Midtown Art Walk Gallery

I started getting into photography about a year ago.  I had a camera that could shoot really nice pictures but I really didn't know the first thing about telling a story with a single shot.  I was used to telling stories on film but that required thousands of images.  I took an introductory course at the local community college and got some photo editing software and went to work.  Most of the shots don't come out all that great but I think I have a good ratio of useable shots vs crappy ones.

This past week I actually showed my photos to a large audience during the local Midtown Art Walk.  I had a rather large space all to myself and I set up a nice little gallery to showcase some of the best pictures I had taken over the last few months.  Many people came through and I heard nothing but good things about the work.  I even sold a couple pieces.  I guess that makes me a professional...

Along with the photo work I decided to showcase some of the other things that I do.  I had a whole wall showing samples of my film work, postcards telling folks about the podcasts that I do, and business cards spread all over.  Some folks didn't understand why I had random city footage playing in a loop on the wall when my reel wasn't playing even after I told them the city was sort of a theme for the room.  One guy had some issue with my company name.  His snarky uninformed opinion was annoying but I could quickly tell that he probably held a negative attitude towards most things and I held back the thought of pushing him down the stairs.

It was a good night overall.  I never thought I would be showcasing my work in such a fashion.  I was really nervous at first but if there is a lesson to be learned it's not to be afraid to put the work out in front of the world and let the stories speak to those who want to hear them.

A Note to the Editors

I have a lot of footage to sift through.  It's a little daunting.  It's something I have to just jump into knowing that I'm going to get lost in it and might not come up for air for hours.  But it's something that needs to be done.  What seems like work at the moment will turn into creative fun once I get going on it.  It's the jumping off that's the hard part.

My work flow is simple and necessary.  The first thing you have to do as an editor is make sure everything is organized.  This is the most important part of your job as an editor before the cutting of footage begins.  you have to be able to find everything you need.  If you lazily drop your footage onto the computer and figure you'll organize it later then you are only setting yourself up for an even larger headache in the very near future.  Take the time to do it right.

After making sure everything is where it needs to be on the computer I do the same thing on the editing software.  It's the same process.  Make sure all the footage has been labeled properly and put it in the right bins (these are like folders) so that you don't have to hunt for shots.  Hunting will kill productivity.  You don't want to have to stop mid creative thought to search for something.  Getting back on task is just as hard as trying to get going in the first place.

After all that is finished I save it.  I save everything anytime I have a second to stop and think.  It's my security blanket.

It's now time for me to get into the edit.  For me it's best to just start at the beginning and work my way through the whole film in order.  Some folks like to just edit specific scenes hopping around doing some work here and there and then fitting it all together later.  For me it works best if I go in order and let the movie play out before me.  There is no wrong way.  Just figure out what works best for you and do it.

My best advice would be to just get it done.  Don't let it sit on your computer and collect dust while you jump into the next thing.  Remember... it's not just your project.  Everyone that helped you make this project a reality is now waiting on you.  They want to see their hard work put to life.  They want to know they didn't just waste hours of their life.  If you don't deliver then they will not want to help you again.  Do not betray their trust because you are lazy.

And with that I jump into my own mountain of footage.  See you on the other side.

This is how it starts...

Sunrise: Chasing the Sun

The newest project required that a scene happen as the sun rose in the morning sky.  We had a lot that needed to be shot before the sun could be seen and that meant that we would be getting to work around 4am.  This wasn't the smartest thing I have done when it comes to shooting.

On the first morning we had a crew call at 4am at the location.  The location was out of town in the barren desert away from all prying eyes.  The crew all got there on time and we got all the equipment ready to shoot once the cast arrived.  We joked and yapped as we cautiously watched the sky grow brighter and brighter.  It became increasingly apparent that we were running out of time.  Panicked texts were sent out and received.  Pacing began.  This was not the best way to begin shooting a film.

The cast pulled up and were almost pulled out of the cars and into position without much discussion and filming began immediately.   We managed to rush through two full takes of the needed scenes before the sun poped up over the horizon and we were forced to move on.  After the last shot I discussed the morning with the producers and DP and it was decided that we were going to need to return to the location the next morning earlier and re-shoot.  Everyone was on board with the plan and agreed that the rushed filming wasn't the best we could manage.

For some this could have been a nightmare.  Actors could have said they weren't going to do it all again.  Crew could have said they were busy and couldn't make it.  Not this group.  All of them agreed to return and do it even better without even grumbling about it.  They were all committed to making this film the best it could be.  They weren't going to settle for a half done attempt.

As a director and writer this was awesome to see.  I didn't know some of these folks very well.  We were thrown together to make a film from different walks of life and all of them had made the choice to commit fully to my story and help me tell it correctly.  It was at this point I knew that I had picked the right people to make this movie and I didn't want to let them down.

And that's how we came to be at the location once again the next morning at 4am.

We arrived and knew exactly what shots we needed and how we wanted them to play out.  We fixed what didn't work the morning before and we managed to film some great performances from our actors.  We even had a chance to bring a crane this time around to get some great moving shots we didn't have the ability to get the first time around.  The lesson learned is to not complain or settle.  Put in the extra work and use the opportunity to do better.

The situation was a total blessing in disguise.

Script Supervisor Mackie slates early in the morning.

The Promise

A little while ago my friends and I decided to try a little experiment in our film making.  We attempted to shoot two separate short films in one day.  We managed to survive and in the end we had two shorts to send out to film festivals.

The first one went out and didn't make the cut for the fest it was made for.  It was the comedy short from that day and we all thought it came out pretty good.  It was created for a specific fest and it really doesn't fit anywhere else.  So it's journey is over for now.  I'm ok with that.

The other film was called The Promise.  It was dark and dramatic and dealt with the eventual zombie apocalypse.  I wanted to do something with zombies in it but I didn't want the creatures to be the focus of the story.  I wanted to take a look into the lives of folks who had to live in this horrible reality where the dead walked and how they dealt with survival.  It was a short so I had to contain the story to a single question.  What does this group do when one of their own is bitten and infected?

I liked how the story played out and I thought that the filming was done really well for the time constraints we had placed on ourselves.  We shot this film over the course of a few hours on a Saturday morning.  Waking up early on that day we all met up and had a small breakfast together and then jumped right into it.

I was one of the actors as well as the director which is something I don't care for.  I'm a behind the scenes kind of guy.  I'm my worst critic so it's very hard for me to edit my on performances.  But I made it through it and I think the rest of the cast did a good job as well.

In the end we finished the flick and it also got sent out to a few festivals to be judged and deemed worthy of competing with other films made by filmmakers much like myself.  After a few months of submitting and waiting it seems that the journey for The Promise is reaching it's end.  No festivals wanted it and I'm ok with it.  It's not the best thing in the world but I had a lot of fun making it.  Eventually it will get it's time in the sun.  I'm planning a premier night for a few of my shorts so it will get to be seen.

It's a lesson every filmmaker has to learn.  Not everything you do is going to be great or liked.  The trick is to learn from each experience and use those lessons for the next shoot.  I learned a lot on that shoot and that means it was worth the time and effort that was put into it.

You can check out the trailer for The Promise at the bottom of this page.

A New Beginning

The whole blogging thing is something I've dabbled in before.  Usually I lose interest or get way too busy to keep it going for long.  Let's see if this one sticks...

More and more these days I get asked what it is that I do.  I tell them I'm a filmmaker and they don't really understand what I'm saying.  A confused look fills their faces and they ask what I mean by that.  They don't get that one can make films outside of Hollywood.  The world of indie film making is foreign to them.  So I have to break it down.

I make movies.  Short films mostly.  This means I usually write a script, cast actors, rehearse, and then shoot a movie.  Then I edit it and send it off to film festivals around the country to get it out to folks who may want to see it.  Sometimes it's enough to just post the films online to find an audience.  That's the basics.  I also shoot weddings, commercials, and corporate events to help pay the bills and finance the films I love to make.

It's not a moneymaking business.  I'm not going to get rich doing what I do.  But for me it's a dream come true.  It's something I have been wanting to do since I was a kid sitting in front of my television watching VHS tapes filled with adventure, horror, and drama.

So that's what I do.  This is where I'll go into more detail about how I get all that done.  I'll even post some pictures so you know what I'm talking about if you haven't had the chance to visit a movie set of any kind.

Thanks for coming along for the ride.