MAKING A GREEN SCREEN

The material was really wrinkled, so Mom asked me to move the ironing board from the guest room closet to her room. I ironed while she put thread in the bobbin on her sewing machine and then (after it was ironed), started sewing the bottom piece of 4 sections together. We talked while we worked. Mom had me pin the various pieces of material together. Said I did a really good job. Pinning I can do. Sewing with a machine, not so much. Oddly, I don’t mind mending with a needle and thread, but Mom doesn’t care for mending at all.
Mom sewed material together with one seam, then sewed another seam by that one (double-seam so it could be pulled) and then she sewed a zigzag over the ends of the seam, so the material wouldn’t unravel. There were basically 4 panels that were sewed together.
The pieces weren’t identical, so to make sure the green screen would hang properly, I had to even them out. We did this as we sewed everything together. A few times, I had to pull a thread and then cut along where the thread was to make sure it was a true line. To pull a thread, you make a tiny cut in the fabric, then find one of the threads, and start pulling it. As you pull, the material along the thread pulls up too, and you have to push it back down. The thread often breaks, so you have to find the end of the thread, or pull on a thread near it. The area where the thread was feels different, and is a little lighter. Eventually, you can’t pull more thread, and have to cut as far down as you can, until you get to where the little line stops. Then find another thread, and start pulling again. Mom said pulling a thread is hard.
Grandma made a tablecloth where she pulled a thread a few inches in from each side, but she didn’t cut the cloth, and had to keep finding and pulling the same thread. The table cloth was white. Where she’d removed the thread, she wove a red piece of thread in and out of the line. Looks amazing, but you couldn’t pay me enough to do something that hard and tedious. Blech! Grandma was amazing.
At one point, to make sure sections were even, we folded, pulled and flattened out all the wrinkles, then pinned one over the top of another, and used the top one for the “pattern” so they would all be the same side (one end was cut unevenly by the manufacturer - pain in the ass to fix, but it had to be done).
On one end of the green screen , we created a loop-pocket, so you can put a pipe or something in it, and hang the screen. Mom showed me how to use a ruler to make sure the length was correct, and pin it, but I couldn’t keep it straight, so she took over and measured differently while I pulled a thread on the other side.
For some reason (probably the shorter length) I could measure and pin an inch, to create a rolled hem that Mom sewed.
As the pieces were sewed together, and the screen got bigger, I helped wrangle the mass of material, so Mom was free to concentrate on sewing. Sped things up quite a bit.
Still took us 7 hours of working steadily together to get it done.

World Premiere of MARROW, in Betty Dravis’s interview, future Dr. Seuss shows & More!

http://www.dianematson.com/newstylenewsletter/feb2011/feb2011newsletter.html

Rehearse + Use A Dialect + Create Chills = Get The Gig

A director asked me to read a famous speech on camera for a project. I’d be one of about 20 actors and then he’d edit us all together, based on who performed which line the best. Sounded fun to me. It wasn’t union, and I’m in SAG, so that bothered me.
The next week I was cast in a feature that used the SAG New Media Agreement. I brought the director and my local SAG rep together. They hit it off (knew they would). A few weeks later the agreement was signed.
At this point, I figured I’d probably get caught if I did the speech project non-union, so I finally asked the director to sign a SAG agreement.
Well, he’d have to think about that. I wasn’t surprised. SAG paperwork is monstrously complicated.
Meanwhile, I kept rehearsing the speech and another week or so slid by.
This morning, I called the director, who told me he decided not to “go SAG” since he’d filmed enough people.
I asked if I could at least perform the speech over the phone, since I’d spent 5 weeks working on it.
He let me do my thing, then asked me to read it again, this time with a Virginia dialect.
I told him I couldn’t nail Virginia, but I’d performed with a Tennessee accent, just one state over.
He said that was fine.
So I quickly rummaged in my head, plucked the sounds, planted my feet firmly, and started reading the speech.
I got chills. I figured I was just enjoying the new voice.
20 seconds into the speech, the director stopped me and said, “I’ve got chills. I’ll go talk to SAG.”

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

Hired As A Part Time Script Writer!

I was cast in a leading role for a feature. It’s not unusual for me to help tighten and edit scripts for films I’m in, but this time, 50% of the story was still in the director’s head. Long talks with the director and rehearsals allowed me to see what is and isn’t written. We also made new, creative discoveries about the plot, scenes, and characters each time we talked or met.
We’d agreed weeks ago to meet so I could do my usual script edit-tutor session, but I’d already contributed so many ideas, it soon became apparent that I’d gone beyond editing and into “writer mode”.
I’m pretty sure I’ll also wind up rewriting much of the dialogue (easier to do now that I know who the characters are and their complicated relationships with each other). Once you know the characters, and the plot is set, the dialogue pretty much writes itself.
So yesterday the director asked if he could officially add me as one of the writers, which was fine with me.
I’m amused. I vowed I’d NEVER write a script. They are way too long. But I’m not starting from scratch, just filling in holes. This, I don’t mind doing. (We’ll see how fun it is when I actually make a pass at the dialogue…..)