Jake Gets Paid

In addition to producing and directing a Blue Owl Flick, Ed DuRante is beginning to shoot his first feature film, JAKE GETS PAID, starting this weekend at The Blue Owl. I will be editing the film when I am not either working for cash, taking care of the baby or Gabru, or working on my own projects. More importantly, Ed is planning to shoot every weekend during the month of April, so my main responsibility as editor is to watch the footage early in the week and figure out which cutaways/coverage I am missing that I feel is essential to the story.

That is the plan for the moment. Thinking about it more, we may need to take advantage of the five day break each week better- I should load parts of the footage and edit some sequences to figure out if everything is working.

Baby Update: Week 37

Allison has a weekly appointment with her OBGYN at this stage of her pregnancy. She is still completely closed up so the baby will definitely wait another week. We did, however, find out that Allison tested positive for Strep B, which basically means that she will have penicillin immediately upon arrival at the hospital and every four hours after that. The baby will also have to have the penicillin as soon as she is born. The danger is that my little girl could become infected as she passes through the birth canal. Although this is extremely rare, medicine today is preventive and drugs and prescriptions are it's tools. There should be no side effects for mother or baby, but the positive test definitely complicates the ideal set of circumstances that are needed to give birth naturally, as Allison is hoping for.

After the Dr.'s appointment, Allison went straight to work and wrote up a birth plan. I kind of understand what she wrote, but there is a lot of information and some of it can be confusing. As long as mother and baby survive in good health, I think I will be happy.

Happy Sauce: Thoughts about the Edit

Overall, I am very happy with how Happy Sauce has progressed. For those who have seen the film, the reaction seems to be very positive. Everyone has raved about the lighting, acting, and cinematography, but I still think I can make the film better.

I feel that the beginning and ending work very well right now, but the middle part where the bartender is looking at the man talking on the phone is a little forced. What might not be working are the transitions... from the bartender taking the bottles to the bartender returning them. All I know is that the middle section feels a little forced while the beginning and end feel pretty good to me.

The solution lies in the baby bottles. The man has made such a big fuss about them it is probably best to see them being washed somehow. At the moment, I do not have an answer, but I did shoot enough to edit something together. My goal is to complete the final edit and hopefully mix before the baby arrives.

Big Scare: Don't Use Filevault

Earlier this evening, I was supposed to send Tanya's D.P. a copy of her film SINK to view. When I went to my computer, I could not open the FCP project and was getting a general error. I called one of my work buddies and he told me the project was either an older version of FCP or it was corrupted and I was screwed. I couldn't understand what was going on, and I began checking my other projects, and each one of those had a general error as well. My final edit for my short film PILFERER, which I have been waiting patiently to online cheaply at work, was gone, as well as all 2000 or so photos that my wife and I have taken of each other.

I was on the verge of a complete meltdown.. I wasn't sure what was worse- losing the edit information, the photos, or maybe the thought that it was time for a new computer, but my brain was on the verge of going to a very unhappy place when I remembered I had installed Firevault on my mac to better secure my files. It was my last hope for salvation, and when I tried to turn the security off, my computer of course told me I needed 4000 more gigs to do so.

My computer recommended to delete the trash and make more room on my hard drive, and I began burning backup DVD's of my entire system and deleting to create more space for firevault to shut itself off. Finally, after several tense hours, all my files are now restored. I can open Tanya's project as well as my own. I did not start this blog to bash any products or companies, but I have to warn others about Firevault. It's use of encryption somehow rendered all my important files useless. The lesson learned is to only mess with your computer when you know what you are doing. I'm happy I will be able to sleep tonight. .

Happy Sauce: The First Cut

So I finally made it! This is the final cut of Happy Sauce, for now. Truthfully, there are a few places I would like to go back and see what I can do to make the film even better. If anyone has any comments, please feel free to post them.

Click To Play

Happy Sauce: First Cut Complete

I wound up crashing around midnight last night, only to wake up with great fear this morning at 6 AM. I went straight to the editing machine, churned out a cut by noon, and emailed Petr and Ed a version for some comments. I already spoke with Ed and am now just waiting on Petr's thoughts before I make a final version to go on the Blue Owl Flicks site.

In my opinion, the cut is close... I do need some more time to go through and consider some alternate possibilities but I do not have time to do that tonight. In any event, I am pleased and confident that I was able to edit a version so quickly and make my deadline.

I will post the same version on my blog as well.

Happy Sauce Edit Update 2

After working all day at my paid gig, I met Allison, her aunt, uncle, and cousins in the park. They were playing soccer with the dogs- our dog Gabru and their new puppy Rugby. The uncle I am referring to is none other than Petr, the DP for Happy Sauce. It was very nice of them to visit Allison while I was away at work all day. We had a German/ Austrian dinner at Cafe Steinhof and had a chance to chat further about the film and the footage.

I am now back in the editing chair at home. As I continue to piece together the footage, I realize that maybe I have too much to accomplish by tomorrow evening. I almost forgot that films shot on video have so much more footage than a film shot on film. When you shoot video, there is no concern for wasted film stock and money. Digital tape is so cheap it allows you to shoot everything, including the rehearsals. I am very thankful now that my assistant Sally not only took great notes about each shot but she also slated every new take.

My deadline is officially Monday, but realistically I need to email Ed a cut to post on the Blue Owl Flicks blog Sunday night. I work all day Monday and would rather not have the stress of rushing home and making any final decisions Monday evening. I know I will be finished in time... the task just seems very impossible at the present moment.

Happy Sauce Edit Update

The edit is progressing slowly but surely, and I am working backwards.. I have figured out how I want to end the film... I am using the wide shot when Gabru leaves the bar with a slow push into the baby bottle that the bartender finds behind the counter... I think it looks and feels really nice. Now that I know how I want to end the film I can edit the beginning to build properly to the final moment.

Life Update

The Dr.'s appointment this morning was rather anti-climatic. Both baby and mother are doing great. Allison is not dilated yet, and the baby is facing downwards, but she still needs to move down more for labor. As a result, unless Allison's water breaks unexpectedly, the baby will be in the belly for a couple of more weeks. This is our first baby, and usually the first baby is late. Technically, Allison is now full term at 36 weeks, but she also thinks she will be a week late, or she will go into labor on moving day, whenever that might be.

I worked the late shift at work today, so there will be no HAPPY SAUCE editing tonight. I woke up around 6:45 this morning so we could make the 8:30 am OBGYN appointment, and my power nap was on the subway on my way to work. I will be in full editing mode tomorrow night and Saturday night. The goal is to have the final cut ready by Sunday night.

I will post updates on the status of the HAPPY SAUCE edit.

Baby Photos Chronology

This is the baby at 9 weeks.



This is the baby at 12 weeks.



This is a 3D image when the baby was about 20 weeks.



This is when the baby was about 24 weeks.



This is the image from this morning. This is my girl's head. She is now so big it is hard to tell what is what unless you are either a medical professional or a woman.

Happy Sauce Post Update

I have loaded all the footage but the only thing I have edited is the opening shot, and there is not a whole lot of editing involved. My initial idea of the bartender preparing the drink and then a baby bottle sliding into frame does not work. It feels like the baby bottle gives the story away too soon. Instead, I am cutting to the title "Happy Sauce" as the bartender finishes making the drink. This is the "Happy Sauce" and we are now going to see what happens with it.

I guess I am still thinking how to edit the footage together. It looks fantastic, but with the quick turnaround, I would rather distance myself as much as possible from my initial concept to remain objective through the edit. I will have to edit quickly.. make a lot of decisions, decide if the film is working, and then tweak accordingly. I will still have a cut by Sunday or Monday, as mandated by the Blue Owl Flicks Rules, but I guarantee that it will not be my final edit. Maybe I will be wrong.

Dr.'s Appointment

Tomorrow morning is our 36 week check up with the OBGYN. The Dr. will perform the third and final ultrasound of my baby girl before she is born. It will be interesting to see how much she has grown from the last time we saw her in the womb in late December. The photo is from the 3D ultrasound session.

This appointment is also important because the Dr. will give us a better idea of how the baby is progressing and how soon she might take her first breaths.