48 of the 97 scenes in the movie are edited. this first pass is a "rough" edit, the kind of thing where you watch the scene, laugh a little, then grimace at the mistakes you’ve made. at the pace we’ve been working, we’ll have a finished cut next week; however, at the moment, i’m having trouble finding the inspiration to work. it’s the paradox of being self-employed: without a boss looking over your shoulder, there’s no impetus to work besides self-motivation#–and when you’re feeling unmotivated, you don’t work. instead, you blog. or you go to Sonic where they serve breakfast sandwiches all day long; at my sonic, if you order a combo they give you a free newspaper (another distraction).

music for the masses:
james has been contacting musicians about using their work in the movie. so far it’s been a painless process#–the artists we’re approaching are unsigned, so there’s no hassle with a record label. but as with all artists, they are protective of their work, requesting a copy of the rough cut so they can decide whether to allow our use. i can understand their concern, but it’s a bit stressful; we’ve fallen in love with some of the tracks we’ve auditioned and now it’s hard to imagine the movie without them. i’m worried that one of the bands might not like our work and decide to pull their music#–i guess it’s a risk you run as an ultra-indie, but dammit it’s a rough one. some of these artists are so amazing it’s hard to imagine they aren’t signed yet; listening to the tracks has become one of the best parts of the editing process. once we get the official go-ahead, we’ll link up to their websites and cross-promote so you can see what i mean.