Production Update #18: Table Screening Sunday

Sorry it's been so long since my last update. Life, as you know, has a way of intervening...

I know. You probably think I forgot about you. Well, no… But if you WANT me to forget about you, remember you can always shoot me an email and I'll kindly take you off the production list.

Since the summer is fast approaching -- and I've still got a bit of 16mm film stock chillin' in the refrigerator -- I'd like to jump back into production on our as yet untitled feature project.

STATUS REPORT: Throughout the winter and spring, I spent a great deal of time huddled over the Steenbeck edit table, and I've managed to cut every frame of film we've shot thus far. As a result, we have a very solid 14 and a half minutes of the final project in the can.  It's still missing music, and a multi-layered audio track, but the story is starting to emerge.

Due to a number of requests, I'm going to schedule a table screening of the workprint.

This Sunday, May 22, 2005 @ 2pm at McDaniel College Film Apprentice Edit Suite. No RSVPs necessary.

We are going to have to screen it on the Steenbeck ST1600 (which has a small screen), but we can squeeze about 6-8 people in at a time. And like I said, it's only 14+ minutes, so I can show it multiple times if there is enough people and interest... I'm hoping this will get everybody jazzed and up to speed so we can continue shooting this project during the summer.

Thanks, as always, for your support. If you're free on Sunday at 2pm, I hope to see you there...



Production Update #17: Barn shoot on 2/23/05 Confirmed

Looks like the Core Four (Sapora, Masters, Campbell, Slade) + Phillips are available for next week's film shoot. Awesome! I thank everyone for that patented indie-film patience...

The production schedule for WED 2/23/05 at the Sapora's homestead (Interior of barn):Special thanks to production assistant Andy Sapora for snapping these pictures with his cell phone. As it turns out, they are the only two photos we have of actor Ray Phillips (left) working on 'Cinder.'

10am -- Slade, Sapora arrive on location for set/light

Noon-- Actors & crew arrive (Ray Phillips, Novia Campbell, Gordon Masters) Novia: wedding dress, tiara, one white shoe; Ray: blue overalls, white thermal underwear, grey wool cap, noose (Slade, Sapora will provide   wardrobe for Ray)     12:30pm-- Roll film   (8 shots)

 4pm -- Wrap shoot (Slade embarks to teach night class... Sapora might try to shoot sunset if it looks like we're going to have a beautiful vista...)

I know it will be a short shoot, but I hope everyone is as excited as I am to start rolling that camera again... See you on Wednesday...

Production Request: RU available 2/23/05?

Gordon [production audio recordist],

I know you were on the road installing a new audio system in Baltimore today, so I'm guessing you’ve probably just spent 10 hours inhaling asbestos and fiberglass in a 140 degree church attic.

Perfect time to ask a big favor...

I finally connected with Ray Phillips [actor] this morning, and the he's available next Wednesday 3/23. I know you said weekdays are terrible schedule-wise for you, but Ray is out of town a lot on weekends, so I'm hoping I could twist your arm to help us finish shooting the barn scene at Sapora's.  Special audio enticement: Lots of synch sound agony as Ray rolls around in the straw, gasping for air.

Potential schedule: I'll probably get to Sapora's barn to get set up around 10am...

Then you and Novia & Ray can show up @ noon... We'll be done by 4pm... (I have to teach that night @ 4:50pm)...

Maybe I can throw in a few sexy production assistants to sweeten the pot. Or maybe throw in some pot in to sweeten the sexy production assistants; whichever... I'll work on it.

Ok, seriously, so far no one has volunteered to help on this shoot. I think most folks -- family, friends, colleagues, neighbors, students, hobbits, whatever -- have written this project off as 'it'll never happen.' Oh, well. In some ways, that really takes the pressure off ...

Thanks, as always, for not deleting this email immediately. Just let me know if you're free, and I'll move forward with the details...



Production Request: RU still available 11/13/04?

It looks like we've got the "Core Four" available for tomorrow's half-day interior shoot at Bob Sapora's barn -- that includes Sapora (cinematographer), Gordon Masters (sound), Novia Campbell (actor), and me. At this point, I have no production assistants, but since we are only shooting in one location with just a few lights and a bounce card, we should be fine. (I think many of my students have already lost interest: "Hey, wait a minute. Why does this moviemaking stuff take so LONG?")

Sapora and I have engineered a harness from rope, padding, and metal clasps purchased at Home Depot, and we've tested the homemade rig several times. Everything seems to be safe and in working order.

I always tell my undergraduates never to attempt stunts for their films -- even very simple, low-tech stunts like this one can get someone seriously injured. Or killed. Bottomline: It's a movie. Not manslaughter. In fact, 90 percent of the time, micro-budget filmmakers don't need stunts to make a compelling film. They can find story solutions that eliminate the need for them. Or they can use different camera angles and montage to imply danger without actually putting an actor in harm's way.

But, of course, this film (still, as yet, untitled) centers around this one dangerous act. It is the inciting incident near page 30 of the script that actually drives the rest of narrative. So, after much consideration, I've decided to push ahead with it.

But I think we've done all the prep possible with the harness: I've spoken to a theater consultant who has done this many times, and we've sufficiently cushioned the drop zone to break my fall.

And yes, I'm going to perform the stunt on camera myself. Although I’m hardly an ideal physical specimen – a few too many trips through the late-night, fast-food drive-thru for that -- I just don't want to see someone else get hurt in the unlikely event that something goes wrong...

See everyone tomorrow...

[PS: Of course, I broke my own rule about stunts, and got what I deserved -- a broken left arm. When I landed on my elbow, I knew right away I had fractured something. After a burst of obscenities, I asked Sapora: "Did we get it?"" He says yes... Then I ask Masters: "Any chance you could erase that last part off the DAT tape where I say 'F**K! I just broke my arm!'... The guys at the lab are never going to let me live this down when the hear it during the mag film transfer."

So to my students I say: Do as I say, not as I do. Even middle aged wannabe filmmakers can think they are indestructible.

PPS: After I broke my arm, we still shot for 4 hours in that barn. It's so difficult getting the cast and crew in one place, I wasn't going to pass up an opportunity to move ahead with the project. By the time I got to the emergency room at midnight, my arm looked like a huge, purple grapefruit.  Nice.

I felt like such a moron, I lied and told everyone that I fell off a ladder. My apologies. I wanted people to associate the project with all the good things the cast and crew have done, not my own lapse in judgment...]

Production Update #16: No shoot

Sorry, folks.

Just got word that one member of our core production team is not available this Friday Sept 17, so we'll have to postpone our interior barn shoot.

I greatly appreciate everyone's extreme patience here. Remember what I said at the very beginning of this project: The biggest challenge isn't finding locations, casting actors, or finding money for film stock. It's trying to coordinate the ever-rotating, oft-chaotic schedules of 8-12 people who you cannot afford to pay (even though they greatly deserve it!)...

Just remember: We are 1/6th the way there. And I will NOT allow this film to go unfinished...

I'll shoot everyone an email when I get close to locking in another day of production...