Director’s Journal – May 5, 2009
It’s great to be back in Austin working on the creative side of the movie – rather than moving around strips on the production board and trying to figure out how the hell we can get everybody to the right place at the right time. Yesterday, I met with Chase and Craig to go over the details of sets that need to be built and overall production design. The conversation ranged from corrugated metal to which of our friends we could convince to be on the cover of a fake porno magazine. There was also an extended conversation on how best to make a fake Cheetoh’s bag.
We decided to head to Bastrop to check out the warehouse where we’ll be building the sets. Finding a warehouse or studio space has been one of the most difficult aspects of this project. On low-budget movies, you normally don’t build sets. It just isn’t in the budget. I now realize that it’s not really the cost of the sets themselves, but the building you have to find to build them in. My dream was to shoot at Austin Studios, but it just wasn’t meant to be financially. Days and weeks of phone calls later, we finally found a place we could afford (thanks Eric G.). However, the building is in Bastrop (about 40 minutes outside Austin) and it definitely lacks a few important things – like sound proofing and air conditioning.
