Principal Photography Finished or What the Hell??!!??

Last night we finished principal photography on the feature film that we were making. Oh the whole, everything ran smoothly and I think we got a good little variety of shots to work with. There are a few insert type shots that need to be done, but I think that on the whole, we have a workable little picture. From what I watched already, the thing is pretty funny, so hopefully it pans out on the big screen. The experience was fun, if at times stressful (if only due to the hell of scheduling around everyone's lives). I tried really hard to let everyone have a chance at using all the equipment and let the actors try out the scenes in different ways. Speaking of actors, they were all tremendous in their own ways and really brought the words I wrote to life, even the ones I came up with on the spot!
The next step is editing. I would like to do it myself, but will need a computer to do so. I have been looking at getting a new iMac, but went into advance today to talk to them about it and was told something odd. The dude there said that I would need to send my discs of Final Cut Pro HD into Apple to have them upgrade them to make them work on the new system. Seeing as how I don't actually have any discs, this might pose a problem. Therefore, I am currently pondering heading down to the U of M and using the editing studio there (for free I might add). the only thing I don't like about that is the driving and chance that someone might delete the whole fucking thing on me. Oh well, I'll do some more digging and see what I can come up with.
I'm hoping to finish the thing in a few months so that we can do a big red carpet premiere before the snow falls.
Once more with feeling!

Here are the male stars of the feature film I'm currently making. From the left:
(Back Row)
Stephen Washen as Morty
Jeremy Dangerfield as Frank
Geoff Trubiak as Jimmy
(Middle Row)
Darren Felbel as Professor Thompson
Jay Van Deventer as The Hobo
(Front Row)
Neil Reimer as Phil

A Day off From Filming or Pee Wee is Done!

Today was a day off from filming, so it was nice to relax and catch up on things that have been neglected as I frantically try to make a passable feature film for no money. I'd say that what we have on tape so far is pretty good, but I will reserve final judgement until I get to the editing phase... which will necessitate a computer at some point. Yesterday we did the removing of the brain scene, which was accomplished with a watermelon, some raw pork, and fake blood. I think it looked pretty cool, but we'll have to reserve judgement for the finished product. So far, the gore has been really silly and "funny" which is what I wanted in the first place. Even the drill up the butt scene came out comedic! I can't wait to see the thing on the big screen! Park Theatre here we come! (In 2-3 months...)
Today I finally finished watching the second box set of Pee Wee's Playhouse. I picked them both up last Christmas (2004) and had yet to watch the whole thing. The show is good on the whole, with many subversive and adult little things that you have to watch out for. It's not something you can watch too much of at a time, as certain elements can get grating. If you have ADD, then it's the show for you! Random!
I ordered a couple of things off of Amazon.ca today "German Horror Box Set" and "One Kiss Leads to Another: Girl Group Sounds Lost and Found." I had wanted to get them for a while now and just figured that I could reward myself for all the hard work that I've put into making the movie. That and they were fairly cheap through an amazon marketplace seller. Should have them by the end of next week I hope.
We're supposed to be going out for dinner tonight at Hy's (which is somewhat expensive and fancy I hear) but I've yet to hear from Ryan on the subject. Tomorrow I have more filming and then a social for a friend of Eddie (from work). I hear that there are good prizes in the silent auction. Maybe I'll win something!?!?!?!

Filming a Feature is Hard Work or So Much Going On

Filming a feature is incredibly hard work. Even more so when you decide to take on all the tasks yourself. I've been the producer, director, writer, extra, sound guy, d.o.p., caterer, production manager, transport, camera man, boom operator, lighting technician, costume provider, prop master and overall jack of all trades. I think next time I will delegate some of these tasks to another person, as it will save me stress and energy. I much prefer the writing and d.o.p. aspect. Directing is cool, in a "I have all the power" kind of way. This has been a really rewarding experience so far, as we have all been learning an awful lot of what to do and more importantly, what not to do. Next time, no car interiors!
I've been so proud of all the actors, who have been great. I've also been insanely impressed with the equipment that I bought, it's all been performing flawlessly. In watching the footage, I would say that despite our terrible attempts at lighting, everything has been really strong so far. There are a few things that I will have to reshoot, or edit around but I think that for the most part what we have is GOLD!
I will have to either get myself a kick ass computer and start editing, or find someone who wants to do it and hand it off to them. What to do...???

1st Days Shooting or 1 Weeks Vacation!

Well, we had the first days shoot today and everything went pretty well. I think we got enough coverage to edit something workable together. There was a few things that I wanted to do but didn't think of until later that we missed out on, but for the most part, all the shot I had drawn were filmed. We had the World Cup on mute as we were filming in order to keep up (Neil is a huge soccer fan). For the meal, we had some chimichangas and quesadillas done up all fancy like in the oven, not bad eats! Everyone got a chance to use the camera and boom, so I think that there was some great parity going on. I hope the rest of the days go as well (or better!).
I also had my last shift of work for a week. While a few days of relaxing might be just what the doctor ordered, I instead chose to fill it with a week of movie-making! Should be fun times!