I have started drawing story boards which has added a whole new layer of excitement to the project for me. This process allows me to fully visualize the telling of the story. I can try as many possibilities as I’d like, the world of the story is literally my canvass – anything my mind can conceive… if I don’t like the idea, I simply erase and start over. This coming weekend I will be heading down to Fagan Ranch to begin video story boarding what I have drawn. In this process I will use a cheap camcorder and video tape the action with a few friends. What this does is allow me to go back, edit the footage and show members of the crew exactly how the scene is going to unfold. It’s one thing to show someone my stick figure story boards but I feel a deeper understanding of what can be achieved will be made possible through the video story boards.

Over the weekend I met with Mike Jennings, the Production Manager (UPM). For those of you that just don’t know - a UPM supervises the physical aspects of the production (not the creative aspects) including personnel, technology, budget, and scheduling. It is the production manager’s responsibility to make sure the filming stays on schedule and within its budget. We met to discuss the budget, scheduling, and crewing of the film. Over the next week Mike will work on organizing a crew for the shoot.

Mark your calanders because we set a tenative start date, note the word tenative, for June 19^th. There are several chips that need to fall into place for this date to stick but Mike and I felt it neccessary to set a date if he were to begin the process of crewing the film.

In addition to this Mike will be reworking the schedule. In a perfect world all of the actors would be available at the snap of my fingers, but unfortunatley I don’t live in that world. Matt Johnston, one of our lead actors, will shortly return to New York to begin filming the second season of his Discovery Channel series, It Takes a Thief. What this means is that we have to work with, and around Matt’s shooting schedule for ITaT. There are other actors involved with the project that will have the same issue - I only point out Matt’s schedule because it’s an easy example. So… Mike will do his best and working with the information available will create a shooting schedule. Once finished he will provide the cast and crew with what is called a day out of days, which is nothing more than a fancy way of saying shooting schedule. The day out of days tells you who, when, where, and what we will be shooting each day, for the duration of the shoot. Sounds complicated, right? It is. Just writing about it makes me happy that I no longer have to figure those aspects of the production out. Good luck Mike.

In conversations with the Texas Rangers Museum’s curator, I’ve been told that television programs in recent history haven’t acurately depicted the Texas Rangers. In actuality they are detectives and therefore more on the reserved side. Observant to a fault, even. Which, of coarse, is unlike my character. As Travis I have to be frazzeled and, I don’t want to say unobservant because I feel like that says stupid, but we’ll call him hesitant.

So by very nature the one thing this character wants, to be a Texas Ranger, he can never really be. He’s just not the right guy for the job. In preparation for this I have listed several occasions where I felt like a fish out of water. (Believe me it is a long, painful and exstensive list!) I kind of feel as though Travis is trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. He just doesn’t know it. He doesn’t look it, either. He just is it.

Ok… I’ve finished the script analysis and will begin making a shot list over the weekend. A shot list is exactly what it sounds like, a list of shots that will be in the movie. Once I have completed this, I can begin working on story boarding - which is an invaluable resource. Story boards allow me to further visualize the script, helping me determine the pacing, tone, and overall look of the film. And ultimately, this is the task of the director, to transform what’s on page into a visual moving story. My dad used to tell me that a truly great film can be watched without any sound because the telling of the story is in the pictures (I think he was repeating Steven Spielberg but the fact that I heard him say it first gave the lesson meaning).

On another note, I have been talking with Julio Cedillo about the possibility of him joining the cast. Julio’s performance as the title character in The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada was phenomenal. If you haven’t seen the film, I highly recommend checking it out for the great acting and stylized storytelling… not to mention it’s a modern day western. The flick was directed by Tommy Lee Jones (who also acts in the film) and stars Barry Pepper and Dwight Yoakum (to name a few). It’s about a ranch hand Pete Perkins (Jones) who looks to fulfill the promise to his recently deceased best friend (Cedillo) by burying him in his hometown in Mexico. I recently mailed off a script to Julio and will be awaiting a response. More to come.

While developing a character, I try to supplement all the previously discussed techniques with a variety of reading material. For some roles, it’s a true form of research that’s essential (like what Mike has been doing with the quick draw). Since my character in Cowboy Smoke doesn’t have a physical impediment, a psychological disorder, or a political agenda, my use of reading and/or research is to fill the gap between the character and his surroundings. Texas is the focal point. We all know Texas is it’s own country and the people are as unique as the state itself. Not having lived in Texas for many years, I love recapturing the aura of that mystical and magical place. Since Texas is so much a part of my character, I’ve found the following books to be a lot of fun. If nothing else, they get me in that Texas state-of-mind:

** Kings of Texas: The 150 Year Saga of an American Ranching Empire by Don Graham**
I read this book for the first time before we shot Wesley Cash. It’s a detailed account of South Texas history and ranching. It’s a great read for you ranchers out there.

**Lone Star: A History of Texas and the Texans by T.R. Fehrenbach**
I’m 240 pages into this and can’t put it down. If you take pride in being a Texan, this is the perfect book.

** The Hollywood Western by William K. Everson**
I’ve been reading this more for fun than anything. The influence of Spaghetti Westerns and Sergio Leone had to start from somewhere. Westerns have been such an integral part of moviemaking history. They have gone hand in hand for over a hundred years. Fascinating stuff for film students.

This weekend’s location scouting went well; I’ve locked down all but four or five locations. You can check out a few of the pictures on the gallery page under location scouting 5.6.2006.
I will finish breaking down the script this week and once finished I can begin making out a shot list… and from there, stick figure story boards… yeah baby. It looks like I am going to hold my first casting session in a couple weeks. More to come, so stay tuned. Also, we are presently talking with C. Thomas Howell’s people regarding him doing a cameo. The movie that I always remember C. Thomas Howell from is the The Hitcher with Rutger Hauer but he’s been in the game since the late seventies, staring in movies such as The Outsiders, ET. The Extra-Terrestrial, and Hidalgo. In addition to this, legendary Houston Oilers head coach Bum Phillips has agreed to be in the film. If you don’t know who Bum Phillips is, hit yourself over the head… then google him. The man is famous for his colorful quotes.

This weekend will mark the fourth time I have traveled to Fagan’s Ranch and gone location scouting. I will spend Friday night at his ranch, then Saturday and most of Sunday we will travel around the small town of Tivoli – which is where we will be shooting the majority of the movie – looking for the remainder of locations as well as meeting with business owners to ask permission to shoot in their establishments.
Just a nugget… but Tivoli is at the intersection of State highways 35 and 239, near the mouth of the Guadalupe River in northeastern Refugio County. It was founded by rancher and entrepreneur Preston R. Austin in 1907 and named after his Tivoli Ranch. It is the definition of a one light town and I fell in love with the place while shooting Wesley Cash. The cast and crew would frequently have breakfast tacos at Cannales Café on Sunday mornings and many a night were spent at the Neon Moon, a double wide trailer that’s been converted into a bar – complete with disco ball and dance floor.
I am almost finished with script analysis. Once done I will begin making a shot list and begin my poor excuse for story boarding – mostly stick figures. Fagan and I have decided; time permitting, that we will do video storyboarding as well. Video storyboarding is where you actually go out to your locations and shoot, on video, the entire movie. Should be extremely helpful in that video storyboarding will allow me to see which shots work and which shots do not.

Well, things went pretty well in my quick draw lesson. Larry, whose nickname is “Marshall Cahill”, showed me some techniques he uses in his competitions. The real fun part was learning some of the moves that made Eastwood such a hit back in the day. Just in a matter of a few hours I was flipping the colt replica like true western gunslinger. He even gave me rig (gun and holster) to practice with, which I’ll have to do for a few hours each day to really get to where handling the gun is second nature. All in all a really fun experience and what a cool talent to have anyway, right? I can see it now…

Ruffian on street, “Give me your money, sucker!” Me, slowly turning, hand on my trusty sixshooter, “Looks like you picked the wrong guy to mug, punk.” Bang, bang! Down he goes in a hail of bullets as I holster with a whirl.

Well, maybe I should just stick to practicing in my apartment and leave the gun battles to the big screen.