Worries

I’m incredibly worried at the moment.

Yeah, it’s the usual production woes – but the thing is, this time around my big gripe lies in casting. Oh yes, casting. I received e-mail today from a student at the college who is serving as my casting director, and he’s told me that he hasn’t really gotten the word out yet about my film. Yes, the film that’s shooting in a week and a half. Yes, The Subject.
I was worried that I might be rushing into this thing, and it would appear that I might have been right. Casting takes time: time to get the word out, time to set up an interview, and time to review the applicants. I can still do it, but now I’ve got the pressure of doing it myself. (Yeah, I had the entire job shoved off on my shoulders.) By the time I’m done filming, I’ll also be the cinematographer, editor, and who knows what else. It’s a film that demands a 5 to 10 man crew and I’m working most, if not all of it.
And it’s annoying. I don’t expect people to come running at my beacon call whenever I have a film, but I also don’t like doing ten jobs at once. It doesn’t help when I’m trying to smooth over my cinematography/directing skills. Dealing with every task in-between can be a real burden.

I think I just need to keep my cool. If it gets too stressful I’ll just take a moment for myself, let the situation glaze over, and then jump back into the fray once I’m straight. I have links to a couple of talent agencies in the valley. Now, all I have to do is peruse the talent and pick out a few key faces to feature in my film. I like how I said “all I have to do” in that last sentence. It underplays the value of what I had hoped to mine out of the casting experience.
I had hoped to spend some time shuffling through talent and finding an actor who could serve as a crazy person. A person who could take the role with all seriousness and tonality, yet, all humor as well. I wanted an actor who could link up with me on my thought process and story nuance (I think that generally, the actors I've gotten out of casting haven't been able to do that. They don't get the "punchlines" so to speak, or they just don't like them). But, it just isn’t going to happen.
I have faith. I still believe that things could turn out all right as long as I spend some time working over these selections. But I’m not going to hope for anything special.
Thankfully, I think Josh and Angie might be able to help out with two of the roles. Soooo...that's two down, and four to go.

And here’s the big kicker about the whole thing; I was going to spend the day working on shot sheets, production schedules, ordering film and catering arrangements. I guess those things will have to wait.