Well here goes, the production diary of The Things They Carried-the movie. For those who don't know, The Things They Carried is a book written by Tim O'Brien. It's about his experiences (well some of them, he admits he's added, forgotten, and purposely lied about certain events) in Vietnam and is one of the best Vietnam books ever written. Anyways, the book is written sort of like a train of thought. The narration in the book is being turned into voice over (O'Brien's narration is far from cliched war voice over) and we are taking the more dramatic events of the book and placing them in a "cinematic order." O'Brien's book is written in this intriguingly disorganized manner, so adapting it was hell (I should add at this point my friend, Alex, is adapting it. I will be directing but he is the one who has done such a great job of adapting/writing it). Anyways, for those of you who have read the book, we start with the chapter "The Man I Killed", work our ways backwards in a Fight Club-esque time lapse, and progress back. We have cut a few characters but for the most part the themes, dialogue, and overall atmoshpere of the book is there. If you've read the book I think you'll enjoy how we've incorporated so much into a 20 page script (I estimate it will end up being a half hour film). So that's an introduction!
Tomorrow: After weeks of preproduction and casting hell we'll be starting basic training...
We'll be down in the mud, practicing manuevers, setting up ambushes and listening posts, heating and eating MREs (Meals Ready to Eat...or as the soldiers call them Meals Rejected by Ethiopia), weapons training, RTO training, medical procedures, reviewing the enemy, and I'll be sure to post pictures.

-Andrew

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Myself and another cast member did a runthrough of the training that would be given to the rest of the cast later in the day. Below you'll see Alex (our writer and star playing Tim O'Brien) and castmember Drew (playing Mitchell Sanders) doing some weapons training.
http://img317.imageshack.us/img317/6137/gunsadnstuff7tf.jpg
Right now, I've got to head back to complete the training with the rest of the cast, but I'll post more pictures later.

Do you have any experts on hand to show you how it's done or are you sort of playing it by what looks good?

We've done extensive research in preparing for the training. Our writer has devoted the last few years to studying the war and I consider him a true expert in the subject. As for our training session (first of two), here are some pics from earlier in the day (a camera was not present at the later session). Enjoy!
-An MRE with iced tea and apple cider powder, one issued serving of Tabasco sauce, and a Canteen without its cover.
http://img305.imageshack.us/img305/8977/mreandstuff5hg.jpg
-The Chicken Tetrazzini MRE all cooked and prepared. (Throw a little Tobasco and some salt, and it's not all that bad)...
http://img305.imageshack.us/img305/816/mreyuck3ej.jpg
-Yep, that's the me, I grabbed a Car 15, threw on some web gear along with the rest of the uniform, and I have to say...it's hard work just walking with all that equiptment.
http://img325.imageshack.us/img325/982/me8cf.jpg
-O'Brien and Sanders pose for a picture.
http://img325.imageshack.us/img325/9259/drewnace6dx.jpg

good book.

I've finished a majority of the storyboards for the film. Today we'll be attempting to build a prop radio, we'll be ordering our unit patches (46th I.D.), and getting our dog tags together. We're scheduled to start shooting friday and saturday, but I'll post updates before then. Things are going really well!

MREs are sick. I can't believe the military has to survive on that crap. Anyway, I guess feeding that to the crew will prepare them... is that *all* they get? I guess you release them at night to eat meals at home... how long are you shooting?

I have to say the ones we made weren't that bad. We made them eat it because in one scene they need to prepare their own MREs. So it's really just prepping them for a specific scene. We'll be shooting Friday and Saturday and if necessary Sunday. Our Ak47 arrived the other day, I just hope our patches and dog tags arrive on time.

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Our Ak47 arrived the other day

That sounds like a song my uncle (R.I.P.) used to sing.

Are you using replicas? If so, do they fire blanks?

Nah, it's an airsoft electric...but its the most realistic looking one I've found. And it's pretty heavy too.

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Blank firing guns are nuts. They're absolutely perfect replicas of the real things, right up to the bang (no blowback that I know of though), and the pistols aren't that expensive (around $100). The only thing I've found to suck about them is that, per the law, their barrels cannot be drilled through the whole way and their ends are plugged. Makes for really unrealistic-looking guns at straight-on angles. I'd think airsoft would be a better choice here, since they make their business on building BB-guns that look just like the actual weapon. All they do to comply with the law is paint the end orange, which can obviously be remedied with Rustoleum. Electric airsofts are generally weighted, but I'm surprised you found one full-scale, since they're mostly 3:4 scale replicas. Sounds awesome, can't wait to see the finished product.

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Electric airsofts are generally weighted, but I'm surprised you found one full-scale, since they're mostly 3:4 scale replicas.

Uhhh... no. The stuff you get on eBay for $15, maybe, but the actual Airsoft weapons are full scale, realistic replicas, not the kiddie-sized crap.

The best things to use for realistic pistols are gas blowback airsoft guns. They use them in many big-budget pictures - after a while you can spot them. They have realistic blowback, even some whitish gas from the muzzle, and are fairly detailed. A little paint will make most look nearly perfect.

Yeah, our AK, along with our M16s and Car-15s are full scale (I'll post a pic eventually). You can see a Remington in one of the pics I posted above. Airsoft is really a great resource for movie props, at least at a student film level. We've ordered extra clips to fit our bandoleers and it will, aside from looking more realistic, provide easier and more realistic reloading (instead of that classic, take clip out, hide clip, insert same clip into gun motion). We've also got grenades (with the explosive removed of course...you can see a picture of one on my web gear above). We're spending a lot of our money on subtle details but I think they will amount to a more realistic experience.
update: http://img321.imageshack.us/img321/6720/scanner0839sq.jpg
theres the airsoft AK for those interested (yes we will take care of the orange tip).
Another update, here are two working logos we made the other day using real photographs and our lead (click to enlarge):

This message has been edited. Last edited by: BigBudgetPlease,

Well we found a fantastic location complete with a few streams, a few trenches, and thick wood. It's SUPPOSED to be all sunny here in NY tomorrow so I'm hoping for good weather all day. I'll let you all know how it goes, wish us luck!