FEATURE: Stricken the Feature - A Matt Sconce Film

Glad somebody posted the 1000th, because I was gonna do it but I didn't have anything profound to say so I left it. I do have a question to Matt or Gary: If you could do it all over again what is one thing you guys would have done differently?

I know you guys will probably say nothing, but really think and try to come up with just one. Even if it is just "Would've taken a longer nap on that third Thursday of the sixth month of filming."
 
Gary Sconce said:
It looks like it is possibly Tuesday prime time for STRICKEN. We'll know for sure tomorrow. Don't know about NORRIS yet.

Man, the waiting is like a :nads:.

Matt says the trip down was full of WIN. He has almost completely approved reel 1, 2 and 3.1 for sound design, score and final mix. All that is waiting is for adding the foley into the mix for those reels. So close now... :Drogar-BigGrin(DBG) The sound team is so amazing. :kali:

Hey... The thousandth post! WOW! :thumbsup:
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Cool, thanks for the info. NGL will probably be showing on the weekend (Friday/Sat) Hope you guys can be there :)
 
Brooksy said:
Glad somebody posted the 1000th, because I was gonna do it but I didn't have anything profound to say so I left it. I do have a question to Matt or Gary: If you could do it all over again what is one thing you guys would have done differently?

I know you guys will probably say nothing, but really think and try to come up with just one. Even if it is just "Would've taken a longer nap on that third Thursday of the sixth month of filming."
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For me, I would have gotten help for Rachel Jenkins in makeup. BTW, Rachel Jenkins is a FANTASTIC make up artist! We used Rachel for all make up with Stephanie French and Heather Sconce helping sometimes, but did a lot of waiting for the major make up applications. If we had another person that was also good at heavy make up applications parallel working under Rachel at the same time we would have been shooting much faster on those days. In the future we will have more than one make up artist if the applications are heavy like STRICKEN's were. As it was, even with a make up call being hours earlier than shooting call, we did a lot of 'hurry up and wait,' on those days.

I loved working with the HVX as it is light weight, has superb on-board sound, and really does, overall, a high quality job. I still would use the RED one camera in the future for all shooting as the picture quality is better and it saves time in rotoscoping and keying. The RED has limited use on board sound quality though, in many people's opinion, so using a RED would also mean using a talented sound technician on set for all recording of sound. I would get a better microphone, like a Schoeps MK42, for sound, although our mic was good and would get a boom person who is flawless. We shared boom duties, and didn't do too bad, but could have done better if we had a guy like Alan Chang all the time.

We learned as we went, to limit the shooting schedule. We started planning for way more than we could actually shoot in a normal day, then scaled back to reality. We had to do a lot of our long shoots though as we only had David Fine for a day here and a day there due to our day jobs limiting how long we could shoot.

I would have a grip truck. We hauled literally tons of gear on top of cars, in old trailers, in motorcycle trailers and in cars. Having a grip truck, completely stocked with all our gear always in the exact same spots would have been nice. Even if it was old and needed care, it would have been better.

What we did good:

Director Matt Sconce was amazing in having each shot in his mind before he shot. So, we saved a lot of time on set because Matt was so organized. He knew what he wanted because of this and we knew if a shot was right. We checked the monitor for those shots and not all shots, further saving time. He also had all his shots storyboarded and knew lighting details for each. Having an organized director was great. Matt also runs a happy set. We were always upbeat and having fun, laughing and teasing each other, sometimes pulling pranks. It was just fun to work on the movie as everyone pulled together and were all sold out to making a great product while also having fun. Matt NEVER SETTLED and would make sure each and every shot was exactly what he wanted. That trait rubbed off and we all became of the same mind: NEVER SETTLE... And that is now our motto for Aftershock Studios LLC. Matt's directing to the actors is creative, immediate, consise, correct and pulled out of them wonderful performances. I think that this will be one of the most important reasons STRICKEN is good.

Troy Ruff is one of those talented, smart and intuitive people that will see some things just slightly different. He has a wonderful sense of humor. Having him as AD added a quality of creativity needed on the set. He also could be counted on to do a second camera or be a second director with no wondering if the shots would be right... It would be right every time. Troy knows the camera, composition, sound, lighting and is a very talented director in his own right, so in Matt and Troy we had a one-two punch at the top.

Casting was really good. Matt chose talented people that matched their roles. Our cast acted their butts off. David Fine and Stephanie French are superb actors. When you watch the movie someday, notice even subtle movements of the faces and bodies, and slight changes in vocal inflection by David and Stephanie in their characters to further the believability of the scene.

Score with James Mierkey will be magnificent! He is a truly talented composer. Pay him to work on your movie! He's gonna be really big. Sound design with BLACK BOX entertainment rocks. They are a solid and talented group. It was amazing to get someone as talented as Brad Semenoff to do our dialogue! Steve Tibbo is a great mixer for your sound.

Finally, we worked as a cohesive machine. We got what we needed, built what we needed, worked tirelessly, never complaining. We always knew that we would never quit until we finished. We are still going toward that goal. :Drogar-BigGrin(DBG)
 
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Yep, what Gary said is all true. Things to do differently:

Shoot on RED. Have a dedicated on Set sound mixer with his team. Schedule shoots better so they do not stretch so long. Get help for makeup on the heavy days. Have tons of money so everyone is paid what they deserve. Have a dedicated VFX house to handle post.


Things were amazing though. We overcame those above things with grit, determination, passion, and a never say die-we can do anything attitude. We used our tools to their fullest potential and it shows in the final product. I am happy with everything and can't wait for the Premieres!!
 
Thanks guys. I appreciate you taking the time and I learned a lot from those two posts just right there. Looking forward to the film.
 
Brooksy said:
Thanks guys. I appreciate you taking the time and I learned a lot from those two posts just right there. Looking forward to the film.
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Speaking of happy sets... One time we hid an 'IT' clown mask in a cupboard and had a camera rolling when lead Stephanie French looked in to it. Oh, so funny! Some of the production goofs and blunders will make a fine part of a bluray disk. :2vrolijk_08::2vrolijk_08::2vrolijk_08:
 
Another time at Avenal hospital, lead actor David Fine found a CPR baby dummy. A few of the local people say that Avenal hospital is severely haunted and that they hear babies crying and water running, people screaming and other macob occurrances there at night. Actor James Dean is said by the locals to have actually died there and then been transported on the sly to Paso Robles for actual death pronouncement for some reason. So...

Make up artist Rachel Jenkins was in the make up room alone late at night and David Fine held the CPR baby up near the doorway, as if it was floating, and when Rachel saw it David said (in a child's voice,) "Mommy, mommy... Why... am I DEAD!" Rachel screamed really loud! Funny times. :cheesy:
 
Here are some pics of Director Matt Sconce and composer James Mierkey's trip Steve Tibbo's to work with the mix. Notice David Fine's legs are on the monitor as he hunts down... something...
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Composer James Mierkey relaxes behind Steve Tibbo. Steve is such a pro!
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Two VERY TALENTED guys pose for a pic. Having such a magnificent composer and such a talented mixer on our film, added to Black Box Entertainment's sound design and Brad Semenoff's dialogue work made for amazing sound on STRICKEN.
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Last night we met with a load of talented and nice people at a mixer for the Fresno Film Makers Alliance. Our area is working hard to develop the industry in Central California.
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Here Heidi Harian, Ron Blackwell, Matt Sconce, Barry Richey and Christina Lyons pose for a pic. Heidi was in STRICKEN.
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We leave Sunday night for Steve Tibbo's to DO THE FINAL MIX! We will take our computer, "TERMINATOR II" with us and burn the first blu-ray of the final STRICKEN while we are down there. We will meet with Del Weston and turn over to him the first full finished STRICKEN to be judged at the wonderful ACTION ON FILM FESTIVAL. Whoooo Hoooooo! Yeah! :thumbsup:
 
Matt and I are in the Editing Chamber of Glory right now. Matt has been working on the Blu-ray menu for STRICKEN. We have a test blu-ray render going right now that will test the button toggle between running the film with 5.1 surround sound or stereophonic sound. :Drogar-BigGrin(DBG)

Matt has selected some pretty cool pics for the menu screens. I can hardly wait to get the whole package together and play with all the menu choices.

We are going to help a local Fresno film maker tomorrow show her 20 minute film at a winery down in the Fresno area. From us: 2400watt sound system, rolling rack mount, 12' light stands, 8' reflective screen. Shane Foster: 3000 lumen HD projector. It is fun to help people. :engel017:

We listened to more of James Mierkey's score for the first time today and I must say... Way to go James! The selections were from the police station scene and the mirror scene. I kept asking him when we would have a CD of the score to sell. It is that good. :kali:
 
The menu selection and buttons on the blu-ray all function perfectly. We have the toggle for 5.1 surround sound and also for stereo. We have the toggle for sub titles on-off and we have the track for director's comments.

Matt is hammering away at the DVD menu now. It is interesting that you get spoiled with all of the space on the blu-ray and when limited by the DVD you can only put so much on and you have to save space for the audio files. We are trying to finish both the Blu-ray (done) and the DVD (giving us trouble) so we can immediately put on the sound mix when we finish at Steve Tibbos on Monday. Then we can drop off the finished blu-ray and DVD with the Action on Film people by hand.

We are trying to have both blu-ray and DVD available for the distributor's screener as we don't know if they will have blu-ray capability. We know AOF has blu-ray capability, but have to err on the premise that the people wanting to see the screener won't have blu-ray; thus the DVD. :Drogar-BigGrin(DBG)
 
Last DVD render before leaving. Matt is asleep, having been up a lot of the night fighting Encore to get the highest res playback possible for the DVD. We will also render on a dual layer DVD tomorrow. I have packed up the Expedition and all that is left is finishing the render, then loading "TERMINATOR II" (our editing computer) into the back. We will be staying in Costa Mesa at a relative's home as we will have a team of 6 going. Troy Ruff will meet us tomorrow morning at Steve Tibbo's office as he has an Apple meeting until around 10pm tonight. By this time tomorrow we will be into the final mix! :kali:

I want to build a render farm... :zombie_smiley:
 
Whoa - I'm guessing you guys must be feeling like Columbus crossing the Atlantic and spying land . . . A very rare feeling only the few with the audacity to dream big and follow thru ever get the chance to experience . . Congratulations !

I want to build a render farm... :zombie_smiley:
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Funny you should say that . . been thinking the same thing for quite some time. Even collected a few machines to put in the stack. Then I stumbled on this bad boy . .

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813151085

16 cores and 128 GB Ram . . . With CS5 It's a render farm in a box.

rescanning old lottery tickets now . . .
 
.....We are alive.....but have a story to tell....

So Gary, my wife Heather, grip Andrew, I and the entire terminator system were driving our Expedition down to LA for our mixing session going 70 when .......BANG! Our tire EXPLODES!


The car swerved like mad as Dad fought to control it and not hit the cars surrounding us. He has mad law enforcement driving skills and barely was able to get us safely off the road. Then when trying to change the tire....the jack broke! We laughed and took pictures. Dad is a mad scientist so he figured out a way to still get the tire on anyway...it required digging. Tire is now on and we are back on the road. Nothing will stop the Stricken team. Not even ravaging wombats...Zombie apocalypses...or the Like. Never settle!
 
Just finalized the sound mix. We are killing 3hours while Steve prints everything and gets it ready for us and then we will be rendering AOF bluray and dvds which we will deliver tomorrow. It sounds great!
 
Just finished fixing a synch issue at Steve's. He was a trooper! I still have to burn 3 bluray and 3 dvds to deliver at noon. It has been a long night but one of the last steps to finishing the movie. SleeeeEeeEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeEeeeeepppppppyy......zzzzzzzz
 
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