Today I got my first look at Moonlight Sonata footage, a rough cut that gives a general feel for how the thing will look, but also demonstrates that we have a long way to go to get to the finished product. We had planned to have the opening shot be a long, continuous steady-cam shot, but as fuego has combed through the takes it seems we don’t have one that really works from start to end. That’s not a disaster; there is plenty of footage to make Paul’s entrance into the café a nervous and disorienting time. Not all the takes in this cut are the ones I remember most fondly from shooting, but it’s about making all the parts work together.
Man, I sure wish we’d had more extras.
The cut did not even include the concert scene, so I don’t know how that is going to work, and the voiceovers aren’t there and the walking through Prague and all the audio post, so at this point all I can really report is that there are shots that look fantastic. The voiceover raw files are on their way to me; and I will be going through them and picking out the best takes over the next few days, and putting the bits together into seamless delivery. It’s a job that can take as much time as I’m willing to give it.
Cowboy Bob reflects on the contents of his glass
The underground bar looks great. Really really great. I was worried about the video noise I was seeing but at least on the version I have (far from big-screen quality but pretty good for a computer monitor) the noise is not a problem. Using the real audio and getting the music in comes much later, so I’m trying to not worry about that too much (yet).
A long way to go, but so far, so good!
When are the deadlines for the Film Festivals?
Just wait until we do the 3 pixel gosimer blur on the blues! Then you will see what good really is…and why we used the RED…
Ooh, sounds technical! So, just how much did you shoot?
There was an article in the Journal a week or two ago about two filmmakers (one independent Native American and one with money) who found each other thanks to a RED and who are now collaborating on an artsy offbeat horror film. Yes, that’s right, it was the camera that brought them together, although some other coincidences converged to help.
Film festivals go on year round, so the deadlines do too. We won’t be ready for Karlovy Vary this year, though.
Gosimer Blur, nice. Bringin’ it on back to the duck. I like.
The footage is in its RAW state so you still haven’t seen how good it looks. After we lock the cut we’ll do a first light pass, after which we might still decide to tweak with the look, but I kind of doubt there’ll be much of that. Your DP killed it. The lighting and lenses look beautiful. That screengrab here isn’t half as good as the picture actually looks!
And yes, the 3 pixel Gaussian blur on the blue channel really brings the whole room together…
Sweeeeeet!