MotherReader

We made a movie.

We worked hard on it, and I like it. A lot.

Thank you.

(The “thank you” serves not only as a reference to the content of yesterday’s post, in which I showed my appreciation for the cast and crew, but also as a preemptive thanks to those of you who will take the seven minutes to watch the movie. After all, it’s not like I’m expecting you to read a whole book or anything.)

With it being so easy to make and post anything on YouTube, it’s become even harder to explain why making a seven-minute film in forty-eight hours is such a challenge. But if you’re interested, here is a bit of a view into the movie-making process, which we follow in abbreviated format on these weekend ventures.

Even on the heels of our stressful weeks of family medical issues, we couldn’t give up the notion of having Tohubohu participate in the 48 Hour Film Project. And while we did have a more difficult time writing, filming, and editing our film, the results were worth it. But let’s start at the beginning...

When Bill went to the kick-off party and drew “horror” as our genre, he was thrilled by the challenge it presented. When he told me as I was driving back from Virginia Beach, I was less so. I knew it would be very hard to capture the tension of a decent horror movie in seven minutes, and had no ideas to even contribute. (As opposed to last year, when the concept presented itself in a dream.) I believe that my exact words were, “Good luck with that,” as I continued to make my way back home.

After Bill’s initial brainstorming session with our writer, Robin Brande, she took on the idea — totally out of her comfort zone — and developed it into a first-draft script. The two of them continued to work throughout the night to capture the right tone, feature our great actors, and incorporate the required elements. (Prop: a horn; Character: Marco or Muffin Gabbowitz, a person who works with animals; Line of dialogue: “Do you think you can do that again?”) I, um... went to bed.

Working until 6:00 a.m. on Saturday morning left us very little in the way of prep time for the day’s filming. Fortunately, Bill had visited the locations earlier, and did have a good idea of where the scenes would take place. Also having worked on the script so much, he knew what he wanted from the actors. What we were missing was a clear sense of the filming schedule, along with the rested brain capacity to develop one as the day went on. Or to remember little details, like bringing one’s daughter back from the set.

But this is where building a spectacular team comes in, because all of our cast and crew truly stepped up. It’s safe to say that we would not have a film if they had not all been so proactive, so competent, so passionate about their jobs. When I forgot to start the actors running lines, they did it themselves. When I didn’t have dinner plans set, our host came to me with the suggestion of a cookout, which he set up and arranged. When I prepared my weary mind to clear the set of our filming improvements, I was told that it was already done. When Bill realized that an actor wasn’t there, a crew member filled in. When Bill left our daughter at the other house, a kind actor brought her back to our staging ground.

I can’t possibly credit all of the work done to make this film look spectacular, but I’ll try to hit on a few things to give you a sense of the movie-making aspect. Lee and Meredith had scouted out locations in the quaint Del Ray part of Alexandria, and allowed us to use their house not only for filming but as our base of operations for the whole long, long day. They also arranged for us to use another house — one that I fell in love with — for other scenes. Both places gave the movie texture with the interesting look of the rooms. Check the odd angles in the kid’s room and the central 1890s fireplace in the group scene.

One important thing that makes a movie look like a movie and not a YouTube video is lighting. It’s easier to understand how involved the process is when you know that the crew taped black covering behind the windows to make the filming look like it took place at night. And then set up enough lighting to be able to see the actors, while still retaining the mood. Both the kid’s bedroom scene and the group discussion scene were filmed in the middle of the day.

Set dressing makes it all believable. The kid’s room was only a bare bed, but the addition of a childlike quilt and pillowcase, stuffed animals, and a trombone gave it a realistic look. Keeping the filming tight left the rest of the undecorated room out of the shot. Sometimes the sets are in what isn’t shown. Seeing the room behind “Karen” in her confrontation with “Daniel” would have been distracting in a scene that was all about building tension. Throw in some lighting choices, film angles, and color correction in editing and you have one intense scene.

And speaking of that scene, I checked lines with the actors Jennifer and Nick as they ran through it and boy, was I impressed. They ran lines, sure, but they also talked about where they were as characters for the scene. Nick asked questions about his character’s emotional state. Was he defiant? Regretful? Apologetic? Unhinged? How would each of those artistic choices affect the scene? I watched him and Jennifer go through all of these adaptations, and the final version is amazing.

And I have to mention Jennifer being so into the last scene that when she didn’t hear the director’s call to cut, she continued with such emotional intensity that the crew thought that she had crossed over personally to some dark place in her own experience. Now that’s acting!

There are so many other things that went into making this movie. We had two people working on the horror makeup, and one patient teen actor who not only sat through it, but then stayed in the makeup all day until we could film her scene in front of a green screen. (Which we decided was the better option than putting her in the scenes as originally intended.) We had editors putting the film together as we finished each scene, so that Bill could work from a well-done rough cut instead of from scratch. Tracking the film takes along the way makes the editor’s job possible, and keeping the boom mike close to the action but not in the shot is a skill that is hard to explain. Even the simple notion of making conversation in actors’ downtime went a long way toward making everyone feel comfortable.

In our longest day of filming yet, we wrapped up at 1:30 a.m. Bill went into the office to go over the preliminary edit and then came back to the house for a few hours of sleep. On Sunday he headed back downtown to finish editing the film and add sound effects, music, and credits. Oh, and play with sound levels and color correction and technical film kind of stuff. I worked from home, selecting the musical tracks, suggesting edits for time, and generally checking in on Bill’s support system.

The extensive edits needed to bring it down to the required time limit took over too much of the day on Sunday, making a final, unexpectedly lengthy file transfer enough to cause us miss the deadline for submission by five minutes. Really a shame. But we’re proud of the film and of our team, and can’t wait to do it again.

Last night we had our screening at the AFI Silver Theatre, and now you can see it too at Tohubohu Productions. I hope you enjoy it.

By the way, if this sounds like something you might be interested in, the 48 Hour Film Project takes place in cities all over the world, and many groups need to fill positions in the weeks and days leading up to the competition. On the website, you can indicate your interest in joining a team, and there are often meet-and-greet events to help fill positions. Also, Tohubohu Productions is interested in filming shorts on a less grueling schedule, and we’d love to see some scripts to consider.

Lately, I seem to have writer’s block. For my blog. Pathetic. Add that to the whole getting-back-to-normal thing going on at home, where I try to make up for days of not being around and a weekend of movie-making, and I find myself drifting. I want to get back on track here, but I’m not feeling it. I’m thinking I’ll do some catch-up stuff now and really kick off next week. Sound good?

I’ve set the date for the 48 Hour Book Challenge as the weekend of June 4th and will put up the official sign-up post with rules on Monday. I’m way behind in trolling prize package items, so if you could help me out by donating signed books, crafty ventures, illustrator sketches, reading paraphernalia, etc., I’d really appreciate it. You can email me at MotherReader AT gmail DOT com.

I’m planning on going to Book Expo America and the Book Blogger Convention, but have made no plans as to my transportation or accommodations. That was my April project, but my mind was elsewhere. I’d love to know who is going from the KidLitosphere, so let’s see some comments below.

Tonight our latest short film screens at 7:00 p.m. at the AFI Silver Theatre in Silver Spring, Maryland. We drew “horror” as our genre, and had quite a time writing it with Robin Brande and filming it with our stellar cast and crew. And actually editing it was a challenge too, as we needed to keep the movie under seven minutes and yet leave enough time to build tension. I’m hoping to join the Tohubohu team tonight, but I have some logistics to work through. Tomorrow I’ll write about the making of the film and hopefully be able to share a link to it.

I don’t have any more updates on my mom, other than that she would seem to the outside observer to be doing extremely well. It’s only by being with her that I see the huge gaps in her cognitive processing. And I don’t know how much better they are going to get or when or even how. Plus there are still medical issues ahead. For now though, my brother has taken some leave to cover her care, so I have a bit of a reprieve.

I’ve barely been able to keep up with KidLitosphere happenings, but I did note the latest uproar over how fake-nice women book bloggers are — which Liz is covering most splendidly at Tea Cozy. My first reaction was that writing without research on YA/KidLit or book blogging is usually a New York Times thing, so I wonder if they’ll be contracting out to The Huffington Post. Honestly that article alone would have been enough online excitement for weeks, but then we got one from The Horn Book that suggests “if you love children’s literature, you cannot kill animals just because they taste good on a bun.” I’m here to say that actually you can and I’m curious where I’ll find full-out argument with the thesis — which I am so not up to. But for now you can comment on the topic at Read Roger.

Hey, look at that. My writer’s block is over.

I haven’t been that engaged online lately, so I feel like I’m getting back up to speed anyway and then there’s all this stuff going on. So let’s knock this out in one post, shall we?

Over at Booklights, Jen is talking about Drop Everything and Read Day (known as D.E.A.R. Day) held every year on April 12th in honor of Beverly Cleary’s birthday. Makes me want to put off the housecleaning today and pick up a book. But to be fair, pretty much everything makes me want to put off the housecleaning and pick up a book.

Today also begins National Library Week, which is bittersweet this year. Personally, because I was laid off from my own library job that I loved and now miss. But more broadly, because all over the country libraries and their staff are on the budget chopping block. Very sad. Let’s hope our love of libraries can help government officials see their value.

Fortunately, we have great news coming in from Chasing Ray about the Operation TBD wish lists: “Neil Gaiman tweeted about them on Friday and sent our visitor number into the stratosphere which was very very cool. Over 300 books have been bought thus far which gets us close to the halfway point.” Keep those contributions coming!

Over at Fuse#8, THE NUMBER ONE CHILDREN’S NOVEL IS…

Celebration of National Poetry Month continues with the schedule posted at KidLitosphere Central. I know that I’ve seen some wonderful features so far, and I’m looking forward to more. If anyone is taking requests, I’d like a poem about allergies to commemorate this record-breaking pollen count. Thanks.

Hey, I’ve got a speaking gig on Wednesday for SCBWI Mid-Atlantic talking to published authors and illustrators about KidLit blogging. I’d love to see you there. Yes, you.

Save the Date for the 48 Hour Book Challenge on the weekend of June 4–6. More information will be coming, along with a sign-up page and prizes, so stay tuned. Oh, and if you have prizes you’d be willing to donate, let me know at MotherReader AT Gmail DOT com.

Speaking of all-weekend events leads me to announce Tohubohu’s next participation in the 48 Hour Film Project on the weekend of April 30th. We’ve engaged the fabulous Robin Brande as our writer (Hooray!), and have a great team of actors and crew ready to go. Now all we need is the genre, and required character, prop, and line of dialogue to make a seven-minute film. Easy, peasy.

We can also finally release access to our last movie, done as part of the International Shootout. For that competition we were given a simple theme: The End of the World. We went for a family drama, featuring our two daughters along with other fine actors. The visuals at the end always get to me, and well, the singing there is my younger daughter and me. Check out “Uncertainty Principle.” Hope you like it!

Last night’s movie screening of “Please Forward” was fantastic! The audience loved the film, laughing in all the right places and giving us a ton of applause. We were last on the schedule, which was an honor in and of itself. A lot of the cast and crew come out with their friends and family to see the movie. I was late getting there because I was ironing on the transfers for the T-shirts, but it did mean that we could all wear them when the screening finished. Bill got the most comments on the film, especially since he addressed the audience with the other directors, but everyone who was wearing the T-shirt heard something great. We ran out of time to make flyers directing people to the Chain Mail International company website, where you can see a preview of the film and read the (fake) corporate history. I guess that venture will be just for us and our online friends.

Anyway, the important news today is that now the whole movie is up at Tohubohu Productions. Both of my kids have roles, and I’m in it as an employee at the company party. And as I’ve mentioned, the script was written by our own Robin Brande. Take the eight minutes to watch it and remember that we wrote, filmed, edited, and scored it in one weekend. Booyah!

I’m so excited about our movie screening tonight for “Please Forward.” We have a lot of the cast and crew turning out to cheer and socialize. We even have T-shirts! The shirt design is the corporate logo of Chain Mail International, the business featured in the film. Bill even made the company website, where you can see a preview of the film and read the corporate history. The whole movie will go up this evening or tomorrow either there or at Tohubohu Productions. Both of my kids have roles, and I’m in it as an employee at the company party. Can you find me?

It’s fair to say that the idea for Tohubohu’s newest short film, “Please Forward,” came to me in a dream. Seriously.

In the days before the 48 Hour Film Project, Bill and Robin were joking about chain emails and then thinking how that concept would be interesting for the movie. But with our genre and required elements still not established, they didn’t want to go too far down that road. (In the 48 Hour Film Project, you pick your genre out of a hat and there is a required prop, character, and line of dialogue.) However, that night as I slept, I took that germ of a concept, mixed it with The Office, and a parody video, “Flutter.” I dreamed about a mockumentary about a business that starts all of those obnoxious chain emails. When I told Bill in the morning, he laughed, but not knowing what we’d have to use when we wrote our film, it didn’t make sense to work up the idea. We thought about writing it up afterward for our own film.

When Bill went to the kick-off party and drew the Holiday Film genre, the idea came back into play: What if we went with the mockumentary, but it was at the office Christmas party? On Friday night, Bill and Robin started off the brainstorming and script writing while I finished up the Drama Club performance with my fourth grader (she did an amazing job as a chicken). Back at home, Robin wrote up the script as Bill and I made suggestions, selected our cast, and made phone calls. I ran around the house finding Christmas decorations.

Saturday morning, we headed into Bill’s old office building, where he had gotten permission to film. It was a great set-up for us, offering lots of spaces for scenes, but also lots of room to wait around. Even with only one day to film, there’s a lot of waiting around in the movies. Both of the girls came to be in the Research & Development scenes, and also to help with the clapper board, set decoration, and general gofer jobs. I took calls from our cast and crew, made sure everyone was where they needed to be, picked internal locations, decorated and took down sets, made sure everyone had plenty of food (very important), arranged the order of filming for scenes, walked the actors through some parts, and made sure all the paperwork was in order. Bill just directed the movie. Slacker.

We had a great time during the day, with a pretty relaxed feel considering our tight schedule. The actors gave us some stellar performances. Really top notch. I may be biased, but my favorite scene is with my fourth grader, where the marketing woman is trying to get some ideas about the next generation of chain email users, but is having trouble working with a kid. I also love my seventh grader as a typical teen, texting instead of thinking about the marketer’s questions. The party scene was the most fun to film, and I do make an appearance there as an employee.

We wrapped up at 10:00 p.m. and Bill went into the office to work with the preliminary edit. In the wee hours of the morning he came back to the house for a few hours of sleep, and then went back to edit the film and add sound effects, music, and credits. Oh, and play with sound levels and color correction and technical film kind of stuff. I saw a rough cut at 2:00 and loved it. I reminded him to temper his technical perfectionism and get the film turned in early — no last-minute run for the doors at 7:00.

He did turn the film in with time to spare. Robin has seen it and really liked it. Bill went off with a couple of other directors for a mini-showing at someone’s house and got great feedback and lots of laughs. I can’t wait to show it to you... but it will have to wait until after our screening at the AFI Silver Theatre, Friday at 7:00 p.m.

The 48 Hour Film Project takes place in cities all over the country, so if you’re interested you might check the upcoming dates. While we work with a set team, many other groups need to fill positions in the weeks and days leading up to the competition. On the website, you can indicate your interest in joining a team, and there are often meet-and-greet events to help fill positions. It can be exhausting, but it’s a blast.

At our screening last night we were able to show “All Roads Lead Away” in high definition — which looked awesome — and get lots of compliments from fellow filmmakers. Unfortunately, we did not take home any additional awards. While I am immensely proud of our film, I’ve learned not to be surprised by the judging. Sometimes a quirkier, but less sophisticated film wins. Sometimes it’s about “wow factor” — like if you have a team filming in Moscow while a crew films in DC. Impressive. Sometimes good acting seems particularly enhanced by the inclusion of many, many f-bombs.

Most importantly to us, Bill was excited about how many other directors and teams wanted to talk about our film, our story, and our process. It’s all good. We’ll continue to submit the movie to other competitions and make plans for the next film. I’ll bet that Bill will be putting up the winners with the links later at the Tohubohu blog if you want to see what won. Thanks to everyone for their support.

The Best of the 48 Hour Film Project has been announced, and our movie, “All Roads Lead Away,” is among the finalists. We’ve known for a few days because they wanted to get the films in high definition (assuming they were shot that way). That means that we know — shhhh! — that we were actually among the top fourteen films selected.

Our movie will screen in the second group at the AFI Silver Theatre in Silver Spring. Tickets are available now, and will sell out. But if you’re nowhere near the DC area and are curious about the films in competition, Bill has found the films that are now viewable online. Watching even a few offers a real education about how hard it is to write, film, edit, and score a movie in two days. Check the list of finalists — with links to the films — at the Tohubohu Productions news blog. And if you haven’t watched “All Roads Lead Away” yet, written by Young Adult author Barry Lyga, well what are you waiting for? Go.

Since I’ve got editorial privileges over here, I thought I’d stick in a little notice to let readers know that the latest short from Tohubohu Productions, “All Roads Lead Away,” is now available for viewing over at our official website. Written by Barry Lyga, directed by yours truly and produced by MotherReader herself, the film is a great little road movie about a couple struggling to move on with their lives after losing everything.

So many people worked to make this movie happen (well, about 17, but thay all worked really hard), but I think one’s worthy of special mention here. MR’s too modest to ever brag about her own contributions, but I suffer from no such compunction — in addition to keeping the ship running, she was instrumental in our final casting, working out music licensing (i.e., she did it all herself), stepping in front of the camera when we lost an actress (though — ruthless bastard that I am — I did end up cutting her part from the finished film), helping provide a fresh eye for editing decisions, and perhaps most importantly, being a positive voice when it seemed like all I could do was see all our little shortcomings. (And it’s also worth noting that if she hadn’t attended last year’s Kidlitosphere Conference, I never would have met Barry in the first place.)

And, of course, she was right — despite all my fears, the audience reception at Friday night’s premiere was phenomenal, and really gives me hope that we’ll make the “Best of the 48 Hour Film Project” screening on May 29th. (And we’ve already submitted the film for consideration to the DC Shorts film festival, one of the premiere short-film festivals in the nation. No guarantee that it’ll get in, of course — they receive hundreds of submissions each year — but I’ve got a good feeling about it.)

So sit back, grab a tub of popcorn (or maybe just a bag — it’s not all that long a film), and give it a viewing. And if you like it, don’t forget to let us know (and spread the word)!

I’m still tired from the 48 Hour Film Project, and I wasn’t even that involved in yesterday’s work. The experience of making a film in two days is so intense that it takes a lot out of you. Our script by Barry Lyga was ambitious, and our filming went from our Saturday 8:30 a.m. call time until almost midnight. It was a very long day for the crew and our two lead actors, who really carried the piece. Well, three lead actors if you include the beat-up car which we considered the third star of the movie.

Barry gave us an amazing script, dramatic and contemplative. Bill and I selected two strong actors (Jennifer Massey and Joe Hansard) who could pull off the emotion of the film. We got to test the new camera car mount, to the delight of the cameraman. I kept asking for reassurance that the expensive camera was not, was NOT, going to fall off the hood of the car. After a last-minute location change, I was slotted for a small part in the movie — which ended up on the cutting room floor in the interest of meeting our seven-minute running time requirement. I’m still in the background helping a customer, and my hair is in a later office scene. Oh, the glamour.

Bill spent Sunday editing the film at his workplace, while I searched for music at home. I found the piece that we ended up using within a few minutes. Unfortunately, I then spent almost two hours continuing to search for music, finding almost nothing, and deciding to stick with my first choice. After Bill was forced to make some difficult decisions about editing, he sent me the film online so I could look at it. With my fresh perspective — having not spent the last six hours putting it together — I was able to suggest different places to cut, allowing some great moments to fit back in (though not my scene, alas). For later festivals, we may look at putting in a lost scene where the couple fights outside the car. It was a crew favorite as Jennifer screamed, “GET IN THE CAR!!!” with pure fury.

Our screening is Friday at 9:30 at the AFI Silver Theatre in Bethesda, Maryland. We’re really proud of it, and I can’t wait to see it on the big screen. If you’re in the area, you can order tickets online — but do so soon, because the shows always sell out. If you can’t get to the show, the film — “All Roads Lead Away” — will be available on our website sometime after the screening.

Incidentally, now you can see the trailer for Bill’s production of “Number One With a Bullet,” a short film about getting your book published — at whatever the cost. Seems like that film may be of some interest to the MotherReader crowd, don’tcha think?

Other than books and Girl Scouts and writing weak poetry, my other hobby is making short films. Actually it’s my husband’s hobby and I’ve been roped into it over the years. If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.

This weekend we’re back in the 48 Hour Film Project, the contest where you write, film, edit, and score a short film in two days. It’s madness, but it works for us. Last year we had the incredible Robin Brande to write our script and we produced the terribly sharp piece “You Pay Your Dues.” This year, Robin is in the middle of book writing, but her friend is between revisions. Her friend? Barry Lyga, author of The Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl and Boy Toy and all-around cool guy.

To keep the competing teams from coming in with completed scripts, each group picks a genre out of a hat and each city shares certain elements that have to be included in the film. We’ve drawn the Road Movie genre. The required elements are:

Character: Larry or Lori Gardner, designer
Prop: A sauce
Line: “I’ll be glad when he’s gone.”

Bill is on the phone with Barry as I write, and I’m heading out to the store momentarily to buy food for the cast and crew. Tomorrow my job is to prep the actors for the upcoming scenes and make sure that everything goes as smoothly as possible. And provide lunch. Think good film-making thoughts for us.

The short film Bill and I made featuring the writing of Robin Brande has been chosen for the Best of DC screening at the AFI Silver Theatre. While we originally thought that the only the top twelve would be featured in two repeat screenings, instead twenty-two films were selected. So, we’re in the top quarter. I was actually going to hold off on my film news until I had something more definitive to report, but eh, whatever. If you are becoming intrigued by the whole process of making a film in two days, stop by the Tohubohu blog for links to several of the films and participants. The WIT film — WIT standing for Washington Improv Theater — is particularly funny and the strongest competitor.

Speaking of two-day projects, the 48 Hour Book Challenge is a bit more than two weeks away! Start collecting your to-be-read pile of older elementary and teen books. Remember that there will be prizes for most books read, most pages read (if different), and most hours spend reading/reviewing. There will also be prizes given out to random participants just to keep it fun.

What kind of prizes? Well, I have received a T-shirt and hoodie from Threadless in my first non-kidlitosphere prize. Yeah to asking for what you want. I also have a signed Babymouse book from Jennifer Holm and a virtual pinky-swear for an original Babymouse drawing. Grace Lin will be contributing the Lissy’s Friends book and doll. Mitali Perkins throws in a signed Rickshaw Girl, as Gail Gauthier puts A Girl, A Boy, and A Monster Cat in the mix. Tanya Lee Stone promises the signed paperback of A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl, with a bonus reader’s guide.

If you have a picture book manuscript you’d like someone official to give a look-see, Bonny Becker will offer her assistance as a professional critiquer and writing advisor — along with her own middle-grade novel Holbrook: A Lizard’s Tale.

Prize baskets will also include assorted items of immeasurable worth, such as framed photography from A Wrung Sponge (I had to beg her, but it’s worth it), some special surprise item from China from Miss Rumphius, my famous paper bead necklace, and probably four other things that I’m forgetting.

I would still love more prizes, so if you’d like to contribute, look to the bottom of my blogroll for the ever-exciting Email MotherReader! button and send me a message.

Tonight the husband and I see our movie, along with eleven others, on the big screen. You can see it in the comfort of your own home on the computer screen. Watch it. I’d love to hear some responses; positive would be better of course (“You people are like movie making gods!”), but oddly original comments are also fun (“I like the way the lead looks like a cross between Niles from Frasier and Sting.”).

Author and blogger Robin Brande wrote our screenplay — in about three hours. My husband directed, edited, and fretted for two solid days. My job description as producer was, according to Bill, “to make sure everything happens that needs to happen, and get lunch.”

I think we all did admirably. Hope you agree.

Whew! I was going to post yesterday about our movie-making experience with the 48 Hour Film Project, but I was too tired to successfully string words together. Here’s how it went.

My husband, Bill, went to the kick-off event and drew our genre literally out of a hat. The required elements were given out to the hundred participating teams. And we were off.

Bill and I talked about our genre, “detective/cop,” and what he wanted to do with it. I wasn’t surprised when he wanted to go for a film noir feel. But I was a bit scared. We tossed around a few basic concepts, including placing some actors in the roles, and then called author and blogger Robin Brande.

Our call was the briefest of hellos — no small talk for this chick — and down to business. We told Robin our genre (she groaned) and the required elements. (The character: Roosevelt or Rosie Adams, President; The prop: A bracelet; The line: “That’s what I’m talking about.”) We talked about some things we’d been thinking in terms of style, actors, and settings. She said, basically, “Okay, I’ll call you back in an hour.”

After we hung up, Bill and I didn’t know what to do with ourselves. We’ve always had to help the writer brainstorm or actually write it ourselves. This... this... freedom was a little unnerving. We did have to make some calls, coordinate some logistics and such, but having time to do it was just... wild.

Robin checked in with the script, and she was right on track so she kept on going. We got a full script about 10:30, and we loved it. LOVED IT! Very sharp, very creative, very witty. We needed to make a couple of changes to keep with the locations we had, so she retooled that and we had an absolutely amazing script by midnight. A new record for us. Bill and I talked about the film schedule, costuming, call times, and needed props. Bill sent out an email to the team, and we went to bed.

We had the crew meet at our house at 8:00, but it was more like 9:00 when we had everyone we needed. We decided to film an office scene at my in-laws’ home. The set dressing and camera set-up took much longer than we thought, so we really didn’t start filming until 10:30. Not a stellar beginning. We were also filming some of the harder scenes, which also made it difficult.

But we’ve got great people on our team, and got through those scenes before a late lunch at 2:00. The crew took turns eating and setting up for the living room scene, which we also did at my in-laws’ house (they had taken the kids to the zoo by now). I ran the actors through their lines while the crew worked on lighting, and then Bill came in to direct that scene.

We left the house by 4:00 to do scenes closer to my home. My friend provided the front of her house when one of my locations fell through, and we did a few things there. Then we used the front of my house for a long scene involving five actors and finished just before it got dark. It was supposed to be a gardening scene, but since it was cold and lightly raining, we had to make some adjustments.

We sent home most of the team, and went inside to do voice-overs until about 10:00. It was a more leisurely session, though, involving pizza and joking. When the rest of the team went home, we sent our composer some music ideas and then went to bed.

Sunday was reserved for editing the film together, doing color and audio correction, adding the music and credits, putting in the title, and probably ten other things I don’t even know. This was mostly Bill’s show, with me there for moral support and to lend another set of eyes and ears to the film. We dumped out a backup tape at 5:30, so we’d have something, and Bill worked until 6:45. We arrived at the drop-off location a whole five minutes early, and turned in the final product.

I think you know a film is great when you’ve watched the same scene twenty times in editing, and it still cracks you up. That’s the case. The script was wonderful, we have some knock-out performances, and interesting camera work. We’re very happy with the results.

Our screening is this Thursday (Group F, 9:30 p.m.), and after that the film it will available online at our website. Let’s hope it’s a winner. The title for our film — involving a hardened detective, a sultry lady, a homeowners’ association, and self-help books — is You Pay Your Dues.

This weekend my husband and I, along with our fantastic team, are making a movie for the 48 Hour Film Project. Over these next two days we have to write, film, edit, and score an eight-minute film. We drew the genre of Detective/Cop movie. The required elements for Washington, DC, are as follows:

The character: Roosevelt or Rosie Adams, President (of whatever we choose)

The prop: A bracelet

The line: “That’s what I’m talking about.”

We’re going for film noir with a comedic, suburban twist. Author and blogger Robin Brande has already written us an amazing script by midnight our time, so we may even get some sleep before we spend all day tomorrow filming the thing. After the screening next Thursday (Group F, 9:30 p.m.), it will available online for all interested parties. Think good movie-making thoughts for us.

I’m tired. And I’m sick. My throat hurts and my head aches. I’m back from work this morning, and now I need to get in a rest before my afternoon really takes off. At 3:30 I have the drama club’s rehearsal, then it’s a Brownie ceremony, then to the store for flowers for the drama performance, then make the kids do homework, then heat up some pizza, then go to the drama club play, then put the kids to bed, and then — and only then — can I pour the wine. Little Penguin is my new favorite.

I was going to skip a post, but when I went to Yahoo to check my mail this little miracle came to my attention. It’s a hamster in a video game. Kind of. Not at all book-related, but very clever and amusing.

And while you’re on You Tube, visit the Tohubohu Productions channel for our recently uploaded films. Give them a viewing, and hopefully a favorable rating. Bonus points if you see me in any of them (my favorite role was as “girl who flips her hair” in “The Big Lie”).

I get up this morning at 7:30. Okay, 7:39 thanks to the nine-minute snooze on my alarm clock. Get the kids ready for school, which involves getting their breakfast and making their lunches. For the rest, I am the cheerleader. Get dressed. Brush your teeth. Comb your hair. Does everyone have homework, backpacks, coats, shoes? Let’s go.

Home again. Find the books I am reading to the second-grade class today. Darn, left one at work. Find replacement book. Look for paperwork I need to give the teacher. Can’t find it. Decide it would be a miracle if I found it in this mess and give up, gracefully.

Call the roller-skating rink to book a date for the Girl Scouts. Call Girl Scout service unit coordinator to pass on skating information. Firm up some details of the skating outing. Collect ten old toys for second-grader to take to school for the swap. Wonder how many she will refuse to exchange. Throw in two extras.

Call the Rec Center to register second-grader for ballet class. Explain to two people that no, she doesn’t meet the age requirement for the class, but yes, the teacher said that she could sign up for it. Remind same two people that second-grader was already signed up for same class in the fall, when she was four months younger, so it really was just fine. Get bumped up to program manager. Leave message conveying problem and resulting irritation.

Search house for working flashlight and globe to bring to work for program today. Wonder briefly how many children will comment on dent in globe from where second-grader stepped on it. Gather other supplies for program, including plastic bag and fake tea lights. Find two books for program tomorrow.

Send out email for a change in Drama club’s meeting place next Tuesday. Remember to check Tohubohu’s site for biography information update. Look briefly. Decide that unless listed as a hooker, not important. Check MotherReader. Wonder why only one commented on Cathy’s Book post. Perhaps didn’t need to stay up until midnight to post that one. Lesson learned.

Pick up pocket calendar from scattered Girl Scout papers on floor. Realize that change in admission for skating will affect budget plans. Make quick note on budget paperwork.

Take shower. Get dressed. Wonder if anyone notices obsession with black T-shirts, sweaters, or tops with whatever else. Decide should make it a thing, like Simon on American Idol. Put powder in new shoes.

Grab bagel and juice box to eat during lunch with second-grader. Grab books to read to class. Grab books for library programs. Grab globe, flashlight, and other gear. Grab jacket for later. Take one last look for papers for teacher. Amazingly enough, find them. Go to school.

Read Estela’s Swap, since it’s related to the swap tomorrow. Read But Excuse Me That Is My Book to the class, with second-grader playing Lola. (Put in audio one more time, giving blogfriends a last chance to hear and comment). With five minutes left, read Chickens to the Rescue. Accept lively response. Join class for lunch.

See fifth-grade daughter in cafeteria. Say hello. Ignore panicked expression as she wonders if I will try to sit with her. Return to second-grader’s table where I am appreciated. Run into first-grade teacher who inquires after now-second-grader. Discuss second-grader’s attention problems. Leave school.

Get in car. Drive to work. Hit seven red lights. Squeak through three yellow lights. Come to information desk. Sit at computer. Wonder what stinks. Realize that new shoes have manure on them from gardening work at school. Understand how truly fitting this is.

And it’s only 2:00.

Yesterday was supposed to wind up my week of responses to the Five Interesting Things meme, but I was too wiped out to deal with postings. It is Sunday morning on the U.S. East Coast, and perhaps is still Saturday somewhere. I never did understand that International Date Line. I’m struggling with “spring forward, fall back” and will be for about a week as I change clocks and watches and try to remember what time it is.

Anyway, on Friday night we showed our film to the cast and crew. While Bill and I have seen it dozens of times as he adjusted music, color, editing, sound effects, and about twenty other things I don’t understand, no one else had seen it. While not everyone was able to make it, many of the cast and crew came to lend their support and see the final product. I think it is safe to say that everyone was pleased, if not impressed, by what we were able to put together. Sure, there were some small things that could have been done better, but not within our three-day window (with just one day of filming).

I think it’s the best thing we’ve done so far. And it’s up on the web now for your viewing pleasure. Pop by Tohubohu Productions for our new title, “Machinations.”

This film was done as part of the National Film Challenge. Our assigned genre was Science Fiction and the required elements were a character — Bobbie Soxer (candidate) — a prop — oil — and a line of dialogue — “If it doesn’t work, give it a shake.” We would love to do a non-competition film, but don’t have a script. So, if writers out there would like to send us something to look at, please do. We won’t actually pay you, because we’re not making any money ourselves, but still.

And the last from my 100 Things About Me list (have I convinced any of you to do your own yet?)

57. I’ve seen 90 of the 100 top-grossing movies.

And for my last tag of this meme, I pass it to my editor, my director, my friend, my gravy-train, my lawn-care guy, my sperm-donor, my husband, Bill.

The first time you produce a short film, you’re so stoked. Afterwards, it’s all old hat.

Okay, not really.

This weekend, Tohubohu Productions participated in the National Film Challenge. Actually, I should say is participating, since we (we meaning my husband) will be tweaking the movie all day tomorrow. While the 48 Hour Film Project gives you, well, 48 hours, the National Film Challenge gives you one extra day. Imagine the luxury of writing, filming, editing, and scoring a movie in three days. I don’t know why we didn’t get two films done.

We got our genre and the group’s character/prop/line on Friday at 7:00. In the National Film Challenge, the required character/prop/line is divided by area (at least I assume that is still the case). Our genre was Science Fiction. The required elements for the East Coast were Bobbie Soxer (Candidate)/oil/“If it doesn’t work, give it a shake.”

Bill and I worked with the other producer and our writer to brainstorm the plot. When we felt like we had a good start with Act 1, our writer worked it up while we took care of other movie-making business. Then we talked about the changes we wanted, and he wrote out the next parts. More changes, finishing up at 3:30 in the morning. Bill added the scene headings and some other notes to the script at home and went to bed after 4:00.

Alarm goes off at 7:00. That was a lovely three hours of sleep we had. Or didn’t have, since we were both too worked up to sleep well. We gathered our supplies, loaded the car with equipment, and headed for the creative team’s call at 8:00. Or 8:00ish, since we, along with our camera guy, represented 3 out of 5 of the creative team — and one was at the Metro. We went over the script in general and then met the crew at 9:00 at the location.

A good friend of ours had volunteered the use of his shop for the filming. Since they design upscale kitchens, we had some great places to film to keep the background interesting. There was the showroom, with several different mock kitchens, and a warehouse with high ceilings. We also used the front, side, and back of the building. We would probably have gone under the building if we could have figured out how to do it.

The filming went great. A little rocky in the beginning, with the combination of a tough camera setup and some missing cast members. Next time we will stagger the call times and start with a simpler shot, so lesson learned in any case. But other than getting a slow start, everything went extremely well. The actors were all fantastic in the characters we had assigned them. They had a lot to contribute to the dialogue and to the charaterization. Excellent cast. Our crew was totally on the ball, getting things done quickly and accurately. I worked mostly with the Assistant Director, preparing actors for the next scene while Bill was filming the current scene. Our prep work saved a lot of time, since Bill didn’t have to rehearse the actors, but still could change things that didn’t work for him. We finished filming about 8:30 and were packed up and out by 9:00.

Today I’ve been home while Bill edits the film and adds the music and graphics (we had people working on both as we were filming). I’ve seen the rough cut, and it looks pretty good. There are some shots we could have done better if we had more time, but that’s the “challenge” part of the National Film Challenge.

I’ll let you know when it’s up on our site, in case anyone is interested. I think we did a good job with it, but most importantly — clichéd as it is — we had a great time.

By the way, if any of you writers are interested in putting together a short film script, we’d be happy to give it a look. We’ve wanted to do a non-competition film (i.e., a film not thrown together in one weekend), but don’t have any script ideas. We won’t, y’know, pay you for it, but it could hit it big in the indie market. You never know.