The Good Soldier - Pre-Production - Notes 1

The Good Soldier is a 15-16 minute short film that I've been working on with the goal of shooting and submitting to the Sundance Film Festival of 2010. The initial story idea and script development began in December 2008. Since that time I have a complete script, some of the locations, some of the cast, a basic budget, some of the production equipment, and an ever-evolving vision in my mind.

The Good Soldier is the story of a young man ordered to hold an observation post in a remote location. After nearly a year with zero activity he becomes dismayed at the purpose of his mission, for little has been revealed to him. As a result, he's driven by an ever-present urge to uncover the true reason for his mission. Not everything is as it seems. What does the future hold for this good soldier?

Things have been coming together a bit more lately. I made a big investment in purchasing a light kit. I decided to go with a Lowel Core 44 because it has everything I need for this shoot and I'm sure I'll be able to use it for future projects. Of course I debated between renting and buying but it came down to an issue of time - how much time I thought I would need a light kit - and convenience. It's so much easier to have a light kit right when you need it.

I've been reading a lot about film stocks, trying to pick the perfect film for the locations, lighting, and scenes in the story. I'm almost positive that I will shoot on B&W Tri-X for interiors and PLUS-X for exteriors. Reasons for this are that the story would benefit from having it in black an white. Plus, I feel that b/w film holds a high place in motion picture photography in terms of style and professionalism. And it will be fun to shoot.

I'm still pretty confused about camera settings and light metering - I wish I was more knowledgeable in this area. I'm trying to make better sense of it so that when it comes time I know, based on the amount of light in the room, what settings I should have the camera on. If anyone has any advice in this department that would be great. I'm sure much of it is just getting out there and burning through some carts of film but I'd like to know a little better what I'm doing before I pull the trigger. More research to be done!

I've made a few contacts along the way and some of those relationships are in the early stages right now so I can't really say what will become of them until later. Hopefully, I will have some help in the casting, scheduling, lighting, and sound departments. And I still need a main character. I will be putting together a bio for the main character shortly and hold a casting call.

After the initial test-shoot (which I wrote about in a previous entry) I learned quite a bit about what will work and what will not. I was also reminded of the unforgiving nature of shooting film. It can be difficult to get it just right. And with film it's not like you can go back and delete it - once it's on there, it's on there. And you don't know what you've got until it's been processed.

The plan is to shoot the rehearsals on HDV, get the performances down pat, and then shoot it on S8.

Got to go for now....more later...

Super 8 Film/Sound Sync Test - Summit Sings

I got some developed film back today. There were two rolls that I had developed and transferred - both were shot with my Nizo 801 Macro. The first roll was some test footage for a film that I wrote and will (hopefully) be shooting soon. The second roll is of my son, Summit, singing into a microphone. There are a couple of reasons for both of these films. First, these are the first rolls I have run through this Nizo camera and I needed to see how the camera handled and how the pictures would look. Second reason was to experiment with syncing sound to the picture.

I have to say, compared to my other camera - the Zeiss Ikon, I am a disappointed with the Nizo. The ligh, colors and clarity are just not as good. True, it may have a lot to do with the user but my first experience with the Ikon yielded some much better footage. I will continue to work with the Nizo in hopes that I will learn more about it and get some better footage.

The test footage I shot for my upcoming film was WAY WAY too dark. Very under-exposed. Yes, the room was dim but there were several windows open and some additional interior lighting for a couple of shots. In retrospect I should have considered that I was shooting 64T and probably should have been much closer to the subject and had much more light.

Even more unfortunate is that the footage is SO dark that I am unable to do a sound sync edit test because I can barely see the slate or the person holding it! Suck. Oh well - that's why it's a test, right?

Luckily, I also recorded the test footage with my HDV camera so I may put some of that online just so you can see the conditions. Maybe someone can tell me what I should do to fix the situation - maybe I need to change my film type entirely! This also answers my questions about if I need additional lighting or not - I absolutely do.

The other film I shot, as I mentioned above, is of my son. This took place outside and all the camera setting were on auto. The picture is still a little dark, grainy, and the color is weak - though I'm sure I could fix it a bit in Final Cut if I wanted to. Good thing is that I was able to practice some sound syncing with this footage. I now realize how tricky this is and how important it is to have a slate to cue the sound/picture edit.

I also realized everything I have read about trying to sync digital sound to Super 8 film. It does not stay synced for long, that's for sure. However, with a little tinkering I was able to keep the sound closely synced for a little while by increasing the picture speed by 10%. This doesn't change the look of the film hardly at all but it allows it to stay a little closer in sync. it is by no means perfect, there is some obvious lag/separation towards the end. But it's not too bad for a first try.

Again, there are some things I can do to make it better so I will continue to work on it.

For the time being - enjoy Summit's beautiful voice.

My Dad, Super 8 Film and a Well Site

This film is in remembrance of my dad who died April 11, 2002 - tomorrow is the 6 year anniversary of his death.

I would like to share this Super 8 film. This one is from a batch of films that I had telecined several months ago. I really like this one because it's an experience I remember - our visit to an oil well site that my dad was involved with. Honestly, I don't know what involvement my family had with oil - maybe this was a friend's site, maybe family. That's a question for my mom I guess.

The film shows my brother Ryan (the first little boy you see) and I playing around on dirt piles and dangerously close to the drilling rig. I don't see my dad in the film so I have to assume that he is the cameraman.

I have him to thank for my love of moving pictures, story telling, humor, and adventure. My dad spurred and encouraged all of those values in my brothers and I and we are each better people for it. I love him and still miss him.

Test Footage - Light, Sound, Location

This is a photo (taken with my cell phone) of one the locations for my upcoming film.

Yesterday was such an exciting day. Shot some test footage for my upcoming Super 8 film! The purpose for the test footage was threefold: 1) To get an idea of various light levels in the room and on the camera, 2) To test the sound quality in the room with a shotgun mic and perform sound sync test, 3) To get used to the camera and how it handles.

The entire test was documented on an HDV camera in order to review it later and identify settings, light levels, and how the room was set up with each change between takes. Speaking of takes, my friend Sherwin played the part of the "talent," clapped the slate at the beginning of each take, helped me keep things straight, etc. He even took the opportunity to tell a few interesting anecdotes about himself in the process - you can look forward to me sharing some of those takes later (if it's cool with him).

So the roll of test footage is off to the lab for processing and transfer. I'll post some footage up after it's back.

As far as the film goes - the script is finished and I'm pretty content with it. A few people have read it and so far I've received positive feedback. I made a few changes based on the feedback so I feel like it's good to go.

The screenplay has just been registered with the WGA. I will get into what the film is about in another post.

Feel good to be moving closer to my goal on this.

Super 8 Film - Russell on Last of the Good Guys - Quartz Mtn.

Here's another S8 film I shot a couple years ago. This one is of my good buddy Russell Hooper climbing Last of the Good Guys at Quartz Mountain in southwest Oklahoma.

I seem to have a lot of footage featuring Russell. I guess he's always willing to climb and he's great to watch climb because he's so smooth.

Again, no audio to this film - all is silent when shooting Super 8 - so pick your own soundtrack or just watch it without sound - it's kind of cool that way.

There is a continuation to the climb. The film stops when the film runs out. I immediately picked up my DV camera hanging around my neck and shot the rest of the climb. I need to piece the two parts together and put it online.

Enjoy.

Super 8 Films - Oklahoma State Fair

I've been talking about this for some time so I'm finally getting some Super 8 films that I've shot out here. I've got 8 films total and I probably won't put them all online but I am going to get all the State Fair ones out here. Keep in mind that none of these have sound. Super 8 film is silent. That is, unless you have a Super 8 *sound* camera AND sound film. It's not the sound cameras that are so difficult to find but the sound film can be difficult and expensive. Not to mention that to transfer both the film image and the associated sound would cost - well, I don't know how much it would cost but I'm sure it wouldn't be cheap.

All film was transferred at mymovietransfers.com - and from what I see of the films I had transferred I am really excited about using them again for future projects.

So, a little bit about this first film (shown above):
This film was shot in Sept 2006. Every year my wife and I go to the State Fair and every year we make it a point to ride the giant slide. This year was no different. This film was shot by both of us. My wife shot the portion of me going down the slide - that's me in the hat and glasses smiling at the camera after racing down the slide. The rest of the footage, I shot. This was B/W film and shot on my Zeiss Ikon Movieflex S8. It was a bright and sunny day so much of the images are a little overexposed. I'm sure I could up the contrast a bit in Final Cut (editing program) but I chose to keep it in it's original unedited form.

This next film is from the State Fair - Sept. 2007.



I really like this one. It is the essence of what S8 film is all about to me. Rich colors, fluid picture, handheld camera feel, up close and real - filled with personality. This was also shot on my Zeiss Ikon Movieflex S8, this time using Ektachroome 64T film.

This film features several different elements of the state fair - the "freak" show tent, the unusual State Fair cuisine; fried Twinkies and Oreos, and a few of the lighted midway rides at dusk.

The two people in the film are Chris and Leah. Chirs is taking his first delicious bite of a fried Twinkie and then offers Leah a bite. I would note that Chirs went on to finish that Twinkie and followed it with a couple of fried Oreos. Shortly after that he was moaning with a stomache.

I especially enjoy watching the ride footage at the end and will probably shoot some more footage of rides in future films.

Hope you enjoy these two films.

~Aaron

Some new gear

I guess I never wrote about it but I was able to locate and purchase a Nizo 801 Macro on ebay a while back. The camera shipped from Germany and I'm happy to say that it is in great condition.
Unfortunately, I haven't shot any film with it yet. Though I have continued to use my Zeiss Ikon. I shot a couple more rolls with it and had them developed. They look so great. I'm just shooting the plain old Ektachrome 64T stuff - I haven't dared to branch out yet into the other types of film - the negative stock and black and white. But I'd really like to - guess I'm just a little bit nervous about spending the money and then wrecking the film. Nothing worse than messing up a perfectly good roll of film by being out of focus or not having the aperture set right.

I'm planning on getting a bunch of film transferred to digital pretty soon here so I can edit it and throw it up on the site.

I've also got a couple of other new tools for the arsenal. I bought a Canon HV30 HDV camera. Yes, I know it's not film. But the fact is that a digital camera can be great for practice shooting and test runs. Plus, for everyday use, it's way cheaper the shooting a bunch of film. Haven't shot anything with it yet but I'll start playing around with it pretty soon.

I also purchased an Audio-Technica shotgun mic. Finally. I say finally because it's been something that I've been trying to talk myself into buying for a while. The idea is to capture the audio on my digital recorder with the shotgun mic while shooting with the Super 8 camera. Then I will sync the sound and image in the editing process. There are all kinds of issues you run into when trying to sync sound with film - especially super 8 film - but as long as I don't have long runs of dialogue that have to be matched up I should be okay. Much of the speaking in the film I'm gearing up for is done in voice overs.

So, except for the lighting, I pretty much have what I need to shoot this thing. As for the lighting, I will either make due with whatever I can scrounge up and buy from the hardware store or maybe I'll decide to rent a light package. Not sure yet.

At this point I need to take the pages of notes I have and random sections of character lines and hash out a script. I'm looking at doing a 12 -15 minute film. Though the more I get into the story the more I realize that this really could be a full-blown feature film. I just have to remember everything I've ever learned about short film vs. feature films and not try to pack too much in. Keep it concise, to the point, don't expound too much. Maybe I'll write the feature version later.

***
On a rather sad note - I learned that Polaroid film is ending their production of instant film. Damn, just another film breed dying. In honor of the death of Polariod instant film - I give you this link - perhaps the only way we'll be able to remember what Polaroid was.

On another sad note - Lost in Light closed up shop in August - they are no longer doing film transfers. I thought that was a really great project and I was looking forward to sending them some more film. But I would imagine that such a project would be very time intensive so I understand the need to close. Luckily, the site will remain as an archive of the films that are there. I highly recommend checking some of them out.

That brings me to my final point: HD and HD TVs.
After years of having an old Sony TV my wife and I finally broke down and got a beautiful Samsung LCD TV. I was so anxious to pop in a movie and see how wonderful it would look. But I was shocked to find that the resolution seemed TOO HIGH! It completely destroyed the film appearance. I felt more like I was watching a soap-opera. It was as if I were looking through the eyepiece of a video camera and capturing the action myself. It was so distracting that I could not get involved in the movie. The images were flat, one dimensional, lifeless, fake, plastic. Where was the texture, the motion, the fluidity? It was gone, resolved into millions of pixels until the medium appeared non-existent. What a disappointment. Now I've got this damn TV and I have to find a way to make the best of it. Maybe I'll mess with the settings some and see if I can "fix" the image. Seeing this only heightens my commitment to using film.

I found this link about Sam Bayer recently that made me feel better about shooting film. Here's one of the videos he did.