The Earth According to Mark.

I really believe it's going to be a good film especially with JD working as the director of photography. I don't think I could've dreamed up some of the shots he came up with; I'm more of a story guy, and I was usually saying stuff like, "I need a shot of me putting on clothes," while JD was saying stuff like, "Let's shoot from this angle, against the light, and keep you in a third of the shot." It really shows this diverse multitude shared between us: one guy is poignant and plot-driven, the other is artful and visual.

It reaffirms the belief that I'm not entirely hard to work with. Recording an album this past seven months has really showed me that just because one person can do "this" doesn't mean they are willing to do "that." I can tell you the stories of difficult people, but I'd rather concentrate on the people who had an open mind and an open heart and wanted to make music with me. It reminds me of how I did this really weird spoken-word song with a friend for Open Jam. (And I'm very grateful to my friend for being so willing to do something quite daring.) I didn't want to do it because "it was weird" or because "it was jocular," but because no one else was doing it. I wanted to do something different. And very after-the-fact, I think I was partially inspired by the spoken-word scene in the movie She's All That.

And that's how I feel about this film I'm making: It's the "good side" of collaboration mixed with the unnerving need to perpetuate "different." I could easily shoot a film and edit it in a week, but given what I'm doing now (live-action/animation), I can see this project dragging out until August easily. (Maybe even September.) Well I'm putting my foot down right now on August 26. But I can't promise anything. Like I said, post-production will primarily be done by me alone, and will take the bulk of my time.

But it's always good to try something new. Especially when you don't know how that something new works. Because I'm not going to lie - I only have a VERY superficial plan to impose animation in live-action shots. But I'm willing to trudge through it all just to get this film made.