Moviepainting (Cont'd)

Moviepainting is our present mode and seems to be working well -- mostly, I think, because it gives us structure without putting anyone in charge, even if someone designs the scenes and acts as painter or puppetmaster (dare I say, "director"), to a great degree the camera operator(s) and actor(s) decide where the scene goes. AND there's still lots of room for everyone to share ideas about where to put the camera, what the actors actions should be, topics for dialogue, etc. etc.

Quick update, yesterday we basically took the day off, Jacob, Lauren and Joe showed up in the evening, did dishes (thank you!) and baked a delicious loaf of bread. I stopped by the apartment later in the evening, read Walden and Schott's Miscellany, ate spicey egg-rice (a la Michael) with veggies (carrot, onion and bok choy). Unfortunately, no shooting.

Today, we met in the early afternoon for pancakes, fried plantains, scrambled eggs and hash brown potatoes. The crowd ebbed and flowed, and we ate a late dinner of chickpea carrot salad and eggplant lo mein -- a great day for food.

We moviepainted our way through a number of scenes. Three examples:

1. MAIN ROOM

AURORA, on the couch:
SQUEEZE 1 = Peel grapefruit
SQUEEZE 2 = Offer slices to the others

ARIEL and EVAN, on the couch, practicing Shofar:
SQUEEZE = hand the Shofar to the other person

JOE cleans up the coffee table

DOMINIQUE makes a mess of the coffee table

ALL:
TAP = Deliver a line

2. AT THE DOOR

Inside, one puppeteer/camera:

LAUREN and AURORA:
SQUEEZE = Open or shut the door
TAP = Whisper a line
SCRATCH = Allow Joe in

Outside, a second puppeteer/camera, there is no light in the stairwell:

JOE, belligerent, claims to have a desired bag:
SQUEEZE = Knock
TAP = Deliver a line
HIP TAP = Try to push his way in
SCRATCH = Enter

3. MAIN ROOM
Around the table. There are no electric lights, only candles on the tabletop light the scene.

JACOB stacks dinos:
SQUEEZE = Change tone skeptical to sincere or vice versa

CJ, in sunglasses:
SQUEEZE = Put out one candle

CHRIS, just returned from Bali:
SQUEEZE = Light one candle

TRAVIS:
SQUEEZE 1 = Cock head
SQUEEZE 2 = Uncock
SQUEEZE 3 = Hold Chris's hand
SQUEEZE 4 = Let go
REPEAT

ALL:
TAP = Deliver a line
UP/DOWN LEG = Increase/decrease speed
KNOCK KNEE = Exit
HOLD FOOT = Blow out ALL the candles

Next, I think we need to try 1) scenes with "free" characters, improvisers without puppeteers, 2) setting more characters in loops, like Dominique and Joe in the first scene above. I also have an idea that characters can be free or in loops until certain conditions are met, for example:

JOE:
SQUEEZE 1 = Put on coat
SQUEEZE 2 = Exit

GEORGE, paces until JOE exits, then:
SQUEEZE 1 = Puts on hat
SQUEEZE 2 = Screams
Goes to BG
FREE until Joe re-enters, then resumes pacing . . .

AURORA:
FREE until George screams, then comes to FG
SQUEEZE 1 = Peels a grapefruit . . .

I mention foreground/background only because I'm thinking that the puppet characters need to be close to the camera in order for there to be off-screen space from which puppeteers can deliver cues. We should also try: 3) continuing to experiment with multiple cameras/puppeteer set-ups as in the second scene and 4) experimenting with more complicated series of actions as with Travis in the third scene. A possibility would be also to write lines of dialogue to be delivered in series, at random, or when cued by the puppeteers but I like that so far the scenes have been action-based with random dialogue and therefore more kinetic/visual and, for the most part, funny.