Drafty Thoughts

There's something so cozy about lying in bed, watching Jack, Janet and Chrissy get mixed up in another classic misunderstanding. Sawdust cake and streaking? Oh my! Those crazy kids and their wacky shenanigans!

I'm supposed to be doing a final read-through of le script, now that we're done all our collaborative edits... but I kinda don't feel like it. At least not at this very moment in time.

After all our long days and late nights of tweaking, we still only managed to get it down to 122 pages. I'd  really like to cut at least two more pages off. (In screenplay format, one page = one minute.)

Meanwhile, Jim figures that since we'll need to include our proposed changes for the next draft when we submit this one to Telefilm, perhaps that can be one of our goals -- to cut the script down to 115 pages or whatever. Ideally, I'd like to aim for 110, but I don't think that's going to be possible, unless we cut entire scenes. There are a couple super quick scenes I'd personally like to hack because I don't feel they amount to much, but collectively they barely add up to a page, so it's not like it would make much of a difference anyway.

Oh well, who knows, there's a chance they may still end up on the cutting room floor... and we'll get our 110 minute movie.

It's so interesting to see how much our script has changed since our very first (awful) stab at it back in April 2006. This was the draft I fondly refer to as the "Donovan's Brows Raise"version. Ha ha ha!  We were trying sooo hard to avoid exposition, that when we did our final read through we realized that we both seemed to write "Donovan's brows raise" every time we wanted to describe his facial expression for a whole range of emotions.  It was quite hilarious, actually. Which just goes to show why you DON'T let anyone read your first draft. It's guaranteed shit.

Honestly, when I compare our award-winning draft with the version we have today, it was total shite as well... definitely better than our first draft, but not at all ready to be made into a movie. Unfortunately, while complex is good, confusing is not. I seriously don't know how we ever managed to place in any competition with such a cerebral plot.

DE has come incredibly far over these last three and a half years, that while the overall premise is the same, the story has changed dramatically. Although after staring at those pages day in and day out for so long, I sometimes worry what if our story actually sucks, but we're in too deep to realize it. I've seen so many good ideas gone bad when translated to film. In what negative ways might ours come across, (and more importantly, how can we avoid it?)

Will it be too somber n' moody? Too preachy? Too slow? Too confusing?

I certainly don't expect everyone to like it. I know what kinds of movies a lot of our friends and families enjoy... and unfortunately DE doesn't fit into the cotton candy genre. So, that's sometimes weighs on my mind as well.

I know when DE comes to theaters (which could potentially be a super limited release) that we'll have friends n' family say they like it - or at least convince themselves that they do - but in all reality, it probably won't be everyone's cup of tea. And while I'm fine with that, because I know the movie will find an audience somewhere, it does bother me the tiniest bit to know that we'll have worked so hard on something and that no matter how great it turns out, in the end, it will still be completely subjective to individual tastes.

I sometimes try to step back and decide if DE will be the kind of movie that I could fall in love with... or even enjoy after repeat viewings? It's incredibly hard to sever the cord between yourself and your art. To look at things with fresh eyes, as though you were seeing it from an outsider's perspective.

And on that note, I guess I should try to erase my mind as I do a final read through of this latest draft to see how it flows, so we can finally send it off to les producers.

Wish us luck!