Yesterday was just what the doctor ordered – a day in New York City.
I don’t think I could ever live there, but I do love visiting it. I love the crush of people, the hundreds of languages, the thousands of combinations of faces, clothes, walks, eyes, the little dogs, the business – all of it. Energizing. I took the train from Trenton to Penn Station. No, I was not afraid to take the train. To be afraid is to let the bad guys win. They won’t win anything with me.
Why did I take a day out of the craziness that is life right now and head for Manhattan? To do one of the coolest things ever!
You know how some DVD’s come with commentary? After you watch the movie, you can watch it again, only this time you hear a voice (usually the director) that gives you the story behind the story of the film. Yesterday, I met with Jessica Sharzer, the director of the SPEAK movie, and the two of us recorded the commentary for the DVD! It was a blast.
There was a massive mixing board and a nice guy named Mark (whose daughter plays on a guy’s ice hockey team) who took care of it.
Jessica Sharzer is a wonderful person! She gave a lot of fascinating information about how they make things happen in the movie – making it look like winter in the middle of August, filming inside a bathroom stall, etc., as well as tidbits about the actors. I talked about the differences between the book and the movie, and some of the whys behind the story structure itself.
I snuck a picture of the movie – here is Kristen Stewart who plays Melinda, on the bus to school.
Jessica and I slogged through the rain (it poured yesterday) and had lunch. Here is the view from my table. We talked all about story structure and narrative flow, which is dull to most people, but I like it a lot.
In other news, the back porch kitties have returned. I think their moms are teaching them to venture out into the real world (the woods behind my apartment) so they are only here part-time.
I have to clean the apartment today and pack more boxes and write and go to the grocery store because the cupboard is bare. (I’ll give details about my move as it gets closer.) This is one of those days that makes me feel like a boring adult.
Oh – for the record because people keep emailing me about it: the film version of SPEAK will be on Showtime and Lifetime on Monday, September 5th. I have more details, but can’t share them until the official announcement (I think that will be on July 16th). It’s killing me to keep some of this stuff secret!!!