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June 20, 2006
Gone In A Flash
One of my favorite little things about shooting on film (aside from the obvious) is going through the footage and finding the spots at the head and tail of each shot where the motor and shutter weren't quite up to speed. There's usually a flash of white, but on either side of that are one or two frames of beautiful, light-drenched imagery. Sometimes there's just a gentle flare; sometimes it's a bizarre distortion; sometimes it's a blooming blossom of primary colors that would make Jeremy Blake jealous.
It's been exactly six months since we wrapped production (for the first time) on The Outlaw Son. Half a year of post production seems sort of ridiculous for what would technically be considered a short film, but considering that I didn't get the footage processed until February, and then shot some more, and then didn't seriously begin editing until April, I guess it's okay. More to the point: I gave myself the time I needed.
And it's very nearly finished. Brad and Isabelle are going to still be mixing the sound, and I'm finishing the final touches of color correction, but the cut itself is locked, and I'll be taking it with me to LA next week in case anyone there wants to look at it. I love, love love how it turned out. For the first time with one of my film's (not counting Some Analog Lines), I don't have any excuses to make; I think I could sincerely make an argument for everything in it. And I'm sure I'll have to, at some point, but thus far, everyone who's seen it has liked it. A lot of people have really like it, and a few people have loved it.
I don't know what I'll do with it. I've got plans for the collection of multiple cuts, but those won't be done for a while. As far as my own version goes, I'm wary of submitting it to many festivals, since it doesn't adhere one bit to the general guidelines of successful short films (primarily that it be under ten minutes in length). In fact, to avoid misconceptions, I'm not even calling it a short. If people ask me, I tell them it's a short feature film. There's definitely an audience out there for it, but as I wrote in the original grant application, I'd rather not go shooting in the dark in order for them to see it. There's probably a more appropriate approach; I'm just not sure what it is yet.
Anyway. My original intention with this post was to list some observations I made during the post-production of the film. I've written them all down, but posting them here feels like overkill (if anyone's interested, I'll put them in the comments below). Instead, I've added three more scenes the website, which I will be updating someday with more text and images and a list of the other filmmakers currently working on their own interpretations of the film (and possibly wondering what the hell I was thinking on a take-by-take basis).
So. All that having been said, make sure you tune in six months from now to see if my convictions have wavered (for once, I'm thinking they won't).
I noticed that the site looks absolutely atrocious on some monitors, with the text all squished and out of alignment; this is because I'm still essentially clueless about CSS formatting. I think I fixed it, to a certain extent, but if any of you tech-savvy readers want to take a look at the code and offer any hints or suggestions, please feel free to do so.
Congrats to Bryan on wrapping his new film; and to Matt on getting an acceptance letter for one of his.
Posted by David Lowery at June 20, 2006 12:10 AM
Comments
Hey Mr. David,
Congrats on comepleting Outlaw Son! Looking forwad to seeing it.
"Short feature" is a confusing term, at least for me. Just tell people how long it is in mins - like "40 minute long film" or something. Generally people (myself included) expect features
to be close to 90 mins at least. W/ a lot of people expecting a feature to be close to 120 mins.
Also, I think the term "featurette" is confusing & relatively useless too - it's either a short or a feature, or a kind of a long short :)
I think for docs 1 hour is considered feature lenght. Not sure why that is.
Alright, good luck w/ the distribution stage of Outlaw Son. Think about submitting it to the Cucaloris fest in Wilmington, NC, they seem cool/I've heard a lot of positive things about them from filmmakers. See my blog for a link to that fest, or do a google search.
Later on!
- Sujewa
Posted by: Sujewa at June 20, 2006 2:51 PM
David,
Are you screening the film in LA? When? Where?
JB
Posted by: Jerry at June 20, 2006 7:52 PM
Sujewa ~ yeah, thanks for posting a link to Cucaloris. I just submitted Some Analog Lines to them the other day.
See, the way I feel about this new film, I'd rather people sit down expecting to see a 90 minute feature than a 25 minute short (which is what it is). There's a certain mindset, a set of expectations, that I feel stigmatize the short film format, and I feel the film will play better if audiences aren't so predisposed. I'd rather people sit down expecting something longer - something that they need to commit to in full.
Of course, length is probably a moot point when it comes to the types of audiences who will actually appreciate the film most.
BTW, a lot of docs are an hour long because that way they'll be more fit for broadcast on television, which is the primary means of exhibition for documentary filmmakers.
Jerry ~ I'm unfortuantely not screening it in LA (or anywhere else at the moment). I just meant that I'll have it with me, in case I run into anyone in LA who happens to want to see it...
Posted by: Ghostboy at June 21, 2006 2:54 AM
David,
If time permits while you are out here, would love to see it.
Jerry
Posted by: Jerry at June 21, 2006 1:48 PM
Absolutely. I'll be there for a few weeks, so there should be plenty of time.
Posted by: Ghostboy at June 21, 2006 11:27 PM
I'd love to see it while you're here also, if you can find the time. Maybe the film I'm working on will be done by then and we can we can do a sort of exchange. Good luck with everything.
Posted by: bryan at June 22, 2006 9:10 PM
Absolutely (again). I'll be in touch in the next week or two or three...
Posted by: Ghostboy at June 22, 2006 9:12 PM
David,
Just reading your comments about the process makes me want to see the film. When will it be done?
Your thoughts on what you love about shooting film are wonderfully romantic. People need to remember or they will forget about this thing called film.
Dan
Posted by: dan nemet-nejat at July 10, 2006 9:39 PM