festival cut, lots to do

last weekend, i spent most of the weekend transcoding the festival cut 1 of the film onto dvd. it took an enormously long time to trancode a quicktime reference movie from the avid, and then burn it onto a dvd-r. anyhoo, i showed the film to my partner and producer paul, and he gave me a lot of honest advice about how to tighten up the film. i know that i'm going to make a lot of changes, but i also feel comfortable at this stage to be able to show this version to a couple of close friends, to get their honest opinions. i'll hopefully be able to show the film to some of the crew, jamie, wes, and tim, sometime this weekend. i've also sent a copy out to bob in l.a. - i think he'll give me the best advice, since he's always done that in the past, and i feel like he's very much of a creative peer.

most of the changes are easy fixes. but i'm also eager to get some feedback on the overall aesthetics. i'm very happy with the way the film has turned out. but i also think it's important to get other opinions, and to see if the film works as a whole. i think it's also important to gauge the different opinions you get, to determine where they're coming from and to see if they're worth changing something specific in the film. for example, if only one person out of the four or five doesn't get a specific scene, then it might not be worth changing it. but then again, if they all agree, then i would definitely reconsider the scene. the important thing throughout this whole process is that you have to believe in the film and to have a pretty thick skin, to be able to take all kinds of criticisms. i think that the more films a person makes, the more they learn that everyone sees the film in completely different ways. so, the only sure thing that you can do is know your own personal reasons for making the film, and why you believe in it.

so, i plan to spend most of this weekend on these quick fixes, and on tightening up the film as a whole. i also need to work on re-vamping up the website, and to start work on press materials...and a trailer...and movie poster ideas... and plan the screening...
lots of stuff to work on....

next weekend, me and paul are heading up to new york to meet up with tom and andrew, and i'm going to show them the festival cut. i'm sure that they'll be excited about seeing it.

while i was out in l.a., me and bob talked a lot about blade runner - he was reading an article about how chaotic and difficult it was for the producers, actors, and all - how almost seemingly an impossible task it was to make that movie. we also talked about the director's cut of the film versus the theatrical release. so i sent him a copy of the director's cut, since he hasn't seen it. we both agree that blade runner is an incredible film, and how beautiful and inspiring it is. despite the circumstances that it was made under, and also how it bombed at the box-office, i'm amazed and how much, over time, it has influenced so many other movies, and just how incredibly beautiful a film it is. i prefer the director's cut - it's much more subtle, and doesn't have the annoying voice-overs. it also has a dream about a unicorn, which really gets ya thinking.

anyway, i totally enjoying watching that film, and i find it truly inspiring. i think about that film, and i think about all the possibilities...

encouragement

so, i got back from l.a. about a week and a half ago, and it was an awesome trip. me and bob hung out, we finalized a bunch of the music stuff, and i also shot a couple of promo video interviews. we shot most of this stuff first, so the rest of the weekend was spent catching up with an old friend, drinking a few beers, and having a grand ole time.

l.a. is a very strange place. everyone is in the business somehow, and everyone is desperately trying to get 'discovered'. everything has to have a 'hook,' something that pulls people in and gets them to fork over the price of a ticket. i kinda feel that this concept is entirely so hollywood. praxis is not a hollywood movie. praxis is an independent film. and it's purely that concept of being entirely independent and not hollywood, not about selling, not about the business, that praxis is all about. to some, this is a very easy concept, but in fact, i think it's really easy to get all caught up in the hollywood business of movie making, that you may lose the whole point of making independent film.

just after i got back, i was able to hang out with an old friend, jamie. jamie helped out on the shooting of praxis, basically doing the majority of the sound work. we've also known each other for a very long time, and we've helped out each other on various projects over the years. jamie came over and i showed him a couple of scenes from the film that turned out really well. i also showed him a music video by The_OutCircuit that i did a couple of years ago. anyhoo, jamie was absolutely floored by everything i showed him. i forgot about the music video, but he totally dug the music, and absolutely loved the abstract pixelization of the video, which is the complete opposite to praxis - which is more about producing clean, clear, beautiful moving images. jamie said that the production value of praxis was ten times way more advanced than that of unfortunate man, my previous short film. he said that he can tell that i've gained much more experience in making films over the years, and that it shows this in the film. he even said that it looked like 35mm, tho i think this is going a bit far...

anyhoo, i thanked jamie for his encouragement. it's way cool for someone like jamie to be this excited about the film, and it definitely makes me even more excited about completing it. i think the film will look incredible on the big screen.

but for now, it's important to enjoy the process of making the film, and to spend the quality time with those who you connect with on both a creative and spiritual level.

it's important to have this kind of encouragement.