FORGE: A Feature Film by 500 Cuts

Check it out.

Sorry for the hiatus from the blog, but not much new has happened on the project. I hope to start working on the behind-the-scenes shorts in the next few weeks so the site will be a little more active then.

But the REAL announcement is that FORGE has been selected for the International Film Festival Ireland. The festival is in its second year and had nearly 200 films last year. That’s pretty sweet. I’m psyched about the potential for exposure at any level. I’m definitely going. Maybe Jason can scrounge up a few bucks and go with me.

We were rejected from the Another Hole in the Head sci-fi fest in San Francisco. Since the IFFI is the first festival acceptance, I’m feeling better about the movie’s prospects.  I’m not looking for any kind of sale, just exposure and networking.  I met a lot of great people at festivals in the past. If I can be frank for a moment, allow me to give you an observation that I’ve made over the past couple years…  Festivals need to be two-way scenarios.  If a festival is only in it to draw some attention to some dirt town in the middle of Arkansas, then you’re not really helping yourself by going.  If you really want to make some connections, make sure the festival you’re submitting to draws industry people.  Or at the very least, draws people!  See if you can find out what the attendance numbers were the previous years.  Ok, that was a lead-in, not the observation, most people know that part already.  The observation is that since everyone can get their hands on quality gear and make an inexpensive film (as we did), the festival scene has become a beast that feeds on itself.

It’s a two-headed monster…  Head One)  The small- to mid-level festival scene is attended by dozens of sickening mirror images of myself; doughy white guys with a penchant for the latest Apple products and software workflows who all own an Ex-1, HVX, and/or a DSLR and have ten below average screenplays on their laptop.  This kinda bums me out because there’s nothing new in the sauce.  It’s like an infinite loop of people who will never get past this stage of filmmaking.  Everyone will trade quotes from Soderberg, Aronofsky, Rodriguez, and Tarantino, and talk about Brick, Paranormal Activity, Moon, and other inexpensive overnight successes.  I can already picture it:  ”What did you shoot on?”  ”Edit on Final Cut?”  ”Where did you get the money?”  Ugh.  There’s a strange irony to people who desperately want to be part of a group while they dream about being the next big thing.  That is exactly me, except that I don’t really want to fit in, and I’m not that crazy about Apple products.

Head Two)  There is no better place to meet people than a festival.  Yes, you are subject to people who are just like you, looking for the same things as you, and trying to figure out what you can do for them.  But there is always the chance that you’ll make a real friend who you stay in touch with and commiserate over the disease that is cinema.  On top of that, financing can be found at almost any festival.  All it takes is one wealthy benefactor to say, “How much do you need for your next one?”  So despite all the griping and grumping about film festivals, I will go.  It’ s a love/hate relationship, but I will go because more often than not, you meet good people, and any opportunity to play your project is a good one.

It only takes one person to pluck you from the swamp of mediocrity and give you a chance, but you won’t find that person if you’re living in a vacuum.

Here is how you update your Wordpress blog.

Try it.  Everyone is doing it.  You’re not cool if you don’t do it.

So now that what I consider to be the filmmaker’s highest obligation has been fulfilled (screening the movie for everyone who worked on it and supported it), what’s next?

I’ve sent copies to a few places including Traction Media, Protozoa Pictures, and Portland’s own Seth Sonstein who has a Midas touch when it comes to finding distribution for projects.  If a distributor or rep company put a few more bucks into finishing, the movie could do ok at festivals.  I’m extremely proud of what we’ve accomplished, but it’s important to be realistic about what it takes to get a movie played out there.

So, a few months of rest to get my teaching chops back on par, and then spend the rest of the year getting FORGE out there.  Oh, and maybe I’ll try writing a novel… a lot cheaper and nobody waiting for it to get done!

Thursday, March 18th, 9pm at the Clinton Street Theater.  $2 with A.I. ID.  $5 for everyone else.  Free for cast and crew!

Clinton Street Theater, 9pm, March 18th.

When you work on big, multi-layered project like a movie, you hit several major finishing points… kind of like the end of “Return of the King.” Pardon the dork movie reference (as opposed to a movie dork reference which would be something from Truffaut), but it totally fits. You arrive at a number of stages where you could call the movie “over.” But unlike “Return of the King” I’m not adding additional endings, I’m making technical adjustments.

After the first completion, the movie is watchable for 85% of the people out there. That is to say that 85% of people wouldn’t notice any difference if you made fixes. But you make fixes anyway. Then you hit a spot where 90% of people wouldn’t notice, then 95%. But you keep tweaking the movie, you know why? Because all of your friends – other writers and filmmakers, the people whose opinions really matter – are the people who fall in the 98% and above category!

But I’m “finished” enough to book a screening!  I’m having lunch with Seth on Thursday so I’ll let you all know what I can work out with him.  I’m sure it’ll be a few weeks so we have time to promote it, but it’ll be great to get everyone together.  Cast and crew will be in attendance!  We’ll see the movie at the Clinton Street, then have a wrap party at Dots.  Sound good?

I’ll also be posting some “before and afters” over the next few days to show a little bit of the process.  And check out TheFORGEProject on Facebook.  Become a fan!

VFX plate before

Finished VFX frame grab.

So at last, as we arrive at the one year mark of this project, we hit perfect stride. Quick meetings, phone calls, emails… all of which amount to significant forward progress on the movie. Everybody has a feel for what they’re doing, and they know how to do it! This is my favorite phase of filmmaking; when people fall into sync. We hit it about the third day of shooting back in May. We hit it again when the edit was coming together in August. And now we’re there with visual fx and sound design.

It’s hard to believe it has been a year since I wrote the script for FORGE. People always say, “It’s hard to believe (insert unbelievable amount of time here),” but so much has happened in the past year that it is truly hard to believe. When I look back and make lists of the things that have happened since I wrote this script, it’s pretty amazing that the movie hasn’t fallen apart. Every movie hits that point where everyone involved wonders if it will collapse or continue (usually multiple times). I’ll have to survey the crew and see if there were any of those moments they identified in production, but there were more than a few in post. Here’s just a few…
sketchy early viz fx tests,
teaching overload,
relationship changes,
people start to help then get too busy,
people start to help and it creates more work,
hardware problems,
cat almost dies,
visual fx breakthrough makes all finished shots look like crap…

Just to name a few.

But after all that, the movie prevails. We should be done in a week or so! Thanks for tuning in.

Spring time is rapidly approaching. In seemingly no time at all, almost a year has flown by since we completed principle photography on Forge. As the director of photography, the brunt of my time was spent on the film in the pre-production and production phases. Basically, I got ready to shoot, did tests,  had discussions, and then dove into production. After the 12 short days of principle photography, my job was largely done. About a week after the shoot, there was a fairly finalized cut of the film, but it lacked many of the final pieces including sound, effects, color correction, titles, music, and a plethora of other elements.  Since then, I’ve worked on several other projects but throughout this time I have seen the movie come together and inch closer and closer to it’s finished form. A large part of what makes a film cohesive happens after the fact in the post production phase. In the case of Forge, there is a pretty significant visual effects component to the film. It’s been really interesting to see the effects come together, and to see various shots in-context with their associated effects elements. On set, Luke touching thin air has now become Luke touching an object on-screen, a blank background plate is now filled with an element, and many key pieces of the film have taken shape. It’s been a tremendous learning experience, and I can’t wait to see the finished product.

Things are really making strides, now.  I feel like I should have been at this point months ago, but the results are looking good, so I can’t argue.  I hope to screen the movie by the end of February.  The delays have only improved the project so I’m not complaining.

I’m only anxious because I’m dying to do it all again on another idea!  Why is filmmaking so frustrating and satisfying all at once?  And why do I like it so much for that reason?

They call it “the sickness.”  And I have it.

Is it possible that there’s a form of OCD that only kicks in when you’re supposed to be finishing something?  For some reason, now that the movie is so close to being done, I have powerful urges to alphabetize my dvds, organize my hard drives, finish unfinished video games, vacuum…  Is there a name for that?  I mean besides just “procrastination.”  I’m talking a serious physical manifestations of need to do these things!

If there’s no name for it… is there a support group?