show. Very informative.  The company was previously sent a copy of my boards for the scene that needs C.G.I.

From there, they can plan their bid and figure out how long the shots would take to produce.

I am still storyboarding on the STORYBOARD PRO program and then turning the frames into JPG’S.  From there, I can set the frames up as I wish, add type or any use of PHOTOSHOP or PAINTER.

If I get some more down time, I will get back to my passion, screenwriting. BIG IF. I want time, but not TOO much time.

I visited my wife, BETTY K. BYNUM on the set of my previous film, DEATH AT A FUNERAL. It stars Chris Rock, Martin Lawrence, Tracey Morgan, James Marsden, Luke Wilson and others. The director, another friend of a few years, Neil LaBute gave Betty a few lines in the film and her one day of filming turned into three.

Betty got to know Chris Rock a little and from what I have seen and heard from many, Chris is one of the NICEST and down to earth people in the business. Eats with the crew, DOESN’T cut the line, and never plays the “star” role. He, Will Smith and George Clooney probably have the best reputations in the business.

So, I must now get back to cracking.

 

Severe Storyboard Grind

Currently, I am working on a new project during the day and another during the nights and weekends. The night/weekend gig is something that doesn’t need super tight drawings, and so I can let the storytelling carry the load.

Storytelling is something that has to stay strong or else one gets fired.

When I find myself overloaded and I can’t do all the work, I do what many artists in the comic book field do .  In other words, I have to sub-contract to a trusted artist who can add some shading to my work or add a little line work.

I still have to take all meetings, do all the layouts, and make any corrects the director needs.

If you can avoid it, do DO NOT double dip, unless you are young, don’t have a wife and kid, and know just how to work it. This has only happened as one gig was looking for financing and had an approximate date. The other came into being just as I had free time before the upcoming job.

I couldn’t pass up a job, and I also didn’t know if the second gig would come through or not. Plus, both jobs had people I really wanted to work with.

It’s either feast or famine and I am very tired. But, it beats being broke.

THE AMAZING DRAWING MACHINE…

Well,I missed the last few weeks with you my friends, do to an onrush of work.

Ihad been working on the remake of DEATH AT A FUNERAL (because two years betweenversions is not too soon) for the better part of a month. It was a lot of funto work with Neil Labute, whom I’ve known about five years and the D.P. RogierStoffers, who was a joy.

Neilwas busy re-working the script and so I worked directly with Rogier (pronounced“Ro-hair”).  He likes to shot listbut he certainly gave me some creative room. Rogier very smart  and generous, and knew what shots hecould not do because of time and logistics.

Andexample would be a shot I had where a character (played by Luke Wilson) gettingout of a car. I had designed a camera pulling out of the car window. 

Well,as Rogier told me, the car would be on a rig (where the actors only pretend todrive as the car is pulled on a platform. I then redrew the frame with astationary camera and the character would move out of the camera frame, butstay on the platform.

I wrappedthat film last week, and started my fifth Adam Sandler (known for now as “THELAKEHOUSE PROJECT”) the next day! Director Dennis Dugan and I have workedtogether ever since my two day stint on “BIG DADDY”. We have developed a great shorthand in between our “playing the dozens” and generally goofing around.

Dennisalso has a baseball prodigy son named Kelly, who will be tearing up collegebaseball very, very soon.  Kelly isa nice of a young man as he is a baller.

“Doogie”doesn’t really shot list with me. We’ll discuss a scene thoroughly, and thenDennis will let me go off and do sketches. Then, a day or two later I getnotes. Then I do changes as I do finishes.

Nextweek, I’m starting yet another film. More on that…

THE AMAZING DRAWING MACHINE…

Well, I missed the last few weeks with you my friends, do to an onrush of work.

I had been working on the remake of DEATH AT A FUNERAL (because two years between versions is not too soon) for the better part of a month. It was a lot of fun to work with Neil Labute, whom I’ve known about five years and the D.P. Rogier Stoffers, who was a joy.

Neil was busy re-working the script and so I worked directly with Rogier (pronounced “Ro-hair”).  He likes to shot list but he certainly gave me some creative room. Rogier very smart  and generous, and knew what shots he could not do because of time and logistics.

And example would be a shot I had where a character (played by Luke Wilson) getting out of a car. I had designed a camera pulling out of the car window. 

Well, as Rogier told me, the car would be on a rig (where the actors only pretend to drive as the car is pulled on a platform. I then redrew the frame with a stationary camera and the character would move out of the camera frame, but stay on the platform.

I wrapped that film last week, and started my fifth Adam Sandler (known for now as “THE LAKEHOUSE PROJECT”) the next day! Director Dennis Dugan and I have worked together ever since my two day stint on “BIG DADDY”. We have developed a great short hand in between our “playing the dozens” and generally goofing around.

Dennis also has a baseball prodigy son named Kelly, who will be tearing up college baseball very, very soon.  Kelly is a nice of a young man as he is a baller.

“Doogie” doesn’t really shot list with me. We’ll discuss a scene thoroughly, and then Dennis will let me go off and do sketches. Then, a day or two later I get notes. Then I do changes as I do finishes.

Next week, I’m starting yet another film. More on that…