"Your blog will be better...

..when you put up the shorts," says my girlfriend.

She also does not appreciate being called an "outside observer."

Who knew?

-e

I, Dishwasher

I just filmed a short about a guy who talks to his dishwasher. We'll see how it comes out. (Clean, you say? har, har, har)

-E

"Hey, I'm in San Francisco" - Lawrence

Missed a call this morning from Lawrence. Called him back around noon. Went something like this:

Me: Hey man, you around?
Lawrence: I'm in San Francisco.
[Silence]
Lawrence: For Easter.
[More silence]
Me: That's interesting.

I'm not sure how this short is going to work by myself. Think I'll have to write another real fast. Maybe do it with objects. I've always wanted to do stop-motion...


-e

the casting couch

No, that's not an inappropriate activity we have planned for tomorrow, it's the name of our short we're filming tomorrow. On Easter. It's resurrection themed. (No, it's not.)

[Again, this is raw footage people..we're still pre-launch in this Short-a-Week project. Don't worry, you will get an email. Oh yes, there will be emails...]

I wrote six pages of me and Lawrence pretending to be casting agents before I realized, hey, I can't act, I gotta give myself less lines!

So, now I have a few less lines. But they are good ones. I can't wait to mess them up.

-E

ps. After showing the raw footage of our first three shorts to outside observers for the first time, it has occurred to me that what is funny to me and Lawrence at the time of filming (me piling a bunch of laundry on him) may not translate to "funny" on the screen.

laundry monster endorses beer

Limitations today:

Time
Lawrence's Time
Location
Props

Opportunities:
A Big Pile of Laundry on Lawrence's couch.

The Result: A short about a guy (Lawrence) under a pile of laundry who reaches out, grabs the beer, sucks it into the pile of laundry, the pile shakes, empty beer bottle comes out.

That pretty much worked. Lawrence complained the whole time. Said something about clothes being a lot heavier than they looked, and he couldn't "breathe."

Whatever. Actors. It's in the can! Editing starts Wed...

First short will go up April 4th!

Woo woo.

-E

or does it? The Canon ZR50 MC and its complications

Alright, the short-a-week project still has not yet begun... I am thinking April 6th will be the premiere.

First have to figure out how to transfer video from a Canon ZR50 MC camcorder that has a 155 page instruction booklet in English, French, y Espanol, pero no tiene, I mean, but doesn't have instructions on how to transfer directly to my new MacBook.

The Internet might be able to answer this question. If that doesn't work, you'll just have to come over and watch the shorts here. I'll hook it up to the VCR. I already have popcorn - bring soda and gummi bears.

To be continued...

-E

[Listening to: Built to Spill - Keep it Like a Secret. Highly recommend. Seriously. Why do you think I put these brackets here?]

Short coming in light of St. Patrick's Day holiday

So I have been texting Lawrence all morning about what time we're going to get together to start writing, and just got a text back, a mass text about some bishop declaring tomorrow St. Patrick's day, and Lawrence inviting people out for breakfast and beers.

Today does not look promising.

Short A Week Project - Close to Starting!!

That's right, we got the short done this week as well.. Still not sure if last week's counts as a short, but uh, it's also in the camera. Now we gotta figure out how to get it out of the camera and into the computer / online. When we do, get ready - we will launch the "Short a Week" project in full (special) effect(s).

And maybe we'll call it Project "Short a Week"

At this point, anything can happen... let's get off the ground... who's got editing skillz... Matt? Anybody? Hello?

-E

Solo Week

Haven't heard from Lawrence, so it looks like I'm gonna have to roll solo this week. Think the fake True ad is going to be the best bet, as I can film that as if it's a real True ad, using the camera on my computer.

Does anyone know what I'm talking about?

Well, I wrote the first few sentences which went something like: "Interior, a guy at his computer typing" at which point I got a little creeped out because that's me, that's what I was doing. I was that guy. What was I going to do next?

Answer: Stop blogging and get something to eat.

One thing that is not difficult - Posting Blogs

Uh, we've yet to officially start the project (because I haven't figured out how to edit), so I guess you can call this the Beta-plan post. Or just, a post.

This week's short ideas are running, well, thin-ish. So far, all I can up with is:

1. The casting of an adult film (Dickerous), and/or the struggles of a hetero casting director doing gay porn, etc...
2. Guy filming a short about nothing, by himself, using dolls.
3. Guy listens to Tape Player, then CD player, then Mp3...evolution of the walkman?
4. Fake "True" ad; a guy trying to look sexy, in his boxers, hung over, peering into his laptop

Yeah, Lawrence can't wait to do that last one. I can tell before he even reads this...

Oh, and before I forget, some choice dialog between Lawrence and his sig. other (SO) during the filming of "Toothpaste Sandwich."

SO: "Don't eat our last hot dog"
L: "We need it for the scene."
SO: "But it's our last one. Can't you use something else?"
L: "I'll buy you a whole pack of hot dogs, baby."
SO: "Why do you need a hot dog?"
L: "I want to eat a hot dog in the scene,"
SO: "But you can eat anything"
L: "I also just want to eat a hot dog."
SO: "You're going to buy some more?"
L: "Yeah. Tonight."
SO: "Fine."

When we make our first mil, this blog is going to seem funny...

Until then, I have to hide from SO.

-E

This is going to be difficult

Welcome.

We are semi-professionals with a not-so-modern camera making a short a week whether we like it or not.

Two reasons for The Short-a-Week Project:

1. To entertain you.

2. To keep my writing fresh and Lawrence's acting more fresh. Fresher? You get the point.

Oh, and also for fun.

We're not going to improv a few lines, film some stupid stuff with friends. We're going to write, direct, act, and edit...some stupid stuff with friends.

There is two of us. And more, if you want to help...

Is this like Jonathan Coulton's "Thing a Week" project?

Exactly. Well, not exactly. But inspired by. Big ups to JoCo.

Check back every Friday for a new short.

And we LOVE comments - anonymous or otherwise. It lets us know how we're doing...

Seriously.