People keep asking me, “What’s next now that you’re done with your film?” Well, first of all, the film isn’t done, not even close. We’re now knee deep in post, which is going to take until June. June 1st is our deadline (self-imposed) for having the film complete and festival ready. I basically took the footage, watched through it an made notes on it, basically which takes I liked, etc... and labeled all the footage. I also synced up all the sound... which is a long and painful process. I also went ahead and did a rough cut of the opening musical number (which looks great, by the way... and the cut is very, very rough) before passing the footage off to our editor, Graham Fisher.
Basically, the plan is for Graham to go through and do the Editor’s cut this month. Hopefully that will be done in the next few weeks. After that, I’ll come in and function as the second editor (don’t worry, I have a ton of experience editing (I even edited one of the big USC films a few semesters ago), and I’ve edited all but one of my films. So, don’t worry, this isn’t a vanity thing, I actually know what I’m doing (and it just saves time as I won’t have to explain what I mean... I can show). Graham and I will work together to really get the film into shape on this cut... in the editor’s cut, nothing can be cut, no scenes, lines, etc...
By the way, sorry if you already know all this... I’m explaining out this works for the uninitiated.
Anyway, once that cut’s complete (the Director’s cut), our producers, Melanie and Nick, will come in and give notes, and we’ll work to polish it even more. Also, at some point in this process we’ll have friends and people we trust view cuts of the film (people that haven’t read the script or seen any footage) and give notes. This next cut, where we’ll take all the notes into consideration and change what we feel needs to be changed, is called the Producer’s cut. Finally, my mentor, John Watson, will check it out and will give us his notes. Maybe you’re picking up a pattern here: lots of notes. However, on this film, and this probably won’t always be the case, but because it’s my thesis film, I have final say on everything. If only I can be so lucky throughout my career. In all likelihood, the producers will have all of the power on features in the future, as opposed to having to share it with me here. Luckily, my producers are very smart and have a good eye for film, and better yet, they trust me, so we’re in very good hands.
We’ll also have to do a small amount of VFX work (mainly chroma keying to add the backgrounds in to the scenes that were shot with green screen (3), and the scenes where we have to superimpose an image on a TV screen (2). There’s also a small amount of CGI to be done (if you know anyone with expertise in this arena, send them our direction).
At some point in this lengthy editing process, we’ll have a final cut, and we’ll lock picture (meaning that we won’t be changing anything as far as the video goes from that point on. Then, Mark Williams, our sound designer, will come in and do all of the sound design for the film. This includes cleaning up all of the dialogue, adding sound effects, recording foley effect if necessary, and any ADR (extra dialogue recording) if necessary (though I really hope it isn’t). Concurrently with this, our composer, Kenny Wood, will be writing the additional score for the film. Then, we’ll be going into the studio with an orchestra to record the score and an R and B version of “Love at First Sight” for the end credits.
Once all of this is completed, we’ll output everything to DVD, work on promotional materials (a poster, stills, etc...), and then it’s on to festivals! We plan on really running the festival circuit, with the ultimate goal of course being Sundance. But that’s another blog for another day. I’ll keep you updated on the post process as we move along!
The other thing that’s happening as we speak is the writing of the feature version of Sudden Death! As some of you know, the goal of Sudden Death! the short film has been, from the beginning, to make this unique musical into a feature film. Yeah, it’s going to be my calling card film, and yeah, hopefully it will get me an agent and work, but the whole goal is to sell this thing so I can write and direct the feature version. The USC connections and pedigree help, but it’s really difficult to get something like that done. Basically, it requires a great script. Luckily, SD! has been a feature idea from the get-go (some of the early drafts were 35 pages and I was still trying to squeeze things in to a small space) that we pared down to the essentials for the short. Long story short, I’m currently writing the feature version, and things are going very well. Things that I was really sad about having to cut from the short are happily being added back, and I can’t wait for you guys to see what I have in store for the feature version of this thing. So, I’m working on that as well, and Kahle and Kenny will be working on the songs as soon as I officially tell them what the songs are going to be about and what’s happening in them story wise.
That’s way more info than you needed or wanted to know, but hey, it’s your own fault for reading this whole thing.
