There were a lot of titles that could have gone with this blog, but whatever the title, the subject would be the same. This thing is coming together. Granted, the time frame from the first shot- back in February- to the last shot- look for it in either September or October- is unenviable from a continuity standpoint (Did I mention the place we’re shooting this just got a new, very different-looking refrigerator this week? Gotta get some more retakes I guess.), but I knew going in this wasn’t gonna be perfect. You just hope for the best and do what you can.
And what did we do this week? We set ourselves up for a single, final day on “Movement I” of this thriller, and I couldn’t be happier with our progress. We not only got up to the point I wanted to get to today- not far before the end- but we also went beyond, shooting some footage (what we could, at least) with our friend Mike, who- other than Day 3 when we shot the flashback- has just had to sit back and watch myself, Ron, and Dave go rehearsal after rehearsal, take after take of flubbed lines, less-than-great execution of the actions we’re supposed to be doing during the sometimes marble-mouth-inducing dialogue (which is where the subtitle for this entry came from). It has allowed him to get some interesting behind-the-scenes footage (via his own camera) that I’m gonna put together for a little documentary on making this film for people to see on the eventual DVD; we watched what he got last week before we started to shoot today, and it was pretty entertaining stuff.
This has been a fun learning experience for everyone involved, and I- for one- can’t wait to show people. I’m really looking forward to hitting the editing/post production portion of production, sifting through the hours (literally) of footage we have to put together this film, which has been a very personal expression/experiment for me. The sifting will be time consuming, but hey, that’s the process.
Like the second day of shooting, Chris (whose help with this film has been invaluable thus far, and beyond just providing the camera equipment, some of the props, and the editing software I’m working on) had to leave early to visit with family, but with an extra set of hands we were able to smoothly (kind of) get a lot more done today to where on the final day of shooting this movement, we have some makeup shots to get, some individual sides to shoot for the last conversation in this part of the story, some brief pickups, and a brief rewrite scene that goes with the flashback from Day Three that we have yet to do.
The question came up today from Mike regarding what was going to happen with this film when it’s done. Well, it’ll be on not just on Sonic Cinema but MySpace (via a forthcoming Cinema Nouveau Films page) for sure. I’ve also thought about submitting it to sites like iFilm and Atom Films to see if we can get some feedback from there. And if it isn’t too embarrassing, possibly a submission to the Atlanta Film Festival isn’t out of the question. But that’s not in the cards just yet. First comes a trailer, and then a finished product. For their help in that- for not just today, but in shooting days past and future- Ron (and his parents, whose house we’ve been shooting at), Dave, Mike, and Chris (and Jeff B., who I didn’t recruit this time but may for the last day) have my thanks…and a guaranteed spot in the end credits.
Thanks for listening,
Brian Skutle
www.sonic-cinema.com
Click here to download or watch Brian’s first video diary after the first day of shooting.
Click here to read my fourth “Unwinnable Hand†Production Diary.
Click here to read my third “Unwinnable Hand†Production Diary.
Click here to read my second “Unwinnable Hand†Production Diary.
Click here to read my first “Unwinnable Hand†Production Diary.
