The changes a single day can make may seem minor taken piece by piece, but look at the two versions of this opening from the previous post to the one above. You'll that the additions, subtractions, and shifting of pacing and effects can affect the movie as a whole quite significantly.
Now that I have this opening segment more or less in hand, it might be time to work up a new teaser trailer. We've had the same teaser since 2004, and there's definitely room for improvement now that more of the film is in the can and in some kind of shape to be presented to the public. Add to that the fact that I now have a copy of Adobe Premiere to actually make some things happen... and maybe this trailer will actually be something worth watching more than once. Maybe. For old times' sake, here's the original trailer. Notice the lack of original music... but that's hardly a problem with trailers. Ever notice how every movie advertisement pulls from the same tired library of movie scores? Just chalk this one up as one more trailer to get mileage out of Requiem for a Dream's soundtrack hit, Clint Mansell's Lux Aeterna.
This is the latest version of the film's first three-and-a-half minutes. I've removed the initial holder soundtrack with original music. The majority of it I recorded today very quickly using my Lenovo s10-3 with Audacity and my Casio Privia PX-320 electric piano. It's basically my response to a piece from Jami Sieber's 2004 album Hidden Sky calledPrayer 1, which is numbered to differentiate it from Prayer 2 on the same album. That was the place-holder soundtrack while I finished editing.
I should have a finished opening sequence to share soon. The editing process has been taxing but rewarding. In preparation for posting on YouTube I've removed the last of the music written by other artists, so that now there is nothing not written by either myself or John Max McFarland. The next order of business is to finish a trailer for the first chapter/installment.
The casting process for AHRS was rarely logical- we tended to assign characters to faraway friends and family, so whenever someone was kind enough to visit Ann Arbor we would take them out for a hectic, marathon day of filming.We tried to run through the entire script, making sure we hit every scene with that actor present.However, our planning rarely made sure that the OTHER people from each scene were visiting at the same time.
A common problem for us, then, was how to deal with scenes that called for more than three characters at any single time (i.e. pretty much every scene in a squad-based war movie).Our writing process rarely made concessions to reality, and once we had something in a script we tried to figure out how we could get some approximation of it on film.The solution that we used for previous projects- crosscuts between actors who never met each other- will still show up in AHRS out of necessity, but it’s *cough cough* unconvincing at best.
Digital compositing software gives us some additional opportunities.One obvious option is the classic chroma key: filming actors separately, then removing the background to place them in the same shot.I'm doing this in several scenes with the character Torque, since Dave was awesome enough to make a blue screen studio in his garage, and we handled most of his scenes in Kalamazoo. This provides more flexibility in putting shots together, but the believability of the final result is dependent on subtle cues that require color correction, grain matching, etc.Frankly, I’m not experienced enough to create scenes that look natural.
If some of the characters are just nameless extras, an easier option is to stick the camera on a tripod and divide the field of view into distinct regions, then populate each area with the three or four people we had on hand.All that's required in post is to put a mask around each group and adjust the clip timing so the different sets of characters appear side by side.The final product doesn’t depend on my compositing skills, since all the actors are filmed in the same physical space under the same conditions.As long as you’re willing to forgive all the dopplegangers pointing guns at each other, then it's a very easy effect.
One example that you’ll see in the first chapter is a confrontation with a big crowd of armed dudes springing an ambush.The dozen or so combatants required about ten minutes of Becky, Mike and myself walking around a field, changing outfits and popping up from behind weeds.
In retrospect, the camera was far enough away that changing outfits each time was unnecessary; we’re kinda just little black blobs using my 2003 Sony Handycam (no HD issues here).But because no editing was required beyond masking the individual regions, we’re little black blobs that match our surroundings.
Note that in the final shot the most unnatural element is the “wreckage” I tried to stick in for plot reasons, so you might not even think about whether those dozen guys with guns are really there.Like I said, my compositing sucks.
The perfect soundtrack is unnoticed. It achieves atmosphere and mood without hindering the story. It should also try and make up for mistakes in other areas, if possible. This is in much the same way that beautiful visuals can try to make up for poor acting, something very much a concern and hope of Weathercock Productions. With an independent film that will almost certainly never see broad distribution, practically any and all music and sound is available. YouTube has gotten better at recognizing copyright violations, however, so if we do decide to make use of copyrighted material, YouTube is out as the primary venue.
Fortunately, we do have a small but vigorous library of original music of which we can make use. I think I'll add another page to the blog to showcase the music created by our man-behind-the-scores, John Max McFarland.
I enjoy getting my hands on a blog template now and again. As will probably be a theme throughout this campaign, I'm reminiscing about all the change in our lives (Joe's and my own) since we started this project way back in 2003. Some changes are long-since past and settled. One change is my grasp of CSS and web-design. Traditionally very rudimentary, but I've recently been able to take some classes that have made me more confident in fiddling with settings I previously knew not to touch.
How will this translate to the movie project? Well, the same University that pays for my web classes also provides free access to Adobe Creative Suite 5 Premium. That, in turn, translates to free copies of Dreamweaver, Acrobat Pro, Photoshop, Premiere, and After Effects. The raw footage itself is in Joe's capable hands, but after the video feed has been more or less prepared, it comes to me for Foley work (sound editing). This can be something as subtle as noise reduction and volume leveling, or as in-your-face as amplified mech footsteps and explosions. There are also titles and certain sequences that I've agreed to handle.
A lot of our cooperation is based on self-delegation. Our partnership is incredibly organic, with practically no chance for regrets or second guesses. I'm not sure what the ideal work environment will be in my future career, but I know it'll compare poorly with what Joe and I have going. Then again, that's probably always the case between one's hobby and one's profession.
This production blog is about to get off the ground! The film of the century, Weathercock Production's "And Honor Rode Shotgun," is once again in production. Easily the most unique film to come out of the US in the past 20 years, it's sure to win your heart. Look to this blog for information, exclusive interviews, stills from the production, and treats from post-production.
