Posts
7/01/09
The screening of all the films produced during the 2009 48 Hour Film Competition will began on Tuesday and continue until Thursday. There are six sections of screenings of which the Interstate Film production of Turn The Other Cheek will be part of Group C, which will screen at 7:00 pm tonight along with eleven other films. The trick is that each section is given a specific criteria to follow in order to qualify for the competition (these criteria being the specific prop, character, and phrase that had to be in all the films of each section).
The screening will all be at Landmark Midtown Art Cinema in downtown Atlanta, Georgia. This venue is a friend to independent cinema as it specializes in limited release domestic and foreign films not to mention being a sponsor of the Atlanta Film Festival (which also so happens to be a sponsor of this event). The venue is a great place to showcase these indie films to a larger audience.
Many, if not all, the cast and crew will be seeing the film for the very first time on this night so it is a big deal to us all. Although producer Gary Hamrick, Jr. is lamentably nervous about the whole affair having been on call for the entire process of the film (and lets not forget the other producer Ondie Daniel) because he was originally set to direct the film before relinquishing the role to Jim Adams.
We have an amazing turnout for the film that included (but is not limited to) actors Liz Martin, James Robert Jarrett, Luisa Casas (who also co-edited), Daniel, Corey Chalef, and Robert Sattler, to name a few. Members of our crew also made an appearance from Asa Rose (key grip), Emilie Peters (script supervisor), Christine Cuff (production assistant), and Michael Bailey (head writer), to name a few. It is a grand event as filmmakers from all the films screening show up to support their films as well as the event itself and fun is to be had all around as people cheered and awed at the amazing lineup of films on display.
This being my first 48 Hour Film Competition I just take it all in. It will be the first film I’ve been a part of that screened on a big screen (I don’t count JACK O’LANTERN since I never saw it on the big screen when it was screened). It is a great sense of accomplishment to see a completed film on the screen and that everyone enjoys the experience because regardless of the quality of the film it is one of the most nerve racking and exhilarating experiences that I have ever had (other then shooting my own film House of Secrets that is).
There is no describing the feeling one gets when you are able to see a finished film on the big screen and that people other then your own cast and crew are enjoying it. It is one of the greatest feelings that any filmmaker can have sinse deep down inside we all want someone to enjoy the films that we produce. I don’t know about other filmmakers but I like to think that I don’t do films just for me but that I hope others will enjoy them as well (no matter how messed up and unusual they are).
I have mixed feelings about the film itself but that’s because I have mixed feelings about everything I work on. I’ve never once had a great reaction to anything I’ve ever worked on and knowing that this is only a rough version and that director Jim Adams intends to film an expanded version of the film only solidifies my insecurities about the film since he wants to make the story better by working on the characters more. There is only so much you can do with a story that’s less then seven minutes long and in which we were given particular things to put in the film, but whatever…the festival version of the film is its own entity that will be separate from the expanded version just like the competition version of Ron McLellen’s Night of the Hungry Dead is vastly different from the final Director’s Cut, which was expanded post it’s festival version.
All in all I think the cast & crew of Interstate Films did a good job putting together Turn The Other Cheek and even though it may not be the strongest film that any of us have produced it is one of the most fun and I can’t wait for the opportunity to work with the cast & crew again.
Working on the 48 Hour Film Competition is a unique opportunity for me to work with other filmmakers and expand my skills as a filmmaker and I hope that I get the chance to repeat it next year.
THE END.
Showing posts with label Gary Hamrick. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gary Hamrick. Show all posts
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Thursday, July 16, 2009
A FILM IN 48 HOURS: The Making of TURN THE OTHER CHEEK Part 3
6/28/09
Post-production on the Interstate Films’ 48 Hour Film Competition production Turn The Other Cheek started on Saturday, June 27, 2009 but would not be complete until Sunday, June 28, 2009.
Post-production on the Interstate Films’ 48 Hour Film Competition production Turn The Other Cheek started on Saturday, June 27, 2009 but would not be complete until Sunday, June 28, 2009.
After we had completed filming at the Mexican Restaurant location our co-editor Luisa Casas took the tape to her condo where the production had set up shop to start uploading the footage and cutting the scenes already filmed. When they got hold of the footage they took notice of the HDV footage of the first scene which they could not upload because they were editing with an older version of Final Cut Pro. As luck would have it, these scenes were at the end of the film and director Jim Adams had a solution to changing the end of the film so we didn’t have to go back and reshoot the scene (which was impossible since we no longer had the actors or access to the location any longer).
This is the only major problem that we have in regards to any technical issues of the footage. I’m sure that we could have filmed more coverage of scenes and cutaways (since I truly believe that we don’t have enough) but this is not one of those things you’re thinking about when you’re trying to shoot a film in under 24 hours in order to get it to the editors. The more time we spent shooting the film, the less time the editors hve with the footage and the production has to be complete and final by 7:00 pm tonight.
There is a lot of pressure on shooting the film so the editors can get their hands on the footage. This may not have been apparent but it is something we are all thinking about because unless we complete the film by the deadline all that we have worked for will have been for nothing.
This being the day of post-production I don’t have anything that needs to be done on my end. It is extremely “soothing” to know that I don’t have to be responsible for the final edit of the film (unlike say my feature film House of Secrets which I’m in post-production on). One of the reasons why I decided to do this project is that I want just to do lighting and camera and not be responsible for anything else. Not since working on the Movie Tao production 6 Degrees of Desperation (written & directed by Bren Allison) have I been in this position and sometimes I miss just working on a set as someone other then the person in charge.
The only work I do for the production on this day is give some background info on some of the technical aspects of the film for the paperwork that has to be turned in by the Interstate Films crew (Ondie Daniel & Gary Hamrick, Jr. as producers on the film). Instead, I decide to unwind from the process by going to see a movie on the big screen (the film is Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and the less said the better).
Daniel & Hamrick send out an email and text declaring that our film Turn The Other Cheek has beat the deadline and made it to the finish line of the 2009 48 Hour Film competition. Everyone is extremely happy with the outcome and ecstatic that our film will be screening on Wednesday, July 1st as part of the Group C screening of the 48 Hour Film Competition.
Our next goal is to support the film by going to the screening and voting on our film to be the audience award film so it can go on to bigger and better things (in terms of the film festival).
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
A FILM IN 48 HOURS: The Making of TURN THE OTHER CHEEK Part 2
6/27/09
Today, Saturday, June 27, 2009 will be the first production day of the Interstate Films 48 Hour Film Competition production Turn The Other Cheek, with Ondie Daniel & Gary Hamrick, Jr. producing and Jim Adams directing and me as director of photography. This will be one of the craziest days in my life as I first have a photo shoot to set up through my company CenterSeat Entertainment before making my way to the Mexican Restaurant – the first location of the day.
The photo shoot for CenterSeat Entertainment is put together by my co-workers Safaa Sammander, Laura Scigliano, and Renonda Anderson, all of whom worked on my feature film House of Secrets. Since Sammander is wanting to get more into the still photography arts (having done all the production stills for my film) this will be the first of many photo shoots designed to showcase themed photo shoots for actors & models. This first one is designed to focus on headshots with Anderson on make up to create some truly inspiring and fantastic creations against a green screen backdrop (with backgrounds to be added later). Since Sammander has never used lighting equipment before it is my job to set up the lights and make sure everything works according to plan. Since the lighting kit is one I’ve never used before it takes twice as long to set up as expected and I end up getting to the Mexican Restaurant later then expected.
Once on the Mexican Restaurant set I immediately set foot to setting up the lights for the first set up of the day. My key grip is Asa Rose who has been working with me on all my productions for the last couple of years. He came to this business knowing absolutely nothing but by working on several different indie film sets he has come unto his own.
Because the film is being shoot in 48 hours I’ve decided to use a very bright and evenly lit restaurant set since it’s a comedy. The location in its normal décor is far too dark and ominous and befitting a dark drama in which the characters have much to hide which is the exact opposite of the feeling I want to give to the film since so much of it takes place in this location.
Adams as director of the film is very fast and very easy to work with as he allows me carte blanche in terms of the cinematography of the film as he focus’ on performances and the blocking of each of the scenes.
The atmosphere on the set of this film is quite different then that of the experiences I’ve had on other films. Since most of the films that I’ve worked on have been features and in the horror, suspense, adventure, and dramatic genres the atmosphere on set has always been heavy and maybe a little too serious (probably because they were features and we always had a set amount of scenes and pages to get through before the end of the day). The atmosphere on this production is different and at times down right hilarious despite the tight shooting schedule and pressures of trying to complete the film on time.
When we aren’t filming everyone is having a grand time whether talking in groups or taking pictures of anything and everything. This ends up being one of the best groups of people I’ve worked with in such a short period of time. Although I did not get to know many of the individuals involved with the production (aside from the technical crew) working on the 48 Hour Film Competition is indeed a unique experience.
Most of the day is spent at this main location and when we finished filming there we move onto the second location, which is one of the actor’s home – Corey Chaleff, who is gracious enough to allow us the use of his home for the film. At this location we film the beginning of the story in which the scenes are mainly with our main actor James Robert Jarrett (who’s in the film Dance of the Dead).
Since I’ve never read the finished script (and am going by instinct and what Adams describes to me about the film) I don’t know much of what is going on in any given scene, which ironically is freeing as I focused on the look of each scene and where we will place the camera..
The entire shooting time for the film is less then 10 hours, which is amazing considering what we are trying to accomplish but we succeed in finishing up principal photography sooner then anticipated. We complete filming around 7:00 pm that night long before the sun is actually down.
Although we encountered a few problems (most notably that the first scene of the day is filmed in HDV instead of DV-24p so it can’t be accessed by the editing crew and has to be scraped altogether), the post production process will go through without many problems, hopefully.
Filming being done I leave the post production process to Hamrick, Daniel, and the rest of the production crew.
Today, Saturday, June 27, 2009 will be the first production day of the Interstate Films 48 Hour Film Competition production Turn The Other Cheek, with Ondie Daniel & Gary Hamrick, Jr. producing and Jim Adams directing and me as director of photography. This will be one of the craziest days in my life as I first have a photo shoot to set up through my company CenterSeat Entertainment before making my way to the Mexican Restaurant – the first location of the day.
The photo shoot for CenterSeat Entertainment is put together by my co-workers Safaa Sammander, Laura Scigliano, and Renonda Anderson, all of whom worked on my feature film House of Secrets. Since Sammander is wanting to get more into the still photography arts (having done all the production stills for my film) this will be the first of many photo shoots designed to showcase themed photo shoots for actors & models. This first one is designed to focus on headshots with Anderson on make up to create some truly inspiring and fantastic creations against a green screen backdrop (with backgrounds to be added later). Since Sammander has never used lighting equipment before it is my job to set up the lights and make sure everything works according to plan. Since the lighting kit is one I’ve never used before it takes twice as long to set up as expected and I end up getting to the Mexican Restaurant later then expected.
Once on the Mexican Restaurant set I immediately set foot to setting up the lights for the first set up of the day. My key grip is Asa Rose who has been working with me on all my productions for the last couple of years. He came to this business knowing absolutely nothing but by working on several different indie film sets he has come unto his own.
Because the film is being shoot in 48 hours I’ve decided to use a very bright and evenly lit restaurant set since it’s a comedy. The location in its normal décor is far too dark and ominous and befitting a dark drama in which the characters have much to hide which is the exact opposite of the feeling I want to give to the film since so much of it takes place in this location.
Adams as director of the film is very fast and very easy to work with as he allows me carte blanche in terms of the cinematography of the film as he focus’ on performances and the blocking of each of the scenes.
The atmosphere on the set of this film is quite different then that of the experiences I’ve had on other films. Since most of the films that I’ve worked on have been features and in the horror, suspense, adventure, and dramatic genres the atmosphere on set has always been heavy and maybe a little too serious (probably because they were features and we always had a set amount of scenes and pages to get through before the end of the day). The atmosphere on this production is different and at times down right hilarious despite the tight shooting schedule and pressures of trying to complete the film on time.
When we aren’t filming everyone is having a grand time whether talking in groups or taking pictures of anything and everything. This ends up being one of the best groups of people I’ve worked with in such a short period of time. Although I did not get to know many of the individuals involved with the production (aside from the technical crew) working on the 48 Hour Film Competition is indeed a unique experience.
Most of the day is spent at this main location and when we finished filming there we move onto the second location, which is one of the actor’s home – Corey Chaleff, who is gracious enough to allow us the use of his home for the film. At this location we film the beginning of the story in which the scenes are mainly with our main actor James Robert Jarrett (who’s in the film Dance of the Dead).
Since I’ve never read the finished script (and am going by instinct and what Adams describes to me about the film) I don’t know much of what is going on in any given scene, which ironically is freeing as I focused on the look of each scene and where we will place the camera..
The entire shooting time for the film is less then 10 hours, which is amazing considering what we are trying to accomplish but we succeed in finishing up principal photography sooner then anticipated. We complete filming around 7:00 pm that night long before the sun is actually down.
Although we encountered a few problems (most notably that the first scene of the day is filmed in HDV instead of DV-24p so it can’t be accessed by the editing crew and has to be scraped altogether), the post production process will go through without many problems, hopefully.
Filming being done I leave the post production process to Hamrick, Daniel, and the rest of the production crew.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
A FILM IN 48 HOURS: The Making of TURN THE OTHER CHEEK Part 1
6/26/09
Today is the first day of the 48 Hour Film Competition in Atlanta, Georgia and even though I’ve known many people who have participated in the event in the past, this will be the first year I participate. On a whim I decided to be the lighting designer for the Interstate Films production team being lead by Ondie Daniel and Gary Hamrick, Jr. both of whom I am currently working with on the vampire anthology film Last Call.
This being my first competition I don’t want to work too hard i truth be told this experience will dictate whether I ever do another one again.
Today is Friday, June 26th, 2009 and the production crew will get all the competition specifics in order to begin production on the competition film. This includes picking a genre, getting a character, a particular prop, and receiving a phrase that all needs to be incorporated into the film in order to qualify.
I’m not part of the writers group of what so much will happen on the first day. I show up to meet & greet everyone else on the team. The writer’s council takes place at the condo of Luisa Casas, who is an actor in the film and a co-editor on the production.
In what can be called the recreational room of Casas’ condo complex, Daniel and Hamrick gather together the writers in order to hammer out a script as soon as possible. Because the nature of the competition is to write, shoot, and edit a complete film in 48 hours we are not going to wait for anything. The sooner we have a script, the sooner we cab begin filming.
The group lucks out by getting comedy as the genre as that seems to be the writers’ greatest strengths. A rough draft of the script is quickly put together long before I arrive.
Due to some financial difficulties and having to run all over Georgia not only for equipment (located in Peachtree City from a fellow filmmaker who is letting me get a hold of his HDV camera for the film shoot) but to acquire the money to even be able to do the film, I don’t make it to the location until close to 10pm at night which ends up being fine since I walk in just as the production crew and cast are about to take a production photo.
When I arrive I can tell the group that Daniel & Hamrick has put together is a good one as I see the camaraderie coming through in the pix that are taken. This just makes me believe that I have chosen a good group of people to do my first 48 Hour production with.
After taking the group photo (which is during a break from writing the screenplay), I meet a few of the people involved with the production (even though many are leaving since it is decided we are not going to be doing any filming tonight).
I stay in order to talk through a possible shot list with the director once the script is finalized. This is not going to happen as Hamrick (who is slated to be director) steps down in order to let Jim Adams be director on the project. Hamrick has no problems stepping down as he has very little experience in the comedy genre unlike Adams. While Adams and Hamrick and Daniel help finalize the script, I spend most of my time discussing the whole process with Casas.
This being my first production away from Southlan-Films or CenterSeat Entertainment I want to get the lay of the land. Speaking with Casas leads me to the conclusion that many people working on this production are filmmakers just wanting to network and do what they love to do regardless of the hardships of indie film production. None of us are getting paid and we are all there because we want to be, not because we have to be.
This puts everything in perspective for me as it has been a long time since I’ve participated in a project in which I am not the production manager, producer, or someone in charge of every little aspect of the production.
I can actually sit back and enjoy myself for once. Enjoy the reason why I got into filmmaking in the first place. I enjoy that evening (even if I don’t end up leaving until close to 2:00 am in the morning) and it remind me that filmmaking can be fun.
With a finished script in hand we are ready to begin production on our short film Turn The Other Cheek at 8:00 am in the morning at our first location – a Mexican Restaurant.
Much fun will be had.
Today is the first day of the 48 Hour Film Competition in Atlanta, Georgia and even though I’ve known many people who have participated in the event in the past, this will be the first year I participate. On a whim I decided to be the lighting designer for the Interstate Films production team being lead by Ondie Daniel and Gary Hamrick, Jr. both of whom I am currently working with on the vampire anthology film Last Call.
This being my first competition I don’t want to work too hard i truth be told this experience will dictate whether I ever do another one again.
Today is Friday, June 26th, 2009 and the production crew will get all the competition specifics in order to begin production on the competition film. This includes picking a genre, getting a character, a particular prop, and receiving a phrase that all needs to be incorporated into the film in order to qualify.
I’m not part of the writers group of what so much will happen on the first day. I show up to meet & greet everyone else on the team. The writer’s council takes place at the condo of Luisa Casas, who is an actor in the film and a co-editor on the production.
In what can be called the recreational room of Casas’ condo complex, Daniel and Hamrick gather together the writers in order to hammer out a script as soon as possible. Because the nature of the competition is to write, shoot, and edit a complete film in 48 hours we are not going to wait for anything. The sooner we have a script, the sooner we cab begin filming.
The group lucks out by getting comedy as the genre as that seems to be the writers’ greatest strengths. A rough draft of the script is quickly put together long before I arrive.
Due to some financial difficulties and having to run all over Georgia not only for equipment (located in Peachtree City from a fellow filmmaker who is letting me get a hold of his HDV camera for the film shoot) but to acquire the money to even be able to do the film, I don’t make it to the location until close to 10pm at night which ends up being fine since I walk in just as the production crew and cast are about to take a production photo.
When I arrive I can tell the group that Daniel & Hamrick has put together is a good one as I see the camaraderie coming through in the pix that are taken. This just makes me believe that I have chosen a good group of people to do my first 48 Hour production with.
After taking the group photo (which is during a break from writing the screenplay), I meet a few of the people involved with the production (even though many are leaving since it is decided we are not going to be doing any filming tonight).
I stay in order to talk through a possible shot list with the director once the script is finalized. This is not going to happen as Hamrick (who is slated to be director) steps down in order to let Jim Adams be director on the project. Hamrick has no problems stepping down as he has very little experience in the comedy genre unlike Adams. While Adams and Hamrick and Daniel help finalize the script, I spend most of my time discussing the whole process with Casas.
This being my first production away from Southlan-Films or CenterSeat Entertainment I want to get the lay of the land. Speaking with Casas leads me to the conclusion that many people working on this production are filmmakers just wanting to network and do what they love to do regardless of the hardships of indie film production. None of us are getting paid and we are all there because we want to be, not because we have to be.
This puts everything in perspective for me as it has been a long time since I’ve participated in a project in which I am not the production manager, producer, or someone in charge of every little aspect of the production.
I can actually sit back and enjoy myself for once. Enjoy the reason why I got into filmmaking in the first place. I enjoy that evening (even if I don’t end up leaving until close to 2:00 am in the morning) and it remind me that filmmaking can be fun.
With a finished script in hand we are ready to begin production on our short film Turn The Other Cheek at 8:00 am in the morning at our first location – a Mexican Restaurant.
Much fun will be had.
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