Pre-Production Continues

I am still trying to set everything up to make sure the day of shooting rolls without any flaws, or as few as possible. My partner in the acting class is quite busy with a show that she is in, which is making it more difficult to lock down a solid shooting date. I imagine I will have it set by Tuesday. I spent most of this weekend acquiring props and testing some techniques that I plan to use. My plan is to go black and white, as a nod to Hitchcock, but then leave red as an active color. Just about every shot will contain an important item that is red. I tried this out using FCP and it looks pretty good. I have even found a way to keep something that is somewhat red in the shot, that should be black and white, to become black and white. I also did some experimentation with lighting for some of the night scenes. All in all, I'm a little worried about getting started, but once we lock down the filming dates, I should be alright.

Production under way

Production is finally under way with my crew. We accomplished more than expected last night with filming. We plan on filming all day this coming Saturday, with pick up shots reserved for Sunday morning. My partnered actress, Meg, has been wonderful to work with and has put forth many great ideas. Scheduling is still the main conflict, but if we continue to put forth the same effort next weekend as we did yesterday, we should have no problem producing a professional piece. Hope everyone's productions go well.

I've been working my ass off on the pre-production of this short. It's completely visualized in my head, and I just sat down and did complex storyboards and a very nice shot list. We're not going linear at all with this script, and it's very very stylized and high-pace. I'm going for a very strange feeling, a combination of Youtube's cheapness and 16mm film's over-saturated scariness.

We're holding a rehearsal on Thursday, and shooting Friday night, and Saturday all day. Sunday is available for pickup shots. It should honestly be a great time, and I'm very excited to get this short shot. I'm even more excited to edit it, because that's where my true art comes into play.

Miscommunication

The planning has been going fine but a miscommunication between Michael and me has set us behind and now dogless. If anyone has a dog that they would be willing to have in a movie it be great. We had one but Michael thought I was going to get back to him and tell him if we were shooting Wednesday or Thursday when I was planning on filming Wednesday and Thursday. No filming was done either day. So, again, if anyone knows a dog....

Preparing For A Big Weekend --

Stephen and I have everything ready to go for this weekend. It is going to be a lot of hard work, but we have an all day shoot prepared for the 27th - this Sunday. We have our talent ready, locations are ready, so everything seems good to go. I am bringing in a friend to help me film. He will more than likely get the DP credit. I am meeting with him today to go over my shot lists and storyboards for the movie. There are a few digital effects I am going to use, and we need to plan out how we are going to pull them off. I have posted the shooting date under the blackboard discussion tab. A 330 student hasn't replied to it, yet. If one doesn't come along, does that mean my grade will suffer? If they need to work for just a couple of hours, I can leave a few minor outdoor scenes to be filmed on another date. I'm worried that no one is going to reply before Sunday.

Pre-Production

Right now my acting partner Liz and I are focusing on pre-production. We have selected a male actor and have started doing some table reads. I emailed the writers and received a few paragraphs describing both characters more in depth. Both writers were very helpful. Liz is primarily concerned with memorizing her lines. She has made it clear to me that she wants to have as many rehearsals as possible before shooting. I'm working on storyboards, colors, and some filming options at our location. We're both still waiting on our audio crews so we can nail down shooting availability.

Tori: Just an FYI, I know your partner (from my hometown) and yes I'll agree she can be difficult to contact at times. If you continue to have trouble let me know and I'll track her down (ironically I will be living in her current apt next year).

On the way

All but one of the locations have been settled on. Casting is complete. Shot a little this weekend.

We have 3 weeks 'till rough cut and though I've done a lot of work already, I feel panicked and rushed. Guess I'll feel like that until I get a shot that knocks my socks off.

Shoelessly,
Andy