Erstwhile Muse

Coming sometime to a Mind's Eye Theatre near you

Filmed in Stunning Morpheusvision

It was the last day of shooting. Most of the cast had already gone their separate ways, but the core group of main characters from the large ensemble was there for one last day of revisions and changes. Important tweaks to pivotal ending scenes were needed, so we were on set one last time.

Like most productions, the last day of shooting proved to be an emotional one for all involved. Tension that had built up over the long course of filming bubbled close to the surface, to boil off rapidly in the face of upcoming loss, of lingering friendships and connections.

Of course the sets, the actors, the whole production existed only in my head. Somewhere along the past year–year and a half or so, someone started shooting a film on the backlot of my dreamscape. Maybe it's a side effect of my massive Vitamin B dosing experiments, maybe it's just the cheap rent. Whatever the root cause, this has been one of the more interesting recurring dreams to come round in a while.

Most interesting is the fact that, unlike most that I can remember, this dream has an internally consistent timeline. I can vaguely remember the early days of shooting and pre-production. I'm assuming that at some point in the near future, perhaps when my brain has sorted through a new revelation that I need smacked about the head and shoulders with, I'll be there for the metaphorical premier. What is the movie about? I haven't the foggiest idea. I don't even know who any of my costars are, other than the standard amalgam of friends, constructs grouped and categorized by mutable characteristics depending on context.

What is not difficult to grasp is the subtext of this particular episode. Changes and endings, pure and simple. My subconcious givivng me the swift boot to the keister telling me it is time perhaps to move on. Lee and Monica have been trying to convince me that I should move up to Chicago. I must admit the prospect does hold a certain strong appeal.

Maybe it's time to get beyond the concept stage, get on to post-production and put this thing in the can.

Postscript:

From the Life Imitates Art Department

I was lying in bed trying to piece together thoughts in that hazy, half-theta wave state that memorable dreams leave behind, when the radio started to get my attention. I normally leave the radio on at night to listen to a little bit of the BBC's World Service newscasts before drifting off to sleep. By this point in the morning though, it was back to WCBE's normal music programming. As I sat there listening, the first lyrics that I could make out were from a song called Blues Stay Away From Me by Jay Unger and Molly Mason.Someone out there in the cosmic scale of things has a rather interesting sense of drama and humour, since the first words I heard this morning was the refrain:

Dreams are like a memory
bringing back
a love that used to be.

Sometimes you just can't make this shit up and expect it to be better than the strangeness that we live with daily.

Labels: music, random