So...
I have yet to be to sleep yet and it's after five.
We ended up working so hard that we were super ahead of schedule. Like a whole day super ahead. So we decided that tonight Marla and I should go back into town and review everything we have shot so far to see if we missed anything or there were any problems.
We put the tapes in backwards, starting with the most recent, and began to watch. First shot there was visible boom. It made me feel lousy, amateurish, just no good. But it was something that could easily be dealt with and even in a different location if needed.
Then came the real shock. Right towards the end of a shot the tape jumped to something shot hours later. It hit me. All at once.
Mid-day yesterday we had done a rather tough sequence that took us a few hours to get right. Afterwords the actors wanted to see what the results had looked like. We rewinded and reviewed the tape before breaking for lunch. About and hour later we went out and continued shooting. Being the idiot that I am I forgot to rewind the tape. So that is it, weather permitting I have to re shoot about 3 hours of work today, primarily on a scene that was probably the most difficult thing we had shot up til that.
And as I said, I have yet to sleep for the last 22 hours, and likely wont be able to for another 17 hours.
Also I puked yesterday.
So, yeah, making an independent film is a lot of work.
It's been taking me a lot of Midol to get through the days already.
No-doze here I come.
But, on the plus side. I have now watched everything that is shot and can tell you that I think we've got a pretty good movie on our hands.
Ok, just actually fell asleep for about 10 minutes sitting up at the blog. So I can't say I've gotten no sleep. No lie.
Pictures to come. Prromise.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Production - Day 2
John again. I want to sleep. I have to sleep. So quickly:
These our actors. They're doing great.
This young boy is also acting in the film. He spent most of day doing things that to him must have seemed random and odd. Finally in his second to last shot of the night, when we had a set-up that would have eventually burnt a hole through our tend, he decided to ask the obvious "how come?" to my direction.
Scooters are our film making secret. It's all the scooters.
We were able to test our boat rig for the first time.
As soon as we had a rare moment of break Kurt looked like this.
Towards the end of the day literally everyone on set rallied to build a fire big enough to light the actors fast enough that we would have just enough natural light too. This was the moment that I really realized how much we were coming together and how proud I was of all of them.
So that is all, I am about to die, but this has been such a great experience. We've gotten so many things done that this morning seems like a week ago. There is much more pictures of the day, but those will have to be saved for later.
So goodnight to whoever it is that reads this blog.
These our actors. They're doing great.
This young boy is also acting in the film. He spent most of day doing things that to him must have seemed random and odd. Finally in his second to last shot of the night, when we had a set-up that would have eventually burnt a hole through our tend, he decided to ask the obvious "how come?" to my direction.
Scooters are our film making secret. It's all the scooters.
We were able to test our boat rig for the first time.
As soon as we had a rare moment of break Kurt looked like this.
Towards the end of the day literally everyone on set rallied to build a fire big enough to light the actors fast enough that we would have just enough natural light too. This was the moment that I really realized how much we were coming together and how proud I was of all of them.
So that is all, I am about to die, but this has been such a great experience. We've gotten so many things done that this morning seems like a week ago. There is much more pictures of the day, but those will have to be saved for later.
So goodnight to whoever it is that reads this blog.
Production - Day One - Part Two
Hey, this is Kurt, I finally have time to make a post!
As the producer, I basically get to run around attending to whatever the crew needs, making calls, getting locations, buying props, figuring out what to do when the dog eats our props, and basically doing the dirty work. Sometimes, the really dirty work.
For the movie, one of our biggest challenges was finding a deer carcass. I won't spoil the reason for the carcass, but I will tell you that everyone should be glad this movie isn't in smellovision.
The original plan for the dead deer was the Shawano County Highway Department. We'll get deer, they said. We pick up a truckload every week, they said. Come Friday, the deer suddenly decided to disappear, and we were left without our most important prop. As we headed up to the campsite, racking our brains for an answer, bemoaning all the work lost, Marla went and stole my deer thunder.
We spotted this little guy on the side of the road, with barely a scratch on him (just some very broken legs). We had our DNR permit, our giant cattle gloves, and a very strong-stomached Christopher Schasse, who was the only one brave enough to let the deer touch him.
So anyway, that was fun.
As for the shoot, we weren't able to start until about 4:30 in the afternoon, so that was a bit of a shame. Still, we didn't get too far behind schedule, and I'm confident that we will be ok. As long as we shoot for every waking hour the next five days.
Erin did a wonderful job at pretending to know how to clean a fish:
Chris almost never dropped the boom into frame:
Ilya figured out how to make a fire with very wet wood:
And John did a great job at setting up shots on the fly:
Of course, Marla took all these wonderful photos.
I'm heading back up the campsite, with my little cousin Ryan in tow (he's our child star), and Timmy in his triumphant return.
As the producer, I basically get to run around attending to whatever the crew needs, making calls, getting locations, buying props, figuring out what to do when the dog eats our props, and basically doing the dirty work. Sometimes, the really dirty work.
For the movie, one of our biggest challenges was finding a deer carcass. I won't spoil the reason for the carcass, but I will tell you that everyone should be glad this movie isn't in smellovision.
The original plan for the dead deer was the Shawano County Highway Department. We'll get deer, they said. We pick up a truckload every week, they said. Come Friday, the deer suddenly decided to disappear, and we were left without our most important prop. As we headed up to the campsite, racking our brains for an answer, bemoaning all the work lost, Marla went and stole my deer thunder.
We spotted this little guy on the side of the road, with barely a scratch on him (just some very broken legs). We had our DNR permit, our giant cattle gloves, and a very strong-stomached Christopher Schasse, who was the only one brave enough to let the deer touch him.
So anyway, that was fun.
As for the shoot, we weren't able to start until about 4:30 in the afternoon, so that was a bit of a shame. Still, we didn't get too far behind schedule, and I'm confident that we will be ok. As long as we shoot for every waking hour the next five days.
Erin did a wonderful job at pretending to know how to clean a fish:
Chris almost never dropped the boom into frame:
Ilya figured out how to make a fire with very wet wood:
And John did a great job at setting up shots on the fly:
Of course, Marla took all these wonderful photos.
I'm heading back up the campsite, with my little cousin Ryan in tow (he's our child star), and Timmy in his triumphant return.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Production - Day One - Part One
In less than an hour we will be off. This is it.
Will the rain turn the rest of my hairs grey?
Do we have enough people?
Enough time?
What are we going to forget to bring?
Will we be kicked out of our main location?
Find inner peace?
Form a cult?
Is anybody going to like this movie?
Only time will tell...
Also, we realize that traffic has really picked up on the blog now that the wheels are really turning. Take a chance to look around. On the bottom of the first page/second page there are bios that the actors and crew wrote on themselves. No one wanted to write those. Please make it worth their suffering and give them a glance. A second post with all sorts of pictures from the beginning of shooting should be coming later tonight.
Pre Production - Day Three
Today was a day of rain and frustration, two admirable foes deciding to team together like we were in a Batman sequel.
The rain came at us first, causing us to need to rearrange the schedule for tomorrow as it will likely rain then as well. Just as we had that problem sorted out we found out that the actors would not be able to arrive until mid afternoon due to a last minute issue at their work. That leaves us with less than 5 hours of daylight and a whole lot of shooting that almost has to be done together unless we want to lose the whole day. Should be fun, but seriously, filmmaking is just as much about these problems as it is about framing.
By the end of the night we put our heads down and pushed forward as we readied everything and loaded it in the van.
Tomorrow is over two years in the making for me. While it might not be fun in the traditional sense, there is nothing I would rather be worrying about than everything that is my mind right now.
The rain came at us first, causing us to need to rearrange the schedule for tomorrow as it will likely rain then as well. Just as we had that problem sorted out we found out that the actors would not be able to arrive until mid afternoon due to a last minute issue at their work. That leaves us with less than 5 hours of daylight and a whole lot of shooting that almost has to be done together unless we want to lose the whole day. Should be fun, but seriously, filmmaking is just as much about these problems as it is about framing.
By the end of the night we put our heads down and pushed forward as we readied everything and loaded it in the van.
Tomorrow is over two years in the making for me. While it might not be fun in the traditional sense, there is nothing I would rather be worrying about than everything that is my mind right now.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Pre Production - Day Two - Part Two
Today was the first of two days set aside for pre-production. It was a day filled with running around and sorting out all the last minute details. It was also a day of lasagna.
Here is Kurt as he drives us all over town so we can beg for favors from his family and friends.
Here we are planning things. First we take Manhattan...
This is what Chris will be spending most of the next week doing. He isn't employed, he has nothing better to do.
Here I am with Timmy and his uncle as we work out our home made steadicam setup. Timmy bailed that hay. Way to go Timmy!
This is Timmy's place that we raided for many of our props.
Timmy, Timmy, Timmy. I guess there was a lot of Timmy today. Or maybe he's just so photogenic. Anywho, here he is working on a mount we are building to attach the camera to a boat.
Marla finally decided she wanted to make sure people wouldn't forget she was ever here. So she put the camera on a timer and jumped in front with the rest of us.
Q: Where's Timmy?
At the end of the day the crew sat down with the Raether family to enjoy a pan of Lasagna that weighed in at around 19 Lbs. Yes we weighed our dinner.
A: Timmy had to run home.
Pre Production - Day Two - Part One
We all got into Shawano last night. Kurt got up early today and worked his producer magic to secure some locations. Just had some eggs and now we are splitting up and heading out to tackle the heavy itinerary we have set out. Should be some exciting picture posted later tonight.
ttfn-
john
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john
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