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"...One of the most creative things one can do wearing an artistic hat."

As writer-director-producer, I just came off of short film project about which I can share several gut reactions: it's one of the most creative things one can do wearing an artistic hat.  For 15 years, I had wanted to make a film about Miles Davis, but without musical rights, I knew it would be pretty tricky.  Instead, I conceived this project around a fictitious discussion during Davis's work with John Coltrane, particularly when they were recording the final and best track from arguably Davis's most popular album, Kind of Blue. I wasn't able to fully envision the project until I had found the actors I would need for this on the last short two projects I directed, those being Potluck and Ten Men on the Field.

With actors in hand, I wrote a script this winter that imagined and older Miles Davis looking back upon that memorable date with Coltrane and his band, the final day of the Kind of Blue sessions and just a few weeks before Coltrane broke out to record his own seminal solo album Giant Steps.  We rehearsed several times in various locations, only one of which was the magnificent intimate recording studio, LMP in Claremont, California, where we would shoot the actual film over two days in late February.

From the aforementioned Potluck, a TV pilot, I recruited cinematographer Bryan Greenberg, who is used to shooting good material quickly with a minimum of equipment.  He in turn brought in a skilled assistant cameraman, gaffer, and key grip, and was able to wrangle 90% of the equipment from the Potluck producers and his own wares.  The two art directors, Amber Summers and Allissa Morgan, also came from Potluck, were tasked with transforming the California studio of light and space into a moody 1950s New York environ.  The remaining crew and equipment came from my endeavors as a filmmaking and media instructor at three California schools, plus several keys - makeup, old-age makeup, script supervision, etc. - were directly or indirectly the result of my experiences with industry friends with whom I have worked for the better part of two decades.  The last element was getting the instruments.  While LMP has a set of drums, a trumpet apropos for Davis, and a beautiful piano, I needed to locate an upright bass and both alto and tenor sax, all of which eventually came through friends.

Everything boils down to two full days of shooting the entire script in one small space but making it work to the eye and ear nonetheless.  On day one, we shot the full band scenes and select walk-ins from a Columbia Records executive and Kind of Blue producer Teo Macero, leaving the second day for old Miles' scenes and the bulk of the conversation between Davis and Coltrane, aptly played by Travis Hinson and Ricco Ross.

By the time the set was dressed and lit and actors were ready for camera, it was late morning on both days, and we shot nearly non-stop on this winter Saturday and Sunday save short lunch breaks.  Each day's work was done on time and on budget, which in the end was relegated to day rates for select crew and cast, and of course food and expendables.  And although I had written and rehearsed the script, there are always differences when you have the camera on a dolly with a full crew in tow, actors in makeup and costumes, and set pieces hanging from interior walls.  One needs to be a balanced combination of flexible, focused, and have the proper instincts for what is working in the moment.  So much of directing seems to be innate, in fact, that even the most prepared craftsperson in the world would have trouble if he or she was unable to think on his or her feet and be ready to adjust to new circumstances in a heartbeat.  Feeling the pace of a scene, the impact of a scene, and the vitality of a scene and how it might play within the context of a piece makes up most of what informs whether or not you need another take of a certain shot.  Even on a tight schedule, carefully slotted for availability of actors and properties, such as instruments that had prior commitments the night of the shoot, the director cannot be afraid to "go again" if the moment is somehow off.  That minute detection of play among actors and their surroundings can make or break an entire project.

After the two days covered the entire 15 pages of script, we wrapped and moved into post-production, its first order of business being the synching of footage with sound which was recorded on a separate system.  Some post-production sound is inevitably required, but one hopes to keep it to a minimum.  And this particular show will have a constant jazz score underlaid, courtesy of Steve Johnson's Jazz Legacy band, who I had worked with over the past few years in a documentary capacity.  We hope to have this project locked this spring, and, with our New Media agreement with the Screen Actors Guild, we hope to have the finished film online later this year for people to enjoy.  As an homage to the greatness of Miles Davis and John Coltrane with their singular band, we hope the piece plays to surely jazz audiences, but hopefully the more general cinephile audience as well.

Since the mid-1980s, Scott Essman has been writing and producing projects about motion picture craftsmanship. He has published over 350 articles as a freelancer and has produced over twenty publicity projects for Universal Studios Home Entertainment where he made video documentaries and wrote publicity materials. He published his first book, "Freelance Writing for Hollywood," for Michael Wiese in 2000, and has a new book about Tim Burton. www.jackpierce.com www.visionarycinema.com