tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60963927316914978342024-03-09T10:00:58.655+11:00Horror In The MakingThe occasionally updated blog of Highly Caffeinated ProductionsHighly Caffeinatedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17396172014600662249noreply@blogger.comBlogger107125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6096392731691497834.post-24372851533752858462012-02-03T12:54:00.000+11:002012-02-03T12:54:00.468+11:00On Genre Part 3 - The Proposal<div>
Way back,<a href="http://highlycaffd.blogspot.com.au/2010/03/on-genre-horror-vs-thriller-part-ii.html#!http://highlycaffd.blogspot.com/2010/03/on-genre-horror-vs-thriller-part-ii.html"> I did a post</a> on the differences between the two often mixed genres, horror and thriller.<br />
To quickly revise, essentially it is about whose story it is. Who is the protagonist? The summarising paragraph sums up my thoughts on defining genre...<br />
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">"<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: justify;">If </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: justify;">The Silence of the Lambs </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: justify;">was a horror film, it would be about the young girl Buffalo Bill captures, and we would be down there in the pit with her, rubbing lotion on our skin. Clarice Starling would be a sub plot thrown in there to raise our anxiety of running out of time. Which is essentially </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: justify;">Saw</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: justify;">, where we are in that bathroom with our hero, deciding whether or not to saw our foot off, and the Detectives are really there to give us some vital or not so vital information, and to up the ante on the time pressure already established."</span></span></i></blockquote>
Recently, one of the actors from The Proposal shared a post on the book of faces referring to The Proposal as a thriller. In my mind I was like 'What, I make horror movies!' but then, I do find it odd calling The Proposal a horror myself. It feels like a thriller. It's scary like a horror. And that was when I started thinking about the huge difference of The Proposal to every other film, including my own.<br />
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The Proposal is about a guy who sets up a hidden camera to record his wedding proposition to his girlfriend. Unknown to them at first, is that the camera isn't the only thing hiding in the house.<br />
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Sure, this makes it a found footage film, just like my previous film Last Ride, however the biggest difference is the camera itself. Almost every found footage film has someone holding the camera, and that character becomes our eyes into the world of the film. </div>
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But in The Proposal, the camera never moves. It isn't attached to a helmet on a character, it isn't hand held, it just sits there, on a tripod. For 44 minutes. But how would this affect the genre of the film?</div>
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My last post about genre said that the genre is defined by who the protagonist is, but this may need further definition. </div>
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In most films, the camera is not an element of the story, and we follow along with the protagonist on their adventure. In found footage films, the cameras are an element of the story, and we are drawn in by this FPS style of film making. Again, this is not the case with The Proposal. Instead, we are propped up in a corner, like a fly on the wall of the goings on in this house. Only at the very beginning and right near the end are we ever even glanced at, which breaks the fourth wall boundaries and safeties of being an audience member, although I don't believe it is enough to change our fly on the wall perspective. </div>
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Clearly the film has its protagonists and antagonists, but are we really watching from the protagonists point of view? Obviously not, but we are present in the room, yet unable to interact with what horrors lay before us. There is no character acting on our behalf. We are just forced to watch, like the Robot Chicken, and no matter what happens in front of us, there is nothing we can do to help.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LdNSGfq-8KA/Tys4Nhv1bPI/AAAAAAAAAmI/LhJEWEcS37k/s1600/007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LdNSGfq-8KA/Tys4Nhv1bPI/AAAAAAAAAmI/LhJEWEcS37k/s320/007.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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And yet we the audience are a character in the room. We are involved in all that goes on before us, as we are introduced to watch it from the start when Mike welcomes us and invites us to watch.<br />
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It is this difference, this fly on the wall perspective, which I think makes The Proposal not a horror film, but a thriller. Just as most times throughout a thriller movie, we are at an arms length from all that is taking place. We're not there with close ups on the protagonist to see the fear and the suspense, though both are still present, and there in lies my amendment to the horror vs thriller genre debate. Safety of the audience.<br />
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For all that takes place in movies like Se7en and Silence of the Lambs, for the most part we are distanced from the horrors of the killers. Sure, we see everything, but it's always safely behind a detective or other such person. In a horror movie, we are running along beside them. In The Proposal, we merely watch, safe on the other side of the lens.<br />
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Let me know your thoughts on defining genre. Check out The Proposal trailer below and let me know if you think it's a horror or a thriller, if you can from the little teaser it is.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/wn245LLzeMA?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: justify;"><br /></span></span></i></div>Highly Caffeinatedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17396172014600662249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6096392731691497834.post-71819671106063703482012-01-26T15:22:00.000+11:002012-01-26T15:22:19.978+11:00Self distributing Last RideSo, it's been a while. Let's just ignore the multiple reasons as to why, and just get down to business and return to what this blog is all about. Indie zero budget film making and it's triumphs and pitfalls.<br />
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Although this blog started with following the progress of Relentless, since then I have made another feature film, Last Ride, and a long short, The Proposal. I'll be getting back to Relentless' progress in the weeks ahead, but thought I should fill you all in on the distribution of Last Ride.<br />
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As a refresher, Last Ride is a single take found footage horror film shot early 2011 in the Blue Mountains, NSW. It took about a month or two to complete the post production, which was all audio work and end credits, followed by determining best compression settings etc.<br />
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In April 2011 we had a screening for the cast and crew and friends, which was a nice little event and great to see what the cast thought of the end product, all of them having seen the whole footage the day we shot it, but missing the essential audio mix and audio effect additions.<br />
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In October, Last Ride officially premiered at The Blue Mountains Film Festival to a small but appreciative daytime audience. All in all, it was a great experience, as not only did I get to see the film on the big screen again, but then I got to network with local filmmakers, two of which have/are helped/helping on the next film, The Proposal. And to help promote the film and the festival, the festival director made up the incredibly awesome poster for Last Ride...<br />
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I was also invited to sit on the filmmakers panel during the festival, which I was expecting to be a bit of a flop as it was set for a two hour duration. Thankfully, I was well mistaken and had a great time. A few of the fellow panel members were <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1269084/">Dan Krige</a> (Redd Inc.) and<a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1037158/"> Drew Bailey</a> (producer of Academy Award nominated short Miracle Fish) and it was hosted by<a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0602350/"> Tiriel Mora</a>. When we finally got interrupted and told it was time to wrap up, I wished it had been a day long panel. Instead, we just continued talking movies over beers in the lobby.</div>
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The week after the festival, I released Last Ride on filmDIY.com as a digital download and a streaming rental. There are a few such companies out there that do similar things, and they've all got their pros and cons. FilmDIY has been pretty helpful with a number of things, including compressing the movie for optimization on their site and a few other things I asked to be done. There isn't as much control over certain things on the site that I would like, such as being able to easily offer promotional discounts and some similar issues, but overall the experience has been pretty good.</div>
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I first put the film up to make about $5 per copy (my cut), but from December I reduced it to $5 per download, which is around $3.50 that we see per unit. Not huge, but with no outlay costs it's not bad. If we could move 1-2000 units, it'd be enough to actually send cheques out to the cast who worked on the film on a deferred payment basis. And after 3 months online, Last Ride has moved a total of...</div>
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21 units.</div>
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Yep, 21 downloads of Last Ride. Granted, there are possibly a few elements stalling it. One, filmDIY only accepts paypal payments. Some people may not like being directed to the Last Ride webpage, and then to buy it have to go on to another website altogether. Two, perhaps people are just not that big on the idea of watching movies online? Three, at the moment I still only have the<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMToHFxGSGM"> teaser trailer</a> online for Last Ride, and it's probably a bit too different for most people. I love it and it was exactly what I wanted to do for the trailer, since no found footage films ever show the actual camera being found. I also uploaded a scene from the movie...</div>
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We also haven't done a lot of marketing, mostly just facebook links and about $40 worth of facebook advertising. The FB advertising didn't do much at all, maybe got 3 new Likes on the<a href="http://www.facebook.com/lastridefilm"> Last Ride facebook page</a> (I got more likes by demanding my 3000+ friends go and like it- which got me about 70 new likes) unlike a similar campaign for Relentless, which garnered about 700 likes. The biggest difference between the two pages that I can see is Last Ride's lack of a compelling trailer.</div>
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Next week, we'll be releasing a brand new schmick trailer backed with a few different advertising streams across three platforms. So I'll report more on how that goes in a few weeks once it's all going ahead. </div>
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In the meantime, I had looked at doing a run of DVDs myself, the smallest number you can get duplicated is 1000, but there's a substantial up front cost involved with that so I've dropped that idea. Instead, I'm posting off the copy to Amazon's CreateSpace to begin a Print On Demand DVD for Last Ride. Again, it could be interesting to see if a DVD version makes a difference to sales. The downside is the huge cut that Amazon takes, which will no doubt raise the price of one of the DVDs above what I'd like, especially when sold through Amazon.com (who takes a percentage on top of the almost $5 per unit charged by CreateSpace).</div>
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Stay tuned for the new trailer and more details about zero budget indie film self distribution.</div>
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<br />Highly Caffeinatedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17396172014600662249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6096392731691497834.post-23908419170994079632011-11-02T22:16:00.000+11:002011-11-02T22:16:16.532+11:00Last Ride Unleashed!Who knew that a single take film with absolutely no editing could take so long to bring to an audience?!<br />
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The time has finally arrived. Our single take feature length film 'Last Ride', is now available to stream and download from the official web page <a href="http://www.lastridefilm.com/">lastridefilm.com</a>.<br />
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But first, check out the teaser trailer over<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMToHFxGSGM&hd=1"> on YouTube</a>, and the poster below.<br />
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The film is actually being hosted through a site called filmDIY.com, which you can<a href="http://www.filmdiy.com/movies/item/last-ride"> visit directly</a> to download or stream Last Ride, as well as a few other indie releases.<br />
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Also, hit up<a href="http://www.facebook.com/lastridefilm"> the facebook page</a> to keep up to date with all the rest that is happening with Last Ride, including future DVD releases that will include the first 63 minute take we did.<br />
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It has been a big year here at Highly Caffeinated, so stay tuned for details on our first Web Feature, due out early December, as well as the long awaited release of Relentless.Highly Caffeinatedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17396172014600662249noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6096392731691497834.post-22034422591289556102011-08-17T20:05:00.002+10:002011-08-17T20:49:50.778+10:00The True Fear Of DreamsIt is hard to know if there is one specific moment, or if it's more of a slow realization, but the discovery of a dream is a powerful moment in any life.<div>
<br /></div><div>Despite all the hardships you know will be thrown in your path in your pursuit of such dreams, you persist, knowing just how rewarding that end goal will be. That is, if you have the strength to keep pushing towards your dream.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>It is because of those very trials on your way that will strengthen your character and build your resolve. They will continually test you, ensuring it is something you truly want. But sometimes, when an obstacle gets in your path and the naysayers on the sidelines continue to put you down, it can be hard to see that finish line.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>I'm having one of those very days today. I keep saying that film making is a hard job to get in to, otherwise everyone would be doing it, surely. But as I said, rejection is just one of those sign posts on the way to success. Just maybe not right now.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>It kind of reminds me of this girl I used to see around town. We would bump into each other here or there, and every time I'd be all like some giddy faced boy, smitten by this emerald eyed beauty. Sometimes we'd be drunk and kiss, and that would be as far as it ever went, again rejection would follow like some badly written romantic comedy starring Katherine Heigl and Matthew MacConaughey. </div><div>
<br /></div><div>I kept in contact with that dream girl, that always seemed too far out of reach. Our friendship strengthened, as we watched each other mature through the years, making fun of life lessons learned from failed relationships. </div><div>
<br /></div><div>Thankfully and gratefully, that dream girl is now my wife of almost five years, who helps quieten those naysayers from the sidelines and tries to keep me on track.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>It seems the most most important and heavily sought things in life take their time, but in the end, it's all worth it.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>Keep on keeping on.</div>Highly Caffeinatedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17396172014600662249noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6096392731691497834.post-91231695131932627972011-08-06T23:17:00.002+10:002011-08-06T23:21:23.622+10:00Special FeaturesSo... it's that time...<div><br /></div><div>Assembling all the assets, time to organize the DVD for Last Ride. My question to any of you out there, is what special features do you like to watch?</div><div><br /></div><div>Outtakes? Deleted scenes, alternate angles/takes, interviews, audition reels, rehearsal footage, commentaries, and if commentaries, by the filmmaker of the cast? Filmmakers former shorts? Various trailers for the film, other films?</div><div><br /></div><div>Some of that is fairly irrelevant to Last ride, such as deleted scenes, although we do have another great take we did the day before, which may be on a future release, as well as an alternate angle of the regular feature. It's probably not quite different enough to bother including and taking up all that extra space.</div>Highly Caffeinatedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17396172014600662249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6096392731691497834.post-6123211236257192832011-07-04T22:45:00.003+10:002011-07-04T23:23:52.335+10:00Take the Future BackMondays. Like Garfield, I hate them. <div><br /></div><div>Not for the usual reasons. It's not the start of my working week. Actually it used to be the start of my days off work, but now is my mid week point. </div><div><br /></div><div>The reason I hate Mondays, is that for some reason, I finish my day job at 5pm, like most schlubs do. Those very same schlubs that I get stuck behind while trying to drive home, and pick the wife up on the way. Of course, there's always peeps on the road, there always will be, there's just certain times of the day where there's more of them. 5pm is one such time.</div><div><br /></div><div>While driving home this evening, an interesting thing came up that I decided to mention to my wife, instead of my usual hair pulling frustration at slow drivers in the right lane (the inside lane). Instead I decided to explain why it frustrates me so much.</div><div><br /></div><div>Because that person at the front of the line is doing slightly below the speed limit, but pretty much the same speed as the person in the slow lane on the left, they have decided to hold the power and fates of all those behind them. </div><div><br /></div><div>I could be late for work, a date, an interview, a meeting, dinner... There could possibly be an injured or pregnant person in my passenger seat needing to get to a hospital. But it doesn't matter, because the person at the front of the line is in la la land. Or more importantly, they don't even know they've hijacked your life for the moment.</div><div><br /></div><div>When the chance finally arrives, you whip into the left lane and overtake them, and every other car in that line follows suit, the slower car never quite clicking on that should they wake up to the world around them, they could just change lanes and make life that little bit easier for others.</div><div><br /></div><div>Which is where this long winded story comes back to what this blog is really about, being making movies.</div><div><br /></div><div>Like my Monday evening drive home, a recent film shoot has been hijacked. </div><div><br /></div><div>Since last week, it seems endless the things that have been popping up to destroy this shoot. Most of it has been from the one person, one of the lead actors. Now this may seem like I'm piling shit on them, but it's not my intention. They are a talented actor, it's just a shitty situation that I've found myself in.</div><div><br /></div><div>Essentially, they've said they are withdrawing from the project unless I change the style in which I intended to shoot it. As odd as it seems, it's certainly not the first time this has been brought up with this film. It is a unique project, and a style that has never been done before. So I can understand the resistance. And every time anyone has brought it up, we've talked it out, and they've understood the reasoning behind the choice. They also knew before reading the script that it was the style I was going to shoot on, and they were intrigued.</div><div><br /></div><div>Instead, now four days after we were meant to have <i>wrapped </i>on production, we are two lead cast members down, and not a frame of film captured. Last week, this actor pulled out at the last minute due to a late arriving, excellently paying job, leaving me to call the remaining cast to cancel, the night before shooting. By Friday, I tried to work out when we could reschedule, only to find one of the other leads is now booked solidly until September, so far. </div><div><br /></div><div>And just now I got an email from the original actor, stating what was mentioned above, essentially tying my hands of shooting with the cast I want in the style I want. </div><div><br /></div><div>While I could probably make a compromise about the style, or do something to swing them further towards my vision, the biggest problem I'm having right now, is my future is once again being hijacked.</div><div><br /></div><div>I thought this week I'd be starting post production on my third feature film, and self releasing this sucker for free online in another 4 or so weeks. It was going to be a calling card. For me, for the actors. It was going to be unique enough you'd have to watch it just to see if it worked or not. It would then hopefully lead viewers to my other films, one of which this same actor is involved in.</div><div><br /></div><div>Well, that was my rant. It's so fucking frustrating having your future taken from your control, as selfish as this may all sound. </div><div><br /></div><div>Now to decide which path to take, to take the future back into my own hands...</div>Highly Caffeinatedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17396172014600662249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6096392731691497834.post-25309407505177964612011-04-06T21:32:00.009+10:002011-04-07T10:22:20.007+10:00Ready to Rock and Roll All Over AgainI was looking forward to this blog post, to put across how it feels to have one complete feature film all finished and ready to go. Where you could hand someone a DVD and say, 'Hey man, check this out' without having to warn/remind them that there's still some sound issues, a pick up shot or two to put in there, you're unsure about an edit/temporal placement, and then hope they they'll enjoy it.<div><br /></div><div>It's all done and dusted, 15 screener DVDs already burned and sitting on my disc, awaiting final Press Kit and Poster changes before sending out.</div><div><br /></div><div>Or so I thought.</div><div><br /></div><div>As was originally planned for <i>Last Ride</i>, a piece of equipment has finally been released, and has made for the decision to go back and do it all over again. That piece of equipment is of course, the 3D camera rig!</div><div><br /></div><div>Been looking through some of the footage these suckers can shoot on 3D and to say that I'm excited is an understatement. Hopefully will have my hands on the gear by next week so I can get out and do a whole bunch of 3D test shoots.</div><div><br /></div><div>While <i>Last Ride</i> works well right now as it is, I can see where there is room for improvement, so going out for another take wouldn't hurt anyway, throwing an extra dimension in there is the icing on the cake. </div><div><br /></div><div>So, we'll be looking to schedule a reshoot in about 5-6 weeks time, and in the meantime try and see if we'll shoot the next feature before or after. </div><div><br /></div><div>While I'm looking forward to getting together with the cast of Last Ride and getting out there once more, I must say there is some level of anxiety in going out to re-shoot. That anxiety comes from working so hard to get this film together, risking so much and giving it all our best shot, all to come down to the randomness of an 80 minute take, where so many different things could (and do) happen that are unexpected and unprepared for. </div><div><br /></div><div>This anxiety is probably best shown by this video below, which is the length of tape from when I rolled the camera until I called action, and all I could think about was that it was our last scheduled shoot day, storm clouds were rolling in, 6 months of preparation and it was all down to what would play out before me in the next 80 minutes....</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dy_J5jyiZ6gPajbEnbAStQnHSrLU9XBOKIxz6x2x1wXwAmic3udQpW9J9gkJ0tzchzdSu9Xs6s60OFSVKVZnw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe>Highly Caffeinatedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17396172014600662249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6096392731691497834.post-58290791629771149722011-03-23T17:11:00.007+11:002011-03-24T00:47:24.676+11:00Milestone...<div style="text-align: left;">It seems almost fitting that for my 100th blog post, I'm writing about my first ever screening of what is now set to be my debut feature film, <i>Last Ride.</i></div><div><br /></div><div>We hired out this small theatre room that is a part of Govinda's vegetarian restaurant in Darlinghurst. Sure seems a strange place for a screening, but they had the best rates, as well as possibly the most comfortable seats in any cinema. Ever.</div><div><br /><br /></div><div><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6fuvLEhPWOQ/TYmPt1_dOrI/AAAAAAAAAbM/MnOpQaW4-Pk/s320/011.JPG" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5587154830479932082" /><span class="Apple-style-span" ><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Cast and friends enjoying the best ever cinema seating</i></div></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>The screening was for all the cast, as well as any friends they wanted to invite along. As my last post stated, I was rather nervous about the whole thing and one of the actors in the film probably said it best as to why: "<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; "><span class="Apple-style-span" >Nervous? That'd be because it's not just your film up on a screen...it's your soul as well as your balls. And not too many people in the world put their soul and balls up on a big screen."</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div>Unfortunately I was last to head up to the screening room after waiting for the late arrivals, and took a spot in the front row, unable to watch peoples reactions throughout. From what I could hear, and as I was told after, the film worked. Not it worked in that people were quivering and saying it's the greatest thing since Sliced Bread The Movie, but it worked in connecting with the audience. People were getting riled up by one character, wanting to leave another behind during her tantrum, surprised by some deaths, and even involved enough for someone to let out a scream of shock. </div><div><br /></div><div>I couldn't ask for much more than that. There was a minor sound issue which I picked up, as I was right in front of the speaker, which the projectionist also pointed out at the end, but otherwise, all good. The feedback from those guests that really had no idea about the film was great, and they all seemed to follow it along quite well. After the screening, there were a few wrap drinks, which soon dwindled down to the partyers kicking on til the wee hours of the morning in one of Sydney's more seedier strips.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OpMQsvR2-qE/TYmPtx0YxhI/AAAAAAAAAbE/P8ZaHX4CG68/s320/2013.JPG" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5587154829359760914" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><i>The Last Ride screener DVD with its very protective owner</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>Since the screening, things have been moving rapidly in numerous fronts. <i>Relentless</i> is on its way back into the edit suite once the final audio changes have been made to <i>Last Ride</i>, and pre production has begun on the next feature. Screeners for <i>Last Ride</i> will be posting out next week to distributors and maybe for some reviews, waiting on a few scripts to make it into my inbox to look at producing, and possibly a few short horror radio plays too.</div><div><br /></div><div>But where is all this time and energy coming from? Well, when watching <i>Last Ride</i>, of all the small things in there I wish I could change, like a line of dialogue, a slightly misframed shot, a drip of water on the lens, the only one that really makes my skin crawl is the sound of my breathing towards the end of the film, after travelling 3.5kms in 75 minutes, finishing up with a pretty solid uphill run, there is a sound to my breathing that is no longer acceptable. So after 17 years with this demon, Sunday the 27th will be my last day as a smoker.</div><div><br /></div><div>And I think I'm going to need to keep myself very busy to stay that way.</div>Highly Caffeinatedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17396172014600662249noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6096392731691497834.post-53683873700253679582011-03-21T12:17:00.003+11:002011-03-21T12:24:52.690+11:00Anxiety...It doesn't seem to make sense...<div><br /></div><div><i>Last Ride </i>is Australia's first single take feature film. It manages to travel 3.5km (2.1 miles) throughout its 79 minute duration, follows a 3 act structure while revealing deep character all delivered through spontaneous dialogue. With the small audio additions, the only post production undertaken for the film besides end credits, it also manages to build suspense when needed.</div><div><br /></div><div>A mere few hours stands between now and its premiere screening to a small group, mostly consisting of cast, crew, peers and friends.</div><div><br /></div><div>And yet I'm so nervous, my hands are shaking so hard while trying to write this out.</div>Highly Caffeinatedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17396172014600662249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6096392731691497834.post-67623380224157300702011-02-21T10:45:00.004+11:002011-02-21T12:43:29.913+11:00Shooting Last Ride - Part 2<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VXsmECD2NrQ/TWG_kpIIF1I/AAAAAAAAAa4/LjS0keTGzNM/s1600/Posers.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VXsmECD2NrQ/TWG_kpIIF1I/AAAAAAAAAa4/LjS0keTGzNM/s320/Posers.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5575948449897518930" /></a><i><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; "><i><span class="Apple-style-span" >Emma and Felicity killing time between takes</span></i></span></div></i><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; ">(Note, not a spoiler, they were quite clean before self applying blood</span>)</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Going in to Thursday's shoot was different than the other days. We had all had a screening of Wednesday's full take, we all could finally see how our movie was going to look. How it already did look. But more than that, it was our last shooting day, our last shot to nail it.<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>Two weeks before shooting, one of the supporting cast told me he wouldn't be able to do the Thursday shoot. We weren't sure if we'd be shooting on Thursday, instead thinking of knocking out two takes in one day, and I had lined up a replacement actor, who then pulled out on Tuesday anyway. On Wednesday night, one of the other cast members called in her friend, who arrived at 830 Wednesday night. We threw him into costume, checked his bike height, showed him the days take and pretty much went with it from there. Early Thursday morning, I took him out to block out the scene.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>Unrelated to the last minute casting, I have never been more nervous than when I rolled cameras that day. Maybe because the day before's take was good, but I knew it could be better, and it was our last shot. </div><div><br /></div><div>Finally, I called action, and the next 80 minutes went very well. There were a few unexpected surprises along the way, which I can't really go into here, but all in all, seemed like a solid take.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>I sure hoped so, anyway, as my body wouldn't have taken another take any time soon. Not for the endurance of an 80 minute take, but the actual injuries sustained from the 3 takes that week. It wasn't until Irene showed up to point out which blood on my leg was fake and which was real, did I realize I was possibly a little more damaged than I thought.</div><div><br /></div><div>After fetching our bikes and recording a little ADR, we made it home an hour after wrapping. I was impressed that with 8 bike riders over 4 days, there hadn't been a single stack. That was of course, until as I rode up to the front of the house, two cast members got out of a car carrying loads of champagne, that I decided to bunny hop the bike with excitement which, funnily enough, ended in the one and only stack of the whole week, two meters from the point where a bike wouldn't be ridden thereafter. Thankfully, no bacon for me (bacon being the bike term for abrasions caused by stacking it on a bike).</div><div><br /></div><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HlTUFNcmWF4/TWG-BQA_tZI/AAAAAAAAAas/vIQ7Tp8zSxM/s320/leech.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5575946742349673874" /><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" >Fake blood, real blood, a bit of bacon, and a leech</span></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">We cracked the champers, washed the blood away, and headed down for the screening. It was quite different than the day before, the reactions of everyone. Interesting to see how it all plays out on camera. Again, it was straight from the camera, so the audio wasn't the best, and having watched and listened to it properly since, it makes a world of difference.</div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">After the screening, there was a lot of talk that they preferred the previous days take, but I have a few ideas on why that might be. One, when we watched the previous take, it was all fresh and new to most of them. It was a 90% finished film, which they were watching for the first time. Some of the slower moments in the film were all too familiar to them all. And on Wednesday, they had been watching a whole film, while I had already seen it (when filming) so was breaking it down into different moments.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">There were things the camera was doing on Wednesday that I wasn't happy with, mostly the fogging, there were performance moments that seemed forced or out of place, but mostly the ending wasn't spot on.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">When Irene, myself and a filmmaker friend had another viewing later that night when everyone had left, I knew Thursday's take was <i>the </i>take. When the shit hits the fan in the film, I was swept up in it, my heart pounding along with what was along screen. I've seen that moment in my head for months, watched it on screen and in person at least a dozen times, yet I still got swept away in the moment while watching it.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">It was just like I had said to the cast on Wednesday morning. 'I know this movie is going to succeed because while shooting, I even get sucked into the moment, lost in the panic and fear, and struggle to remind myself that I'm acting and shooting a film. And if I can forget that I'm not only making a movie but watching one, I'm pretty sure there's a few million other people out there that are also going to get swept away, scared and panicked.'</div>Highly Caffeinatedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17396172014600662249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6096392731691497834.post-81301737491229453882011-02-20T08:23:00.003+11:002011-02-20T09:24:48.227+11:00Shooting Last Ride<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_yIkBQs6rn4/TWBDFsLwtjI/AAAAAAAAAag/cuBlQEY01Ic/s1600/helmet.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_yIkBQs6rn4/TWBDFsLwtjI/AAAAAAAAAag/cuBlQEY01Ic/s320/helmet.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5575530103723570738" /></a><br />Monday, the 14th of February. Mostly known as Valentine's Day. It was overcast, threatening to rain like it had all night, and the former caterpillars in my stomach were churning up a storm. Because it was our first day shooting Last Ride.<div><br /></div><div>Although Monday's shoot was always planned as a rehearsal shoot (regardless of whether or not I let the actors know this), it was nerve racking in what it represented.</div><div><br /></div><div>To get to that point, I had made some sacrifices I didn't think I knew I could. I had driven my $15000 4WD onto a used car lot, and left with a P.O.S. 15 year old car, and a rather small wad of cash, which then mostly went in to buying the cameras used for Last Ride. For the two weeks before the shoot, I had ebayed a rather large comic collection that I'd spent the last 5 years slowly gathering together (having sold my childhood collection once I thought I was no longer a child) to make sure I had the necessary funds for the production, mostly feeding the cast and crew. </div><div><br /></div><div>That all may not sound like much, but I was attached to all of those items. When I drove home in my piece of shit car from the car yard, I had started crying about whether I had made the right decision or not, but pulled myself together by reminding myself of why I made this decision. That was back in late October, and was the first big step to getting to this very point.</div><div><br /></div><div>After Monday's rehearsal, we were rained off the shoot, instead spending the day working through some specific scenes, and rewriting the opening sequence for a smoother, punchier sequence.</div><div><br /></div><div>Having sat Tuesday out, everyone was pumped when we went out on Wednesday morning, our first actual take for Last Ride. We kicked off, riding through the opening sequence, things going well, until something happened that neither the cast or I thought I would do at the end of Act 1.</div><div><br /></div><div> I called 'Cut'. </div><div><br /></div><div>It was for something a did, perhaps from being in the moment, but essentially I flinched a few seconds before I was meant to, which may not sound like much, but if I flinch, then the camera flinches. I figured it was safer to call cut there than run through the whole film, unsure of whether or not the whole thing would need to be scrapped for such a small thing.</div><div><br /></div><div>So we washed off all the blood (which had only just been spilled) and reset ourselves up. I think this could have been for the better, as having called cut there made the actors realize if I didn't think things were working, I'd call cut and we'd have to start from scratch.</div><div><br /></div><div>They smashed it. The performances were tight, compelling, believable. The camera work was good, although we had a slight fogging issue which although everyone else said they liked, I knew was essentially unusable footage for a quality film. </div><div><br /></div><div>That afternoon, we had a screening where I hooked up the camera and played it through the projector. The audio wasn't great, missing some of the quieter dialog (and there wasn't enough time to compress the footage and sync it to the separately recorded audio takes) but otherwise, it was a full take, with enough audio to watch and follow.</div><div><br /></div><div>It was then that something interesting really happened. On Mondays screening, there was a lot of joking going on throughout the whole film, and again this happened at the beginning of Wednesdays screening, but that quite fits the light hearted opening. About midway, I made a crack about something that happened on camera (but off screen) and not a peep from anyone. I looked around the room, and everyone was just staring, engrossed. Engaged.</div><div><br /></div><div>Wednesday's take was a good one, but not without its issues. Besides the previous mentioned fogging, which kind of just gave a diffused glow to everyone and smeared the whites, the final run time was 63 minutes. Way too short for a substantial feature release run time, though long enough for a festival feature. There were a few other things I wasn't quite sold on either, but all in all, a great take that the cast still possible prefers.</div><div><br /></div><div>And then there was Thursday, our final shooting day, our last shot at nailing this film.</div>Highly Caffeinatedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17396172014600662249noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6096392731691497834.post-28572397820266952952011-01-24T23:07:00.002+11:002011-01-24T23:44:43.052+11:00And, We're Back!Okay, so it's clearly been a long time since I've updated my little blog here, so here goes.<div><br /></div><div>First up is the Relentless update. After slogging away in the editing suite for months after wrapping, I took a step back. I could see some issues with the edit, but no solutions. So unfortunately, ol' Relentless has taken a seat on the back burner since. However, I recently sat down and watched it cover to cover the other day, and my fresh eyes have kicked in. </div><div><br /></div><div>This week I'll send the audio out to the audibly awesome Mr Olman and get stuck into some of the changes I've seen that would really help the flow and feel of the film. Time to reinvent the wheel perhaps, though I should probably discuss some changes with fellow production crew first to get an idea if it'll be for the better or worse.</div><div><br /></div><div>Meanwhile, it's guns blazing as today marks three weeks before we start shooting Last Ride 3D! </div><div>Last Ride 3D is our ambitious single take 'found footage' feature film.</div><div><br /></div><div>Things are really coming together, this week being a big one as we run through a location rehearsal with half the cast, our mountain bikes are delivered by the very awesome company that is providing them to us for the shoot, and our "monster" gets finished being built.</div><div><br /></div><div>I say monster loosely, as it's not quite a monster, though it won't be revealed what it is. We only came to this decision a week or two ago, not for fear of the "monsters" we were making not looking quite good enough, although that was a small concern, but leaving it up to the audiences imagination could be so much scarier for them.</div><div><br /></div><div>I've been stuck to my computer and phone for the past few months lining up companies that could be interested in a product placement arrangement for LR3D. There's been mixed reactions, but generally positive. I've estimated the products we currently have placed in the film to be in excess of 10k, which for obvious reasons have sure helped production along and kept costs down.</div><div><br /></div><div>The products are all fitting for the film, there'll be no random golden arches emblazoned on bikes or shirts. I'll be sharing some more on our co-branding partners on the Last Ride 3D FB page in the coming weeks (clickety click over yonder to the right).</div><div><br /></div><div>Also I'll be filming our rehearsals this Thursday, and will hopefully get enough footage to whip up a little teaser trailer. If not, shooting wraps in three weeks and four days and a trailer will follow shortly thereafter. Ah, the hidden beauty of the single take film, no editing!</div><div><br /></div><div>Thats it for now folks, but I'll keep you updated as we run headlong towards our Last Ride!</div><div><br /></div>Highly Caffeinatedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17396172014600662249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6096392731691497834.post-80351785879812811922010-11-16T00:16:00.000+11:002010-11-16T00:16:29.455+11:00One Year Quietly PassesIt suddenly dawned on me yesterday in a stinking hot kitchen that it was about this time last year I was running madly through the bush scouting locations for my first feature horror film, which was still a few months off being given the title Relentless.<br />
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One year and one week actually, since I first started this blog to follow the low budget film making path. And I pass this milestone with some mixed feelings. Things are sure flying along quickly, with so many projects coming up, some with mere outlines, others with the wind right up in the sails, and it's all looking very cool and exciting. On the other hand, it's been a year since the idea for Relentless, six months since wrapping the shoot, and still no end product. But instead of writing a rather mopey post like I have in my head, there's this to say instead.<br />
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Relentless is coming, come hell or high water, in early 2011.<br />
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It's been a fun ride along the way, and a big thanks to all those who helped out and those of you following this here little blog. Not only did we produce a pretty kick ass feature, but we started it all off with the rather offbeat zomedy, Gun Barista!<br />
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Conceived in three weeks, shot in a day, and 3 more weeks in post, Gun Barista has gathered some awards this year, including best local short film in Katoomba Short Film Fest, and most recently it scored Best Zombie, Best Editing and Best Film at Scream Screen 2010!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GiGQkT7KlSQ/TOEwp1ceQ2I/AAAAAAAAAaQ/4kXLjoxqIGo/s1600/trophy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GiGQkT7KlSQ/TOEwp1ceQ2I/AAAAAAAAAaQ/4kXLjoxqIGo/s320/trophy.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The mammoth Best Film award from Scream Screen!</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">(The other two not quite as huge, but equally awesome)</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;">So stay tuned, for the year ahead you will get to see not just one feature from us, but two!! with the latest addition of Last Ride to the production line up.</div>Highly Caffeinatedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17396172014600662249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6096392731691497834.post-91703252281620381752010-10-28T23:14:00.000+11:002010-10-28T23:14:06.090+11:00Last Ride 3DAnd here's the updated Last Ride 3D poster....<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And for a little bit of shameless self promotion, check out the all new Gun Barista t-shirt!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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<embed flashvars="path=http://www.zazzle.com.au/assets/swf/zp/skins" height="300" src="http://www.zazzle.com.au/utl/getpanel?tl=HighlyCaffD%27s%20Store%20at%20Zazzle&ch=HighlyCaffD&at=238696282206313749&st=POPULARITY" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="450" wmode="transparent"></embed>Highly Caffeinatedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17396172014600662249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6096392731691497834.post-11904857186463376752010-10-27T00:08:00.000+11:002010-10-27T00:08:03.201+11:00Onward and UpwardIt's been a big news week for all things Highly Caffeinated.<br />
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First of all, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwj1S9gll3A">Gun Barista</a>, our zomedy short that we shot at the end of '09 took out Best Film at Scream Screen 2010, a zombie short film festival in Newcastle. Thanks to everyone involved, you know who you are, and if you don't, just watch the video and check the end credits for your name. ;) It also picked up awards for Best Zombies and Best Editing. Feels like a nice little sign to remind us we're on the right track.<br />
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Relentless is moving forward in post production, though most of it is leaving my hands now. There are more talented people in such fields bringing more to the table than I could hope to do.<br />
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I know in a recent post I mentioned a new trailer for Relentless, but that will still be a little way away, as I've been getting somewhat swept up in the pre production for the next film, Last Ride.<br />
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Last Ride is a feature length single take horror film we're now looking at shooting early 2011. In the four weeks since we green lit the project, a LOT has happened. The first thing we looked at was the effects for our 'monsters' in this, my initial thought being that 3D animation would probably be the best solution due to the whole single take thing. But after some talking and convincing, I just thought out the shots more, and how we could do it live, on screen effects. Hopefully they'll be a lot more convincing than CGI, and probably easier and cheaper once we've sorted them all out.<br />
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I also put out a casting call for the 12 characters, and I'm holding the auditions for next Tuesday. There was a shit load of response to the ad, and a lot of excited people wanting to climb aboard this mad train. It's going to be a hectic day, which I'm sure will involve it's own blog post about, probably mostly just tips for aspiring actors from a directors point of view. There are some really basic things out there that some actors/would be actors just really need to pay attention to.<br />
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And then there's the product placement opportunities I've secured for the film. So far three companies have climbed on board to offer their products to be placed in the film, two of which are costume and prop related, a third paying to place their product in our film. I'll go into this some more further down the track, as I think it could be an important part of indie film making, especially for ones that may be going a similar path to <a href="http://www.doubleedgefilms.com/">Ink </a>and releasing for free online, it helps offset the costs of production.<br />
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Lastly, there's one thing that at first I wasn't so sure if I wanted to go with, but have since come around to, and that is Last Ride will be available in both 2D and 3D! Yessirree, 3D and 2D, shot simultaneously and from two different POVs. Exciting? You tell me?<br />
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There's plenty more to come, and I'm keen as mustard to show you all some cool shit we'll be trying out over the next few weeks and months.Highly Caffeinatedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17396172014600662249noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6096392731691497834.post-71248366237888353012010-10-12T08:42:00.000+11:002010-10-12T08:42:28.833+11:00New Film, New PosterWhile Relentless continues through post production, pre production is getting ramped up on the next film, and the poster below should pretty much tell you all you may need to know about that one.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GiGQkT7KlSQ/TLOEJpW6k0I/AAAAAAAAAaA/YrTN6zaWGgg/s1600/Last+Ride+Web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GiGQkT7KlSQ/TLOEJpW6k0I/AAAAAAAAAaA/YrTN6zaWGgg/s320/Last+Ride+Web.jpg" width="188" /></a></div><br />
Let me know what you think.Highly Caffeinatedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17396172014600662249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6096392731691497834.post-40086872620044791022010-09-29T18:01:00.000+10:002010-09-29T18:01:21.231+10:00It's Been Too Long...Um, hi. Remember me? I'm that guy blogging about making his debut feature horror film, Relentless. Well, if you don't remember, here's the summary of events since this blog started 10 months ago. I wrote a horror screenplay, ran a contest to find a suitable title, cast it, shot it, and finally finished editing it almost a month ago. Wow, it got summed up that easily? Then what the hell are these other 90 posts about?<br />
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Anyway, things have been kinda quiet here, in that not a great deal of progress has been made in the past six weeks since I finished editing the picture. Things have happened, for sure, but not really worth putting in print, digital though it may be.<br />
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See the final cut of Relentless works well, a nice slow build up before running hell for leather for the final 40 minutes or so. But there's all those little things now that need to be taken care of. Things that are rushed or completely skipped over when trying to shoot a feature with three crew members in 10 days. Things like consistent lighting, audio levels and such and such. While I do have a basic understanding of fixing these things, I also know where I am at in skill level, which is not where it needs to be. Therefore I've been trying to look for some local help on colouring and audio leveling. I've lined up some help, now it is just a case of timing and therefore, time itself.<br />
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I also finally got around to shooting some pick up shots for the opening title sequence and have finally cut it together. These shots are also going to be used a lot in the first full length trailer, which I have begun working on today. Still a few weeks away yet til you get to see the new trailer, but it is coming, and will actually give more of the story up than the previous teaser trailers.<br />
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The soundtrack is also coming along nicely, I'm not sure how since Nick has been busy putting out his debut album at the same time. Pick up the <a href="http://www.nickolman.com/">Smear Campaign</a> from his website via Amazon or iTunes, but definitely check out the cool interactive <a href="http://www.nickolman.com/remix/remix.aspx">Beautifully Remixed Destruction</a> where you can remix your own songs based on the Smear Campaign and record up to two minutes and call it your own. Yours probably won't nearly be as good as the album, but hey, there's a reason he's the professional.<br />
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Plenty more about Relentless coming in the next month, with the full trailer and a new poster, as well as a revelation of Ashley's blog in the near future. On top of that, I've also begun working on some of the next projects. I shot a digital storyboard for the next film, which all I can tell you at the moment is it'll be a single take film. Also assembling a script together for the 2nd or 3rd feature in line.<br />
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We're also going to be putting together an indie horror print magazine, and we'll keep you updated as that comes closer.Highly Caffeinatedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17396172014600662249noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6096392731691497834.post-29531984832505292262010-08-02T23:38:00.004+10:002010-08-03T00:15:33.872+10:00Relentless UpdateAccording to the teaser trailer that was up on YouTube for Relentless, yesterday was the release date for Relentless. As this post isn't titled 'Here She Is!!!', it's safe to assume that I'm still cutting Relentless together.<div><br /></div><div>While I am kicking myself in the ass for not having completed it, either to my original self imposed deadline or the one on the tail of the trailer, I've been giving it my best, and we're getting there. Just over an hour of finished footage cut together, another twenty or so minutes to go.</div><div><br /></div><div>It's not the editing that's taking so long, as I've mentioned before, I love me some editing and can easily cut a few minutes of footage together in any given day. The problem stems from trying to find that given day, or more accurately, night.</div><div><br /></div><div>See, I'm a chef by day (and night) and in the past few months, there's been some seriously long weeks, and a lot more pressure than usual. On a good week, I'll do five 9 hour days, each with travel and a two hour split in the middle, takes up over half a day, but it's all good, cause I'm energized enough that when I get home, I can edit for 4 or 5 or 6 hours straight and get 4 hours sleep, usually made up by sleeping in the back of my car on that two hour break.</div><div><br /></div><div>But then there's weeks like the many that have just passed. Understaffed, 50-60 hour weeks make it a lot harder to come home and get stuck into editing. It makes you want to drink. A lot. But I was there many years ago, drinking a lot after hard shifts in a kitchen, and when I finally gave it the boot and got on the wagon, I replaced it with something else that has stayed with me all these years.</div><div><br /></div><div>Horror movies. Yep, horror movies replaced my former alcohol problem. Everything has come full circle, so bear with me while I explain.</div><div><br /></div><div>When I decided waking up and drinking before getting into the shower before work was not such a great point to be in at 23, I needed to find some other way to escape each night, something to switch my brain off to and simply enjoy. Behold Jeepers Creepers, the first in an endless line of horror movies that I've been watching ever since. But more than that, only two months after I flicked the beers, I found enough motivation to make my first short film, AutoMotive.</div><div><br /></div><div>And here I am, 8 years later, in a job that really drives me to consume a lot of horror movies, wishing I could find the motivation and energy to finish my own horror movie. Actually, I have the motivation. The job that I've been at for the past 6 months was in a pub, where each day I'd rock up at 10 in the morning, to find a handful of guys sitting around drinking their beers, day in, day out. I'd have waved goodbye to them when I'd leave each night at 9 or 10, if they'd been able to see me by then.</div><div><br /></div><div>Each morning I'd be reminded of where I'd been, and each night would end with where I was heading, editing Relentless. Thankfully, I start a new job this week, a little less stress and slightly better hours, so I'm hoping to get further stuck in to the editing, as in more than a few minutes each week, and get this movie out there for all of you to (hopefully) enjoy.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Highly Caffeinatedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17396172014600662249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6096392731691497834.post-80318977062912685162010-07-21T15:25:00.005+10:002010-07-21T15:57:49.837+10:00Too Many Hats: Part 3<h3 style="font-weight: normal; text-align: center;" class="UIIntentionalStory_Message" ft="{"type":"msg"}"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span class="UIStory_Message">"The essence of cinema is editing. It's the combination of what can be<br /></span></span></h3><h3 style="font-weight: normal; text-align: center;" class="UIIntentionalStory_Message" ft="{"type":"msg"}"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span class="UIStory_Message">extraordinary images of people during emotional moments,<br /></span></span></h3><h3 style="font-weight: normal; text-align: center;" class="UIIntentionalStory_Message" ft="{"type":"msg"}"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span class="UIStory_Message">or images in a general sense, put together in a kind of alchemy."<br /></span></span></h3><h3 style="font-weight: normal; text-align: center;" class="UIIntentionalStory_Message" ft="{"type":"msg"}"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span class="UIStory_Message"><br />-Francis Ford Coppola-</span></span></h3><br />The fourth hat I currently wear is that of the editor. It is surely one of the most time consuming, frustrating part of the whole film making process, but also possibly my favourite.<br /><br />Like so much of the film making process, editing is a combination of art and craft. Besides the use of editing software, the technical side of editing is pretty straight forward, with a decent eye for detail and some time learning the best points to edit.<br /><br />My first three films were cut together by other people, where I'd sit in with them while they cut the film to the storyboard, adding their own artistic flair along the way. My favourite part of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">BLuE</span> was all done with editing. It was never scripted nor shot for the way this scene was cut, but the editor saw something in the sequence, and then the composer added to the cut again, giving it such a huge impact that wasn't ever there, turning a regular scene into something magic.<br /><br />I first began editing, as with most of the hats, by <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">necessity</span> rather than desire. I played around with random footage while I learned the software, having sat in on those previous editing sessions gave me a good understanding of the principles of using the software. Finally, the first short I cut together was The Cannibal Cooking Show, a fun late night romp of a short that we made many years ago. That was my first lesson that 'We'll fix it in post' is way harder than it sounds.<br /><br />I then really cut my teeth editing wedding videos, which while painful, was also great to get the hours up on an editing suite and learning all the short cuts and some good tricks. Editing also gives you a greater idea of what to shoot, editing in your mind while shooting. You start to learn what you're gonna use and save on some time of what not to shoot.<br /><br />I love editing, which in the case of Relentless, probably helps the hours I do through the middle of the night, being my favourite time to edit. I love finding those great connecting shots, great places to edit, getting that sweet 'edit on an action' cut, and building tension or extending a scene which wasn't already there. These are the moments that make up for the tedious task of rendering and exporting videos. Although, having the latest Rue Morgue magazine close by also helps those rendering times.<br /><br />Of all the hats I've had to add, editing is definitely one I'd like to hold on to. Especially having a go at someone else's material, bringing a fresh eye to the piece.<br /><br />Of course, the saddest part of editing is that it is the most unrecognized artform in the film making process, as when someone notices one of your edits, then you've failed at your job.Highly Caffeinatedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17396172014600662249noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6096392731691497834.post-39077409467930752422010-07-09T15:24:00.005+10:002010-07-12T12:21:59.816+10:00Too Many Hats: Part 2While my last post probably made it sound like this one would be about directing, it's not. Misleading? Perhaps. But if you're reading this blog then you probably like movies and if you're not used to misleading information, you've probably only ever watched trailers.<br /><br />I had decided to direct my own short film and was putting together the crew. Course, that crew consisted entirely of myself, a camera man and my then friend Irene on make up. Hm, that's the same crew I had for Relentless too, with a switched cameraman. And therein lies the next hat I found the need to wear.<br /><br />The Third Hat<br /><br />A guy I was working with told me all about his time studying to be a cinematographer at film school. So he was clearly the natural choice for my first outing directing the short film 'AutoMotive'. It was a seven minute short shot in two days, with another half day of second unit stuff which I don't think even made the final cut, except for the c ar crash scene that got the cops called on me.<br /><br />Anyway, a week or two later and I was at my friends house editing the film together when I noticed all the footage was kinda blue. It had been clear skies for the whole shoot, clear sunny summer skies. Neither my friend or I had any idea why it was blue, and being new to the whole post production thing was not so clear on how to fix it exactly.<br /><br />I was pretty pissed off about my blue film, not to be mistaken for my next film, BLuE, and tried to find out what went wrong. I went to the second hand book store, picked up a 20 year old book for 4 bucks on film making (and actual film, not DV like we'd shot, obviously) and within two minutes, discovered the problem. There's a little thing called a Neutral Density (ND) filter which fixes this issue. As you may or may not know, daylight in a camera comes out blue without this filter, especially the brighter the day. I don't remember exactly whether it was a button or a menu option, but either way it would have been a 4 second thing to sort out on the day. Surely, a film school graduate would have known this.<br /><br />My next two shorts I shot myself and while good, well BLuE was, they definitely weren't the work of someone with much skill. For the last two weeks of shooting Relentless, we had two cameras going. My current cameraman Wayne, who has worked with me for the past five years, operated the main camera and I ran around with the other one getting extra coverage.<br /><br />We smashed it. We got so much footage with the two cameras it has made editing so much easier with the amount of options to use, but a lot harder with how much time it takes to review all the rushes and pick which of the four or six or eight angles/shots of the one action look the best. And that's when you realize the difference betweena professional, and me.<br /><br />See, I knew what I shot in those days with my camera, and guessed what Wayne had captured on his. But when it came to editing, I find myself using a lot more of his shots than mine, despite how excited I was about a heap of the shots I did. You see, while some of my shots were glorious, opening with a cool pan or tilt, or an extreme close up capturing all the raw emotion of the actors, they'd be missing something. That something varied from shot to shot but usually pertained to either A) Composition, B) Lens Choice or sadly C) Focus.<br /><br />Don't get me wrong, sometimes i struck absolute magic, but without the eye for frame composition, or knowledge of lenses, f stops, and a heap of other stuff I still have no idea about, my shots were and are typically the fall back shots. As I first said, I never planned to wear this many hats, things have just turned out that way.<br /><br />Film making is the most collaborative form of art, and picking the right people with the right skills is the most important role for a director. So besides the next film ( a foound footage one), I hereby take off the cameraman hat, and happily throw it Odd Job style at someone else.<br /><br />The fourth hat I never thought I'd wear, is that of the editor.<br /><br />To be continued...Highly Caffeinatedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17396172014600662249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6096392731691497834.post-40584940306734709952010-07-08T15:34:00.008+10:002010-07-09T15:24:24.876+10:00Too Many Hats: Part 1I never intended to be a film maker. I just liked to write. Short stories, film scripts, comic books, role playing games, anything. Loved it. Still love it. I feel a little hollow inside when I don't get a chance each day to do something creative. Which used to be strictly writing, and occasionally scribbling something that I thought looked like a drawing. And now, there's just so many more hats that I wear, each one added on through necessity, followed by study.<br /><br />The Second Hat.<br /><br />A friend of mine approached me to make one of my short scripts into a film, and I happily handed the pages over, keen to see it realized on the screen. Like (I imagine) a lot of young writers working with drama, stories tend to be pretty close to real life experiences. After all, 'write what you know' is a beginners slogan, and this two page short was no exception.<br /><br />A short time later, I got to see the finished product. I was going to see a slice out of my life on film. Um, actually DV, but that doesn't sound as cool. It was a very emotional hard hitting slice, a portion of me poured out onto paper and transferred to video. Or that was the idea at least.<br /><br />It sucked. It sucked so bad, these days when I remind my friend about it, he doesn't even recall the slightest part of it. It wasn't so much the directing or the acting that sucked, just how far off from the emotional beats it was. It seemed to completely miss the point of the story. It was definitely not what I expected.<br /><br />From that very day, watching that short on the editing suite, I realized if I wanted to see my stories how I imagined them, I was going to have to do it myself.<br /><br />I mean really, how hard could it be to direct a film?<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"></span><br /><br />To be continued...Highly Caffeinatedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17396172014600662249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6096392731691497834.post-90059913761124428202010-06-14T09:01:00.003+10:002010-06-15T18:10:06.715+10:00UpdatesOn a chilly but sunny morning, frozen fingers tapping away, I find myself thinking about what a six months it has been.<br /><br />Six months ago, we shot a short film called 'Gun Barista', a zomedy about coffee and zombies. We made it for a few reasons, mostly to give us something to grind our teeth on before setting out to shoot Relentless. It was a good practice for using the Canon 5D Mk II we were going to shoot our feature on, see what it was good with and what we had to work around more.<br /><br />For this, it was a big success. We learned a lot about the camera, and things we would have to pay more attention to, we got used to working together again, as it had been some years since our last film. Irene really brought the magic with the make up, and so far the most common comment I get about the film is 'Who did the make up? It was fantastic!' I guess people really don't read the credits.<br /><br />Since late January, Gun Barista has been available to watch on Youtube, and has taken a little over a thousand hits. Last Sunday it had its first real public screening at the Katoomba Short Film Festival. It was great watching it with an audience, seeing where they laughed, seeing if they get the jokes and the gags. And they did! More than planned even!<br /><br />I still didn't expect the phone call a few days later telling me they'd changed the schedule to include Gun Barista in the next two screenings, mostly due to the hit it was with the audience that day.<br /><br />And I can definitely say I didn't expect to win the best local film last night at the KSFF closing night. But we did.<br /><br />I had gone to that initial screening last week with mixed emotions, wondering if I would actually care so much about seeing Gun Barista, now that I have our fearture Relentless loaded into my editing suite that we were a week past wrapping on. Just going through the 20 or so minutes I have edited together, and the rushes, Gun Barista seems pretty dated to how it would look if we shot it now. But then, Relentless is going to be like that and I'm just hoping no one else notices too much difference between what we were shooting at the start, and how much better it got by the end of the shoot.<br /><br />But it was great being there in the audience watching Gun Barista. While making movies you find fun and entertaining is rewarding, hearing a room full of people reacting to your film is incredible. I'm failing here as a writer to explain just how it does indeed feel. But I'm very happy about how it was taken on by everyone, and seeing it connect with an audience is inspiring. It is a reminder that I am indeed on the right track, and is a good motivater for me to get stuck into editing Relentless.<br /><br />I can only imagine how it is going to feel sitting in an audience watching this film.Highly Caffeinatedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17396172014600662249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6096392731691497834.post-9528396819963179092010-06-09T01:33:00.010+10:002010-06-09T02:40:17.147+10:00Shooting Relentless<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GiGQkT7KlSQ/TA5p5BKdwVI/AAAAAAAAAZY/30XTY1KVT5s/s320/003.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5480434224842260818" /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">James shooting Deb from 3 degree water</span></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Well folks, I decided to spare you the pain of reading my previous unpublished post. Needless to say, it was rather extensive, and of those that suffered through the twenty or so minutes to read it, would surely curse me.<br />Instead of continuing along my (well overdue) weekly reports on shooting Relentless, I decided to just do a recap, a summary, but more importantly, a view taken after the fact of completing shooting.To bring you up to speed, Relentless is a truly independent horror feature shot over the course of 5 weeks, two days a week, to allow all those involved to continue making regular money and going about their regular lives. By the end of shooting, its total production cost was about $7,000.<br /><div><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GiGQkT7KlSQ/TA5p3UOheeI/AAAAAAAAAY4/B8rE8sdKAnk/s320/105.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5480434195599817186" /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Crew: Irene, Wayne and J</span></i></b><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">ames</span></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:small;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span></div>For the most part, we were a crew of three, with a few helping hands here and there. Unlike a previous experience of mine, the cast also did help us out when it came to lugging gear in and out of some harsh locations. The production was plagued by all those dramas you could imagine like cast and crew no shows, shitty weather conditions, equipment issues, and a whole bunch of things you couldn't foresee. Well, that<span style="font-style:italic;"> I</span> couldn't foresee anyway.There were a lot of compromises to the script as well. During week 3, I was trying to hurry everyone up to get cracking on a scene, saying we only had two weeks left to shoot. The reply was, basically, 'Not a chance, we'll need an extra week'. We didn't go for an extra week, we got it all in the five, but there were a lot of script changes to get that done, often on the fly and on location, but still keeping to the themes and beats of the screenplay.<div><br /></div><div><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GiGQkT7KlSQ/TA5p3y9lTMI/AAAAAAAAAZA/9CVrtu1R2oI/s320/100.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 260px; height: 320px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5480434203850263746" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Michael's last time in Irene's make up chair</span></span></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></i></b></div><div style="text-align: left;">In fact, some of the rewriting came from being in the moment, seeing what is happening right before your eyes, not coming out as words on screen. Another big influence to some of the changes was the marketing currently being used for Relentless. Mainly, that the lead Ashley wasn't going to do all those stupid things everyone else does in horror movies. I also found that by removing some of those attributes from Ashley, it only seemed fitting to pile them onto our villain. Instead of our heroine running along and tripping over, it is far more entertaining to see the tough guy stacking it, or screaming in pain.</div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GiGQkT7KlSQ/TA5p4SmoLZI/AAAAAAAAAZI/C4FdDM2VHc0/s320/101.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5480434212343917970" style="text-align: left;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px; " /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Last Day: Irene catching up on some shut eye</span></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The other thing that caused rewrites, or just rethinks really, was the weather. We had two days forecast to rain, and with both days meant to be shot outside, we decided to write it into the script. Likewise, to make our lives easier, we killed all the exterior night shots, bringing them all forward and doing them all in daylight. While one reason was due to lack of portable lights, the other important reason is so people can see what is going on. I'm so sick of this trend of having everything pitch black where you can't even tell what's going on.</div><div><br /></div><div>One of the toughest things about the whole shoot was the behind the scenes stuff. Like getting everyone's costumes washed, changing their sheets throughout the week, grocery shopping, cleaning the (production, quarters and set) house as well as organizing food for everyone, including coming up with menu plans to suit whoever was working that week and then cook such items. Granted, Irene did a top job looking after all this, especially on the shooting days, but it still took its toll and its time. Next film, hotels and caterers, all the way, baby!!!</div><div><br /></div><div>The other tough thing is still bothering me. And that's returning to day jobs. Week in, week out, we'd return to five days of working in hospitality. For me, Wednesday's were so surreal. Knowing all the great stuff we'd shot over the past two days, knowing all the work I still had to do for the next weeks shoot and in post production, yet there I was cutting mushrooms. Making a vegetarian lasagne. Carrying food out to customers. Washing dishes. Yes, I may be a qualified chef but now I'm a fucking film maker why am I still doing this shit?!</div><div><br /></div><div>And the simple answer to that is, because I'm not done yet. You may write the greatest novel of all time, but if no one has read it, it really doesn't matter. Having wrapped filming Relentless may mean a lot to all the cast and crew, but to you horror fans, it's still just a few pictures on facebook, a blog about its creation, a teaser trailer. Until it's released, a chef I will remain.</div><div><br /></div><div>Needless to say, the release date is in the very near future.</div><br /><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GiGQkT7KlSQ/TA5p4mYutvI/AAAAAAAAAZQ/G0LXpGxDnvk/s320/103.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5480434217654335218" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">It's A Wrap!!!</span></b></i></a></div>Highly Caffeinatedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17396172014600662249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6096392731691497834.post-80663709501039426082010-05-19T08:25:00.014+10:002010-05-20T00:47:08.402+10:00Shooting Relentless - Week 2The second week of shooting <i>Relentless</i> seemed to sneak up on us. Well, on me at least. Perhaps it was from enjoying the success of the first week, or maybe it was the huge week at real jobs, but come Monday morning, I definitely felt like I was chasing my tail.<div><br /></div><div>We had a late start, heading just up the road to a car park location, which we got to a little after 1030. It didn't take too long to get some establishment shots out of the way, but a bit of an issue with the steady cam we were using, in it not being very steady. We remedied this by using the steady cam and then the operator sitting in the boot or on the bonnet of a car and driving after/before our subject. Great result there, but probably the only location we'll be able to get away with that trick.</div><div><br /></div><div>The location was different than the one I first imagined and had picked out, mostly due to one of the lead cars being too tall for the original car park (the one in the teaser video). But it suited our needs, and was a lot closer to home than the other. However, being a very small car park, we weren't able to get the cars right next to each other as planned, instead being on opposite sides. Not much of problem for sure, but enough to wipe away a page of storyboarding based on the two being next to each other. The other downside to the changed location was the new one was only partially underground, as in a heavy roof but open sides, unlike the first one picked out.</div><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GiGQkT7KlSQ/S_PyqlKtWHI/AAAAAAAAAXM/3KI5ess1efo/s1600/002.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GiGQkT7KlSQ/S_PyqlKtWHI/AAAAAAAAAXM/3KI5ess1efo/s320/002.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5472984785530738802" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><i>Debra and Irene on location</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div></div><div style="text-align: center;">Actually, this whole thinking on your toes thing is pretty exciting, when you're not too tired to concentrate and see the possibilities floating around. We blocked the scene out, set up for the first shot, and got stuck into it. There's a fair bit of dialog in it, as well as a changing of a tyre, and turns out to be a rather complicated scene to shoot. It was running hours over schedule, and the afternoons scene to shoot was canned as soon as we realized. </div><div><br /></div><div>We'd made some good progress through the scene, and still had about an hour or two before we had to wrap at that location. It was definitely doable. Until the hub cap for the car wouldn't come off. </div><div><br /></div><div>On the wheel of this car, there is a plastic hub cap. The tyre is bolted on, then the hub cap over the top, with plastic bolts attaching it to the rest of the tyre. On one of these plastic bolts, the thread had fused, and no tool would get it off. We tried everything on it, but it still wouldn't come off. The decision was then made to snap the hub cap off, and get a better shot at getting this plastic pain in my ass off. They sure know how to make hub caps, as it never snapped off as planned, instead only bending beneath a lot of force. It was time for plan B.</div><div><br /></div><div>We sent a crew and cast to go to the nearby mechanics to see if they could borrow a tool, and they returned with a crow bar with a heavy plastic handle. We tried to break the plastic bolt off with it, but met failure once again. Finally, we put the end of the crowbar into one of the small nicks it had made, and hit it with a mallet. Slowly, bit by bit, this started unscrewing it. </div><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GiGQkT7KlSQ/S_P5EI1Hs3I/AAAAAAAAAXk/KYo5P-OT60Y/s1600/004.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GiGQkT7KlSQ/S_P5EI1Hs3I/AAAAAAAAAXk/KYo5P-OT60Y/s320/004.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5472991821670364018" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Irene, Michael and Debra taking a break before the 'hub cap incident'</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;">In the end, with a bunch of cut hands, a broken crowbar, many many swear words and a whole HOUR later, and that tiny plastic thing was off. We had a five minute break to clean up and get ourselves back on the job, but the light had shifted considerably. The way it lit the actors could be fixed in post production with some color correction, but the giant beam of light streaking across the side of the car was gone, and couldn't be cheated back. After picking up a few more shots, we wrapped on that location with but three quarters of a scene shot, and an entire schedule of daylight shooting time gone.</div><div><br /></div><div>It was certainly a big shift from the previous week, and I felt beaten. We had a few hours before we could start shooting again, now waiting for the sun to completely disappear. In that time, I'd decided to scrap everything we had shot, and to move it to a new completely underground car park where we could shoot at night. It wasn't worth losing any more daylight hours trying to shoot there as we'd already given it enough.</div><div><br /></div><div>The night shoots we did went far better. The first was at the production house, and has a great long take sequence that developed well during blocking. It is a fairly simple scene, and one that could have played out a lot quicker, but the end result is currently one of my favourite sequences.</div><div><br /></div><div>After that, we raced down to another house for my cameo as a very ill fated detective. With just one outfit and a lot of blood to be spraying across me, it was going to be one brutal one take wonder. Getting my head pummelled by a prop torch was not high on my list of goals to reach, but it would be fun getting down and dirty on a horror film. The prop torch was made by sponging a shit load of layers of latex on top of our real torch, then once dry, rolling it off with help from baby powder. Turning it inside out again, the handle is then filled with the cardboard centre of a roll of paper towel, cotton balls used to fill more gaps and the top of this one was filled with a sponge that we'd soak our fake blood into.<br /><br />With only one take at hand, we quickly blocked it out and rolled. My character was to take multiple hits to the head with the torch, however once action was called, we moved into the scene and the battering began. Since my eyes were shut with the battering, it wasn't until the laughing that I knew what had happened. The torch had exploded on my head on the first impact, sending cotton balls everywhere and sending the white and red sponge sailing at the camera. It sure makes for one funny looking still shot.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GiGQkT7KlSQ/S_Pyp1-TtxI/AAAAAAAAAW8/o0JbVs--0J0/s1600/30124_122401464444320_112648128752987_223971_5291479_n.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GiGQkT7KlSQ/S_Pyp1-TtxI/AAAAAAAAAW8/o0JbVs--0J0/s320/30124_122401464444320_112648128752987_223971_5291479_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5472984772862261010" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Note the flying sponge and cotton balls</i></div></span><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Thankfully, it was dark enough and I wasn't too bloody that we brought the camera in closer and shot again, flipping the torch around the other way. Unfortunately, having your face repeatedly smashed by a latex covered cardboard roll isn't as soft as it sounds. But the scene looks fucking great!<br /><br /></div><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dx_1FzaUr3b7HEI694VNgH8ORMu_Kl4X79fsCuDt7-0bC4lfnKA0Z8UP3VQ2EvXqETzdvXKEh5zT0Pye5YGnw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br /><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">A raw video of half the murder scene</span></i><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></i>They cleaned all the blood off my eyes so I could review the footage and once I'd given the thumbs up, I got to finally get cleaned up. We rolled on back to base, reviewed the days rushes, and got ready for the next big day, content that we'd had all our bad luck already with the plastic hub bolt. If only...<br /><br />We started off early on Tuesday, with a lot to catch up on after Monday's mess ups. Just as Wayne drove off to our first location, we tried to follow but with no success. The battery had died. We tried to call Wayne, but he missed our call and was already at the location, which just so happens to be out of mobile coverage range. We did have another car there, although the biggest problem was my car was parked forward into a steep driveway, the battery inaccessible and our other car wouldn't be able to pull my 4WD out of the driveway. We tried to remove the battery from the other car, but with no luck.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GiGQkT7KlSQ/S_PyqRmLIMI/AAAAAAAAAXE/ls3VKV99cFM/s1600/001.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GiGQkT7KlSQ/S_PyqRmLIMI/AAAAAAAAAXE/ls3VKV99cFM/s320/001.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5472984780277227714" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Q: How many people does it take to jump a car? A: 4</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div></span><div style="text-align: center;">And so we sat and waited, nothing else to do until Wayne reloaded his car and drove off to get reception to see where we were. Soon he arrived with a big tow rope and we got to work. Ten minutes later, we were back on the road, and an hour behind schedule already.</div><br />We made it out to a waterfall location that could quite possibly have been somewhere in the arctic circle, judging by the temperature. I wrote <span style="font-style: italic;">Relentless</span> in the middle of our summer, and there are a lot of water scenes because of it. The middle of May here is far from summer, and the water was freezing. With a quick rewrite while blocking, we worked around the icy water, but our leading lady was still barefoot, in shorts and a singlet, and freezing. With some initial time lost on blocking and camera set up issues due to the limited light, we finally got down to business and hooked in. Two hours later, we wrapped at the location and made the journey back up the very steep climb.<br /><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GiGQkT7KlSQ/S_PyrPfmkzI/AAAAAAAAAXU/fVCJh1lHKpk/s1600/003.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 189px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GiGQkT7KlSQ/S_PyrPfmkzI/AAAAAAAAAXU/fVCJh1lHKpk/s320/003.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5472984796892664626" /></a><i><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; "><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The spooky skull in the centre of frame at the waterfall location</span></i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; "><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></i></span></div></i></div><div style="text-align: left;">It was like stepping into another world, maybe walking up ten metres of steps from the waterfall, the temperature raised rapidly. It was a warm autumn day and in no time we were sweating with lugging all the gear up hill. After a quick lunch, we headed to the other side of town for the next location. </div><div><br /></div><div>It was fairly straight forward, especially since we blocked it out at the car the night before (possibly why the battery was flat) and we knocked it out in about an hour. Due to some cast schedules, that was our last shoot for the week and we wrapped it up.</div><div><br /></div><div>We ran through the rushes in the early evening, but all I could think about was how much we didn't get done. There were two big scenes we missed out, one involving submerging our lead in a lot of water, and we only had three weeks left to shoot. It was unravelling before my eyes, and I couldn't see the way out. With the actors off, Irene and Wayne started watching a movie. The noise was driving me mad, my mind couldn't focus on all the things it had to, they were watching the movie on the Mac, so I couldn't get stuck into going through the rushes again or start editing. All I could see was my dream fading before my eyes.</div><div><br /></div><div>There was only one thing left to do. So amongst all the gear hanging over the lounge, I slept on it.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GiGQkT7KlSQ/S_Pyro370nI/AAAAAAAAAXc/8VIdKY-kELM/s1600/008.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GiGQkT7KlSQ/S_Pyro370nI/AAAAAAAAAXc/8VIdKY-kELM/s320/008.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5472984803705606770" /></a></div>Highly Caffeinatedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17396172014600662249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6096392731691497834.post-51937090677604554342010-05-04T20:54:00.003+10:002010-05-14T09:11:09.039+10:00Shooting Relentless - Week 1<div>The plan for shooting the low budget indie horror film <i>Relentless</i> was to shoot it two days a week, over the course of five weeks. The idea for this was so that all those involved could continue with their regular lives, making a living etc, while we made the film. </div><div><br /></div><div>There were plenty of other benefits to the idea. For five days between shoots, we'd be able to assemble (quickly edit) the footage from the two day shoots and see if we needed to get any pick ups, which we'd be able to do while still in production. It would also give us specific things to get ready each week, as opposed to losing our minds getting it all ready for one big hit of filming.</div><div><br /></div><div>It was Sunday night, May the 2nd, and the whole crew assembled at my house to get ready for the shoot. By whole crew, I do indeed refer to myself, my wife Irene who does all the make up, special effects, wardrobe, 1st AD and the catering and my friend and colleague Wayne, director of photography, who wears every hat in the camera department.</div><div><br /></div><div>Yep, there's three of us. As the days would go on, Irene would also add assistant camera, sound and continuity to her list of tasks, and Wayne would have to add lighting to his, with a last minute crew cancellation throwing us out somewhat.</div><div><br /></div><div>Irene and I had been going hard at it all day trying to get everything together. Not only was our house becoming a production house, it also was to have the cast and crew sleep there, and it is also a location for the shoot. Lots of cleaning, rearranging, lawn mowing, cooking etc to get through. All in all, we were at it until about midnight, getting one of the major rooms used in the film finished with set decorations. </div><div><br /></div><div>Monday the 3rd came around, and we were ready to go. I'd scheduled a fairly easy first day, get us all into the swing of things again, and almost all of it was to be shot here around the house. We were a little behind the mark when we finally rolled film (or burned data? what do you say there now?) and so, after six months, principle photography began on <i>Relentless</i>.</div><div><br /></div><div><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GiGQkT7KlSQ/S-yEAD-sguI/AAAAAAAAAWg/fV8ky1nj3go/s320/IMG_0159sm.jpg" /></div><div><br /></div><div>The first thing we shot was not the most goriest scene in the film, but it definitely was unsettling and difficult to watch. A good start, I'd say, but I'm looking forward to finding out how our audience will take that scene, since the three of us crew were all uncomfortable from watching it while on set, let alone seeing it for the first time on screen, soundtrack added, with foley work, in sequence in a horror film.</div><div><br /></div><div><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GiGQkT7KlSQ/S-yD_yQe5bI/AAAAAAAAAWY/XP2av7SeRC8/s320/IMG_0145sm.jpg" /></div><div><br /></div><div>After that, we moved onto two other scenes, one a bridging scene a little later in the film, and the opening sequence. There were a lot of shots involved in the opening sequence, which runs for 2 script pages, or two minutes on finished film, but I definitely couldn't understand why it was taking us so long to get through? It was scheduled for about 2 or 3 hours of shooting, but easily took twice that. We found a flow to the sequence that wasn't on the pages, and it was working well, despite the drift away from the exact scripted material.</div><div><br /></div><div>Three days later, I would have my answer. Those two minutes of film were now 6 and a half minutes! And yes, that is all cut down version, shortened to only the most important aspects of the sequence. I watched the video back a few times, each time wanting to see where to cut out, and couldn't find anything. It all had to stay, it all covered exactly what the script had laid out, the beats were all there. In hindsight, it was actually a quick shoot, considering the finished product is longer than my short <i>Gun Barista</i> which took twice as long to shoot!</div><div><br /></div><div>So a little worn down from our first day of production, we reviewed the rushes, and finally called it a night. Day two, May the Fourth (Star Wars Day) was going to be a big one. It was on location at a waterfall and with a smaller crew than expected, there was a good deal of gear to lug down. We arrived at the location at around 1030, and began trying to set up.</div><div><br /></div><div><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GiGQkT7KlSQ/S-yD_UZUCFI/AAAAAAAAAWQ/PlQ_DfTnWDA/s320/IMG_0168sm.jpg" /></div><div>The water proof camera housing I'd ordered hadn't arrived as expected, so we spent some time trying to set up for the opening shot to the scene without getting the camera wet. Since we were soaked just standing there at the top of the falls, we decided to can the shot. I ran through the shots with Wayne, who began organizing the first set up, and the actors and I blocked out the scene. The original script calls for some strong water fights and a lot of soaking of actors, but I wrote that in the middle of summer, and it was now rather chilly outside, the water even colder. We made adjustments and went ahead.</div><div><br /></div><div><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GiGQkT7KlSQ/S-yEAh7rQCI/AAAAAAAAAWo/zCtRE0Ag79w/s320/Caroline+Scream.jpg" /></div><div><br /></div><div>We jumped through the shots quickly, the actors were great, straight into the scenes, hitting their beats and marks. After the first roll, we'd knocked out that first half of the scene in under an hour. Next was the sex scene.</div><div><br /></div><div>With a smaller crew than planned, we weren't going to be able to block off the inroad paths to that waterfall, and even though they did have the body heat, it was pretty cold, so we were going to have to shoot it fast. We did a dry run on location, and I ran over the shots we needed with Wayne. 4 angles of the full scene, and two cutaways. </div><div><br /></div><div>Just before we blocked all this out, Irene had found the time to put her 1st Assistant Director hat on, and told us about our schedule. Our actor had to leave in 4 hours, and we still had this sex scene and one more larger dialog scene to shoot. We had an hour to get the sex over and done with, and to eat. </div><div><br /></div><div><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GiGQkT7KlSQ/S-yEBfv6NrI/AAAAAAAAAWw/bmTS-Y9MrSE/s320/Caroline+Vincent+Kiss.jpg" /></div><div><br /></div><div>We smashed it. The sex scene went very smoothly, and with the field monitor running, I was able to direct the camera live, which made a hell of a difference when it came time to edit. I'll give you all a run down on the gear we used in a future post here. With lunch down, we walked on out of there, lugging the gear back uphill was rather painful, but not as bad as if we'd not just had lunch before.</div><div><br /></div><div>The rest of the shoot, back at the car at the top of the location, also went well, but maybe a little over time. Camera stabilizers equal efficient shooting times. </div><div><br /></div><div>430 on May the 4th, and we'd wrapped the first week of shooting <i>Relentless</i>. With a viewing of the rushes, it was all looking sweet!</div><div><br /></div><div>I had often wondered how I'd go getting home from work each day and getting stuck into the editing late into the night, but I couldn't wait to sink my teeth into the footage. Three days later, the two days shoot was cut together and sent over to Nick, to begin scoring the soundtrack. As planned, I took a note of the pick up shots we would need and have penciled them into principle photography times. </div><div><br /></div><div>All in all, we had twelve minutes of finished film from a two day shoot, I was very happy with our progress. We were hitting our schedule, and I couldn't wait to get back out there and do it again.</div><div><br /></div><div>If only I'd known just how far things were about to swing off track, perhaps I wouldn't have been so excited...</div>Highly Caffeinatedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17396172014600662249noreply@blogger.com1