the film on suffering

ok, time to get the brainstorming in full gear.

i've gotta do a 10 minute film on the broad theme of suffering, and while it might be interesting to make a narrative film about a guy who gets dumped, i really don't want to and i'm pretty sure no one wants to see that.

so here's what i'm thinking: something completely unscripted w/ no actors of any kind but not technically a documentary. i've been kicking around the idea of a film that feels like an episode of 'this american life' or a similar npr-ish program about how poverty affects people in the richest country in the world (i.e. this one), and not so much homeless people or crack whores or whatever, but people who are fighting windmills trying to keep their heads above water. the types that are working 3 jobs to feed their kids, but i don't want this to feel like preaching at all. i may actually shoot on black and white digital 8 to give it a really grainy feel and i'd kinda like it to feel like a film version of found art w/ all sorts of different stuff weaved together to form some sort of cohesive thread.

thoughts?

NEWS: TV SCREENING

KDKA is showing a piece on the civil rights tour, including footage from yours truly, this Sunday at 11am. don't miss it. or, if you do, tape it.

the tour: to the best of my memory

NOTE: What follows is a back-dated daily account of the 2005 civil rights tour, a tour I've been on the last 2 years. The purpose of this is to give people a sense of what the tour entails, as well as some insight as to the mindset behind being a one-man crew hundreds of miles from the rest of your equipment. I'm essentially on board to document the trip on film. No promises on the quality of writing. You can read newspaper accounts of the trip here

The buses--2 of them this year--leave Beaver Falls, PA at 5.30am on this Saturday morning. Because this is normally when I go to bed, the early morning doesn't bother me all that much, and I've got too much caffeine in my system to notice anyway. It's an odd tradition for this trip that I have to skip something important the day we leave, and this year is no different. Levi and Frankie's wedding is later today, but I'll have to console myself with the $25 I won playing poker during the bachelor party.
Anyway, the buses roll and several hours later we're in Greensboro, NC, standing in front of the Woolworths where 4 college students desegregated the lunch counter. Then it's across town to talk to some people who's names I don't remember off-hand as they talk about racial reconciliation in Greensboro and there's some haunting clips of a peaceful march in the 70's that ended in violence when the Klan showed up.
The main speaker is supposed to be wearing a lapel mic, but he's holding it, then he's twirling it around. I have to switch over to the wild mic and watch him out of my one eye as I'm filming, terrified as to what sort of damage he's doing. When he's done, the mic is still in one piece and we head to our first hotel, in Greenville, SC. Normally in Greenville I get a chance to hang out with my friend Matt from back home, but sadly he's away for the weekend. Oh well.


Cliff, Pat, and others view the site of the old Woolworths


The Woolworths facade. They are in the process of turning this site into an interactive museum

civil rights tour

the civil rights tour starts again on sat morning and matt's had an interesting idea to blog the trip every day, but i can't think of a convenient way to do that. besides all my video equipment, all i'll have access to is my phone. anyone have any thoughts?

KDKA shows "Reclaiming"

On today's morning show, our good friend Todd Allen was on promoting the civil rights bus tour, and he tells me they showed clips or something of the "Reclaiming Our Past" video. I didn't see it, since it was in the morning, but i'm wondering if anyone else happened to catch it.

a film about suffering (won't that be fun)

first of all, this was not actually my idea (that is, to do a film about suffering), as much as it may seem like it would be. anyway, joanna lowe has asked myself and 2 other filmmakers to make 10-20 minute short films that deal w/ the theme of suffering to be shown before her play 'Life. And Other One-Man Shows' that i'm told opens in Oct. i want to avoid a situation where everyone does the same type of film, so i'm thinking of working w/ mixed medias (i.e. photos and archival footage) and using real people instead of actors (or a script). so far i've come up w/ 2 potential ideas:

1. filming people society has failed, be it homeless or alcoholic or whatever and construct an image of suffering in modern-day America. Potential problems: clearances and chances of getting mugged.

2. taking my camera to Maine w/ me this summer when i go for my best Maine friend's wedding and sort of exploring how everything i know from my childhood is pretty much gone or changed beyond recognition.

thoughts?

A Review

From the City Paper review:

"'On a Building Mid-Afternoon Somewhere in the World,' by Lucas McNelly, is almost as long as its title. A man stands on a ledge ready to jump to his death, and an optimistic onlooker tries to talk him out of it while a cynical onlooker tries to get him to jump. You’ve seen it several times before, but wisely, McNelly keeps it short."

To paraphrase Woody Allen, if you believe the good ones, you have to believe the bad ones, but what do you do about the ones that are sort of indifferent and maybe weren't paying attention? Anyway, the full review can be found at www.pghcitypaper.com

Stop It! opens today

Featuring Lucas McNelly's 'on a building mid-afternoon somewhere in the world' and Joanna Lowe's 'Subtext on a Sunday', 'Stop It!' tickets are on sale now. go to www.blankspacearts.org for more info.

you'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll support the arts. (no, really, you will. all three in fact)

a Lowe's premiere

Tonite, 7ish, our good friend Rue Snider over at Ambulance Films will be screening 4 of his short films at Lowe Cineplex in the Waterfront (Pittsburgh). It costs $5.50 to get in, although it may be sold out, i'm not sure. of course, if you can't get in, you can always head over to Bar Louie across the street for the shindig afterward.

Stop It! opening soon...

"Stop It!", of course, includes the world premiere of Lucas' original one-act, "on a building mid-afternoon somewhere in the world", partially developed on this very webpage. so go see it.

from the Blankspace release:

Come join Blankspace Arts and STOP IT! , the second production in a
BLANKSPACE ARTS trilogy focusing on revolutionary social ideas.

STOP IT! is hosted by dynamic master of ceremonies A.C. Earing, and
begins with a movement piece, written by Heather Lynn McNeish and
choreographed by Lisa Laura Lucci. Joanna Lowe’s 10 minute play,
"Subtext on a Sunday", directed by Michelle LeWay Fischer, explores
self-censorship and is followed by 10 tenacious minutes of Lucas
McNelly’s politically charged play, "on a building mid-afternoon
somewhere in the world", directed by Daniel Stiker. The evening ends
with a full-length Pittsburgh premier, by New York playwright, Randy
Anderson. Last seen at the 2003 Edinbugh Festival Fringe, "The
Dwelling" is a poignant exploration of the search for meaning in what
has become one character’s reality.

Those involved in the production include: A.C. Earing, Mary Turak,
Lisa Laura Lucci, Lucas McNelly, Steve Vesolich, Joseph Martinez,
Regan Harris, Joanna Lowe, Heather Lynn McNeish, Michelle LeWay
Fischer, Kathy Bartholow, Ben Cook, Charles Schneider, and Daniel
Stiker. A host of local visual artists will show their work in the
/Long Gallery/ and the show will include original music by XARA. Pre
show events include music, short films, and poetry.
STOP IT runs May 12, 13, 14, 19, 20, 21, 26, 27, & 28. Gallery opens
at 7pm, pre-show entertainment at 7:30pm, show at 8pm. Performances
held at The Allegheny Playhouse, 887 Progress Street, Pittsburgh, PA
15212. Tickets $10. Reserve tickets by calling 412.973.6161 or on the
web at www.blankspacearts.org.

a personal blog

i now have another one of these where i can post things more about me than d press. for anyone who's interested, it's available at the following address:

moments of melancholy

Stop It!

If you click on the link to your right, the one that says "blankspace arts", you'll find the art for the flyer for Stop It, including the green-apple themed artwork and everything. The play, as you might have guessed, is now "on a building mid-afternoon somewhere in the world", mostly because that was the working title and now it's a bit late to change it. but it looks cool on the thing. the script is available in pdf format if anyone wants it.

play name, etc.

as you read this, i'm probably finishing up the final draft of the play mentioned in the last couple of posts. i'll email anyone who wants one a pdf file of it (i can't figure out easily how to upload it), but i'm still not set on a name. So far it's been called "jumper", "view from the sidewalk", "the play i wrote in three days", and currently "on a building mid-afternoon somewhere in the world".

last chance, though, if anyone has a brilliant idea. or do we have some semblance of a consensus?

the one act

since we're getting title suggestions, i thought it might be a bit helpful to let people know what the thing is actually about.

open on a guy on a ledge, threatening to jump for reasons unknown to us. on the sidewalk below are 2 people, one trying to convince him not to jump, one trying to convince him to take that leap into oblivion. they begin by trying to convince him (but minus the part where they actually try to figure out why he wants to jump), then they try to convince each other, then they start arguing with each other, and finally one of them gets upset and leaves. the other one, having in his mind won the argument, leaves, and our poor suicidal fellow is still on the ledge.

Stop It!

for reasons i'd rather not get into here (although i will if you email me), "Stop It!" has evolved from a big play about censorship to a night of one-acts. I've been tapped to write one of them, tentatively titled "jumper" (that is, unless someone else can think of a better name). there will be more info when i have it

File Under: Do Something Good with Your Day

Pittsburgh filmmaker Rue Snider will be screening 4 short films (including the one I'm in) at a benefit screening for Retinitis Pigmentosa and Usher Syndrome (two degenerative eye diseases) at the Lowes Theater at the Waterfront in Homestead on May 9. It's going to be $5 per person but all of the proceeds go to RP/Usher research.

So, if you can at all attend (I'm personally skipping out on a thing i'm supposed to do), go and support a) indie film in Pittsburgh, b) Rue (because he's cool), and 3) some eye disease (actually, you be supporting the cure for it, but whatever...)

"The Real Inspector Hound"

Joanna Lowe's production of the Stoppard classic opens Friday at Open Stage Theatre in the Strip District. I don't have ticket info on me, but if you email me (lmcnelly@email.com) or call my cell (724.544.6417), I'd be happy to track it down for you. I am, as you may have heard, appearing in this thing, and have numerous bruises to prove it, should you require such proof. It would truly be a shame to sustain this many injuries for nothing, so be a good chap and show up.

Happy Easter

that is, if you celebrate Easter. If not, well, it's raining here in Pittsburgh, so enjoy the rain.

theatre

those of you in the Pittsburgh area might want to check out the theatre projects we're affiliated with over the next 2 months. Joanna Lowe's Cup-a-jo (i probably spelled that wrong) Productions will be showing Tom Stoppard's "The Real Inspector Hound" starring Everett Lowe, Bridget Carey, Greg Caridi, Joanna Lowe, some other people who's names I haven't yet learned, and yours truly. That runs, let me check, April 1, 2, 7, 8, 9, 14, 15, 16, starting around 8ish, i think, at Open Stage in the Strip District.

The long-discussed, somewhat maligned, "Stop It!" (Blankspace Arts) is currently in development. It stars Steve Vesolich, Joanna Lowe, Joe Martinez, John Reoli, myself, Charlie Modro, and some other people. It's about, well, censorship kinda, but other than that I'm not really sure. Either way, it's a great opportunity to see me curse on stage and generally make a fool of myself. It runs at Alleghany (sp?) Playhouse May 11, 12, 13, 14, 19, 20, 21, 26, 27, and 28. The Googlists in our midst will remember that it borrows from the works of Carlos Castaneda, who introduced the world to the shaman Don Juan, who may or may not have been a figment of Castaneda's imagination. Ticket info can be found, I'm sure, by clicking on the Blankspace Arts link on this page.

later.

off-topic essays

this has really nothing to do w/ d press, but i thought people might find it interesting. someone asked me to write an essay on this topic. what follows is the second draft. i also am not sure how to make a paragraph tab over, so i'll make a new line

“Jesus, etc.”
an essay by Lucas McNelly

I have this idea for a movie where Jesus Christ comes back, but instead of rapture and angelic voices and the four horses of the Apocalypse, he ends up somehow on the talk show circuit and by the end of the movie he's so fed up with the whole thing he goes back to Heaven, leaving us to fend for ourselves. The breaking point, if I remember correctly, is when Bill O'Reilly calls Him an anti-American liberal communist and Jerry Falwell suggests He may be gay.

In my movie idea, no one on the Religious Right finds this upsetting at all.

I'm reminded of this every time someone from my parents' church emails me an article from Fox News about how a cartoon character is gay or how liberal Hollywood is corrupting our youth or how the situation in Iraq isn't so bad anymore or how France must be harboring terrorists simply because one of them had a French passport.

I have an American passport. Does that mean America is harboring cynics?

Ok, maybe that's a bad example.

But what those emails seem to be suggesting is that as a Christian, I will automatically agree that a gay cartoon character signals the end of humanity as we know it. I don't, though, and try as I might, I never can find that section of the Bible. Neither can my roommate, for that matter, and his father is a pastor.

Nor can I find the verses that suggest we should scale back welfare or privatize social security or provide tax breaks for the wealthy or any of the other tenets of the modern Christian faith.

Supposedly it’ll be harder for a rich man to get to Heaven than a camel to go through the eye of a needle, but it’s harder still to keep the Religious Right from voting that same rich man into office.

I’m thinking of writing a book called “Jesus Was a Socialist and Other Things I Didn’t Learn in Sunday School”. The moral outrage alone would make it a best-seller.

And if Jesus was a Socialist then why are all His so-called followers on the complete opposite end of the political spectrum? Is abortion that crucial of an issue that it can make someone deny the basic principles of everything else they profess to believe? Assuming you do save the child’s life, will all the cuts in social services make that life worth living?

To me, that makes as much sense as watching “Van Helsing” instead of “Amelie” because I don’t like the color of the subtitles.

Admitedly, it’s been awhile since I’ve been to church on a regular basis, but I distinctly remember the constant reminder to not be a “Sunday Christian”, that is, someone who only embodies Christ’s virtues on Sunday and raises hell the rest of the week. So how is that different from donating some canned goods to the church food bank on Sunday and voting for someone who will cut funding for poverty on Tuesday?

Exactly how many cans of vegetables does it take to offset those cuts?

Just how many times do you have to volunteer for nursery before a single mother can feel better about leaving her children home alone while she works two jobs?

Eugene V. Debs, the great American Socialist, once said, “As long as there is a lower class, I am in it. As long as there is a criminal element, I’m of it. As long as there is a soul in prison, I am not free.” Jesus urged His disciples to care for the poor and widows. George W. Bush, the compassionate conservative, proposed using $300 million in welfare funding to encourage “healthy, stable marriages” and increasing the welfare working requirements while cutting funding for job training.

One of these men is not like the others. Can you guess which one before I end this page?

Growing up in a Baptist church, it was often assumed every Christian was, by definition, a Republican. To be otherwise was unthinkable. What self-respecting Christian would want to kill an unborn child?

Regardless of morality, voting based on abortion is nothing short of idiotic. It’s worse than voting based on how a candidate looks. If you’re going to vote based on something so inconsequential, you might as well pick the candidate’s favorite baseball team.

Abortion isn’t going anywhere. Not this year, not next year, not in our lifetime. There isn’t ever going to be a meaningful vote on it, and even if there is, it’ll be overturned by the courts. Bet the farm, it’s here to stay. And even if it were to get overturned, do you honestly think it’ll significantly limit the number of abortions? Just like Prohibition, it’ll turn into the sort of underground industry where women die from infections because they couldn’t get it done properly. You end up endangering more people than you save.

Just how many meals do you have to cook to make up for someone’s daughter dying from a coat hanger?

Everyone is always talking about the Ten Commandments, but no one seems to care about the Sermon on the Mount. Why not put that on display outside a courthouse?

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called songs of God.”

“Give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.”

Socialism.

The early church was socialist. The believers shared everything equally and no one was left behind. Ananias and Sapphira died because they lied about contributing to the general good. Peter and John made it a point to look after the widows and orphans, just as Christ had instructed them. The general welfare of the church took priority over an individual’s pursuit of wealth. That’s socialism in a nutshell: the general welfare of a community is more important than an individual’s pursuit of wealth.

How utterly logical.

They say a chain is only as strong as it’s weakest link. Socialism strives to redistribute the overwhelming strength of the strongest link to ensure the chain can’t be broken by a stiff breeze.

Because what good are two steel rings held together by one made of paper?

My father always tells me that Socialism will never work, and he may be right, but is capitalism actually working? Not really. There’s a continental divide of wealth in this country. The rich get exponentially richer and the poor get poorer, once you adjust for inflation. When the Yankees’ payroll goes past $200 million, everyone screams for competitive balance, but when Bill Gates’ net worth goes past $60 billion, no one says a thing. And sure, a single mother using sheer ingenuity and good old American entrepenuership can compete with someone like Bill Gates, but something tells me she’s got a better chance of beating the Yankees with a local softball team.

What would Jesus do in this situation? Well, I’m quite sure He’d be on the side of the single mother, making sure she didn’t run out of food and, who knows, maybe even serving as hitting coach and scouting the Yankees for weaknesses.

And I can’t imagine He’d spot the Yankees a run and hope it trickled down to make everything even.

So why is it that His followers would? Why is it that they’d be against any sort of advantage for the single mother? It can’t be in the interest of fair play.

Could it be that we only want to embody Christ’s beliefs on Sunday?

Could it be that we aren’t filled with Christ’s love at all, but rather inviting the moneychangers back into the Temple?

Jesus wouldn’t think our single mother vs. the Yankees was a fair fight, and Eugene V. Debs surely wouldn’t, but most Christians, I suspect, would.

Can you guess which one is not like the others before I finish this game?

-- Pittsburgh, 2005