Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Round 3: A little at a time

That's how it's going to have to be. Just a little at a time. If you wanted something badly, and you found out that you could have it, but it would take a very long time taking many long tedious steps to get to it, would you go for it? Or would you give up because it looked too hard?

If your answer was the latter, then you either don't deserve, don't really need or want it, or both. Me? With this particular goal I'm aiming for, I'm going for it. And it will take several excruciatingly long and tedious steps to get it. But it's still mine for the taking.

Anyone who has ever had to edit a video, or compose an effect that involves key frames, knows exactly what this is like. And the bigger picture of trying to create a worth while feature film, is exactly the same, especially when you're DIY on a 0$ budget. Sure we'll raise some money, but that's just to make sure those tedious steps are little less and a little shorter. But the steps are there to take nonetheless.

This is just yet another personal reminder to myself of just exactly how much work needs to be done in order to get this thing right where it needs to be. It's going to be hard, but it has to be, otherwise you're not doing it correctly. I was reminded of all this reading this little snippet from Rob Brezny.

From the window of my office I look down on a blackberry bush whose berries are now ripening. In the last 20 minutes, I've watched a sparrow figure out the best way to feast. At first the bird tried to land on the flimsy branches of the bush, but after a few tries it realized they couldn't hold its weight. Its revised strategy was to grab a single berry in mid-swoop and alight on the branch of a nearby apple tree so it could relax with its meal. It did this 10 times.

Are you willing to collect your reward a little at a time?


Yes I am and I will.

In the meantime here is a sample of what we've accomplished so far with the new equipment. This is pretty much the opposite of what I've just written.



Yeah, how's that for productive?





Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Practice

Today so far has been all about figuring it all out. What can be done? When can it be done? And how can it be done?

Doing a number of camera tests today. Trying out different filters in post. Also writing out the initial score. Yes this is for Creep, but sadly my brain is set on high, so I'm also contemplating another feature idea. Once again I'm walking that actor/director line. I think Creep will be great, but it does require me to play the lead, which I know I can do. But this new project that I am contemplating keeps me behind the camera, which is where I kind of want to stay just to make sure all goes smoothly.

Especially looking at the camera tests so far and working through this footage. This is going to require some real tender, love, and care. All my projects do (well most of em), but if I'm really trying to create something in the cinematical aces, then I really have to put extra care into the behind the scenes work.

Thankfully the internet provides some help with that. There are a slew of folks who've already done the work for you. Do a search on Vimeo or even Youtube for whatever camera you plan on testing, and chances are you'll find someone has already tested it for you. Light tests and all.

At some point today I will breaking to make a meatloaf. Then I will watch LOST. Then I will return to tests, scoring, and then re-writes. If you've been a previous cast member in anyone of my projects in the last few years, you may very well get a random message from me today or tomorrow.

Someday, it won't snow, so I can shoot outside. Someday .

My Indy Mogul episode is still getting me some great feeback. The episode itself is actually a recut of a video tutorial I did back in 2008. Since then a few folks have felt inspired to work on their own DIY Necronomicons, many of them blow mine out of the water. And that's what it's all about isn't it? To post your tutorial in the hopes that someone out there will be inspired and improve upon your techniques. Because of what I've seen in these vids, I'm going to revisit my prop and improve on mine.

Feel free to visit these videos, rate them high, and subscribe to these folks.

From SkullProduction97




From x0fx3




From ddexpress



Seriously great work guys!




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