You may remember Fisher Stevens (left) from such films as Short Circuit, and Short Circuit 2. Photograph: Sportsphoto/Allstar
I thought I'd have more to tell you about the editing of Beached this week but last Friday Abi and I let our editor go (it sounds so nice when you put like that) and we've been playing catch up ever since.
It wasn't anything sinister - she just didn't have the right equipment. It seems that even though HD is the new (ish) big thing, not many people own HD cameras or decks. We were told by a rentals place in Studio City that we'd have to put down a $4,000 deposit for a one-day HD deck rental. We don't have that kind of money available so we put the feelers out, and our film is now being edited by a guy called Justin, who lives rather conveniently in Santa Monica.
Things are sort-of back on track, but it's been nail-biting. Until a couple of days ago I hadn't seen any of the footage on playback, only through the camera's small view-finder during filming in Vegas. I'd convinced myself that all our work had been erased in some freak magnet proximity accident, because when our first editor put the tapes in her non-HD deck, the TV screen stayed ominously blank.
I realise now (mostly because we've become experts in HD technology) that it was because her machine wasn't reading our tapes. However, by that point Abi and I were so stressed at the lack of anything to look at that she disappeared outside for a cigarette (she doesn't even smoke) and I sat frozen on the sofa glugging back copious amounts of coffee, trying to focus on calming deep breathing exercises. It didn't work. I had stress-related palpitations for about two days afterwards. Thinking about it, that was probably the coffee.
But yesterday, while we were in the changing room at Mervyns (think Primark meets Mark One if you must, although I understand that might upset your high fashion sensibilities), trying on their bargainous Gloria Vanderbilt jeans, Justin called to say that all was well with the film. It looks like I'll be spending most of the Easter weekend in a dark, yet well air-conditioned room cutting together our little masterpiece. It's not a quick process though - we have eight hours of tape for an eight minute short. The out-takes and bloopers reel will probably be longer than the film itself.
So that's business, in other news, I've had a close friend visit the UK and we dined one night at the infamous Chateau Marmont . I'm not sure what I was expecting, but a landscaped patio garden that wouldn't look out of place in West Hampstead was not it.
We saw (listed in order of excitement) Fisher Stevens (remember him?), Nick Cannon and Paul Rudd, who was sporting a fearsome beard.
The food was unspectacular but it was fun to watch the animated tables of agents, managers and clients hustling in true LA style. Living on the west side of LA pretty much insulates me from most of the Hollywood BS and I'd forgotten how trendy and super skinny the women are in that part of town. Still, all the stress from edit has helped shift a few pounds, hence the emergency shop for new jeans. Next week: Shoes and bags for Spring!
Only joking.
