CONCEPTION
At the screenplay stage of SEX MACHINE, I was interested in blending two genres of film: 1)The low-budget relationship driven indie drama, and 2) a monster filled exploitation flick. The project was initially conceived as a Hal Hartley movie that happened to feature Frankenstein as a main character. As the screenplay progressed, the two genres began to blend together much better than I initially thought they would and the movie began to become a much more personal work than initially intended.
SUNDAY, MAY 02, 2004
I started writing SEX MACHINE probably two years ago. I figured I would have it in the can and be on to the next thing by now. But sometimes life has it's own plans.
I wrote the bulk of it during a pretty bad ice storm. The office was closed down due to no electricity and I was dodging a repo man determined to reposess my car. Empty bank account. Sketchy electricity. Icy roads. Good times.
Hopefully SEX MACHINE will be the first part of a thematic "series" that will re-imagine the archetypal monster characters but through a more character-based indie-film approach. I know it sounds like a bunch of bullshit but the finished project will be cool, fun to watch and maybe a little bit beautiful. And if all of the aethetic stuff falls through... if the acting is terrible ... if the camera work sucks... there will at least be violence and nudity.
It's taken me 2 years to get the gear and connections I need to pull this thing off. We'll be shooting on 24p digital video which can look amazing if it's done right. Shogo will be shooting and John Howell is on board as the main man. Marcus and Leah have started in on the production designs and I commissioned a draft polish from John Oak Dalton. The budget is low - $7,000. But like I said, we already have the gear and we will be putting all of that budget up on the screen.
We are going to shoot primarily on weekends in July and August mainly in the OKC area. I will be keeping an informal journal here about the production of the film. Nothing profound. Just a record of what is happening on a day to day basis. And I will post photos, production designs, script snippets etc. from time to time. I'm not really doing this with the intention of making it interesting, but if you enjoy it thats great. And feel free to comment, ask questions etc.
next up: finish storyboarding... secure audition location... promote auditions... find a bowling alley.
John Oak Dalton helped us streamline the screenplay into something that was actually shoot-able. He has written quite a few screenplays that have been produced on various budget scales and he knew there were a few things we simply could not pull off. I didn't believe him at the time but in hindsight see that he was 100% correct. With a stream-lined, polished and funnier screenplay we headed into pre-production.
Next: Pre-production