LEAP (An End Times Feature)

[Starshine Video]

Notice also how the pretrib view is different than the biblical view. They're complete opposites. Much like creation and evolutionism are complete opposites. The bible says that man brought death into the world, evolution says death brought man.

Evolution and Creation have nothing to do with each other. Biogenesis and creation is a more apt comparison. I think you should actually study evolution, you might find that the views that were taught to you by your pastor or church were as wrong and self-serving as the views they taught you about the Rapture.

 

[Nathyn]

Answer: I was wondering when this would come up. I used to believe things will happen according to the pretrib view because that's what I had been taught. I then dated a girl who's parents asked what I believed, as far as end times events goes. When I told them, they said I should read my bible. I was a little put off, but I did. I decided to see what the bible actually said, as opposed to what my preacher said. When I did this, I was surprised to find that nowhere does it mention a secret rapture, or that it takes place before the time of trouble and the Antichrist power. Then, when I tried to find scripture to prove what I had been taught, I couldn't. The bible clearly states that we are raptured after the tribulation.

OMG! That's what "The 4th Beast" and "Divinity" are both about. Jesus states plainly, "Immediately after the tribulation..." then goes on to talk about His return and the rapture. The verses "Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left." both come after Jesus has said His return will be "after the tribulation." In fact many of the scripture verses used to say Jesus will come back before the tribulation in "secret" come right after He said He'd come back after the tribulation. I used to be a very big pre-trib supporter until I actually read the Bible. That's why my films come off as being anti-religion many times.

If anyone reading this does read "Are We Living In The End Times", I recommend also reading "End Times Dellusions" by Steve Wohlberg.

Steve would be so happy to hear how he's influencing new filmmakers. His book is shown very quickly in "The 4th Beast". In fact we give him a shout out in the end. I'm not big on the notion of trying to figure out the exact "time" Jesus will come back mathematically, as we are told no one will know, and most of the times people who try are always wrong.

"Divinity" has less endtimes stuff in it, but still talks about these things. Divinity is mainly about how religion can actually replace faith, the exact opposite of what Jesus taught. Faith replaced religion ("the law"). Now I really want to see what happens with "Leap". I thank God for the younger directors out there that aren't afraid to oppose certain religious views.

"Using your logic one could state that Jesus Christ isn't God, He never uses the words I am God.

Jesus does say he is God, in the book of John He states it at least five times in Chapters 10, 14, and 17. And John 1 opens with a familiar verse to fans of my film "Wages of Sin": "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God..."

Just because a "word" isn't used doesn't mean that the inferred meaning doesn't mean the same thing. Just as in the prophecy, the bible says that Gods people will be gathered up to Him in the clouds where Christ will call out to them with the voice on an arch angel. At the glorious appearing the bible says that He descends from the clouds leading a great army to do battle with satan and the antichrist. Is He coming or going? He is God, can't He make up His mind? Just some food for thought my young friend. BTW, I use to be a big post-tribulation guy at one time.

I did much of the same independent research for my films. In fact I had heard nothing about the post-trib rapture until I prayed about the film and I was lead to Steve's book and other endtimes studies that went against the grain. My orginal idea was simply Left Behind style film with martial arts, starring me versus Kirk Cameron. (Then again Cameron knocked Brad Pitt and George Clooney into fifth place LOL).

As for the film's take on the subject, the two events are different, but according to Matthew 24, Jesus comes back (after the tribulation), takes the believers then starts to take down the Antichrist kingdom. So they're different, but happening within maybe minutes of each other. Matthew chapter 24 is many times ignored or taken out of order. The assumption is that Jesus, who at this point is ALL POWERFUL, suddenly loses His ability to multitask. Nothing states Jesus leaves with the believers, simply that we are gathered to Him. And I do believe people understand "rapture" = "caught-up" or at least get the general idea.

Films like Leap are great because, suppose the great deception is waiting for a pre-trib rapture when there isn't one. While the term "rapture" and "caught up" mean the same, the pretrib rapture was not the original view. The Christians felt Jesus would come back soon (in their time) and were preparing then because they felt they were going through the tribulation. Nero was an Antichrist, but there had been Antichrist before him (AntiGod?) because Daniel's prophesies were about things going on in his time, as well as the future. Antichrist come and go, in our father's and grandfather's time there was Hitler. Daniel sits up the model and most of these people fit it.

Evolution and Creation have nothing to do with each other. Biogenesis and creation is a more apt comparison. I think you should actually study evolution, you might find that the views that were taught to you by your pastor or church were as wrong and self-serving as the views they taught you about the Rapture.

I have a whole belief as to why evolution is suddenly being pushed so strongly. It has everything to do with those who run this world as well as the racial beliefs behind it. Even though many say those beliefs don't exist anymore, there is a connection between eugenicist and evolutionist. I may bring that out in one of my later films as well. But let's not turn this into a creation versus evolution argument, maybe we can PM about that. Let's keep it about the films shall we, I want to hear more about "Leap".

El, I had never watched "Left Behind" until you mentioned it in your early posts. I started watching it to see what the fuss was all about (it's on youtube) and I must say its definitly one of the worst written movies I've ever seen!

Ironically Cloud Ten's original End-Times films were much better and a lot more fun. They're worth the watch if you like B movies. They were pretty good for their time, but avoid their film "Deceived" at all cost. The plot and story are not good. I have a friend who would like it but she likes anything that alludes to aliens somewhere - anywhere. LOL.


-Nate

 

[El Director]

Amen Nate!
I've actually gotten to meet Steve (and had him sign his book) =) He currently lives about an hour north from me and they're building their headquarters here for White Horse Media. I'll admit, I was a bit starstruck when I first met him, but after I settled down, it was really cool to be able to sit down and pick his brain. He also has an idea for a film that we might be doing together. That'd be cool =)

So, now that we've discussed the order of events, where does "Leap" fit in? This film takes place right before the tribulation starts. It's more about learning that Jesus is coming soon, and what do you do with the time you have left. The next film will take place as the tribulation is actually happening, and we get to see the world turn to the papacy (the antichrist power), the mark enforced, and Christians being killed for not complying (a second dark age). I would've loved to start out with the second picture, but every good story has a beginning, right? I needed to introduce the main character, parkour, and my belief of solo scriptura. By being set right before the tribulation, "Leap" is able to introduce these things against a world backdrop we can relate to.

 

[Nathyn]

My third film in the series may take place during the rapture? I'm debating if it should.

-Nate

 

[El Director]

I say, if you have the money, go for it! My third one ends with the rapture and obliteration of the rest of the world. Problem will be getting funding, but think about how cool it could be, seeing this cloud sweeping over the earth, a glorious glow in the center. And I have a pretty neat idea for the changing of our bodies as the Christians are caught up. It's going to be great!

I've seen some of the other Cloud Ten films in stores, and almost bought them, but haven't yet. I do like a good B movie, so I might just have to do that.

 

[Nathyn]

Dude, Mr. T was in one of those Cloud Ten originals, so you know it's gotta be good. LOL. It was written much better than Left Behind, even had some comedy and some good action scenes. I was actually sucked in to the story they were telling and it was well done. I think their trailers are cheesy and suffer from that, but the audience they're going for buy into it.

I think the Left Behind movies profited from people wanting to see the characters on screen. If they had stayed closer to the books the films would've fared better. I really don't have a problem with Cameron. I think he should've been more gruff. He seemed too "wet behind the ears" for the role of Buck, but if you need a whitebread good guy Kirk can play it. If you need some Oscar caliber acting, maybe not so much, but what do I know.

I think Kirk should be in PG13 Christian Horror films and romancing. Why no one will go that route with him I don't know. It's not rocket science really, like a Christian "Scream" or "I Know What you Did Last Summer." A Christian "Final Destination" style film would be awesome, because God trumps even death. Kirk's friend Ray should play a pastor that knows how to stop Death from coming after them. (But I'd hate to see then rip off FD so completely).

And if Kirk has a problem kissing chicks in a romance, just cast his wife as the female lead. I doubt he'll have any trouble then. None of this hard to come up with. This is the type of thing I talk about in my "Action Filmmaking" book when you know what a person is like, simply write for that person.

-Nate

 

[El Director]

Mr. T? Right on. I think Left Behind was a too low of a budget production, and I hate saying that, as most of us are no-budgets, but to me, Left Behind felt like a TV movie.

 

[El Director]

Okay, wow. So I woke up at 9:00am and did ADR all day with my lead actor. Because of the parkour, ADR was a bit of a challenge. We got it done though. We went to Safeway as it was the only store open and picked up some food, came back, and recorded his commentary. Afterward, we discussed what we want to do as far as "Leap" is concerned, as well as talked about how to approach the next one, "Leap: Rise of the Beast". We came up with some great stuff and a new direction to go as far how we get our message out. I ended up not getting any Sound FX done today, so I'm going to do those tomorrow, the color tomorrow night.

My computer got it's upgrade today! I went from 512MB of RAM to 2GB of RAM! What a difference it makes. Yes, I am crazy and have cut two features with 512MB. If you truly love making films and don't have any money, you'll use whatever you have available. At least I get to color this one with 2GB. I will say that cutting SD footage with 512 RAM isn't really that bad. In Vegas, straight cuts were played back at normal speed. I didn't start getting any lag until I started added effects, composites, etc. Then I'd drop the preview quality to Draft Mode (an extreme way of offline editing, without having to re-digitize footage) I also have a P4 processor to drop in to replace my Celeron, but I'm not sure about motherboard compatibility issues, and I really don't want to screw with that until the film is done. Yes, rendering will still be slow, but other than that, Vegas is flying! It's now almost 2am, so I'm going to get some coloring done before passing out.

 

[dsto]

Keep it up. Why are you sleeping?! You have a movie to finish! My popcorn is getting stale......

 

[Nathyn]

I think Left Behind was a too low of a budget production, and I hate saying that, as most of us are no-budgets, but to me, Left Behind felt like a TV movie.

I think the budget was fine, but they didn't know what to do with it. I admit I like Kirk's wife as Hattie. I always imagined Hattie looking that way. Rayford and the guy that played the Antichrist were cast well also. They did good making it look like a movie but you're right it felt like a high end TV movie. They're older films had a cable TV look that worked for them. "Left Behind" could've had more polish, it should've looked more like the "Da Vinci Code" with a real adventure feel. "Leap" looks like it will have that feel.

LB's opening attack scene was bad@$$ and showed a lot of promise. Cameron has decent physicality, I'd like to try a suspense film with him, no martial arts on his part, but a few fights and some narrow escapes, that type of thing. Something with a supernatural overtone like "The Ninth Gate" meets the "Da Vinci Code". I'd like that.

-Nate

 

[El Director]

it should've looked more like the "Da Vinci Code" with a real adventure feel. "Leap" looks like it will have that feel.

Exactly!

Keep it up. Why are you sleeping?! You have a movie to finish! My popcorn is getting stale......

It's not like I planned on it. I literally couldn't stay awake. lol! It's probably the last bit of sleep I'll have for the next two days. I hope everyone understands if I don't post again until the flick is done.

Peace all!

 

[El Director]

Did you guys miss me?

Either way, we finally finished foley and sound. It took a few days longer than we anticipated, but it was well worth the time. Just like our ADR, all the sounds were recorded directly into the Vegas timeline. If it was footsteps, we'd perform the sound while watching the movie. If it was just a sound, we'd record it and I'd sync it up. Compared to "Wulf", the process was both easier and more difficult. The way of recording and perfoming was much easier, but the amount of sounds was triple what I had in Wulf. As a traceur (parkour athlete), there are sounds that I associate with what I do. Rubber shoes on concrete. Callused hands on rails. I wanted to capture that, so that took time. I also had to get a pair of high heels to perform the girls walking. They wore heels before they start learning pk. That was definately interesting, to say the least. I got some funny looks at Payless trying them on. lol!

I also had another run-in with Satan. There's a line where the pastor says "Second Thessalonians tells that that when Jesus comes for us, he won't even touch the earth". Looking at the audio at a normal zoom level, nothing appeared wrong. However, when that clip played, there was a huge distorted hiss that had replaced "when Jesus comes". I kid you not. Like I said, the clip looked normal, but when I zoomed in further, suddenly the waveform changed from dialouge to the hiss. The other crazy part was that the during the hiss, the audio switched from a single combined channel display to a mono left channel display. I was able to solve the issue with some creative editing.

Now that all is said and done, I have a few stats for everyone:
"Leap" has-
3240 individual media clips (sound and video)
1504 cuts.
3 video tracks-Footage A, Footage B, and Flipped (I like to flip shots horizontally for a number of reasons)
24 audio tracks-ADR, Sound FX, Foley, Ambience, Tone, Music
All in an 81 min movie

So now that the hard part is done, I just have to watch the film, making changes as I go. I'll repeat this until I'm happy. Yes, I know that I could technically always change something, but I usually limit myself to three or four viewings for changes.

Cheers!

Edit-
I found again all the coloring tutorials and am posting the link here, since my bookmarks are down. If anyone else looks into these, the watch the one on getting a blockbuster filmlook. The techniques can be applied to Vegas alone, without MB, and I'm sure you can figure out how to apply it if use one of the other guys too.
http://www.redgiantsoftware.com/videos/tutorials/

 

[grecostudios]

God I haven't even slept yet... 36hrs with only about 12 hrs of sleep....Trying to keep my self up so I don't get into a weird sleep schedule...

But hey everyone Audio sounds magnificent! There are a few more tweaks but honestly for this film a good boom mic and a wireless lapel system wouldn't have sounded better. Granted it would have been easier for the post production. But its worth it monetarily and time wise

 

[grecostudios]

a teaser trailer builds hype around your film. A teaser should reveal the essence of your film's story and it should also hint at the style and look of your film. A teaser must make the viewer say "holy crap...I gotta see this" or "Holy crap...I wanna see more"

Teasers should be made with respect for your film.

Teasers are a golden opportunity and should not be trivialized or thought of as lesser entity's.

Teasers are vital to the overall success of your film

"Teasers, unlike typical theatrical trailers, are usually very short in length (between 30–60 seconds) and usually contain little, if any, actual footage from the film. Sometimes, it is merely a truncated version of a theatrical trailer. They are usually released long in advance of the film they advertise. One of the reasons for the name "teaser" is because they are shown usually a long time (one or one and a half years) before the movie comes out, so as to "tease" the audience.
Teasers are also commonly used in advertising. The so-called teaser ad/campaign consists typically in (a series of) small, cryptic, challenging, advertisements which anticipate a large(r), full-blown campaign for a product launch or otherwise important event.
Teaser trailers are usually only made for big-budget and popularly themed movies. Their purpose is less to tell the audience about a movie's content than simply to let them know that the movie is coming up in the near future, and to add to the hype of the upcoming release. Teaser trailers are often made while the film is still in production or being edited and as a result they may feature scenes or alternate versions of scenes that are not in the finished film. Other ones (notable Pixar films) have scenes made for use in the trailer only. Teaser trailers today are increasingly focused on internet downloading and the convention circuit." - Wikipedia -

 

[thisisapocalypse]

"Teasers, unlike typical theatrical trailers, are usually very short in length (between 30–60 seconds) and usually contain little, if any, actual footage from the film. Sometimes, it is merely a truncated version of a theatrical trailer. They are usually released long in advance of the film they advertise. One of the reasons for the name "teaser" is because they are shown usually a long time (one or one and a half years) before the movie comes out, so as to "tease" the audience.
Teasers are also commonly used in advertising. The so-called teaser ad/campaign consists typically in (a series of) small, cryptic, challenging, advertisements which anticipate a large(r), full-blown campaign for a product launch or otherwise important event.
Teaser trailers are usually only made for big-budget and popularly themed movies. Their purpose is less to tell the audience about a movie's content than simply to let them know that the movie is coming up in the near future, and to add to the hype of the upcoming release. Teaser trailers are often made while the film is still in production or being edited and as a result they may feature scenes or alternate versions of scenes that are not in the finished film. Other ones (notable Pixar films) have scenes made for use in the trailer only. Teaser trailers today are increasingly focused on internet downloading and the convention circuit." - Wikipedia -

Ooh boy, quoting Wikipedia as a reliable source of good information. You are braver than I. I agree with the previous poster. What on earth is the point of "teasing" the audience with stuff that would make the viewer indifferent about the upcoming film? That's just idiotic. A teaser should plant a seed of curiosity and definitely has to impart *SOMETHING* about the upcoming film, otherwise why would anybody care to see it? And why would you care about telling anyone about it?

Of course, if your film doesn't have any elements that are worth telling folks about, then I guess it can slide.

 

[grecostudios]

Ooh boy, quoting Wikipedia as a reliable source of good information. You are braver than I. I agree with the previous poster. What on earth is the point of "teasing" the audience with stuff that would make the viewer indifferent about the upcoming film? That's just idiotic. A teaser should plant a seed of curiosity and definitely has to impart *SOMETHING* about the upcoming film, otherwise why would anybody care to see it? And why would you care about telling anyone about it?

Of course, if your film doesn't have any elements that are worth telling folks about, then I guess it can slide.

Sigh, really? derogatory remarks on the source and film (when did you see it?)? If you have something to say try to be civil or at least give your reasons before spilling out play ground drawl that equates to no more intellect than a cows moo.

I won't debate wikipedia with you except for the fact that there is nothing logically wrong with this statement taken from wikipedia. I can pull up many movies that have teasers that don't make sense and some of them are so so (eg: Big budget hollywood filmakers don't agree with you. That a good source?). For the most part teasers are done by movies that already have a large following, Wolverine Origins is a good example.

However since you woefully display such shortsightedness on the subject at hand, the movie Leap, and its teaser trailer lets break it down for you. Granted it won't give you the sort of "Whoa" that the teasers from Cloverfield did, but it still imparts the basic makeup of a decent teaser trailer especially one made for only the crew and actors eyes.

1. A unification of the USA and Europe = Something big is happening on a world scale
2. Quote from the bible explaining the end of times = Since something big is happening it has to do with the end of times.
3. Man training (note: if you have ever seen ROTC training or military training it looks similar to some of the stuff he is doing) = he has an important roll and is the focus of the movie and perhaps his training means something he is preparing for.
4. The leap = figuratively he is taking a leap of faith on the aforementioned end of times quote as he describes.

Everything together paints a picture of a man who sees current world events that might lead to the predictions in the book of Revelation and his belief in God.

Pretty easy to follow. Again it doesn't wow you like Cloverfield but I think it stirs something that says "huh that could be interesting enough to find out about it" or may cause you to get a lil chill. If that doesn't do it for you then to each their own move on.

Honestly, El put out a trailer to show some of you a lil bit about the film. It wasn't meant for an audience and certainly not meant for you guys but for the crew as he explained. He showed it to you because he was excited for this film.

If you want to be constructive give suggestions on how you might do it versus telling him he is doing it wrong. Remember that there is more than one way to solve a problem. If you know anything about movie history and its development you would realize that innovation, creativity and originality have paved the road for film makers (Look up Orson Wells and his experiences with what people told him he couldn't do with a camera on Citizen Kane... He proved them dead wrong!)

I think that that El Director did a great job on this movie and should be applauded for actually trying to make a dream a reality!

Of course, if your film doesn't have any elements that are worth telling folks about, then I guess it can slide.

Again be civil, its not hard to do, really! After all a dog can speak and communicate in a crude manner but it takes an intelligent person to be able to communicate in a polite and sophisticated manner in which are effective and pleasant to hear or read

 

[Noiz2]

El, and Greco, take note... I'm defending you ;~) See not inherently hostile.

OK the teaser argument is BS. Teasers serve one purpose and that is to make you remember the title. And yes in big budget films they often are either misleading and or have very little to do with the film. I have probably worked on bigger budget films than anyone on this list so this isn't speculation it is what happens. Trailers often are misleading also. They are not capsulized versions of the film. They are extended advertisements for the film, and they should have something to do with the film.

I saw the leap teaser and though it was fine. It sounds very "independent no-budget" like and that might be a turn off but other than that is was intriguing gave the impression that it might be worth watching and you can't really ask for more from a teaser.

Personally I hate propaganda films so I probably wouldn't like LEAP (I have this same problem with Michael Moore, so it's not an anti christian thing, I just don't like being preached at) BUT from the teaser I wouldn't know this and if that was all I knew about LEAP I would be interested.

 

[thisisapocalypse]

Sigh, really? derogatory remarks on the source and film (when did you see it?)? If you have something to say try to be civil or at least give your reasons before spilling out play ground drawl that equates to no more intellect than a cows moo.

Woah woah, I was plenty civil and I did not say anything derogatory about LEAP. In fact, quite to the contrary, I am very impressed with the production of LEAP and I intend to purchase the DVD in order to support a felllow DVXuser who has put so much time into this forum and is clearly following his dream of producing films that come from his heart. My remarks are only made towards the stated philosophy (re: wikipedia) on teasers (although this does relate to El Directors earlier remarks on teasers, as well, I suppose). All in all, I think one's beliefs about the point of "teasers" is not all that important in the grand scheme, in this case I just happen to strongly disagree.

 

[thisisapocalypse]

I think that that El Director did a great job on this movie and should be applauded for actually trying to make a dream a reality!



Again be civil, its not hard to do, really! After all a dog can speak and communicate in a crude manner but it takes an intelligent person to be able to communicate in a polite and sophisticated manner in which are effective and pleasant to hear or read

Aye Aye Aye - Nowhere did I say anything derogatory towards LEAP, I really did not. I did see the teaser for Leap, and sorry, but it would not in any way make me interested in seeing the movie. I do agree that teasers do not need to encapsulate a film, but they *are* advertisements and must be taken seriously given that they are also one of the *first* advertisements made for a film. I just don't see the point in *making* a teaser if it doesn't have *something* behind it that will interest the viewer.

 

[thisisapocalypse]

All in all I guess I'm just trying to say that a "definition," vis a vis Wikipedia for a teaser is not a particularly useful thing. I think teasers fall within a realm that has competing philosophies, I just don't see the point of taking them lightly. It's your 30 seconds, it's your one minute to make someone interested. You've got to create the teaser, you pick footage for a reason, you edit it a certain way for a reason, so there is some *point* to it all - the manners in which and what one is attempting to express through it may vary, but in "El Directors" earlier statements on this he said he had seen numerous teasers which did not interest him, and that he didn't feel that teasers necessarily needed to make the viewer want to see the film - that's something I do not understand.

And for what it's worth grecostudios, easy on the case for civility - I was not speaking of "your film" in regards to El Director or anyone specifically, I meant it as "one's film ," when I talked about "not having anything to say." That's what I should have typed.

Yes we're in the LEAP thread but I wasn't talking about LEAP specifically - nor did I equate your remarks to various animal noises (man, never thought I'd have to say that *again*).