I may have come across a bit negative in my last post so I want to make up for it in this one. As frustrating as the process of doing an entire film on your own is, it is still worth every second especially when the results speak for themselves. I’m plugging away on the last of the CGI shots this week and will move onto the final stages of color correction on the locked edit. Once I’ve completed those two main components it will be time to round up the actors for some ADR. For those that are not familiar with the term “ADR”, it is the process in which you have to redo some of the dialogue of your film in a studio environment because your sound guy was so stoned during the filming that he actually recorded static at times instead of audio. Thanks sound guy! Luckily I now have one of the best sound designers that the Vancouver industry has ever seen and we will be working together closely to make the ADR as best as we can. I’m trying to make a few festival deadlines so the pressure is on to have this beast done and released asap. Theres nothing more satisfying then having your film come together after all the countless hours of work that’s been put into it.
Thanks for staying in tune!
Well It has been a year and counting since I finished Bong OF The Dead on a remote location in Langley BC with a crew of friends and family. I have been in post production editing, compositing, color correcting, scoring etc. etc…I realize it is taking a long time to complete but when you are one [person doing an entire film with Block Buster look, sound and feel it is no easy task. Your mind begins to play tricks on you to the point where its tough to tell if you’re doing it right or wrong, or if you’re on the right track at all. I know that there is no right or wrong though, there is only the fact that you must keep doing it and keep on working towards the end. It is soooo easy to give up and say this is too much or Ive had enough. The truth is I will always find ways to stay inspired and to continue pushing on even when some people around me have given up or quit! I have been let down a hundred times over by those who make promises but keep none. Those people are the ones that have one purpose in life and that is to stop those of us who have passion and drive and dreams which they know they can never have so they try to stop us from succeeding. Dreamers know who they are and the ones who want to crush those dreams know who they are as well. The way I see it is when I finally finish Bong and turn it over and launch my career to the level I dream of, I will thank everyone who has been there for me but most of all I will thank those of you who let me down! It is because of you that I push on and find the drive to fuel my passion. Its not in me to quit and I am not someone who gives up easily especially when I am standing at the gates of my dreams. All I have to do is finish this film and when its finally done people will see what one person can do with talent, drive and unstoppable passion. I will try to blog something with a video soon! Thanks for staying in tune.
Ive been working my butt off to say the least as I push towards a deadline which always seems to move further due to unexpected delays or life in general. I have recently had to find a full time job in order to be able to pay my bills so that I could continue working on my film with little stress. Only one week into my new job and I am introduced to Sir Richard Branson the eccentric Billionaire! Yes the real Richard Branson as in Virgin Mobile and Virgin Galactic. I sat not even 6 feet in front of him as I listened to his message about life, the environment and his new ventures to come. I finally built up the courage to ask him a question in front of hundreds of people. My question was how I could find myself in his seat in a few years? He smiled and told me that he has breakfast, lunch and diner just like me and that I should love my life as it is now and love all those around me including other people. To top it off he simply told me to “Just have fun”. I was in awe of his simple yet great answer because he is right! We should love our lives for the now and try to work on loving one another and through that positive way of thinking and acting we shall can all be successful. Afterward I met him in the parking lot and gave him a Bong Of The Dead T-shirt and said , “I signed it for you”. He smiled and gracefully said thank you before he jumped into his ride with his lovely virgin entourage. His simple yet powerful message is all I needed to help me carry on and work even harder on my film.
Yesterday was the last chapter in capturing the final pick ups for Bong Of The Dead! Why did I want to shoot more one year later? Well I always had some really cool shots in my head and of course because of the tight schedule I had put together for the actual shoot, I had to let go of some shots. Well, now that the film is technically finished and I’m tweaking it I thought heck its a perfect time to get those inserts I always wanted for some added gore! I called Mike Fields and his lovely assistant Mandi, Gabriel Medina, Andres Santana who are the usual suspects in making these things happen. Once the micro crew showed up it was time for some really disgusting movie magic. I have a couple pictures here but nothing that truly shows what we were up to. Im sorry but you will have to wait for the movie to see that.
Well I have been working crazy hours on the movie as promised and the results are showing. Im incredibly happy with the sequences which I have created so far and am now beginning to see the impact its starting to have for BOTD fans all over the world. It seems every day a few more web sites are catching wind of this film and are promoting it on their web sites. Its a good feeling when people like your stuff! I’m going to be releasing another short video movie which will show the process as its being made. I hope it will shed some light as to why post is taking over one year and how its being done by just me and my MAC and a lot of time! Here are a few new links to Bong from all over the world as more people are beginning to hear about it.
Now that Ive finally finished the 3rd and final edit of the film, the fun begins! I started the first series of complicated composites for the whole film. Its very tedious work and extremely time consuming but well worth the efforts. Im able to enhance certain shots and add elements to others seamlessly. As soon as I plow through the Vis FX shots I will then start on getting sequences ready for my Sound FX wiz Andres who will then do the magical post sound engineering. I will post some of the progress before and after shots as they are completed.
I have been busting my hump for the last year working on every part of BOTD imaginable. Its been an exhausting task to say the least but one well worth the efforts. Once the film is done I hope the world will see that it pays to stay to on track and stay focused even though there are days that quitting would be an easy out. Im happy with the changes and additions I have made in the past 5 days as part of my New years resolution. Im now going to dig in and work on some audio issues which need my attention. In the mean time here are 3 more pictures not on the official website.
Happy New Year to everyone out there who is a friend or fan of Bong Of The Dead!
2010 is finally here and it is going to be an exciting time for me as a Producer/Director as I am about to complete my first major feature film. I know I should have started blogging a long time ago but I never had the time to be quite honest. However I have promised myself that this new years I will make the time and the effort so here I am! In this blog I have also included a small video clip with some behind the scenes of the film.  From time to time I will also include pictures and small snippets of the films journey as often as I can in order to allow the world to catch a glimpse into this exciting up and coming zombie film.
