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http://hardtimesseries.com – We’re premiering on April 22nd at 12P (EST), so please visit our website and subscribe, for more info! 

[At this point, we were gearing up for our first shoot in Mid-May. I was scared as hell, as the last thing that I had directed was a short film called Frisk, that I made in the Fall of 2011. There was a lot to take care in the way of pre-production and I was feeling very rusty.]

TO DO’s

Put in for an Equipment Request With ________

Finalize Cast/Crew List for 1st Shoot

Finalize Budget, see how it’s gonna work

Finalize SAG shit

Finalize Locations

File for Permits, officially

April 27th, 2013

IDEAS

Hard Times: Word Association

Ego
Corruption
Dishonesty
Faith
Yearning
Emasculation
Ruin
Chances
Hope
Manhood
Strife
Debauchery
Innocence
Cynicism

What does this show look like?

Q. What does this show [HARD TIMES] look like?

A. Interiors of the show and everything else gets darker as time goes on.

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– A lot of natural light, falling off, wherever possible.

– A lot of soft light–as much as possible.

– In an ideal world, outdoors would always be overcast/diffuse
– Interiors are dark and shady.  Furtive.  Secretive.

– A lot of far side key action, a lot of shaping faces with light.  

All dramatic scenes are very…very much like the look built by that scene in the one on D’s film.

A lot of highlights are present, where available, by practical lights and other small, natural-looking sources.

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April 30, 2013 

TO DO’s

Move Permit Funds
Purchase Permit
________ Rehearsal Rooms/Read-Through Rooms
Respond to ________
Reach Out to  Potential Sound Designers
Touch base with J_____, M_____

May 3, 2013

[Email Sent to Producers for First Shoot]

Hey Everybody,

So we’re two weeks out, I hope y’all are ready for the nitty gritty!

We’re finally cast (whew!)

Biggest Priorities for This Coming Week:

Narrowing down food for everyone involved, and searching for props.  Please check and see if you or anyone you can think of has any of the aforementioned props, so as to lower our production design budget.

Schedule for The Shoot:

Thursday, May 16th – equipment pick-up: ______, Handheld Films, Wits End, Wayne’s Place
Friday, May 17th – Shoot Day 1
Saturday – Shoot Day 2
Sunday – Shoot Day 3
Monday – Equipment Returns

We’ll have a minivan on set and a cube truck big enough to pick up all equipment.

The minivan will be used for transporting core crew and actors to set while the cube truck will be used for transporting equipment and expendables.  We will probably need to see if anyone on the crew can also drive, as we’ll need a spare driver.

May 3, 2013

 IDEAS

What These Characters Are Like:

Derek – Mid-Atlantic Neutral accent.  Awkward.

Lark – A little snappy.  Definitely a New Yorker.   Flippant.  Derisive.

Nia – New Yorker, but with a different accent.  Sounds more like Mount Vernon/Brooklyn old-school.

Felix – Also snappy, but deadpan.  Bronx Dominican.  Went to school at a CUNY school. Professional. Very chill.  Not down for ratchet shit and humorously wise beyond his years.

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Wardrobe [Color Palette]

Black – Nefarious 
Blue – Deathly, lacking life
Purple – Out of the Loop/Ineffectual 
Orange – Danger/Looming Fury
Green – Pursuit of Forbidden Desire – think Vertigo
Red – Unbridled Fervor (whether projected or real)

Yellow – Innocence

 May 6th, 2013

[E-Mail to Producers, Re: Lunch Orders for First Shoot]

 

Pretty sure Alyssa put in a word for Chipotle, last week, so we’re still waiting to hear back from them.  We might not be able to get a deal from them, but otherwise, we should definitely plan to be able to find places food-wise that are in the (Prospect Heights) area, where we’ll be shooting.

No pizza or Chinese food, but everything else is cool, so let’s do some comparative pricing and see what we can arrange.  We’ll need:

A gluten free option, a vegetarian option

1 Breakfast/Snack Situation (for when people 1st arrive)

1 Lunch (after 6 hrs in)

1 Possible Dinner (in case we go over 12 hrs)

Craft Services (a bunch of snacks and shit, over the course of the shoot for folks on hand.)

I’m still working out what the budget will be, but going off of the # of people per day, I’d like to start getting some quotes in so we can figure out what we can afford.

Thanks,

Tahir

May 7, 2013

IDEAS

A bit of Scene 1, Sketched out

Opening shot–we track back across the trees, hearing grunting as Nia trots down the stairs, crosses, and finishes off, edging toward frame, doing jumping jacks as Derek crosses into frame, looking on, behind.

She ends in the foreground; he in the background.  She turns to face him, we establish looks.

The dolly takes us to a two shot before Nia delivers her line.

Nia gets down to exercise in a single.
Derek watches her, wondering and amused.

Dirty OTS shots of her working out.

Low angle CU on Nia’s face – quarter turn.

I like the idea of camera pulling around her, then of us our angle of him in the background, when she gets annoyed.  Like; we end there, for that beat.

Then, reverse close-ups. 

May 7, 2013 

TO-DO’s

Check Fund Balance
Share Schedule w/ Producers and ________
Send Actors’ 

Headshots to Gabby for Wardrobe 
Shims and wedges 
Grab Cellotex and other expendables – witsend 
Finalize Equipment 
Checkout Schedule
Plan BTS [Behind the scenes] shoots 
Is there anyone that can do behind the scenes footage? 
Does DP need to get teched on our camera?
Does he still need an A.C. for the 16th? 
Check-Ins/Outs – 
Definitely need someone that can help me load-out from ______ on the 16th and load-in on the 20th. 
At what times, specifically? 
Also, on set, we may have several people that are going to need to swing multiple positions. 
Things we’ll need to fill (per availability) 
A PA to watch the truck when we’re unloading
Someone who can make food runs while on set 
A behind-the-scenes shooter 
A stills person 
May 10th, 2013 
THE QUESTION 
What would you do if you didn’t take others’ opinions into account and just had the opportunity to go ahead and create, unencumbered? 
What would you make? 
What would you do if you were a kid, again? What does your kid gut say?

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