Film Festivals

The last few months have been busy submitting Salvaging to various film festivals and it is starting to pay off. We screened at the Waterfront Film Festival in Saugatuck, MI last weekend and have just been informed that we have been invited to screen at the Tulsa International Film Festival in September.

Waterfront was a great first festival experience, complete with VIP bracelets and ID badges. We were fortunate to screen along with a well-regarded feature film called Jess + Moss. There was a Q and A after the screening but being that we were the short before the feature, we mostly just got to say introduce ourselves and say Hi to the audience. A few people came up to us afterwards and said some nice things about our film.

In between the screenings and walking around the idyllic little resort town, we were able to get into a few filmmaker gatherings to meet people and have a few drinks. Overall, it was a great weekend.

Happy Father's Day.

Joe

It's Preview Time!

We have reached the end of the post production phase. The color has been corrected, the sound has been mixed and the title and credits have been added. We finally have a projectable film. So it's about time to have a preview screening, huh?

I'm very proud to announce that we will show the film to cast, crew and friends for the first time at...

Gene Siskel Film Center

Sunday Feb. 13th

1PM

164 N. State St.

Chicago, IL

I'm excited for this screening not only because people will finally be able to see the results of all that hard work, but also because it's at the Siskel, a well-respected home to independent film in Chicago.

Hope to see you there.

Joe

Picture is Locked

Sorry everybody. The last month sort of got away from me and I haven't been able to update anything. I did start to write a post a month ago but I never finished. To get caught up, here's what I wrote on November 16th:

The post production phase is divided into three main parts - editing, sound and color correction. We have now finished the first part. It took some time to get here but it was well worth it. This last round of cuts was the hardest to make but probably the most important. This is when you have to get rid of those things that you love but just don't work in the context of the movie. And I find watching it now without those parts, I don't miss them. So those were the right choices. And I thank Sharon for all of the hard work in the edit room that got us here.

I have been meeting with Jim for the last few weeks about our music and he is just about done. Once we can lay in his music the picture will be as done as it can be before others more skilled than I can work their magic and finish it. We will now hand off the film to Martin, our post sound mixer so he can finish up the soundtrack. Because Mario, our on set sound mixer did such a great job of recording the dialogue, Martin now just has to finish building and evening out the ambient sound and adding those things like tires rolling and radio dials switching that we just couldn't get while out on set.

We are getting very close to the end and are just a short time away from having our first public showing. Can't wait for people to finally see it.

Joe

It's Coming Together

After a healthy bit of time away from the shoot, I spent a few days in front of the TV with the DVD dailies and selected the best takes that I thought would work for us in the edit. I handed those selects off to Sharon, our editor, and she put together a rough assembly of the selects in more or less the order of the screenplay. I then had a few days to study the assembly and make notes for changes I'd like to see in the next go 'round.

We've now had two lengthy edit sessions and the main result is what I think is a pretty good rough cut. And thanks to Sharon's experience as an editor, another result is that I can sleep a little better knowing that we have enough footage for a coherent film. Until now I have spent many a night wondering if this will cut with that and if that will cut with this - all pretty much taken care of by Sharon's skill.

The next step is getting together with Jim the composer again to show him the cut and get him working on his music and timing while Sharon and I get a fine cut together. The hope is that Jim can get his score done in time for us to get a picture lock and then get a final sound mix for the film.

Now I need to figure out where that mix will happen...

Joe

Pics from the Set

While I decompress from the shoot, enjoy these pics from the set. I'm hoping that the abundant smiles in the photos are evidence that everyone had as good a time as I did. It was definitely four hard days but it feels like all involved enjoyed our time together making this movie.

Joe

End of Photography*

After getting up at the ungodly hour of 4 am, I loaded up some camera equipment in my car and hurried off to meet up with Rick (DP), Tim (AD) and Joe (AC) to grab our sunrise B-roll shots. Now I'm used to 4 am wake-ups in this business, but the bottle of champagne** that we drank last night as we watched the first day of rushes (and the beer we out for afterwards) didn't make it any easier.

The headache soon cleared, however, and it quickly became apparent that after all the hurried, chaotic action of the movie set, a nice 4 person crew driving around guerilla-style is a pleasant change of pace. We had some fun discovering shots that may or may not work but they really are beautiful to look at in any case.

Following that, Rick and I went back to Filmworker's Club to watch the rest of the rushes and consult on the initial color correction. After a quick viewing of all of the footage, including today's work, I feel pretty safe in saying that we have a movie in there somewhere.

Next stop.....post production.

Joe

*I hope

**Courtesy of my brother Matt. Thanks, my man!

Shoot Day 4

This was the last official day of photography for Salvaging. And while this may feel like a broken record situation, it was yet another day filled with everyone's best performances and efforts. The list of people I am indebted to grows daily but the fruits of our labor should be well worth it.

I would love to say more right now but since tomorrow entails one more early wake up in order to get some needed B-roll and establishing-type shots, I'm off to bed. Besides, the experience hasn't really sunk in enough yet to be able to put it into words anyway. G'night and thanks.

Joe