Wednesday 27 August 2008

The time has finally come... to time travel.

So, I'm really in a pickle.
The Richmond Park scene; one of the more important scenes in the entire film is being suspended this week because of both bureaucracy and the weather. I'm sure you're all wanting details... allow me to explain.

Richmond park will only allow me to film on site, If I have given them five working days notice prior to the filming date... okay, that would be fine, except, I need a sunny day to film on. And not just any sunny day, this sunny day must be absolutely perfect! Beautiful, bright and with blue skies.
So how, you ask, am I going to predict a perfectly sunny day five days in the future with totally unpredictable British weather? We'll I thought it over, and have decided to travel into the 'future' and see (the reason I have to do this, is because the British forecasting service here is utterly atrocious). For those of you who are not familier with the process of time traveling. Allow me to post a tutorial..

Please e-mail if your still not clear on the details of this process.

The digitizing of the footage is to take place tomorrow; marking the beginning of Post Production! .. We're still not finished with Production, but everything is slowly moving into place. New Intro Productions logo's have been created as well as animated logos for festival distribution.

We have also begun a new program entitled 'The Intro Productions Media Network'. You can be a part of the network if the work has been touched by myself or is associated with Intro Productions in anyway. More on this later.

Wednesday 20 August 2008

Okay, when I said a few days left...

I think I might have been jumping the gun when I said I only had a few days left. As of this point, I do indeed have only a few scenes to film until production is finished. However, we may be subject to re shoots that could go on well into September; the footage that still needs captured includes an interior studio scene which I have been unsuccessful as of yet in finding the material for. Tom (my lead) has been both patient and helpful in every form since we began production a little over a month ago. His parts are almost all finished. Jerome (2nd Lead) is two scenes plus some voice overs away from being finished. These voice overs also include Tom. Post-production, which is the editing and mixing part of the film-making process; (including color grading and so on) will take time. This makes me believe that we will not be finished by the September 11th premiere date which I had originally planned on shooting for. I have had several discussions with different people including crew and have come to the conclusion that even though I would like to premiere it on this date, it would be better to take my time with Post, and make the best film I can for film festival circulation instead of rushing it to be seen.

After all the paper work that I had to write up, scout down, fax and scan in and e-mail to Richmond Park officials for the permission to film in the royal park today. I was unable to film due to unpredictable weather patterns. And because of that, we decided to finish up Tom's extra walking home scenes because of the convenience. Two police officers even stopped us to ask us a few questions. I was so afraid they would ask for permits. When I got to Amanda, she told me they were just asking questions like, whats the film about, and why is he making the lady hold all the heavy stuff? They were nice enough to let us continue filming though, Thanks Westminster! The question I'm sure your all wondering. When will we film next? We'll, I have a big midterm tomorrow and i'm acting in someone else's (waiting for welfare) tribute project on Monday. So we will see what next week holds. Stay tuned more updates.

PS: Yes, were filming a ''Making of:'' documentary. :)

Sunday 10 August 2008

Only a few more days left...

Yes, Only a few more days left until the production portion of this film is finished. This has been far the toughest part of the process. And because university has started again, my classes have begun to become increasingly more demanding the longer it takes to finish production. Not only that, but the actors schedules too have begun to become even more complex since the original filming week. Several other small problems such as 'continuity errors', wardrobe and location permits. All are beginning to wear my poor brain out. I am both mentally and physically exhausted at this point. I will however, finish this film. Never give up! That's the number one role.

At this point in time, I would like to thank a few more people that helped me Tremendously during pre-production. If it wasn't for these people. I wouldn't have known where to begin.

Mark Lonsdale.

Mark is by far one of the most awesome university instructors ever(I hope he's reading this.) If it wasn't for his initial assistance and encouragement; I never would have gained the courage to go out and make this film. I owe a GREAT DEAL to Mark Lonsdale, for every problem he helped me conquer. And I'm going to estimate that I must have asked Mark at least 400 questions in the last 4 months, Spanning from pre-production forms, location managing, recommended camera equipment and legal forms. He helped me gain the correct paper work too obtain the permit for Richmond Park. And he took time out of his day every time I came to him with a question. He had faith in my project. He had faith in me. He went out of his way to dig up information for me and continually encouraged me, giving me contacts, expanding my knowledge, and going far beyond that of just a University Instructor. How can I ever thank Mark for all that he' s done for me? I'm not exactly sure, but he is most certainly going on my film credits as Best Executive Producer ever. Thank you Mark.

Adam Kempton (Producer)

This guy is amazing. The day he called me and told me that He enjoyed the script for this film, was the day that I gained the courage to stay behind this summer in London and begin a very long casting process. As I didn't want to bother Adam too much with my film, I still hope to catch his attention with my finished product. I am very nervous as he has given me so much praise. I hope I can live up to his expectations. Again, he is a key player in not only this film, but the establishment in my very career for the rest of my life. Thank you Adam.

Jane Gapon

Jane is going on my list as most dedicated producer in our university. Hands down, I don't think I could have trusted anyone more than her with the break down of my script. I know deep down Jane wanted to do more for the production. Yet, because of things out of her control, she was required to leave London a few weeks. I want to thank you Jane for taking the time, organizing all my folders, my papers, printing things for me and getting me started. Let's be honest. If it wasn't for you, there wouldn't be a film. You are amazing, and I would love to work with you again, if someone dosen't recruit you before me. Thankyou Jane.

Tabitha Beckman

Thank you Tabitha, You were there in the beginning of the beginning. The very first casting session. And one of the very first people I hired on my crew. You gave me a vast resource of knowledge of just about everything there is to know about casting and legal issues. You cleared away the shadows of my ignorance, and allowed the light of knowledge to shine through. You sat with me during each casting session, watched the tapes back with me(I have photographic evidence on this page), and helped me make decisions. You are an extraordinary, dedicated individual. And you are going to go very far. It was too bad that you wasn't able to be AD on my production. I do however would like to have you on future productions. I believe you would be absolutly amazing. I couldn't have done it without you. Thank you Tabitha.