Take One

I put hours in yesterday toying with the the video memoir's possibilities.

A friend wrote a few weeks ago that the kind of project I've bitten off this time, an adaptation of  A Marvelous Paranoia, would overwhelm him were he to attempt something similar.

I'll grant him this: a life doesn't at first glance appear reducible to a 60 min. telling. Similarly, it's important to keep in mind that the book itself wasn't comprehensive.  Though I haven't been overwhelmed yet, a project such as this is definitely unwieldy and has the potential to blow up at every turn.

A reductive script is key.  I must pick and choose elements of the book that make sense when merged into a shortened narrative. In that regard the film is an adaptation loosely constructed from the book, of course.

A book and a film are simply different creatures.

Admittedly, it does feel overwhelming at times.  I've just gotten started with a pile of footage Terence Connery and I gathered in my home town two weeks ago.  What I'm working on now amounts to five minutes in the story's timeline.

A difficult project indeed, but manageable.

My current approach leaves room for malleability in the script.  In fact, this work is very different than writing a teleplay or industrial script.  I come from that background, particularly the industrial part, and this project feels entirely new to me.

My writing for this video has surprised me in a number of ways.

Another friend reminded me some time ago that the film isn't solely about me, but also about its making.  It's both history and an interpretive present view.  I think that is a fundamental notion and solid way to approach things.

So I soldier on in this experimental phase.


TS