Heart Attack Averted

Good lord... went to make some changes to the movie yesterday, and I COULDN"T FIND THE FILE. Somehow I had accidentally moved the master file to the TRASH! Thank goodness I hadn't emptied it! I think I was trying to get rid of old versions that were taking up a lot of space but I knew I wouldn't use again. Seriously, I was almost in tears, because the only full version I had left was the latest DVD version, which is somehow all squished because I must have done something wrong when rendering and burning it to DVD. I am still having palpitations just re-living the moment. Ack.

I am about 1/3 of the way through the movie, making some tiny changes here and there, tightening up a few pauses and even cutting down a few more lines. Anyone who has seen the movie will probably be happy to know that I have cut the Golden Twat line from the sushi scene. I still think it was funny, but nobody else seemed to, and I'll admit it makes the scene more palatable to a wider audience. I also swapped some things around in the first few scenes to step up the pace. There is more I would have liked to cut, but since I did not do a great job during production of making sure I had enough cutaways (little snippets to cut to, a hand on a bottle of beer, a close-up of someone's wrist as they look at their watch, etc), to cut the lines I wanted to cut would screw up continuity, which I have worked VERY hard to make as perfect as possible. Also I now open directly with the first scene, THEN to the opening credits with the song "Bohemia" by Niki Lee. That is something Eric suggested a long time ago, and it definitely works better, plus then people are paying attention by then instead of talking through the credits, and I think the song is very pertinent to the movie, which is more obvious after you watch the first scene.

I am so excited to be heading to England on Saturday, though I really have no idea what to expect. I have booked my reservations in a sweet little B & B called The Peel Hotel, which apparently is anywhere from one to ten minutes walking to anyplace in town I would possibly need to be. Rest assured I will be making mental and physical notes throughout the trip, as I have the feeling that the entire experience has "screenplay" written all over it. When I made my reservations at the hotel for an entire week, the kind lady I spoke to told me that after I had seen the sights in town, that it would be easy to take a train to Birmingham, a larger city, and from there I can go to anywhere in England quite easily. The way she said it was almost as if she had said "after you have seen the sights in town - which should take all of about five minutes..."

Though it may happen, I have no intention of leaving Tamworth that week. As stated, my goal the first few days is to meet as many people as possible and invite them to the screening. I also intend to get some writing done, and RELAX. I do my best writing and relaxing when I am VERY far away from home and have absolutely no daily responsibilities and limited internet access. Plus, though the pound is a lot weaker against the dollar than it has been in recent years, it is still not in my favor, and I see no point in wasting valuable pub money on train travel.

I am also so psyched about going to Philly later this month! I was starting to panic that "Smalltimore" would not get into any domestic festivals, though I have only been turned down by a few so far, and those were mostly long shots. There are some other festivals I will be hearing back from soon that I think the film is more suited to, so fingers crossed. I'd really like at least one more, so when the time comes to package the DVD I can have at least three lovely laurels to display on the cover!

Break Over

Hey gang, sorry for the radio silence. I needed a serious break from both All Things Movie and All Things Computer. I have been so close to "Smalltimore" for so long that I needed to step back for a little perspective, and I had been spending so much time at the computer that I was on the verge of major carpal tunnel syndrome. My arms tingled from my wrists all the way up to my shoulders, especially in my right arm, which is the hand I use more when typing and exclusively for editing, and I was starting to feel sharp pains as well. This post is the last thing I plan on doing on the computer today, as I am starting to tingle again after being on the computer catching up with email etc. for the last hour or so. My friend Matthew and my Mom have both had surgery for carpal tunnel, and it is something I am most interested in avoiding.

SO, what is new in MovieLand? Well, last Friday I was interviewed by Tiffany Ariany (Angela) on a television program called "Media Matters" which focuses on international finance and media arts. We talked about how I found my investors and how "Smalltimore" managed to get into an international film festival. It was fun, and great to see Tiffany, I had not laid eyes on her since the screening of the rough cut in December. She and her Mom, Farah, both look like a million bucks, as always. Tiffany is co-producing and editing the program in addition to hosting it. I think she is barely 20 years old! Can't wait to ask her to hire me for something when she's 30 and ruling the world.

I have booked my plane ticket for England, to attend the Heart of England Film Festival in Tamworth, where "Smalltimore" screens on June 10th. I plan to be there a few days early to spend my evenings liquoring up the locals and convincing them to attend the screening. I am hoping that at least one of my stars will join me, but haven't had anyone confirm yet.

Found out that my job-job seems to be semi-secure at least until the end of summer (knock on wood). Really hoping I can stretch that out until the end of the calendar year and pay off a few more credit cards.

Waiting to hear back from some more film festivals. There are a few that I am REALLY hoping to get into, even though it may be tough to scrape the $$$ together to actually attend them. Had a huge yard sale last weekend that made enough cash to cover the rest of my hotel expenses in England, so that was good. And so successful that my neighbors and I plan on doing it monthly! Next sale, Sunday, June 28th, 9am-3pm, so mark your calendars!

Also of course I am teaching a one-day pre-production class at the Creative Alliance on Saturday, June 6th, 10am-4pm. If you are planning your own production soon, I promise you will learn enough in this class to save you enough time and money that the class will more than pay for itself - AND allow me to eat in England!

Wrist really starting to hurt, so signing off for now...

Festivus for the Restofus

Hey gang, I am SO sorry I have been a totally lame blogger lately, but I have been super-concentrated on editing, as I had some big deadlines coming up. I was working 4, 6, 8 or more hours a day on editing, mostly sound. I would get through the whole movie, painstakingly going practically frame-by-frame (there are 24 frames per second. That is PER. SECOND.), would review it again whole scene at a time before moving on to the next scene, then when done watch the whole thing straight through, and then think, "I can't believe I thought that sounded good!" and would start the whole thing all over again. The hardest part about pre-production was breaking down the shooting schedule. The hardest thing about post-production is DEFINITELY editing sound.

Istarted editing yesterday at about 3:45pm and stopped about 5:30am this morning, slept for three hours while the movie burned to DVD, then spent the next couple hours watching the whole thing straight through to make sure it burned without any glitches and then burning a few more copies I needed to send out in the mail to be postmarked by today. THEN had to scrape several inches of snow and ice off my car before I could get to the post office.

Also spent 7 hours with Michelle and several of my actors one day last week recording ADR for some scenes that the dialogue and/or sound was terrible in. ADR, as you probably already know, stands for Automatic Dialogue Replacement. That is an oxymoron of epic proportions. There is NOTHING automatic about it.

Though it really isn't as hard as I thought it would be. And I even did some Foley stuff. Foley, as you also probably know, is little sound effects you might have to add in. Like, a cell phone ringing, a door slamming off-camera, a beer keg sputtering. Some of that is easy, like just recording a cell phone ringing. Some of it is harder, like shaking up a bottle of soda before opening it to make it sound like a sputtering keg. The hard part was keeping Michelle from talking while recording the sputtering.

The hard part is the layering of sound, which I have mentioned before. Conversation ver roomtone over music over barroom chatter... it is exhausting trying to figure out what levels sound somewhat natural but still allow the viewer to focus on the dialogue.

A lot of you have been following this blog for a long time, some even from the very beginning, over a year ago, and I am really hoping it will pay off for you soon. And by that, I mean, pay off for me :) About a month from now, I should start hearing from the festivals I have been submitting to, yay or nay. And I'm not going to sugarcoat it for you. You'll here about the ones Smalltimore does not get into as well as the ones it (knock on wood) does. Probably some of these results will result in stories of money wasted, either on long shots or in festivals that let Smalltimore in but are far more po'dunk than they tout themselves to be and don't do me any good at all. But the whole purpose of this blog is to give you the behind the scenes of how it does (or doesn't) all work. Who knows? I may have just spent the last 18+ months of my life and thousands of my own and other people's dollars on something that will never bear fruit. But, honestly, I don't think so. There are so many things, adventures, crusades that I have been on or in in my life that I have put a fraction of the time, effort, blood, sweat, tears, etc, into and in them have experienced moderate to great success. Making this movie blows anything I have ever done absolutely away. I have never worked so hard or so long at anything, and have never loved working so much. I know that what I have gotten out of this experience already is invaluable, and could never be replaced any more than it can be described. There is no way that all that was for naught. But send your good energy my way regardless!!!

Third Time, Getting More Charming

The strangest thing happened a couple of days ago. I started editing, taking a third pass at the movie... and I am not even at the threshold of a deadline!!! I mean, there is one coming up pretty quick, but it is not even the 8th hour, let alone the eleventh. Hmm, I wondered, what gives?

Well, it is not that hard to figure out, really. It is, I am, all about the music right now. Recently Libby, "Lazerbitch" Picken and The Degenerettes joined the cause, and I couldn't wait to find a spot to fit their tunes into. Then on Saturday I went to see The Remnants perform at Cat's Eye (they are there again on 3/27, you must go!!!). Tom Boynton, their singer, songwriter, self-appointed Benevolent Dictator, sent me several shout-outs regarding the movie during their sets. I don't care who you are, having the band say your name onstage is a good feeling, not to mention boku cool points. (Do people say "boku" anymore? Damn, I may just have sent myself into negative points...)

It is simply astounding the difference that music can make when it is perfectly paired with a scene. It is hard to figure out the sound levels, so I have been watching other romantic comedies that have bar and restaurant scenes to help me make educated guesses. Another lesson learned... don't forget that if there is supposed to be music in the background, have your actors talk loudly during taping (when you, of course, have silence in the background).

But what has been happening this week has been very cool... I find myself actually craving to watch a scene that I know I have found the exact perfect song for, when as of just a few weeks ago I was pretty sick of looking at the whole thing and was getting bored of it. But now I have found yet another challenge, another puzzle, and as the pieces fall into place I find it immensely satisfying.

Another facet of that satisfaction is me wanting to make dead certain that all of these musicians who have gotten on board are, in the end, absolutely proud of being associated with "Smalltimore." That, in regards to the actors and crew, was a driving force during the first months of editing. I hadn't expected or thought about that happening again with the musicians. But it is just what I needed to happen.

I think it was seeing Tom onstage saying my name (now I just have to get him to say the name of the film :) ) that did it for me. I've known his music for a decade and have such respect for him and his talent. To see him so tickled, and proud, when I told him I want to use at least six of The Remnants songs, well... it touched me. He hasn't seen anything more than the trailer, and he barely knows me, and he agreed whole-heartedly to do this. I can't let him down.

The last week and a half have been lots of fun, I have been out almost every night, catching up with friends old and new (and the Steelers kicking this period off by winning the Super Bowl for me - that's right, just for me - didn't hurt my mood one bit). I have been so far off the grid for so long, or at least it feels that way, that I was afraid that when I finally came up for air that all my friends would be mad at me or have forgotten me altogether. It has been quite the opposite, and additionally my social skills have not seemed to degrade at all, so that is a good thing. Gives me hope, because I need to get back to business soon, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and then it will be time to start narrowing down the festivals to submit to. It is all good, and though my sleep patterns have still not quite recovered, when I do find myself watching the glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling over my bed fade in the wee hours, I am often aware there is a smile on my face.

School of Rock

Argh! Wireless problems AGAIN. I am actually writing this from my neighbor's house, as I had some email that I HAD to get out for my other job (the paying one). It is probably for the best, though, because it is really coming down to the wire and I have to be completely done with this round of editing by tomorrow. I have put more than 40 hours into it since Saturday, including 12 straight hours of color correction on Wednesday with Michelle. She has a helluva lotta patience, I tell you what.

Watching the whole thing through with her, veeeerrryyy slowly, I saw some more little glitches I wanted to correct, and a WHOLE lot of sound issues. So yesterday was watching the whole thing straight through in real time and making notes, including what songs might possibly fit in scenes I had not put any music in yet, and THEN 8 straight hours of dealing with sound and songs and a few more video cuts. So almost 10 hours yesterday, and I'll probably log that many today.

Last night I stopped at almost 4:00am, about halfway through the movie. Tonight (I can't seem to get any work done until the sun goes down, I don't know why, I just can't seem to concentrate before that)should go a bit faster, as I already have most of the music laid in in the second half. But the sound is terrible, I have everything maxed out because I wasn't paying attention to the little meter that tells you that when I first did it. I am sure there are much more technical terms for all this, but I don't know them and it will only confuse those of you who might if I try to guess.

For a movie like "Smalltimore," you don't really realize how much music goes into a feature length film until you are the one trying to lay out this giant puzzle and make it all work. I have about 85 to 90 scene changes. Almost all of them require some sort of music in the background. Think about that.

See, when I was first mulling over how much music I would need, I thought, 95 minute movie, songs average 2-3 minutes, not every scene needs music, so, what, 20 songs? Maybe 30? I have close to 30 songs laid in already and can probably use 20 more, PLUS some scoring inbetween. Songs might average 2-3 minutes, but most scenes are 30 to 90, MAYBE 120 seconds in a movie. Lucky for me I have some longer scenes, or scenes that kind of connect so I can cheat and bleed one song from one scene to the next. It is a LOT of work.

The biggest nightmare, though, is layering all the sound. No wonder the pros charge so much! In any given bar scene I have to layer the dialogue of the characters, room tone, background chatter, and music. The levels of all of these have to be measured out so that it sounds natural, but so that you can still understand all of the dialogue. If the microphone wasn't in the right place or if the actor moves their head around (away from the mic) then you really have to screw around with it, sometimes phrase by phrase or even word by word. And if the music is a live band instead of just piped-in bar music, that is a whole 'nuther animal.

Eventually, I will probably have a pro take a pass at it, but for now, it is just me. Have to do my taxes first and see if I have any money left over for such luxuries (not bloody likely). But though it is very difficult, I am glad to have my hands all over it. While we were doing color correction Wednesday, Michelle asked me if I felt I knew a lot more now than I did before we started production. I laughed and said, "You're joking, right? I am still learning something new every single day!" And that is what I love about it, even the really crappy stuff that is mind-numbingly tedious. At the end of all this (assuming there is an end to this project) I will have learned more than I could have possibly imagined I ever would have. I know this to be a fact, because I still have a long way to go and I have already learned that much.

In the Catbird Seat

Happy New Year, everyone!

I have lots of reasons to be happy, and to look forward to this year, but at the moment I am happiest about one thing: I actually SLEPT last night! What a relief. I have not been able to do that properly (i.e., without the assistance of cold medicine or a few drinks) for almost a month now, and it was making me a bit crazy, and probably a bit cranky also. Hopefully I am back on track now.

Another thing making me happy, or at least, it was, is that the trailer for Smalltimore is nearing 1,000 hits on YouTube. It has been up for 3 weeks today, so I thought that was good, considering the initial trailer has been up for almost a year and has had a little over 1,200 hits. But then today I got on YouTube to check the stats, and one of the videos that popped up when I signed on had a "talking cat", so I checked it out. Just a cat curled up in a sink and some lady holding the camera and screaming at the cat, "Buster! Say hi, Buster! Buster! Look at me, Buster! Say hi to Lydia, Buster! Buster! BUSTER!!!" You get the idea. And so did SEVERAL HUNDRED THOUSAND people who have watched it.

Looking at the sidebar with "related videos", there are dozens tagged "talking cat", and I didn't see any with less than 6-digit number of views. Really? Talking cats? None of whom (that I saw) actually talk. As in, English.

I also Googled some of the tags I had put on the video just to see where (and if) it came up. In addition to some friends and actors who have embedded it on their Facebook and MySpace pages (and if you haven't yet, what are you waiting for?), I found it on some really weird websites that had scores of seemingly unrelated videos. One of them had mostly sex videos on it, and then mine. I think perhaps because of the tags "Steel, Corset" for Steel Corset Productions. Cheryl Scungio (who plays the lead, Gracie) first pointed this out to me, that on YouTube, when you watch the Smalltimore trailer, the related videos are almost always all fetish related. So mine must show up sometimes as a related video when people are surfing for smut! What a lovely surprise, and a brilliant marketing tactic that I will certainly implement (on purpose) in the future.

Anyway... I am still feeling a bit run-down, decompressing from all the pressure leading up to the screening, and the holidays, and not sleeping or eating right. All of my out-of-town friends who have been visiting are gone now, and I need to simmer down and get back to work. I have a boatload of music to listen to, CDs from local bands and artists who want to be involved on the soundtrack, then I need to watch the movie a few more times and figure out which song goes where, shuffle a few scenes around, make some more cuts, color correct, etc... My brain has been subconsciously processing a lot of information in this week since the screening, so I have some of my attack plan sketched out in my head.

I knew that screening a rough cut was a little risky, I didn't want anyone to be disappointed or to think that this was the final version, so I took a few minutes before the screening to really emphasize that. At the reception afterwards, and in emails and phone calls since, a lot of people have given me their two cents on what they think I should change. Kellie said, "You need longer pauses! People were laughing over the lines and missing things!" Drew said, "You can cut out 5 minutes just by shortening the pauses! But don't cut any dialogue!" Sean says, "There is too much expositional dialogue! Cut it out!" Michelle says, "You need to cut together some more B-roll and establishing shots between scenes so the transition isn't too quick!" and Eric says, "I think you can cut out a lot of the establishing shots. They took up too much time."

This actually sounds more confusing then it is. They are all right, I just need to pick and choose where to apply their suggestions. Some pauses are too long. Some are too short. Some dialogue definitely needs to go. Most of it doesn't, and some of the expositional stuff is mixed in with stuff I need to keep, so that's the really tough part. Some transitions happen too quickly. Other locations are well-established and I don't need to spend so much time showing exterior shots every time the scene changes location.

I'm not worried, though. I trust my own instincts, and based on the feedback I received for the rough cut, I am that much more excited to bring people the final version as soon as possible. It is important to have a thick skin and be able to evaluate each piece of criticism, and not to immediately dismiss it. Not always easy, to consider all these conflicting opinions. For my own work flow, that is why these pauses in (perceived) productivity are important, to let my brain sift through it all while I am busy with other things. My brain gets back with me when it is ready to go, and it is about ready. Moving on!