A lot has happened since i last written. Ive done 3 scenes. The first one just completely sucks. There are loud cars in the background, and everyone was stressed out because it was freezing outside. The second scene went well. My actor was focused, and i got some pretty cool shots. The 3rd scene was alright. I invited all the zombies to be in the scene, only 4 showed up. Bad turn out. It was going pretty good, i got some scenes that i was proud of. Everyone started whining, so i didnt get to film everything i wanted to. I dont have time to redo anything, so im going to have to add some more to that scene to get what i originally wanted to film. Without dressing the actors in full coatume and makeup, just for a minute scene.
But then i got a better idea. I got the thought in my head that i needed a new camera. Not a consumer camera, im tired of those. They domt do anything but record. I want a professional one. Ive spent a few months looking for cameras. I picked out the expensive ones because i was getting a new job. Then i realized i needed to find a cheaper one because my new job doesnt bring me money fast enough. Now that it is summer, and i need to finish this movie over the summer, i started looking at used cameras. This isnt something i would usually do, but i need a camera fast and cheap.i found one. When i was going to buy it, it was already sold. The giy told me he was gettimg it back, and can sell it to me. Its selling for $900 and is originally $4,578. Good deal. Its really, really professional. I didnt know the differance between memory cards, and tapes. I though they were the exact same thing. How in the world could i get my videos onto the computer with tapes, if i cant even do it with a memory card.
My editor came back to town, and is trying to talk my out of buying this camera. Meanwhile, i looked at another camera, but it was also tapes. I was going to buy it, but it was also sold. Since then, i looked at 417 cameras. All cameras that use memory cards ( flash memory) is a consumer camera. Consumer cameras dont do aanything. They just make it seem like a big joke. If i buy this camera, i need to buy a mic, and im dying to a jib crane. It looks like i would also have to buy a mac computer, becAuse macs are the only ones that have a firewire port to transfer tapes.
This is way too stressful, but i needto start filming, especially if i have to redo everything. It was hard enough tryint to get everyone there for those scenes, itll be harder to even try to redo it. It really sucks when its too hard to get the main character there. I might have to replace some people.
friday april 6. First night of shooting, scene 1
We started and finished the first scene yesterday. Oh my god, its as hard as everyones says, even a movie made just for fun. It was just crazy. I was running around getting everyone in places, and making sure everyone was okay. Everything ive ever learned, swormed around in my heade. There wasnt any room left to think. I was sweating. Practice before the actual shoot was a joke. No one really took it seriously, and no one kept on track.
It was freezing outside, which sucked because one actor was stuck outside the window, while the other one was inside. I had to keep running inside and out to get different shots, BECAUSE i cant edit, that made it difficult. Everyone was getting frusterated, it was getting even more colder. The cars outside were really loud, but we couldnt change location, so ultimately that ruined the film.
BECAUSE I cant edit, I have to have 3 seperate memory cards. 1 for bloopers and fun, 1 for the trailer, and 1 for the actual movie. Of coarse i kept mixing all the cards up, leaving the blooper card in when i was actually shooting the movie, so we had to redo it. The worse thing was to redo the trailer parts. I spent 6 hours working out the tralier, planned all the scenes i wanted with the correct timing. I wanted the trailer scenes to go slowly, and full of emotion, but for some reason the actors couldnt do that. We ended up redoing a lot. By this time we’ve already been working for 4 hours. Some cuts actually had like 14 or 15 retakes, BECAUSE i cant edit, that also made it hard. It was getting coulder outside, the cars were louder than ever, but i knew i had to finish the scene. I had way bigger expectations for the acting. It wasnt up to chops where i wanted it, but im just glad they agreed to finish it. Towards the end, i started getting sloopy, so did the actors. I started ignoring the shot list, everything was just getting bad, everyone was angry and supposed to be home. It was a pretty bad experience, but one to remember. I hope its never like that again, but i know this buisness will have its tough times. But at the end of the day, i did end up throwing hundreds.
Wednesday april 4
Filming was cancelled again yesterday. It was actually supposed to start today, everyone was pumped, I spent 2 hours fixing the scene, and 6 hours getting a trailer ready. Today was the first time both people said yes to coming the same day. It was pushed back to a later time at night, which was fixable. I spent all day preparing. I was so excited i felt like i was flying. Finally after 4 months of pushing the day back, it was finally gonna happen.
I made cookies, called some people up and told them how excited I was. Planned to film the second scene friday, cleaned the house, worked on the scenes, packed the lights, charged the camera, got the props ready, then I sat there, and thought about how much I loved my life right now. Nothing could bring me down. People started showing, but we were waiting on the main character. She was at work, supposed to be off at 8. Im waiting, no one has even touched a cookie yet, just waiting on her. I call and ask what the hold up was, she was stuck at work.
Earliar this week, i promised that if the first scene wasnt shot before thursday, the movie was off. I had to send everyone home. No one ate a cookie. Unpacked everything, called grandma and cried. Doesnt it seem like all that gets done is the cancelling? Ive disappointed my family. My filming future seems blurry. After having spent hundreds of $s and hours on this dumb idea, the movie is officially off.
28 wednesday march
It happened again. The first day of shooting was cancelled by someone other than me. I wonder when we will actually start filming, and when people will stop screwing me over. This has been happening for 4 straight months. Im so tired of waiting.
March tuesday 27
As usual, I havent been on in a while, and a lot of important things have happened. Most importantly, I start filming tomorrow. How that happened, is hard to explain. I had to find a new main charecter, because the one I had was making me wait because of his grades. Ive been waiting to film this silly small movie for 6 months. That should be happening. I was forced to change the charecter. The one I have now, has a day just to read the first scene. We will practice tomorrow, then start filming, because with everything thats happened while making this movie, i have no more patience, and no more time to loose.
I wanted to find a new method for makeup. I tried liquid latex. I looked everywhere, but they dont sell it except for amazon, and its too expensive right now. I tried geletin. It took 2 weeks just to get it into a solid form. It kept melting on the face, so we thought maybe that can be used.
Wednesday march 14
Afew big things have happened since the last time i was on here. My editor moved out of town. So even if everything worked out, she couldnt have edited anything because she was leaving. She still had my memory cards, so i was getting nervous that she would leave with them. The cards got passed down from friend to friend, until I finally had them in my hands. I was worried that my camera wouldnt work on my tv, it does so thats good. Its definitely plan B now
I was suppose to start filming yesterday, but there was a change of plans which was a bummer. Prom is this weekend, so I have to start after prom to keep it safe. Once we start filming, I want to keep it going, fast paste. I dont want anyone to be uninterested. I am more then ready for this, but i dont think everyone is prepared for the hard work that comes in this stage of filmmaking. My main actors dont even know the lines well enough to read some withot the script. They’ve had the script for 4 months.
New scenes
im writing some new scenes to beef up my story. I want to show more relation between the characters. I want the audience to feel like they know the main characters, to feel bad for them at the end.
Saturday feb. 18
today, after spending the better half of my morning watching some video commentary from some movies, i went out for some location pictures. I already have the locations in mind, but im writing a new scene and needed some visual. It went well. I got a bigger picture and a few new ideas. Theres a scene where it is taken place in a “forest”, where its actually in a wooded area behind my house. There is really long orange grass, goes up to my waste. It really sets the mood, it looks fantastic.
I havent gotten much word on the memory cards, i dont think there is anything i can do about it. My friend told me that no matter what, i should film it for the experience. Which brings up an interesting point: plan B. Plan B is to film the scenes in order, delete everything in between, hook my camera up to the tv, play it as a movie in front of a group, and do the music by hand. There are 4 very big problems with this.
1) I wont be able to put it in the festivle, or show anyone, unless im prepaired to do it by hand, the old fashion way.
2) the audio will be really messed up and obvious. I will have to be playing music at all times, to take away the noise of the traffic outside, and unwanted noises, where as if it was actually edited, i wont have to worry about it, because it is a zombie film, and nobody should be driving their cars on the high way near by. That will also take away from the natural sounds i wanted.
3) the cuts, transitions, and color change.
4) i will have to take out the bloopers, and mess ups because it will all come in order. You cant have a blooper right in the middle of the movie. I can use another memory card for bloopers and fun, but how am i supposed to change the memory cards when i think there will be a blooper
It will basically be raw film, nothing can be fixed or altered, it wont look very good, or apealing
Even thinking about having to do it by hand is very attractive to me. I almost want to do it like that but i know i need to look at the bigger picture in order to make this film watchable. Really im just thrilled to be able to be a part of this, and be making this movie with my friends for some experience. Hopefully this wont be a problem for my next camera.
Wed. February 15
I finally hear back from my editor. I was worried that she baled on me, since it was taking her so long. I got some very bad news. Both memory cards showed up blank. This is super bad because where else can i put the videos? I cant buy another memory card because the 2 memory cards were completely different. This can put an end to my movie, before it even started.
Wednesday feburary 8
Still waiting on those memory cards. I wonder how long its actually gonna take to try out 2 memory cards. Im just ready to start filming.
