October 20, 1997

Took another long lunch (I'm racking up the hours I owe my employer) to go to Lab-Link and identify the shots that I want the timer to change when the next print is made. Tony took me up to a little room with a light box and a film synchronizer (a little mechanical device that counts feet and frames) and left me there with my print. I fumbled around a bit, but got the hang of the process eventually, and left the timer a set of detailed notes. A lot of filmmaking is physical, technical stuff; a director can get away without knowing the mechanics of the filmmaking process, the way that a driver doesn't need to know how a car works, but one always feels like a pretender unless one has at least a nodding acquaintance with the manufacturing side of film.

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