Finally Filming

Well, we filmed all of the flashbacks on Thursday. Planning to film the rest tonight. I got lucky with the student from the audio class. Not only is he doing everything needed for audio, he's helping to setup lights, pulling a dolly, and a bunch of other random tasks, that in result, take some pressure off me. Filming the "execution" scene was interesting. I may have made it a little too gruesome, but nothing like "Saw." More like Hitchcock's Psycho. I used a small plastic syringe to shoot blood on the forearms of the lead actress, while filming at an angle so you cannot see her hands. As if the dog is being ground up and spraying blood and what not... Tonight should be another steady-paced, easy, shoot. I have used a combination of storyboards and a shot list to keep me focused. As usual I expect to film something in two hours and it takes five, but even so, I think tonight is our last night of filming... Hopefully.

So much for being on schedule....

Well, things must have been going too well last week, because this week was not quite so great. On Tuesday night we were going to be finishing our filming, but my co-producer called me and said she had bronchitis. So, we weren't able to film. We've rescheduled for this Tuesday and given ourselves plenty of time to film, so hopefully this won't cause any problems in the long run. I'm just planning on pretty much editing non stop this weekend... and I'm guessing I'll end up seeing most of your in either VIA or the downstairs lab this weekend...

Juggling Schedules

I would say at this point we have roughly 75% of filming completely finished with one scene from Saturday still to reshoot. The biggest problem up to now has been scheduling conflicts with my actress and her rehearsals for the theatre show. Also, it didn’t help much that she was sick last week too. In a strange way her sickness has added a new dimension to her character – giving her a more raspy voice which is creepy. For continuity purposes, I find myself now telling her to talk like she’s still sick. Of course she has to take a few breaks for tea. That kind of speech can be hard on anyone’s voice.

The location audio help has been great and consistent. We have all agreed that ADR will be essential for our opening scene – too much reverb in a small apartment hallway. We are planning to film again this Tuesday afternoon and maybe after 10:30 when theatre rehearsal is finished.

Shooting is Taking Longer Than Expected

My team and I had hoped to get filming done by the end of the weekened, but that wasn't the case. We got a late start on Friday night, which kept us from completing the scenes that were on the schedule. We scheduled to finish on Sunday, but at the last minute the location was not the available. The person who lives in the house was out of town. So, for right now, things are going pretty slow. I wanted to get the rough cut done early, so I would have more time to fix the problems needed. Also, the movie is going to need some extensive after effects work. Every project has its little problems... We only have two scenes left to shoot. I have been editing the piece as we go along, so I am not behind on that aspect. We are shooting again this Friday. It won't be long now before our filming is completed. As of right now, I am about 80% satisfied with what we have shot. One of the scenes ended up being a little too dark for my taste. I will try some color correction to fix that -- I'll probably have to reshoot that scene. Despite the slow pace, I will still be schedule with the due date for the rough cut.

Moving along

This week was a very productive week for my group. Wednesday night we got the video shot and I have begun the editing process. Since I had so many people volunteer to help with the shoot, it moved along quickly and we managed to get it all shot in one night. I was really surprised because I was worried that the "too many cooks in the kitchen" effect would become a factor, but turns out everyone was a huge help and I don't know what I would've done without them. Now my job is to finish the editing and get it ready to be shown as a rough-cut.

Up and Moving

Well we finally got filming on Wednesday and Thursday. Everything went well. Once we saw eye to eye on the character it all went smoothly. Thanks to Desiree (Sorry if I spelled it wrong), I was able to get an amazing dog for the shooting. I'm glad the other one didn't work out. I'm a little worried about one shot but if I have to reshoot it I'll just have to reshoot it. I'm also concerned about the webcam shots. I just don't know how smooth they have to be. The shots we have are pretty choppy so I'm a little worried how they'll translate in the sequence. The music is still up in the air for me. I don't really know what kind of music I'm wanting yet. Everything should come together soon. I guess it has to by next Monday anyway.

On another topic I got in contact with my audio member Ben. He was wanting to come and watch on Thursday but something ended up coming up where he couldn't make it. It was cool having someone so interested in getting experience to where he would just come and stand around and watch. Hopefullly things keep progressing as they have. If it does everything will be pretty easy.

Well... I guess that's all I have to say...Bye.

Squeaky hedgehog.

Done filming, have been since... Wednesday? Yeah, Wednesday. I've captured and started piecing together the footage while the person assisting me with editing has been unable to meet up. I'm liking what I'm seeing so far, although we do have to reshoot one teeny tiny thing due to a wardrobe foul-up. Oh well.

Editing should continue/almost be complete by Tuesday, other than the reshoot and any others that might pop up. I'm relatively confident that the finished product will be good, although in comparison to what I've heard/read from the other directors, I'm wondering how my film will stack up to the others. I'm not using HD, or a high amount of filters/gels/artistic symbolism yada yada yada. I don't really care about those sorts of things either. Call it minimalist, call it crap... I figure as long as myself, my actors, and my crew like our final product, I'm a happy girl.