"Rubble" to shoot next weekend

Lilith

Lilith

Well guys, I am at it again!

We are shooting our next short, Rubble, next weekend. The run time will be about 5 minutes. It is a narrative piece that would also qualify as an alternative piece. We are shooting in Port Clinton, OH for two 12 hour days with 2 actors.

Unlike Killer Squirrel or Twenty First Century, this one is 3/4 indoor shooting. I like the idea that I can control the environment to some extent. We have 2 cameras, Cannon XL1s and Panasonic I think. Recording to minidisc for dialogue with a boom mic. We have a dp and a lighting designer, a composer, a first AD and multiple PA's. It's like we're doing a feature! We will even be doing some CGI.

Andy Schofield and Brandy Seymour are the actors. They play a married couple who may be coming to the end of their relationship. Will they survive the Rubble?

The script is adapted from an original short story by Chandler Chapman (my co-conspirator in life and film). I would love to have in 'in the can' for January. This film is designed specifically to appeal to a distributor who has shown interest in my earlier work. It is nothing like Killer Squirrel.

Just thought I'd keep everyone who cares (Hi, Mom!) up to date.
 
mrde50 said:
But we LOVE Killer Squirrel!
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Really? Thanks! That is so sweet. I love it too, but I am usually more 'intellectual' in my filmmaking choices than that. Twenty First Century dealt with Satan's place in modern life as captured by a student film crew. A dark comedy certainly, but far more existential than KS.

Rubble is all drama and metaphor. It's fun to do something different with each project.

I also like to explore new technical aspects that I have yet to learn ( which is ALOT). Twenty First Century was just to get one done- and to prove that we know at least a bit about what makes a good film. It has many, many, many freshman mistakes.

KS was an exercise in several things: 1) to prove I could show a story instead of tell it. 2) to play with camera angles and lighting (still could have done more). 3) Keep it as short as possible.

Rubble is about lighting and camera work. Can we visually excel what is on the page to the level I see in my head? Can I finally put my fears about breaking the 180 behind me? Is it possible to make video look so good that you forget it's video? Can I really direct actors on film as well as I can in theater? These are the questions driving this latest shoot.

So, we'll see how I do in the coming weeks. :)

Thanks again for the really nice and unexpected comment.
 
OK, we shot it!

This was my most challenging shoot to date. Practical SFX, dueling camera angles, extremely dramatic and difficult dialogue and emotional requirements for the actors, a half foot of snow keeping my Cleveland crew stuck in Cleveland for a bit... You know, the usual.

Please take a moment to allow me to acknowlege the AWESOME & TALENTED FOLKS who perservered with me to shoot so much stuff, I don't know how I'll ever cull it down to 5 minutes!

CHANDLER CHAPMAN- Writer and Exec. Producer
JOHNNY K. WU- Director of Photography
PETER SAMPSON- Lighting Designer & Second Unit Camera
JEFF YANIK- First A.D.
BRANDY SEYMOUR- "Elizabeth"
ANDY SCHOFIELD- "Michael"

THE AMAZING "EVERYTHING CREW"
ARMON ARCURI
CYNTHIA GRAHAM
JAMES OROSZ
REBECCA CHAPMAN (age 8)- Slate

ERIC POTTER
WAYNE ORRIS- Production Assistants

THANKS TO ALL OF YOU!

I am transferring the dv to vhs on Friday to start my EDL in preparation for edit. This time, I am flying solo on my edit (with a safety net of Mr. Wu, I hope). Arya Kumar is again scoring the film. Hope to edit over the next month to 45 days.

I will post stills and such on my website as soon as it is redesigned. Which will be when my head unscrambles. :)
 
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OK, I am editing. FINALLY!

I am learning Premiere Pro for this. Haven't used it before... Haven't been the lead editor before either...
The learning curve hasn't been too bad. I was lead to believe it would be a tough transition from Vegas. Not so far. However, I did mess up some commands and had to completely redo a sequence...

I AM SOOOO LOVING THIS!!! I have spent about 20 hours on the edit so far (including watching the raw footage a hundred times to create an EDL- which I have decided not to use after all) and have roughed in 1:13:26 of the approx. 5 minute final product.

WHAT A RUSH! When you hit the edit point dead on and create a seamless moment... It ranks pretty close to sex in the scheme of things for me. (Sorry to my hubby, but it is true.) :)

I had to stop editing and come home for the night, but I am back to it in the early morning, and I am not leaving tomorrow till I have a finished rough cut.

Question for all of you- do you get on the edit within hours of "cut!" or do you sit on it a bit before you look at it again?

I find that I need some distance from the project (at least a week or two) to allow me to see it fresh before I get into it. Although this is my 1st project flying mostly solo on edit, it is my 3rd short, so I have experience with theory.

Just thought I'd give you guys the update. Thanks for reading.
 
Christine, I usually get a rough cut, sit on it for 24 hours and go back and re-watch again, it helps me to look at different perspective. Sometimes, I would go watch another person's film and then back to mine :)
 
Lilith said:
WHAT A RUSH! When you hit the edit point dead on and create a seamless moment... It ranks pretty close to sex.
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I need to rethink my editing style...

PS-- Congrats on moving forward with your project. All the talk in the world still isn't as good as little action. ;)
 
mdifilm said:
I usually get a rough cut, sit on it for 24 hours and go back and re-watch again, it helps me to look at different perspective.
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I couldn't agree more. I've done this and am surprised every time at the new prespective I gain on the current edit. Yes, it may sound strange, but this DOES WORK.
 
Well, it's nearly there! I have been driving to Cleveland 2 to 4 times a week to work on it. The rough cut took me 4 days (and that was learning Premiere Pro for the first time too). I get the score tomorrow. Monday I will add the sfx shots that have been created by my animator, Brendan, color correct and I am done.

You know what the hard part was for me? The TITLES!!! I didn't know that I was trying to use the wrong tool to expand the area and it took me ALL DAY to get a 30 sec. end credit roll done. UGH!

The end result is a bit longer than anticipated at 7:05, but I feel good about that. The only places I could cut, I don't really want to because the story would suffer in my opinion.

I got a great break on end credit music too. My 'usual' composer, Arya Kumar did the score. However, I stumbled across a great new artist online, Joanne Ramsey from the UK, who has consented for me to use her song "Troubled Soul" at the end of the film.

In other news, both "Rubble" and "Killer Squirrel" will be shown at the Look At My Shorts III Festival in Columbus on Feb. 26th. This will be the World Premiere of Rubble, and in a real theater too! Also, "Rubble" will be on the extra features of the new "Drama Queen" music video dvd directed by Johnny Wu.

Now, if I can just get the distributor I want to BUY the thing... :)
 
Nice, Christine!

Best of luck in the final stages! And don't get me started on learning the text stuff in Premiere- lol. I couldn't figure it out for the life of me for the longest time. LOL. Great job- hope I get to see the final product- what ARE your plans for distribution?
 
I shot this with the end goal of selling it to the Spiritual Cinema Circle- Stephen Simon's subscription service. They have over 3,000 members and send out 1 dvd a month with 3 shorts and a feature. The members pay their monthly fee and the filmmakers receive a cut. Then, the film goes into the library at SCC for a year so members can purchase it. The contract is non-exclusive. I retain all rights.

They asked for a screener of "Twenty First Century" a year ago and ultimately passed on it. (I don't blame them, I wouldn't have bought it either!) But it was SOOO nice to have someone interested in my first film. Since then, I've researched their choices. When I read this story, I knew it was right up their alley. Here's hoping I am right.
 
Christine, it's also world premiere for Going Postal :) So, that Saturday is going to be 3 shorts with you involved :)
 
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