wysinwyg

In film, what you see is not what you get.

Yes, it's all lies.  This actor isn't really standing in front of and talking to that one, and the window over there doesn't actually look out to the turquoise sea.  The sea isn't turquoise either, but that's another topic.

Two of the people on a film crew that help the director accomplish these lies are the director of photography (DP) and the production designer - PD, which I just made up.  Today I met the three people who will be helping me in these roles, and I could hardly believe, still, that living, breathing souls will actually carry out my vision to translate my dream onto screen.

Today was the day to let the creative juices flow.  I had been anticipating yet dreading my first meeting with the DP, eager to discuss with him the ingenious camera angles and movements that I had dreamt up, having desperately crammed as much camera jargon as I could find online.  The pressures of a newbie.  Sigh...

After that, I rushed from Pasadena to Downtown LA.  This trip would have been a piece of cake for anyone with a Smartphone.  However, since I have not paid the membership dues for said group, I, in a futile attempt to avoid traffic on a Friday afternoon, got lost twice and ended up 15 minutes late.  Since my meeting was with the co-producer and the two PDs (that's right - I have not one but two PDs), that was the equivalent of being 45 minutes late.

This was a brainstorming session to concretize the words in my script into the physical world that would house my chess playing family.  We talked about the tablecloth, posters on the wall, and the cookie that little Joey eats.  It was mind-boggling.  I believed I had thought of everything until the PD asked me if the young actor playing young Joey is allergic to nuts.  It's all becoming real.

Except that it isn't.