I can't begin to tell you the trials and tribulations in the finishing of a- First Film Production.
But this will be the start:
I did achieve the artistic goals, that with paint and actors and sometimes Actors with paint on them.
The running time is 1:22
Lets say, yes I am an Artist becoming a FilmMaker. Too add; I am not a "camera Guy", I am an Artistic Director and come to find;an actor and hopefully an Actor's Director.
The Acting rehearsals went well, and the longer scenes with dialogue came out Really well, but...I'm not a camera guy.
In fact, I feel all the Artistic Direction(special effects, Make-up designs, storyboarding)was up to par with the artistic vision of the production. And yes it is an Amateur Film because of the (no)budget and level of equipment we used, but I feel the audience will still feel engaged with the Movie Experience of this roller-coaster of a film.
...more later
9/28/12_ALL RIGHT ..ITS BEEN TWO WEEKS..Two weeks of "catching my breath" Socially,including a few days in Los Angeles to see my new nephew & catching a UCLA football game, but now its time to get back to the nitty gritty in front of the computer screen and the software called Final Cut Pro.
I did, during my break, view my film and surprisingly found quite a few Audio "bumps" that needed to be tended to before the FInal Version(audio wise) can be submitted for viewing.
Right now; there are two Audio versions of the films ending, but after another viewing I found there is only one. You just know. That will be a simple matter of cut and paste_given careful nature to the borders of the scenes surrounding it.
However; Quite a bit of the films final Audio needs cleaning. My estimate for the finished version was always 4 weeks(amongst a demanding work schedule). Now, because of a last minute phone call and request from a dear friend , I have committed to a new project, which will cut into this time. Its an important project with a specific timeline and I am looking fwd to adding it to my resume of project. (more on that later)
and now to the EDITING CAVE. See you when I come up for air...
11/11/12
Coming up for Air,but it is marvelous, fantastic air.
Going into Post, specifically Editing, I was faced with the dilemma of our productions, and yes-My decision to use sub par audio equipment and as a result, get sub par audio for the Film. I would add that this production was the first experience for most of my crew making a film. We were all " learning-as-we-go" with no Journeyman crew members to help or give direction-all me.
The experience Im speaking of is Film making. Most of us have had several years working with various types of T.V. Productions including News, game shows, and sports. To be honest; I wasn't quite sure what the "clacker" was for. Thats how far removed I myself was from Movie sets. Turns out it helps you sync the separate, (what? separate) audio track. I would add that I consider myself to be a Visual Storyteller, an Artist/Writer.
Point being: when I finally sat down to edit the film, after a year of shooting the film, some scenes had terrifically bad Hiss with the Nat audio.
And as my great T.V. Production teacher told me: " Bad audio is Bad audio, is bad audio". Right?
It should be noted, that I did get the Acting performances that I sought out. Lots of time and attention to rehearsing. This is what I was focused on, not the technical approach. Consequently, I was stuck with some terrifically bad audio for a couple key scenes with dialogue. Most of the film's audio was good, I should say, and some of it down right professional, but for the sake of BLOG we're focusing on the 2 major scenes with bad audio. Thats 2 out of 17 scenes, not bad.
The saving grace was two things.
1. a 3-Band Equalizer- This cleaned up the Music I used for the film. Since music, score is very prevalent throughout the film, this AUDIO FILTER was a godsend and serves the film to a large degree.
2. a combination of LOW PASS FILTER and HIGH PASS FILTER. This combo Saved the film, specifically the two key scenes with bad audio.
In closing I will mention Greg Parrish helped me by:
A. giving me his time attention and tutelage
B. steering me into the direction of Low & High Pass Filters. Thank You Greg.
Keep in mind that I have Not been to Film School(been accepted, but did not have the funds) and this is All new to me(FCP has about 20 Audio Filters), but dammit, this feels good to have your film look and sound great!
NOTE: People I'm around keep wondering: Why aren't you done?
I feel this because they know people that make (so-called) Films( I really wish they wouldn't use that word. U-Tube & Reality T.V. has screwed up a true definition of the word: Film), and have finished one or two Film videos. I will call them videos. Some people I know have finished 2 "videos" since I'v begun production with Dead Alive, but I would question: Are they Masterpieces? Will anyone ever see them?
No, My Film has an AUDIO LANDSCAPE, stemming from the brilliant examples of The Exorcist, Alien, and Blue Velvet. I would also add Raging Bull. Here is an example of what Im dealing with:
This is about 10-15 seconds. Not your average video, usually most "videos" or home projects have TWO lines of Audio. Look at this picture and imagine a 10-minute scene. Yes, each and every audio cue(in green) must be approached. Surprisingly,most are "out of wack" in some manner, and need tending to, but they are the correct audio sound, no less.
At this point, and of the 12 major scenes (which actually have 17 scenes, 5 of them adding up to 10 minutes),
Eight are finished ,with 1 more finishing soon.
Now, back to the Editing Cave. I am close to finished another scene, which will leave me with 3 and of course the last two are full of Loud audio, the last are the two scariest of the lot.
END of November is the Deadline.
12/3/12
Im Done.
2 scenes need Looping. There's no way around it, but the principle actors are near to me so it shouldn't be a problem.
I've given it one screening and because of it I moved a scene closer to the front, and Wow - the whole film "connects" now. Good Stuff. Should make a good Series.
The Running time has changed to 1:33 instead of 1:23. I "added some final touches + the full Credits.
Look fwd to seeing it soon. Its called " THE IN BETWEEN "
Im hoping it will have a life on International television.
Need to put it on iTunes.
The Next step is to make a Soundtrack. We have 4 local bands + an incredible original Score by newcomer Nick Billings. Look fwd to it.
Director/Writer
Daniel J. Lorenzo
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~This just in..
we are still in January 2013, but things have changed, lets say Progressed. Quite frankly, we had some problems with the 1hour 23Min version. By that I mean, the length was too long to Burn to Disc, using Quicktime compression. And when we tried several times with Apple Compressor, we kept getting a "Quicktime Error 0"
So were is the Progression? you may ask.
Because of another private viewing I've decided the Length will most likely kill it for any Festival Consideration.
SO, with a little rearranging, I have made the Film into its original mode of a Series. In essence the Film will be broken into Two Short Films both ranging in the 55mins zone.This will be its final leg of production for the film festival circuit. Hopefully it will later spawn a "Directors Cut" of the full length version. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy, and have always advocated the film to be a Tv Series, so I do indeed consider this progress - I Would Like to Introduce myself as a Director who has a Serialized approach to telling a story.
ADR For the last 3 weeks we have been recording several Additional Dialogue Recordings.
The "regrouping into another direction" has given us the Opportunity to "clean up" some scenes that had unfriendly Audio. My Goodness! It has made a world of difference. Smoothing out the audio and adding more background Foley and dialogue has truly made the film elevate itself to a very watchable film. Everything happens for a reason?
Keep ya posted...
Daniel J. Lorenzo
1/27/13
