went up to nashville sept 25 and had a great audition for “MARIA” by CAROLINA CHOCOLATE DROPS member RHIANNON GIDDENS just before they played at the GRAND OL’ OPRY. Check out the CHOCOLATE DROP WEBSITE. she truly rocks — not only with a degree in opera performance from oberlin, but the lady can TEAR UP a banjo and fiddle. thanks for the fantastic audition RHIANNON, and if y’all aren’t familiar with the group, check ‘em out. they’re about to blow up.

IF YOU HAVEN’T ALREADY, JOIN UNCLOUDY DAY’S MYSPACE PAGE FOR CRYIN’ OUT LOUD.
been busy with UD during the blog hiatus, don’t you worry

KRISTIN and i have almost hammered the script out to perfection. that includes a little trimming here and there to tighten the schedule a bit.

meanwhile, AMY McGARRY had the daunting task of making sense of a “sort of” complicated shoot, breaking it down, and budgeting it. the breakdown previously done by TRACY MARTIN helped immensely, which was based on a laughable breakdown i did myself (LINDA BURNS pointed out the most “laughable” aspects, as in there wasn’t enough room in her house to lay out all the strips that scheduling required according to the script as was…)

i am compiling and editing reference dvd’s on “the look” of the project for the DP, production designer, producers, and scenic designers so everyone is close to the same page on the film’s style. photos from films that evoke UD’s feel, clips from early talkie films, ideas on how to approach making certain sets on a shoestring, etc etc. the idea is to save a lot of grief closer to production time if all has been communicated effectively and planned as much as possible in advance. “duh”, you say, but one must be maniacal and obsessive about these things well in advance. dvd #2 will be more about the in-camera effects shots we’ll be doing, and HOW we’ll be doing them. again, planning and budget.

meanwhile, composer anne richardson is polishing mimi’s opening song for the moment “madame fujikitsu” appears on stage. we need this done now so some basic choreography ideas can be played with and sets/props can be planned, which, alas, affects the budget. i need to see how many half-naked east indian male dancers we can afford asap. anyway, the song will have to be recorded in advance for the actor to lip-synch, so it’s got to get done. lot of things gotta be done

heck, i’ve even contacted crayola crayons about getting some 1920’s period boxes to use as props. did you know that everyone in the company signs all correspondence with, “colorfully yours?”

colorfully yours, milt (maybe i’ll send in a resume to them…)

i’ve moved! sold the house in ATL almost without a hitch and have moved to birmbama for creative fodder and cheap rent! in the meantime, caught a few flicks at the TRIBECA film festival a few weeks ago, including GUY MADDIN’S “MY WINNIPEG” — narrated live by the prolific black-and-white king himself. twas funny AND moving. (did i mention he describes CLAIRE as “absolutely gorgeous”??) speaking of gorgeous, his film was preceded by Isabella Rossellini’s “green porno” — 8 one-minute shorts on the reproductive life of insects where invaribly her penis would break off in another bee’s vagina, or her head would be chewed to bits by a praying mantis during copulation. you have GOT to check her out on the SUNDANCE CHANNEL WEBSITE

Scroll down to find more video clips. Scroll through previous blogs to find more.

check out the youtube link of anne rehearsing with musicians for the CLAIRE DVD soundtrack recording. BTW, HAVE YOU BOUGHT ‘CLAIRE’ YET??? go to amazon.com then…