The Natural Order Of Things

[aravance]

UPDATE:
NATURAL ORDER OF THINGS WILL NOT BE READY FOR LOSSFEST. SORRY EVERYONE.

I have wanted to make this film for awhile...and now I finally have an excuse to.

The script ended up being about 15 pages. I don't think I can make a six-minute edited version, but I will try.
If not, I still plan to enter the film as non-competing.

TITLE: The Natural Order of Things

TAGLINE:
When fate challenges the human spirit.

FORMAT: RED Camera

SHOOTING DATES: January 16th - January 21st

BEHIND THE SCENES VIDEO

0a94d5b0191ae5c387

PRODUCTION UPDATES:

01.21.09 - Production wrapped.

01.16.09 - Wow. I can't believe it's been a week since I last wrote. Much has happened since. We had our auditions and cast our actors. Rick arrived in one piece with his RED. Production meetings. Logistic problems. Problem solving. etc. etc. etc. We had our first day of principal photography today. Worked a little less than 12 hours. Overall a good day. We ended up getting some fake bottles for smashing from the guy who makes them for Jackie Chan, and rented superspeed Ziess lenses from one of the most generous people on earth. Quentin Tarantino has rented from him before, so it's like we are following in his wake. Each day I'm amazed that this project has come into fruition and that it is all coming together. Eating tons of great food and really appreciating the hospitality and graciousness of our Chinese friends and crew. Tomorrow is another big day, and we have about 5 more days of shooting. I'll try to post when I have the energy and try to post some behind-the-scenes pictures. But it might have to wait til after we wrap.

01.09.09 - Met Yan at the subway and we went to check out another location. She had a better apartment in mind for our story, and sure enough once we got there I was sold. We had Purhr tea with the owner, Liu Laoshi, and then we went to lunch. Afterwards, we had a script translation meeting with Associate Producer Steven Xiu. We spent a lot of time combing through the dialogue and actions, making them more appropriate for the culture. It is a very tedious process, but yeilds more authentic results. We got through about half of the script before Yan had to leave. Then, Xu Jin and I met with Guan Yu and checked out a couple more locations. Locked down the hospital but still needing a bar. We had dinner and called it a night. Tomorrow are the auditions.

01.08.09 - We started this morning at the Tian Yi market buying props. I left most of the bargaining to Yan. Xu Jin met up with us later and took us to a couple more locations. We were able to peg down a couple of key locations in the script. Tomorrow we will be checking out an apartment location and then going through the script with the translator and another native speaker to make sure that all the subtleties in the script translate well. I'm spending most of my nights adjusting the shooting schedule as well as beginning to storyboard and come up with camera setups.

01.07.09 - Still feeling a little jetlagged, but had a full day today with the production manager, Yan. We worked through the script detailing the locations and props, as well as met with the location scout (Xu Jin) and the casting director (Zhu). We are holding our auditions on Saturday, January 10th. Tomorrow we go prop-shopping and more location scouting.

01.06.09 - Took a taxi from the airport to the apartment the production manager (Yan Gao) found for me. It's really nice. Got the internet and hot water working, which is a double bonus.

01.04.09 - The project is officially ON! Took my flight out to Beijing today and will arrive sometime tomorrow.

01.02.09 - Put the finishing touches on the script. Sent it off to our foreign translator to begin translation.

01.01.09 - More video-conferences with producer, William Brick. Working through the last details of the script.

Some screen grabs. These are all raw with no color correction.

Enjoy!

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/9879/1234344860.jpg

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/9879/1234344874.jpg

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[Richard J. Johnson]

Very cool. Welcome to the fest.

[stinkpot]

I'm intrigued by the title. Looking forward to checking it out.

:beer:

[aravance]

CAST:
Feng Li - Yin Jin
Dong Ke - Zhu Zhi Guang
Xiao Tian - Wu Yu Xin
Chen Ge - Chen Guo Yi
Thief - Peng Tao
Thief's Son - Zhu Bao
Shop Attendant - Gloria Su

CREW:
Executive Producers - Tim Hsieh, William Brick
Associate Producer - Tian Xi
Associate Producer - Steven Xu
Director - Van Blumreich
1st Assistant Director: Torch Sun
2nd Assistant Director: Amelia Lee
Unit Production Manager - Yan Gao
Casting Director - Zhu Xiansheng
Cinematographer - Rick Darge
1st Assistant Cameraman - Liu Guan Yu
Key Grip - Wang Hao
Script Supervisor - Cheng Ming Fei, Zhang Yue Yue
Art Direction - Sun Jian
Screenwriters - Van Blumreich, Yan Gao
Location Scout - Xu Jing
Make-up Artist - Wu Bai Yan
Boom Operator - Steven Ng
Original Music Composition - David Pencil
Production Sound Mixer - Matt Mellin

CAST PHOTOS:

Yin Jing - Feng Li

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/9879/1232194430.jpg

Wu Yu Xin - Xiao Tian

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/9879/1232194300.jpg

Peng Tao - Thief

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/9879/1232194376.jpg

[aravance]

BEHIND THE SCENES PHOTOS

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/9879/1232556856.jpg

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[pauly_the_hitman]

Good luck glad you are gonna make it look forward to seeing it.
Pauly

[Susanne G.]

Best wishes and much luck! :)

Susanne :bath:

[Drew Ott]

I'm looking forward to this. I remember reading an interview with you or something like that where you said your favorite genre is tragedy. Once I read that, I realized that my favorite type of story was also tragedy.

Once I saw this was Loss Fest, I was trying to think of which filmmaker from the boards was the guy who liked tragedy, so I'm glad to see you're in.

[aravance]

Thanks Drew.

Yes, I am drawn to tragedy for better or worse. My personality type is said to be attracted to 'sad things'. I guess I just try to see the beauty of humanity through tragic, sad experiences.

Anyway, hope this entry will be on par with everyone else's entry.

[Dustin R. Rogan]

Welcome fellow Texan! Texas is well rep'd these days!

Rogan

[jpsheets]

Hey Van,

Be sure to let me know when you need help and I'm there for 'ya.

best,

Jon

[Darkline]

You made 'Imprint' right? That was a great short.

[aravance]

Yes, that was my last DVXUser Fest entry.

I finished another short film most recently that ended up being around 25 minutes.
We shot on the RED.

Not sure what we will shoot for this project: either HVX+35mm, HVX stock, the RED, or 16mm.

I'm really not good with the whole self-promoting film thing.

There are some pretty exciting things happening with this project, but I dont want to give too much away. I guess I'd rather have the film that sort of sneaks up on you rather than have the film that has created all these expectations.

There is a huge possibility that the film will run longer than 6 minutes. I'm either thinking of editing down a version specifically for LossFest or just having it be non-competing.

[deedive]

lookin forward to it:)

[aravance]

Updated.

[wartez]

is rick darge -- richard darge?

can you tell us a little more about your connection to beijing? do you work/live there or just felt like telling a story in china? sounds like fun!

[Mark Harris]

Definitely looking forward to this one. Good luck!

[aravance]

is rick darge -- richard darge?

can you tell us a little more about your connection to beijing? do you work/live there or just felt like telling a story in china? sounds like fun!

I studied abroad in Beijing about four years ago, and most recently went back to work for NBC during the Olympics. I met some great industry contacts during that time and really wanted to shoot something here. The story I had written felt a bit odd as an American story, but felt more right in China's culture and context.

Some of the people who are working with this film most recently worked on the Mummy 3, which is kinda cool. But this is definitely a low-budget affair.

[warau]

I am looking forward to seeing how your thoughts come across in another language and culture. I live in Japan and am still thinking about joining the fest but am somewhat concerned about the cultural and language issues. How well can you communicate without a translator? My main concern is directing and finding myself unable to describe nuances of a scene. And I would be considered fluent in Japanese by most people!

[Mile Bozicevic]

15 pages of script?

It would be cool to post your script after the fest is over, so some of memebers (like ME ;D) could see how you managed to put 15 pages into 6 minutes. I think that's not so easy to do.

Of course, that is if you want to post the script online etc., I was just thinking.
Good luck.

[aravance]

I am looking forward to seeing how your thoughts come across in another language and culture. I live in Japan and am still thinking about joining the fest but am somewhat concerned about the cultural and language issues. How well can you communicate without a translator? My main concern is directing and finding myself unable to describe nuances of a scene. And I would be considered fluent in Japanese by most people!

I speak some Chinese, but will be using translators throughout the shoot.
But actually most of the actions/nuances come across in the script.

I wrote it in English and then my co-writer wrote a literal translation in Mandarin. But done this way, many lines of dialogue don't feel authentic and definitely feel like they have been translated. So we've been going through the script with our associate producer, who is a Beijing local. We've made many changes to make everything more authentic.

They've actually praised me for being willing enough to allow them to change some of the dialogue. Lots of other foreign directors haven't let them in the past.

It has been really challenging. Sometimes it takes us like two hours to go through a scene and make sure it feels natural in both Chinese and in the English subtitles. It's almost like working on two scripts at once.

[aravance]

15 pages of script?

It would be cool to post your script after the fest is over, so some of memebers (like ME ;D) could see how you managed to put 15 pages into 6 minutes. I think that's not so easy to do.

Of course, that is if you want to post the script online etc., I was just thinking.
Good luck.


Yeah, I don't know if it can be squeezed down that much and still keep the story intact. It's highly doubtful.

In which case I don't know what I should do.

I guess either withdrawl my entry or enter it as non-competing.

[aravance]

A couple of cast photos uploaded. More to come.

[aravance]

Ladies and gentlemen, it's officially a wrap.

[Rodney V. Smith]

sweet dude! those are excellent words! congrats and stuff.

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

Ladies and gentlemen, it's officially a wrap.

Good for you, man.

So, did you shoot all 15 pages?

Now throw up some grabs already! :)

[aravance]

As you wish.

Posted on front page.

[Rodney V. Smith]

BTS: we love BTS.

cool shots dude. looks like you guys were incredibly busy.

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

BTS is very nice but I want footage grabs!

Yes, I'm greedy. :)

[aravance]

I thought you couldn't post footage grabs?

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

I thought you couldn't post footage grabs?
Yes, yes you can.

You can't post footage clips! Frame grabs are allowed.
Otherwise I would have been kicked out of previous festivals here a long time ago.

Trust me, it's allowed. :thumbup:

MAH

[Rodney V. Smith]

i've been posting away like crazy. frame grabs are cool and get us all excited.

[aravance]

Yeah, it'll have to wait at least a week. that's when I get back to the States.

It is a 15 minute short and that's how we shot it. Not sure if I'll be able to shave it down.

[aravance]

Behind the scenes video posted on the front page.

Also, here:

0a94d5b0191ae5c387

[vnguyen972]

Love it!

[aravance]

Some screen grabs. These are all raw with no color correction.

Enjoy!

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/9879/1234344860.jpg

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/9879/1234344874.jpg

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/9879/1234344889.jpg

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/9879/1234344904.jpg

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/9879/1234344918.jpg

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/9879/1234344932.jpg

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/9879/1234344948.jpg

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/9879/1234344965.jpg

[jasonthewho]

Ooo, nice grabs.

[Rodney V. Smith]

oh wow. multiple wow.

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

Beautiful grabs! Great locations.
That RED really shines. :thumbup:
Can't wait to see this in HD!

MAH

[aravance]

Thanks. We had some awesome Zeiss superspeeds (28mm T1.4, 50mm T1.4, 85m T1.4) and those really helped out a lot in terms of being able to shoot without tons of light.

The RED really does shine, but it really does come down to lighting.
I bought a Lite Panel mini that proved indispensable during this shoot.
We would normally have someone hold it and use it for either key, fill, effect, etc.
Slap some different gels on it, etc.

We have a really nice color palette for this film that I'm pretty stoked about.

[Geoff_R]

Wow, excellent lighting and comp throughout those grabs. Really like the one with a golden hue to it, with the guy putting his hand on the older man's shoulder. Excellent shot!

[aravance]

Sorry to disappoint everyone, but I don't think it is going to be ready before the deadline.

[aravance]

It's now official.

"The Natural Order of Things" won't be ready by the deadline.

Sorry everyone...I've just been slammed with some other work that I just don't have time to complete it by that date. It's looking more realistically like April or May.

Best of luck to everyone else! Here's hoping I'm in the minority of casualties...

[jasonthewho]

That's a shame. Looked like a great entry. Let us know when you finish it!

[Kholi]

Really love the maturity and interesting faces in your grabs. Grade 'em up!

Gonna come huntin' for your entry when it's released.

[Rodney V. Smith]

dammit. i was looking forward to seeing this. defintely post an update and let us know when it's out.

[aravance]

THE NATURAL ORDER OF THINGS
SPECIAL LIMITED ONLINE SCREENING!!!

It's finished! Almost exactly a year from shooting, the film is now completed and is being sent to film festivals worldwide.

The DVXUser community has always been a constant source of inspiration, and this film wouldn't have existed if it wasn't for this forum.
The goal was to submit this to Lossfest, but we were unable to meet the time deadline or the running time requirement.

Regardless, I wanted to share this film with the wonderful people of the DVXUser community as a thank you.
If you have the time and/or patience to watch a 30-minute short film, I'd love for you to view it and tell me what you think.

Please go check it out on the official thread:
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=173939