| We picked GOOD and CHEAP.
WHERE ARE YOU NOW?
We're getting very close to completely finishing the movie. We've locked picture, which means that we're done editing. We're just about done with all our post sound. That includes dialogue editing, foley, sound effects, ADR (more on that in a bit) and pre-mixing. Our musical score is finished and we've secured just about all the songs we intend to use in the film. All that is left to do with our audio is our final mix. We will start that very soon.
We're currently working on our visual effects shots (VFX). No, there are no CGI racing scenes in the movie, a la The Fast & Furious, but we did have to design the DriverX UI (User Interface), essentially the fake Uber-like iPhone app Leonard uses in the movie. And then we have to composite that UI onto the phone screens you see in the film. We also have some other little VFX shots to do--43 in all. Normally this costs thousands of dollars, but we've got a great guy doing them for next to nothing--when he's not busy with paid work. (See above diagram).
Once our VFX shots are done, we'll color correct the picture and Voila! We'll be done!
WHEN CAN I SEE IT?
The next step in the process, something we've been working on for awhile, is submitting to film festivals, the first place you usually see a film like this. Now, here's the bad news (and I assume you signed up on this mailing list to get all the news--good and bad): we've already submitted to four film festivals and were not accepted. These were four top-tier film festivals: Sundance, SXSW, Tribeca, and Los Angeles Film Festival. Our last film premiered at LAFF and we know those programmers pretty well, and we know that they were considering the film until the very last minute. But alas, it was not to be.
So, does that mean we're dead in the water (or more appropriately, stuck in the ditch)? Hardly. Our previous film, The House That Jack Built, also didn't get into those first three festivals and it's streaming right now on Netflix after getting a 10 city theatrical release. Pig, our film before that, didn't get into any of those four festivals and it went on to play nearly 40 festivals around the world, winning 10 awards. It was released by Kino Lorber and stayed in the iTunes New & Noteworthy for 7 months straight!
So, we've applied to other festivals that start in the Fall and we will keep you posted.
We're confident that this film will reach a wide and adoring audience. All throughout the editing process we screened the film for small test audiences to get feedback on the cut. That feedback was very strong, and the film has improved notably since most of those screenings. We're excited to get the film out to you and the rest of the world. We know you're going to enjoy it. And perhaps more than that, we think you'll be proud of what the film has to say about our world today. If you worked on it, donated to it, or just signed up on this list to be a part of it, we're certain you're going to want to share it with friends and family.
WHAT'S THIS ADR THING YOU MENTIONED??
So, ADR (Automatic Dialogue Replacement) sometimes known as Looping, is an important part of the post audio process. It's where you replace specific lines of the original dialogue recorded on set with lines spoken by the actor in a recording studio. Sometimes the original audio wasn't recorded well or there were other issues; sometimes the director wants to change a line after the fact. This can be done in an ADR session. The actor watches the scene on a big screen and tries to replicate the performance, cadence and length of the line so that an editor can remove the original line and replace it with the best take recorded in the studio.
Now, it just so happens that our lead actor, Patrick Fabian, is a master at this. And it's no easy task, either. Just how good is he? Well, this short video shows the master at work... |
