How to Make a Movie

I want to turn all of my fiction into film. All of it. Every bit of fictional work I have composed I want to bring to life on the silver screen. Perhaps even adapt it for stage as well. The longer fiction is easy—there's so much more with which to work. The shorter fiction would be a little more tough as it is typically just part of a much larger story. For instance, I wrote a story last fall entitled “You Are My Best Friend (My Best Friend Is You)”, which is about a young man who blames himself for the murder of his best friend and roommate and subsequently locks himself in their apartment doing nothing but writing the novel he always said he would write—it is a fictional account of their many crazy adventures. From the beginning you know that the main character doesn't leave his apartment and that he has spent all of his time writing something, but it's not until the end of the story that you find out that the roommate/best friend he has been mentioning was the victim of a stabbing. There is a whole set of scenes that would have taken place before the scene described in the short story; in fact, the scene in the short story would most likely be the final scene of a movie of the whole story. Unless opting for a short film of just the one scene in the short story, adapting “You Are My Best Friend (My Best Friend Is You)” to film would be more difficult than, say, adapting On the 5:15, which is a full-length novel detailing an entire story from start to finish.

I've actually already put much thought into how On the 5:15 could be made into a movie, even deciding which actors should play which characters. The main character, Eoghan Dunne, would be played by Rupert Grint (assuming he can pull off an Irish accent) and his best friend, Paul, would be played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Eoghan's wife would be played by Zooey Deschanel and the trucker he meets at a diner would be played by Johnny Depp. In all honestly, I could probably go down through a list of every character in the novel and name the actor I would want to portray that particular character. Even though the story spans over forty years, I want the same actors to play the same characters for the entire film. I've also already envisioned how some scenes would pan out: how they would be shot, what the setting would be like, what music would be in the background. The start of the film is one part which I already have figured out. It will open with 17-year-old Eoghan exiting a record shop with an LP under his arm, going through various alleys and gardens to get back home where he must then sneak the LP in so his rock-music-hating parents don't see it and snap it in half. I haven't figure out how he's going to sneak it in, but I do know that MGMT's “Time to Pretend” will be playing in the background.

I can already tell you now that whenever I get my writings transferred into film, I will have control issues. Nothing could happen without my approval first. My stories are mine and I won't let someone else ruin my vision. My friend Marcus and I always joked around that we would make movies together since we're both self-proclaimed movie buffs. He has a degree in philosophy though and is currently getting paid to chill on Facebook and send out Tweets. He also lives somewhere in England (is Oxford right?), so that makes things difficult, nevermind that neither of us have the funds, equipment, time, support, or anything really, needed to make a film—a quality film anyway.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt recently started a website called hitRECord. I just joined up tonight and haven't taken the time to explore, let alone post anything. But it is a very interesting website. Essentially, it is one giant collaboration. One artist posts something and then another does something else with it and if anything is ever sold, every splits the profit. Very interesting, right? It is kind of like deviantART, only 1000x cooler (mostly because it features Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who is a total badass). I'm hoping if I post some things on hitRECord, it might lead to some kind of film collaboration. At the very least, it will get me more exposure.

Edging Closer to the Avett Brothers

The Avett Brothers are coming back to Ohio. Not once, but three times. May 12^th in Cleveland, May 19^th in Columbus, and June 7^th in Kettering. My best friend and I would like to go to all three shows, and maybe even the show in Detroit on May 18^th, but unfortunately the only one that works is the Kettering show. May 12^th is the day Cedar Point opens, so that day is already claimed and May 19^th is my best friend's first baseball game, so obviously that day is out. The Kettering show will most likely mean missing a week of summer league bowling, but that's okay—I'll just ask my dad to sub for me.

I woke up this morning at 8:40, two minutes before my alarm was set to go off, so I would be up and ready to buy tickets right at 9am when they went on sale. For whatever reason, the Kettering show didn't go on sale until today whereas all the other shows had a presale this past Wednesday. That actually worked out better for me though because when the presale started on Wednesday, I was at work. At first I wasn't sure I would be able to get good seats because I couldn't get the presale to work—it featured the seats in the first couple rows only. But I was quick enough on Fraze Pavilion's website and landed seats in the seventh row, which I think, given the seating arrangement, are better seats than the first couple rows anyhow. It's just like at a movie theatre, the closer you are the harder it is to see everything. Our seats are towards the right side of the section, but we'll still have an optimal view.

We've never been to Fraze Pavilion before, so we have no idea where the stage door is, but we're determined to meet the guys. Part of why we wanted to go to all of the Ohio shows is because we wanted to try to meet them at every one and see if they remembered us. Unfortunately, that won't be possible. But we're okay with that. Seeing them once is all we need. For now anyway. Maybe next time they're around we'll make it to a few more shows. We're not stopping until we meet them anyhow. Remember, it's on the list to jam with the Avett Brothers.

I'm considering e-mailing the Avetts' management team to try schedule some kind of interview with them when they're around here, something to post on this blog. It's not a scam to meet them by any means; they're very influential figures in my life, especially in regards to this blog. Their music has given me a lot of inspiration in life and in my writing. To be able to sit down with them and discuss their music and to discuss life in general would be an amazing opportunity.

The Quest for Opening Day

Tomorrow marks the first day of Spring. No, it isn't the Vernal Equinox and the day and night aren't evenly split and you shouldn't try balancing an egg on its end. However, tomorrow Indians pitchers and catchers are due to report to camp, thus starting the annual spring training in Goodyear, Arizona (I would like to thank the nation's banks, schools, post offices, and government offices for closing in honour of the start of spring training). With spring training starting, that means Opening Day is just around the corner. My best friend and I just bought our Opening Day tickets last night: Section 101, Row H, right by the Indians' bullpen—the Bullpen Mafia. It's a few rows back from where I'd like to be, and not on the first base line, but when the game more or less sells out in about fifteen minutes (all that is left is the nosebleed section), you got to take what you can get. I could have bought some first base line tickets from Stubhub, which is where I got the tickets I did, but they were well over twice face value and when you're working for an hourly wage, that just isn't feasible, unfortunately. All games to come though, you'll find the two of us sitting somewhere just behind Casey Kotchman (or occasionally Carlos Santana) at first base.

With April 5^th looming, I find myself growing ever anxious for that first pitch at 3:05PM on what I hope to be a glorious, sunny afternoon (though I'm already anticipating an “unseasonable” snow delay to make up for Ohio's lack of a winter). Last year was my first Opening Day and it was one of the best days I had all last year and can't wait for this year. We're going to get up early for our 2 ½ hour trek to Cleveland, stopping at the Hamburger Inn in Delaware for a legit greasy short-order breakfast, fried to perfection on the old flat-top grill. The goal is to be in Cleveland by noontime so we can get in for BP and hopefully garner some autographs from our favourite players and maybe catch a ball. If we don't eat at the ballpark, we'll probably finish the day by visiting 5 Guys on Detroit Ave., just a few miles up the road from Progressive Field, for some burgers.

The line-up for Opening Day has been one under quite a bit of question going into spring training. With the signing of Kotchman, the Tribe could potentially feature nine left-handed hitters on Opening Day, which, frankly, I would like to see. There is some debate as to who will be starting too, but I already have my prediction set:

SP: Justin Masterson

C: Carlos Santana

1B: Casey Kotchman

2B: Jason Kipnis

SS: Asdrubal Cabrera

3B: Jack Hannahan

LF: Shin-Soo Choo

CF: Grady Sizemore

RF: Michael Brantley

DH: Travis Hafner

Bullpen: Chris Perez, Vinnie Pestano, Tony Sipp, Rafael Perez, Joe Smith, Frank Herrmann, and Corey Kluber (though I suspect Chen Lee could honestly see a shot at joining the Bullpen Mafia if he performs as well as spring training as he has in the minors)

On the Bench: Lou Marson, Shelley Duncan, Jason Donald, and Aaron Cunningham

The starting rotation will be rounded out, in order with Ubaldo Jimenez, Josh Tomlin, Derek Lowe, and Jeanmar Gomez

Notable absences are Matt LaPorta and Lonnie Chisenhall who, although have seen much time at the Majors, will most likely start out the year playing for the Clippers down 71 South in Columbus so that they can continue to play everyday rather than spending the majority of their time sitting on the bench.

When the Tribe and the Blue Jays clash, it is usually a pretty good game. A few times last year one team put up a huge score over the other. I don't anticipate that for Opening Day though. Rather, I suspect it will be a very close game coming down to the very last inning. The Tribe and the Blue Jays are pretty comparable teams and are both pretty low on the radar but are both seen as teams that wish to contend and are confident they will contend. I expect the Indians will start the season in a dramatic style, which we saw quite often last year with the slew of comeback and walk-off wins. I also wouldn't be surprised to see a home run from Jose Bautista.