LUNG II
This week, I received the hard drive containing all the raw footage for Phil Stevens' new feature, LUNG II.
Yesterday I started editing the rough cut. In some ways, this new flick is a natural progression from FLOWERS, but a completely different animal.. ..only one pretty girl this time and her screen time will be quite short, darn it! Mostly Phil himself as the main character.
You'll get to know him quite personally by the end of the picture. Again, no dialog and LUNG II is also totally shot in black & white. It's got an ERASERHEAD sort of feel naturally because of the B&W imagery and surreal quality of the story. Luckily by the time LUNG II is finished and ready for audiences, more people will have experienced FLOWERS and will be prepared for the journey. That's a nice way of saying Phil Stevens movies aren't for everybody! We know that. Phil's an artist and his work is very dark and personal. Indeed, LUNG II will have a scene depicting Phil actually painting some canvases. ..in blood, naturally.
It's strange. A year ago, Phil was pontificating that FLOWERS might become his swan-song legacy movie. (hopefully he won't mind me sharing that) Legacy, yes. Swan-song? Nope. FLOWERS was a massive feat that drained Phil physically, emotionally, financially. Had it been easier, he may have edited the movie himself and I wouldn't be here writing stuff like this. FLOWERS proved to be 100% worth his efforts but there were still postpartum demons to exorcise. It's as if the experience haunted him and in order to purge the ghosts he had to make another movie right away! He seemed to be energized from the reaction and feedback from FLOWERS so he was primed to start shooting immediately. Script be damned. Actors? Sets? Fuck that shit! Phil grabbed his camera, put on a set of hospital scrubs and went out to the savage streets of Philadelphia and started shooting. It was a fascinating trip, watching the evolution as he posted updates on Facebook. Soon, he found his sea-legs and focused more on LUNG II's plot, developing his stream-of-consciousness into something more lucid. That doesn't mean the movie will be comprehensible or coherent for general audiences, I'd be disappointed it it were coerced into a restrained state like that. Phil simply became more cognizant of the course to reach the ultimate destination.
An exclusive bunch of international horror fans contributed to this new movie. Not only monitarily, some of them shot 2nd Unit footage. So there's already a small cadre of embedded fans waiting for it. I promise not to disappoint. Hell, I'm one of 'em! I've got a sneaky feeling that this flick will progress a bit quicker than FLOWERS. 1. because there's not a learning curve this time. and 2. I've been editing fairly constantly all year and am pretty comfortable & confident behind the wheel. Also, LUNG II won't have the structural challenges of FLOWERS. That's not to say that it'll be easy! I'm hoping that post-production will mimic the way Phil shot it. Lots of intuition and chutzpa! 'Nuff said. 'Nuff bloggin'. Just wanted to get these thoughts out there and make some kind of announcement for the next Borderline Cinema presentation. Once I'm in the thick of editing, the real world can sorta get neglected. Coming soon: LUNG II
