the end is hear

Today is exactly three months since production ended for "I'll Remember."  And, finally, post-production is coming to a close.

One of the most crucial elements in a film is the sound.  A viewer is more likely to criticize a film when the quality of what he hears is poor than when that of what he sees is subpar, hence the reason I've spent much time these last two weeks of post-production on sound design and the score.  Luckily, I have an experienced sound designer and a great composer on my side.

The highlight of the entire post-production process came yesterday when I spent three hours in the composer's studio on a hot summer afternoon in Los Angeles when the temperature soared to nearly 100 degrees.  In the compact space, we had two computers running on four monitors, two keyboards, and four fans ineffectively trying to cool us off.  Despite the heat, the process of listening to the different instrumental tracks and watching the composer (a great guy from Taiwan, just like me) ad lib a stirring melody here and a melancholic chord there was tremendously entertaining, recalling the days when I was a pseudo musician in my high school marching band and orchestra.

We discussed the timing of the music to enhance the right emotional beat, the character of the instrument, albeit digital, to correspond to the story, and the duration of notes to allow for the right amount of silence.  I suppose I particularly enjoyed this experience because I was able to play the role of a musician/composer for those brief hours.  I don't know if the other directors the composer has worked with are as demanding as I am; I'll have to ask him when everything is said and done.

The score should be finalized tonight, the sound mixed this Thursday, and the color corrected by Friday.  So the only thing left to do is to put everything together and output a DVD.  It really is like giving birth.  The impetus to shoot this film was conceived about nine months ago in December 2012.  Two months later, my friend Quentin planted the idea to shoot it in Los Angeles.  Pre-production began in April, and now labor is beginning.

And, just like having a child, anyone who sees my baby will want to judge it - how pretty it is, how well it cries, its character, and its soul.  The difference is that instead of focusing on protecting this first-born from the disillusioned world, I need to note the criticism and prepare for my next birth.

I hope I'll be a prolific mother.

catch 22

I've heard it said that, for a writer and director, the most perfect film is in his head; the completed product is never as good as he imagined.  Too bad I can't make you pay to see my imagination.

After a total of 22 hours, spanning four days, the editor and I have finished a first cut.  During those 22 hours, I've had to analyze, question, defend my choices in shot selection, writing, direction, lighting, use of lens.  It hasn't been easy, to say the least.  But I have learned a lot.  

I have two choices from here on:  dwell on my mistakes and give up, or learn from them and improve.  I choose the latter.  

I'm guessing that's a sign that I really do love this thing called filmmaking.  

Just out of curiosity, how much would you pay to see my imagination?

day three

That's a wrap!

Today was the easiest and funnest day out of our three production days - we had 4 hours to shoot one scene at a chess club with 30 extras as chess tournament participants.  Certainly the energy level and the direction were different than the previous scenes, which included just the principal actors in small, confined spaces.

Thanks to all the family and friends who came out to support this project.  Now to post-production:  editing!

key grip and gaffer

friends and family watching

directing 32 actors and extras

day two

I lost my cool today only once.

If you know me, particularly if you've seen me when I served as tournament director of the United States Gay Open from 2011 to 2012, you would know that my patience magically shrinks during important, stressful events.

How was today stressful, you ask?  Let's count the ways.  On the shooting schedule today were three scenes, totaling six pages (more than half of the entire script).  The first scene required complex choreography due to movement in a confined space.  The second involved precise camera movement timed at exact moments of dialogue.  And the last was a day for night scene (shooting an interior night scene when the sun still hangs up high) that demanded an in-camera character vanishing act coordinated with intricate camera movement.  Oh, one minor detail that exponentially increased the complexity of the day:  we had a nine-year-old actor whose work day could not last longer than eight hours.

In the end, for the sake of time, I had to compromise on several details I had envisioned.  It's funny how you could be holding the script with your notes in one hand, yet still manage to forget all the fine prints during crunch time.

When did I lose my cool, you want to know?  It was during scene two, my frustration growing due to the camera not coordinating precisely with the actor's movement - I grabbed the camera and tested it out myself.  In Hollywood, one can never touch any equipment not within one's department or role.  Luckily, I'm not there yet.  But still...

At the end of the day, as the director of photography and I recapitulated the problem, we realized that a simple change of camera lens would have solved our problem.  Note to self:  never hesitate to change the lens to get the shot you need.

Only once.

showing the actors how a chess piece need to be moved

which monitor to look at?

highest take number today was 8

day one

As torturous as it had sometimes been in the few weeks leading up to the shoot, today went by more quickly than Men on Film could say "two snaps up."

We shot the last three scenes of the story first, with Grandmother and teenage Joey.  Surprisingly, everything went fairly smoothly, other than the sun deciding to peek out in the middle of our outdoor scene, thus disrupting continuity.  It's going to take some clever editing to overcome this one.

Is anyone listening to me?

Grandma in the shadow

the classic picture of slate and boom

my favorite part - working with actors

three

Today was the third and final day of prep before production begins tomorrow.

Remember my reference a few days earlier about bad things happening in threes?  It's true.  While driving the car out of the garage to go pick up the camera, my producer jammed the left side mirror into the garage post, cracking the glass and plastic casing.

There are my three bad things - a denied application, a traffic ticket, and a damaged car.

Am I lucky that all this happened before production begins!

the final countdown

First day of prepping for the film - the final three days of push before production begins.

What's prepping, you ask?  Excellent question - one to which I sought the answer myself just a couple of months ago.  From the perspective of a director, preparations in the final days of preproduction include communicating with every department to make sure that shooting will go as smoothly as possible.  Here's my to do list with each person for the next three days:

Producer - prepare crew memos, pick up rental camera
Assistant director - prepare shot list, shooting schedule, and call sheets
Production manager - complete all sorts of Screen Actors Guild forms and contracts
Production designer - dress the set and finalize art and prop decisions
Director of photography - draw storyboards (the ugliest you'll ever see) and convey my vision

Better get going.