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2/18/00: Following three-and-a-half months of pre-production, Andy and I are finally ready to go to Encinitas, CA, to shoot our first interview. The subject: Paul Williams, author, journalist, former literary executor of the PKD estate. I know it�s a great place to start because he knew Phil and knows so much about him. He will be our guiding interview -� at least I hope so. Andy has all the gear ready to go, so we load my car up and hit the road. Just over five hours later, we�re in Los Angeles. We stop for dinner and then drive the extra two hours down the coast to Encinitas. On the way, we get a call from my wife, Kristie, who has some bad news for us: Jason Koornick is stuck in Boston and won�t be in California until Sunday, the day we are supposed to interview him. We get the number where he is and call to make arrangements for later in the week. Oh, well � that�s the way the production ball bounces. We find a cheap motel close to Paul�s apartment and check in for the night. I phone in a wake-up call for 8:00 A.M. and we turn in for the night. 2/19/00: I wake up at 8:30 realizing that we never received our wake-up call and now we�re a half-hour behind schedule. We load the car quickly and call Paul to confirm we�ll be over after breakfast. We arrive at Paul�s apartment and choose a spot for the interview. While Paul waits, Andy and I set up the gear -� lights, two cameras, audio. It takes a little longer than expected and Paul anxiously asks us when we�ll be ready. Finally, just after 11:00, we roll tape for the first time. The first part of the interview goes very well. We discuss how Paul and PKD met. We discuss the Rolling Stone article and then move into the 2-3-74 experiences. After the first 80 minutes of tape, we break for lunch. We walk to a nearby Mexican restaurant. During lunch, Paul and Andy and I continue our discussion of PKD -� we can�t help it. After lunch, we go back to Paul�s apartment and finish shooting the interview. The second half is shorter and a little different, but he closes with a great statement about PKD�s work that I know will make a fantastic finale to the film. The interview complete, Paul lets us choose some photos from his collection to use in the movie. We watch as he scans them in for us, then e-mails them back to the studio. I suddenly realize that we are going to be shooting this movie about PKD during 2-3-00! And what�s more: our first day of shooting is 2/19 � one day short of the exact anniversary of PKD�s first 2-3-74 experience. I comment on this to Paul and we agree that it seems incredible the way these things happen. We pack up the gear and start back to Sacramento. 2/20/00: Just after midnight, Andy and I finish loading the gear into the studio and we take a quick look at some of the footage. It�s amazing! It looks great and sounds great and Paul is an absolutely fascinating interview subject. I feel like we should start editing right away, but then I remember we�ve got plenty of work ahead of us and in exactly one week we will have FIVE interviews in the can.
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2/21/00: I pick up a dub of the Paul Williams footage to go through, then return home and begin trying to contact Jason Koornick to arrange a new meeting time. We discuss a number of options � including flying him from Reno to San Francisco to meet with us for a couple of hours before going back to Reno and then back to Vermont. We finally settle on meeting him halfway by car. That�s Carson City, Nevada �- a two hour drive from where he�s on vacation in Mammoth Mountain and a two hour drive from where we are in Sacramento. We decide on Tuesday and arrange to meet at a motel. Later that night, I work on trying to track down some other interviews. I decide that Tim Powers is someone I should try to reach. So I get on the internet, use a white pages search engine and enter his name. Of course, a whole bunch of listings come up for Tim Powers. So I pick up the phone and start calling. The first person answers. I ask for Tim Powers. "Speaking," they say. "Tim Powers the author?" I ask. "No," they reply. I hang up and dial again. At one number, I am told that Tim Powers is out. I ask if it�s Tim Powers the author. "He�s cool, isn�t he," says the person on the other end of the line, "I love his books!" I ask if that�s the Tim Powers I�ve got. "No," the person says, "But that Tim Powers is cool!" I thank him, hang up, and dial again. "Hello?" "My name is Mark Steensland and I am a documentary film-maker trying to reach Tim Powers." "Speaking." "Tim Powers the author?" "Yes." I can�t believe it. I tell him why I�m trying to reach him and he agrees to appear on-camera for an interview. Excitedly, I hang up and start thinking about scheduling. 2/22/00: Although the weather was supposed to be clear, I wake up to rain. Suddenly I�m not looking forward to heading into the mountains � especially now that I hear there�s a winter storm warning in effect. However, I know that we have to get this interview with Koornick today or it won�t happen. I pick up Andy at the studio and we head up the mountain in the pouring rain. At the summit, it�s snowing, but there are no chain controls, so we make it over and down into Lake Tahoe without a problem. We arrive in Carson City and check into the motel. Before we can finish unloading, Jason arrives and helps us get the gear upstairs. We decide on a shot and set to work lighting it. Within an hour, we�re rolling, talking to Jason about being a PKD fan and about the web-site. Once we wrap the interview, we load back up, then head back toward Lake Tahoe. The storm has gotten worse. Chain controls are in effect. At a gas station, we fill up and put on the chains and then head for the summit. It�s slow going, but not as bad as it could have been. We make it home safely. 2/23/00: I wake up to clear weather. WHAT?! Maybe we should have scheduled the interview for today. Then I hear that Highway 50 is closed for avalanche control. Whew! I know we did the right thing and I�m glad. I finish preparing our press release and start sending them out to the local papers and to some contacts I have at several labels. I confirm interviews for this weekend. Everything is going as planned. When I arrive home, I take the mail out of our box and find a letter addressed to my wife and me. The return address is 500 N. State College Blvd. In Orange, CA. My heart stops in my chest. Just last night, I had been looking up directions to C.S.U. Fullerton, the college which houses the PKD collection. The address is 800 N. State College Blvd. In Orange, CA. How�s that for a PKD moment? I think to myself. Needless to say, I don�t open the letter. But I don�t think I�ll forward it to the FBI, either.
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2/24/00: I find out from Tim Powers that he now won�t be able to do the interview. Oh, well. That�s the way the production ball bounces. We still have to travel to Southern California, however, so I call the library at Fullerton and schedule our interview with the special collections librarian for 10:00 A.M. next Friday morning. Later, I track down contact numbers for Anne Dick and Gregg Rickman and put in calls to both of them. 2/25/00: I receive an e-mail from Miriam Lloyd saying that she�s broken a tooth and won�t be able to do the interview tomorrow. I call our make-up person and cancel, then head over to the studio to pick up Andy. We load the car and drive into San Francisco to meet Jay Kinney at his office. Jay warned us that his office is in a bad part of downtown San Francisco and when we arrive, we discover that he is right. Luckily, we find a short-term parking spot in front and unload the equipment quickly. Jay comes down to meet us and take us upstairs to his office. The space is small, but we find a corner to work with, set up and shoot the interview. Several hours later, we are on our way back to Sacramento. I call D. Scott Apel to see if we can reschedule for earlier in the morning. He agrees. I help my wife get the kids into bed and then after she turns in, I stay up to review the window dub of the Paul Williams interview. As I log the footage, I begin to see the order his comments can fall into. Finally, the pattern reveals itself. I�m already seeing how his comments can cut into others that we�ve got. I can hardly wait to see the way it will all come together.
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2/26/00: I wake up tired. The kids woke up three times in the night so my wife and I didn�t get much sleep. I hurry through the morning routine, gather my materials, then head to the studio to pick up Andy. We make the drive to San Jose in record time. Upon our arrival, we are greeted by Scott, still dressed in his bathrobe, a cup of coffee in one hand. "Is it possible," he asks, "that you�re just the slightest bit early?" "Yes," I tell him, but he clearly doesn�t mind and while he goes to get ready, we begin setting up in his living room. Almost two hours later, we�re ready to go. Scott is entertaining and insightful. Comfortable in front of the camera � no doubt because of his six years as host of a local TV show on science fiction � Scott speaks clearly and concisely. We have a great time and shoot just over one hour of tape. As we pack up, Scott suggests some other folks we might be able to contact about being interviewed. We thank him for his hospitality and head back to Sacramento. Back at the studio, we check the footage and are pleased. I think it�s one of the best-looking interviews yet. Our next shoot is five days away, so Andy and I discuss making window dubs of the other interviews as soon as possible. I head home, exhausted from the driving.
We listened to it. We negotiated. And now we have the permission to use the song in our movie! Thanks, Jeffrey -- we'll be sure to put a big THANK YOU in the end credits right after the MOAM credit!" Visit the Man or Astroman? web site.
In related news - It's official, Bay Area composer/performer Kevin Keller has signed on to create the soundtrack for "The Gospel According to Philip K. Dick." More details . . .
Production Diary, Part Four
2/28/00: I pick up the window dubs of the footage from Andy at the
studio and take them home. After my wife and I get the kids to bed, I
set to work logging the footage and choosing which pieces will go
where. It�s a tedious process, but the structure of the movie is
finally falling into place. At least, it looks that way now. I�m up
until nearly midnight, writing time code ins and outs and transferring
the information to the rundown pages. I take the sheets back to the
studio and drop them off so that Andy can set to work bringing the
footage into the computer editing system.
2/29/00: I receive an e-mail from Jason saying that the section of
philipkdick.com with info about the movie is up and running. I check
the pages out and I�m really excited about the way they look. I call
Andy and tell him to check it out and to send more photos to Jason for
the production diary. I then spend a few hours e-mailing the URL to as
many people as I can think of � newspapers, magazines, friends at
studios such as Miramax, Artisan and Columbia. I�ve been thinking about
the music for the movie quite a bit. My original conception was
something along the lines of 70s synth music. Tangerine Dream style as
from the Rubycon days. Then I remember that PKD was a serious classical
music enthusiast. Beethoven was his idol, supposedly. A new concept
hits me � how about snippets of classical. I track down a local
classical recording artist and we talk on the phone for awhile about the
project. He is enthusiastic and we arrange to meet this Sunday. The
more I think about it, the more I think it�s really going to work.
3/1/00: Andy and I are scheduled to be back in Southern California on
Friday. We�ve arranged to leave Thursday night, so I spend part of the
day making preparations for yet another long drive. I head to the
studio to put together some of the first portions of the movie with
Andy. We work on the opening and another sequence, cutting bits
together. Before we know it, it�s 11:00 P.M. Time to go home, go to
bed and get ready for Fullerton.
Production Diary, Part Five
3/2/00: Andy and I finally get on the road about 6:30 P.M. We make it
to Fullerton in about six hours and check into the motel. We quickly
unload the equipment into the room, then hit the sack. We have a good
laugh because Andy's feet are hanging off the bottom of his bed. We put
in a wake-up call for 8:15 A.M. and turn out the lights.
3/3/00: I wake up and grab my watch � 9:55 A.M. What?! No wake up call
again? Then I wake up � it was only a dream, thank God. It�s really
only 7:45. I get up anyway and start getting ready. We get the wake-up
call as scheduled, only this time we don�t need it. Figures! We pack
up the car, have breakfast, then head over to C.S.U. Fullerton for our
appointment with Sharon Perry, librarian in charge of Special
Collections. The campus is so busy, we spend half an hour driving
around trying to find a parking spot. We finally decide to park in a 30
minute zone and just pay the ticket. We unload the equipment and carry
it all to the library in the middle of campus. Upstairs, we enter the
special collections department and are greeted by Sharon. After a brief
walk-through, we break out the camera and start shooting. The
collection is quite incredible � original PKD manuscripts, rough drafts,
letters, reviews, newspaper articles. It�s amazing to hold the rough
draft of A SCANNER DARKLY in my hands. I think about PKD writing at the
typewriter and how much we take computers for granted now. We interview
Sharon in several stages about the collection, then set to work shooting
close-ups of the list of holdings and some newspaper articles. As I
pick up several articles which announced PKD�s death, I suddenly see the
date on them � March 3, 1982. March 3rd! That�s today! Andy and I
can�t believe it � it�s too weird. We couldn�t have planned it that
way. We wrap the shoot, pack up the equipment and head downstairs.
After picking up a few exterior shots of the library and the campus, we
head over to Cameo Lane where PKD lived during 2-3-74. We find the
place no problem and as we enter the courtyard and set up the shot of
the apartment door, we think about the fact that 26 years ago, Philip K.
Dick was inside that apartment wondering what had happened to him and
getting ready to start the Exegesis. It�s an overwhelming feeling. We
get what we need and pack up again.
We head to Beverly Hills for an afternoon meeting with Michael Levine of
Levine Communications, a PR firm who contacted us and wants to talk to
us about the project. We discuss some possible publicity avenues and
agree to talk further. Just before 5:00 P.M., Andy and I hit the road
again and head back to Northern California.
On our way, I quickly perform a mental calculation of how many hours
we�ve been on the road � two trips to Southern California, one to
Nevada, two to the Bay Area. I can�t believe we�ve spent 40 hours in
the car so far and we�ve still got more to go. No wonder I�m so sick of
driving! Back at the studio, we check the Sharon Perry footage. It
looks great. I can't wait to see it cut together. Near midnight, we
head home.
Production Diary, Part Six (I think)
3/4/00: Another day in the home office, working on scheduling more
interviews and arranging publicity details. I confirm the schedule for
the following week. First up, Duncan Watson, webmaster of "PKD Slept
Here," a cool site with photos of places PKD lived in and around the Bay
Area. Our plan is to interview him at several of the locations. We�ve
been trying to schedule him for a couple of weeks, but the continuing
rain has made it impossible for us to find a good date. We reschedule
again for next Saturday, March 11, and I start praying for good
weather. Next to confirm is Miriam Lloyd, a dear friend of PKD�s from
1964 until his death. She�s got her tooth fixed and is now ready to
talk to us. We schedule her for the afternoon of March 11. She asks if
we�ve gotten in touch with Ray Nelson yet and I tell her we haven�t.
She tells me we absolutely have to talk to Ray and she gives me his
phone number. I thank her, tell her I look forward to seeing her next
week, then hang up and promptly call Ray. He�s not at home but I leave
a message. Later that day, I get a call from Brian Malow. He tells me
he�s the host of a show called "But Seriously..." which is webcast on
PlayTV.com. He�s a huge PKD fan. He heard about the movie and he wants
to know if we�d like to be his guests on the show. Absolutely! I tell
him and we quickly schedule the evening of March 17th.
3/5/00: Ray Nelson returns my call and we arrange to meet on Friday to
discuss the project in more detail. I give him my fax number so he can
send directions to his house. A few minutes after I hang up, my fax
rings through and the map appears. In the upper corner is a photo of
Ray himself smiling mischeviously. Underneath is the caption: "Welcome
to the Twilight Zone: I�m your usher!" I grin widely. I can hardly
wait to meet him.
3/10/00: I leave my house at 8:00 A.M. for the two hour drive to the Bay
Area. I find Ray�s house without a problem and I am greeted at the door
by his wife. She shows me upstairs where I find Ray in his study
waiting to talk with me. He is a generous and friendly man, with many
fond memories of PKD. We have a great 45 minutes together, the end
result of which is the agreement to meet the following Friday to shoot
his interview. With the little taste I�ve gotten today, I am very
excited about the incredible stories he�ll have to tell. He gives me a
packet of biographical information on my way out and I head back home.
3/11/00: I meet Andy at the studio just after 7:00 A.M. We load the car
and make the two hour drive to the Bay Area AGAIN! We pick Duncan up at
his house and drive straight to San Rafael, to the house where the
break-in occurred. On our way there, Duncan and I discuss why he
created his web-site, how he got into PKD, etc. Upon our arrival at
Hacienda Way, I tell Duncan the things I want him to touch on in our
interview and then, without calling too much attention to ourselves, we
casually begin setting up the equipment. We fix the microphone on
Duncan and then stand him in the street in front of the house. We begin
the interview. The first part goes fairly well, in spite of several
interruptions � mostly in the form of cars trying to get by. We have to
clear Duncan and the mike cables out of the street constantly. Finally,
we get several good takes of everything we want to cover. We pack up
without having been asked by one single person what we were doing. We
head to the Marin County Civic Center.
Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, the Marin County Civic Center houses the
courthouse, the public offices, the police department, and more. This
is where the police came from when they went to PKD�s house to take the
report on the bombing. This is also where Paul Williams came when he
tried to get a look at the police record of the break-in. Most
recently, it was used as a location in the movie "Gattaca." We circle
the building and begin looking for a good spot to shoot. We find one in
an open area inside the building. However, once we park and bring the
camera back, we discover that there is not enough light to shoot. Then
I see it � the plug in the wall right there! I run back to the car,
grab a light, a stand and some cable and quickly return. We plug in and
turn on the light. Presto! The exposure is perfect. We shoot several
takes of Duncan discussing the building and its importance. Several
times, police officers walk right past us � none of them ask what we�re
doing. Feeling bold, we move upstairs, inside the building. We find
another location and another plug. We repeat the process, again getting
several good takes of Duncan. Outside, we find a suitable spot for an
exterior set-up and shoot just a few more takes of the interview before
noise from the nearby Fire Department drives us away. We pack up the
car and head back into Berkeley.
We find a parking spot in front of the Lucky Dog Pet Store and set up as
quickly as we can. The shoot with Duncan is taking a little longer than
expected. We have to be at Miriam�s at 2:00. Traffic is heavy, but the
lights are timed in such a way that every minute or so there is a enough
quiet to get a good take. We make several attempts and finally get one
we�re satisfied with. Packing up again, we return Duncan to his house
and quickly head over to Miriam�s.
Jody McCowen, our make-up artist, meets us outside Miriam�s just before
2:00. Once inside, we find a spot for the interview and then, while
Andy and I set up the lights and cameras, Jody helps Miriam get ready.
Within the hour, we�re ready to roll. It�s clear from talking with
Miriam that PKD was more than just a great science fiction writer, he
was a dear friend. Remembering the things she is about him is clearly a
very emotional experience. She veers from great gales of laughter to
tears as she talks about her friend Phil. In no time, more than an hour
has passed and we all feel as if the surface hasn�t even been
scratched. It�s clear that you can�t take a relationship that lasted
nearly twenty years and boil it down to a collection of sound bites that
last a little more than an hour. Not that I would want to � I only hope
that we can find those pieces that communicate Miriam�s great love for
Phil. We thank her for her time and pack up the car for the two hour
drive back home again.
Production Diary, Part Seven
3/12/00: At long last, an e-mail comes in from Robert Anton Wilson,
author of the Illuminatus! Trilogy and many other great books. I had
wanted to interview him from the beginning of the project, but I was
still under the impression that he was living in Ireland. How happy I
was to find that he was back in the United States � and in the Bay Area,
no less. Now I�m extremely pleased to find out that he�s agreed to an
interview. I schedule him for Friday, the 25th, and begin making
arrangements.
3/17/00: I pick Andy up at the studio at 8:00 A.M. and we head to the
Bay Area to meet with Ray Nelson. He�s very excited to have us there
and while we set up, we talk about the production of "They Live" � one
of my favorite movies. I�ve brought my DVD for him to sign and we have
a lot of fun talking about it. In less than an hour, we�re set up and
ready to roll. Thanks to the pre-interview the previous week, Ray is
right on target, hitting everything perfectly and concisely. Before we
know it, we�ve burned through an hour and twenty minutes of tape.
What�s more, Ray has had a great time talking about Phil and telling us
all sorts of intimate stories about himself and the sci-fi circle in the
Bay Area in the �60s. We thank him for his time, pack up and head over
to the city for lunch prior to our appearance on PlayTV.
Just after 5:00 P.M., we arrive at the PlayTV studio and meet Brian
Malow, host of "But Seriously..." He�s already got a ton of graphics
and stuff prepared and we talk about a few things while he makes final
preparations. I�ve brought a shirt to give-away � one of the test
shirts we�ve made. It has the logo on the front left breast and on the
back, it says: "Only Dickheads know what�s REALLY going on." In order
to win the shirt, people have to guess correctly what a specific photo
is. The photo, taken the first night of shooting, is of my bald head.
Of course, I�m wearing a hat on the show, so viewers won�t have an
immediate idea. Brian likes the idea and before we know it, it�s time
to go on. Brian and Andy and I talk about the movie, about PKD in
general, about the web-site and other things. Then we show the photo
and guesses start coming in. Surprisingly, it doesn�t take long for
someone to send in the correct guess: "It�s the top of Mark�s head,"
they say, "Go ahead and take off the hat." Absolutely right. We get
the winner�s address and promise to send the shirt out right away. The
two hour show goes by quickly and when we�re done, Brian asks us to come
back again. We agree, then head back to Sacramento.
Production Diary, Part Eight
3/24/00: Once again, I pick up Andy at the studio at 8:00 A.M. and we
head to the Bay Area yet again, this time to Capitola, south of Santa
Cruz. We make the drive in record time and arrive exactly as scheduled
at 11:00 A.M. at the home of Robert Anton Wilson. It�s a great pleasure
to meet this fantastic writer and he welcomes us warmly. We load the
equipment in, then set to work finding a suitable shot. Within an hour,
we�re ready to go. RAW is funny and engaging, full of intelligent
things to say, all delivered in his trademark deadpan fashion. At one
point, he pauses and says, "Oh my God, I never thought of this
before..." and then proceeds to wonder if PKD might have been a victim
of the CIA�s MK Ultra program and not known it. I�m excited because we
have Robert Anton Wilson coming up with an original thought �
on-camera! What a great moment. We finish the interview in a little
over an hour and then pack up, thanking RAW for his hospitality and
insight. The drive back � through the Bay Area during rush hour on a
Friday afternoon � takes fully twice as long as our drive down. We
arrive back at the studio exhausted but excited because all the
interviews we had scheduled are completed.
3/25/00: I work through the night logging the footage of Duncan Watson,
Miriam Lloyd and Robert Anton Wilson. Marking every segment I think
we�ll be able to us, I take the logs back to the studio so that Andy can
bring the footage into the editing system.
3/29/00: Andy and I meet to continue editing. From the beginning, I had
structured the movie around a group of keys ideas and incidents: the
break-in, the suicide attempt in Vancouver, the first mystic experience
(the girl with the golden fish), the continuing pink beam episodes
(including the information which saved Christopher�s life), the Xerox
missive, the Exegesis and his death. Other topics touched on during the
course of production included PKD�s relationship with Bishop Pike and
the importance of the Lucky Dog Pet Food Store. Andy and I begin
roughing in comments from everyone around these areas. With some of the
segments in place, we sit back and take a look. Other concepts I�d
originally had � certain graphics, cutaways, etc. � are tried and
abandoned. It�s just not going to work. The music I�d chosen is
scrapped again. We call it quits well after midnight and I drive home,
still wide awake, wondering what to do now. I realize how different
making a documentary is from a fiction feature. At least in making "The
Last Way Out," I�d had a script and a series of shots that I could put
together in a specific order. The challenge with all this interview
footage is finding the little connections between what people say so
that each comment not only makes sense within itself, but also within
the context of the segment and of the whole movie. It�s incredible to
me that we had no idea what we were going to get from any of these folks
when we went into>
Transfer interrupted!
ure out how to use
what we do have.
3/31/00: I�ve recruited my parents to hand out flyers in Chico,
California, where they live. They call to tell me that they
successfully passed out the six hundred I gave them and that when they
went into one bookstore, the clerk behind the counter was actually
reading a Philip K. Dick book! Yet another incredible coincidence? I�m
beginning to wonder.
Production Diary, Part Nine
Production Diary, Part Ten
5/25/00 - About the only thing I�m sure of anymore is the year. And
even that I�m beginning to wonder about. Post-production is often a
black hole. You go into it not knowing where you�re going to come out.
Once again I�m discovering the truth about the old production joke that
an editing system is a time machine � you get on it in the morning and
push a few buttons and it transports you into the future � generally
late into the night. With all our interview footage in front of us �
and there�s something over 25 hours� worth, Andy and I have worked
feverishly to winnow all that stuff down to the best possible movie we
can make. It�s hard more often than it�s easy. There�s so much good
stuff we want to put in and yet we know we can�t. We have to maintain
the focus of the movie and make sure we end up with a coherent narrative
line. After weeks of work, we finally have a cut which we test for a
few close people. The result is exactly what we�d hoped for � they love
it. And perhaps more importantly, they can follow everything in it. A
big concern, of course, because we�re so close to the project.
With Kevin Keller on board for the music, I spend our first day in
pre-production discussing the score with him. We talk about some ideas
and he sets to work on some musical sketches. Within a couple of weeks,
I visit him at his studio and we lay down the first pass at the temp
score � pieces of music that I can take back to the editing room and lay
down with the picture to see how they work. This is usually done with
music from other movies, but I�m glad to have the real thing. I think
we�re getting much farther ahead by doing it this way.
From the beginning, I�ve conceived the movie with no narration.
Instead, I planned on graphics leading the story along in sections. In
addition, because we got permission to use clips from audio tapes of
interviews that PKD did with Paul Williams and with D. Scott Apel, I
planned on seeing these quotes appear on a typewriter. However, after
our first couple of screenings and some experimenting with the graphics,
I strike upon an idea � why not have a cartoon of PKD talking to the
camera? And better yet, why not have our cartoon PKD type the graphics
as the movie goes along. I bounce this idea off several people and get
resounding support. I set to work storyboarding the animation, then
Andy and I painstakingly shoot live action versions of the graphics and
quotes with me standing in for PKD. This way, our animator can know
exactly what we�re looking for. After a full day of shooting and a full
day of cutting, Andy and I realize this really works. And what�s even
better is that the graphics are about PKD in the third person. And
because PKD is the one "typing" them, it really creates a Horselover
Fat/Valis kind of connection that I�m really excited about and that I
know the hardcore fans will get.
Finally, Andy and I set to work shooting the other support materials.
We�ve got Philip K. Dick Society newsletters and a copy of Gnosis
magazine and copies of PKD�s FBI file and so forth. Another day passes
as Andy and I shoot the material and then cut it into the movie. More
and more the movie is starting to look like a movie -- finally. Far and
away the most fun part of this phase, however, is our mock-up of the
Exegesis. We�ve only seen the excerpts from the Exegesis, but we know
from our interview with Jay Kinney and from other places that it
numbered 8,000 pages. I send my wife to the nearby office supply place
with instructions to buy 16 reams of paper. Then I take it to the
studio and Andy and I set up our own stack of 8,000 pieces of paper.
With the camera on a jib, our slow crane up the side of the Exegesis is
mind-blowing. You really have no idea just how big the dang thing was
until you�re staring at it like that.
Next stop � on-line editing and music!
