Who Says Movie Making is Easy?

Hello readers!

Just got back from Mt. Diablo and boy are my legs tired! Well, got back Sunday but the legs are still feeling it.

Updates:

First off I got to give a big shout out to two people who've been busting their humps for the production, Monica Angulo and Angela Groppetti Kluver. Both have been hard at work searching for Concord High cheerleader uniforms from circa 1997 and have found three already! Monica has been emailing and Face Book messaging like crazy to find not only the cheer uniforms, but prom dresses from that era for the movie as well. She's also been feeding me tips on how to better market the movie and myself.

Angela has also presented her cheer coach talents to the production by offering to choreograph the background cheer leaders in a key scene of the movie. She has also mentioned being able to fill out the cheerleader extras with some of her actual students.

Awesome job ladies! Thank you!

Speaking of CHS I recently spoke to the current Principal about the possibility of shooting there next summer. The good news is he seemed open minded about the project. Plus, my biggest fear was he would say CHS would host summer school next year, but as of now he says it depends on the budget issues California has been having. The quasi bad news is he directed me to the permit request form on the school district website and it stipulates that the production would need an insurance bond. Yikes! So that's another hoop I'm going to have to jump through, eek. Any insurance specialist out there reading this? No, seriously email me: gguardado@gmail.com.

The final update is I've been meeting regularly with my producer Virginia and DP Jon and both have been giving me excellent feedback on the script. We've been focusing on logistics of scenes in the script and both have pointed out how I need to start scaling back my grandiose ideas. They've been very good about not simply agreeing with me, and that's vital. I honestly feel a director's success depends on his or her ability to work with people willing to disagree with them. It's like the emperor's new clothes, if no one says anything to critique you, you're gonna look bad (as an example I offer George Lucas's movies post divorce to Marcia Griffin, the only person who probably ever openly told him some of his ideas sucked).

Making Movie is Easy!

This is what I use to say on shoots in film school whenever we hit a seemingly insurmountable snag on a set. Mostly because I'm a smart ass, but also to remind the crew that movie making actually isn't easy; it takes hard work and sacrifice.

One of the first things I taught my video production students was "making movies is not for the faint at heart." The with a plethora of movies, TV, DVDs, and other visual media; people take for granted the work which went into making it. Sure, part of this is because people are not interested in knowing how movies and TV are made. However, a little curiosity to learn how artistic productions are created can lead to a better appreciation for the craft.

For instance, when I was shooting a project; I amazed a visitor to my set after explaining to him that the shoot we had been doing for three days was going to make up three scenes in a 15 minute movie.

To illustrate further; pick any movie in your DVD collection and realize that for every minute you see of the finished film on screen, the movie makers probably shot 10 more minutes you won't see.

One of my favorite quotes from film school was "It takes hard work even to make a bad movie!"; which couldn't more true. Good or bad, whenever you watch something in a theater or on your TV, you can be rest assured that many people worked long and hard to get it made.

To bring this full circle, working hard isn't limited to moviemaking. There's something about finishing a collaborative artistic effort that creates an uncommon bond. Whether it's the group effort to bring a play to life, shoot a movie, or TV show; when it's all said and done the experience teaches you something about yourself.

This is my way of encouraging those of you reading this to join me in my movie making adventure. Even if you come to watch for only a little bit, I promise the experience will not only teach you a lot about how a movie is made, but a lot about who you are as a person. I look forward to the new bonds that will be created, and cherish those with the people who are working on my production. I can't thank you all enough!

Lastly, I really need your help and thoughts on naming this darn movie of mine. The following are some recent ideas for a title and one of them I feel strongly in favor of (not gonna say which one). What I need is for you guys to tell me which of the titles jumps out at you positively on a gut instinct reaction. And which title do you like least. Oh and visualize the titles written in a funny 80's graphics type font. Feel free to share your thoughts and or title alterations on the comments board, or email me, Face Book message me, whatever is easiest. But please reply somehow, the lack of a title is killing me.

1. Love, Concord

2. Gerry's Conquered Love

3. Conquistador of Love

4. Diablo's Advocate

5. Gerry's Advocate

6. Playing Gerry's Advocate

Well that's all folks. Until next week.....

Forward!

-Gustavo