November 20, 2006

The week ahead

This weeks top concerns:

number 1: end roller - we have been working on this for a while now. It's a beautiful thing, but, as we have discovered, making the best end roller known to man has not been an easy task.

number 2: music licenses - Domino and Sigma are overlapping here and going through all the minutiae, getting all the licensing stuff in place. I think this is for both the soundtrack and also the soundtrack CD.

number 3: screening organising - also coming up are cast and crew screenings. This is particularly exciting. The phenomenon of a film crew is a weird one. You live and work in particularly intense circumastances for 7 weeks in our case and then barely see each other again until you happen to be on another job together, which might be never. Being re-united at the cast and crew screening will be fun though and a chance to reminisce about all the various scrapes we got into. And no doubt have a fight too.

Hallam Foe, a film by David Mackenzie starring Jamie Bell

Posted by colin kennedy at 5:37 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

November 10, 2006

Rushing around

There's lots of running around at the moment, as ever. As you will know we are in the closing stages of making the film and trying to pull the last details together is a complex process.

Currently at the top of the list of priorities is the end roller (credits), then answer prints and the ironing out of any last minute problems that arise, and there is the odd thing that crops up. I'll try and get a bit more detail from David and a still of the end roller once it's all been signed off.

In the meantime here's a link to the gfx company that have been building the credits.

Hallam Foe, a film by David Mackenzie starring Jamie Bell

Posted by colin kennedy at 2:06 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

October 5, 2006

Detail Beyond Compare

I have arrived - in London.

Currently I am sitting in the darkest room in the world, the only light coming from my screen and keyboard and, of course, the cinema screen 12feet in front of me.

This is the first time I have been to a cinema grade. All the grading I have done in the past has been for video. So while this is very exciting and a new experience, the fact that we are going down the digital intermediate route means that the process of grading is actually quite similar to that of doing a grade for video, just with a bigger screen and a more powerful computer. But the appearance of things is very similar.

What is blindingly cool is seeing things done on this scale. The relationship you have with the image is so totally different from dealing with something on a small scale that it's hard to understand how you actually can get to the end of the grading process. Simply the level of detail that you are responding to and working with means the amount of work you could do feels infinite on first impression.

Of course, what I haven't brought into account in this stream of consciousness is that we are watching this film one frame at a time, one shot at a time, one scene at a time - in that order. It is also a piece of material that we have grown to know implicitly, so there is a relationship that David, Giles and Max (the colourist) have with the film that will not, cannot compare to the experience anyone else will ever have.

Babble babble babble. This must be very boring for some of you. I'll shutup now. And go and continue being fascinated, and also maybe have a snooze, it's like being in the womb this place, particularly with the sounds of the other edit suites making slight impact on our room (I imagine!).

Posted by colin kennedy at 2:39 PM | Comments (0)

October 3, 2006

Firing on all cylinders

Steam is coming from the fingers of our well-oiled machine as emails are typed, numbers dialled, schedules thumbed, staplers thumped and hole-punchers punched (try saying that quickly, three times in a row, while standing on your head and drinking a yard of ale.)

Anna, Brian, Colin, coping well with the stress!!!

Today we are organising actors schedules, screenings, travel, dinners, animation, budgets, and various other things. It is hectic. There's nothing quite like a relentless schedule to keep you on your toes.

Posted by colin kennedy at 11:47 AM | Comments (2)

October 2, 2006

Making the Grade

Today David is heading to the picture grade. For those of you not aware of what this is here is a brief explanation.

Now that we have finished editing the film we are in the process of finishing it, i.e. making it look and sound like a movie. A lot of work has been done on the sound and that is continuing at the moment, and last week Giles Nuttgens started work on the picture.

We are going through a process called a digital intermediate. Now my knowledge of this is a little sketchy so the info here is scant, click the link for detail. But basically, we scan the shots we want to use into a computer and from there start to correct all the colour. This way of doing it presents us with a myriad of choices in copmparison to the old-fashioned way of grading a film (an entirely chemical process as opposed to digital). David's analogy to me was the difference between playing a piano and a synthesiser and all the choices and opportunities that brings.

Of course, all that choice leaves the gate wide open to be as leftfield and experimental as you like, so there has to be an element of self-restraint and exercise of good taste to find the best balance for what compliments the story the most.

Hopefully I'll be able to get some before and after pictures as things proceed.

Posted by colin kennedy at 2:56 PM | Comments (1)

September 28, 2006

Our Man in Canada: Bulletin 2

Our Man in Canada

arriving in Toronto

Deluxe Studios

...where the magic happens...

DM & JB in the booth

hard at work

Howard

David and Jo Cameron-Brown

All went very well apparently, so we inch another step closer to production.

Posted by colin kennedy at 1:28 PM | Comments (0)

September 27, 2006

Coconut halves for clip-clops

Colin (Editor) and Giles (Asst Editor) have been at the foley sessions at Universal Sound and their specialist studios in Amersham.

Universal Sound Studios

I've always thought this is a particularly surreal part of the process. Sound is quite a difficult thing to get your head round sometimes and this is a particularly abstract part of it. Click the link above to get a detailed account of what foley artists do and how their work impacts the film.

Here are some slightly dodgy snaps but they give the idea of what happens - people noises in sync with the picture...

...mind you, I bet that pool gets used for more thann just sound effects.

Posted by colin kennedy at 11:04 AM | Comments (0)

September 26, 2006

Our Man in Canada

I have been receiving the odd update from our foreign correspondent - Brian Coffey, Post-prod co-ordinator.

He had this to say about his trip:

Good Morning from this side of the Atlantic!

How are you all? The sun has yet to rise this side, but I have a feeling that it will shine today!!

Last night was like waiting for the news of my first born child, tense, tiring, nerve racking, lots of calls. As we lay in wait for word from above. And then it finally came. Jamie will do ADR tomorrow, horray!

I met with him and David last night for a beer at "Sneeky Petes" a kinda downtown diner, full of Grungy Canadians - a perfect hideout for a Canadian Hallam. Everyone was on great from, David and Jamie
were in high spirits.

It seems that Jamie had the busiest day yesterday that he has ever had with Jumper - a dental appointment, a script reading, a meeting with the make-up artist to have a mould of his face taken. Then a meeting with they guys regarding the wires for his stunts.

Anyway all will be good.

Deluxe studio is stunning (Colin I will take alot of pics today). Its vibrant and funky, and today it will be filled with the voice of our lead actor -Hurrah!

Ta for that Brian, we eagerly await the photos.

Posted by colin kennedy at 12:51 PM | Comments (2)

Trronno!

Trronno!

Oh the glamorous world of filmmaking! The team currently wing their way across the planet to sunny Toronto. Jealous? Slightly.

Brian - post-production co-ordinator - is a last minute addition to the Canadian despatch to help with all things logistical and ensure that things runs smoothly.

Photos on the way I am assured.

I'll keep you posted with any news from the front.

Posted by colin kennedy at 10:29 AM | Comments (0)

September 25, 2006

Additional Dialogue Recording

Today has seen the first ADR sessions with Lucy Holt kicking things off, then Sophia Myles coming in and then Ciaran Hinds.

ADR (Additional Dialogue Recording) is done for several reasons, chiefly because recording sound on location is a difficult task and often there are noises (traffic, airplanes, crowds, noisey props etc) that we don't want in the film so a clean dialogue track is recorded afterwards and re-synced. Also, if there are improvements that can be made to the sound of some of the dialogue e.g. if one half of a line comes from one take and the other from another, or if there have been cuts in the dialogue which make the intonation sound a bit jumpy, these can also be ironed out by recording the lines again and then carefully adding in wild tracks and EQ to get the same sounding sound as the already augmented and altered original material which the sound engineers have been working with for the last month or so. The other aspect of this is that the performance can be slightly altered too. This is not the easiest process but subtle changes can really alter the way a scene plays

Of course ADR comes with the usual host of logistical problems that every other aspect of the production has, in this case it is easier to take David to the actors rather than the other way round. So today he is in London recording and tomorrow he, Jo Cameron-Brown and Howard the ADR recordist fly to Toronto to see Jamie again and do his scenes there.

Posted by colin kennedy at 9:50 AM | Comments (0)

September 24, 2006

Process

On Friday night I went for a very emotional drink with David. We met at about eleven, he had just locked the picture on Hallam Foe. This is a momentous milestone in the journey of the film and is somewhat of a wrench on the heartstrings.

Having said that, we're not exactly rushing out the door to the premiere.

The creative process is by no means at an end, but the hardcore craft of building a film is over and the rest of the journey ahead is a balancing act of the technical aspects of the film, making sure that each of those elements plays to the strains of the film and makes the most of all the work to date.

The first step on this journey is ADR on Monday.

Posted by colin kennedy at 9:29 AM | Comments (0)

September 19, 2006

Colin Kennedy in the Cutting Room

Here's Colin blogging away in the cutting room.

Posted by giles at 6:33 PM | Comments (3)

September 5, 2006

Viral material

A virus I found on wikipedia.

Today I will be trawling through all the footage that hasn't made the cut, and possibly some that has, to find viral material for your delectation. We have such wonderful things as JB taking the longest slash ever, compete with this one if you dare.

Unfortunately, there are the usual and hugely frustrating clearance exercises to go through before we can post anything on the site, so my hands are tied in terms of letting you see it just yet, but it will be winging its way to you soon.

Next on the blog will be a post of an interview I did with David yesterday and also some reaction to the film from Peter Jinks - author of the novel.

Posted by colin kennedy at 12:29 PM | Comments (5)

August 4, 2006

VFX

So far as I'm aware all the vfx work still looks like this...

...I am assured however that progress is being made and we will have something to look at by next week.

Yawn.

Slow old business this bit.

I actually happen to know that there is a queue of people in front of me who have decisions to make about these images before I broadcast them to the world. Not that it will make any difference of course, it's not like we're giving the story away by looking at one shot and any adjustments that are made are an interesting insight into the process.

I will continue to try and get some info for those that are interested, but don't hold your breath, you will die.

Posted by colin kennedy at 5:08 PM | Comments (1)

July 20, 2006

On the move again

The ceilings have been repaired and the lovely flat renovated, all ready for the return of messrs Mackenzie, Monie and Burgess and their flying Avid.

It will be all packed up tomorrow and removed by the movers on Saturday when work will resume instantly to make the most of the time before next weeks screening.

Posted by colin kennedy at 11:37 AM | Comments (0)

July 19, 2006

Event horizon

The only news I have to offer really is that there was a screening of the film on Monday. Very shortly David must deliver his director's cut of the film so all preparations to get it looking as much like a finished bit of work as possible are underway. There is a screening in London on the 26th of this month for all the financiers.

Showing a film without it's visual FX and without completed sound is a very difficult thing. Although the people judging the film at its next stage are seasoned professionals and have seen dozens of films in their early stages the reality is that imperfections in a film can snap you out of the suspension of disbelief and this affects your judgement of it.

rat-a-tat-tat!

An antidote to this is to do things that will not end up in the final film. For instance, if there are sound issues then temporary music tracks can be laid in to make up for the holes. George Lucas famously cut in footage of dogfights to make up for the missing vfx shots in the first Star Wars. But thew truth is that these things are less than a best case scenario and that little fact makes the process every bit as nerve racking as you would expect.

Posted by colin kennedy at 10:37 AM | Comments (7)

July 11, 2006

First actual shot from the movie!!

Work has just started today on some of the visual fx shots in the movie. So the idea is that I will track the progress being made by the company doing the work so that you can see how the process works from start to finish.

I have chosen a couple of shots where it's obvious to see what work needs doing but that don't give any of the plot away.

So here's the first shot:

How cool is that!?! I love this stuff,

Posted by colin kennedy at 4:58 PM | Comments (7)

July 3, 2006

Serious Facilities

Serious Facilities are responsible for providing our editing system.

We are cutting on an Avid. This is a digital editing system which is pretty much industry standard although there are plenty of other aletrnatives.

The system we are using comes pre-packed in a bunch of flight cases so that you can use it wherever you want. So it was very easy for it to wing it's way down to the set when we were in Peebles, get re-located to Glasgow where it was covered in debris when the ceiling caved in and then into the centre of Glasgow for a spell.

It seems that it will shortly be on the move again now the team are back from their holidays.

Posted by colin kennedy at 1:38 PM | Comments (0)