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Showing posts with label surf ballard. Show all posts
Showing posts with label surf ballard. Show all posts

Monday, March 3, 2014

Mondo Beacho report for the first Monday in March, 2014

Emily Purington, on set of Mondo Beacho
(photo by Mel Cafe)
It's been another busy week for Mondo Beacho!

'Getting toward the home stretch now, at least for the rough cut.

This week's photo comes from the makeup test, I think, for one of the scenes I was cutting this week. Emily Purington is dressed for the Georgetown confab by Barbara Blunt, makeup by Juel Bergholm.

Beyond that Georgetown bit, I also put together the rest of the water scenes and another Shilshole Ave sequence, and ended up on the roof of Surf Ballard, a place where the cast and crew spent more time than we ever thought we would...

... Actually that's true about Shilshole Avenue as well.

... The great thing about working with talented actors, in this case Sarah Winsor and Maya Briller, is that they are able to reproduce their performances again and again, each time as if they were brand new. Despite (or "in spite of" -- is there a difference?) some unexpected technical challenges.

Hooray for acting --  wotta fine profession!

Here's something funny: I got derailed about halfway through editing the Shilshole Avenue bit when I realized that I'd forgotten we had music for that scene that was baked into the script. See, I'd already edited the whole thing to a temp track instead. Hilarious!

I think I've just had this particular tune in mind for so long that I took it for granted.

Upon recutting, it was amazing once again how powerful all that stuff is...  Music.... Editing.

Anyway, special thanks to the patient Thomas Wold for the use of his lovely, summery hippy folkadelic tune.  Recorded on machines so old they don't even exist anymore, from what I'm told....

Speaking of music, once the rough cut is done, the plan is to set the picture aside to cool off, and re-commence work on acquiring and/or composing the remaining music for the film. Because for expediency's sake, a handful of scenes are currently scored with temporary tracks, which have copyrights owned by giant, reeking corporations, the kind that charge licensing fees that exceed  the entire budget of the film x2 for each tiny, forgotten song.

(What percentage of that fee goes to the artist? My guess = 0)

After the music is finalized, I can go back to the rough cut, put in the final tracks, cut to the new music and tighten the whole thing up for public consumption. (note the metaphor follow-through here....)

In other news:

Sarah was in another play this weekend which I missed, but will also be in Macha Monkey's Lollyville, playing at Hugo House in May!

Steven Sterne seems to be working non-stop -- beyond his directing duties at SPT he's now working with the Young Playwrights on a read-through series...

Alyssa Kay is in Charlotte's Web, opening March 21 at the Second Story Rep.

Monday, October 14, 2013

Weekly Mondo Beacho update: October 14

L-R: Kat Brede, the Camera Canoe, Erik Hammen
Photo by Mel Café
That's Kat Brede (2nd AC) with me in the photo on the left. We're hauling the Camera Canoe from Surf Ballard out to its secret launch spot, which seems like it was just across the street but actually was about a block and a half away.

Not every production is lucky enough to even have a Camera Canoe. I'm pretty sure we were the only one in Seattle this year.

Thanks much to awesome AD Mel Café for the two gigantic files of production stills that he gave me over the weekend!

Also over the weekend, I completed the organization of all film footage. The digitized reels of film are now subdivided up into clips, files, and folders, all carefully named by scene, shot, take, retake, and whatever else that needed noting. Time-consuming, but necessary. And highly educational.

Next, I'll be doing the same sort of cataloging for all the audio tracks. We got tons of ambient sound during production (thanks David Thomas!) and it'll be interesting to hear what we have.

Once editing starts, I also know for sure that we'll need more. We didn't record audio on any of the Bolex days for one thing, and there's always going to be things I couldn't have anticipated that will help make the edit work.

For example, I came across a really cool "lucky accident" shot the other day and I think I know how to work it into the film, but it'll need a very specific new sound that will be a hassle to get. The footage is kind of awesome, though. And it was so incidental that I bet no one in production will remember we shot it until they see the final film.

Work also starts this week on the final music performance tracks. I meet with Ahren Buhmann on Thursday, and the whole bonfire group the week after.

In general, music creation/acquisition will be an ongoing process, probably right up until the film is finished.

In other news, my 2012 feature Time of the Robots is screening at the TriCities International Fantastic Film Festival this coming weekend. If you're in Richland, WA on Oct. 20, be sure to check it out and remember to applaud at the end.