Big Love Virtual Storyspace
This is the first in a series of mock video blogs I directed with Margene, the youngest wife (of the three) in Big Love (on HBO). Did I just say “mock”? Because that certainly doesn’t seem to be a factor to the people making comments on Margene’s wildly popular blog page. It isn’t clear whether people A) Don’t realize that Margene is a fictional character; B) Don’t care that Margene is a fictional character; or, C) Some hybrid combination of both. “A” is impossible, but “B” is too simplistic. I’d have to go with “C” and suggest that the “role playing” here is unique to the fantasy-imbued reality of today’s internet - a kind of communal “Storyspace”. And I love that, in this space, it doesn’t matter if you are an actress (Ginnifer Goodwin) working with crew of professional image makers and a script (written by Coleman Herbert), or a normal person sitting in a room with a laptop - we can all contribute to the “text” that emerges from the story, scrolling down and twisting around itself like a long strand of DNA.
The trick is that the story itself has to be rich enough to spark this kind of engagement. Big Love is quite vibrant territory, especially this year, and Margene’s character stands out as well. She is a young, hip, funny, ordinary person who is simultaneously both wildly out of place, and also totally believable, in the outrageous polygamous melodrama she inhabits. This “double life” is articulated with pitch-perfect self-awareness in Ginnifer’s performance and translates beautifully to the internet, where we all, in a sense, have double lives: we are both ourselves, sitting at our computers, and the avatars we “live through” in the ether-webs. These vlogs seem to provide a forum in which to celebrate this very contemporary state of being.
On the production tip, it was a challenge to rig a teleprompter and a monitor (so Ginnifer could see herself) around an HD lens and make it feel like a $20 webcam. I forgot to take pictures. Thanks to Louis Tancredi and Eric Butler at NBO-NY, the peeps at HBO Interactive, DP Ron Siegel, and big thanks to everyone at Big Love for their expertise and generosity!
Check back on Margene’s Blog for more video posts and, of course, comments. The story continues to scroll …
PS:
Here is a selection of other episodes from the Vlog:
•I Don’t Even Know Why I’m Here
• Practice Makes Perfect
• My Amazing Penny Analogy
• Remember the Good Times
Welcome! Lucky Post #1
Hello and welcome to Lucky Eight Productions/Rumin8tions. The man in the black shirt in the picture above is having his new scooter blessed before its maiden voyage. I don’t know what the equivalent of this would be in the world of blogs, but perhaps (as would seem to be axiomatic of the form) by simply blogging this picture, its “energy” will somehow be transmuted to the blog itself (and, by extension, to those who read it!). Here’s hoping that’s the case; that this blog travels safely; that it doesn’t slam into any sacred cows wandering across cyberspace; and that, somehow, it can serve as a place where the many strands of my life can come together and be happy. Movies, stories, television, screenwriting, copywriting, consciousness, design, illustration, India, Spain, Brooklyn, Topanga, kids, parents, piñatas, production … all will be here. And who knows, the following subjects might be covered as well (another photograph from Mysore):
A laundry list, indeed. But, hey — I’m lucky just to be here!
Speaking of which, this will be the first of (hopefully) A SERIES of entries on the subject of LUCK. I’m actually fascinated (but NOT obsessed!) by luck — how we relate to it (or don’t), and how sweet and uniquely human it is.
And speaking of that, I would like to dedicate this site to my father who passed away the week before it went live. I wish he could have seen it.
Harry Lee Gordon, 1930-2007