I thought we'd start this with a still image from the film (I think this is a striking, even <i>haunting</i> image:




Now, those of you who have read the story may read the caption in the lower left-hand corner of the still and say to yourselves: <i>Who the #@*! is JoAnna? There's no JoAnna in the story! The narrator was name Joel.</i>

Emphasis on the <i>was</i>.

If you remember some of things I discussed in the previous posts, this is an adaptation versus a <i>dramatization</i>, and as in wont to happen in the production of any film -- be it an independent production or a big-budget Hollywood behemoth -- the term "adaptation" can take on more than one aspect, sometimes unexpectedly.

Take the case of the central character, Joel (now JoAnna).

Due to various last-minute scheduling difficulties (read: <i>real life got in the way</i>, as it usually does) the actor who was to portray Joel had to drop out of the film the day before shooting began.

So what did Earl do?

He <i>adapted</i>. The actress who now plays the lead (JoAnna was my choice for her name) was originally going to play a small role at the very end of the film, but was more than happy to take over the lead at the last minute. (Like any actor or actress is going to say, "No, I don't want to be on-screen from first shot to last; I'd prefer to not star." <i>Riiiiight....</i>)

Some people may balk at the lead character being changed from a male to a female, but if you go back and re-read the story, you'll see that, ultimately, the sex of the lead character doesn't really matter, so I had <i>no</i> problems with this change, and from all of earl's reports, the actress (Laura sebastian) is doing a superb job, which doesn't surprise me: go back and take a look at her wonderful face in the trailer; in the first close-up you see, her eyes are dark and haunted and seem to contain myriad stories of their own. Her face has some serious <i>depth</i> to it necessary for the role. Male or female, I always pictured the central character as having <i>one of those faces</i> ... slightly drawn and melancholy, yet also (in order for the story to work) compelling and charismatic.

So color me pleased with this unexpected yet fortuitous casting change.

Adding to the excitement (for me and for Earl) is that the actress playing JoAnna's sister also happens to be one of Laura's best friends -- they've known each other for years -- so their natural real-life chemistry is coming across in the film. Can't ask for more than that.

There have, of course, been a few delays -- nothing catastrophic (not even close) but some severe thunderstorms in Florida have made it necessary that some pickup shots and a few exteriors are going to have to wait until this coming weekend to be filmed -- but then that's it. Everything is ready to go to the editing room. Earl sees no reason why the film cannot premiere before the end of this month!

That's it for now. Should Earl send any more stills (or -- <i>gulp!</i> -- clips my way, I'll post them here for everyone.

More updates as they arrive.

_________________
"If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans."