FEATURE: Rise of the Beast-the new feature from STARS Pictures

Just a note that... Carl Orf hasn't been so long dead that the beasts of Copyright no longer worry about his works...

Don't know if the trailer has the color grading you were mentioning, but at least one shot is pretty 'dark', I think it is a shot from an automobile... couldn't tell... A small note that on a edit... at about :43 or so, the fellow swings his nightstick, a guy crashes to the wall. But from the high shot, the nightstick doesn't seem to make contact, or 'sufficient' contact to have such an impact on the subsequent shot cut in. (there may also be an issue with where the 180 rule is broken... and allows the side of the face of the guy just hit, to show 'no sign' of impact with the nightstick...)

I know you'll be working on such things, and this was perhaps a 'quickie'... but, well I did watch it, and those things just sort of popped out at me.
Click to expand...

I appreciate you taking the time to check it out. I'm well aware of the copyright issue with the song. And no, this isn't the new look I came up with. You do bring up a good point though about the clubbing bit. I'll rewatch the actual scene and see how it plays out in the film with the sound effects. Thanks again!
 
I think the scene with the club is a simple editing thing. What I try to do is match the first move of the cut as closely as possible to the next so the cut is almost directly on the action. What's happening is the way he is struck wouldn't cause him to hit the wall that way. If you don't have another take of that, maybe you want to cut in mid swing so there's some confusion to how he's struck, but audience won't have time to figure it out in their mind before the next cut.

-Nate
 
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I just went back to the beginning of your production journal. It's odd to see how it's changed over the time you've been doing this project.

-Nate
 
I noticed that too. It's kind of cool actually-although the production itself has changed--budget, cameras, locations-- the movie itself hasn't, which I think is sorta neat =)
 
From the Production Journal:

Sunday, October 17, 2010

We started filming the big fight today! Here's how things went down:

Alex and Ben picked me up around two and we headed to downtown Spokane to get some pickup shots of Luke's reaction to his apartment being blown up and then calling the bad guys about it. Next we shot Alex and Ben's part of the meet up before the street preaching, of which we had already shot everyone else's part. From there it was back into the car and up to the South Hill where we arrived at the store to shoot the market fight. Peter was there to let us in. It was at this point that I broke the news to the group that we only had two hours to film today because one of the actor's agents was in town and wanted to meet with him that evening. While I was setting up I had Alex watch the BTS of the fights from all three Bourne films to get him jazzed up and to give him ideas for the fight. Natalya brought her friend Kamila tonight because she's going to be in the bad guys scenes and I wanted her to get a feel for how I do things and to meet the group.

We started by filming the part where the agent, Thade, comes into the store asking about the Leap crew and Olia texts Shane for help on her phone. Then we shot Olia's death, followed by Peter's. All this took about an hour and fifteen minutes. While I was filming with Natalya and Peter, Alex, Kevin and Charles started working out the fight. In that time they managed to come up with a 10 second piece, so I was able to go straight from filming the deaths to filming the fight. We were able to shoot the ten second sequence in the forty-five minutes we had left then packed up. Once the store was locked up, Kevin (Thade) and I went across the street to get the shots of him watching the Leap crew leave the store. We used the assault rifle and him looking down the scope. To explain away where the rifle went when he enters the store, I had Kevin disassemble the gun and put in a black duffle back which we filmed being stashed under some stairs. Perfect!

So another good day of filming. We'll be back next Sunday to hopefully complete the fight (we'll have seven hours).
 
New grabs using the new look and full 2.40 crop instead of letterbox!
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I've really grown addicted to power windows. All three of these incorporate one.
 
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I shot a video today for a client who wanted a tutorial for her web based communications center. We shot dual system sound since ADR wouldn't be an option. Dual system is not one of Vegas' strong points, especially since I do 3 point editing, but fortunately I only had to sync the intro and the closing as most of the video is a screencap. I had the client pay for a third of the project up front so I was able to go out and purchase the Blue Yeti mic, which we plugged into my PowerBook and recorded the audio with Audacity. We recorded at 48k which synced perfectly to the 24p footage. We actually had a wireless lav on the talent but it wasn't as clean as the Yeti. What's cool is that I think I can use the Yeti for the ADR and sound effects for Rise of the Beast. Vegas recognizes it without issues so I can record straight to the timeline, which was important to me because I'll be using Vegas to complete my mix.

I also built a new website last night for STARS, but rather than pay for hosting, I used a free service and just had my domain automatically forward guests to my new page. This way my business cards aren't obsolete! =)
 
Steve Wholberg (accomplished author and CEO of White Horse Media) came down from Priest River this weekend to do a seminar here in Spokane. Tonight's topic was "When Demons Invade Prime Time TV" and since I'm starting to write "Derek", it couldn't have come at a better time. It was about how ghosts are demons and how this is influencing the media. Good stuff and good research for the movie. Afterwards Steve came up to me and remembered me from last year when I met him. We talked for a bit and I invited him to the premiere for ROTB in April since it'll be five minutes from where he lives. He said he'd come =)
 
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Tell Pastor Wholberg I said hi. Love the idea of "Derek" by the way. My current film brings this up too. It's only mentioned in passing, but is indeed mentioned. That store fight looks like it's going to be hot.

-Nate
 
Just got back from another day of seminars. Sorry Nate, just got your reply now. But when I do see him again, I'll be sure to let him know. Bought another one of his books (Demons in Disguise) and had him sign it (I'm now 2 for 2). It was funny, one of the stories he used as an example today is the story of "Derek" to a T. It confirmed with me that the story is good and that I'm on the right track. Derek, if cast correctly, will be a very easy film to do, which is nice with all the effects Leap 3 will have. But I need to stay focused on finishing filming for ROTB, at least for three more shoot days. We finish the big fight tomorrow.
 
Watch 2001 Maniacs House of Screams, if you want to hear terrible ADR and Sound Design. Probably the worst I've ever heard. I've seen movies with much lower budgets, with much better sound.

Its a horror movie, and its pretty "graphic" in more ways than one.. so.. user discretion advised.
 
Production Journal
Sunday, October 24, 2010

Day 24. We finished the big fight today in just over four hours. It was epic! We were crashing into boxes, glass freezer doors, shelves, everything. For a no budget film, we were sure able to destroy the store! Part of what allowed us to shoot so fast was that everyone collaborated. Alex, Kevin and I have a martial arts background, while Charles and Peter have seen tons of movies. Together we came up with something that I think will be pretty cool. This was Charles' last day which was good since he leaves for Israel soon. Everyone has been a real trooper on this film and I can't thank them enough.

After creating my offlines, I was able to cut the sequence in just over thirty minutes. I hate that I'm so fast, since I really enjoy editing. Oh well. It has been nice keeping up with it all. It allows me to focus on other things when we're not filming, such as stories for the next two films, freelance jobs, or even just hanging out with friends.

No matter what, I have to have a holding cell location by next Sunday, as we need to film those scenes before Alex leaves for his mission trip. Hopefully I can get ahold of Chelsea and that it'll work for her too. If I'm unable to find the right location, greenscreen is our backup. I really don't want to do it, but I will if I have to.

I spent the weekend with some friends attending Steve Wohlbergs's seminars that were being held at a local church. Afterwards I bought a book called "Demons in Disguise" which I plan to use for research for "Derek". Had him sign it too! Steve remembered me from last year and I invited him to the premiere for ROTB in April since it's pretty close to where he lives. Hopefully he'll come.
 
Production Journal
Thursday, November 4, 2010

Day 25

Tonight was the night we had originally scheduled to shoot the holding cell scenes. Unfortunately we lost the location and were unable to find a new one, so I decided to go greenscreen. Unfortunately Chelsea was sick today so we initially decided not to shoot. Alex's work has been getting on him about being unshaven, so instead we decided to just shoot his part of the scenes, that way it he can shave and keep his managers off his back. Fortunately he brought a friend tonight, so we had her wear Crystal's sweatshirt and run lines with Alex. She also acted as a Fake Shemp for when Crystal is tossed into the cell. Next week when Chelsea is better we'll shoot her part.
 
Nice. I may be doing all green screen tomorrow.We'll see what happens. I like the shadow by the way.

-Nate
 
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