Rowing the Atlantic - the Film.

I'm procrastinating - but it has to be said, my procrastination is beneficial. Whilst it isn't exactly a quiet morning with a cup of coffee outside of a tiki hut by the sea (as this is the mental image of an ideal wake-up really) it is a relatively calm and collected one. Ideal for looking over some random fluff, browse through some rowing stuff and plot some film ideas.

Admittedly the film ideas stem from brief conversations last night about DaNnY's music video; and then wandering over to an old friend's myspace page. Vaitea has been part of the hip-hop scene for ages and she's always struck me as someone interesting to film - not to mention she's in Italy and my itchy feet have been itchier than ever these few months (years).

Then of course, there was the discovery of Roz Savage's Atlantic Row film, which is available on digital download at Journey Films. She's just been nominated for National Geographic's Adventurer of the Year. NG's website also has a link for gear of the year, which includes.... the Vibrams. And the rather cool looking Helmetcam. The showcase videos on the website look rather spiffy it has to be said, and could be worth a purchase methinks.

Next Reckless.

Things are still in the pre-production stage, but the actual content for the next Reckless project is definitely in the bag. With an assignment to make a music video, and having already featured DaNnY's music in Reckless Zen, it's only logical to meld the two together again and continue the story...

Check out DaNnY's tracks at his Myspace page, and watch this space for the production diary of the music video. Meanwhile, Danny is guesting with the Million Dollar Band at the Rugby 7's again. Two hours of stuff like this:

Production Diary: After the Cut - an Epilogue.

This post's been a long time coming, but it's been a 'wee' bit busy.

With Reckless Zen all wrapped up, and a couple months down, it's been a good time to watch it again and get a perspective on what went right, and what went wrong. The greatest challenge on this project was definitely working with the lacklustre equipment and the very squashy time frame. People have taken on animation projects and had months, if not a year to complete them, so trying to finish a short short in 8 weeks AND teach myself the basics of animation was very tight!

The push of time shows in some places of the film - and if I had extra time, I would have cleaned up a few areas, maybe reshot some scenes, but overall I'm pretty happy with my first animation attempt. There was a lot to learn aside from frames-per-second and lighting on a small scale. Eliminating flicker with still images was the first major hurdle (and probably still shows in one part thanks to having to band-aid a fix and not being able to clean it up in post) and after fiddling around with the white balance and exposure settings on the camera, I think it worked well in getting rid of obvious flicker.

As for the camera - you have to work with what you have, and working with what I had meant I had to get over the lack of HD and certain sparkles fairly quickly. During shooting I had severe doubts on how everything would turn out, but watching scenes in dailies would usually clear that doubt up quickly. That's definitely something I recommend to any indie filmmaker - no matter how small your production values, always watch a patch of what you've shot. It helps with perspective, keeps the adrenalin going, and lets you fine tune as you're going. Most importantly, it clears up that niggling doubt you may have about how things are turning out.

If I was to do Reckless Zen over, I would probably still keep my low production values, but have given myself two extra weeks at the very least to fix certain places. Maybe have started earlier so I could have added a couple of scenes that ended up being taken out. Still, it was a major learning curve, and I'm satisfied with how I tackled it.

Now on to the next curve...

Wandering Rose this Weekend!

If you're in the Napa area, be sure to check out Reckless Zen (viewable at The Cake Plate on Main St.) and the rest of the fine features of the day. Popcorn will be served!

For a map and information head on over to the Dr. Spin website.

Roll Out the Red Carpet...

The Lo-quality version.

Locked!

And it's done. In the can, a wrap, locked, signed, sealed and.... ...well currently trying to be uploaded at a few venues. But in the meantime, here's the Intro and title sequence.

One Week...

The film is due in a week, so here's a "quick view" of what's left, with jaunty music courtesy of the once-upon-a-time-yet-still-great Barenaked Ladies.

The title sequence (45seconds) The end credits The Narration track Final audio (it's in "move around a lot" stage) Re-shoot  and colour-correct end scene

So not much.

Bom bom bom.

Production Diary: Sets.

The only problem with extremely no-low budget, is things ultimately look so much better in your head than in reality. I've been attempting to convince myself that it's a "look" and with enough blather attached to it, I'm sure it could be convincing as a "look". As I approach my final shoot, and start colour correction and balance of a few hundred images, it has become a bit of a mantra.

One thing is for certain, I will definitely be building sets weeks in advance of the next project. Weeks, if not months. Squeezing a five minute stop-motion animation into an eight week time-frame has been overly ambitious, and it has meant cutting some artistic corners...  ...much to my annoyance.

Learning curve, learning curve.

Production Diary: Green Screen, You So Mean.

One of the biggest obstacles in this project (aside from the obvious ones) has been the green screen. Ideally, I should have gone for cardboard for its uniformity and sturdy structure. Instead, I've been using cloth sheets. The main reason, was for lack of table space, hanging a sheet seemed like a better option.

Still, without a 'frame', I'm left with a fair few shadows, and a good thirty to forty minutes rectifying pockets with lighting before I shoot any scene involving green screening. Thankfully, I'll soon be moving away from the green screen and onto... a blue screen! Woo. But also outdoors, where there shall be other obstacles.

Like 'attack birds', strolling cats, heatstroke and pesky things like light temperature.

Learning to Walk.

My Tripod Tragedy meant I was a couple nights behind schedule. In-between some set touch-ups, and rejiggling a scene or two so I can have at least a 5-minute film, I learnt how to walk. Not me personally, I already knew that, but my cast.

Most animations out there aim to shoot at least 24fps (frames-per-second) - that way the movements are fluid, and looks effortless. Me? I'm trying to, but results have a few 'movements' condensed. Mostly due to time constraints, but also, the rather humble camera I'm using. It's a point-n-shoot but then this is a project of "by any means". Or in this case, no means. Still, by moving everything off of auto and manually setting a few things (and adjusting for more camera angles in the storyboard, to compensate a lack of lenses and depth-of-field problems) I think it'll be okay.

I think. Too late now anyway!

It does mean I won't be able to try out Dragon, which convinced me through one tutorial that it was a great programme. Maybe next time.

So here's some of the "learning to walk" process. It shows a level of progression, methinks... and possibly a drunken stumble. A 'brisk walk' has been developed; along with a casual thinking stroll. But this is more entertaining....

I've named them: "stumbling out of pub"; "I forgot my keys" and "pebble in shoe".

Production Diary: The Studio.

A late entry on this one.

The Studio was finished late last week. In "technicality" it is a strategically placed black sheet covering an alcove. In "design" it is a strategically placed black curtain (sheet), providing an alcove with suitable conditions for green-screening, filming, and lighting arrangements.

I tested out the green-screen (sheet) and I really want to splurge on a proper frame for it to make it all super-flat and perfect. At the moment it has some shadowing (sans lighting set-up) so hopefully that won't be too much of an issue.

If I manage to finish the "Oceans" set, then we can do a test shoot this evening, and I'll grab some stills of the studio "in action"!

Production Diary: Schedules.

Shoot, shoot, shoot, post, sleep.

I'm sensing an increase in coffee for this one. And as you can tell by the film boards, my storyboarding is low on design, and high on direction. 

A Lesson in Observation.

After dallying in some lighting tests, and arranging everything in the newly MacGyvered studio, I decided to play around with some short captures to see how it all worked together. My Cast were making great shadows on the wall, so I thought I'd try making a quick stop-motion with them.

I was so focused on shooting each frame, and concentrating on the minute movements that I didn't quite catch the faux pas until afterwards when I was looking over the images in post. A simple scene of shaking hands, doesn't turn out as expected....

Lesson learned methinks.

Studio Time.

MacGyvering™ a studio.

Rope - check
Black sheet - check
Cable holders - check
Hammer - check (sans baggy pants)
Surge protector - check
Step ladder - check
Lights - check
Massive pile of recycle stuff waiting to be made into props - check

Production Diary: Storyboards

An initial story outline for Reckless Zen, using Xmind.

The saga with Lighting is on-going and I remind myself that every great film had some drama in its production history. Even if mine is just having the wrong or dead light bulbs and not trying to wrestle a few hundred thousand dollars into a shooting budget from those tight-fisted studio heads.

/shakes fist

I managed to storyboard key scenes today, so not all is lost. Even if the storyboard is badly drawn stick figures and scrawled notes, pencil directions and some squiggly lines - in my mind it all comes together in technicolour and pops! out of the index cards into three-dimensional magic. Good thing I don't have to explain these drawings to a crew.

Looking at the different scenes laid out so far, it does bring two questions to mind:

A. Will it all make sense to the audience?
B. Will it suck?

If I were to be completely honest, I'm more concerned about A, than B. It's one of the reasons I also don't like the "between time". The time between coming up with a great idea, developing it, and actually putting it into action. It's really a small space of time (unless you're arguing for those few thousand dollars from the studio heads... /shakes fist) but it can be so fragile to the overall "vision". The Big Picture of your big picture. I find myself constantly running sequences in my head so they stay fresh, or re-drawing a scene so there are finer details.

But between clutching onto an idea, and adapting it into a story, there's also the technicalities. Making sure that the message remains intact, that the characters arc and aren't dull (which let's face it, mine are a bit wooden...) -- and doing all these things within the right camera angles, using the right lighting, the correct effects, mixing good audio, flawless scenery, dynamic, crisp movement so that the message does remain intact, and the characters do arc and everything doesn't confuse/bore/bounce off the audience.

In my mind all these things are perfect. In reality, they have to appear perfect, and that's the hardest task of all.

Stop Motion, fps, and Pacing.

Where dust and sand (and cat-hair it has to be said) are the biggest enemies of stop-motion, patience is the biggest asset. From just two short (short) films, I'm learning a fair bit about thinking in advance, and how to make something look good. Missing a step can be good or bad, depending on what you're trying to achieve - and lighting does make all the difference...

As promised, a Lego short.






There are a few mistakes - namely shadows, camera woes, and perhaps some off-pacing (especially in the build-up between the walk and the pause at the mailbox). It's all good learning though. I want to get one more play around under my belt before I start filming "Reckless Zen". The next one will involve audio and proper lighting. 
Afterall, working out what not to do now, will save reckless re-filming later on.

Production Diary - Lighting Pt. I

I'm discovering very quickly that one of the biggest enemies to this whole process is sand and dust... and of course, I'm surrounded by it. I suspect a micro-duster of some persuasion will be on the list - something I'll investigate when I pick up some lights tomorrow.

Speaking of lighting.... I thought I would DIY myself a reflector. Only less pretty than the high-falutin' things in professional studios, and more economical - like Free! Behold my "crisplector"!

So the name needs some work. I'll test it out over the course of my short short stop-motion which should go down like a tonne of bricks...

...yes, it involves Lego.

Hello World!

Whilst lighting remains on the agenda, I decided to try a short short short animation test. Taking 3-4seconds of recorded images (the still camera was MIA). This equalled to about 12 still frames. I then shoved them in Final Cut Pro, and edited them (quickly) to wee frames - and hey presto!

The result, our first casting footage:

It's no Steamboat Willy, but it's a start.

Most video clips, tests, random dailies will be uploaded to Vimeo, so watch that space! You can also follow the daily action on Kontain, both brought to you via handy sidebar links.

Coffee break. (It's in their contracts)

Production Diary - Prologue.

My men have arrived, and one of them is a little stiff.