Of Mimes and Men

Working and collaborating with people you know and admire is always something I've taken for granted. Being a part of a Conservatory, I often am placed in casts with people whom I've shared classes, callbacks, and other activities with. I love the fact that I'm surrounded by talented people. I'd like to think that makes me better. Or at least they make me look good.

I don't want to say that I cheated, but in putting together the cast for the reading of LAN'ded, I sort of cheated. I have the luxury of having very talented people in my circle of friends that I could count on to deliver, and I'm happy to say that after our first rehearsal last week, I have no regrets. We have our next rehearsal tomorrow and we're slated for another one on Saturday. I couldn't be more excited. 

It may seem like LAN'ded is a project that only exists amongst a small group, but its nearly the exact opposite. Like Kyle said in his last post, the four main members of our creative team all live in different cities and states right now. I'm stuck in Pittsburgh until May, Kyle is constantly moving around the nation on tour (I believe he's in Detroit now...), James is in Ohio, and Dave is in Chicago, IL.

Four people. Four states. One project. Neat huh?

I'm happy to say that the sentiments I share about my cast is the same for the creative team. I never even really knew Dave until last week and I already know he's going to have loads of good ideas and input. The most I had ever talked to James was when I was kidnapped earlier this month (long story), and I can tell he's definitely got some aces up his sleeve. It looks as if I'll be blessed by being surrounded by good talent in this project as well.

---------

Like I said, we had our first rehearsal last week. Just a great success all around really. We're focusing on the 4th and 5th episode for right now. After all, that's 1/3 of the show, and a ton of material to cover quite frankly. Also, getting everyone on the same page style-wise is a BIG step in the whole process. I have something planned for next week...something BIG, something that I think will get everyone in the same frame of mind. Dare I reveal it now? Heavens no!

---------

A project like this, where the setting for our characters is essentially the imagination, allows us to do virtually anything we want with it. Puppets? Of course. Animated sections? Why not? Zombies, Mimes, and Vampires? Not even a second thought. The trick is finding a reason for having these things inhabit the environment. There's never a simple reason for having such extraordinary things exist in a normal realistic place. In shaping the script in the recent weeks, I've tried to focus on giving concrete reasons for the "why" and "how" of what is happening. 

One of the biggest enzymes for Christian's condition is the Red Bull. It's an energy drink. It gives him that much needed caffeine boost. The problem is, he relies on it. So what happens when we take away Red Bull? What happens when the brand changes, or what happens when he finally (for lack of a better word) overdoses? It may sound odd, but an addiction to Red Bull is still an addiction. 

Some of the most fun I've had in rehearsal has been asking the cast what role they think they play in Christian's life. Have they been manifested as a positive or negative form of reinforcement? You've got to think, with a character like Christian...would a vampire be a good thing or a bad thing to him? Vampires are primarily indoor creatures and are hurt when exposed to sunlight. Doesn't that sound similiar to Christian? Just food for thought.

At tomorrow's rehearsal I'm going to be taking some video...let's hope I can edit something good together. It's not the rehearsal I'm worried about...it's my editing skills. Cross your fingers!

~ Aaron J.

P.S. I apologize for the title of this post, we've REALLY gotta stop talking about mimes so often...

Its MIME turn!

It amazes me how art happens.  One minute you make a tiny mime joke... the next minute the mimes joke back... then for the next few hours, mimes rule your life.

A few weeks later, you receive a draft of script... and the mimes are there - forever immortalized in all their frightening glory...

I love art.

________________________________

As you've already been told in previous posts, I have been invited into this project in hopes of having something to offer... and I've been able to fake my way through it so far!

I find it amazing how strong friendship can be.  Here we are, currently separated by hundreds of miles (with that distance varying weekly), and - thanks to the power of technology - we have been able to collaborate on a pretty large-scale project... and gotten results!  Sure, we often find ourselves on tangents of titanic proportion - but somehow it all comes together and we accomplish something... I think we have elves...

Opening the Vault-Tec vault and see what's out there...

Geez, there hasn't been an update since the 9th but an awful lot has happened.

We've made some dramatic changes to the story in terms of how this season will end and exactly HOW it will end stylistically. Dare I tell you all how it happens? Or should I just wait and see how it goes over? Hmm, decisions, decisions... I'll say this, it will definitely end on more of a cliffhanger now. Also, Ash and I are toying with the idea that Natalie often wonders what it is like to be real. That maybe she longs to be more than just a manifestation from someone's mind. Pretty deep huh? 

We had our first cast meeting last night at my house, all huddled inside my (now changed) dining room. There were about 13 of us in all. A spot of bad luck though, when I scheduled this meeting about 10 days ago I didn't think that the Steelers AFC Championship game would be scheduled around the same time. Aren't football games supposed to happen at 1:30 and 4:45? *shrug* Regardless, we were able to hit the meeting off right around halftime so I don't think anyone was too distracted by it. Steelers won anyway :).

Telling the cast what the show was about last night was slightly...entertaining, I think may be the right word. I know a few of them knew what the show was about vaguely, but they really didn't know the overarching plot and story. It was interesting to see what they found amusing and what they didn't. To hear some of their suggestions for what we could incorporate and pay homage to in the show made me realize that I definitely made the right choices in casting. 

If all goes well in scheduling, we'll have our first real rehearsal this week with the scripts. After some careful retooling, Episode V was given a much better structure and sub-plot. I'm pretty happy with it, and in letting a few of the cast read it last night it seems like they are too. That'll be one of the big benefits of having multiple eyes on the script I think. We'll be able to get a sense of what works and what doesn't almost immediately. I'd really like to get our Christian, Izzy, and Natalie all in the same room and just improv with them, maybe have them play a few games and watch Star Trek, y'know, just to see how they respond. 

The songs are really making me happy right now, and I can't quite put my finger on it. As far as lyrics go, I know they're going to change throughout rehearsal but for the meantime I am content. The most fun song to write for me is "What It Takes To Be A Zombie" which is sort of like a jazzy-50's number. It's a character song and knowing that we have such freedom in the show makes me believe that a song that ridiculous will fit right in without any constraint. Gotta love the imagination eh? :)

March 29th isn't too far away, and there's a long road ahead, but we're hitting the ground running. Be sure to check back later this week, we'll have some pictures up from rehearsal and maybe an interview up. 

Deal or No Deal?

Ashley here! I'm watching some guy get annihilated on Deal or No Deal. He went home with either $200 or $0.01...not sure.

Anyways. Here I am! I'm Ashley, Aaron's soon-to-be co-writer and Natalie in the readings. Me, Aaron and Kyle finally got the chance to all meet in the same room at midnight a few nights ago. Lots got discussed, including my and Kyle's 'cazy' summer in New Hampshire and Kyle and Aaron's adventures with mimes. Sometimes Aaron and Kyle go off on long tangents that go over my head...or are incredibly dorky...one of the two. I left at 3am to go to sleep, and I was told they stayed up til 6am improv-ing some scenes which led to hilarity.

The first episode is going to be great. We discussed changing the fact that Christian just moved in to the idea that he moved in like, a year ago, and STILL hasn't finished unpacking his clothes and other things. Obviously he unpacked his computer and tv and stuff the moment he moved in, but definitely not his clothes and other things.

WElp, that's all for now. I'm off to watch a little more Deal or No Deal. Woo.

:)

A new beginning!

What's that? An update from me? Doesn't that mean?...

Yes, I have a working computer now. A MacBook named Starbuck to be precise.

An update means news though, so what is new?

Alot...we're talking about an entirely new 1st episode, and a different style of attacking the backstory in the show. This also means re-writing some portions of the show, but it's all for the best. Now that the first season is all but locked, everything else can begin...

Just had to drop a line in and say that, it doesn't sound like much, but it's solid ground.

Cast is coming together...and maybe this week some different members of the team will update? Time will tell! 

World 2-1

Well, it's here, Christmas break.

I'm happy to say that the goals I set for myself to meet by Christmas Break...are mostly done. Had I not decided to go back and re-write most of the episodes, then my goal would've been met, but essentially the 7-episode cycle is done. There's just a ton of editing to do.

Kyle showed me some sketches of the Cortex puppet yesterday during a 1 A.M. rendezvous at Eat n' Park. This rendezvous may or may not have also included a conversation that alluded to us doing an homage to Ghostbusters during an episode with Pirate Ghosts. Hey, it's the imagination, anything is possible. :-)


Sadly though, my editing is being delayed due to the fact that my laptop won't allow me to stay on it for any more than 30 minutes, or so it seems. Poor girl, she's on her last legs. I tried e-mailing Ash our outlines and it won't let me get that far because apparently Gmail is a little too much for Navi to handle. Oh well, Hakuna Matata. A little R&R will be good because this whole month has been work work work.

To those of you who've contacted me regarding wanting to help out, that's AMAZING. I didn't think I'd be getting a response like that so soon. Once I secure a date for the staged readings, then I may be contacting you, but for now your just fueling my fire for making this thing go right.

Off to Erie where there's no High-Speed Internet and no Xbox Live, but plenty of fun.

Merry Christmas to all!

Leveling Up?

I'll never claim to have the best workstation in the world. Oftentimes, my room has at least 1 light bulb burnt out. Nevertheless, I love my desk and all of its little inconveniences. However, in the past week I've tried to edit some episodes and every time I start to get somewhere, my Laptop decides to die. To those to know my computer, you know what I am talking about. She chugs along, barely keeping iTunes open while Final Draft is up, and if I am lucky, on the holiest of days, she'll let me have AIM open as well. I'm afraid those days may be long gone.

Yes, it may be time to put my Laptop down.

Navi (as I named it), was given to me roughly 4 and a half years ago and ever since one day Sophomore year, she's been slowly dying. I can't put a finger on exactly what happened, or how it started, but it may be time to pull the plug. I'm hoping to upgrade to a MacBook, making the upgrade from PC to Justin Long, er, Mac. This way I can post videos, pictures, and other productive things. My current PC won't even play videos. Anyway, we'll see. Money doesn't grow on trees, no matter how many nickels and dimes I plant in the back yard.

-----

I once again have to applaud people's enthusiasm towards this project. People are volunteering to give me things to use for the zombies and vampires. Granted, I do live in Pittsburgh and Monroeville Mall is just a stone's throw away so zombie make-up is as essential and bread and water here, but it's still a nice gesture.

-----

Also, speaking of zombies, check out the Toby puppet here

-----

Speaking of puppets (how's that for a train of thought?) I really need to find some puppets for these readings. I've only ever assisted in making puppets and have never actually MADE anything. That's what Kyle and Joey did, the most I ever amounted to was making a Sai for the TMNT movie. If the Prop Shop at school blows up, they'll at least know who did it.

-----

We had a little video conference of sorts today to talk about the show. I drew up a little outline for Ashley, Kyle, and James to look at and peruse. We talked about the way the show was going, and where we thought it would eventually lead and all that cool stuff. It never ceases to amaze me how people's creativity sparks different ideas. Ideas I've never even thought about but are VERY interesting. Needless to say, today was fantastic for getting some insight into where the show could lead, and its also giving me a different idea about how the last two episodes should end...

It's all happening :)

~ Aaron J.