Page 47.

You're only on page 47?

Yep.

The script is coming along just fine. I have really been enjoying 'makin' this world'.

But, I do find that even though I have the whole script outlined, it's a whole different beast when it comes to actually writing the screenplay.

Suddenly these characters do come alive. It's pretty exciting.

I think because this is my first feature, I feel a need for this film to "speak for me". And what I mean by that is... this will be the first film most people will ever see by me and I want it to be something that truly represents my art and vision.

I wouldn't want to make "Deuce Bigalow" and be known as the "Deuce Bigalow Guy".

Of course it would be really weird, to be known as "The New Black Guy". Not very PC, I suspect, considering I'm a cracka from Kansas.

Anyway, maybe I do 'over think' things when I'm writing, but I only have one chance to make a first impression and I would rather it be something I'm very proud of...

With the great crew and actors I have lined up, it's up to me to deliver a good script and the rest will fall into place, I'm sure.

-wade

Rod's blog.

If you want to read a great blog, read Rod Pocowatchit's blog.
The link is on the right.
Now, HE can write.
He makes this blog look like it's written by a chimp.

Makun movee hard.

Me no rite gud.

I no like presur.

me go sleepee.

Rod is a great guy, filmmaker and friend. Go, check him out...
Oh, and he's producing THE NEW BLACK and starring in the film.
Yep.

-wade

Sequence.

Who are these people?

They are known as The Black Arm Band.

And they are from Mexico.

We think....

Myspace.

It needs work, but it's going...

Click here to go to Foureye Films on Myspace.

-wade

I need to learn to type.

I need go lwaum go ropwl I site wojh O voild remever waho O lwawn in high sxholl.

That is suppose to say, "I need to learn to type. I wish that I could remember what I learned in high school."

-That first line was me typing without looking, the old fashioned way. I suck.

I'll just stick to my '2 fingered' approach.

-wade

Viral Marketing.

The dictionary's definition:

"the promotion of a service or product through word-of-mouth by its customers, esp. via the Internet or email; also, this as a marketing technique"

So, I've taken a few days off from writing to work on more of a web presence, Myspace Film and other 'networking' sites.

A website is in the works, with massive help from my dear friend, Dustin Parker. He's making me do this one by myself (with his technical guidance), because he said I should know this stuff. True.

And, I ordered "The Complete Independent Movie Marketing Handbook" by Mark Steven Bosko.

Now is the time to start 'spreading the word', so I'm diving in, head first. Because having a movie is only part of it... getting it 'out there' is the hardest part.

I feel like I have been preparing for this film for 40 years, so now is the time to see what I can do (with a lot of help from Wichita's finest).

When some of the web stuff is done I'll post the info on here....

Myspace needed an image for the Avatar, so I mocked up this little poster... just a sketch at this point.

-wade

Abstraction.

Those of you that know me, know that my favorite filmmaker/artist is David Lynch. He started as a painter and then went into filmmaking. I identify with that mentality and that way of "seeing". He has gotten a lot more abstract in his recent films. Especially INLAND EMPIRE.

I like that he knows exactly what he's trying to say, but he also wants to leave the meaning up to the audience's interpretation. I think that makes the whole experience different for each viewer... a lot like an abstract painting. What do you see?

I'm at about page 45 in the screenplay and I've hit a little bit of a wall. I was talking to Adam Friend, who is in the film, about how much I should tell the audience. You see, there is a whole back story to a lot of these characters, but I don't want to bore the viewer with a lot of explanation. Adam felt that "Less is more". He liked the idea of letting people's minds 'fill in the blank'.

I think I'll go that way. But, I don't want people to be too confused.

David Lynch is at a place that he can afford to really experiment. I am not.

This is my first feature and I would really like to reach a lot of people, not alienate them.

But, I still intend on 'going with my gut' on the abstract parts of this film.

Time will tell...

-wade

Feedback.

Well, I've gotten all the feedback from all the fine folks who have read the first 36 pages. It's all been very encouraging.

It's important to get the feedback at this point because I like to know how people are feeling about the film, as they see it in their heads.

AND, more importantly, how they feel about being IN the film, since they won't be doing it for the money.

It's an odd story, but, hands down, everybody's favorite character is Jupiter James, a 6'2" (in heels) African-American drag queen, which will be played by my brother, Elliott Mayberry. I wrote the part specifically for Elliott... he'll be amazing. See his "head shot" below with a sketch I did of his character, Jupiter.

All the feedback got me to thinking and I've made some important changes.

I think it was Viki King (the screenwriter) that said, "don't wait to have all of your screenplay figured out before you start writing... just start, you'll realize that you have more of it "figured out" than you think".... or, something like that.

Well, the story is all coming together, and I'm moving forward.

And, thanks to all of you who have taken the time to read the pages, it has been very exciting!

-wade

"The Arm of God©"

In my mind, this will work perfectly.

In reality, it may just break our camera or knock somebody out.

We'll see...

-wade

Sketchbooks...

I love sketchbooks. Other people's sketchbooks. They always seem so... cool.

But, mine seem to.... well, suck.

AND, I have a habit of buying sketchbooks and never using them. I doodle on post-it notes, mostly.

Anyway, I'm trying to sketch out more of the ideas for THE NEW BLACK. Especially as I write the screenplay...

My sketches suck, but I'm going to put some up here every once in a while.

For what it's worth...

-wade

The first 36 pages...

After taking a break to really enjoy my Thanksgiving (which was amazing), I finished the first 36 pages of my screenplay yesterday, Sunday. I was really trying to get it to a point in the story that people would understand where I was going with it...

Then I went to Passage to India for my weekly Sunday brunch and celebrated by stuffing my face with Chicken Tikka Masala and lots of Naan and Dr. Pepper.

I sent out the screenplay to 5 or so people yesterday. I was very nervous to get the feedback. Would people like it or just think it was a mess?

Well, so far so good. The first phone call was from Gooding today. He loved it and wanted to have more pages... Thank God! He will be scoring a majority of it so it's important that it 'speaks' to him. I felt a burden lifted.

Then Maha called me after work and told me she loved it. She gave me very good feedback and laughed as she told me her favorite scenes... very cool.

The funny thing is, they seem to be really loving the characters, which is great. But, it feels like it has nothing to do with me. When I write these characters, I have in mind who will be playing them... so they come alive because of the great people who have inspired them.

The story and the people tend to take off on their own, I feel like i don't have a lot of say-so, sometimes... it's a strange thing. I mean, of course I do, but these characters do tell you exactly how it's going to be. It's like living in a friendly haunted house... you never know what's going to happen.

Well, as I was typing this, Rod Pocowatchitt called... he liked it, too. That means a lot to me because nobody has heard me talk about all of this more than Rod. And, I greatly respect his opinion and his talent.

I do have a strange scene inserted in the script and it does seem to be confusing people, but, that's easily fixed.

Well, so far so good....

Now, to go fix that scene.

-wade

What's it about?

The number one question when you tell people you are working on a film.

In this blog and life I am reluctant to 'tell' too much about the film. I don't like watching the "making of" any film before I see it. So, I want to keep things a bit abstract in this blog. I want people to see the completed film and still be surprised.

I'm amazed how many trailers you see for Hollywood films, and you say to yourself, "well, I just saw the entire film".

So, I will say this much about the story...

-THE NEW BLACK is about an eccentric, disillusioned gay couple in Kansas who at their lowest point find themselves 'presented' with new opportunities and individuals that may or may not be from this world.-

Vague enough?

That is all...

-wade

Poster Ideas...

Rod and I read an article that said you should write a screenplay backwards, meaning you should start with your title, then your tagline and then a poster mock-up... for visualization purposes.

It works.

As a designer/artist, this idea really speaks to me.

I know i want this film to be in black and white, so I would like one of the movies posters to feature a still photo from the movie itself.

Well, since the film hasn't been shot, I went to the web to find some photos for inspiration...

I found the amazing photos of William Gedney... he did 'slice of life' works from the 50's and 60's mostly. Just capturing people in their everyday lives. All black and white and all beautiful.

I picked two of his photos that I felt best represented the 'feel' I wanted with THE NEW BLACK.

Skippy Sanchez, an amazing local photographer, has agreed to document the shooting of this film... so, maybe one of his photos might be the official poster image?

Anyway, here's the 2 poster mock-ups with the tag-line that I'm leaning towards...

-wade

Black and White

I've been asked why all the photos are in black and white?

Because I've decided the film will be in black and white.

I love black and white.

cool?

-wade

Tab's House (Location Scouting)

Well, Maha, Scott and I went to Tab's house last Sunday to see if her place might work for the main farm house in the screenplay, "THE NEW BLACK". We had a very relaxing drive out to her place by Burns, KS. It felt good to get back out into the country (I grew up on a small farm in Kansas). I love dirt roads and lots of flat land... we saw plenty AND the very highway used in Tim Burton's "Mars Attacks"... pretty cool.

I had spoke to Tab about using her house (I had never seen it)... she seemed reluctant about shooting inside her house. But, was very cool about us using her farm for exteriors. She never said "no" to interiors but if she's like me, she probably doesn't want her personal space invaded by a film crew. That would personally drive me crazy. We all need "our" space, and the last thing I would want to do is feel like I was wearing out my welcome. That's probably one of the reasons I like the idea of using dirt roads, out in the middle of nowhere.... no bothering of anyone?


Anyway, we arrived at Tab's house thanks to her very funny directions that she emailed me.





Tab was a sweet and gracious host and let us walk all over her land (36 acres!), so we could snap a bunch of photos. She even gave me the 'champagne of beers', Miller High Life.... very tasty in a freekin' cool orange can?! The inside of Tab's house is a 'who's who' of the Wichita art scene, I felt like I was going down memory lane.

Her farm was great and peaceful... and beautiful.


The exterior begs to be used in a film.



I'm seriously re-thinking the farm house in my script. I really need to invade a 'space' for a few weekends and I'm leaning towards my mom's house and my Aunt Dottie's house (she hasn't updated her interior in 30+ years... it looks SWEET). And, they can stay at each other's house while we shoot. IF they both let me, that is. I might have to really beg Aunt Dottie.

I just don't think it will be very easy to find a traditional farm house (outside and inside) that we could use, without driving someone crazy?

But, Tab's farm will be perfect for something. I'm not done with this screenplay, I really want to work her farm in there somewhere...

Here's some scouting photos of Tab's farm that Scott, Maha and I took.

Thanks again, Tab.

You rock... still.

-wade


_

Tab said "Yes"... sort of...

Well, Tab said I could come out to her farm on Sunday, to check out the possibility of using in the film, "THE NEW BLACK".

I think she was thinking we only needed to shoot outside of a farm house, not inside. When she found out that I wanted to shoot inside of her house, she probably felt like we would be invading a little too much. I don't blame here... I told her that if I was her, I would say "Hell no".... and she may still.... it's a lot to ask for us to 'invade' her space like this.

Well, I've never seen her place but she describes it as a big red house, barn and chicked coop. it sounds freekin' perfect!

We'll see on Sunday.

I think Maha and Rod will be going out there with me.

If I fall in love with it, hopefully I can write this darn screenplay in a way that we won't have to bother her too much out at the ol' farm.

It's just awful sweet of her to even consider this...

Tab rocks.

-wade

Here we go....

Well, this is the first official blog for my first feature called, "THE NEW BLACK". And the name of my production company is, FOUREYE Films.

My friends John January and Rod Pocowatchit (who will also be a producer on the film), told me that I needed a blog to follow the production of the film.

Myself, Rod and others will post their thoughts on the film during the whole production process.

Anyway, I'm about 21 pages into the screenplay at this posting. I really like where it's going.

I'm going to be calling my friend Tabitha this week about using her farm for a crucial part of the film. If she says "yes" and the farm is what I'm looking for, I'll be heading out to her farm to shoot some location photos.

She may tell me to go jump in a lake... we'll see.

Well, the film, seems to have officially begun. Right this second.

Weeeeeee!! Lets go.

thanks,

-wade hampton