New Equipment

I started using my new editing software and audio recording / mixing equipment this week.  The mic works pretty well.  It filters out a lot of the ambient noise which is captured on the camera mic.  The 4 Track is awesome, but hard to figure out at first. I still need the manual to do almost anything on it.

The software is amazing, but I am learning it much like I learned Excel.  Self taught and slowly at best.  One problem I am having is that I am saving the files, and my computer is loosing them.  I don't think that is a software issue, I think it is a hardware issue.  So far I have been able to retrieve them, but it is scary.  I have spent about 6 hours editing and mixing a total of 3 minutes worth of possible finished material.

I think I have the end of the film set.  I won't give anything away other than to say that the film doesn't have a "happy" ending, but it does have a "hopeful" one.  That is the idea I have had from the start.

Mixing video to audio is hard.  There is probably some easier way to do it, but I have been trying to sync it up using vocal and visual cue's.  So far I have managed to do it, but it is taking a long time.  You don't want a delay between the mouth moving and the words being spoken.

So far the camera work has been pretty still.  I would like to experiment with some camera movement.  I need to get a dolly cart.  I am thinking that I can make one at my "real" job.  My wonderful girlfriend has also loaned me an external hard drive that I am using to store all this video and audio.  It is working out great.

Attached are two stills from the interviews I did Monday.  I am going to try to do a better job of getting still photos to add to this blog.

The Waiting Game

I completed my 2nd day of shooting.  We went to Greg Park and did video interviews of people in the LAM program as well as a couple of them that have graduated.  I was hoping for a better turn out, but we made the best of what we had.

I was a little disappointed that none of the board members wanted to be interviewed.  There were at least 2 of them at the cookout and both declined to discuss their relationship to LAM.  I was also hoping for more activity so that I could shoot some B reel stuff, but other than a couple of guys throwing a football around most of the time everyone was just standing around talking.

The interviews sort of went off track also.  The first guy I spoke with spent most of the time talking about his religion and how God is helping him through his addiction and rehab.  He also rambled on about his job and a bunch of other stuff that wasn't pertinent to the documentary.  The second person I spoke with was better.  I was able to capture a few moments from our conversation to use in clip segments in the film.  However, his methods of recovery didn't exactly go hand-in-hand with the LAM practices.  So I am sure that the LAM board will not want most of what he had to say in the film.  That is a shame, because he was passionate about what he was saying.

The third interviewee agreed to talk to me, but with a lot of reservations.  He ended up though being the most interesting guy of the group.  I think he was the most honest and he spoke without thought.  It was pure emotion and instinct.  I started to ask a follow up question about his mother and his face went stiff.  I was afraid that he was about to come out of his seat and whip my ass for talking smack about his mama.  I was also able to get a few usable quotes from him. 

The final interview was a waste of time.  This guy was so arrogant and foolish that I almost signaled the camera man to shut the camera off so we didn't waste any battery.  I feel that he truly didn't learn anything from his time in jail and with the LAM program.  While the 3 person had relapsed (and continued to do so) he felt shame and self pitty.  Number four was almost bragging about his continued substance abuse.  While I still wish him the best, I would wager that he will be in and out of jail quite a few more times before he learns his lesson.  If he ever does.

Another thing of note is that this is the first shoot with my new audio equipment.  I will blog more about that later.  Peter came over after the cookout and I played some of the music I picked out and he liked it, so I purchased 1 song and got the rights to use two others.  Using my new editing software I will start to mix and put all this together this week.

At this point we don't have any more shooting dates worked out.  Peter is supposed to be setting that up and letting us know when and where that will take place.  I hope it is soon.  I am really getting into this project.  Wish me luck.

Audio and Video

Some big things have happened in the past few days.  First off is that I reviewed all the video from Saturday's shot.  We captured a lot of great images.  Unfortunately, the audio did not come out all that great from the 90 minutes that we captured in a large concrete holding area.  I don't think that this will be much of a problem though.  I will guess that at most 1-2 minutes total from that footage will make it into the final product.  Most of that will be reaction shots or even stills.  The other parts I can add subtitles over the audio to clarify what is being said.  The subtitles may even bring a realism to the picture. 

Another positive thing that happened was that I received my audio and video editing equipment in the mail Tuesday.  I have been tinkering with it ever since.  I think I am really going to like it, and the audio stuff works great.  A problem that is arising is that my computer may not have enough power to smoothly run the softwre.  A problem that I think I can resolve rather easily, if indeed that is the case.

The best news of all is that the one on one interview that I did with the LAM supporter and the exterior shots we got of him look amazing and the audio is much better.  While practicing with my new software I mocked up an ending for the film.  Mark is walking down the railroad tracks with his back to the camera.  I played some soft music under this.  Once he got to the end of the tracks he through his hands up in victory.  I paused on that moment and faded to black.  I was really impressed to have only messed with it for an hour or so.

This coming Monday at 6:00pm we have another shoot.  There is a cookout at the park near my house and the LAM group is hosting.  I hope to get some good uplifting video then.  Afterward, Peter and I are going to review music choices and try to set up an interview / production schedule.  The ball is officially rolling.

One thing I will try to remember is that I want to take some still photos during Monday's shoot. If I do I will get some posted on here soon after.

Kickstarter

Tonight I launched my first ever Kickstarter page.  If you don't know what Kickstarter is, it is a web page that solicites donations for artistic projects.  Artists of all different mediums create a profile in where they describe what their project is, how they plan to make it, and what the funding will go towards.  Then they set a goal to raise.  If enough people donate and that goal is met the artist gets all the money to put towards their project.  If the goal is not met with in a declared time frame, the donations go back to those who donated.

I created a page for this short film.  I think the page looks decent and it is a worthy project.  Check it out.  Any and all donations would be greatly appreciated.


http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1030469082/short-doc-about-the-dangers-of-meth

First Day of Production

I can’t believe this is really happening.

I didn’t sleep well last night.  Anytime I have an important event the next day I don’t sleep well.  I am afraid that I will over sleep.  I don’t trust my alarm clock.

The big event today is the first day of shooting on my short document about the LAM Project.  My prior blog details all the events leading up to today’s activities.

The schedule dictated that my camera man Jesse and I meet Peter Haskins (the leader of LAM and sort of my producer) and Mark Goddard (a former LAM participant and current success story) at the Knox County jail at noon.   I am writing this blog after the filming.  

The purpose of today’s shoot is to capture a speech / discussion between Mark Goddard and the current inmates that are enrolled in the LAM Project.  

Mark was in and out of jail for years for drug problems.  Then he got into the LAM Project and turned his life around.  Now he is out of jail, working steady, living with his kids and he is enrolled in college for the fall semester.  

Jesse and I met at my house and we went to the jail.  On the way we had a talk about what type of camera set up’s we wanted to use and what shots we needed for the film.  All this talk seemed surreal to me.  I had thought about this for years, and now it is coming to fruition. 

Once at the jail we met Mark and Peter (he was on time this time).  We went into a back room and we had all of our equipment searched.  This was like something out of a cop movie.  My hands were shaking like crazy.

Once we were allowed to enter the main area we came upon a group of 16 men sitting in a circle inside a large concrete room.  They were all dressed in black and gray striped jump suits.  They all had on black Croc’s.  The entire group had buzz hair cuts.  The ages ranged from roughly 18 to 55.  I was intimidated as hell.  It was at the moment that I walked into the room where I realized that I was putting my safety are risk.  These are convicted felons.  These are men that spend months if not years behind bars.

Peter quickly went to work.  The room was eerily quiet.  The only noise was a humming from an air conditioner.  Peter grabbed a couple more of the burgundy plastic chairs and added them to the circle.  Mark had a seat and they began some small talk between everyone in the circle.

Jesse and I used this time to set the camera and mini audio recorder up.  At this point I worked up the courage to speak to the inmates.  I introduced myself and Jesse.  I explained what the purpose of us being here was.  I said that we hoped to be in many more sessions.  I passed around a release form for those who were interested in being a part of this film project.

There were some rough looking fellas in the group.  So many different emotions were going through my head.  Fear, anxiety and excitement are just to name a few.  At this point Mark began his speech.  Jesse was behind the camera.  His opening shot was a mid shot of Mark.  I sat down on the floor and started listening to Mark.  I didn’t know what to do.  I made notes of what he was saying and sketched shot ideas on my notebook.  After a while I went to Jesse and we moved the camera and got some really great footage of Mark and the other inmates.

I was looking for detail stuff to get close ups on.  This is hard to do when everyone looks the same, is dressed the same, and is sitting in a room with no particular style.  Eventually I found a guy nervously tapping his foot on the floor.  Also we got a great shot of the issue number written on the jumpsuit worn by one of the inmates.

Mark was fantastic.  This dude is REAL.  He didn’t hold back at all.  He made comments about how he had threatened to stab a guard in the neck!  I made notes of things he said like “out of options”, “So much hurt and pain”, “keep moving forward” and “it’s never over”.  These sounded like things that I would hear in a fictional movie but Mark meant everything he said and he had the experiences to justify these comments.  The things he said that really hit home with me was when he mentioned smelling a “soapy smell” at work and that reminded him of crack cocaine.  You could tell that he still struggles and probably always will.  But you could also tell that he had the conviction to keep clean.  

The one comment that ne made that was like a slap in the face to me was when he said “I didn’t want to be buried by the state”.  That was a totally reality check for me.  That is a thought that I am grateful that has never gone through my mind.  I can’t really comprehend what it must be like to have to contemplate that.

After the meeting I thanked everyone for their participation.  All 16 people signed release forms.  Several inmates came up to me afterwards and thanked me for sitting in.  Once they all put the chairs up they were marched down the hall back into their cells.  Mark, Jesse, Peter and I then went to a small conference room and I conducted a brief interview with Mark on camera.  You could tell that he was nervous, but he did a great job.  I did my best to put him at ease.

To wrap up the day we all went down by the river where there is a railroad track bridge.  We got some fantastic footage of Mark walking down the railroad.  We then we to the bridge and we got more great footage of Mark staring out over the river and reflecting.  I would be shocked if some of the exterior stuff doesn’t make it into the final film.

Mark had to get back to his house arrest so Peter took him.  Jesse and I went out to lunch.  During lunch we patted ourselves on the back and breathed a breath of relief.

Next up is the interview portion of the filming.  I need to get with Pete and set up a schedule of when and where we can start the interview process.  We have about 15 administrator and law enforcement officers to talk to.  Then we have the inmates of both the male and female divisions of the LAM project.  I went on line last night and researched music.  Peter needs to come listen to that and decide what he thinks works best.  Hopefully by that time Jesse will have the video and audio off the camera and I can see what I have to start working with.  My audio and editing equipment should be here next week.

There is a lot of work to do, but now I feel a little better and I am ready to take on new challenges.

Untitled LAM Project

It’s really happening.  

For years I have wanted to make a movie and I have always found reasons not to.  I guess the main reason I never made anything is that I have been scared to fail at it.  

A few months ago I started talking to Peter Haskins who runs the Life After Meth program in town.  He and I began talking about movies and how I wanted to shoot something.  He got the idea of making a short documentary about his work.  I said that I thought it sounded interesting.  I never thought that anything would come out of it.  I figured Peter to be a dreamer like me.  Come to find out Pete is more of a realist than I ever imagined. 

Several weeks ago Peter contacted me and said that he brought the idea to his board of managers and they loved the idea of making a documentary about the LAM Project.  I mildly panicked.  He then said that he had to talk to the sheriff and get permission to shoot in the jail.  I breathed a sigh of relief.  I figured there was no way that the county sheriff was going to let some moron into his jail to film convicts.

A few weeks later Peter contacted me again and said that the sheriff was on board and he wanted to get together and discuss the particulars.  I’m sure that my face was white as a ghost.  I don’t mean to be too self deprecating.  I think I can make a film, but never having done this I am extremely intimidated. 

 

I met with Peter and we talked about what he and his board wanted the project to look like.  They are expecting a commercial for the LAM Project.  I wanted to shoot a true documentary with a narrative structure and story arc.  I think we found a way to meet in the middle.  The next step was again to present this to the board.

Again the board approved.  Peter asked me to write up a list of terms and conditions.  I had never done anything like this.  I wrote up something to the best of my ability.  One of the terms was my payment.  I thought that they might balk at the cost of shooting a short film and I could be at rest again.  But that wasn’t the case.  They approved everything hands down.

Fortunately I had started getting things together from the very beginning.  I contacted Jesse Marshall, a friend and former co-worker.  I knew that he had a very good digital video camera and knowledge of independent film making.  He had done some work with a group of guys in Texas.  Mostly guerilla horror stuff, but I knew his experience would be of great value.  He said that he would love to help out.

I researched audio equipment and editing software.  Those are things that I have never had to consider before.  My dreams of film making had never advanced to that point before.  Jesse had also attended Vincennes University and studied in an Audio related field.  Again, he was a big help.

My first meeting with anyone other than Peter was nerve wrecking.  I adjusted my lunch schedule so that I could meet this man.  His name is Mike.  He sits on the LAM board of managers.  Right off the bat Peter was late.  I was on a tight schedule and I didn’t have time to dilly dally around.  Once Mike was reached he took me back to a unusually large conference room.  It was decorated as if it was a corner office in a New York office building in the 50’s.  Mike was short in stature but large in presence.  He is an older gentleman with white hair and a hand shake like a vice.  His voice booms with resonance and condescending comments.  He made it very clear that this meeting never made it on to his calendar.  This made me very aware that my film project was not a priority for him. 

We sat in squeaky, leather chairs.  There was no introduction.  He opened with “Have you ever done this before?”  That was a question, but it felt like an indictment.  I explained that I had never made anything for anyone, but that I had done some short things for myself.  That is more of a stretch than a flat out lie.  He asked “like what?”  I told him that I had done some stop motion animation.  Without any hesitation or real interest he asked “What’s that”?  I told him it was how cartoon are made.  He looked at me with eyes that said “what the hell is a grown man doing making cartoons”.  When I tried to exclaim that I used figures instead of drawings his eyes changed to “You play with dolls?”  

I wanted to throw up.  This gruff country fella was checking out a big city folk and breaking me down.  I got him off the topic of me by talking about Andy Griffith.  Thank God I was able to connect with him over something.  But it didn’t last long.  He soon changed the subject into what my ideas for the movie were.  I began explaining about how I wanted the narrative structure to be created organically and how I didn’t want the movie to look like a commercial.  He again said, without hesitation “I have no idea what you are talking about”.  I didn’t know what to do.  I didn’t know how I was going to talk to this guy.  He thought I was a fairy and I didn’t know how to get him on my side, or even get him to understand what I was saying.

Fortunately at that moment Peter walked in.  He was 30 Minutes late.  I waited in the lobby for 20 minutes.  That meant that I had only been talking with Mike for 10 minutes.  It felt like hours.  Peter quickly took over the conversation.  I began to see that Peter took the same abuse from Mike, except Peter knew how to deal with it.  

Peter is a thin and quite guy.  He is soft spoken but he knows what he wants.  Peter was able to shed off the directness of Mike’s line of questioning and now I had someone to play off of.  From this point on the meeting went much smoother.  Mike only stuck around another 5 minutes.  He seems to have faith in Peter, or at least he was done wasting his time with a couple of fancy smancy dorks.

The meeting with Peter resulted in a contract that needed signed and we were ready to go.  Peter told me that Saturday one of the program’s success stories was going to be in town.  The purpose of this visit was to go to the jail and speak to the inmates that are currently in the program.  Peter wanted me to show up and shoot this speech and discussion.  The butterflies fired up all over again.  I contacted Jesse and he was down to shoot.

So it looks like this is really going to happen.  I am scared to death.  My first real project is a paying one with expectations and deadlines.  I looked on line for other videos like what the LAM Board wants.  The videos I saw look very professionally made.  I studied them for hours in the past few days.

I was intimated at first, but now I feel a little better.  I think that I have a better understanding of the medium.  I will feel better once we get some footage recorded and I can see what I am getting us all into.  Until then I will attempt to suppress the anxiety as best I can.