THE EDIT
I can see the finish line of the first cut (picture). Whew. Then I’ll have to go through and do it all again so the sound fits (doesn’t distract from the edit). Perhaps a dialogue editor…yes…that would be something! Barring that, I’ll have to slide in ambient sound, cross fade, etc…to get it into watchable condition.
Turning a script into a film is one hell of a thing. Making a film is one hell of a thing. Locations, weather, equipment, crew, cast, funding, and so many things to consider/deal with.
I think A NIGHT FOR DYING TIGERS has a pretty great cast: Jennifer Beals, Gil Bellows, John Pyper Ferguson, Leah Gibson, Kathleen Robertson, Tygh Runyan, Lauren Lee Smith, Sarah Lind, Jessica Heafey, and more!
I’ve been working on this first edit nonstop from the moment we wrapped. I’m looking forward to being able to leave it for a week or so and then come back to it (I have some writing to do for the next film, so that time will be well spent).
I’ve learned so much about filmmaking from this experience, but there was really nothing (huge) that the first few features hadn’t prepared me for (except the early call times and the union). Because I shoot and edit everything, I can shoot and direct the shots I know I’ll need to tell the story in the edit. However, even having a pretty clear idea what you’re going for isn’t always enough. There are endless surprises and endless compromises and you hope that you make the best compromise at the best time…it’s a strange alchemy, filmmaking. Each time out you hope to get as close as possible to what you envisioned, but it’s impossible to tell until you’re sitting in that first screening…
I can’t wait to work with a smaller camera again (maybe the Scarlet, maybe the 5D, maybe back to the HVX for one more film). I think that will be next on the list. If I manage to push a big budget film script through somehow, and that’s a big somehow, those things take years, or at least a year, and that leaves time. I’m not even sure a bigger budget film is something I’m interested in. Those compromises that come with a higher budget are not really for me, so unless I retain 100% creative control, there’s no real point in pursuing that size budget.
I would love to makes films for 100k, or anything below 500k to 1 million. British Columbia has a lot of issues when it comes to making lower budget films “workable,” but hopefully the organizations that make it so difficult will grow and change, and we’ll be competing with Ontario soon (they have very reasonable tax credits and union rules).
I have a few ideas ready to roll out, but now it’s back to the edit.
Tagged: a night for dying tigers, admuse, ashley, ashley park, blog, canada, canadian, canadian film, cinemanovel, dying, ennead, ennead series, film, filmmaker, filmmaking, films, gil bellows, how to, independent, indie, instructional, jennifer beals, jessica heafey, kathleen robertson, kristine cofsky, lauren lee smith, Leah Gibson, low budget, lynne carrow, micro budget, miles, night, park, production, production blog, pyper ferguson, ryan haneman, sarah lind, saturnhead, sidney chiu, terry, terry miles, the ennead, the red rooster, tigers, tkmiles, tygh runyan, vancouver, viewfinders, when life was good 2
