Dave Park got a free Aaton camera package from a friend of his. So my old CP16 is put out to pasture. This is a good thing, as Dave will feel a whole lot more comfortable with the project.
Frank Stubblefield, the well-known gaffer we've been talking to, agreed to work on the film today. I like the fellow and am glad he's aboard. The level of expertise on the set is rising, which should help us get our act together more quickly. With the expertise comes the pressure to spend more money on good equipment. The whole money thing has become unreal to me, but I'm still resisting most of the suggestions to spend.
Tonight's rehearsal started with a heavy discussion about Dylan's discomfort with the sexual intimacy in the film. At first I was worried that I was being pressured to tone the film down, but in fact Dylan mainly wanted me to justify my aesthetic plan, and after over an hour of discussion he and Edith seemed much happier. And we made a lot of progress in the subsequent rehearsal.
I'm actually enjoying the rehearsals a lot. They're almost the only time I get to think of the film as a work of art instead of as a nightmarish Rube Goldberg production mechanism. I was really sorry when the actors left and I had to go back to the phones.
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