There is a bar in an alley near where I live calle…
There is a bar in an alley near where I live called the Elvis Bar. I had walked past it several times, but I’d never gone inside until the other day when I was looking for bar locations.
My first impression upon entering the place was “Shit, that’s a lot of flags.” American flags were draped from the ceiling and used as chair covers and tablecloths, and eerie blacklights highlighted ambiguous images that might have been Elvis or possibly a young Caspar Weinberger. The owner, an aging hippie-type Chinese-American man with near-native English, said he got a deal at Wal-mart for a huge load of unsold flags for only 20 bucks. He pulled out a suitcase stuffed with even more flags. I guess there’s only so much you can do when you’re decorating with a national symbol. If you’re dead-set on doing so, though, you really should choose a flag that doesn’t look like it was cut from a circus tent.
There was a small stage and drumset for a band in the back. The owner, who seemed somehow disconnected from the rest of the world, said he was a musician. He was extraordinarily mellow. He said he lived in Arizona and also had a jewelry stand somewhere. It was all very Twilight Zone.
More shooting with Tall Paul aka “Norman Szabo” last night. The location was a swank apartment on Ren-ai Road near Yen-ji Street, and we were out of there before midnight, much to the relief of the person who lived there. I think most people don’t realize how tedious filmmaking can be; they seem eager to be part of it because they think it’s really exciting all the time. This is useful when acquiring locations, but occasionally this tactic can backfire.
I’m going to see if I can recruit some actors from my Tai-chi class on Saturday morning, and then it’s off to follow the river in hopes of finding a broad, empty, rarely used stretch of road for the car chase scene, which is easily the most challenging set of the film. The other locations shouldn’t be too difficult, though lighting will be a problem if we can’t find electrical outlets. I was up until 3 a.m. last night working on the script, and I think we’re going to have to lock it at this point because if we don’t we won’t have time to actually make the movie before the deadline. I think it’s ok; it should work well in fact, and I’m looking forward to making this film. It’s going to be a hell of a ride, though.
Funniest thing of the day so far: This letter, written in stilted, awkward English, to the Taipei Times from CTS crying foul over a previous letter criticizing their English news program for having stilted, awkward English.
