blog Leap

Backstory:
I've completed three independent feature films, plus countless shorts and adverts. My first feature was a no budget slasher I shot in 2007 for a budget of $600 called "Wulf". It played a few festivals and then I buried it, considering it my trunk novel. In 2009, I turned my back on horror and decided to be the Christian I considered myself to be. I still wanted to make movies and had an idea to combine parkour and the last days into a movie that was ultimately called "Leap".

I shot it in 2009 on MiniDV (a Canon ZR800) for a budget of $200. I spent three months teaching my actors parkour and they did most of their own stunts. It screened at a local theater and we sold 200 DVDs. Let's be honest though- it's bad. My heart was in the right place, wanting to share what I was finding in my own personal Bible studies with the rest of the world, but it was poorly executed.

In 2010, I made the sequel, "Leap: Rise of the Beast". It was the first feature film shot on a Canon Rebel T2i and we only had the kit lens. The budget was $2000 and continued the story I began in the first film: a group of college kids trying to save the world while the Vatican hunts them down. My goal was to make a Christian version of the Bourne series. We had a theatrical screening for it, sold 100 DVDs and then I stuck it on YouTube in 2012 and it now has over 1.5 million views and has made over $10,000 over the past ten years. Most of that money has gone toward purchasing better equipment because hey, tax write-offs

Immediately after Leap 2 came out, I wanted to do something different before finishing the story. So I wrote a supernatural Christian thriller but everyone kept begging me to do Leap 3 next instead. I caved and wrote the script called "Leap: Revelation". It picked up in the middle of Leap 2, followed a new parkour crew and took us to the end of the world. The only thing stopping me from shooting it was the financing. I figured that I'd need $20,000 to do the movie on a "low-budget" while paying for actors and a few key crew members. Unfortunately I never raised the funds.

The past ten years saw me being homeless, getting a dream job as a VFX supervisor, losing everything I owned (including my dog) in a house fire, rebuilding my life, getting a wife, a new dog, and moving back to Montana. Now I run my own production studio called Pyro Studios and I feel like I'm at a point where I want to revisit this material again. I've grown a lot as a person and as a filmmaker and finally feel like now is the time. I've been keeping a production journal on my computer and I'll be sharing that here.

I hope it is useful and I welcome you all along this journey.

-Chris

Ten Years Difference

 

[Chris Tempel]

Fun With Blood
Today I did a proof of concept for yet another effect. In the film, all the water has turned to blood and the main characters discover this by turning on a faucet. My plan was originally to do this the "right way" by getting a sink and faucet and rigging it up so my corn syrup blood wood flow out of it. The problem was that I didn't want to spend the money on it, especially since it's for one shot that will probably be less than five seconds. So I turned to VFX.

I went through my asset collection of blood and couldn't find any that fit what I needed. I checked ActionVFX and Production Crate as well and they didn't have what I wanted, so I decided to make my own. Setup the greenscreen, dug out an old bottle of Karo blood that I made for a project over five years ago and had fun. I had stored my blood in the actual Karo Syrup bottle, and discovered I could get a really nasty, globby look by squeezing and releasing the bottle. I shot that with my camera and sat down at my edit machine.

I hadn't done any real VFX work on the new machine yet, so this was a great test. I trimmed up the clip in Resolve and exported a plate to Nuke. Since my hand (and thus the bottle) was moving, the first thing I did was stabilize the shot around the mouth of the bottle. Keyed it with Keylight, added a garbage mask, and rendered the result as a ProRes file with alpha and stuck it in the folder with my other blood elements.

Next I went to the kitchen and shot a quick test with my iPhone of the sink and brought that into a new Nuke project. Imported my new blood asset, tracked it in, a little roto, a little blur and here we go:

Overall, I'm pretty stoked with how this test worked out. There's some more tweaks I'll make to the final shot when I shoot it for real, but it's good enough for my test and now I can shoot the scene with confidence. Not a bad way to kill a few hours today

 

[Chris Tempel]

Resolve Issues
I discovered this morning a pretty big issue with my computer. Most of the client work I do is shot at ProRes 422 since it's usually not VFX heavy. It edits and renders just fine.

Yesterday, while doing my blood test, I noticed a beep from my motherboard while rendering the RAW greenscreen element to a .tif file for Nuke. It was only one beep, so I didn't think much of it. This morning, I wanted to go through the steps again of my workflow since I hadn't tried that yet on my new computer.

I had shot a small test scene, in RAW (Cinema DNG since this is the URSA Mini 4K), and went to convert the files to MXF for editing in Avid. The motherboard beeped liked crazy for a few moments and then I got hit with a BSOD (Blue Screen of Death) before the entire computer rebooted.

Ouch.

I opened the project again, tried it again, same issue. For the third test, I opened a project that was cut with just the ProRes files. No issue. The render went off without a hitch. I imported my RAW test shots to this project, tried to render, and it crashed. Tried different export settings and codecs, same thing.

It only crashes when I'm rendering RAW clips. There's no color or effects or anything applied. I think that the only reason it didn't crash yesterday was because the shot was so short.

I opened up my performance monitor and discovered that with ProRes and h.264, my GPU is doing all the work as it should and the CPU barely activates. With the Cinema DNG files, my CPU hits 100% immediately and starts beeping before crashing. I've tried forcing Resolve to use the GPU and updated my drivers and all that, but same problem.

The crappy part is that I can't even say, "I'll just edit in Resolve" because it's crashing in Resolve when trying to do any exports. If I can't fix this issue, my only option will be to shoot the film in ProRes. Not ideal, but it is a work around if I need it. With this particular camera, I do get the best image when shooting RAW because I can check a switch in Resolve called "Highlight Recovery" that brings back some detail to blown areas.

 

[Chris Tempel]

Okay, problems solved. Or at least a good workaround.

Apparently Resolve doesn't use the GPU when rendering cDNG files, only the CPU. For whatever reason, the CPU temperature was getting out of control, even with my cooler, and overheating. The "fix" that I found was to change my Render Speed from Maximum to 50. That keeps my temp right at 80 degrees C. I've been experimenting today and that seems to be the sweet spot. No hangups, no crashes.

Also found the solution to another problem where Resolve would create my MXFs for Avid with timeline timecode rather than the source timecode of the original shots. It was preventing me from conforming my Avid timeline in Resolve, so having a fix for that too is a good thing.

So now I want to shoot a one minute short to pressure test my pipeline: dual system sound, ACES, RAW footage, an offline in Avid, and maybe one VFX shot in Nuke. If the one minute short goes smooth, I'll know that I have everything worked out. Now I just need a story.

 

[Chris Tempel]

Just made my cast announcement for the leads on Facebook and wanted to record it here in the journal. Meet Roman Nuttbrock and McKenna Munden as Blake and Liz:

I also started on the edit in Avid Media Composer. I exported the intro sequence from Resolve as a single .mxf and brought that in and started a 1st cut timeline. I'm stoked.

Oh! And I also bought and have started reading "Directing Actors". I feel like I'm a very technical director and and I want to improve how I work with actors. I'm only a third through the book, but I highly recommend it!

 

[Chris Tempel]

One month to go. Lots to do.

I'm halfway through "Directing Actors" and wow is it changing how I'll direct this movie! Some of it is a little touchy-feely for me, but I can see why it's beneficial for working with actors. It's info like what's in the book that will add a layer of production value that we don't often talk about. Usually we think of the camera and what's in front of it. Great sets, cool props, amazing stunts... But actors are in front of the camera too, and the better I can help them do their job, the better the film will be.

I've had to revamp the shooting schedule a few times to accommodate the actors availability, but it's making for a much tighter shoot and I think that will be a good thing. It keeps the energy up.

I made an announcement at my church about the film and that I'm looking for some locations and actors. I had one lady that was super excited and wanted to act, but once she read the script, she had a problem with one specific scene that ended up being a deal breaker for her. I've racked my brain to see if there's a way to address and mitigate her concern, but I got nothing. So the casting search continues.

Starting next week, I'll be reaching out to all the businesses that I've been wanting to shoot at. I've been trying to frequent them regularly so they get used to seeing me and know who I am, that way when I ask them if I can shoot there, it's not like I'm a total stranger.

Equipment-wise, I've purchased everything I need. I have a large mat for stunt work, a large diffusion screen with stands for shooting outdoors, reflectors, c-stands, audio recorder, mic, XLRs, tons of lights and more.

Audio-wise, I'm trying to decide what to do. I have a Zoom H4n with an AT875r mic. I also have a boom holder for a c-stand in the event I don't have someone to hold it. I'm also not opposed to doing ADR if I need to. Basically, I'm trying to decide if it's worth recording my sound separately or just run it into my camera. Recording in camera will save time on set since I don't have to hit record on two devices and slate every shot. I'm just wondering if what my camera records via XLR is indistinguishable from the Zoom in a theater or on the TV?

 

[mlesemann]

Starting next week, I'll be reaching out to all the businesses that I've been wanting to shoot at. I've been trying to frequent them regularly so they get used to seeing me and know who I am, that way when I ask them if I can shoot there, it's not like I'm a total stranger.

Great approach, and exactly what I've done. It was especially helpful with our local bar

Are you going to get production insurance? I found it essential but you may not. Having a tight shooting schedule definitely helps to keep that cost down.
We used Film Emporium fyi.

Film Emporium Production Insurance

I'm not a tech person so I'll stay away from the sound question except to say that I think those on here who know will tell you that you'll do much better with dedicated sound equipment rather than recording in camera.

 

[sfoster]

Audio-wise, I'm trying to decide what to do. I have a Zoom H4n with an AT875r mic. I also have a boom holder for a c-stand in the event I don't have someone to hold it. I'm also not opposed to doing ADR if I need to. Basically, I'm trying to decide if it's worth recording my sound separately or just run it into my camera. Recording in camera will save time on set since I don't have to hit record on two devices and slate every shot. I'm just wondering if what my camera records via XLR is indistinguishable from the Zoom in a theater or on the TV?

I shot my film christmas hellfire solo without a sound person... setup takes longer, and shooting days require much more thorough planning.
Also sometimes you accidentally get a C-stand in the shot and it's annoying, so much better to have a sound guy obviously but sometimes we work with what we have instead of what we want...

I prioritized any scenes with intense drama to have a mic and c-stand, and then I used some ADR and on-camera mic for the more casual talking scenes. In retrospect I do wish that I had got some hardware to mount my real mic and preamp next to the camera, cause even though it's further away, the quality would have been a lot higher for those casual scenes instead of an on-camera mic.

The worst sound that I got was my reporter outside cause the on-camera mic is totally shit in the wind!!

 

[Chris Tempel]

Great approach, and exactly what I've done. It was especially helpful with our local bar

A bar is one of the locations I'm hoping for, so good to know!

I would like to get some insurance, I just don't know if I can swing it. I appreciate the link. I think I've worked with them before through a production house I used to work for.

I shot my film christmas hellfire solo without a sound person... setup takes longer, and shooting days require much more thorough planning.
Also sometimes you accidentally get a C-stand in the shot and it's annoying, so much better to have a sound guy obviously but sometimes we work with what we have instead of what we want...

I prioritized any scenes with intense drama to have a mic and c-stand, and then I used some ADR and on-camera mic for the more casual talking scenes. In retrospect I do wish that I had got some hardware to mount my real mic and preamp next to the camera, cause even though it's further away, the quality would have been a lot higher.

I've done ADR for all the dialogue in three features, so I'm hoping to move away from that this time. I guess I'm wondering if I'm using the same mic, and same cables, if recording on camera will be that much worse than using the Zoom. I can also mount my mic to the camera and have a six inch XLR cable that lets me use it camera mounted for action scenes.

 

[sfoster]

I've done ADR for all the dialogue in three features, so I'm hoping to move away from that this time. I guess I'm wondering if I'm using the same mic, and same cables, if recording on camera will be that much worse than using the Zoom. I can also mount my mic to the camera and have a six inch XLR cable that lets me use it camera mounted for action scenes.

Ah well the answer is simple enough to find... plug it in and do a test!

 

[Chris Tempel]

The saga continues...

Came across an old book I have the other day: The Making of Star Wars Episode 1. I haven't read it since 2003 probably but flicking through it the other day brought back a lot of memories. It was a huge inspiration for me back in the day and was the closest thing to a full film school that I had. It covered the story process, concept design, casting, shooting, stunts, vfx... the whole gambit.

I also have it's sequel, The Making of Attack of the Clones. The great thing about this book is that it chronicles the beginning of the shift to digital in movies. It's because of those two books that I never had a desire to shoot on film. "If Lucas can shoot Star Wars digitally, I can shoot my movies digitally", even if they were shot on MiniDV instead of an F900.

Looking at the cameras and the editing environment they had back in 2002, I had a cool realization: my camera is better than what they had on Star Wars AotC. My editing setup is a million times better than what they had. I've achieved my childhood dream! I have the tools, now it's up to the direction and how they're used.

Moving on to locations, one of my clients lives in a really cool cabin/rustic home and it was perfect for what I had written in the script. I asked him yesterday about shooting there and he said of course. Today I get a phone call from him because his wife will not be enthusiastic when he tells her. She's very concerned about privacy and such (which I totally get) and he thinks she'll say no. We decided the best thing to do was to minimize what I would need to shoot inside their place, moving some scenes outside, and have me ask her myself since I technically "don't know" how concerned she is.

My client thinks his wife might be receptive to shooting outside on their property, so I could move a big indoor scene outside. Indoors, I would then only need their kitchen, one shot of an actor on their upstairs overlook, and one shot from that overlook towards a door. If I can reassure her that we won't touch anything, move anything and that only myself and two actors are inside the house, then I might have a shot at using the kitchen and upstairs overlook. I've got to go film for my client this Friday, so I'm going to ask her then.

Things with my two leads are coming along. We're getting them squared away with costumes and such, plus my lead actor has a younger brother that is really into working behind the scenes and will be on set every day to help as needed. Since they are coming from out of town, they'll be staying with my wife and I. We decided that a week before shooting, I'll move my desk and computer out of the office and into our bedroom. That way we can put an inflatable mattress in the office for my actor and his brother (there's a futon in here too). I'm not too thrilled about having to move the edit bay for a month, but I'll do anything to make this film happen.

 

[mlesemann]

I could move a big indoor scene outside.

3 cheers for flexibility (seriously).
One of my best memories of shooting my first feature (I wrote & produced), is when the director suggested moving a major indoor scene outside.

She blocked it & rehearsed with the actors, then asked me to watch a rehearsal & give a thumbs up or thumbs down re the outdoor setting. It was so "right" that I almost cried ("there's no crying in producing!" or baseball).

Fingers crossed that she agrees to the minimal indoor shoot.

 

[Chris Tempel]

Got my first shot today!

The brakes on my truck have been acting up, so I've been working on getting them back up to speed. Decided to take it for a test drive this morning and figured I might as well bring the camera and tripod and get my first shot. It's an establisher of the hospital overrun by hordes of people (basically the same thing that I tested a few months back). I drove about ten minutes to the middle school, found my spot up on a hill overlooking the school, setup the camera and away we went. I got two focal lengths, and filmed each one twice for about ten seconds.

Feels good to get that first shot in the can. I may start on some VFX for it when I have the time, but for now I just colored the busses blue and exported the MXF files for Avid. At least I won't have to look at yellow busses in the rough cut

Here's the shot with some quick color and a Kodak LUT applied:

And in this one I've quickly painted what I want to do:
The green is CG vehicles, the yellow is signage, red is people, and blue is the dash of the truck that the shot is viewed from

 

[Nate North]

Looks good. Have you considered sky replacement for this shot? It's a good candidate for it, and would allow you much greater control over the aesthetic balance of the scene. Depending on what your final color look is, you might want to pave over a lot of that yellow grass on the main field with more green grass, or the reverse, just make it less splotchy, because that distracting extra detail on the grass is going to steal a bit of focus, and make it harder to get a pleasing color balance. The two framing trees are looking a touch dark on the low end.

Just thinking out loud, obviously whatever ends up fitting your vision is the best look. Good luck, and congratulations on getting your first shot in the can!

 

[Chris Tempel]

It's still a work in progress, but coming along nicely. Still need to add the helicopter, some people running toward the crowd, flashing lights on the ambulance, and maybe some birds. And of course color the busses blue once the shot comes back to Resolve.

Here's a look at the creation of the crowd in Blender using an add-on:

Using Eevee, it took about 1.2 seconds per frame to render. Super easy to use, and my computer didn't choke on it at all. Well, it's choking, but not from being overworked.

Since I built the new computer, I've been getting a BSOD (Blue Screen of Death) fairly regularly, doing the most mundane tasks. Sometimes even just flipping through photos. The only thing I can think of is that the RAM I bought is optimized for AMD, but I went with Intel. I just ordered some new RAM from New Egg and it should be here Wednesday. I'm really hoping that's the issue.

Looks good. Have you considered sky replacement for this shot? It's a good candidate for it, and would allow you much greater control over the aesthetic balance of the scene. Depending on what your final color look is, you might want to pave over a lot of that yellow grass on the main field with more green grass, or the reverse, just make it less splotchy, because that distracting extra detail on the grass is going to steal a bit of focus, and make it harder to get a pleasing color balance. The two framing trees are looking a touch dark on the low end.

Just thinking out loud, obviously whatever ends up fitting your vision is the best look. Good luck, and congratulations on getting your first shot in the can!

I might do a sky replacement, hadn't really thought about for this one, but could be good. Good idea bout the grass too. Will definitely do that!

 

[Chris Tempel]

Got the computer up and running. I ended having to rollback my GPU driver, reset BIOS, then update BIOS. Since, then, I haven't had a single crash!

Talked with my lead actor today to finalize plans since he's coming out in two weeks. Also got most of my equipment moved out to the garage and setup a charging station for all the batteries (two for the camera, two for the drone, two battery packs for audio, two walkie talkies, and three pairs of batteries for the LED lights).

My next project today is to make a guac gun out of a garden sprayer (which I bought just for this purpose, so no harmful chemicals have been in it). I need someone to get blasted in the chest with a shotgun, so I'm hoping this will work okay.

 

[sfoster]

My next project today is to make a guac gun out of a garden sprayer (which I bought just for this purpose, so no harmful chemicals have been in it). I need someone to get blasted in the chest with a shotgun, so I'm hoping this will work okay.

 

[Chris Tempel]

Epic!

 

[Chris Tempel]

 

[Nate North]

Node based coding for visuals is where it's at. I think that for people that don't know it, it looks like Sanskrit, but once you fully comprehend the level of control and organization it provides, you don't really want to go back.

The big deal for me is being able to build a really complex post structure for a scene, and then just copy paste the node graphs to adapt all of that already finished work to new uses. It's amazing the amount of work you can automate once you just start copy pasting the automater code and just refitting it to various purposes with small tweaks.

 

[Chris Tempel]

A million times yes. I do that quite a bit. There's a matching shot to this one that's a bit wider, but won't take much to tweak to make that possible.

I love that nodes, and Nuke in particular, are/is used in movies. If I need help with something, I'm getting actual professionals helping me, not a 12 year old with a bootleg copy of After Effects doing tutorials in his parent's basement. In this shot, my camera node with the shake is actually a gizmo from Nukepedia. Totally a great resource! I've gotten so many things from there. And you just open them in a text file and copy and paste into your flow.