It's 2 AM right now, and tonight my can of Amp and I have trimmed the film down to 1 hour and 48 minutes, from 2 hours. This pass consisted of the low-hanging fruit; the easiest trimming decisions.
The next pass will be harder. It's likely that entire segments will have to go (to the bonus section) to get it down to 90 minutes or so. Granted, it doesn't HAVE to be 90 minutes long, but there's no question it can be tightened up more from where it is now.
Tonight's editing session would have been more productive if I hadn't spent the first hour of it in a panic looking for my notebook. No worries, I'll make up the time tomorrow after we get back from swimming lessons! :)
Friday, January 14, 2011
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Night time is the right time
Here it is, Sunday night, and another all-night editing session is officially happening. I've already been at it for almost 3 hours, cutting, moving, and tightening the timeline, and I've got the film down to under 2 hours. A lot of bits just got moved to the end of the timeline, where bonus footage lives on in all its glory.
Right now, I'm rendering the film out in 3 parts for reviewing purposes. Burning it to DVD a couple days ago turned out to be immensely helpful, so I'm looking forward to this second pared-down iteration. The Flight of the Conchords Robot song is playing on my iPhone.
Oh man, I still need to update the website! And launch Project X this month. It may be the middle of winter, but things are heating up here in Studio B!
Right now, I'm rendering the film out in 3 parts for reviewing purposes. Burning it to DVD a couple days ago turned out to be immensely helpful, so I'm looking forward to this second pared-down iteration. The Flight of the Conchords Robot song is playing on my iPhone.
Oh man, I still need to update the website! And launch Project X this month. It may be the middle of winter, but things are heating up here in Studio B!
Saturday, January 8, 2011
You're gonna need a bigger boat
As I write this, I'm also burning a rough (ROUGH) cut of the film to DVD so I can watch it places other than my computer, and let my editor review it. Naturally, the minute that's done, I will immediately start making changes. That's just the way it goes.
Last night I started thinking for the first time that I might make this a 2-DVD set. I might need to. I have to talk to some of the guys I know that have been through this, and see what they have to say on the matter. I do gather that it'll make using Amazon Createspace possibly out of the question. Mind you, if I can cram all my bonus clips and the movie onto one disc, I will surely do that, BUT... I'm not sure I can. :)
You know, now I'm going to update the website. It needs it, big-time.
Last night I started thinking for the first time that I might make this a 2-DVD set. I might need to. I have to talk to some of the guys I know that have been through this, and see what they have to say on the matter. I do gather that it'll make using Amazon Createspace possibly out of the question. Mind you, if I can cram all my bonus clips and the movie onto one disc, I will surely do that, BUT... I'm not sure I can. :)
You know, now I'm going to update the website. It needs it, big-time.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
All-nighter Number 3
As penance for not posting in so long, I'm in the middle of an all night editing session. My trusty T-Cat is co-piloting in the chair next to me. I think Vegas is more tired than I am, it has just frozen three times in a row, so while I give the hard drives and the editing software a break I thought I'd update the blog. If they think this thing is over, though, they've got another think coming...So I haven't been utterly truant; I was working on something during November and December, something in support of the film, but not precisely the film itself. I will be launching "it" this month, so you'll see it quite soon.
The main body of the film is now at 2 hrs. 20 minutes. It's going to get bigger before it gets smaller, but the narrative is semi-solid. Much work to be done now integrating cutaways and supporting elements. And the harder part, deciding which snippets are boring for a viewer when I find them all interesting.
OK, Vegas, Venom, and Deadpool... in the immortal words of Sting, "break's over!"
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Into the night
Just a quick update, yes, the all-nighter happened, I logged a total of 7 hours of editing time yesterday, and was at it until 2:30 this morning (technically 1:30 because of the time change, not quite sure yet how I feel about that).
I made some BIG changes last night, I actually axed a rather significant segment that I'd taken for granted would be in the film. Last night though, I realized it was disrupting the flow of the story, so I moved it over to the bonus section as a featurette. I believe the body of the film is at about 2 hours 30 minutes right now, with about two hours of bonus clips lounging around in very shabby form.
What I don't comprehend is why I feel so totally awesome this morning after a night with about 5 hours of sleep. Maybe I should do it again tonight!
o.O
I made some BIG changes last night, I actually axed a rather significant segment that I'd taken for granted would be in the film. Last night though, I realized it was disrupting the flow of the story, so I moved it over to the bonus section as a featurette. I believe the body of the film is at about 2 hours 30 minutes right now, with about two hours of bonus clips lounging around in very shabby form.
What I don't comprehend is why I feel so totally awesome this morning after a night with about 5 hours of sleep. Maybe I should do it again tonight!
o.O
Saturday, November 6, 2010
I can haz time?
Work's been incredibly busy the last month or so, but this morning I had the urge to edit, so I fired up Deadpool and Venom, and started in.
About 15 minutes later, the kids are up. "Mama, I need you! Mama come here!" Why do they need me? Well, as it turns out, a toy commercial of utmost urgency. Interrupted.
Go back to work, 30 seconds in, interrupted. "I need you to draw Iron Man." Then its time for breakfast. Five minutes of work go by. Then more interruptions. I doggedly refuse to turn off Vegas altogether (Vegas, my editing software, that is, not New Vegas, my beautiful lovely game that I've had no time to play) but this is getting nowhere fast. You need to really settle in and concentrate to do serious editing. And now I must draw the Hulk...
Moments like these are frustrating. You can't blame them, they're kids. They miss me during the work week and I miss them. They don't care that the last month and half has seen the majority of Saturdays taken up with birthday parties for their daycare friends, or that every weeknight is completely filled by cooking dinner, giving them baths, and homework, and putting them to bed. By the time all that's done, I'm usually too tired to think about anything but a pillow. And you can't fault them for it. But it is maddeningly frustrating, right now I want to say "Leave me alone for FIVE MINUTES! I'm trying to make a MOVIE here!" but can't. I'm walking the tightrope over personal time and guilt about wanting personal time.
OK. Now that I've got the whining out of my system, a thought occurs. My husband is spending the night at a friends' house tonight. When 8:30 rolls around, when the kids are in bed... OMFG, it's ME TIME!
And me time tonight is going to be... an allllllllll nighter.
But I'm still not turning off Deadpool and Venom. You never know, maybe I'll get an hour in somewhere between now and the next toddler birthday party this afternoon.
About 15 minutes later, the kids are up. "Mama, I need you! Mama come here!" Why do they need me? Well, as it turns out, a toy commercial of utmost urgency. Interrupted.
Go back to work, 30 seconds in, interrupted. "I need you to draw Iron Man." Then its time for breakfast. Five minutes of work go by. Then more interruptions. I doggedly refuse to turn off Vegas altogether (Vegas, my editing software, that is, not New Vegas, my beautiful lovely game that I've had no time to play) but this is getting nowhere fast. You need to really settle in and concentrate to do serious editing. And now I must draw the Hulk...
Moments like these are frustrating. You can't blame them, they're kids. They miss me during the work week and I miss them. They don't care that the last month and half has seen the majority of Saturdays taken up with birthday parties for their daycare friends, or that every weeknight is completely filled by cooking dinner, giving them baths, and homework, and putting them to bed. By the time all that's done, I'm usually too tired to think about anything but a pillow. And you can't fault them for it. But it is maddeningly frustrating, right now I want to say "Leave me alone for FIVE MINUTES! I'm trying to make a MOVIE here!" but can't. I'm walking the tightrope over personal time and guilt about wanting personal time.
OK. Now that I've got the whining out of my system, a thought occurs. My husband is spending the night at a friends' house tonight. When 8:30 rolls around, when the kids are in bed... OMFG, it's ME TIME!
And me time tonight is going to be... an allllllllll nighter.
But I'm still not turning off Deadpool and Venom. You never know, maybe I'll get an hour in somewhere between now and the next toddler birthday party this afternoon.
Friday, September 24, 2010
September update
The lack of posts here is a strong indicator that I've been spending every spare minute working on the documentary, for both August and September. So far this month, I've logged about 25 hours of editing, and have also recently filmed two big interviews. Let me tell you about those.
Myriad Games
I drove up to Myriad Games in Manchester, NH, shortly after GenCon to interview the store owner, Dan Yarrington. This is the second games store that Dan has opened in the area (the first located in Salem, NH), so he's doing something right. Dan's wife, Sara, is an educator, one that uses board games in the classroom. I got to interview both of them in Myriad's spacious Game Parlour.
Dan's a big believer in professionalism and providing a service by helping guide customers to the right game for them. If you're in the southern New Hampshire area, I highly suggest you check out his store. It is beautiful and inviting, the staff are friendly, and the game room is really nice.
Boardgamenews.com
Eariler this week, I also drove up to Concord, NH to interview Eric Martin, editor of boardgamenews.com. Eric is largely responsible for my having discovered this hobby in the first place; it was his game group that my husband first attended. Eric's also been interviewed for Kevin Tostado's Monopoly documentary, "Under the Boardwalk," So he's gaining a reputation as quite the board gaming authority these days. :)
One of the topics of our conversation that really struck me was when Eric spoke about games as an art form. Just as movies, music, and books are not always written with the goal of pure entertainment, sometimes games are about something more than just "fun."
Today I had the afternoon off, so I did a bit of editing work, but then got side-tracked capturing portraits of all my existing interview subjects. This task had to be done, anyway. Here are some samples:
Friedemann Friese, the designer of Power Grid. He's awesome, and yes, he kinda looks like Dexter Morgan with green hair.
Nick Kellet, designer of GiftTRAP and also awesome. Those games in the background are phat loot obtained from Essen earlier that day.
And just what is Dungeon Twister designer Christophe Boelinger saying in this shot? You'll just have to wait for the documentary to find out!
What's next? More editing (tomorrow, to infinity, and beyond). And once the full narrative is in place, have someone else edit it, smooth out the rough spots, color-correct, audio-correct, all that good stuff. Lots of work yet to do, but 95% of the filming is done, friends!
Myriad Games
I drove up to Myriad Games in Manchester, NH, shortly after GenCon to interview the store owner, Dan Yarrington. This is the second games store that Dan has opened in the area (the first located in Salem, NH), so he's doing something right. Dan's wife, Sara, is an educator, one that uses board games in the classroom. I got to interview both of them in Myriad's spacious Game Parlour.
Dan's a big believer in professionalism and providing a service by helping guide customers to the right game for them. If you're in the southern New Hampshire area, I highly suggest you check out his store. It is beautiful and inviting, the staff are friendly, and the game room is really nice.
Boardgamenews.com
Eariler this week, I also drove up to Concord, NH to interview Eric Martin, editor of boardgamenews.com. Eric is largely responsible for my having discovered this hobby in the first place; it was his game group that my husband first attended. Eric's also been interviewed for Kevin Tostado's Monopoly documentary, "Under the Boardwalk," So he's gaining a reputation as quite the board gaming authority these days. :)
One of the topics of our conversation that really struck me was when Eric spoke about games as an art form. Just as movies, music, and books are not always written with the goal of pure entertainment, sometimes games are about something more than just "fun."
Today I had the afternoon off, so I did a bit of editing work, but then got side-tracked capturing portraits of all my existing interview subjects. This task had to be done, anyway. Here are some samples:
What's next? More editing (tomorrow, to infinity, and beyond). And once the full narrative is in place, have someone else edit it, smooth out the rough spots, color-correct, audio-correct, all that good stuff. Lots of work yet to do, but 95% of the filming is done, friends!
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