Color Motifs: How to be a True Artist

A goal of mine with OotGG was to really push myself. One of the ways I wanted to achieve that goal was to actually put a lot of thought into the film. Movies are, obviously, a visual medium and my plan to give depth to the script by adding visual themes and cues. I figured that this would help me become a better filmmaker and artist.

This is how much of an artist I want to be. 

I wanted to create a "look" and a "feel" to the movie. The story of OotGG is about Caleum having a mix of sadness and rage within him that he keeps deep inside. He locks these feelings away. Suppressing them until they explode out of him during acts of violence. When he is fighting or collecting money from a poor soul who borrowed from the wrong people. A storm rages through Caleum and I need to find a way to capture it on camera. To capture the feelings and emotions of the characters, other than acting, was to create a color palette and a lighting chart.

Caleum's fall from grace is like that of a approaching storm. I found a color palette that I feel would work as a "look" for the movie. The palette is called, appropriately, Incoming Storm. 

Storms a brewin.

The colors are, what I fell, capture that feeling. Now I know that I cannot make the whole movie have this look because the budget is, effectively, nothing. Which is a post for another time. The plan is to incorporate these colors in as much scenes as we can. I wanted the movie to look like it is perpetually in a oncoming thunderstorm. We'll see if it happens.

I also designed color motifs for each of the main characters. Again, I wanted to add a little more depth to the project. I know I haven't talked much about the other characters, so I will give a brief run down of each one.

Caleum -
Caleum's colors will be dark, neutral colors. Grays, blacks, dark browns. The color of a approaching storm. In the epilogue, he will be in dark colors, but will have a slight purple. This is to show that he has accepted the life of a criminal and is in line with King James. 

Abby-
 While only in the film in the beginning, Abby is one of the most important characters. She will be dressed in light blues. Light blue is the color of honesty and speaking ones mind. She is the one who tells Caleum what she thinks and how it is. The colors will also be muted as she is on her death bed.

Toby -
Toby is Caleum's old friend from high school.
Representing friendship and Caleum's one chance at getting out of the violent path he is taking, Toby will be dressed in yellow. Yellow is the color of friendship. Not an obnoxious shade of yellow, maybe a dull pastel. In the three year epilogue, Toby's color will be gray, which is to represent him being indifferent to Caleum. He has no more emotional attachment to Caleum, as he now knows the life he leads.  

Two-Bit -
The man who inducts Caleum into his life of crime. 
Two-Bit is the poison that infects Caleum. Dressed in fake and flashing clothing such as leathers, jerseys and etc. Two-Bit has created this image of what he is because he is hollow and fake. The clothing should be obnoxious to represent his show boating type personality. In the final scene in which Caleum confronts Two-Bit and murders him, Two-Bit will be dress in simple undergarments. To show that in this moment, he is a real and truest moment. Which makes the death more atrocious. Caleum kills Two-Bit when he is at his most base and human. 

Raymond 'King' James -
The father that Caleum always wanted who is the head of a small town criminal institution.
Not only is King James dressed in dark, gothic colors, but accentuated with purple. Purple is a color of royalty and what kings would be robed in. King James fancies himself a king of his empire. Along with his royal coloring, he will have a couple of jeweled golden rings. 

All the colors still have a bit of the original storm palette, but with their own colors to make their characters unique. These are my thoughts of coloring the characters of OotGG. I really enjoyed doing this exercise. I felt that it helped me get more invested into the project and was more than just getting a group of actors together and going through the scene. Gave a little more depth to the characters I've created. Hopefully we will be able to accomplish this in the final product. Basically, I wanted to validate all my worthless film knowledge that I have accumulated over the years to make myself feel good.

There are other ways to make myself feel good...

Descent into Writing: It Never Ends

I wrote OotGG about two years ago in a few days. I felt really good about it. The story just flowed out. In some ways, it felt like magic. The only problem was that I wanted to shoot OotGG, which meant one thing:

Rewrites. Endless rewrites.

I am not a big fan of rewriting.  I have written about five full length scripts. When I finish with one, I get a feeling of pride, print it out and than never really look at it again. Probably not the best attitude to have. Lord knows I'm only human.

Even though I wanted to be a Lizardman. Thanks a lot, God.

This was a time that I couldn't just write the movie and leave it. I had to do rewrites. Even if I didn't want to, but as I said at the start of this production log; this project was pushing my limits in many different aspects. Over the last couple years, I have been rewriting OotGG on-and-off. I would pick it up, read through it, make a couple changes and then put it back. It wasn't till about August of 2013 that I really amped up my rewriting game.

That summer, I knew I had to pick an idea for my capstone as my time as a student was getting shorter and shorter. With the help of my professor, Ben Braten, and my good friend, Judea Runs Through, they convinced me that OotGG was a great project and that I should commit to it. Once I did, I started rewriting like mad. The script started to morph and to change. Which was a interesting phenomenon. Ben and Judea were always there to read my rewrites and offer great feedback. They are great to have in a writers corner because they will speak up when the writing is sub par. I am eternally grateful for the two of them. Even if they are the worst people I know.

The rewrites get more frequent to more I work with the actors. When Ben Banks agreed to be the star and to proceed full steam, we would talk about his character and throw ideas back and forth. The character of Caleum begin to evolve after every discussion we had. When Darcee was cast as Abby, her scene was rewritten to fit how Ben Banks and Darcee interacted with each other.

When we started to train with Robert Savala little elements of the fights were rewritten. Robert had a great idea to have the character's fights progress through out the film. It changed from Caleum showing up to a fight, beating the guy and getting paid. The fights now have their own arc. It starts with Caleum's first fight being wild and chaotic. He is unsure and rusty in his fighting abilities. The 2nd fight is in a very tight and claustrophobic space which means Caleum has to adapt and learn. The 3rd fight is on uneven ground and against a fighter who is superior. Caleum must use everything he has learned from his previous bouts and really dig deep to win.

This is but a small taste of the rewriting that has been going on and it won't certainly be the last. This story is a living, breathing animal that is growing and learning. I figure the rewrites will stop when the movie is finished. This idea is both exciting and a bit disheartening. Exciting to make a story grow and change from what I originally envisioned. Disheartening because I will always be looking back and wondering if I made the right choices.

It's especially difficult because I write with ye olde pen and ink.

Location Scouting Blues: When Things Go Wrong

One of the main aspects of OotGG is the bare knuckle fighting. I needed a location for an underground bare-knuckle boxing match which needed a setting to match how bad ass it was. Luckily, Ben Bank's pop owns a gravel pit. The idea of shooting in a gravel pit had me watering at the mouth. Benny told me to meet him at the Costco that Saturday and he would drive us out there.

Saturday rolls around and about 11 in the AM, I meet up with him. We hop in his jeep and away we drive towards the gravel pit. The whole time, we are talking about the movie, as Ben Banks is my main actor, and we are both thoroughly pumped. We arrive at the barred off gravel pit entrance. The two of us get out of the jeep, jump the bar, and start exploring. Needless to say, the pit is fantastic. There were so many places that would be great to stage a knock-down-drag-out-fisticuffs session that every Irishman from here to Dublin would be dancing a merry ol' jig.

Actual screen shot from our movie.

After about a half hour of exploring and imaginations fitting to burst, we decide to head out. While walking back, we see a truck racing down the hill towards our general direction. The two of us think nothing of it and keep walking. Soon the giant Ford screeches to a halt in front of us as to cut off our path and, with a thud, steps a man that is basically a dime store knock off Stone Cold Steve Austin.

Get off my lawn.

Ben and I say hello, but are quickly interrupted.

“What the hell are you two doing here?”

Clay Freeze Sven Ashton barks. Ben attempts to talk, but Clay Freeze Sven Ashton keeps barking the same question and promptly informs us that we are trespassing on private property. Benny tells Clay Freeze that we are film students just location scouting and that Ben's step dad owns this here gravel pit and all Clay Freeze needs to do is call him. To bad logic and reasoning only anger Clay Freeze Sven Ashton who than tells us that he can legally shoot us if he wanted.

The joke was on him. We can't read.

Benny again says that his step father owns the gravel pit. Clay Freeze, frenzied by the thought that he may be able to legally kill us, asks Ben which pit is own by Daddy Dearest. Mr. Banks answers that where we have been walking is owned by his pops. A wry smile peeks out from Clay Freeze's mustache as he waves to us and utters a low:

“Goodbye.”

Ben and I look at each other and start walking away. Behind us we can here Clay Freeze Sven Ashton calls Step Dad, gets a voice mail and demands that he call him back to tell him what the hell is going on. I ask Benny if his step father usually employs psychopaths and wannabe wrestlers in which Ben responds with a shrug. 

That is when the gun goes off.

Kind of like this only way less awesome.

We both turn around and see Clay Freeze pointing his .44 magnum at us and fires another round in our general direction. What this raged filled mongoloid does not know is that Ben and I have been shot at before by people scarier than he. The two of us shrug our shoulders and keep walking slowly at our normal pace and let out a chuckle at the idea that Clay Freeze probably has a below average sized wiener. Looking back, insulting a man with a large hand canon was probably not the smartest idea, but who said that Benny and I were ever that smart? Well, our mommas say we're smart, but that is about it. 

The two of us strut back up the hill to the jeep as Clay Freeze Sven Ashton fires the remaining five shots at us. A couple of the bullets even whizzed by us. We finally arrived at the jeep and got in. Up from the pit barrels Clay Freeze's truck who than stops at the gate. While backing out, Clay Freeze points the gun at us the entire time we are leaving. We drove away and went to get lunch. The two of us laughed about the whole ordeal over burritos after wards. Film making sure is fun.

A great cure for PTSD