Editing, Poster and What's Left

Editing is going real smooth. I haven't been doing it as frequently as I should, but compared to the progress on my first film, I'm so much further along. The conditions were different the first time around, so that has a lot to do with it. As of this moment the NICOTINE is 48 minutes and 20 seconds. We're only on Scene 25. Originally there were 100 Scenes, but slowly as the shooting went on, we took things out, condensed some stuff, etc. I'm not sure how many total scenes there are in the film, but I think it's around 75 or 80.  During the shooting we expanded on already scripted scenes; it was the plan too, so they were expected additions.

The biggest challenge of editing is to find a balance between too little and too much. Personally, I like bloated scenes, so luckily I have John to give me feedback. As much as I trust my instincts, opinions and thoughts are greatly appreciated while shaping this film. John gave me some great ideas the other night on the phone. Unfortunately, sometimes there's not additional footage to cut here or cut there. The problem with shooting for a specific editing style, is that you limit yourself for what you can do once you get to the actual editing. There are a couple scenes where the camera is locked and doesn't cut into mediums or close-ups, it's just a two-shot of characters talking, so you just hope and pray that it will work with the film. In retrospect was it a good choice? Does it even make sense to suddenly hold back that way? Did I just break the rhythm by changing the style up? All questions will eventually be answered... unlike in LOST. J/K, Best Television Show Ever.

Poster #3

Poster #1 and #2 weren't really anything, but this third one is a bit more serious. I want to go with a minimal poster. It's hard to name some of my favorite posters, but an original idea I had for NICOTINE was basically the Criterion cover for The Vanishing. I love it. It's simple and ominous and even boring -- in a good way. But if I came up with something like that, it would be selling it as too much of a brooding drama.

I don't know what the "final" poster will be. The above poster I made with the bowling floor is a relatively small file, the image quality isn't great, so I wouldn't be able to blow that up. I might stick with something like that.

What's left? The Gas Station scene, a simple re-shoot of Paul walking inside the apartment lobby and a Paul phone voice-over. I've come up with something to replace the Gas Station scene, mostly because that whole point of the scene was to get to the last couple of lines + to see more of Paul's awkward interaction with people in the outside world. I talked with Jeff about what this scene would be, and we both agree that the gas station scene would be great, but I'm tired of people not really knowing and being nervous about us doing this. Of course I won't say what the scene is, but it will be a good addition to the story.


What's next? Finish editing, music, then doing a couple private screenings with the actors, then a [hopeful] big screening [in January?], then we'll enter this thing into some festivals.

It's all going well. I'm happy with this movie. Very happy.