FEATURE: Stricken the Feature - A Matt Sconce Film

[Gary Sconce]

Matt is in the Editing Chamber of Glory and is rendering a second Blu-Ray pass after a few tweaks. We are using a re-writable blu-ray so we can power through it over and over, saving money.

We are going to watch a second VFX burn tonight completely through and take notes on anything we see.

On the sound front, Kunal of Black Box Entertainment has just delivered 2 of our 4 reels to Steve Tibbo, the mixer, and Brad Semenoff has delivered the first reel of Dialogue as well. We are rolling right along. :cheesy:

 

[Gary Sconce]

Here are some interesting BTS tests. This is at Avenal Hospital. We were looking at the hallways for a chase scene where Sarah Black runs down the hall after a rest home guest Edna. This shot was testing dutching and the look of the side doors on the hallway. We ended up shooting this hall from the other direction, but this one is in Stricken in a key scene.

Avenal hospital is still very nice. Maybe it will open up some day for either a rest home or another medical facility for the community. Here we were testing the outside look for the external shot of Whispering Pines rest home where Sarah Black works. We ended up using another hospital shot that was much creepier.

Director Matt Sconce: "We can use this shower for a scene... It's perfect!" The old plumbing fixtures added to the cool creepiness of the hospital and rest home scenes.

We shot STRICKEN with three types of cameras: The workhorses were HVX200's. Here AD Troy Ruff (Westfest - 'By Hook or Crook') and Director Matt Sconce get two cameras ready for a two camera shoot of a bathroom scene. Notice that there is a Brevis on one and the other has no brevis mounted. We used a RED One for all the VFX for ease of keying and also used a Panasonic GH1 for pick up shots as it has wonderful resolution and is light and easy to transport.

Rachel Jenkins was STRICKEN's make up artist. I highly recommend her to you for any production you may choose to do. She is versatile, does latex applications, and is a fun person on set. Here she (typically) mugs for the camera as Troy and Matt check a P2 upload. She is hilarious!

Some trivia: We actually used 'Black' for the last name of our lead in Matt's STRICKEN screenplay adaptation because of the amazing look of this grave marker. It all worked perfectly as the name is dark, and the marker had nothing but a last name on it. Here actor (with an AMAZING VOICE!) Doug Scarborough as the pastor gives a eulogy. I had to build that stinking grave twice involving a large amount of dirt and peat. We shot 21' crane shots, and ran lots of the Hypercam for this scene. When you watch STRICKEN someday, the song sung by Sarah Black in this scene was actually written and composed completely by Matt. For me, the graveyard scene is wonderful and one of my favorite parts of the film. The matching of the majestic score by James Mierkey for the Black memorial service scene is enthralling.

Here Director Matt Sconce and Composer James Mierkey discuss ideas for score at key areas of the film. I can honestly say, to get James Mierkey and his creativity for this film is fantastic. It is like finding composer John Williams before anyone knows he is, well... John Williams.

We are soooo close now to finishing our first feature film. All of the parts are coming together. The funding is sufficient. The sound team is absolutely top quality. We are so close now that, ( in our 'spare' time...lol) Matt and I have finished the next screenplay, THE PARK, and have copies out to readers we trust... Also, I am in the outline stage for a film that is, God willing, third in line for the future, a sci-fi thriller NODES. We will be adapting Matt's amazing unpublished novel STORMBREAKER to the screen, and will finish up concepts for two films, MAGIC and another we are just calling WHITE for now. I want to thank all of the DVXusers who have followed our thread for the whole ride here.

If there are any of you out there who think you can never make a feature film for almost no money, think again. You can do it. Read the whole thread and see how. For us, this is only the start.

 

[Brandon Rice]

Wow, some great BTS stuff there! Congrats, I can't wait to see the finished film!!!

 

[Gary Sconce]

Wow, some great BTS stuff there! Congrats, I can't wait to see the finished film!!!

Thanks! Here are some of my favorite BTS shots... Ah the memories...
Here AD Troy Ruff strangles me with a stinger after a 24 hour shoot for the Police Station scenes. The wood and drywall here also went into all the greenscreen walls for the VFX shoot... then later became my dad's garage.

Matt always runs a happy set and we laughed a lot.

The Aftershock Car Rig comes to life for all the driving shots and even some stunt driving shots. All of the car shots you will see in the film had the background really shot with the car rig.

Being a non-suction cup design it was very stable and locked the camera on target quite well.

The three story green monster was so cool. Notice all the lights we begged borrowed and made for that night's shoot.

Matt shooting a time lapse sunset on the highest building in Fresno. No one gets up there... We were so blessed to get permission. We shot before sunset, during sunset and after dark to get as much goodness as possible for we knew we wouldn't ever get up there again.

This shot is of our 'cops' and our star, David Fine. Ray Hernandez on the right is a veteran officer with the Fresno PD. Our cops were fictionally all Fresno PD guys. We used a real PD car in many scenes. David Fine drove an unmarked Crown Victoria Ford.

Stephanie French, our female star, was truly amazing. Here, her beauty and acting ability are displayed in an instant on the camera.

This is the necklace I modified for the character Sarah Black. It was an heirloom given to her by her father. I actually crushed Long Valley volcano obsidian and hand mounted the rock into the amulet to give it a rustic look. I got to keep it after the film. Yay!

Guinea pig Gary hangs, dangles and falls to test the three story green screen hanging rig that would hold two actors in the crow's nest and hung two stunt actors from the rig at the top attached to commercial harnesses. It worked very well. I laugh at the little 'plank' that retracted into the wall to allow the top stunt actor to rest between takes. I hid inside the wall to pull and push the plank and lean out to stabilize the actors.

What a load of great memories.

 

[Gary Sconce]

We just watched the blu-ray of VFX pass #2. After some CC added to version #1 we watched it on Matt's 50 inch LCD. We looked at it with the utmost critical eye and found 24 tiny but easy corrections for the whole film. I am color blind so Matt had to see if any of the CC was slightly too dark, or slightly too light... a little too orange here a little less red there.:2vrolijk_08:

Most of the viewing time (all with no sound purposefully) we just enjoyed it. We did really scan for any inconsistencies. We saw the itty bitty tip of the boom mic twice and took care of that. No boom ever showed when DVXusers Alan Chang and Huy Vu did the boom. One was me and one was Troy. Ha! :kali:

We added a few pushes in a few places and saw only one VFX addition. Hooooraah! On to VFX check #3 after the CC corrections. rogar-BigGrin(DBG) That may be the last one...:thumbsup:

 

[Gary Sconce]

Matt has already finished many of the flagged changes we saw on the VFX#2 blu-ray. He has been working on them all day. :kali:

 

[Matt Sconce]

Well, finally off to bed. I worked straight through the day and finished 24 out of 26 changes and tweaks to the VFX. I will work some more tomorrow evening. The last two things are blemish removal and tweaking 2 exterior shots. After that, it is credits and then testing the Blu-ray on a ton of different TV's and Projectors. It feels very very cool to be this close to Final Picture but a bit odd as well since I have been at Post Production over 10 months. What was life like before being chained to a computer 18 hours a day? -Matt

 

[Gary Sconce]

I will be posting some short BTS videos shot with my Canon 1200 BTS camera.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: No media files are hosted on these forums. By clicking the link below you agree to view content from an external website. We can not be held responsible for the suitability or legality of this material. If the video does not play, wait a minute or try again later.

I AGREE

Here Director Matt Sconce runs a 21' Hypercrane shot through the Aftershock rain rig. The scene is near the end of the STRICKEN as Jenny gets out of her car near the Avenal hospital. The scene is lit with four Shocklights. AD Troy Ruff is just off camera to the left. rogar-BigGrin(DBG)

 

[Gary Sconce]

In this shot Matt is concentrating on the legs and feet of character Jenny Hansen as she exits her car. I think this shot is funny as you can just see my fat cat 'Scully' running behind Matt. We used the Hypercrane for a lot of slider shots as it is so smooth and stable.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: No media files are hosted on these forums. By clicking the link below you agree to view content from an external website. We can not be held responsible for the suitability or legality of this material. If the video does not play, wait a minute or try again later.

I AGREE

Troy Ruff is off on the right of this shot. You can see our bright Shocklights well in this shot. :2vrolijk_08:

 

[Gary Sconce]

This is the reverse of the previous shot. Matt is shooting with an HVX200 on a liquid head mounted on the Hypercrane. AD Troy Ruff is off camera on the left and the lighting is with Shocklights.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: No media files are hosted on these forums. By clicking the link below you agree to view content from an external website. We can not be held responsible for the suitability or legality of this material. If the video does not play, wait a minute or try again later.

I AGREE

These were some of the last shots we had to pick up for STRICKEN. :2vrolijk_08:

 

[Gary Sconce]

I may have posted this, but here is 2/3 of the STRICKEN team... with the other third behind the camera.

Troy sets up the actress for Matt. I want... An HVX200 size, with 9K, with a 35mm removable lens set up, with P2 style media, for $5k. Anyone? :cheesy:

rogar-BigGrin(DBG)

 

[Matt Sconce]

UPDATE: The last 64,899 frames are rendering right now. A couple final tweaks (Maybe needed, maybe not, we shall see) and then a last bluray burn for testing on all sorts of equipment to get the feel of the final look. Then onto the credits!

SOON FINAL GRABS will be posted! :engel017:

 

[Gary Sconce]

I hope to see what may be the final Blu-ray check disk for all VFX today. Matt has been working like crazy and has finished any blemish removal. Thank God for Mocha, but some had to be frame by frame, so he had some diligent work to do. rogar-KnockedOut(D

We are going to watch it on a bunch of different displays and look for any unacceptable variations. :cheesy:

 

[ZazaCast]

...SO close.... I can't wait! Congrats guys, looks like a bright light at the end of this tunnel.
Great work!

 

[Martay]

UPDATE: The last 64,899 frames are rendering right now. A couple final tweaks (Maybe needed, maybe not, we shall see) and then a last bluray burn for testing on all sorts of equipment to get the feel of the final look. Then onto the credits!

SOON FINAL GRABS will be posted! :engel017:

Cool, looking forward to seeing them.

Credits...yikes...I need to be getting ours together too for "Battle"...thanks for the reminder.

-M

 

[Matt Sconce]

Here are some grabs from the VFX and CC'd Stricken. They have been scaled down to fit in the forums. Enjoy! -Matt Sconce

First Grabs:

Sarah sees something is down the hall

The nightmares are getting worse:

Comfort of the ones you love:

Saying Goodbye:

More Later...

 

[Brandon Rice]

Nice grabs Matt, can't wait to see in motion

 

[stan harrington]

I look at some of the equipment and drool...Sometimes I dont even have anyone to hold the camera and have to push the button and run to the other side...must be nice!!!

 

[Ted Spencer]

sometimes i dont even have anyone to hold the camera and have to push the button and run to the other side...

lol : )

 

[Gary Sconce]

I look at some of the equipment and drool...Sometimes I dont even have anyone to hold the camera and have to push the button and run to the other side...must be nice!!!

Good hearing from you Stan! We do have a lot of stuff and Matt leads a very good team. I built most of the stuff, honestly, because we didn't have a budget, and we never settle for anything but our absolute best. If we needed it, and couldn't buy it, I just fabricated it usually from junk and scrounged materials.

Usually, there were only three of us making the movie on set, and sometimes two.

I can remember one scene (a very important item falling into a rain swollen storm drain) where I was holding micro fishing line tied to the object in my left hand, pulling it; biting a bright LED light in my teeth, aiming the light with my neck muscles, holding a gushing hose in my right hand and aiming it, and leaning out into oncoming traffic... at night. Matt was: In the street, back side to the traffic, angling an HVX200 down to get the shot, and watching out for a guy that was coming toward us in the dark to possibly rob us at gun point. :shocked:

Ah, the memories!

Maybe we can do a film together someday. That would be really great. rogar-BigGrin(DBG)

But hey, let's have some more crew... :2vrolijk_08:

This is my favorite grab from above. I think this is absolutely amazing.

Wow. Nice work Matt.