Day Two of Rehearsal on An Affair

Today was another day of messy creative work. I mean that in the best way - we continued to slog through the script, playing with the emotions and the blocking, figuring out what was working and what felt false. I love it. Every moment is bliss. Matt and Cora are so completely committed to their roles - they're as determined as I am to get it right. There is joy to me in working with other committed artists.

And there, too, is DP Taylor Rudd wandering around us, snapping gorgeous still frames that will serve as ideas for he and I to consider shots. What I love about this is that we're creating the film around the characters and the blocking - not the other way around. I have too often worked where I storyboard my intention for a scene and then try to fit the actors into that (or adjust on the fly based on what the actors do that was different than my original ideas).

But I've always known that the proper way to do what I do on a character-based film is to let the actors create the scene, and then find the shots that tell the story from what we decide is natural and effective.

We are just building up a good head of steam - we got through all of the set-bound material today - and now I have to have a minor medical procedure on Wednesday morning that will put me out of commission for the day. I had planned on four solid days of rehearsal, and I am losing maybe a half-day, maybe the entire day, which angers me. But there's nothing I can do about it. I had to schedule this before the film so that I can physically endure the shoot...