GhostHunter Inc.

[Bigmagic]

[Bigmagic]

Cast
Justin Ormsby "Blake Stanton" Dane Smith "Paul"
Carol Lee"Mrs. Roberts" Ariel Rose "Linda"

[Bigmagic]

We had a Pre Production meeting yesterday(Feb.13th) I met a lot of great people some of whom will be involved in the project and some in future projects perhaps. We took some pictures read through the script and got to know everyone. All in all a productive meeting and a learning experience. Here's a photo.



The second photo is Bob , I can't begin to spell his last name but a great guy and wants to work behind the scenes doing anything to help. Need more like him. He stayed till the end of the meeting.


These are a couple of shots from one of the locations.

[Bigmagic]

I'm going to start this thread out with some notes from the week. I stared out the week trying to get a different script when I didn't find anything suitable I went with the one I had written. I got my oldest son involved and we brainstormed and spent a good part of Friday evening reworking the script. I was pleased with the results. Saturday I headed to Springfield with some construction lights on a stand and my GH1. For those who couldn't attend the 5pm meeting I met with earlier. At 5pm the rest of the group showed up first a few and then the whole bunch. I introduced myself and outlined the script to the group and ask for questions. I answered all as well as I could and the we let some of them read. On reading the script some of the group had a problem with the language and we tried to work around it for the sake of the meeting. In the end some of them couldn't do the film with off color language in it. I respected their viewpoint and thanked them for coming and sincerely hope I can work on a future project with them. I snapped a few photos and continued.Those remaining were ready to go and we began discussing possible scheduling conflicts so we could have everyone there when we shoot. I am flexible on the day but we have to shoot this week. We still needed to contact a couple of people after the meeting broke up but overall we accomplished a lot. We settled on the lead actor who seemed to get a grasp on his character. One of the young people who couldn't do the film for religious reasons did agree to try and help us secure a warehouse location for the basement scene.

Saturday night, the lead actor sent me suggestions on some additions to the script, I was pleased with his effort and we adapted most of them. Sunday morning I got down to the difficult job of blocking and shot planning for coverage with one camera. Next Saturday is gonna be a long day. Sunday mid morning I took a break from the blocking to create a quick couple of banners and a couple of posters. I will try and do a little better on those later. After getting that done and finishing the blocking I sent emails out to all who came Saturday and didn't get parts thanking them for attending.

What's next? Monday and securing locations, sound equipment checks, tracking new EOS lens adapter, gathering lighting gear. Printing off revised scripts, release forms and shooting schedules. Ain't film making fun!

Wednesday Feb.17th
I am awaiting the arrival of a Rode NTG-2 and a backup battery for my GH1, tracking says it will be here today. I am making a list of all the things I have to take with me to Spingfield Mo. on Friday and organizing the events of the two day shoot as well I can. I purchased some 100mph tape just in case, I will be taking multiple XLR cables and a backup mic in case the Rode is a dud out of the box, a DVX for sound along with a charger and backup battery, a light kit with umbrellas and a couple of spots to go with whats already in Springfield, 2 Canon FDs(28,2.8 and a 50mm 1.8) as well as an EOS 28-70mm and the kit lens. I emailed copies of releases to my daughter and will bring some as well in case. I am removing the back two seats from my van and taking a 6 foot ladder, a wheelchair(yep I'm a RR fan,leaving my homemade dvx dolly) two tripods my homemade boom. A roll of Blue plastic(in case my source doesn't come up with a green screen). I am also including my external dvd burner in case I need more than than the space I have on my 2 SDHC cards. I have recruited four of my adult children to assist on the project, recruited isn't the right word....drafted more like. I am reviewing some of the Indie films I have bought through this site over the years for any additional tips I might pick up, "Broken""Radius""Her Summer""Radio Mechanics"and "Sleepover Nightmare". I'll try to sneak a peek at the last two disks of Hollywood Camerawork again while I am rounding stuff up today. If I get a chance I will update this little journal on Friday evening and late Saturday night. Thanks.

Friday, I was only planning on shooting the final scenes, so I thought maybe half a day. Wrong, After shooting the greenscreen,we repositioned for some other shots that were on the list and we fought lighting either we had too much or not enough. I changed lenses several times(I hope it doesn't hurt continuity) and continued as planned. Most of these scenes did not require any on camera dialog and I recorded all of the off camera dialog in between shots. We got to the final scene with some dialog and covered it with two versions of the script so I'm thinking I'm good. Wrong again, I don't have a slate and forgot to sync with a tone of hand clap or anything so I may have to shoot the final scene over tomorrow. Major bummer. Tomorrow was going to be my full day so I may wind up shooting well into the evening. On the bright side(knock on wood) the equipment held up except for one umbrella light that got broken in between scenes. When I reviewed the footage at the end of the day I realized that I didn't record any sound with the greenscreen and the actor actually has a line on that part. So I didn't do so hot on my first day of shooting but I learned a lot and some of the footage I think works like I planned. Its late, I had to buy some props, look for something at Best Buy to save files on I finally decided to move them onto my daughters computer and try to keep them on the SD card as well. I will use one of my other cards for tomorrow. I do have some funny outtakes but I don't know if anyone will want me to use them. We shall see. Its late, I'm finishing up a revised shot list for tomorrow and aching all over this 55 year old body. But man was it fun, three of my adult children were there helping me every step of the way and we had a great time. We had a cast member who wasn't involved in the days shoot come in to offer any assistance she could. Excuse the poor editing of this update but its 1:39am and I am totally Bushed. See ya on the set!

A Set Back
Saturday, early am. Shortly after finishing the post above I started experiencing chest pains and shortness of breath. I was rushed to a local Springfield MO. hospital and was admitted and kept overnight, thus losing a whole day of shooting. I'm out now its Sunday afternoon and I'm emailing my actors and trying to coordinate scheduling so I can still finish this thing and get it turned in. Such is life.

Monday Evening Feb. 22
Ok, per doctors orders I have rested two days,now back to getting after it. I am testing color correction and chroma keying options as well as listening to the sound we recorded Friday. I got some really good footage and some that looked like a 70s B horror fest. Not at all what I was going for. I can do a little post and correct most of it but I'm gonna need to shoot some b roll which I didn't do at all on Friday. Final scene did not come anywhere near what I wanted the look was ok but we need to make some script changes. Even if I don't get this finished in time I will finish it and post a link to it for anyone interested. I will be pushing hard right up to the deadline but my kids are watching me and throttling me back some. The good thing is they are going to be doing more now and me less. My lead actor Justin has been a real trooper, ready to go and willing to try most anything a great guy to work with. He has got the bulk of the attention since he's been in everything we have shot up to now. Dane Smith and Carol Lee have been ready and willing as well and my last actress I have yet to meet. She seems like a nice person though. I was intending to score this one myself and create all the sound effects but time is running out and that may not be possible. Back to work.

Wednesday Feb. 24 Script Revision 101
Due to conflicting schedules from our actors, I have had to make some major script revisions. I am not sure how it will play compared to the original script, but I didn't want to recast anyone because I got ill last weekend. Essentially the same story simplified. Less dialog for the actor with time constraints and less coverage needed of the final scene due to script changes. This should allow me to get all his stuff done Friday in the roughly 3 hours I have him. I added dialog and a longer scene for one of the characters that originally only had a cameo. Less is more or so I hope. I also found some of my best footage from last week contanimated by a small lens flare that was from the flashlights. I don't have time to reshoot it at this point so its part of the film.

Friday Feb. 26 (Its a Wrap)
Final day of shooting we started around noon and finished up a little after six o'clock CDT. Really strong effort by our actors, everyone was prepared and anxious to finish up. We virtually reshot the entire script with the new revisions and tried to get enough coverage.

Lessons learned
1. Buy a slate
2. Always shoot B-roll for every scene
3. Trust your actors
4. Always have a backup plan
5. Avoid hospitalization during shooting
6. Always shoot lots of B-roll
7. Spend more time with set design and props
8. Remember the polarization filter
9. Always shoot B-roll
10. There is no such thing as too much coverage.

In conclusion I'd like to thank the actors and crew for their effort on this project. I learned a lot and I hope all of you had a good time. See ya at the cast screening.



Some grabs from Friday




Here's a link to a blog I started on the making of this film. http://ghosthunterinc.blogspot.com/

[RodThompson]

sweet!

[Ki-Ki]

Damn this sounds good..

[ramsaur]

I can't see any photos.

Good luck though!

[justinormsby]

Yup, I can't see any pictures either.

[Bigmagic]

Ok fixed!

[justinormsby]

Looks good! Excited to get started.

BTW, Ariel's last name is Rose!

Cheers!

=Justin=