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As some of you might know by know, I'm going to film Bert's short Them That's Dead and I thought it would be fun to share the process here since we are both long time board members and we would share the experience from both the writer's and filmmaker's side.
The script was written for the February -11 OWC where the challenge was
I loved Bert's script and decided to make a pirate film out of it. I asked Bert if he would let me and he said yes. The film will be shot in St. Augustine Florida. It's a very cool town. One of the oldest cities in the US and it has an old fort, Castillo de San Marcos. It also has a pirate ship! Pirates are big in this town and it's full of pirate reenactors.
I'm going there on Sunday to look at locations and also talk to some people including the owner of the Pirate Museum. Will share pictures here when I get back. After I decide on what locations to use I will ask Bert to change the script to fit these locations. It's really just two locations. The rest will be b-roll. Right now I'm thinking the digging up of the corpse will be shot at night on the beach under (hopefully) a full moon. The end scene with the treasure that took place in a cave in the original script will be shot somewhere in the fort where the old stone walls would work well.
We've all heard the old cliche stories of where some jackass producer insisted on putting his girlfriend/daughter in the film...well, my daughter really really wants to be in this one. Now I have to ask Bert if he can add another small role for her.
Anyway, feel free to offer thoughts, advice, suggestions or questions to either me or Bert here in regards to anything about this film or script.
The Elevator Most Belonging To Alice - Semi Final Bluecat, Runner Up Nashville Inner Journey - Page Awards Finalist - Bluecat semi final Grieving Spell - winner - London Film Awards. Third - Honolulu Ultimate Weapon - Fresh Voices - second place IMDb link... http://www.imdb.com/name/nm7062725/?ref_=tt_ov_wr
I still remember the first time I read Them. It was my first OWC, and prior to that, I don't think I had ever read a short. Bert's came out with the first released batch of scripts, maybe 8 or 9. As luck would have it, I read his last.
So it was late at night. I had read the others, and sorry to say, was not very impressed. I was about to go to sleep, I had this one more script to go, and decided to at least open it and try it out.
Amazingly, the dialogue was so good, the story woke me up! I really enjoyed the read. So Them goes down in my personal history as the first short I would read and enjoy. We just had an OWC, and it's already hard to remember what most of them were about. But I can still remember Them That's Dead, so the words left an indelible impression.
Figured I would do a quick hello on this thread as well.
I think this sounds like a lot of fun, too. I am sure I will learn something along the way, so I guess it is cool to share with everyone else.
As Pia mentioned, we will be adjusting the script to suit whatever she can or cannot find or do -- so I also thought this thread might be a good place to put some story-related questions out there if we hit a mental roadblock along the way.
As for the producer seeking to shoehorn her daughter into the script -- well, anyone who has seen Pumpkin Nightmare should understand why I have no objections to adding an additional sailor...
I will really enjoy watching this as it unfolds and seeing the creative spirit in real live action. My goal always is to seize on the little things, (I know Kevin's like that, too) and really ask why they have purpose? Why they should or shouldn't belong in a script? Why they might have even been fine in a script, but when you're out shooting, "Low and behold! Look at that!" And all of a sudden something else... A happy accident occurs and how could you not include it? Even if it's not written in.
This will be really a lot of fun for me. I live for fun.
Award winning screenwriter Available screenplays TINA DARLING - 114 page Comedy ONLY OSCAR KNOWS - 99 page Horror A SONG IN MY HEART - 94 page Drama HALLOWEEN GAMES - 105 page Drama
I bet those pirate roleplayers even know of a pirate band!
I lived in Tallahassee prior to my big move up north -- hoping to get back down South someday -- but the point is, thinking on it now I recall there WAS a pirate band in Tallahassee (of all places).
The only run in I have had with pirates in Florida was in Millers off the 192 where I tried to eat a dessert for four called Captain Jack's Secret Treasure. It beat me, just about the first time, but I returned and kicked it's ass the second time around.
One of my favourite short's, can't wait to see the end result - I think I read it and then reread it about another 4-5 times
I lived in Tallahassee prior to my big move up north -- hoping to get back down South someday -- but the point is, thinking on it now I recall there WAS a pirate band in Tallahassee (of all places).
This thread will be fun to watch, a fan of this script as well. After watching Pumpkin Nightmare, I can tell you understand film very well. The pacing was spot on. Will love to see what you can do with this. It is a monster in comparison. No pun intended.
Bert, is this the first thing you've ever had produced? Never saw any short films with your name on them here. Find that hard to believe, or, if you're like many, had something so badly produced you can't sully the boards with it... Aargh...
I think this is Bert's first unless he just haven't told us about his films.
A lot goes into making a film, even a short and unless you're just doing a talking head piece it's not as easy as some might think.
My intention here is to make something good enough to submit to festivals, but we'll see how it turns out. I'm going to use pro crew and cast. Hopefully I can find both in St. Auggie so I don't have to pay for hotel costs and such for people out of town.
As far as rewrites being posted here goes, I'll leave that totally up to Bert. I have no problem with it at all. In fact it might be good to show others in case someone would have any great suggestions.
Right now, my biggest concern is the shark teeth... I'm pretty sure I can find a good looking corpse, but I need one with shark teeth...
Going to check locations tomorrow. Hopefully will have some pics tomorrow night.