It’s official… I have a problem.
Now a big ass cat is out of the bag now Acolytes. We’re expanding the Sneak Previews of HORRORS OF WAR to out of state venues like Los Angeles, Austin, Seattle, San Francisco, Indianapolis, and eventually Chicago & New York. That’s right, kids. Theatrical release. I was not expecting this, but with the help of LANDMARK THEATRES, this will happen. Not bad for a first feature, eh?
The great Frasier Crane once said on Cheers in 1993, “I left this bar not six hours ago and here I am again. It’s official. I have a problem.”
Well so do I. After one public screening, and one cast & crew screening, I’m a-tinkering again. Nothing too major, but some audio tweaks and one more moving of a scene. I am moving the original scene one more time, but now it’s going to be a surprise as to where it’s at.
Yesterday I had some car trouble and whilst I waited, C. Alec Rossel brought me home & hung out for a brief time. Alec was unable to be at the first sneak preview in Columbus and has yet to see the “Directors’ Cut”. I told him verbally some of the things I did, one of which was a color correction pass using the now over-used “Saving Private Ryan/Band of Brothers” color scheme of near black & white sepia tones to give it a period look. Now for myself, during the last re-edit I tried this but hated seeing the lush & rich colors we had on film lost to a trendy look. But, as I told Alec, I didn’t tweak any settings, I just did some quick tests & said, “Nahhhh”. Alec really really wanted to see it, so I tweaked a little. Now I did a 36+ hour render to see what the entire feature looked like processed with a new scene-to-scene color correction with this look.
Let’s just say that me likes it. Me likes it lots. Hopefully this will fly with Phil & John Whitney too. Funnily enough John Whitney had wanted to do exactly this during the online edit because we talked about it over a year before. I’m making DVD’s of this version for the others and we’ll see.
I added some left out ADR tidbits of dialogue that make some more comprehensible minor points, but worth the time & effort to me. There are a few knick-knacks of audio that needed some more work to me.
So, why do this? Why tweak more? What purpose does it serve?
Well, I’m not going to do this forever. I have become a perfectionist these days. No longer will I ever say “that’s good enough”, because I want to strive for something better. I demand more of myself than anyone else. When I was a musician, the first impulse, no matter how flawed was the master. The feeling of the first take was never surpassed, and I was convinced that was the way to work. No longer do I feel that.
This pass is the absolute last time I’ll attempt to tweak or change anything with Horrors of War until someone pays me a lot of money to try this again. I learned a few things from sitting in the audience, especially this last one where it was mostly people I did not know. As a filmmaker, you want to sense and ride the wave that the audience gives you. It’s an intangible collective vibe that floats and moves with the movie.
Now, the trick is to try to sway the audience more than they sway you. Meaning, as you get better at telling stories cinematically, you want to rely solely on your instincts and get better at estimating the audience response BEFORE a public screening. There’s also the danger of becoming a slave to appeasing an audience, which is never 100% possible, only by majority consensus. For myself, I only want to get the reactions I intended as best I can. I won’t appease everybody & accept that. My tastes are slightly askew, so I can live with getting what I intend.
All this baby-changes I’m making this week for all future screenings are based on the gut vibe and emotional response the audience gave me when they all paid $ to see the film. I won’t tweak after every show based on varying results, just had this one last bit in me while the Muse was here to allow it to happen. I’ve been so burned out on Horrors of War in every except to screen it to the public as that’s the big payoff.
Sitting in a dark room with a bunch of strangers and having them watch these images flicker before their collective eyes, and the gratification of knowing that it’s being understood gives me a high that no drug can ever touch. Feeling the ebb and flow overcome an audience in the way you planned it in your imagination during writing, shooting, and editing – there’s nothing like it.
To get poetical about it, I’d say that it’s the core human instinct to create, and for me creating entertaining stories is what I’m here to do. Ever since I switched over from being a musician to filmmaker, I’ve felt a better connection to humanity. There’s this hole in my soul that finally feels full. I always felt disgruntled (does anyone ever feel “gruntled”? – Joss Whedon). I never really communicated the expressions of thought, idea, or emotion I intended. People didn’t “get it”. From my first short, the Job Interview, as bad as it was, connected with people. They really got the idea. I conveyed my thoughts and ideas in a more succinct way and that made me feel more…human.
Again, the promotional end of things is under way. We have screenings in major markets and getting Asses in seats will rely on every ounce of promotional skill I’ve ever acquired. This topic has been a sore one for me as I’ve been under attack more than an Iraqi suburb for my never-ending barrage of self-promotion. Well, kids, as I always say, if you aren’t your own #1 fan, no one else will get in line to be the first. That’s not necessarily arrogance, because it’s not about being better than anyone else, but if you aren’t proud of what you are doing, maybe you shouldn’t be doing it.
No success story has ever started with "I was afraid of how everyone would think of me, so I changed what I was doing then it all worked out great" or "I just did what everyone would have wanted me to do, and then I made it big" - find me one and I'll eat the pages. Every success story I've ever read went something like "I risked everything.." or "Everyone told me not to try" or "I knew I was breaking the mold...", at least in every success story in human history I've ever read.
Be bold. Shed the f*ck ing fear, and be yourself no matter what they say. Whatever you say or do will piss someone off. Get used to it & just do what YOU want to do. No one ever gets ahead by fearing what everyone else will think. NO ONE.
I can only speak for myself, but I don't give a sh*t what anyone thinks about me, my professionalism, or how I'm presented. That's probably why the press does fixate on me when we do this stuff. I'm not pretending to be someone I'm not. I don't pretend we made a bigger movie than what we made, and I'm not trying to win a popularity contest or impress a potential whatever’s in the future. I won't have to. The work & its successes will speak for itself, as it already has.
Shed the fear, and then you'll really start to get ahead. Nothing will worry you or hinder you. All the invisible walls that stop most people from succeed won't keep you from achieving what you desire. This isn't arrogance; it's a sense of Zen I get from jumping off the edge and not worrying about it.
Damn, I'm waxing poetic here.
The new script is underway. I’m working on revisions and notes on the screenplay. I have made a determination that I am not a writer anymore. I don’t have the passion or the patience for that craft anymore. I like shaping the story outline & coming up with ideas for story, but screenwriting itself no longer interests me. I want to be a director. I want to visualize the best way to cinematically tell a story, not type the words. I also think it will make for a better film if I have ideas coming in from other people. Defending my choices and debating why other ideas are valid can only strengthen the core screenplay that will root the entire film as a blueprint.
Surely that’s enough, Simon.
Peter DeLane and myself will be at the DGA hoping for the ruination of Terry Dixon.
Live long and perspire, my droogies.
-Piotr Johann Rosputin
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