Phewwwww….

 

I made it. I didn’t think I’d emerge from my geek coma from last week.

 

On Monday last week, I hooked up with my Cinematic Titanic compeers and we hit the ground running.  I was delayed because my first flight got cancelled and then I had to make a different connection, and I’m writing a book about it so I can bore more people in greater, broader excruciating detail.

 

The point is this: I was very frustrated because I didn’t want Joel, Trace, Frank and Josh HAVING FUN WITHOUT ME!!  So I was at the airport at 6 a.m. IN THE MORNING with no where to go...  

 

So finally got to Burbank and met them at the studio, and we started testing stuff and working on the script, and lemme tell ya, there is nothing better than getting your creative and funny groove on with people who are soooo damn funny and creative.  We shot the movie and then we shot the interstitials that will be sewn into the movie by talented movie tailors.  It was a long day, but hey, who’s complaining?  We were surrounded by energetic, smart and fun crew, we had endless craft services, we had wi-fi, and the project was not your every day, run of the mill, cube-job thang.  People should have such problems.  

 

On Thursday morning we flew from Burbank to San Francisco. Our flight was delayed because of the weather in San Francisco, but I’m not going to give it away – you’ll have to wait for the book to find out how long we were delayed and weather conditions.

 

In the airport I spotted Elliot Gould.  Joel and I were getting coffee and talking about how diet Coke is a neuro-toxin which scared the sheet outta me because I like a hit now and then, and then Elliot Gould walked by.  I got all nervousy and star-struck. I hate having feelings.  I just think he’s cool, having just studied up on him and written about him for a PBS project.  

 

Then we ran into Victoria Jackson going through security. I was behind her in line in the food shop, and a guy behind me started talking to her, saying, “Hey, what happened to our friend Dennis Miller?  He’s gone all right wing on us!”  As she was paying, Victoria said, “So? I’m right wing.”  AWKWARD!  The guy sort of hemmed and hawed, and was very much, “Welllll, surely not like HE is…!”  “I mean – sputter, sputter –“  I thought it was funny but I was mostly relieved because I’m usually the one putting my foot in my mouth.  

 

We finally got to San Francisco and were scurried to ILM. I felt like I’d died and gone to heaven. It was too much. As Josh said, “We were treated like geek royalty.”  And indeed we were: Jennifer, Alex, Tom and Danielle, for starters, were so kind and gracious, and it was just sort of this perfect storm/luv fest of geekdom, because they were as excited to host us as we were to be there.  For my part, I’m surprised I didn’t have an aneurysm.  We got a tour of the place, saw so many of mattes used in so many films, saw the stage where they set up the cameras to denote physical action, later to be CG’d into place… yeah, I’m real up on my terminology. We dined in the grand ILM cafeteria, which overlooks the Bay and parts of the Presidio. We were convinced, however, that the scenery was CG.  Um, in short, IT WAS SOOOOO COOL! (Faint)  I was thissssss close to hiding out in the storage closet and secretly living at ILM and having our ILM friends slip food under the door to me...  

 

But what happens to me when I’m overcome is that I start blanking out.  It’s like I’m so into it, so engrossed, and yet so focused on not fainting from IT ALL, that I don’t retain stuff.  I’m a fairly intelligent gal, and yet, when cool stuff is happening, all my knowledge flies out of my head.  It’s like my brain synapses short out.  

 

I have decided that if I ever get an assistant, one of his or her jobs will be to carry smelling salts and a fainting couch behind me in such situations.

 

We did our two shows and it was so much fun to be live and riffing. What cracks me up about this process is this:  preparing for the show and writing the script, I have viewed the movie, oh, say, 12 times.  During the live show, where you’re viewing it on a big screen for the first time is a whole diffurnt experience. Things look different, obviously, you see things you hadn’t noticed before, AND – there were plot points that had completely escaped me before!  As we were rehearsing, I turned to Trace and said, with my normal baffled look and demeanor, “So the guy was gonna kill the guy and then take over that to do that?” or something to that effect.  Everyone just started laughing. I don’t know what it is – viewing it in such a truncated way, watching it for riffing moments… or perhaps I’m just stupid!