LEAP (An End Times Feature)

Sunday, March 22, 2009​
So I just sent e-mails to four of the largest churches in the area to try to set up meetings this week.​

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My name is Chris Tempel and I'm an independent filmmaker from the Valley. I'm shooting an end times movie this summer and I'd to enlist the help of some churches in the area. Would it be possible to set up a meeting this week to discuss your involvement?
Thank you,
Chris Tempel​

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Hopefully something will come of this. If I could get some money from each one via faith offerings by the congregations, I'd be all set! I also received a reply to a new ad I posted on craigslist for actors. I told her about the film, and she still wants to do it. Currently, she's reading the script and we'll go from there. It'd be great if she signs on, she's been in many movies, stage productions, and commercials. ​

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I also started the schedule last night. I enjoy producing to some degree, but scheduling sucks! I'm not sure I'll ever enjoy this part of movie making. It's hard because I like to shoot somewhat in order, but this is the first time I have an equal amount of INT's and EXT's. I'm scheduling all the INT's for the end of the shoot so I'll have cover sets if it rains. ​
 
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Yea, keep the hot stuff under wraps until time to cut the trailer so people have to ask how you did it.

-Nate
 
So I've had to push back production by two months because I need to get some things in my life straightened out before I can shoot a movie. So now we're looking to shoot in August. At least the script and schedule are done, so all I really have to do is raise money and train actors.
 
So the movie has a new title now: LEAP Since my first flick was called Wulf, I wanted something just as simple for this one too. Also, I'm holding a casting session this Saturday, so hopefully some talented people show up. Their audition has two phases. First, they have to deliver a monolouge of their choice. Then, I'm running them through a parkour boot camp to see what kind of shape they're in and how well they can pick up on things. The ones that I really like will then test with a few scenes from the movie. Let's hope all goes well.
 
So far, I've cast my Shane and Pastor Scott characters for LEAP. I met a bunch of Christian actors tonight through a friend's youth group and quite a few have said that they want to audtion this Saturday. Can't wait to see what happens!
 
The auditions went great! I was literally blown away by how well everyone could act and how quick they picked up on the parkour. I also had a documentary filmmaker there shooting behind the scenes of the actors pk training and doing interviews with them, so I'll have a cool doc to put on the DVD when it's time.
 
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I just sent a proposal to Namesake Entertainment, since they're done a wide variety of Christian films. I don't know if anything will come from it, but it's worth a shot.
 
Finally got some headshots up of the actors for LEAP. Check them out at starspictures.ning.com Click on the photo album for LEAP on the left side of the page. Also threw up some more screen tests in the video section. Enjoy!
 
We finally did a read through of the script, which is something I haven't done since one of my earlier short films. It went well, I just let my actors deliver the lines how they saw them so I could see what they bring to the characters. When we meet up to train again, we'll do another read through, this time with me giving them some direction so they have an idea how to rehearse their lines. I've also added another bible study scene. I just felt that there was another message I needed to get into the film, about the timing of the rapture, so I had the characters do a short study on what the bible actually says about when the rapture takes place. Hint: It's not what Left Behind says. I know this is going to rub some Christians the wrong way, but I strongly felt that it needed to be addressed. We start shooting in two weeks, and I'm so excited! I'm way more prepared than I was on "Wulf" and my actors have bonded through the parkour training. We've kinda got the family dynamic already that I didn't have on "Wulf" until halfway through the shoot. Oh, and as far as money goes, we're holding a carwash this weekend.
 
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So I created an animatic for the end chase of the film. I've posted a 20 second clip on my site, the vid can be found here:
http://starspictures.ning.com/video/animatic-sample-for-final
The video info talks about how I did it. Overall, I really think it was a good idea to do this because it allows me to show the actors, "this is what I want" and from there we've been refining it to what they're capable off. Keep in mind, the animatic is mostly the stunt shots, there'll be others bridging the shots like CU's, reactions, more running and such. Enjoy, and let me know what you think of the technique.

Oh, and my lead actor and I did some training today at the actual locations, so that was cool. Got another training session with two actors tomorrow, and we start shooting in ten days! Can't wait!
 
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So tomorrow my lead and I are going to shoot a teaser trailer for the flick. We're it's going to be one of those classic, dreamy-type trailers with a lot of close ups and such. I'll post it when it's done.
 
We shot the trailer today. It was a good chance for me and my lead actor to learn more about how each of us works. We shot the trailer in an hour, then dumped the footage onto my editing rig. Five hours later, we have the finished product, which you can view here:

http://starspictures.ning.com/video/leap-teaser-trailer

The effects were simply a 75% desaturation filter and a small amount of highlight glow. Also added my custom film-look to it. Edited in Vegas 7, music and sounds created in Acid 5. This trailer symbolizes the dual nature of the film as what you hear is religious and what you see is parkour. I hope you all enjoy, and please let me know what you think. Oh, and be sure to let the vid play all the way through, there's a last bit after the end title card.
 
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Wow. 43 views of my teaser, but not one comment about it? Oh well. At least people are seeing it.
 
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So in preparation for shooting (which starts in a week), I've went ahead and watched my first feature, "Wulf", to take notes on what I did well, and what I want to improve on. Something new I want to try on my new flick is to try to have the camera movie all the time. "Wulf" was shot half on a locked down tripod, and half on my "motion-pod". I just really like how my film looked when the camera was always moving, so now I'll try that on a dialogue scene to see how it looks. If I like it, literally every shot will be moving. Oh, and I also gave my website a facelift, making it reflect my rebellious style of filmmaking, and adding the teaser to the main page.
 
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Just finished doing the schedule for the second time. My original schedule was a guideline on how I wanted to shoot, but due to location and actor availability, that had to be changed. Fortunately, using Celtx, it wasn't a problem. It only took like two hours to redo the schedule. We'll be shooting for 12 days over the course of 20 days, meaning that we'll average around 6.5 pages a day for my 77 page script. I need to go out to Wal-mart today and pick up some white undershirts that I can cut the sleeves off and dye blue for some costuems, also need to get one of those science fair display boards to use as a bounce card. Once I dye the shirts, I can get them to Sofiya so she can print them, and we need to have a car wash this Friday to raise some funds to help pay for food and wardrobe.
 
Watched your trailer... I am not into end times films... as I find dealing with prophecy to be a touchy and difficult subject... but good luck, and God bless.
 
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