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

Larry R said:
This is it ... tomorrow we shoot. I am as nervous as can be, I hope it all goes well.

I'm really happy with the script, the cast, the crew, the costumes, the props ... so as long as I don't screw things up, we should be good :)
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Problem....Tyler says he's holding out cuz he wants more than offered for his part, but not to worry! I met his demand and now he's getting the mighty kids meal instead of the regular kids meal on our trip there tomorrow!

All clear sailing now!!:thumbsup:
 
Slone said:
Problem....Tyler says he's holding out cuz he wants more than offered for his part, but not to worry! I met his demand and now he's getting the mighty kids meal instead of the regular kids meal on our trip there tomorrow!
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Actors! :grin:

All clear sailing now!!:thumbsup:
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Thanks for handling that ... nothing worse than a moody actor on set :-Laugh(DBG):




So as I'm doing all the last minute prep things today I'm reminded of my last DVXFest shoot, for Hero Fest (back in '05 I believe). It was only my second shoot ever in my life and I was excited and nervous all at the same time. I had been going non-stop the day before the shoot, contacting people, picking stuff up, getting the gear, sorting the gear, props, handmaking parts of the costume, etc. I finally got everything done and ready as I would be able to and laid down around 12:30 (just after midnight).

I laid there, my eyes wide open staring at the ceiling, praying for sleep but not finding it. My mind had not slowed done one bit and then the nerves hit full force and I suddenly sat straight up in bed (like in the movies, only I was already awake :) ) and thought to myself (so as not to wake anyone else), "What am I doing, I can't do this. I need to call everyone right now and tell them not to come. This is crazy, I can't do this."

I sat there for a minute, my mind was racing, trying to figure out what to do. Then I decided I'd come this far, I was doing what I wanted to do, I told myself I was nervous because it was still a fairly new experience. I laid back down, closed my eyes and thankfully fell asleep.

The film wasn't the best film produced, but it turned out good considering my lack of experience and knowledge. We had fun making it, I still have fun showing it to people occasionally. I know it's not the best, but it was better than a home movie, so that was a success. And, more importantly, I enjoyed myself, found that I had never been as happy as when I was on that set (and all sets since).

So, while I'm nervous again now, I have that experience to pull from. I know we'll have a great time, so I'm not worried about that. I just want to make sure I put out the best product I can. Not the best in the world, but the best I can with the resources I have available to me (which in this case is some very talented and very generous people, thank goodness!!! :thumbsup:)
 
Thanks for sharing that Larry. While I've done a couple of docs before, my WestFest film is the first film I have ever done. Your night before your hero fest sounds just like my last night before filming. I had a ton of doubts. In fact ever since I started on this my feelings hav been a mix of doubt (who the heck am I to think I can make a film?) and awe ( I can't believe I've come this far!).

Fortunately my wife has been a great supporter and butt kicker. I've put so much into it now there is no way she would let me drop it even if I wanted to flake out.

I also feel like my movie isn't nearly as good as it could have been. Like you I think mine is far from terrible, and a big step up from anything I've do e before. When I first started I harbored hopes of getting into the top ten. Bit looking over my film now and seeing some of the amazing things coming from guys like Troy, I'll take any halfway respectable placing.

But no matter what, I'll be able to say I learned a ton, and finished a film. And that is worth more than anything else to me now.

Bes of luck with the shoot, Larry. Knock 'em dead.
 
I think he stayed up late thinking of words to play against me in Words w/ Friends :P

Rogan

PS Good Luck...not that you need it.
 
I heard today went great! Hopefully later on Larry can come give us all more details... I know he's exhausted though!
 
Day 1 was great ... HOT, but great. I think the high for the day was 95 and our cast was wearing what looked fantastic for shooting a western, but were WAY to thick and heavy to wear in such warm weather. They were troopers though and pressed on, probably lost a few pounds by the end of the day :)

We moved fast, shot about 10-1/2 out of 11-1/4 pages. I was very pleased with the progress, I was extremely pleased with the performances and I'm equally pleased with the footage.

We have the remaining ~3/4 page to shoot today, hoping to wrap in about 2 hours as the afternoon is supposed to hit 101 today.

I will try to get some photos and grabs up soon, maybe this evening or tomorrow. In the meantime I put up images of a couple prop book covers I made for the shoot. You can see them on the front page of the thread.

I'll give more detailed comments on the shoot later, got to go get ready for this mornings shoot. Just wanted to let everyone know it's going well so far.
 
Larry, I'm 3 lbs. lighter! 42-oz. steak here I come.

Unfortunately, I was there only for Saturday and not Sunday. Scorching HOT!
 
Alan H. Chang said:
Larry, I'm 3 lbs. lighter! 42-oz. steak here I come.

Unfortunately, I was there only for Saturday and not Sunday. Scorching HOT!
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Scorching hot? naaaawwww...where I come from, it gets so hot, the cows give evaporated milk! :Drogar-BlackEye(DBG
 
Had a chance to view some footage today, as we tested our editing work-flow. Looks great, and can't wait to get this thing cut!
 
4100xpb said:
A 12 page script? Did you double space?;) glad the shoot went well, hope today's is just as good.
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As a mod I can't really compete. Officially the rules state that I can enter for rating, but not prizes, so I decided to just make a western short to include in the fun. This allowed me to extend beyond the 6 minute limit, hence the 12 pages (or technically 11-1/4 pages) :)


Alan H. Chang said:
Larry, I'm 3 lbs. lighter! 42-oz. steak here I come.
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Yea, I need to do several more of these shoots just for the weight loss aspect :) ... though that steak sounds really delicious!!! :)[/quote]

Unfortunately, I was there only for Saturday and not Sunday. Scorching HOT!
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Yea, was too bad you couldn't come back out. I'm sure you do much better audio work than I or the other untrained people who stepped in to help out Sunday. You and Ryan may have a touch extra post work on Sunday's audio ;)


Slone said:
Scorching hot? naaaawwww...where I come from, it gets so hot, the cows give evaporated milk! :Drogar-BlackEye(DBG
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HA HA HA HA



I added a couple quick grabs to post #3 at the beginning of this thread. Understand they are not direct from the footage, they are from a test export out of Avid, so the color settings weren't adjusted in any way, then I pulled the images direct from quicktime, from the h264, without any gamma correction, etc.

All that to say, yes I know they appear a touch washed out .. but that's because they aren't official frame grabs. Just my attempt to grab a couple quick grabs any way I could. Hopefully I'll get better grabs up later tonight or tomorrow.
 
Day 2 went just as smoothly as day 1, though it was a touch warmer and the crew had shrunk. Unfortunately our sound guy, Alan Chang, was unable to return for day 2 due to a prior commitment, but we sure appreciated his hard work on Day 1 and appreciated his leaving some gear behind so that our film didn't suddenly turn into a silent-era film :)

Jeffrey (Marshal Colton), Katie (Sarah Horn), and Erin (hair/makeup) stepped in and did double duty slating takes, booming takes, pulling focus, grabbing gear/props, getting water for our poor actors standing for long periods in the direct near 100 degree sunlight wearing way too much, way to heavy, clothing.

Our DP, Huy, was tireless in his efforts to finish. I occasionally took directorial liberty and sat down in the shade while he drug his scrim and tripod and slider and camera and monitor around between setups (I helped too, I wasn't bugging out the whole time :) ). I felt really bad at one point, he and Jeffrey had both been on their knees trying to get a really cool, ground level shot and were in the direct sunlight. I ran and grabbed some poster board flags I had in my car and held over them for some makeshift shade (note to self, buy a tarp of some sort before the next shoot for the camera crew).

Day 1 we shot all but the opening sequence and the scene that connects the opening to the rest of the film (you'll understand when you see it ... I hope). Katie (Sarah) and Jeffrey (Marshal) I think were glad that they weren't in these scenes as they didn't have to dress out in their costumes. Poor Tyler (Billy) and Travis (Memphis) had to dress again in their now unpleasantly smelling (but more authentic) outfits from the day before.

The shoot went really smooth, I think we got all the footage we need. There are some pretty cool shots in there, Huy had some great ideas and has a great eye for the camera!

Tonight I get to log all the footage and will get it in the mail tomorrow to Brandon (16 GB, too much to try and transfer electronically) then he can begin the process of sorting through our mess and hopefully making a nice little gem out of it.

In addition it will go to Ryan Frias (with help from Alan) to get the audio sounding fantastic, and off to Randin to get a beautiful score, then a little colorist work and suddenly we are "in the movies"! :)
 
slone said:
scorching hot? Naaaawwww...where i come from, it gets so hot, the cows give evaporated milk! :drogar-blackeye(dbg
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lol!

I remember when I was at the Stricken shoot, the temp wasn't too bad, though I think the temps get up to about 120F? The drive, however, was intense...
 
Thanks Brandon

Any other comments from anyone? I'm curious what people think of those looks (love, like, dislike, hate, detest, etc) :)
 
Larry, I think the black is crushed far too much and the highlight is also too clipped. I would check the scopes to make sure that you retain details. I would use masks to correct the actors separately from the background. If you're going for a warm look I would suggest going more aggressive than that, because right now there's an odd pastel tone over everything, especially the skintone. The leaves especially becomes an unattractive shade, and also because they're too bright, I would bring down their brightness. The sharpening on the 2nd shot is too aggressive as well.
 
Huy Vu said:
Larry, I think the black is crushed far too much and the highlight is also too clipped. I would check the scopes to make sure that you retain details. I would use masks to correct the actors separately from the background. If you're going for a warm look I would suggest going more aggressive than that, because right now there's an odd pastel tone over everything, especially the skintone. The leaves especially becomes an unattractive shade, and also because they're too bright, I would bring down their brightness. The sharpening on the 2nd shot is too aggressive as well.
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WOW! I didnt understand a single word of that! Your da man, Huy!

:laugh:

when do we get to see some grabs?:Drogar-SunGlass(DBG
 
Slone said:
WOW! I didnt understand a single word of that! Your da man, Huy!

:laugh:

when do we get to see some grabs?:Drogar-SunGlass(DBG
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I second everything you just said! LOL!! He must be smarter than us.

Yes! Grabs, Larry!! Glad you got it all knocked out, BTW.
 
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