Real title revealed in 8 weeks.
Web page launch at the same time - yet to devise the details.
Editing the last 3 scenes – I’m excited, thrilled and little scared.
Next is actually putting the scenes together.
Putting the 30 odd scenes into a cohesive whole.
Will it still hold?
I tried to treat each scene as a jewel in a necklace –
Polish each jewel and trust the screenplay did its role of telling the story.
Yet – only pressure turns you into the diamond version of yourself.
Started editing day 5
The last day of the shoot: Jesus we did a lot of takes. Maybe a few were NG for sound but still…
By the end of the week we were firing in all cylinders.
The CHW-JH team working like a well-oiled machine with the many cameras; and it was only the 6th day of shooting (we started counting on Saturday at day 0) – only 6 days to get used to working in a new team and in a new way, all the technology - the hurdles of production, etc – 6 days is a very short time.
Anyway - there’s little lag between “rolling…mark it…and frame”
In earlier days – I find myself scrolling through the scene to discover that
The clapper board is somewhere in the middle of the file.
But on day 5, it is snap – right there at the beginning of the file and this is take after take after take – it’s relentless!
What can we learn from this ladies and gents?
The simple and humbling fact that a lot can be accomplished by a team of dedicated individuals passionate about doing their best.
My thank you to you again.
Anyway – I have 3 scenes to cut – the last 10 %.
Next the full assembly when I have another go at tweaking the dream.
Speaking of dreams and thank yous - as a show of courage roman gladiators used to shout "Ave Caesar! Morituri te salutant" (Hail Caesar! They Who Are About to Die Salute You).
I do not intend to die - neither did the Gladiators - it was more a show of dispassionate cheek towards life and death as they chased their ultimate dream.
Here is my dream - reckon 4 more weeks. There are a couple of March deadlines I must make. I have entered the arena – I see the mission before me...Hail Caesar!
Very good week of editing the “Y goes berserk scene" for those of you who are geeky about these things it's Scene 30.
Yes, it takes me at least a week to get the bulk of the scene sorted – which is par for course really about 8 hrs for 4-5 minute scene. I think - some people claim 1 hr per 1 minute of screen time...which would ma ke me slow - but I enjoy trying out combinations - all for the better long-term - but if does chop up efficiency.
The shots were all spectacular – all worked – performances top notch– camera work steady and sure, lighting (hmm – okay but will be better next time – can be fixed somewhat in post). Sound – bit noisy but can fix.
Nearly there friends/comrades/amigos/compadres/freund...nearly there...
Yes, it takes me at least a week to get the bulk of the scene sorted – which is par for course really about 8 hrs for 4-5 minute scene. I think - some people claim 1 hr per 1 minute of screen time...which would ma ke me slow - but I enjoy trying out combinations - all for the better long-term - but if does chop up efficiency.
The shots were all spectacular – all worked – performances top notch– camera work steady and sure, lighting (hmm – okay but will be better next time – can be fixed somewhat in post). Sound – bit noisy but can fix.
Nearly there friends/comrades/amigos/compadres/freund...nearly there...
Long time no blog/post dear travellers. Well, I’ve been sort of busy – with what holidays and the rest. Rest assured ladies and gents I was still working on the magnum opus. Every day in fact.
Not finished yet – I’m 80% of the way there – I know, I said this before nearly there...- so what’s the hold up Dr Marzella?
The delay is due to the fact that I keep f*&^ing around with each scene a million times – then rethink the whole thing and start from scratch. All for the better I hope. Who knows? Does it matter? ‘Cause I’m having tons of fun – the footage…the footage: a kaleidoscope of options and alternatives – it’d be artistic bankruptcy to default to the obvious choices.
I even get a thrill at fixing the edit for crappy camera operating and dodgy cinematography – sorry guys, yes, no one is perfect – yet there is a semi-sexual thrill in turning a sow’s ear into a silk purse - steal a look from here cut for a reaction shot from that take trying to miss the crew or a light stand in the background.
Anyway – it still holds up!
Why do I sound excited?
Well – human nature dictates that you do get jaded even by the most beautiful of things.
Desensitisation or acclimatisation; pick your scientific terminology.
Yet MbM is still intriguing. And a promising thrill-ride.
The edit – well yes - we are beyond assembly really – not final cut but a little more than a rough cut – let’s call it a middle cut – is getting there. Still to do sound mix of course but could get there quickly.
Anyway – I'm keeping you all in suspense – I hope.
March 09 is a doable date...
You will be surprised I guarantee that...
Finished assembling/first cut of the opening scene.
It holds together very well. And lo and behold the ‘original’ cut assembly wasn’t all wasted – I ended up using large chunks of it and modifying other parts of it to fit into the new whole.
“Leap and the net will appear.”Julia Cameron
I’ve been editing the opening sequence over the week-end. So, yes, I’ve started editing the second last day of the shoot (not counting day 6 since that was a ‘repeat’ of the shoot). Nearly there…Very nervous – this is it – this is how the film opens – I hadn’t watched the scene since we had shot it.
Some amazing stuff – Danielle cries on cue - all in close up – even at low resolution you can see several tears welling in her eyes and cascading down her cheeks – this was one take –I worked the whole sequence around it.
Her panic and tears are dramatically countered by Luke’s and Chris’ cold and Zen-like manner. Hot and cold. Shocking and arresting. Love it.
For a writer/director, it doesn’t get any better than this; this was the way I wrote it – this is the way it was performed and shot – this is how it plays in the edit. I got to enjoy it three times.
So I cut - remember we’ve got ten cameras – cut - shot angles – cut - many takes – cut- reaction shots –cut – shouts – cut – screams –cut –ECU - cut– soundscape – cut etc etc…
And I made a complete mess of things… not just a little mess but huge utter custard of images and sounds – you’d think I had just got the program out of the box and started editing that day. I’ve been doing this now for over three months – on any other scene I can drive that thing like a F1 car. Usually, I’ve been working with vision from a minimum of five cameras to handling up to 8 to 10 video tracks – I’m a high performance machine.
[As an aside – I do not refer to my script as I edit – so the continuity is all in my head and based on the good take.]
This should be a cinch yet the beautiful designer baby had turned out into a monster…
How could this be?What happen I think is that as I worked around the performance I lost track of the logic of the scene – my mind couldn’t recall what happened when and where and…disaster.
I looked at it – I’ve been working on this scene the longest of all – tweaking every nuance. Fourteen hours over three days of solid work.
My eyes were stinging – my mind was numb. My heart was – well - bleeding lifelessly on the floor...
Late Sunday night - I started back from scratch. Yes – threw it all out.
Still not there yet – but as is the case, I’m rediscovering the scene and I can tell you that there are more great moments…it rocks.
[yet to edit the closing sequence – I will have to watch my step there too.]
Nearly there boys and girl – nearly there – I hope I can surprise you all with the finished product.
Will keep all posted…
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