Sally has been getting some great stuff done on the Graphic Novel

sorry...

okay, in the last post I was a bit of a complainer. But Salamonie has cleared us for our "DEAD FOREST" shoot this Sunday! All is cool...

Sometimes life is sorta a drag...

I'm an optimistic sorta chap, but it seems we are missing some scenes that I KNOW we shot. On top of that, I have a pick up scene that I was planning on shooting in a local park. I decided to be professional and ask permission to shoot for two hours in the park just to make sure no one would get their undies in a knot. Now, after being bounced around to four different agencies, I have to answer such questions as

Who is the project for and what is the specific intended use of the footage?
How large is the production crew?
How many hours or days will the production crew be on site for scouting, set-up and filming?
Do they anticipate filming outside regular business hours and, if so, when and why?
How many vehicles is the crew planning to bring?
Is electrical power needed and, if so, how much?
Where does the production crew expect to film?
Does the crew expect to film people participating in activities or scenery and buildings, or both?
Will there be any special equipment, sets or props used on-site in the production?
Does the crew anticipate requesting any road, trail or facility closures during the production?
Will there be a need for security, traffic control or crowd control?
Will there be any use of noisy equipment or props that would interfere with regular visitors’ experience?
Has the coordinator been provided with a property regulations booklet and has he/she reviewed that booklet?

And yet here is what I asked for...

I am an Instructor of Art at IPFW. I have been working with a group of
students on an independent movie project. We are a few quick shots away
from being finished with our production. As a teenager I used to enjoy
hiking around Salamonie Reservoir and I recalled a few locations that
would suit our needs to complete shooting. I read through the rules and
found no restrictions re: cameras or movie making, but I wanted to make
sure that what we had in mind was legal and within the standards you have
set. The scenes are simply a person walking/hiking through various
locations. There are no props or set ups, we just want to use the
location. There would only be a crew of three (camera operator,
director, gaffer) and the one actor. We would only be there an hour or
two and use only a Canon XL1 and a tripod (no lights,cables, external
batteries or sound equipment). We would like to shoot Sunday, Dec. 2 in
the afternoon.

Sincerely,

Allen Etter

Director

Sometimes life just makes you laugh...now WHERE IS MY MISSING FOOTAGE!

Vegging and enjoying a flashback or three...

Thursday, Friday and Saturday I did very little which is the complete opposite of what I normally do on a vacation. Usually I am running about like a mad man trying to get caught up on everything. Well not this time. I decided to do a bit of writing, watch a movie or two and generally just chill. Our movie is to a point where I need a larger computer to go any further so I am waiting to meet up with Ted to slap together the first full rough cut.

Now, regarding the flashbacks...

First, there was the joy of watching Rocky Balboa and Live Free or Die Hard. In my younger days I enjoyed both Rocky and Die Hard. It's great to see Stallone and Willis doing what they do best. Makes me look forward to Indiana Jones and Rambo 4 (or whatever title they have decided on...I liked the idea of JOHN RAMBO).


Then I came across a little snippet of DR. WHO and it took me back to the late 70's and early 80's (okay...mid to late 80's as well) when I'd watch it on PBS with my dad. Tom Baker was my favorite.




I know, I KNOW! I'm such a geek.

Listenin' and doodlin'

I've been listening to the soundtrack that Sean and Jay have been working on and doodling with Sketchbook pro. The music really is setting the tone for the movie and there are a few scenes I need to re-edit after hearing the music. It seems to be a cross between "Twin Peaks", the "Dune" soundtrack, and "Tangerine Dream". Hmmm...that's sorta what I told Sean I was looking for. The colors in this image are really inspired by the music.

On a side note, I realized that it had been a while since I did any drawing and I was a bit rusty...this was fun to do. After sketching in Sketchbook, I lit it and added the rain in photoshop.

Storyboards and shots...

I've been working on a series of posts in which I have storyboards and the actual shots we did...I should have this posted by the weekend.

Took a break from editing...

I was spending way too much time editing and it was starting to take it's toll. So the other day as I was in my basement (it used to be my studio but now that I've stopped painting, it's a weight room...cause I'm outta shape!) I found an old Peter Gabriel CD. I used to love listening to Peter Gabriel back in the 80's and early 90's but then...I stopped. There was a song that I always liked called "Come Talk To Me". I went to YouTube where EVERYTHING exists and found this FANTASTIC performance of the song. It ties in naturally with my hatred of phones and my thoughts on men and women and how they communicate differently with each other. I think I'll watch it about a thousand times tonight.

Go here to see it...enjoy. It tastes good.

I thought we were done shooting

Good news, bad news...Danielle has to wear her stinky costume one last time. There is a sequence that I really wanted to do, but due to cutting the character of the Librarian out of the movie (budget and time) I could not do. It is a sequence where Gwen goes on a bit of a journey to find a large sculpture, and by large I mean 200 feet tall, that has fallen over against a cliff. It was once a sculpture of their leader Garult. Deep inside of this structure, the Librarian resided...but now there is no Librarian. Then, as fate would have it, as I was editing the scenes where Gwen seeks out Switch, she seems to only travel a mere 15 seconds and is suddenly hangin' with the crazy woman. Well that won't do. So I am going to shoot Danielle in the now leafless trees of the forest and have her do that journey thing through the DEAD FOREST. Since Zeke is already making a CG Gwen and Brandon is animating her, we can have her walk up the pathway to the crack in the sculpture!



Now, we can not figure out why Danielle's costume stinks as it does, but I promised her that she could burn it after this last shoot.

Ron's been busy with the Garum...

Andrew took a stab at it and it looks a lot better.

Your opinions please...

Ted has been having more success than I with creating an evening look. I think it needs more contrast...what do you think?

Ted's been keeping busy

Lilly charges her gun and fires!

What a weird night!

Our long lost DEAD cat Morris returned at about 10 pounds heavier than when he left long ago...then, not to take away from the miracle of the 9 lives of a cat, I suddenly see our Movie Trailer on TV. There it was playing out on public access TV, IPFW's ch. 30. What a surreal moment.

...and cool.

Now...if only we had a finished movie!

GRRR...ARRGGG...

I've been editing the scene with Switch and Gwen this evening. Thankfully Ted shot the scene more than once. We lost a lot of footage from the malfunctioning Canon XLPOS that day. Several wonderful takes of Megan being absolutely wicked were lost. However, what we do have looks nice and creepy and Dan's still photographs should help out with the flashing lightning thingy we are trying. I remember an episode of Babylon 5 where Sheridan is taken down by a bunch of thugs. They had a photographer on the set that day who shot Black and Whites stills that were cut into the fight scene. We are doing (sorta) the same thing.

Day for night...still working on it...

This is a bit extreme...but it might work out in the end. I am trying new things with the color balance for some day for night shots. I think it needs some work and it will need CG rain as well as a bit of blur...

It's late...I'm about done...

This weekend (Saturday) I am taking my eldest, Zack (9), to his first concert. The local orchestra is doing a Celtic-themed concert, complete with bagpipes. They will be playing traditional Scottish and Irish tunes as well as songs from the motion picture "Braveheart". Zack went out with his mom this evening (while I worked at ITT) and bought a suit and tie for the event. I will post photos after the evening.

Hmmm...

Debbie claims to have no NINJA skills...I think that she has lied to us...

Sally's been working on the Graphic novel.

Sally is going to be able to do things in the graphic novel that we could not do in the movie...like the Librarian scene as shown below.

Danielle is informed that she must buy the vodka...

...it's an inside joke...

The last day of shooting...last words...

Just found this footage of Ted and I being questioned on the last day of shooting...


Ted: I am looking forward to Post-production.

Allen: He thought we were done...we're not!

More editing tonight...

Michael rocks!

Michael has been working on our opening flyover. So far so good.

It's 12:30...time for bed...

Danielle is hurt...but she has a tree to lean against so I can go to bed now...

Gwen teaches Clarr to throw stones at a tree...

Gwen has a great sense of ear-hand co-ordination. Here she teaches Clarr to understand that concept before he can use a sword.

After Gwen fights Bree...she stumbles back to her 'home'...

What a fun...er...dead gal.

We had a scene planned out with someone else and he did not show. Brittany showed up and took his place with the fight scene and then did a fantastic job of dying at the hands of the Garum. What a thrill it was to work with Brittany!

Busy, busy, busy...

Editing is fun...I'm tired.

Gwen's CARETAKER SWORD is lost...

The Garum smacks her sword away and she is unarmed...editing this now...need some CG GARUM!

Workin' on the scene with Debbie and Danielle...

GWEN WITH NEW THE SWORD!

I've decided that since the amount of people who view this blog is quite small, I'll post some images that I originally was not going to post - the sword was going to be kept secret until the end of the movie but most people working on the movie (they being the ones who check out the blog) know about it anyway. Just wanted to keep you guyys and gals updated.

This scene is at the end of the film at a point where Gwen has been given the sword to kill the Garum...these are stills from the movie. Some of those lense flares are real. We wanted it to look overly bright as this is the first time it has stopped raining.

There will be a lightning flash between the first "twig" sword and the "metal" sword...

Well, cool!

Despite the problems at the show, I just got an email from IPFW's video gurus and they have informed me that they have begun running our trailer on the local college cable access channel. SWEET!

Old school vs. New school

I'm an old school editor. I learned to edit on an old Bell and Howel (sp?) reel to reel splicer and as a teenager had my walls covered with strips of 8mm film. Now, working on Premiere (I first did non-linear editing on an Avid) I am amazed at how fast and how slow it can go. I am glad to have cut my teeth on actual film. I think that it has made me a better editor, but this new technology the kids call com-pute-ers is really some awesome stuff. We used to joke about our films and say "we'll fix it in post" but now we actually can. And I don't mean 'making the film' in post. I'm talking about color balance and cropping and frame rates. WOW!

One of the top ten worst days of my life.

I can't even really begin to explain how much today was a toilet full of poo.

Due to the nature of my job I can not share all of the stuff that transpired at work today, but the four and a half hours was the worst day at work I've had in six years. Maybe after I leave this job I can post the events as they transpired. The day was absolutely surreal.

Then, off to the art show where my poster was hung in the least flattering corner of the gallery and my trailer was placed after a really odd and vulgar videos. I was not told that it would be presented this way until the last moment and, I was not informed that I needed to have an intro credit page. This is not a reflection on Justin, gallery curator as he has been swamped with 10,001 things to do.


Kristi and I left early, tho not before having a fun conversation with great artist and all-around-good guy MAURY PAPIER



Then we found a quaint Chinese restaurant to eat at since the food at the art show was lame.

I found these images on one of the discs...

Just thought I'd post these images. Sally and Tarina on location from MANY weeks ago.
I've got some Halloween images to post later.

Also, funny anecdote. Some kid at one of the colleges I teach at said that I was trying to be Spielberg because I now have glasses (due to frustration with contacts) and a beard (which I've had for ever) and I have worn (as I do every Fall and Winter) hats as of late. What a dork. It's clear that I think I am Coppola.