"Lesson in Life and Death" - A Day 7 Studios production

Larry Rutledge

Larry Rutledge

Fest Master
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Logline:
A young boy's fascination with outlaws may prove too much when forced to choose between love of glory and love of family

Synopsis:
At his thirteenth birthday, young Billy receives his first rifle. The son of a U.S. Marshall, he has grown up hearing tales of gunslingers and is enamored by them. This day, like many before, find Marshall Tom Colton receiving word that the Memphis Kid is on his way.

This gun-for-hire has terrorized the northern territories for months and Marshall Colton refuses to allow him to continue to reign terror in his town. He rides out to persuade Memphis to turn back, but doesn’t realize Billy has followed him out for a glimpse at a real outlaw.

What happens next will change Billy’s life forever as he learns that you can’t take a bullet back.


Cast:
..................Billy Colton: Tyler Smith ............... [ IMDb ]
...........Marshall Tom Colton: Jeffrey Smith ............. [ IMDb ]
...................Memphis Kid: Travis Herche ............. [ IMDb ]
....................Sarah Horn: Katie Bell ................ [ IMDb ]



Crew:
............................DP: Huy Vu .................... [ IMDb ] [ reel ]
........................Editor: Brandon Rice .............. [ IMDb ]
......................Composer: Randin Graves . [ website ] [ IMDb ]
................Location Audio: Alan H. Chang . [ website ] [ IMDb ]
......Sound Design / Audio Mix: Ryan J. Frias . [ website ] [ IMDb ]
.................Hair / Makeup: Erin Dimond
........................Titles: Sam Balcomb ....[ website ] [ IMDb ]
.......Graphic Design (Poster): Rodney V. Smith [ website ] [ IMDb ]



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Production Journal

Production Journal

I will try to keep this journal up to date as I go through the production:

05.19.2010 - Tentatively throwing my hat in the ring. Extremely dependent on securing the funds .. but making a serious effort to complete
05.19.2010 - Received great poster design from Rodney V. Smith
05.20.2010 - Kicked off the fundraising campaign, if we don't raise the money we can't make the film: http://www.indiegogo.com/LessonsInLifeAndDeath
05.21.2010 - Secured Brandon Rice as Editor and Alan H. Change for Audio
05.23.2010 - Received enough of the funding to officially green light this project. We are now moving forward with official pre-production.
06.19.2010 - Hashed out the final details of the story, now finalizing the script. Also approved wardrobe on the three male characters (pictures below). Need to finalize the female character's wardrobe.
06.21.2010 - Selected a makeup artist with experience in FX makeup, should make our wounds look good.
06.21.2010 - Brought Huy Vu on board to help the camera department. Excited to put the project in his capable hands.
06.22.2010 - Finally finished draft 1 of the script. Out for review, hopefully won't need to make too many changes
06.25.2010 - Missed a couple days, but here's where we are. The final draft of the script is complete and in the hands of the cast and crew. Locations are secured and ready. Call times and locations have been delivered and accepted. Hair and Makeup is scheduled to arrive early to get the actors ready. Horse is scheduled to arrive on time. Costumes and props are all verified and approved. Tonight I have to pick up the food, a reflector, tapes for the camera, prepare the Dime Novel props (have to watch the film to find out what that means) and have them printed, and try to get at least one hour sleep (how can I sleep with all this excitement, nervousness and anticipation?)
06.26.2010 - {production day #1 ... blog to come}
06.27.2010 - {production day #2 ... blog to come}
??.??.2010 - {post production ... blog to come}
 
Reserved

Reserved

Frame Grabs (click for full size)












Couple CC tests ... not necessarily the final grading, just some tests:



 
Reserved #2

Reserved #2

Needed some old Dime Novels (these were popular story books available in the old west, like their version of a comic book. They would tell stories about people and events going on in the country, often making greater heroes or villians out of people based on how they told the story. I needed some for my film, and in particular needed one of my characters to appear on the cover of one, so I made a few covers and am pretty pleased with how they turned out:

Our Villian, Memphis Kid (played by Travis Herche)
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Our Marshal, Tom Colton (played by Jeffrey "Slone" Smith)
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And one extra to look more complete. This is again our Villian, Memphis Kid (Travis Herche) and our young lead, Billy Colton (played by Tyler Smith)
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Had wardrobe approvals this weekend ... played around with the photos I took:

Memphis Kid (played by Travis Herche)
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Showdown with Billy Colton (played by Tyler Smith)
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Marshal Tom Colton (played by Jeffrey "Slone" Smith)
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Final Justice
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Been desperately looking for a suitable looking barn, one that didn't look modern and that wasn't broken down. I wanted a bare wood barn, but the ones I found in my area were usually in great disrepair. I also found many red barns that looked far too modern and many metal barns.

Yesterday I took a small detour through the country on my way home, on a road I've driven hundreds of times, and noticed the barn pictured below, which has obviously been there a while but I had never really noticed. As I turned around to go back and check it out I happened to end up behind the owner and followed him down his long driveway. He was very gracious to allow us to come shoot there.

Unfortunately as I got close to take some photos I noticed there were a lot of power poles and lines very near to it, but I think with careful framing we can work around those and make this barn work as a nice back drop for some scenes.

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Thanks everyone ... I'm really excited about this one. I've always loved westerns, so this should be a lot of fun to watch and to participate in.

I took a chance posting this thread because as it stands I can't afford to shoot this. So I'm giving crowdfunding a go to see how well it really works. If you are so inclined you can help me get this film made by following the link and donating and/or telling your friends and neighbors about my plight (trying to raise $1500 in 12 days ... I think I might be a little crazy :grin: )

http://www.indiegogo.com/LessonsInLifeAndDeath
 
Thanks Zak, very kind! :thumbsup:

Alan - I was just writing a message to you. Are you in? :) I think we can really do it this time!!
 
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