Clip #1 (Time Traveling a Secret)

Welcome to the first upload to the new video blog – which is a test in beta mode to see if I can get a video podcast up and running in the near future.

Video Blogs will be updated at random including raw footage known to the industry as dailies, sneek peeks at some arranged rough cuts of scenes, and special effects tests. It will be cool to hear from everyone out there in the blogoshpere because this film is a work in progress and unlike many others out there protecting their films until their premiere, I’m opening up and sharing what I’m doing … sort of a way of making a little more from a short film than the basic viewing.

Enjoy and remember, there’s more to come as this is just one selection of raw footage from Day 1 of the shoot. Receive these video blog updates automatically as well as the other material of the blog by clicking this link, Subscribe to Myspace Blog, there’s no email necessary or anything – it’s all myspace and safe!

This is a clip froma scene where Louise, the lead character, is going home from her journalism class.

What’s cool about this is that we shot it on Sunday – the one day we least expected people – which was a problem seeing how it’s meant to be a normal school day in the middle of the week. Luckily, there was a play going on so there were people all over the place and we got the shot. It will cut down in the edit – but I think it brings a realism to the school aspect of the movie and character that reveals a documentarian or cinema verti style look. Enjoy!

Day 1: Time Traveling a secret

So I’ve been planning this short film for over three years … 3! And today, it finally saw the light of day as our DVX-100 rolled tape.

I met Katie at Barnes and Noble while shooting “carts”, which I shot in the parking lot of the book shop, and before she had become the lead, we agreed that we would make a movie togather … that movie was called D…

Like all of my movies, the titles are subject to change until the last possible moment – D.. was no exception. After speaking with a former screenwriter, now novelist, I was told to focus my story and define my premise; so I did and ended up cutting the entire music aspect of the story … leading me to change the story from D.., which is a musical term.

Anyway, D.., now called Time Traveling a Secret, is officially in production. I can’t believe that after all this time preparing, writing, revising, and imagining, it’s finally happening. CH, my number one DP of choice – who also worked on the oscar winning short, West Bank Story, did a great job day one and the footage looks fantastic.

Katie delivered a natural performance required for this story as well as reaching a new character in her library of characters within her imagination … looking back at some other shorts, she’s played a quirky outcast, a pyschotic identity thief, and now a journalism student.

We ran over to CSUN and scoped out some locations to revisit for a classroom scene as well as captured some reality school environments which look pretty cool.

One last thing: this short film will have things never before seen in a short film and I’m going to have to bend, even break, a few laws to get them – if you support indie filmmaking to the fullest, suscribe to this blog so you don’t have to check back every day for the newest clips, behind the scenes peeks, and the illegal activity performed to get this film made!

What FinalDraft said about screenwriting on phones:

What FinalDraft said about screenwriting on phones:
Category: Web, HTML, Tech

In a letter, I explained my idea and why it would be a great extension for screenwriters … here’s what I just received this morning:

Christopher,

Thanks for submitting the idea. We’ve been exploring a variety of
opportunities in this area so we’re on the same track about where things
will be going. There are still some challenges with the approach since
people often want to do more than just view their scripts on any PDA or
phone. A 360 export import is the problem as we’re not exactly the
focus of any companies that provide OS support for phones and PDA.

Regardless, thank you for forwarding your thoughts. Feel free to submit
any other ideas you may have in the future.

Kind regards,

Kirsten Thayer
Product Manager, Final Draft

CellPhone Screenwriting: Final Draft v.Mobile

The technology of today has enabled so much we take for granted; we won’t realize it until it’s over but it’s true. Think about what you do everyday that you couldn’t do ten years ago, five years ago, or even yesterday!

Listen to streaming radio via internet,
Watch short skits, news, blips of media streaming online with virtually no wait time.
check email/write email … from your phone.
send pictures via mobile phone.
send video emails.
post online diary for world to enjoy reality.
post online video blog – practically broadcasting your own television show … just online.
build a fan base and reach celebrity status simply through your video blog and reputation.
etc.

This aside, I was just pondering when I wondered, what’s next for screenwriters? Filmmakers have had several revolutions in the last couple years from networking, video broadcasting, etc. So what about those writers?

FinalDraft recently purchased ScriptMagazine therefor stepping closer to dominating the world of screenwriting. So what are they developing? My guess is this:

A handheld mobile version of final draft for those screenwriters who need to write while in the waiting room, in the bathroom, driving, flying, sleeping, etc! A version of final draft screenwriting software is my guess to whats next. Sounds crazy – but looking back to the list of activities, I’s sure like to have my screenplay with me at all times so I can jot something down — but then again, it stilts the process of creativity and flow. An artist can’t carry their paints in their pockets – unless their walking down Sunset Blvd and they’re screaming, “I don’t care about the world or what people think of me!”

Point:
Like youtube, final draft might want to look into sreading their horizons a bit by developing a handheld mobile version of final draft – that way we screenwriters counting nickles and dimes can save from purchasing that apple computer to fit in with the crowd at Starbucks.

This might completely dig up the screenwriter from the grave and kill them again – or it might actually be something cool for those, like me, who are into technology and screenwriting. I might add that I would love to write on a typewriter to feel what the golden oldies felt and hear the sound of the key slamming ink into the paper and the bell when you hit the margin, but when it comes down to it … it’s like trying to go to the moon again! It’s almost certain suicide for screenwriters to try and sit down and revise by cutting and pasting, oldschool, in order to make someone happy at the agency.

Final Draft needs to provide for screenwriters … its better than yet another plain ol’ version of Final draft that still has bugs and defects.

It’s gone from paper to typewriter, to electric typwriter, to computer, and now it’s time for the next step – phones … Hey! Phones arent as bad as everyone claims they are. Sure people are on their phone a lot these days – because they have a lot going on with it: I’d list things again, but that would make one too many lists for this blog and you already know because you have one.
Using a phone how a teenager used to in the 90’s is very different from what people are doing today! Get with the times – and check your phone for my video message I just sent you!

DISSOLVING FILM: could the death of film be in 10 years?

Personal. Human. Myspace?

These are a few things describing film … and the death of them all will probably never happen – but what is at question here is:

Will theaters fall leaving the studios alone to operate their own screens hence reversing the movie-going experience and distribution back to what it used to be?

Myspace and other media circuits allow we the filmmakers to broadcast and share everything … even the videos that would be forgotten in the back of the closet 10 years ago. So with this technology booming, will audiences become jaded, bored, and so demmanding that film actually regresses back to what it was in the early days?

But just as film actually dissolves over time, will the industry its made in as well? Will it shrink down to focus in on big budget spectacles only studios could release? The studio-future tells us no – its actually going the other way. Big budget films are close to being extinct.

What will it be like in 10 years. ipods, phones, and cars equipt with entertainment – will the business of making movies suffer or strive?

MY POINT OF VIEW: (continued from forum)

I don’t think so at all. With all the home-movies and consumer generated material out there, it’s hard to continue gazing at youtube’s poor quality, poor humor, and other poor-i-ties. There’s great stuff on youtube but the bulk is for self pleasure – not mass pleasure such as movies and storytelling. Storytelling is a skill not everyone has and I think that the only death within ten years is actually the trend tto be a filmmaker. Like skateboarding, jyncos, and any other trendy cultural past, it’s a fad. Everyone wants in on it because everyone can be. Like myspace – though that won’t be dying because it’s so personal and the newest form of communication – one after text messaging and email.

I have a theory or maybe a fantasy that studios and production companies will go to the screenwriters to fill positions such as director – because today everyone is a director — but only the screenwriter is learning and practicing how to tell a good story.

it’s the difference between a good joke and a bad one – and that’s the way the cookie crumbles! … :p Guess I should keep practicing.

Classic Time Traveling Moment

We’ve all seen the Back to the Future trilogy and if you can recall, the second installment had a lot to do with the confusion of traveling time multiple times! I couldn’t stop thinking, “how’d they shoot that? They must have shot all this footage from the first movie — but that wasn’t the case. They had successfully recreated the same scenes we already enjoyed but from a different point of view. This is mind boggling to me and I can’t quite get my head around the story aspect of a character being in the same place in two different forms! This is what I’m doing with Time Traveling a Secret.

Obviously, the titles a dead give away of what the movie is about – or at least what the audience can expect from it. Time Travel in one way or another.

So how the heck am I going to do this? I’m sitting here Wed. 14th, 2007 with a shoot date next weekend, and I’m clueless to how to shoot the scenes where the character travels time and sees herself — and on top of that, the opening sequence is presented as a dream of the oldest form of the character, Louise.

You have to have that moment when a character sees themselves or interacts unknowingly, such as in Harry Potter, when telling a time travel story. But how? HOW? This is one of many of the new challenges I face with this new film – which is a great thing because in order to grow you have to be challenged.

in addition to the confusion, I’m unable to storyboard a whole lot because the location isn’t exactly at my disposal as it is private property – plus I haven’t been there in so long – i don’t even remember what it looked like — and won’t know if its even there until the day of the shoot!

Should I try and get that moment of the character seeing her younger self or interacting? Should I mess with alternate-dimensions and courses of time, parallel universes? We’ll see – so far there’s room in the script for just about anything.

FourEyedMonsters lighting the way

Okay, I recently found out about this website run by two young indie filmmakers in NYC and became addicted to their work and feel like I should share it because it’s so cool!!

It’s called FourEyedMonsters.com and it’s the homebase for the movie FourEyedMonsters which is an autobiographical picture made with the help of a bunch of others and later, attacked by some of those same people. But I’m not here to make a sales pitch – I’m just saying, it’s really important for any aspiring filmmaker to check out due to it’s reality, humanity, and the insight of Arin and Susan, the two behind it all.
Check out Four Eyed Monsters!

Video Podcast | Film Trailer | Shirts | Stickers” alt=”FourEyedMonsters ” />
It’s a very personal blog – making it way easy to Identify with and become addicted. The heart of the website is of course the film – but the video podcast has grown to such an extraordinary size – that the film is kind of a teaser you won’t see unless you catch a screening or buy the dvd – which you should because it has all the podcasts and behing the festivals/scenes etc. – but this isn’t a sales pitch … so … you should buy the dvd and request a screening in your area to support the filmmakers’ efforts.

As an aspiring filmmaker flying blind in the giant entertainment industry, I feel like they’ve turned on a dim light in the distance that i can use as a guide. There’s no right or wrong way to make it in the film biz, but Arin and Suzan’s path really opened a new doorway for me because they combined the web and film in a way that really sparked something. We can make it afterall.
It IS possible.

they proved that you can’t wait for distribution – you have to do it yourself. Check out their website at www.FourEyedMonsters.com to check out the podcasts – it’s the best example of indie filmmakers in New York coming up in the world.

Time Traveling A Schedule

Time Traveling a Secret is the story of a girl who travels time in effort to discover why her parents divorced.

What made this story interest me was the time-traveling or memory traveling, the basic locations, and the father’s career as a journalist and the locations and adventures that would surface because of it. The story takes place on a large ranch in the country, the big city, France, England, and of course a magical closet. I never doubted that it could be produced as a short film, in fact, it grew in size and style due to the possibilty that it could be done.

I always like to challenge myself with each project. “GoldFishing” presented new challenges as a producer more than anything – and that seems to shine compared to directing. My first film, “Carts” wasa challenge as a producer and person to continue producing the film no matter how bad it gets – and I did with the help of cast and crew. This film will challenge my inner producer, director, and editor during the course of production. It has already challenged me as a writer and I’m happy enough with the script to move it to the next stage so I think the first challenge was cake … though I’ve been plotting this project for nearly two years – from the day Katie and I fell in Love at Barnes and Noble: she wanted to act and I wanted to direct – so this project spawned as our project. That was at the time I was making Carts with the first actress, whom I had to let go after a few incidedents and let downs.

So on with it! The script is locked, the talent is in place – or at least all the talent I need until shooting on the ranch – and the storyboards are ready.

The shoot is scheduled, as of now, for 3.17.07!

We’ll cover the whole first act in or around the apartment in the city. The one problem I’ve yet to overcome is the question of where to get a classroom? I could scratch the scene – but it’s exposition needed, I could move it to a park bench on campus – but will the audience get it? I’ll work on it – until then, check back for more updates and new about the production!

Playing Astroids … for a living

I was driving down Sunset today and I saw a van speeding along with it’s sliding door open revealing a camera on a tripod – all while a bright yellow motorcycle speeds along with it; I just thought: I want to do that – thats so cool!

There’s this great appeal of gorilla filmmaking that attracts indies for some other reason that the “cha$ching.” I think it might be the feeling of accomplishment and ability to capture raw reality as it is. There’s nothing better than watching your character speed down Sunset during a weekday – because you know that none of the cars in the background are hotcars, none of the people in the frame are extras — its all real!

On the contrary, I think Entourage was shooting at the body shop across the street from my work today because of the big trailers, equipment, and vulture-like poparazzi feeding on the rare occasions the stars expose themselves from their trailers. That’s all cool too – I love big budget productions!

It seems that no matter which route you choose, you’ll be up against challenged from permits to poparazzi and politics – its as if you’re a spec in a universe full of astroid-size problems gunning for you. I feel this way because I have no budget what-so-ever for movies – not even short films! Without it, my muscles are weakened as a producer but my mind is strengthened because you have to create alternatives when there isn’t “cha$ching”.

I guess the problems are kind of why we make movies in the first place – and the best behind-the-scenes featurettes are always when things go terribly wrong … so to conclude this thought:

I love being the small fighter ship amongst the universe and it’s astroid sized problems!

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Filmmaking: the newest trend?

Is it possible that the boom of digital consumer prouducts leveled with professional grade equipment has forced a new trend to form … probably.

The camcorder turned into the digital video camera which recently turned into HD digital video camera … and prices continue to drop. The point is, cameras, editing equipment, and computers are all affordable these days making it easy for everyone to make movies. You can see it for yourself on YouTube, Myspace, and other FREE video hosting websites.

It’s the latest trend to be a filmmaker and make movie and show them off to friends. It’s become the skateboarding of the 70’s – we’re living in a movie-making boom that alows everyone to create in a new way … storytelling.

Part of me likes it – part of me doesn’t. When I was a skateboarder, I watched some people succeed and get really good and I also watched people give it up because it was too hard — And that’s where the line is in filmmaking right now; some will succeed but most will give up once they get to that line. Where the line is, I’m not sure.

I want to believe that it’s the latest fad and that the competition will die down and filmmaking will go back to what it was – but I’m pretty sure it won’t in my lifetime. Consumer products combined with the internet creates a platform for artists of all sorts, especially filmmakers, to express themselves and their talent to those interested — and that is something I’m thankful for. I love seeing other peoples’ movies and the behind the scenes (check out foureyedmonsters.com) because its just so encouraging! What I’m not a fan of and what a lot of filmmakers are struggling to surface above is all the home videos that gets distributed to YouTube, Myspace, etc. — because it’s the stuff that would have been left in the closet a few years back before the big consumer video hosting was available. I read an article in filmmaker by Lance W, that explains how films and creative work is easily lost among the thousands of videos and content on the internet that the old saying: talent will always surface, is quickly becoming a myth — I believe it! Luckily that same article explained some very helpful hints and tricks on how to surface – and actually led be here at wordpress.

I don’t think filmmaking is going away, home movies have been around ever since 8mm film stock – but I think that those who really focus in on their creative craft and work hard to keep learning and making movie, will eventually bump into opporunities down the line.