Kirby

Hey everyone,

I know it's been a long time since I've written a post, and I apologize for that. It's just that I've been quite busy, and things haven't been going too terribly well lately. Today was the first day I felt like I wanted to get online and write a post. And I feel bad at the same time because this post will probably sound a little self-indulgent to some of you, but let's just get it over with.

Like I said, things hadn't been going spectacularly. When I last left off I had chosen the San Carlos as my location for Pantomiming and I was gathering everything together in preparation for filming. But after that, things began to take a turn for the worse. It all started out last Tuesday when my location manager, Lee, came into class with some bad news about the San Carlos. He informed me that they were absolutely fine with me filming there. But he also told me that they were currently putting in a new handrail all around the sidewalk. (Why they’re doing it, I have no idea.) The thing is, while I had their cooperation, I couldn’t use the location. This new railing system would completely ruin my shots and make use of a dolly utterly impossible.
So the San Carlos was out. To top things off, one of the program supervisors was beginning to show concern over the amount of light we'd need in order to properly expose the film. I've stated time and time again, Pantomiming is supposed to be black and white; it's a tribute to silent film and the perfection it reached. The problem is that all film types have a certain Exposure Index (EI). Black and white film for 16 mil' (in our price range I believe) can only shoot up to 200 EI's, which is just terrible for a nighttime shoot. The program supervisor practically begged me to consider shooting on color film because we could get up to 800 EI's out of it. He adamantly stated that I could turn the film black and white in postproduction and he'd make sure it still had the look and visual feel I wanted. Using his advice as my guide, I agreed to shoot on color and turn the film black and white in postproduction.
There will still lighting concerns though, and in order to address them (and solve the San Carlos debacle) we had to go out and find a new street corner.
So we found one on the corner of the AT&T building in downtown Phoenix. It was getting decent readings on the light meter and it fit the look of the street corner I saw in my head, so I decided to submit it. But AT&T decided against it. They were displeased for various reasons about my wanting to shoot on their corner. Moreover, some of our shots required that we position the camera in the streets. In order to do that, the city insisted we hire two cops to block the streets off and patrol the area. What’s more, the Phoenix Film Commission informed me that they had to make sure no major events where happening downtown during the eve of our shoot. They'd need a week to get back to us. With the cops, AT&T and the Phoenix Film Commission looming over my shoulder, I decided that the school would probably want to cancel the project. To make matters worse, I had just gotten off a sinus infection a few days earlier and was infected by a second cold. I was sick, my movie was falling apart, and I had a casting call I had to attend on Friday.
Morale was low, my crew was depressed, and I felt horrible.
Somehow, I managed to keep a straight face. I confined myself to my house and attempted to get better the day before the casting call. I still entertained some hope that at the very least, the casting call could produce some viable talent for the school to use in the future. Apparently, my casting director struck a deal with a major talent agency here in Phoenix. He agreed that we'd give his actors an exclusive first look if he provided the school with plenty of talent willing to do student films. I considered that if the school was worried about my film, they also had to be giddy with this great new connection we had snagged them.
But none of that changed my outlook for the film. I was unbearably grim. I thought to myself, "no matter how great the students think my script is, no matter who believes in my story, there's nothing that can get this film back on its feet in time for our deadline".

And then I met the Mime.

My casting director had been jumping through hoops all week to find a professional mime for the film. He'd contacted all of the major drama schools and universities in the valley, investigated agencies, and even scoped out private entertainers. The result was coming into contact with a drama teacher at ASU (I think) who had studied pantomiming for years. He was very interested in my project and considered doing it himself (even though he wasn't any spring chicken). I was greatly pleased, but when I arrived at the casting call I found out that this elder mime wouldn't be able to make it. He was sending over one of his finest students instead. This student, a pantomime by the name of Kirby, was infamous in Phoenix mime circles. He's the mythical, untouchable performer of the Phoenix mime world, a virtual unicorn. I stepped out of the studio we were using to do a few things and when I stepped back inside there he was. Six foot three, lanky and articulate. It was obvious by my first glance alone that he was the pantomime I had heard so much about.
And then we got to see him perform. I should add that anything I say about his performance would be a drastic understatement. I couldn't praise his brilliance enough. He started out his little performance by getting trapped inside an invisible room. He eventually found a ladder out of the room, climbed to the top of a building and crossed a high wire to the other side. Then, he pulled an umbrella out of his pocket and jumped off the building only to land inside yet another imprisonment. Finally, he found a way out, picked up his invisible box, and with great effort, set it down next to our desk.
It was incredible.
The various issues plaguing me about the location melted away and I knew right then and there that this movie would be shot, and it would be one heck of a ride.
The actresses auditioning for other parts were obviously intimidated by Kirby's brilliant performance. Still, many of them managed to interact with him quite nicely. I think more then anything he brought out charisma and humor in my other actors that even they didn't know they had. What's more, he began offering me ideas and insight about the story that made my visual gags and plotline even more hilarious and expressive. We had only known each other a short period of time and already we were working as actor and director to propel my character into something very real, something very tangible and unique.

After that I managed to work out the location issues with my teacher. There's a place on campus behind the soccer court that looks like a seedy downtown district. Students have used it time and time again in their films, and we decided that it would be the best place to shoot the movie. This way I don’t have to worry about all of the underlying issues and difficulties attached to shooting in downtown Phoenix.
All in all, I don't feel any better, and I hate the fact that I've been too sick to do little else then go to school, but I think things are back on track. We had a little hiccup, but my teacher told me that it's my right of passage. I say, let's get to work.