February 20, 2008
Part 4 - Ozark Cousins
Matt said:
The flashback sequence between The Musician and Jenny where they teach each other how
to play their respective instruments was the last scene we shot. I wanted it to be summer or at least greener than most of the rest of the movie. Craig also had to shave his beard.
A lot of people have interpreted the falling out between The Musician and Jenny as stemming from her horrible drum playing. I have to admit that’s the way it seems. Jenny plays the drum, The Musician covers his ears, cut, and he’s heading for the hills. I never meant it to be that way. There’s supposed to be a significant jump in time between that scene and The Musician leaving. What actually went down was left up to the imagination of the viewer. I didn’t expect people to think it had anything to do with the previous scene. The real reason he left is explained toward the end of this song when The Musician goes to the bathroom in the bar and he looks at all the newspaper clippings the Bar-back has collected. He abandoned Jenny to be a rock star. That’s why she’s mad and flicks him off. That’s a convoluted way to tell a story but it seemed right at the time. After all, the movie begins at the end. The bar fight begins with The Rowdiest retelling the story to The Outlaw. Why not put the explanation for their break up way after you show them break up? Answer: because people will think they broke up because Jenny was a bad drummer. That’s fine, I guess. Bad drumming is pretty unforgivable. But that’s the only flaw in the entire movie. THE ONLY FLAW. Ahem.
There’s an alternate version of that drumming scene where Ryan (the DP) replaces Virginia. So, instead of waking up with a girl, The Musician wakes up with a MAN! You can’t buy humor more sublime. It’s hilarious and only available on the future Special Edition DVD.
That shot when The Musician enters the bar really bothers me because of how clear that Pabst sign is. We should’ve put something over it. It makes it look like a commercial. Unless Pabst wants this to be a commercial. You can send the money directly to me, thank you very much.
Matt Weber, Writer/Director
Craig said:
The opening shot of the flash back shows kids playing with an open fire hydrant. We learned there was a good probability of getting sprayed. They apparently spray passers by all the time. The difference was we were carrying expensive movie equipment on our way to the last shoot of the entire production. Needless to say, I was a frightened little girl. However, in the end it made for a good opening shot.
Throughout the production I continued to grow my beard so I would look like Grizzly Adams coming back from my long travels in the wilderness. It grew to a nice size, but alas, I had to shave it all off for the flashback scene. This coincides with the beard shaving of my alter ego, the Wheezy Waiter. watch Beard Science.
We knew after cutting together the flashback it would seem to some as though Jenny’s drum playing is what caused the musician to leave. To those people: You’re shallow. Come on! Can’t you think abstractly? Do you think that would ever be a reason? All right. It’s not your fault. It’s ours. I always felt there should be one or two more scenes in there to make the flashback more of a gradual change in the relationship. But we only had so much time, and going down that route could have lead to copious amounts of cheese and overacting, especially with no dialogue. Still, an extra shot or two between the drumming and the car may have helped. To compensate, I put in a long additive dissolve to give a feeling of time passing. Because everyone knows when two events are superimposed that means they do not correlate, or something.
In the bar scene after the flashback, we did many takes of Parker setting me down on the chair, followed by whiskey drinking. Two things. The whiskey was apple juice. I drank more apple juice than I have in my life. I’ve probably drank that much whiskey in one sitting, and let me tell ya, I choose whiskey. Two, Parker patting my back hurt like hell. Again, frightened little girl.
Two things to look for in the bathroom scene. Oddly, a plastic statue of the Virgin Mary. And the best line in the movie. “Writer rights wrongs, songs.” Good work, Matt. (on the quote, not the statue. That’s just weird.)
“Ozark Cousins” is my favorite song on the album. But this part of the movie is boring exposition. Is the action coming up soon? What’s next? Oh shit, not “Isn’t Me”.
Craig Benzine Actor/Editor/Guitarist
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