I guess I'm moving along quickly enough. Compiled a list of questions with Ed to ask Greg (the DP I want to hire).

Last night I worked on the scrīpt some more and added another action scene for Gibson (Matt). It's not a lot, but I'm having him put more pressure on Ronnie (Ray), and at one point sits with Ronnie, Steve (Dennis?), and Terry (Troy?) while they try and get some money out of Devon (Chelsea). They don't really get anywhere, Devon walks out with a payment plan, and Gibson beats the other 3 guys up within 5 seconds. I wanna show he's competent, at least.

But now I need to somehow make Gibson more of a villain to the main characters too. Perhaps having him kill off Kelly (Nathan) at the convenience store would be good. It'd be sad because the main characters would come back and find Kelly dead on the floor, and nobody around. That way, we can keep Jamie around, and the guys take it upon themselves to deal with Gibson and Ski, and have Jamie drive off, but then when they meet the villains at the casino, she's there bound up. I gotta have Willie Cox, the brain villain, be there as well, but I'm pretty sure we'll end up waxing him right away. Gibson doesn't show up in that scene until the end, and even then we can't see him at all, even during the chase.

But why would the characters come back to the convenience store at all? Perhaps they know it's time to get out of town, and they go back to get their stuff, and Devon goes to the convenience store to see Kelly.

Or maybe it'd be best for Kelly to not be at the convenience store when he's killed. Perhaps being at home would be best. That way when Devon goes to the store, the owner is there trying to figure out why nobody's come in for work, promptly fires Devon for not working (being at the ranch instead), and they go to Kelly's place, see he's dead, and that sucks.

Even then, we should probably show some more dedication to Willie by Gibson. As it is right now I called Gibson a "Vending Machine" that simply works based on how much money you put into him. I don't know what kind of relationship they can have, but I assume if Gibson is simply dedicated to Willie, that could work. I just need to show that. In the beginning when Gibson stabs Bernie, we could work Willie in there in some way too.

I think Ski (Ed) trashing Devon's house is still the best for doing Ski in at the end.

I also don't know if I want Gibson doing much at Tussen's ranch. I might have Steve do most of the investigating there.

I should brainstorm using these journals more often.


Right now the rough cast is as follows (I haven't really talked to everyone about this yet, these are just folks I had in mind for the roles):

Charlie Clay - Eric Jacobus
Devon Castle - Chelsea Steffensen
Jamie Clay - Uncast
Tussen - Nathaniel Pierson
Ronnie Frank - Ray Carbonel
Terry Frank - Troy Carbonel
Steve - Dennis Ruel
Gibson - Matt Lucas
Willie Cox - Uncast

Ski - Ed Kahana
Punk 1 - Jackie Do (?)
Punk 2 - Lucas Okuma (?)
Kelly - Nathan Hoskins
Phil - Shaun Finney

People I'd like to cast for something: Stacie Rashel, Steve Yu

Naturally all of us look pretty young, so it might be nice to have a makeup artist and/or wardrobe designer add some age to most of us. I think it can be done. Ski and the punks don't need it.

I also found that the Berkeley Swap Meet is an AWESOME place to go for outfits. I plan on going back there this Saturday to buy some boots. I already bought some there last weekend, and they're kickass Fry's brand cowboy boots. $25. They have leather jackets there too, and I think I found a perfect one for Devon.