THE VERY FIRST PRODUCTION JOURNAL ENTRY

From its inception over a year ago to the production meeting we had last night, Some Puppet To Watch Over Me is careening toward becoming a reality- that is, a real movie. Whenever possible, I will be updating this web journal with the latest news about this ongoing production. Here's a little info to get you up to speed:

THE EARLY YEARS

Henry Olson and I cooked up the idea of Pudding and Jammies as babysitters over a year ago, driving through a rainstorm in Los Angeles (where it never rains). Henry wrote the first pages of a script, and I took it from there, finishing the whole thing in one night.

STEP ONE: GET PNEUMONIA

Actually, getting pneumonia probably doesn't help the screenwriting process much, but when I got it in March, it did give me a little time to think about the movie. Okay, a *lot* of time. Doctor's orders were to stay home and do nothing but rest for 10 DAYS! After the first few days of constant discomfort, I started getting better and struck a balance. Although it was hard to keep my eyes open for any length of time, I did finish a second draft of the script and start storyboarding (that is, breaking each scene into individual shots), in between frequent naps.

TEN HEADS ARE BETTER THAN ONE

Upon my return to full (more or less) health, I distributed the script to a number of people both inside and outside the video production community, and they gave me their feedback. Draft 3 would not be nearly as good as it is (and we think it's pretty darn good) without comments and suggestions from a variety of thoughtful people, including Karen Gill, David Dibble, Henry Olson, Lori Wunder, Eric Pearson, Steve Carpenter, Nora Boedeker, Peg & Steve Schellin, Dan Mooney, and the members of the Milwaukee Film Corps.

THE CORPS CORE

The Milwaukee Film Corps is a group of film (and video) enthusiasts here in Milwaukee that works on independent productions like mine, and its members will form the core of the SPTWOM crew. MFC member Carl Besasie will be my Director of Photography (responsible for the lighting and camerawork); also lending assistance are Joe Spang, Don Unverrich, Lance Miller, Dan Ramsey, Tom Berna, Jan Talaga, Marilyn Besasie, and Marko Stackniw.

AND THEN SOME

I am also lucky enough to have much-needed assistance from some other folks. Beth Gomon has scouted locations for me and listed props we will need. Karen Gill is acting as a de facto Production Manager at the moment, bringing her vast theater experience to bear on cataloging and locating needed props. Karen is also going to handle Craft Services (that's "food" to you laypeople) on our shoots, a task of utmost importance to the success of the production ("A well fed crew is a happy crew").

As many of you know, my family has always been very supportive of my moviemaking lunacy, and Steven, Peg, Paul, and Karla are once again assisting me in various ways. Look for more about the contributions of all these talented people in future entries in this production journal.

Bye for now,

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Copyright Kenneth J. Schellin.