Follow My Film

I’m incredibly lucky: Gavin Fisher, the director of photography on Girlfriend 19, is also a professional color-correctionist.  Not only is he one of the coolest guys to work with, he is also incredibly skilled and talented.

Color-correction is a lot more than just tweaking colors.  With his set-up, we can make all kinds of adjustments within the film.  I was blown away at the possibilities.  We added light and reduced light.  We created contrast and decreased contrast.  In fact, there were so many possibilities, I was a bit overwhelmed and quickly realized I was not prepared enough for our meeting!

However, in the end, the greatest and most encouraging thing Gavin and I realized is the fact that our footage itself, untreated, looks fantastic.  In fact, there were many times where we simply did not want to touch the image and leave it the way it was!  That’s saying a lot about our production team, from lighting to make-up.  Everyone did a great job and it shows!!!

Below is a photo of Gavin at work in his studio and some
Girlfriend 19 movie stills…

Some of you may already know that my wife and I are expecting a child in a couple of months.  Like most couples in the U.S., we have seen numerous ultrasound images and reports, brainstormed names, and have begun collecting clothes.  However, I have yet to really meet and see my child.

In the same way, I have yet to really meet and see my film, Girlfriend 19.  I was there during its production.  I have seen and edited the footage.  And, soon, I will be overseeing the sound design, color correction and the creation of an original score.  However, in the end, I will not really meet nor know my film until I see it on the big screen.  That is when it truly comes to life and takes its first breath.

And the exciting thing is that all my friends and family will be there with me!

We’re getting incredibly close to completing our final cut of Girlfriend 19!

My two editors, John and Jarrod, and I spent the entire day Sunday working on the film.  They really are a joy to work with in addition to being extremely talented.  And the great thing is that John and Jarrod do not think completely alike, leading to a more diverse editing approach.

I’ll be spending a lot time with Girlfriend 19 this week, taking notes and brainstorming ways to make it as effective as possible.  I will then get together with John and Jarrod again next weekend to edit some more.  Our goal is to complete editing by the end of this month…

Reshoots are quite common during film productions, so it’s no surprise that we needed to reshoot a scene last night for Girlfriend 19.

It’s a rather simple scene where Bethany interacts with a kitchen knife in a dark hallway.  However, because it repeatedly unfolds in Bethany’s imagination throughout the film, it needs to intensify and deliver a big punch.  Our existing footage simply did not do that, so we decided to take another stab at it!

Thanks to the hospitality of my good friend, Tom, Cassidy and I were able to take some time and reshoot our scene with a lot more edge.  Another dear friend of mine, Graham Fisher, was kind enough to take pictures of us in action.

Hope you like them!

I heard about an exciting new film today interestingly titled PressPausePlay. Here is a description of the film from its website:

The digital revolution of the last decade has unleashed creativity and talent of people in an unprecedented way, unleashing unlimited creative opportunities.

But does democratized culture mean better art, film, music and literature or is true talent instead flooded and drowned in the vast digital ocean of mass culture? Is it cultural democracy or mediocrity?

This is the question addressed by PressPausePlay, a documentary film containing interviews with some of the world’s most influential creators of the digital era.

Featuring innovative minds and artists like Moby and Seth Godin, PressPausePlay is sure to do more than merely entertain.  It premieres on March 11 at the South by Southwest film festival in Austin, Texas and hopefully will be available for the rest of us shortly thereafter!