Thursday, December 17, 2009

Kanowna fine cut changes

Sarah made the changes to the fine cut as per notes we received at the screening last week and kindly uploaded the latest version of Kanowna, even though she has gone to Melbourne for a Christmas break.

Michael and I viewed the latest cut of Kanowna this morning and discussed the changes made, how they effect the film and what we think should be done to get closer to our vision lock-off.

Monday, December 14, 2009

Kanowna the short film - a Fine, Fine Cut

We played the fine cut of Kanowna to a small, select audience on a big screen in a lecture theatre at Edith Cowan University, Mt Lawley today in the hope that we would have a vision lock-off after the screening.  Most of the responses we received were not new to us, but the most valuable was a point made by Richard Hyde who is my creative collaborator on a number of projects and script editor on Kanowna.

He made the point that some of the off-screen dialogue may be getting in the way of a particular scene, which also takes impact away from the introduction of the films Antagonist.  It was a really valid point, which Sarah and I really liked, so we are going to explore the possibility.

So, with the advent of the Christmas holiday season and Sarah going to Melbourne for a holiday, we've decided to delay the vision lock-off until early New Years, that's if it doesn't impact on the Sound and Music schedules, but Michael will be liaising with them.

So even though we only had a small group at the viewing, the session was extremely valuable, with new discoveries that will hopefully make our film even better.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Kanowna 2nd Unit

We have officially canned the 2nd Unit pick-up shots!  After much deliberation, Sarah and I honestly believed that the shots we intended to get, actually in Kanowna, would be a waste resources as we really don't need them to tell the story.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Test screenings of Kanowna

Michael and I have been screening the Fine Cut of Kanowna to a select few people since we received the cut a couple of days ago.  Generally there has been little comment about the structure of the film, only about various segments or events within the film, which have generally been subjective viewpoints.

There has been some very good reactions to the film and everything is positive.  I have a couple more people I am screening the Fine Cut to, before we head to Vision Lock-off early next week.

Monday, December 7, 2009

13.35 or there abouts

We viewed a twelve minute cut of Kanowna this afternoon, which I must say I had trepidations about.  However, Sarah did a really good job with dropping some shots, compressing a couple scenes and ending some scenes at different points to what was filmed, to work the story into a film for an audience and not for us.
I really liked the flow generally, but there were a couple things that I felt I needed to be in the cut to add impact and push the emotional journey of the main character.  Michael viewed the film for the first time (after the rough cut) and said he really got into the story and followed the journey.
There are a few story points I am questioning are strong or clear enough, but I am very happy with where the film is at.  On the drive home I did voice my concern to Michael, that it felt all too easy to reach this point.  I know that in this instance, I have written the film also and know the story backwards, so I am questioning my objectivity for the benefit of the film.
The next stage is to show some 'virgin eyes' the current edit and get their opinions.  This process can be fraught with ridiculous comments or suggestions, soul destroying moments, uplifting viewpoints and elation.
I have sent the Fine Cut to Geoff, our composer for him to start his process and I look forward to his views, hopefully tomorrow.
So, I need test subjects... Anyone interested?

Friday, December 4, 2009

Blog Traffic

I've been using Site Meter to keep blog traffic records, since October and we are now at around 920 hits, since then.  Well at least someone finds my random musings interesting enough to read.  I've had hits from the Netherlands, Moscow, Thailand, Vietnam, UK, USA, Ireland, Spain and of course, Australia.

Seriously, it will be great to the films exposure.  There is still a long way to go on the Kanowna journey, so keep coming back to visit and tell all your friends, wherever they might be.  Hopefully soon we will be adding some behind the scenes video, shot by our wonderful friend Kris, who I met at the Palm Springs Short Film Festival three years ago, came from Los Angeles to join our merry band of filmmakers.

Anyway, keep spreading the word and hopefully we'll tip over the 1000 mark very soon.

Warmest Regards

Chris Richards-Scully

15 minutes, including credits...

We've got the cut down to about 16 minutes (without credits), now the fun begins.  I really like the work Sarah has done with the film and I think it is all there.  We still need to go through and ensure we've got all the best performance takes, but essentially the cut is probably close to a 'Fine Cut'.  Unfortunately it is running 1 minute over our preferred time duration of 15 minutes.  Screen Australia won't fund anything over 15 minutes and most of the big festivals don't want anything longer.

Sarah is going to tighten up the edit over the weekend and we will let Michael (Producer), see it on Monday.  Hopefully she will manage to squeeze some time out of the edit and we won't need to cut much out.  Although I have already thought of areas where we might be able to cut into, but I'll wait to see what she comes up with.  This is always the most difficult part of the process, on Iron Bird and Icarus I had specific time durations I needed to work to and each time I faced the exact same dilemma as I now do with Kanowna and each time we figured it out.  It is a good discipline to get used to, because if we were delivering for TV, we'd have an exact duration, if I was doing a TV commercial, I'd also have an exact duration to deliver.

Michael has negotiated the sound post, which is fantastic, he is still speaking to Geoffrey Russell (Composer) to see his requirements and we also need to find the funds for the conforming of the pictures, colour grade, titles, credits and output.  Exciting, but closer.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Getting closer

Well, I now know the cost of the post sound component of this film and I can see where a Screen Australia grant would be spent!  Hmmm...

On a brighter note, I was working with Sarah on the edit today and it is looking good!  I especially like how scene 3 is playing.  Sarah put some of the temp music tracks I had found into the cut, which added another layer of emotion to that scene and a number of others.  It feels like it is all there, but we just need to ensure we have the best performance takes and really keep questioning ourselves about the edit and ask 'are we telling the story', to the best of our abilities, with the material we have.

We did question the need for the 2nd Unit pick-up exterior shots.  I had the thought today, because I didn't miss seeing them in the edit at all.  I'll ponder that and so will Sarah and we'll hopefully have the answer by Friday.  The plan is to show Michael, the films Producer, an edit on Monday which should be close to a Fine Cut.

Exciting!