No, not to burn it, though that is a tempting proposition at times.
I’m just in rewrite frenzy again. I’ve been developing this story for 18 months. It’s been shaped over various drafts and rounds of feedback, but it has not yet passed through the ultimate test: the pre-production process. And now, as we’re beginning to put the pieces of the actual movie together, the script I was so happy with a month ago is presenting me with some new challenges as it starts its journey from a semi abstract telling of a story, to an exact blueprint of a film production. Of course this is a good problem to have so I’m not complaining, just typing away—until the next round of notes comes in, and the one after that.
As the old saying goes: “The script is never finished. Only the film.”
Jun 23, 2011
Jun 18, 2011
The Best Test Short I've Seen
Camera "test shorts" have been an interesting youtube trend over the past two years. With new digital recording products being released seemingly every two months, filmmakers have been eager to take these toys for a test drive, and in the process this new sub-genre of indy cinema was born. I've seen my fair share of them lately as we're looking into various visual tools for The Project, and last week I came across this particular test piece on Vimeo, done by John Brawley, comparing various film and digital formats under available light.
Out of the scores of similar shorts, the brilliance of this particular one is that he doesn't tell you which format is which until the very end, hence allowing your eyes to pick up the subtle, and sometimes not so subtle differences on their own. For this little conceit, I nominate this for 'Best Test Short' of 2011.
Brawley tested—not in this order—35mm, RED MX, Arri Alexa, 16mm, Sony F3, Cannon HDSLR with some interesting results. His Vimeo page and blog has more details as well, well worth the read.
Brawley tested—not in this order—35mm, RED MX, Arri Alexa, 16mm, Sony F3, Cannon HDSLR with some interesting results. His Vimeo page and blog has more details as well, well worth the read.
Available Light Shoot - The Results from John Brawley on Vimeo.
Jun 8, 2011
Switching Gears
To say I’ve been infrequent about my blogging would be an understatement. However, I had my reasons. I set up this site over a year and a half ago, when I started developing a new, low budget feature project. During that time—amidst writing that script, musing abut politics and shooting our practice short—it was my hope that one day I could use this blog to chronicle the process of actually making said feature. Did that time finally arrive? Well, it’s still too early to tell, but I feel I’m in a position to switch into gear on the project.
The gears have actually been turning for a while now; over the past six months I’ve partnered with my friend Sachin Mehta to form Astraea Films LLC, with the goal of making this project happen. As things are now starting to pick up speed, and we set out for this adventure in the coming weeks and months, I will also set out to give a behind-the-scenes look at the making of this indie thriller here on the blog.
Check back for updates about our progress, a look at the cast and crew, and other fun stuff.
The gears have actually been turning for a while now; over the past six months I’ve partnered with my friend Sachin Mehta to form Astraea Films LLC, with the goal of making this project happen. As things are now starting to pick up speed, and we set out for this adventure in the coming weeks and months, I will also set out to give a behind-the-scenes look at the making of this indie thriller here on the blog.
Check back for updates about our progress, a look at the cast and crew, and other fun stuff.