First Post/Post Casting/Pre Script

First post. I am writing this blog as a working chronicle of all production aspects of Penumbra (working title). The goal is to better understand what the project is and how it may resonate as a cultural object through the process of its own creation and written reflection on that process. Eventually and additionally, I would also like to chronicle/expose the "nuts and bolts" of how two independent artists may operate or work within a proprietry or closed system: specifically Apple's App Economy. This project is an entirely separate (yet companion) piece to the work itself. This blog will cover a range of aspects relevant to the project ranging from theoretical implications to practical distribution challenges. The end desire is to be transparent about our process, help produce a fertile and reciprocal loop of reflection/creation, and potentially serve as a resource for other artists interested in DIY Digital Publishing in the App Economy.

This is the first post, but in reality, I probably should have been doing this for the last formative years of the project. I am especially interested in chronicling how we have pushed the boundaries of our comfort zones. This treading into new territory is especially useful as it allows us to better understand where/how we have modified the project due to inexperience, failure or experimentation. From here on out, I will try to be as faithful to failure as possible.
There are many debates we have had over the "shiny topics" of interface/design/interaction and the like. These debates will certainly surface. However, this blog will likely reflect more of my current project: fine-tuning and writing the remaining content. Since writing and technology intimately inform each other, those subjects will not be far away. But, now it is time to focus on the "writerly" aspects of the project such as voice & character. Much of the writing done after May will attempt to capture the voice of the protagonist that our readers experience through his POV and thoughts. The readers are a "privileged guest" in his mind. Many of the challenges that arise will evince that my writing style is completely different than the natural voice of the character I am writing for. I am intrigued by the overlap of this challenge from the traditional print world with the challenge of writing for/with/in digital interfaces from the digital literature realm (a realm that seems largely niche unto itself and is still unfamiliar in print circuits)

Typically, I practice "free writes" that evolve into short edited pieces that are fretted over in close poetic absorption with the placement and appropriateness of each character. Paradoxically, this project goes against both inclinations. In industry publishing (the rate of technological change and platform evolution) I don't have NEARLY as much time as I would like to spend on fretting over editing. However, I can also not write as loose and freeform as I am custom to in the initial stages of a text: interface constraints often demand that writing needs to be minimal, dialog needs to be controlled. I’m sure when we get on set next week for our first shoot, things will take a life of their own and the original scripts will have to be abandoned (part practicality, part sense of the moment). But, I’m doing my best in trying to corral these characters. Of course, they have elaborate backstories and every part of the project has been carefully mapped out. We’ve spent a long time building their world to get to this point. Yet, in reality, the audience/readership may only pick up on 25% percent of this. As a creator of this, I have to be fine with this. I think I am. The idea is that it informs the rest of how the narrative unfolds (however speculative, however winding). Working with media, I’ve become accustomed and comfortable in the inevitability of loss.

Read more for Casting the Protagonist, James.

Rough drafts of the opening scenes are due today to my project advisor Mary Sweeney. I am very thankful for Mary and how she is helping me flesh out the characters and backstory. This element will definitely steep into the design and project functionality as well. Mary is an ideal mentor since much of the story has to do with the uncertainty of memories, longing and dream states. I feel most comfortable as a writer when I enter into a state of “flow” or when I am able to absorb material and mimicking its tone. This exercise is unlike anything I’ve ever done. I am trying to get “close” to industry formatting, but I know in the real world my script would not fly. It doesn't adhere to conventions, but perhaps it should't. It sits somewhere between spec script and shooting script and aims to describe to both myself and Danny how I visualize blocking (since I primarily write from visual flashes). Since I promised to be fair to failure, I will probably post the first run of this scene at a later date.

The realities of production and the loss that it sometimes promotes isn't entirely a loss. At times, it can be a gain because of the way it roots me in the characters and teaches me to ache for them in the way I need to if we are to channel something human and lasting in a very distracting market of apps. This is the challenge, and potential impossibility, that I love. It has the potential to fail so spectacularly, but hopefully succeed well. It’s a question, I think, why have we spent the last two years of our life on potential failure? I think it is because we believe in what we are doing and hope that it can be a dent in exploding the novel or the kinds of work (gimmicks, simple emulations of print on screen) we saw produced in the early stages of the literary app market/ipad release.  Of course it is always disheartening when larger teams are able to get something that is closer to what we hoped out before us (we are both currently full-time graduate students), but we just have to have faith in our project/process and believe in the value of the exercise.

I've sat with James as he evolved for at least a year. Casting him was no small feat. We just went through a very difficult week of casting. It was the first time that both of us had engaged in this process and we had over 600 people reply. I want to write a separate post on the process and why it felt both dehumanizing and illuminating. I think there is something there to explore.

We finally picked our James: the identity that is the cornerstone for the whole experiment. Fortunately, he was an unanimous pick for the both of us. He has both the look and quiet intensity to carry the character and emotional register forward. We have such a tight/rushed schedule (we start shooting next weekend!), but I think I feel very good about this choice. It was so great to hear him read some of the more poetic passages that James speaks in his internal world. It was the first time I’ve ever listened to someone else reading my writing. At that moment, the character became more real for me.