June, 2003, and I'm on stage at the Castro Theater, thanking the film-festival director, and making a little speech about how great it was to have a movie in the festival. Or at least that was what I was fantasizing about this morning, as I went for a run in the Marina.

Finally, after weeks of planning, we shot our movie this Tuesday, and things could not have gone much better. First, everybody showed, and on time. That's no small achievement considering we're not paying anybody. And we even started shooting right on time - 8.00 a.m., an hour after we'd arrived at the salon with all our equipment. From there, the day progressed smoothly; no discord, no faulty equipment, just good acting. Really, throughout the day, the only things that didn't go according to plan were the dolly (a large, heavy platform with big wheels for getting fancy tracking shots) with its squeaky wheels, and a couple of our camera angles. We'd made decisions on camera angles from a floor plan that Jim and I knocked up from memory. Unfortunately, we'd never actually measured the salon, so it was only when we were actually in there with all the actors and equipment that we realized it was much smaller than it had seemed. But there's no virtue more important in film-making than that of compromise, and we made do with what we had.

Jason (as Nicky) in the chair, and Russ (as Rico) pretending to cut his hair.

By six p.m. we were able to wrap - two hours ahead of schedule! And I joined Jim, Scott, Andrea (a friend of Jim's, who was both our still photographer and an extra) and Jason (the goodlooking Los Angeleno who played the role of Nicky) in Leticias for huge margaritas and Mexican food. At this point, I was beyond tired. After two poor nights of sleep, and a long, long day, I just felt dead on my feet. Being a director is exhausting business. You're the center of attention throughout the day except for those few on camera moments when all attention is focused on the actors. In between shots, though, everybody wants a piece of the director. And for somebody like me, where every ordinary social interaction is potentially complex, it was like walking in a minefield. Particularly in view of the larger personalities that most actors come with. In the end, it wasn't really the long day that got me, it was the non-stop barrage of personal interactivity that wore me down to a nub. And all the issues that being in the center of all that attention bring up for me.

After the shoot. Jim on the left, and Scott on the right.

Next day, I felt completely depleted. There was the usual feeling of immense anti-climax too. Jim is editing the movie, so it's now almost entirely out of my hands. Jeez - I have time to catch up with the rest of my life. But I was so drained, I actually had to go home sick from work at lunchtime. Bring in those hormones my doctor recently prescribed - I think I need them!

I felt no better the next day either, and that's when it dawned on me that it wasn't just the effect of the movie shoot. The previous weekend my Claritin prescription had expired, and I'd decided not to ask my Doctor to renew it, so that I could see if I still needed it. Big mistake! I got it renewed by Friday, and this morning, finally, as it's kicking in, I'm coming out of the daze I've been in all week.

On Thursday night, I saw the first rough cut of our movie. Jim had added the opening music for the first dolly shot, and it looked and sounded so beautiful. A great panning, dolly shot through the salon, past Opal and Charlotte working on their customers, up to the reception desk, where Glenda was on the phone, being sarcastic to a client. And all set to Gene's soundtrack, with it's Pucciniesque business. As I watched the rest of the cut, though, things didn't look so clean. A prominent microphone boom ruined a couple of shots, there was one shot that we entirely missed - we only had the actor from the waist-down for his big speech. And, so far, the dramatic tension wasn't there.

It's still very early stages in the edit, though. I think the lack of tension will be resolved with sharper editing, and the addition of the complete soundtrack. Jim has been able to crop the shots with the microphone boom, and we're reshooting the lost shot on Monday. So we'll see. I'm reasonably optimistic that we'll turn out with a decent movie.