Two down... ? to go...

The 2nd rough cut of NO LIMIT is now complete... and now we're really getting somewhere!  After taking some time away from the project and showing the first rough cut to some trusted friends and colleagues, I found the direction the story needed to go.  And most importantly, I figured out its weaknesses and strengths.

So I threw out the original structure of the script and started fresh.  The scenes themselves are pretty much the same (although a bit tighter), but they're now in an order that keeps the viewer more engaged and less confused.  It's always been a non-linear story, which can be hard for the viewer to follow, but somehow making it even MORE non-linear has clarified things a bit.

Another big change I made was cutting a lot of the voice-over narration.  As an audience, it's just plain more interesting to wonder what a scene is about than to have somebody tell you up front.  It didn't feel that way when I wrote the script, but it stuck out like a sore thumb once it was up there on the big screen in the first rough cut.

So needless to say, I'm a much happier director than I was after the rough cut, although there's still a long way to go.  There's more tightening to do... plus special effects and sound editing... and of course music.  But this step is in the right direction and it feels like a big one!

I'm heading into another busy season of other projects again, but I'll try to keep pecking away at Draft #3.  Until then...