Bloggin' On: Adventures in Screenwriting and Other Observations for January 8, 2020

Photo Credit: Pixabay

Hello and welcome once again to Bloggin' On, the blog-within-a-blog section of A Certain Point of View where I don't do either reviews or political commentary. It's Wednesday, January 8, 2020, and it's morning here in my corner of Florida. It's a cool morning; the temperature outside is 52℉ (11℃) under partly sunny skies. The forecast for today calls for a high of 66℉ (19℃) and partly sunny skies; the temperature will probably drop tonight to 51℉ (10℃) with no precipitation. According to one of our local TV stations, this will be our last cold day this week because a warming trend starts tomorrow.

Well, Happy Days Are Here Again just finished principal photography; most of the acting-heavy scenes have been shot, especially those involving Anthony Hernandez and his father, actor-director Juan Carlos Hernandez. Anthony is available only for a short time because he has to go back to college soon, so (per what Juan tells me) all of his scenes are "in the can."

Juan reports, via text, that they had difficulties on Monday night while shooting a key scene on the apartment balcony. It seems that there was a lot, and I mean a lot, of ambient noise in the neighborhood, including barking dogs, traffic noises, and neighbors arguing about the pros and cons of that night's episode of The Voice. Juan says the scene was eventually filmed, but that it was a bear to do. This is what happens when you are independent filmmakers and shoot movies without the benefit of a controlled environment in a proper set.

Yesterday, another problem, albeit a minor one, reared its ugly head when Juan reported that he could not find archival footage of a certain public figure that we needed for another scene. I looked at the script and checked the dialogue I had chosen from a CBS News clip when I rewrote the script last summer/fall, but neither Juan nor I could find the clip with the "lines" I quoted in the screenplay.  I did, however, find, a long video in YouTube of the public figure in question that fits the dramatic needs of the story and emailed it to Juan.

Coincidentally, Juan also did a video search on YouTube and decided to use the same video I liked for the scene in question. As I said in my text to the director: "Great minds think alike!"

Today, Juan has scheduled some exterior shots, provided that it doesn't rain or snow. I checked the forecast for the New York City area; it's going to be cold and partly cloudy, but there's only a 20% chance of precipitation. So it looks like Juan will get his footage without much trouble.

There's still a lot of post-production stuff to be done, such as making corrections for lighting and editing the footage. But if all goes well, Happy Days Are Here Again should be done soon and uploaded to YouTube.

I don't have much to report on today; I am still waiting for my Blu-ray of Great Voices Sing John Denver, a documentary about the making of the eponymous tribute record produced by the late Milt Okun. I'd love to get the album itself, but it's only available through third-party sellers on Amazon, and the two individuals who are selling their Great Voices Sing John Denver CDs are both asking over $700 for a used disc.  

Now, I love the concept of some of the world's best opera singers performing covers of John Denver's songs, but I don't have that kind of money. And even if I did, $700 is a bit much to ask for a used CD.  So, no thanks, third-party sellers. I'll just listen to it on Amazon Prime as long as the site lets me.

The Post Office's tracking system says that the Blu-ray is in a nearby distribution center and is scheduled to arrive tomorrow. So...one more day of waiting and then...showtime! 

Anyway, that's all the news I have to share with you today. I need to get off my rear end and go fix something for breakfast; I've been awake since 5 AM and all I've had so far is my daily cafe con leche. So, until next time, Constant Reader, catch you on the sunny side of things!