Updates: 4 Months Later...

Post production for a film is usually the black hole where time just gets sucked up. Once the tinkering begins, it's hard to step away. Monument is no different, especially with how picky you can be with editing in Final Cut. As of right now, the picture edit is locked and we're working on finishing the sound and final color-correction.

One might ask, "...but it's been four months, why aren't you done?"

Well, the current edit of Monument (version 7.50) has seen a good amount of revisions and re-edits. We're only talking about a short film clocking in around twenty minutes, I can't imagine how things are on a feature. Between living life and working on the project on the side, there were times when I couldn't bare looking at the edit. Periods spanned to days to a few weeks at a time. The project had changed from the initial script/ideas and I wasn't able to get an objective viewpoint on it. There were pieces of the original project that weren't playing out and trying to look at things differently took a while to get use to. It's the awful nature of how a project changes from script to production, and then from there to post.

Even with all the headaches, I'm really happy with how the project played out. More-so on living through it all and being able to talk about it. Expect some more film still updates, screening dates, etc. in the next few weeks.


Revisiting, Reflecting, and Remembering Day 6 and Beyond:
Over the weekend, we had a sizable group of people helping out. Things played out so well that those days flew right by. From Day 6 and beyond (the Weekdays), the crew ran down to about six people. This was six people including myself, Doug (our actor), someone on sound, someone as an AC pulling focus, someone pushing dolly and another freehand to hold a fan/prop. We were really running on minimum.

Needless to say, we got our asses kicked around. I'm entirely grateful for the people that stuck with us til the end of the shoot. Word of advice for anyone else shooting a project, definitely find the right number of crew you need... and then some. An extra person can always help.

After wrapping the last shot, people had to leave and gogogoo. There was a plan to get ourselves there and through the duration of the shoot, but getting back was something we didn't anticipate. Jake and I spent the next three days wrapping up set/location/basecamp in between working on two video shoots over the Easter Weekend. We must have driven back to Warner Springs at least five times before everything was broken down and moved back to the house. Good Times.

Day 4 & 5 Recap.

Day 4 (Saturday) went by so quickly that I didn't get to take out the camera. Hopefully someone later will send me pics from that day. The weekend was pretty nice as we had a full set of people to help crew and make things go easier all around.

Here are some pics from Day 5 (Sunday).

The cows were always curious about our set...

... so Doug had Faris around to help wrangle and keep them away.

James and Jake strike a pose in between setups.

Joe's "Camera Truck." Which incidentally didn't quite make it out from the mountains alive. Last I heard it was in the shop. :(

Camera Department on the left (Ling Ling, Joe, Carisa), Doug in the house, James and Jake on the far right.

Eight step ladder madness!

Shower curtain power.

day 2 & 3 recap.

Telecine's complete! The project is now moving on to post with a deadline to get a rough edit finished by the end of the month.

Day 2 (Thursday) was spent on building the house... Unfortunately I left my camera back at base camp for the day. We arrived early to download everything from the art truck. On our way there, the cows thought we were bringing over feed and followed us all the way to location. Then they surrounded us. We spent the next half hour trying to shoo them away. Good times.

So here's some photos from Day 3 (Friday).

This was the state of the house by mid-morning. We had to scavenge around for more building materials...

Which in this case came in a Uhaul pickup full of old materials from the nearby airport.

House nearing towards completion as camera stands by...

Wide shot of the location/staging area/crafty and make-shift parking lot.

Crew breaking for lunch!

day 1 recap.

Production's finally wrapped! We left location with the rest of our gear on Saturday (April 7) after taking several trips back and forth.

I'd like to say thanks again for everyone who helped out! We really couldn't have made it through without your help. You guys & gals really pulled through. I hope everyone had fun in the madness.

We just went to our first telecine session today at Entertainment Post. The footage so far looks fantastic! We're looking at finishing up post by the end of May/early June.

I'll be posting up some photos (at least the ones I was able to get) day by day and recap the shoot.

set construction.

Pictures from our Home Depot run. Materials, plans, and the frames of the set being constructed.

crew call.

Looking for fellow students to help make our S16mm short film a success. So far we need the following:

A.D.
Script Super
Sound Recordist
Grips
Art
Props

If you are skilled in any of these areas, please respond with a resume (if applicable) and a few words about yourself. The shoot dates will be somewhere between March 27th and April 5th. Be prepared to camp on location (near Santa Ysabel, east of Temecula). There is no pay but you'll get a copy of the finished project and some experience with a good crew that is serious about the trade.

http://sandiego.craigslist.org/cwg/292794653.html

location photos.

teaser art.