While I'm posting bits from my films, I thought I'd post a very rough excerpt from "Coda in G Minor." Bear in mind that this is essentially raw footage strung together on my home computer using Windows Movie Maker. I have yet to take this into the CSIF to use their editing suite and choose my takes and adjust brightness and contrast... you get the idea. Oh and this footage is a very good example of why you should CHECK THE GATE when operating the camera. I'm hoping that the black line in the top left corner of the film is something I'll be able to get rid of when I do my actual edit. But enough disclaimers, here's a bit of "Coda":

Coda in G Minor

I've just uploaded a trailer to my short film "No Time Like the Present" which is currently in post-production. It's a Joss Whedon inspired film about a young woman who inadvertently picks up a talisman from some time-shifting, dimension-shifting demons.

In the future, I'll be posting the whole process as I've done with "Persephone." But there's a lot of post production that needs doing on this one. Some colour correction, some exposure correction, the aspect ratio, post production sound (dialogue, dubbing and music) and undoubtedly some other stuff that I can't think of right now. So, for now, just a little tease:

No Time Like the Present Trailer


[This film was made with the support of the Calgary Society of Independent Filmmakers 16mm Film School]

I've decided to try uploading an excerpt from the beginning of my short film "Persephone." To see the whole thing, you'll have to come to the Herland Film & Video Festival in Calgary on May 10, 2007. Or, hopefully, it might end up in a festival near you. I just want to splice in the new footage that I shot and tweak the exposures a bit and then I'll be submitting it to festivals like crazy. So keep your eyes open!

Persephone excerpt

[This film could not have been made without the support of Herland, the Calgary Society of Independent Filmmakers, Studio Post, Kodak, EMMEDIA and the Canada Council for the Arts.]

I had my Super 8 Transfer Workshop last weekend and had a chance to transfer one of the rolls of film I shot during my "Persephone" underworld re-shoot. And it looks great! I'm finally happy with my lighting (I don't know whether to cheer or breathe a sigh of relief; it's kind of hard to do both at the same time... trust me, I tried).

It turns out that the roll I picked at random was the one I'd shot with my $25 dollar Sankyo LXL-250 that I bought off eBay. And I'm thrilled with the camera! The film has a slightly magenta hue, which could be due to the camera, the film stock (which I haven't used before) or the lighting. If it's one of the latter two, I'll be able to tell once I transfer the roll I shot with the CSIF's camera. If it's the former... well, it's not a huge deal to correct in post-production. And who knows, maybe my Cinematography workshop on May 5 will help me figure out how to adjust for it during filming.

Now I can't wait to see what the film from the main camera looks like!

Remember my IN:Camera film workshop? Well, Ranjene, one of the women that I worked with during that workshop, is screening her animation short tomorrow night. She's very talented (I'm hoping to work with her on another film project in the future), so I can't wait to see what she's done for the Youth Animation Project Premiere Screening:

A bunch of talented young guns from Calgary have come together in a Big Brother like setting for the past three and a half months to put their creative juices at work, to bring you a bunch of cool short films comissioned by the Alberta Wilderness Association. Social and Psychological environments are explored.

It's not just cartoons people...think an average of 50 drawings for a second of film. That's dedication.

Where: Epcor Centre's Engineered Air Theatre (205 8th Avenue SE, Calgary)
When: Friday April 20th, 2007 at 7:00pm
Cost: FREE!

Previous Persephone posts:
Synopsis, Idea Spark and Background
Production Day
Tech Stuff and Screenings

Underworld Footage: As I mentioned in my previous posts, I was not happy with the "underworld" footage that I shot for "Persephone" during the workshop. So I went back a couple of weeks ago with Moksha from my original group and Liz, who had been in another group in the same workshop. I rented a Super 8 camera from the CSIF but also shot on my cheap Super 8 that I recently bought on eBay (I can't believe I haven't mentioned that already... it's a Sankyo LXL-250, very similar to the camera that I used to film "Coda in G Minor").

This time around, I moved the camera further away from the subject and zoomed in, hoping it would result in a shallower depth of field. I don't know if that's a valid concept or not; I guess I'll find out when I get my film back (or do some more reading). I also moved the subject further away from the back wall and made sure that none of the lights caused shadows on that wall. I fear that I may still be too bright, but I can adjust that in post. (I'm really hoping that my upcoming cinematography course will help me with moody lighting set ups.)

I also had more time to work with the little girl playing Persephone. And I've realized how important that is with child actors. So we broke things down a bit more, took more rehearsal time and more takes and threw in a few extras that I can potentially use for cutaways (if they work out). Oh, and we were able to play music this time which made it much more enjoyable.

So I've sent the film off to the lab in Toronto (there's no place to process Super 8 film locally) and now I'm sitting here with fingers crossed that there's something in this footage that I like (and that my new camera actually worked properly!)... wish me luck.

Previous Persephone posts:
Synopsis, Idea Spark and Background
Production Day

Tech stuff: Persephone is a 3 minute, silent movie (as in no sync sound, no dialogue, no voice over... just music) shot on 16mm colour negative film (500 ASA, Tungsten balanced) using an Arriflex M camera. I had intended to underexpose by half a stop (as suggested by my lighting instructor last fall) because I wanted a certain moodiness in the film's aesthetics. But the few times I actually thought to adjust for that half stop after getting the reading from the light meter, I went the wrong way. So I OVERexposed by half a stop rather than UNDERexposing… doh! My footage is beautifully clear, but moody it's not.

I then desaturated the footage to black and white in post-production, and hits of red were added with Adobe After Effects. Original soundtrack was composed by Moksha Dragonwing. New underworld footage will be shot on Super 8, hopefully giving it a more distinct look from the rest of the film. And I plan to be more creative with my lighting and use a shallower depth of field so the back wall isn't visible in the shot. Oh yes, and I will definitely UNDERexpose by half a stop this time.

Screenings: It will be screened at the Herland Film & Video Festival on May 10, 2007 at the Plaza Cinema in Calgary. Once the new footage is in place, I'll be submitting it to other festivals as well. I'll post any future screenings if and when this film gets accepted elsewhere.

I got a new bulletin from WILDsound Film Festival and Reading Series. They now have a webpage called Filmmaker Notes with info on Directing, Producing, Editing, Grant Writing and sooooo much more. It looks like a great resource. Now excuse me while I go do some reading.

Previous Persephone Post: Synopsis, Idea Spark and Background

Production: The participants were divided into three groups of three (Ranjene and Moksha were my team members) and each of us given one day for production. Which would have been fine for a 3 minute film if we hadn't had to have our film unloaded and back at the CSIF (Calgary Society of Independent Filmmakers… where the workshop was being held) by 5:00 p.m. We got off to a rocky start in the morning when I realized that I had inadvertently removed the core from the film magazine and it was in the can with Ranjene's film that we'd shot the day before. So by the time the film was actually loaded, we'd lost about 45 minutes and we'd started about 15 minutes late so we were already 1 hour behind.

So when my actress playing the mom showed up, we hadn't even finished dressing the sets or setting up the lights. Then there was the usual making things up as you go along which takes time that I really need to start allowing for. Then there was the whole working with children thing… especially when the child doesn't have any previous acting experience. I had not even remotely anticipated how much longer it would take to film her scenes; I've gotten so used to actors who can give me one-shot-wonder scenes, where the only reason I'm likely to do extra takes is for technical reasons.

By the time we finished the house shots (which was my main location of three), it was already after 4:00 p.m. And I still had two shots in a playground and my underworld shots back at the CSIF (they have a Sofa Cinema with black walls that's perfect for that kind of stuff). So I decided to send Moksha back to the CSIF with the lights to set up while I went to the playground.

Then disaster struck… Moksha locked her keys in the car along with the lights and Ranjene's film. So they called AMA and Ranjene had to stay with Moksha to wait. I had to hope they would sort it out in time and just continue on to the playground with my actors.

I tossed out my carefully planned shot list for the nightmare sequence and went hand held, two quick takes… and it actually turned out really well. I think it's my favourite footage from that shoot. Then we had to race over to the CSIF, fingers crossed that Moksha and Ranjene would be there with everything set up. No such luck. Even though our house location was literally three blocks from the AMA office, it took them forever to get there.

We got to the CSIF at 4:50 p.m. So I figured I was out of luck and I should just unload the camera and I could shoot the underworld footage on video. But we finally caught a break. They weren't going to be picking up the film until 5:20. So I quickly borrowed two lights from the CSIF, threw them up without even paying any attention to where the shadows were. I couldn't play the music that we'd practiced with because they were recording sound in another room and the CSIF doesn't have a soundproof room for that. But I just went ahead and filmed something, figuring I could manipulate it in post.

Well, post-production can only make so much magic. The lighting for that last scene is (a) too bright, (b) too flat, making it look like video (a backlight might have been a good idea) and (c) there's a harsh shadow on the back wall… but there aren't even supposed to BE walls in the underworld! So I've decided to re-shoot that footage. Then I'll replace it in the final edit. It's too late for the Herland Festival, but at least I'll have it to submit to other festivals.

Additional Persephone post: Tech Stuff and Screenings

Synopsis: Inspired by the ancient Greek myth of Persephone and Demeter, this film offers a magical glimpse into the bond between mother and daughter.

Idea Spark: I was telling a story to a friend of mine about a time when my name was the most normal name in a round of introductions. Not something I'm used to. I was trying to remember who all was there. Obviously I could remember my sister (Darmody) and my friend (Phaedra), but I couldn't remember the name of my sister's friend. I just grabbed a name out of the stratosphere and said Persephone. (Probably because of the Greek myth connection with Phaedra.) My friend had actually never heard the name Persephone before but, by a strange coincidence, a TV show that my friend watched that night had a character named Persephone. So the next day I ended up telling my friend all about the Persephone myth. Later that same day, I was listening to Gutter Glitter by Switchblade Symphony and it made me think of Hades' underworld and little girls and suddenly my film idea was there, fully formed.

Background: I created this film during the IN:Camera Film Production Workshop organized by the Herland Film & Video Festival. Participants were selected by a jury process for this 10-day intensive workshop. By the end, everyone left with a finished film. Theoretically. What I created during that workshop is what will be screened at the festival, but I'm unhappy with one of the segments. Which I'll talk about in my next Persephone post.

Additional Persephone Posts:
Production Day
Tech Stuff and Screenings