| Friday, April 1, 2005
On this day in the production, our cinematographer, Mark Hedengren, has pulled out without explanation except that he now plans to be out of town. Eric Thursday, March 31, 2005 All, Thanks again for the practice at Ottavios on Wednesday. It went well. We worked out some more things. Our cinematographer, Mark, was unable to make it, but I met with him tonight, and he has a new Nizo Super8 camera ready to go for us. That was one of my last, biggest, ulcer-pump question marks regarding this shoot. We have less than a week. There are only so many times we can all get together and say "go to that WHORE there and her spaghetti!" before the big day. LET'S NOT DO SATURDAY. Just practice at your own pace. Show up on set with you hair spiked and your mind set. Just enjoy GC weekend. Victor, Harry, and Margaret, I know you want to do Monday. That's fine. Great, in fact. Amos, get with me Friday or Monday. Craig, Mark has a Laptop but it is a Mac. Does your recorder work on a Mac? Can we test it beforehand? Maybe I can still rent one from BYU . . . With that, otherwise I'll see you on the day of filming-- OH HOLY COW WE NEED EXTRAS!! Eric
P.S. - If I've forgotten anything else please let me know. Friday, March 25, 2005 Hey All, First off, everything I said to anyone that sounded like "you don't have to come to practice anymore" or "we won't be meeting as a complete group" is officially recinded. This Wednesday's practice will be at 6:00 as usual, but we will have it in Ottavios--our last Ottavios practice before the actual day of shooting, barring some unforseen event. I am arranging this new all-cast/crew practice because there is a new investor very interested in helping us finance our little movie, but he wants to see us all together and in action first. Needless to say we are to all be on our best behaviour! Know your lines! Your jobs! I wish Jessika and Aubri could attend, but I know you are out of town. We will use one of the 500T Negative rolls and actually film this practice. I will send it overnight to the lab and see if I can get it back as a "daily" before the 6th. Better to test 1 roll 1 week ahead of time, than to burn through 25 on the set. So, you'll be acting for an audience *and* the camera this time. Sleep well. Eric Player
Tuesday, March 22, 2005 Yesterday's practice at Ottavio's was very productive. There certainly is a lot to be said for actually being there. We discovered a lot about our set geography and our host's wishes, both of which will be crucial to a smooth shoot just a little over two (!) weeks from now. For instance, I discovered just how happy I am that Craig, Victor Vercimilli himself, has volunteered to me a digital device for collecting the sounds and dialogue. My own solution may have sounded reasonable in meetings or on paper, but the reality of trying to stay connected to a bulky tape machine (which is itself connected to the wall) while my actors are moving (even in their limited way in this film) turned out to be quite ridiculous. We have a new crew member who helped discover that. Aubri (and so help me I've forgotten her last name!) first contacted the project not long after we began to organize, but was unable to make any meetings until this one. Stating that she would like to be a Production Assistant, and PA being a notorious Jack-of-all-Trades assignment, she soon found herself filling in for every absent member of the cast (just to rub it in), gaffing, gripping, operating the boom, and has now picked up the offical title of Script Supervisor. Next time she shows I'm handing her my laundry. We have our regular practice tomorrow at 6:00 PM, and Vic at Ottavios has granted us permission for another practice on-site before we actually shoot (which I'd like to do), but the biggest request I've had at this point is more intense small group practices to help with setting the tone of the performances. This I'd be happy to do. This I agree we need to do. Most of my evenings are free until the day of the shoot except Fridays, so these individuals and groups: 1) Victor-Margaret-Harry
Call each other to coordinate and then me to set up at least two of those types of practices between now and then. For the rest of the crew, you know your jobs. Call me or come by as you have questions. Except you, Amos. Stay in constant touch. I want to know if you sleep, where you sleep, and if there are cookies there. Eric
Friday, March 18, 2005 Hey there, Due to circumstances I was not aware of before now, This and next Saturday's practices will have to be completely canceled. All you movie stars will have that much more time to go shopping and play on the beach. I will let you know Wednesday what we will do about making them up. However, I have spoken to Vic at Ottavios Ristorante, and he has cleared us for a Monday afternoon practice (2:00 PM) on set. I know, I know, short notice. Life of the low budget film maker. THIS WILL BE A VERY IMPORTANT PRACTICE TO ATTEND. Why? As those of you who have been regulars have discovered already, I have found myself to be an extremely on the spot director, and this has kept me from doing much of my major homework--the storyboards. I did my best this last Wednesday, when I focused on close-up work and**ODDS-BODDSKINS!**I found my first shots. I'll be casing the place and casing my actors and I know Jessika will want to see how all this looks too. I'm especially curious how Vic will finally react as he gets an idea of what we will be doing to his place of business. So please come. Those who do will get the snack and beverage of their choice afterwords (or during, depending on what I can swing) from the nearby Smiths or Albertsons. We cater from the best. Eric Player
P.S. - Craig, Adam, Amos, Leslie? Remember your assignments? Friday, March 11, 2005 Hi all, Practice is this Saturday at the usual time (1:00 PM) in the usual place (Wymount 1B bacement). All are encouraged to attend. Eric Tuesday, March 8, 2005 Hey all, Tomorrow's practice is going to be canceled, as almost half of our major players have said they can't be there. Please practice on your own and get yourself into character. Amos, I'd still like to see you, and see how the schedule is coming. Anyone else, if you have any reason to meet with me or any information to pass along, feel free to drop by. Wednesday is an open night for me. Thanks all, and I'll see you on Saturday. Eric
Friday, March 4, 2005 Hey Again, Thanks to all who came to the Wednesday practice. We filmed the whole thing for the first time (Cinema Verite style, of course--no cuts) in order to get an idea of the running time. Those who were there will understand why the footage is sure to make the future blooper reel. We have two new actors with us: Leslie Lewis has thrust herself with humor and zeal into the role of our woman dancer. She is going to look great--she already does. (Note to Leslie, my first choice for your dance partner is not returning my calls. Go ahead with looking on your own.) We have found our Victor! Craig Rollo--some of you may know him from numerous productions around Provo and Salt Lake City--will portray the put upon restaurant owner. Craig has also graciously offered to donate equipment and props to the project. He really brings some weight to "Vercimilli's Italian Disco." For Craig, Saturday's practice will be moved to 2:00 PM, just this once. Wednesday practices will need to be moved to 6:00 PM, however. Perhaps permanently. I know many of you, especially extras, are not showing up to practices because it doesn't seem "real" yet. Please, we need all of you. We want to get blocking and running time issues out, so they won't be problems on set. The sooner people know where they belong, the easier it will be just to point the camera on the days of the shoot. That way we can devote more time to setting up props and lights, then taking them down. Ottavios won't let us have the floor forever. Thank you all for your continued support, Eric Player
Thursday, February 24, 2005 The final shooting schedule has been worked out with Ottavios-- Wednesday April 6, 12-10:00 PM Thursday April 7, 12-10:00 PM Monday April 11, 12-10:00 PM Mark them on your calendar. I will not change them again. We may not necessarily work the whole time on all of those days, but those are the times Vic the owner has open for us. Friday and Saturday will be available for exteriors only, if needed. I know this isn't exactly what some of you had hoped for, but it was the best time available at a very fine location. Let's make it work. In the future we will map out exactly what scenes are shooting at (generally) what times. Three days should be plently of time to do a 10-15 minute movie. Thanks, Eric Player
P.S. - I offered Vic--The owner of Ottavios--the role of "Victor" but he declined. Keep up the search! Tuesday, February 22, 2005 Hello again, We had our callbacks tonight and I guess you know that if you weren't there you didn't need to be. OK. The lead Cast of Characters for Vercimilli's Italian Disco are: "Margaret" - Elizabeth Gilliand
And, in the great Universal Horror Picture tradition,
That's right. Our thematic anchor and I haven't found him yet. (Tell your Dad.) Now, I want to tell everyone who tried out, that the decision on casting, especially Margaret, was really hard. I know, at this point you're thinking "Blah Blah Blah; tell me another one," but it's true. Now please, STICK WITH US. I still need waiters/waitresses, dancers, restaurant patrons, and the lead couple ("That WHORE and her spaghetti!"). Your support makes or breaks "Vercimilli's." Tommorow's practice for the leads has been cancelled. Some of the people I want there can't make it, and we got in a good round tonight. The leads, and a few others I will contact in the mean time, need to come to the next practice on Saturday at 1:00 PM. Next week we'll start throwing in extras and "atmosphere" and costumes, to have more of a realistic feel for what we will be doing on the set. Anybody who wants to be on screen should start planning for those (Wed. at 7:00, Sat. at 1:00), please. I will want those practices to include, at least superficially, some cameras, sound, and lighting. Let's not be handling those for the first time on day 1 of shooting. Speaking of, we still need someone to crew the sound. Starting next week Saturday practices will also include FOOD! Sandwiches, juice, not much on our budget but enough of a draw, I hope. Get some sleep, I know I need it. Eric
Monday, February 21, 2005 Hello, Thanks to everyone for the successful casting call on Saturday. Callbacks are tommorow--hopefully that will work--and we will have everyone cast by this Wednesday the 23rd, which you may also remember is going to be our first day of rehersals. I seem to be short just about everyone's phone number, so if you haven't already given it to Amos, please email it to me. For now I'll email the actors I want a second look at. For everyone: Whether you get a callback or part or not, remember that I NEED YOU! I cannot make this picture without you. Anyone who wants to be there will end up in front of the camera as an extra, and everyone--lead or not--will be useful behind the camera. Rehersal this week (Wednesday and Saturday) will be for the leads (anyone with a speaking part), our Production Designer, and Assistant Director & Me. The rest of you keep trolling your friends and look forward to your little moment on the Provo campus of Hollywood. Eric Player
P.S. - Mark, I'll also make it a priority to have something storyboarded for you by next Wednesday's practice. Monday, February 14, 2005 Greetings all, For all of you who made it to Saturday's meeting, thanks. For those of you who missed it, some highlights. And for everyone, some thoughts and changes: Our cinematographer, Mark, pointed out some concerns over our possible film ratio (good take to bad take) and the amount of film we will finally need. As a result, I will be trying to squeeze as much more "blood" out of our "turnip" of a film stock budget as I can. Anybody who wants to donate $15 for an extra reel is welcome. Remember, your $15 may be the difference between whether you look good on camera or not. Jessika, our production designer, gave a report on the miracles she has been working with the costumes and the look of the "Dico." When you see her thank her for your sharp duds. We looked out on our shooting schedule and determined that March 17 will work better as a start date than March 15, and so that was agreed upon. 17, 18, 19th of March from 2:30 PM to 10 PM at Ottavio's in Provo is our current schedule. However, the casting call was less successful than I hoped and as of today (February 14) we only have Harry's character cast. I was going to try and make a decision on Margaret this week, but looking at the amount of practice and logistics we still need to overcome--and looking at the fact that 80% of the characters still need actors to play them--I feel that we should have another screen test to try and advance the cause. The new casting call will be this Saturday February 19, 2005, in the same Wymount 1B basement, at 3:00 PM. See the previous updates for maps and directions. I still need a female lead, a couple "disco dancers," Our Italian Host, and a "Lounge Lizard" (Barry). This means also that--depending on the availability of Ottavios--I would prefer to push the production date back again to April 7, 8, and 9 to give us time to cast actors and get them the practice they need. So, until I can contact Vic, the owner of Ottavios, we will move ahead assuming that 17-19 is our production date, but if I can get his OK we will move it back to April 7-9. Same time of day on those. As for practices, I'd like to do them twice a week starting next week: Wednesday night and Saturday afternoon, for about an hour. Please let me know if you can make these dates and times. Eric Player
Tuesday, February 1, 2005 Greetings All, It has been a slow few days, but people continue to flock to our cause! "Vercimilli's Italian Disco" now sports 14 official cast and crew, with more contacting me every day. About the contacting thing . . . I will be unavailable for at least the next week on a personal matter that has come up. Really. Completely. Totally. Any questions anyone has are to be directed toward our Assistant Director (and newly Christened Co-Producer) Amos Oyston. (502) 767-4248, "[email protected]". If necessary, he will know how to get ahold of me. I will be back for the casting call barring some EXTREMELY unfortunate event. As for the casting call--February 12, 10 AM to 1 PM, in the BYU Wymount Terrace building 1B basement--directions are as follows: Follow University Parkway east toward the mountains until it ends, literally, on the far side of the 900 East traffic light. Turn Left and then take an immediate Right into the first parking lot. This is the Wymount Quad 1 Parking Lot, with Building 1C on your immediate left. The buildings will be marked. Building 1B is directly to the right of 1C. Head down either stairway of 1B and turn toward the center of the building. Map: (Look for Complex 1, in the lower Left)
Please get as many people out there as possible! Older friends are very appropriate--not everyone in the world is twentysomething. Remember, to be cast in a lead part in the film you must be there! Extras we may wind up just pulling off the street. Our greatest need now is clothes--and actors will probably have to do their own makeup. If you have something 70's-ish break it out. Until next week, Eric Player
Thursday, January 27, 2005 Greetings again, I know it has only been a couple of days since our last mailing, but we have had some new people and some good developments just since then. Welcome to all those getting this for the first time--what you are receiving is the weekly/bi-weekly/whenever email post on the state of the "Vercimilli's Italian Disco" short film project. We have secured a location! Ottavio's Ristorante Italiano. Owner Vic Balsano has genrously allowed us to use just about whatever portion of his beautiful restaurant in downtown Provo we wish, provided of course that he isn't using it at the same time. This means that we will have a wonderful spot to spoil with a Disco Ball and dance lights--but it also means we will need many more extras who actually look like they know what they are doing with regard to serving food. Keep telling your friends! In addition, I was contacted by a Production Designer, and we have also found our DJ! (Seeing as the equipment will be his, he is the only on-the-spot casting decision.) Plus, the location of the casting call has been set--in an oversized room in the basement of Building 1B of BYU's Wymount Terrace. Time is still Feb. 12 from 10AM to 1PM. If you want to be considered for a role in the film you MUST be there. (I have to do it that way--I know most of you only by email!) I would also like anyone else in the crew to be there as well, so we can talk, meet, figure things out that haven't been figured yet. When we get closer to the date I'll get you directions. That's it for now! Don't forget to send in any lists of equipment or props you might have, and I'll check in later. Eric Player
Tuesday, January 25, 2005 All, It has been a relatively quiet few days, although I can announce that we have had another actor and a cinematographer express interest in the "Vercimilli's Italian Disco" project. Enough people have contacted me that I can in good conscience set a date of Saturday, February 12, for the screen test of actors. 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM, place TBA. As March 15 (Don't love that date TOO much, it all depends on location) approaches, I have also asked Amos Oyston to act as AD for us, so contact him at "[email protected]" if you've come up with any ideas for actors or sponsors or location at this point. I'm continuing to troll Provo myself; the town has a lot more atmosphere than you'd expect. Also, if everyone could check in with a list of what equipment they have that might be useful to the project, I'd appreciate it, as we need to know how much we need of what. Every piece of equipment is good, no matter what you may think--and it's worth a screen credit! Thank you all again for your support. We'll get this thing off the ground! Eric Player
Thursday, January 20, 2005 Thank you all for your interest and support for the "Vercimilli's Italian Disco" short film project. I attended the opening social of the LDS Film Festival today at the Provo Library and wanted to keep you up to date on the progress so far-- It was a very fruitful "networking session." Not only did I get some trivia about the upcoming projects from various production companies, but I found a producer willing to help us. He knows actors who will work for free (score!) and owns his own camera equipment, including an Industry Standard digital camera that runs at the 24 frame rate. Essentially, I went in there with a Super 8 and came out with the same camera that was used to film "Collateral" and "Open Water". Not a bad day at all. Eric Player
Tuesday, January 4, 2005 I have a short that I've liked for years, and it's just now occured to me, after almost two years living here, that being in a college town is a perfect place to put together a project with free cast and crew. |
April 7, 2005
April 11, 2005
77 East Center Street
Provo, UT 84606
(801) 377-9555
http://www.ottavios.com
Vercimilli Script
Director/Screenwriter's Resume
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