On the set of Cheaters Prosper
The first day of shooting was a success! The actors were great, my brother (director of cinematography) did a tremendous job, and I’m so grateful my friend Eric allowed me to use his house for the above location.
The most enjoyable part for me was hearing dialogue I wrote down acted out right before my eyes. It’s kind of a surreal moment when you remember hatching the lines in the first place as you observe them being performed right in front of you.
From right to left: Jordan, Dylan and Katrina
The actresses did a great job playing characters who, in their view, would be better off leaving the men they are linked to and eloping together (my character is a misogynistic jerk).
Scott plays “Jax”, the lead
Scott, featured above, had his work cut out for him. He was the only person involved in both scenes, and subsequently had A LOT to memorize.
I was hoping to film a third scene tonight, but time did not permit. Altogether, my brother estimates that we filmed 2 minutes worth of material over the course of 6 hours. Looking at the script, I see we covered 6 pages, or 10% of the story (55 pages total). 1 page typically equals 1 minute of onscreen time.
Regardless, I’m happy with how everything turned out. Everybody showed up, had their lines down, and put a great amount of effort into bringing this script to life.
Many of those involved are going away for the holidays, so we won’t be able to film again until after the 1st, maybe even after the 5th. I will continue you to keep you all updated!
- Thomas M. Watt
Thomas M. Watt 
Great work, Thomas – only three months to go at this rate! Hope you can afford the Craft Services and Camera rental! Seriously, hope you movie shoot rocks!
Thank you! Fortunately, my brother is so passionate about cinematography he has purchased his own film equipment. He is looking to move to Hollywood and begin a career working behind the camera on budgeted productions. For him, this is an opportunity to add a credit to his resume and interesting shots to his demo reel. The actors stand to benefit in similar ways, and are kind enough to work for free among friends when their schedules permit.
Thank you for the honest encouragement! I’m impressed with all your accomplishments after viewing your website!
Sounds like the film you are shooting will be a great one 🙂 I wish you all the success in the world and in case you do not post anything new before Christmas, I wish you a Merry Christmas and may all your dreams and wishes come true 🙂 Keep up the great work as always 🙂
Thank you, John! I intend to post! Same to you!
How exciting! I cannot wait to see your masterpiece! Best of Luck =D
Hahaha! Thank you, Laura. Trying to compete with yours!
Curious where you got the 1 page = 1 minute ratio? In my experience with theatre, that’s not usually the case mostly because scripts often have the blocking taking up a lot of the page vs the dialogue… and even dialogue heavy pages are spaced out quite a bit. Sometimes its more a matter of how long it takes you to read it = is how long it will be on screen – except in cases where there are long pauses indicated or elaborate blocking/non dialogue shots that takes awhile to do onstage/on screen. Either way, sounds like you guys are working hard 🙂 Good luck and have fun!
Wow, I wasn’t aware you had so much knowledge about theatrical productions! Unless I’m mistaken, the 1:1 (page-to-minute) ratio is commonly used as a guideline when evaluating the eventual length of a screenplay. Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong!
I have never heard that before… Maybe some people use that for estimations, but from my experience that wouldn’t be very accurate 🙂 LOL Yeah… I was one of *those Theatre kids* …got accepted into American Drama Troupe Europe before they moved their headquarters (which meant I couldn’t work with them my senior year)… was also the co-chair of our school drama club, etc etc
Haha, nice!
…of course if you have musical numbers built in… hahaha 😉
Haha, great point!
Great accomplishment ! Keep going.
Thank you Jacqueline!
My pleasure Thomas 🙂
Hey Thomas, nice to read your post (hope to read Master soon), cheers!
Thank you, Jorge! I’m glad you enjoyed it, and I’m thrilled to hear that!