ut 42 Sunday, Muy 22, 1988 ~ North. Shore News - SOMETIMES A column cries out fora title. So here we ‘go. ; Confessions of A Producer, Part E The Search for Meta- / ‘| phor.. ‘Thinking that P d come here to" * take advanced studies in script-. ~ writing, | was quite unprepared for },. what the movers and shakers jbehind Norman Jewison’s Cana- I. dian film centre had in mind. The idea, apparent}, i is to make a dozen of us into hyphenated ; filmmakers. | Say ‘ That is, you can’t just ‘knew i about writing, you have to krjow about production and directing as: well, in order to do your job/as ae writer better. 2° . Up until now, of course, as a writer; f have tended to assume . that the work is mainly done when. _ _ the last page of hard copy leaves te camy word processor: A vague 2} oh os if: ‘ “something”’ happens afterwards to turn the script into aTV show" _or movie. : an f° -There dwelled i in my brain a no-’ ‘tion which l now perceive to be © absurd. It was that the writing part »- was the Only really creative part. -It did not occur to me that there a . could be anything creative happen- ing afterwards. It was all just a; technical matter, including, frank-, ‘i ly, the acting. Yes! This was the - scope of my writer’s vanity. : Having been a producer for the ‘last few weeks | find’ myself very “. edgy about The Writer. never re~ alized what a strange obsession : : writing is until | was able to step” out of the role and into : -qnosmously' more diffi cult. It is in fact an‘easy thing to bash my i iid tion fees on an hourly basis, en-/ tirely, dependent on good weather, all set to shoot your Big Final - Scene, when it is'discovered that ; the Vidco Assist for the Steadyeu rt is nowhere to be found. f. The Big Final Scene isto be | ‘shot, you understand, by a Steadycam operator twirling / - around the actress on the edge of the cliff. Y eh brain! perceive to'be ab- -surd. It was that the ‘writing part (of a fi Im) was the only really | This. was the jscope of riter’ s vanit ye : wi ing of the truly rabid onto traffic on a scorching |” try to find a Video | ssigtant’ Directors are busy trucks and talent around. n of not getting the 7 irector that he was god, discovers that he is, in fact, the Jee-Boy of First and Last Resort. Into the traffic he plunges. ° Cut to: Last Sequence of Three Hours in Metro Hall. The mad- eyed producer has finally tracked” ‘down the last Video’Assist in the - Western, Hemisphere and is having it shipped by taxi to the place f where he is meanwhile picking up» < othe extea-roll of film which has - been ordered by the Director of - Photography, “without which the entire shoot will come to a halt. | > Itis 4 p.m. ‘and the police and © tow-trucks are starting to haul the parked cai the street? endangered. : The saxi finally arrives but the driver‘hasn't got change for $100 - (all, I've got are $100 bills) and he only takes Visa and American Ex- _ press while I"ve just got Master- ” Charge, and the cars are honking behind him and the police are Slos: ing in on my car... ' . Ah but, way down at the bottom, “ af his glove compartment, he finds ‘one crumpled old MasterCharge receipt! A shaft of golden karma beams down from the lurking CN . Tower. (What if it falls. f keep * * thinking. Which way would it fall? ic How's the wind?) f. The Gardiner Expressway is - ‘closed to eastbound traffic and so - our existential hero must fight his. way back through the clogged streets al ground level bo Mercifully, we cut now {o the = weary but triumphant student : producer making it back. fo the set./, * just in time to deliver the Video Assist andthe cannistet of film. and capture the Big Shot with | . perfect, late-afternoon lighting. : : And then, when’ we look at the | rushes, it turns oui the footage i is’ totally ho-hum. i Writing: was neve away. Minc is across. , t oy “UNDERCOATING MAY SPECIAL Due to.an overwhelming response we have extended our 0. to May 31/88 $4500 MOST VEHICLES _ i Onty top quality. products used” J We'te new ic the area, but we’ te experienced professionals. ” Unoerceating, applied to (Most cars’ undeteartiaga reduces rattles, Squeabs and engine poise by up to 30%, while providing economical : ingulation yas protechon against stone and gravel abrasion: { “We alse atte, 4 “oust Proofing sScoten Guarding Paint Sealant 4 ; _ CALL FOR APPOINTMENT © NORTH PRO AUTO 086-9868 DETAILING & REPAIRS LTD. 1130 W. 74th hst, NORTH VANCOUVER | “Wet : Weather Special : Replace antifreeze,,feplace oi! & filter, engine. tune.