MY CHARLOTTE - a production blog

I had a new idea today. i have completed two of the three main special effects that are needed, and am attempting the third which has to be done in 3D space, with movement, special light, colour and some animation. My thing has always been to tackle things that are a challenge for me. I think that's what makes good people great. (not that I am great but strive to try like great people do)
Anyways, as much as i am dreading having to attack this 3rd effect, I can't help but to for some reason want to shoot more footage...change my vision. It's been my experience that this can be good, or this can be bad. The trick is being lucky. Just kidding. The trick is knowing what works and how far to go. That being said, I think I am going to bring my camera to California...
 
Today I figured out how to complete the second last special effect which requires motion, blurring, glow, and has to be worked around obstacles. Sometimes the best thing to do is stand back and not think about it for a while. The next time you sit down it's painfully obvious. Which is kind of what happened tonight. With that said, I am going to Toronto tomorrow, and while I am there, I am going to see if I can get a musician there to record his vocals for a song of his that I think will fit the ending nicely. His song uses a lot of guitars, but I want a softer version with some silky strings. I used to be a music producer. I just got back from California where I got to see our lead actor, and a couple of the crew which was great. I had my first Jack in The Box burger, then went for a stomach transplant. Man, how do people eat that garbage? Anyways, at this pace I am confident that My Charlotte will be completed by the first week of February.
 
Thats great news! I just watched the teaser, and it looks awesome. I really enjoyed the music and thought the footage of passing trees intercut with the lead actor was really neat. Looking forward to more!
 
Thanks. I just need a solid week to complete it, but I am working every single day from sun up to bed time. My new goal is Feb 1st to have it finished. I have scored another piece of music for it. I create the music myself as I previously owned a recording studio, put out 3 CDs, and produced a lot of music over about 11 years. I am using Logic which is weak as an editor (but stable), with a bunch of plug ins. No modern trickery here. The score is completely orchestral. I have decided to bring in a 42 inch plasma as I am using 20 inch video monitors, and a tv monitor curently. Why a TV monitor? Well, it's just like making music. When you are finished, you don't play it on the $40,000 speakers, you put it on CD (NOT MP3!) and play it in the crappiest car available. Why? Because that's where most people listen to it. If it sounds great there, then you have passed the final test. So the monitors and High Def TV will help with the edges, the TV monitor will give me the final say. So this weekend I will rearrange some things in the edit room, bring in the plasma, and put some time into the special effects I am working on.
 
The third sequencer I ever worked on, I learned from scratch. It was Cubase. I used to program drums by keyframe. It was a massive waste of time, but great for learning (as I'm sure so many things are). I am using Motion to set up an effect. I'm far too controlling and obsessive to use tracking, and frankly, I think it looks crappy. So I am moving my target one keyframe at a time. (Is this guy stupid or something?) No, because those few strokes that will come out perfectly will matter. I will also feel that I have done it the best it could have. Laziness has NEVER made it's way into my art. I don't mean to sound arrogant, I just feel that it would be insulting to the work. You know how you conceive or shoot or create something, and you pour yourself into it, and it usurps your time? You know the feeling when it's done? It then takes a sort of soul of it's own. You can't shovel half of the driveway, or throw a drum beat into an arrangement, or half heartedly throw your video together. It would be cheating yourself. I can see easily how films never get made. ;)
 
Here's a good lesson for new editors that I learned years ago: Always save your work, and do it in multiple locations. File management sounds so boring right? It's a time and life saver. Even though I know better, I just spent an hour an a half restoring My Charlotte of Final Cut.
Last week I was in a bind. With multiple project deadlines looming, I was burning the midnight oil. Before I knew it, I had run out of desktop space, so I moved a lot of files to a new folder, and in my haste I wiped out My Charlotte altogether. I opened FCP up and restored the project. Then I had to locate all of the files I had hastily thrown around. Everything is back to normal, but it was a great reminder. I now have another of my effects completed. Two more effects, and some short edits and the second stage of my edit will be complete.
I categorize into stages so that I can keep on track and on time...
 
I am now working on the last effect for the film. There are many layers and a lot of time is being spent on rendering. My MacPro is far from slow, but there is a lot going on.I have quite a bit of effect tweening happening, so the machine has thousands of calculations to do each time I do a short render. So I took a step back and planned the mathematics of it out properly so that I wouldn't have to do it twice or more after making any mistakes. There won't be any. I figure at the pace I went today, I am probably looking at 4 or 5 days for this effect.
 
I have calculated the time it will take for this last special effect. 15 hours render time, and about 15 just applying it. Maybe another 15 in finalizing. 45 hours.
 
...however, I keep changing and trying things so it has been much longer. I have finally completed the video, and now am working on the audio. I finished the main theme months ago and experimented until I had it the way I wanted. The themes are all orchestral, and I used Logic and Reason. Logic is pretty good although it has some rudimentary elements that I don't like, but I made the switch from Cubase a couple of years back now. I experimented with vocals, vocoders, and decided in the end to keep a fairly solid classic soundtrack theme. There are 3 parts, and tomorrow I will see how they fit to video. After that, I will need to mix, then make a 2 track master. I sent to the video to another editor to color correct, so it looks like almost everything will be finished by the end of the week. I need a voiceover done by the actor, and gave him 2 weeks notice. He says he's too busy right now, but I need this done quickly. One week already down...
 
Video-done. Audio-done. Effects-finished. Watch...watch again...colour correct...watch again and realize that there are things about it that I hate. Literally. In a knife fight between me and my movie, I would do the stabbing, and it would bleed bad effect residue. That being said, I am going back and wiping out 70 percent of the effects, redoing them in a more classic sense, and adding yet another effect after brainstorming with my friend.
2 more weeks.
 
I have found the way to complete my effects. Unfortunately, I have been editing other projects which need to be finished this week. I bought a tablet board and am curious to see how well it works. I also need to quasi learn a new plugin and software, but luckily I have also found a tutorial which works with the same principles of what I am doing. This is the longest time elapsed blog I have ever written.
 
Today Matthew finished his Voice overs. We talked and rewrote the dialogue to fit the scenes, then an hour later he sent me the files. I haven't had a chance to place them yet. I'm getting closer to finishing this. I just need time to myself to do it.
 
As I stare at my LCD monitors with Top Gear playing in the background, it hits me once again my love/hate for computers. I have tested my new effects and they look gravy. However, there are certain aspects that even though I don't need-aren't working. It drives me mad knowing this so I attach the MacPro to the internet. ( This computer is not internet engaged on purpose as it holds all of my client files, and media ) Updates. I despise them. It's like driving a BMW. Everytime the weather changes it's undrivable unless you take the time and money to change the tires, heating system, and run flat sh** tires.
 
Editing video or film reminds me of making music in the studio. No matter how long you work on a project, it isn't perfect-in YOUR eyes. I made a bet that I wouldn't cut my hair or shave until this is finished and I'm starting to look like Joaquin Phoenix. It's getting closer, although I have underestimated the time it would take to create the special effects. My new target date is Monday. THIS Monday.
 
I applied the voiceover work, finished the editing and effects, and recorded the foley which I am pretty happy with. I exported the files and gave them to the colour corrector, which finished it and now I just need to apply the xml file. The audio needs to be mixed down. Since I loathe Soundtrack Pro, I will most likely do it in Logic Pro, although I may just try it in FCP for kicks since the music is already all pre mixed. I plan to have this completely finished by tomorrow afternoon.
 
The colour correct file came back and when applied, there were errors with files missing and re-arranged. What's the easiest way to cure this kind of entanglement? CUT AND PASTE. That's right, since both sequences can be accessed on the same timeline...no wait....now talking to my guy, he is resending the file as a project file. Whew. Time saved.
 
Now that it's finished....I have sent the first copy off to festival. For some reason, my week just booked full so i won't be able to really take a look at the circuit for about a week. Along the way I have updating my withoutabox files for My Charlotte so when it was finished, so was my WAB.
 
With My Charlotte completed, I have entered it into Cannes short film corner and will be there on the 12th of May to the 20th. The end result was not exactly as I envisioned it, but this IS my first short.
The week we get back from France, I am starting to cast my second short, which I just can't name yet. If anyone has any feedback/suggestions/advice or knowledge of the fest, let me know!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top