Why you should see 'Interstellar' in 70MM IMAX

In a few days, Christopher Nolan's new epic 'Interstellar' comes out, and there has been a big push to see the film in 70MM IMAX film. Very few theatres are equipped in IMAX, and as Nolan's film was shot with 70MM IMAX film cameras, it's important to see the film the way the director intended. Which leads to my experience getting tickets to see it in IMAX:

The Colossus theatre in Vaughan is an amazing place: it's shaped like a flying saucer when you see it, and was one of the few theatres in Ontario to show film in IMAX when it was built. The IMAX screen is about 4 stories tall, it's simply massive when you see it, and looks like a giant square. I had the great fortune to see Nolan's 'The Dark Knight Rises' in 70MM IMAX at the Colossus, and it was probably one of the best experiences watching a movie I have ever seen. It's also the closest IMAX theatre where I live, so when tickets for 'Interstellar' came out, I immediately ordered tickets to see it in IMAX. However, the downside that I soon discovered, is that they switched to a digital IMAX projector, and here's why that is a problem.

First some technical background stuff, complete with a handy picture guide to help explain (click here to get a better idea of the differences: Click Here)  IMAX film is an aspect ratio of 1.43:1, or pretty close to a square. Films like 'Interstellar' and 'The Dark Knight Rises' are filmed in IMAX for the big scenes, and also widescreen 2.35:1 ratio for other scenes. When you see it on an IMAX screen, the IMAX footage expands to fill the entire screen, giving the scene an epic feel and scope that the director wants you to have. Now, when it comes to Digital IMAX projectors, they project in an aspect ratio of 1.9:1, so more than 2.35:1, but less than the full image picture. In the picture below, you can see that with a 1.9:1 ratio, you are missing about 25% of the IMAX frame, so really you aren't getting the true directors vision of how the shots and the scene are supposed to look. It's similar to when VHS tapes were full screen back in the day, they cropped the image to fill the TV screen, so you miss a lot of information in the image. On a 70MM screen, such as the one at the Colossus theatre, the Digital IMAX would still have black bars on the top and bottom of screen, instead of filling the huge square. Another interesting thing is that for films like 'The Dark Knight', and 'The Dark Knight Rises' (both shot in 2.35 and in IMAX film) on Blu-ray tries to recreate the IMAX experience by having those IMAX scenes film expand to fit your TV, giving you more information on the top and bottom, the aspect ratio for this is 1.78:1. So basically, if 'Interstellar' gets the same recreation on Blu-ray (which it more than likely will), you will be getting more information in the frame than you would seeing the film in a Digital IMAX theatre.



Now, why would IMAX theatres use Digital IMAX for this film when it should be seen in 70MM? Really the most logical reason is money: 70MM IMAX prints can cost approx $15,000 each, when Digital 'prints' on a hard drive costs only a couple hundred dollars. Now, in terms of quality, it can be argued that IMAX digital projectors are somewhat brighter and have a better contrast than most typical digital projectors (that the film will be projected for in the majority of theatres), however in terms of resolution and quality, they don't produce anything close to 70MM IMAX film. The great thing is that the films website also provides some much needed information regarding the various formats you can see the movie, including Digital and 70MM IMAX projections Right Here. So make sure you get your money's worth (IMAX tickets in general are about $20 each) and see the film the way Christopher Nolan intended you to see it: On 70MM IMAX. There are two theatres in Ontario that are showing it this way, at the Scotiabank Toronto & IMAX theatre in Toronto, and the Coliseum Mississauga & IMAX in Mississauga. Here is the complete list of theatres showing the film in 70MM IMAX in Canada and the United States (thanks to the films website): Click Here

Special thanks to IMAX for responding to my technical questions, and to James Hyder of LF Examiner (for more fun information about IMAX and other Large Format production, distribution, and exhibition, check out there website at: http://www.lfexaminer.com/)



EDIT: So after seeing 'Interstellar' in Digital IMAX, here's my thoughts: 1. The film is fucking awesome. You may need to see it twice to fully understand it (that's not a complaint). The Digital IMAX image was... not the best. The image wasn't as sharp as I was hoping (sorta like watching a DVD compared to a Blu ray: still a good image, but DVD  isn't as sharp and detailed as a Blu ray image. The same goes for Digital IMAX vs 70MM IMAX presentations). The fine details were missing, which sadly since I don't have the ability to watch the movie on film, I don't know if that's a product of the way the film was shot, or the projection. The screen looks like it was cropped from it's 70MM IMAX screen, they may have cut off the top of the screen using fabric and adjusted the projection so the Digital IMAX still looked like it filled the screen for it's IMAX shot footage without creating any letterboxing. On some of the IMAX shots however you could tell that there was part of the image missing due to the cropping.

My Batman comic script (or: Please don't sue me DC Comics) Part 1

I've been a Batman fan since I was a 6 year old kid watching 'Batman: Returns' over and over again and watching the 'Batman: The Animated Series' every Saturday morning (not realizing until I was much older how adult they both were. Did you watch the origin of Two-Face in The Animated Series? That was pretty heavy material for kids. Still a brilliant show though), I loved the Nolan films, I will defend 'The Dark Knight Rises' until I die, and throughout my life, although I never collected Batman comics a lot, I'd always pick up the odd issue here and there. When the New 52 started, a good friend of mine was reading Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo's take on Batman, and he told me about issue #5 where you actually have to turn the comic around and it becomes part of the story and gets into the psyche of Batman through the issue. He told me how awesome the new Batman comic was. So one day I picked up that issue, the one before it, and the one after, just to see what the fuss was about. Annnnnnddddddd I was hooked immediately. The suspense, the psychology, the baddassery, the brilliant artwork and the amount of detail, it was all brilliant. I have every issue and the comic hasn't let me down (If you ever want to get completely freaked out, read Batman #13: The Death of the Family Part 1, it may be one of the top 10 comic books I've EVER read).

Having collected Trade Paperbacks, one of the cool things is that they provide you as a bonus sometimes is commentary by the artists and writers, breakdowns, and you can see how the script became the finished product. If you ever want to learn how to write a comic book, those little bonus features are awesome. If you are reading Death of Wolverine, reading how Charles Soule writes that comic is a great blueprint to how to write your own. At the back of the comic, you can read his script with the breakdowns of the art and get a feel of how the panels are thought up, word bubbles, descriptions, etc. Being a huge fan of Batman, being influenced highly by the current run, and having already written film scripts, a play, and a short story, I thought I would take a stab at writing a comic book story about Batman.

Now, the thing about writing (at least to me) is that if you are going to write a story, write it like it is the only thing you would ever write. When I was writing my Batman story, I was always thinking "If I was going to write one Batman story, this would be it!" There are literally thousands of issues of Batman in the last 75 years, how is the story I want to tell stand out to that? How can I make it something that's my own thing? There are tons of villains that have been written by many great writers, how can you put your own stamp on The Joker for instance, since that character is just so iconic and has been a villain so many times? So I decided to not focus on Batman fighting some major super villain. I wanted to focus on an aspect of Batman as a superhero that has never really been touched upon. All these times that he's been beating up muggers and stopping basic criminals (the kind that the comics only dedicate a couple panels to), what happens to them, how does that encounter with Batman effect their lives, the lives of their families, what happens once they get out?

So before I keep talking, here is the Batman story I wrote if I could only write one Batman story. Please feel free to provide comments, feedback, let me know if it's good and you liked it,  or if it was so bad it just totally ruined 75 years of Batman for you.

--> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Page 1.

1.1

ESTABLISHING SHOT of a boy looking through a crack of his bedroom door; This boy’s name is JAMES FELL approx. 10 years old average looking kid. His room is somewhat slumlike. There is a desk, some posters, old toys, however lacking extra things that a kid his age might have: A computer, a TV, posters. This is a profile shot, with the light from the crack of his bedroom door illuminating his face.

JAMES CAPTION: “When I was a boy, I remember my father stopping a man who just stole an old lady’s purse….

1.2

CLOSER PROFILE IMAGE of JAMES face, with the crack of light showing his expression: he is visibly scared.

JAMES CAPTION: He didn’t have to, but later that night when I asked him why he did that, he sat me down and told me: ‘Because it was the right thing to do.’…”

1.3

CLOSE UP reveal a grown up JAMES, now in his mid 20’s. He is looking out a window  (The framing is the same as 1.2)

1.4

FULL SHOT LOOKING DOWN TO THE BANK (ie. SECURITY CAMERA ANGLE) revealing James holding a bank hostage.  James has a pistol in his hand. The bank tellers and customers are on the ground. His pistol pointed at a group of them. Some of the girls there are crying.  The bank is not one of the most glamorous ones in Gotham, but a simple, one story bank. Christmas ornaments are scattered around the building.

JAMES CAPTION: “I‘ve always wondered… if my parents were still alive, if he didn’t take them from me, how different my life would have been?”

Page 2.

2.1

ESTABLISHING SHOT OF THE OUTSIDE OF THE BANK. From outside the bank you can see JAMES looking through the window. The street is full with police cars, officers with weapons drawn, and a crowd behind police lines, watching the situation. It is early December, a light snow is on the ground.

2.2

LEUTENANT BULLOCK is staring at the bank. BULLOCK is wearing his trademark hat, but has a scarf around him. His cold breathe can be seen.

GORDON (outside of panel): What are we looking at?

2.3

COMMISSIONER GORDON arrives on scene, talking to BULLOCK.

BULLOCK: “About a dozen hostages, one gunman. We haven’t gotten the perps name yet. SWAT is 10 minutes away, snipers are setting up on the roofs behind us. No demands yet. The guy’s not even hiding his face. He just keeps looking out at us.

2.4

Small close up of GORDON looking down to the ground.

GORDON: I hate this part of the job.

2.5

GORDON picks up a megaphone.

GORDON (TO THE BANK):  “This is Commissioner Gordon…”

PAGE 3

3.1

INSIDE THE BANK, JAMES is looking out the windows, seeing the police cars. The hostages are behind him.

GORDON (FROM THE STREET): “Let the hostages go…”

JAMES CAPTION “One of my earliest memories was going to the movies with my parents. Every Saturday I would beg them to take me.”

3.2

JAMES looks back at one of the female hostages.

JAMES CAPTION: “We would walk there, it was only a few blocks away from where we lived. We would sometimes take a shortcut through the alleys if we were in a hurry. I was never scared.”

3.3

From the street, GORDON and BULLOCK are behind cars.  BULLOCK has a Walkie Talkie.

BULLOCK: SWAT team’s arrived.

3.4

OUTUSIDE, the front door of the bank burst open: A female hostage is pushed out by JAMES.

3.5

Small - BULLOCK looks at the hostage

BULLOCK: “Grab her! Get her out of the way!”

3.6

Two members of a SWAT team grab the hostage.

PAGE 4

4.1

GORDON goes to the HOSTAGE, who is sitting down near a police car while she is examined.

GORDON: “Are you alright?”

HOSTAGE: “I’m fine. He said…he didn’t want to hurt us. He told me to…to give you this.”

4.2

Small – The hostage gives Gordon a note.

4.3

GORDON opens the note, revealing the text: BRING THE BATMAN AND THE HOSTAGES GO FREE

4.4 From the crowd at the street watching, BRUCE WAYNE is there, looking like a normal face in the crowd.

4.5

Small – BRUCE sees the note GORDON is reading.

PAGE 5

5.1

Inside the bank, JAMES is walking around the hostages. JAMES looks nervous, but prepared. The hostages look frightened, bundled together.

5.2

A hostage from the previous panel, whom JAMES walked past (a man in his early 20’s), stares at the exit sign near the back of the bank when JAMES is not looking.

JAMES CAPTION: “Since their death, I couldn’t get his face out of my mind. He was responsible, he killed them…

5.3.

JAMES is looking out of the window again. The hostage is behind him, noticing that JAMES is not looking at him.

5.4

The hostage begins to run for the exit.

5.5

Small close up - JAMES notices the hostage running.

5.6

JAMES points his pistol at the hostage.

JAMES: STOP!

PAGE 6

6.1

Close up to JAMES face, hesitant.

6.2.

JAMES POV as the hostage is almost at the door. The pistol pointed right at him.

6.3

Small close up at his finger inching closer to pulling the trigger.

6.4

Close up to JAMES face, realizing he will have to shoot.

JAMES CAPTION: I just wanted to see HIM.

PAGE 7 –(7.1 - 7.3 are small shots overlaid near the top of BATMAN’s reveal in 7.4. Panel 7.5 would be near the bottom quarter of the page).

7.1

Small - Gas fills the room.

7.2

Small - Close up of JAMES coughing, unable to see anything.

7.3

Small - Tight close up on JAMES eyes, realizing whose in front of him.

7.4

JAMES POV seeing the BATMAN through the smoke. (*The reveal of BATMAN should take up ¾ of the page, and be epic; BATMAN should embody a look of how JAMES sees him, larger than life, cloaked in his cape, almost like a gothic silhouette. Between PAGE 7 and PAGE 15, the image of BATMAN should slowly be less imposing, more normal looking as JAMES slowly learns the truth)

JAMES CAPTION: THE BATMAN

7.5

Close up of BATMAN’s face.

JAMES CAPTIONED: “I’ve seen that face a thousand times, every time I close my eyes. That face has haunted me for years.”

PAGE 8

8.1

From outside the BANK, the front door bursts open, smoke coming out of it. BULLOCK and GORDON stare at the doors. The hostages run out of the doors.

8.2

GORDON grabs a megaphone.

GORDON (INTO MEGAPHONE, TO POLICE): “Hold your fire!”

8.3

JAMES stares at BATMAN, pistol drawn at him.

JAMES: “It’s you…after all these years…

8.4

CLOSE UP OF JAMES

JAMES: You have no idea who I am do you? You have no clue of the pain you’ve caused me? The life you stole from me. Look at my face, do you even know who I am?!”

PAGE 9

9.1

Close up of Batman, unmoving.

9.2

Same image a 8.2.

BATMAN: “JAMES FELL.”

9.3

Close up of JAMES, in shock, staring at BATMAN.

9.4

Large shot of BATMAN, this time a little closer to JAMES.

BATMAN: “You’re father was Roger Fell. He robbed the First National Bank 15 years ago. I stopped him. “

JAMES: You…remember him?

BATMAN: “He went to prison for three years.  Two months after he was released it was reported he shot his wife before turning the gun on himself.”

PAGE 10

10.1

JAMES is staring at BATMAN, his expression full of intensity and anger.

JAMES: “My father... was a good man. He was a banker.”

10.2

Medium shot of BATMAN, standing in front of JAMES. BATMAN is slowly looking less threatening.

BATMAN: “He was, until the depression hit the city. He was laid off, became friends with a bad crowd who used what he knew to rob banks. “

10.3

A closer shot of JAMES, looking a little defeated at this truth, more angry though, in denial.

JAMES: “My father wasn’t a criminal! He was a good man!

10.4

Two shot of JAMES and BATMAN, behind JAMES. BATMAN is closer to James.

BATMAN: “He hid the truth from you and your mother. Once he went to prison, your mother moved into the Narrows with you.”

10.5

Small Close up to JAMES face.

JAMES: “Stay back!”

PAGE 11

11.1

FLASHBACK to a full shot of JAMES as a child again, in bed, sleeping. Loud bangs are heard from outside his room.

11.2

Close up – JAMES mother bursts into his room.

JAMES MOTHER: “James!”

11.3

JAMES MOTHER tucks him in tight, the banging is heard louder from outside his door.

JAMES MOTHER: “Whatever you do, stay in your room okay? Don’t come out.”

JAMES: “What’s going on mom?”

JAMES MOTHER: “Please baby, just stay in your bed, don’t make a sound. “

11.4

JAMES MOTHER is out of the room, there is a noise of the front door bursting open. JAMES gets out of the bed, looking at the door of his bedroom.

BATMAN CAPTION: “Your mother divorced him after finding out what he did. Once he got out of jail, he found you two. “

Page 12:

12.1

Close up of JAMES looking through the crack of the door, visibly scared. This is the same shot as 1.2

BATMAN  CAPTION: “The neighbors reported there was a loud argument…

12.2

Close up of JAMES looking through the crack of the door, this time his face is in shock. A tear goes down his cheek.

BATMAN CAPTION: “…then a shot was fired. He was screaming after, crying….”

JAMES (silently): …Mommy?

12.3

Close up of BATMAN at the bank.

BATMAN: …Then he turned the gun on himself. You were 10 years old at the time.

12.4

JAMES has the pistol 5 feet from BATMAN’s head.

JAMES: It’s your fault! You killed them! You’re the one who caught my father, who drove my mother to leave him. You’re the one who…who…

PAGE 13

13.1

FLASHBACK – MEDIUM SHOT of JAMES in his bedroom, sitting in a corner, his legs up to his chest and head down, crying.  A police officer comes in the door.

BATMAN CAPTION: The police found you in your room, crying. You never said a word to them. The doctors didn’t understand.

13.2

It is months later, JAMES is sitting in a room of an orphanage, drawing.

BATMAN CAPTIONED:  You were sent to St. Francis Home for Children. For months you didn’t say a word, until one day…

13.3

CLOSE UP of JAMES drawing. 

VOICE FROM BEHIND JAMES: James? James Fell?

13.4

The voice is revealed to be BRUCE WAYNE, ten years younger than he looks in 4.5. This is BRUCE WAYNE in the early years of being BATMAN. This shot should take up 2/3^rd of the page at least. The angle is from JAMES POV, BRUCE looks larger than life.

BATMAN CAPTION: …another orphan came to see you.

Page 14:

The full page is a montage of images of BRUCE taking JAMES out for the day: Walking the city streets of Gotham; BRUCE buying JAMES a hot dog at a vendor; going to a baseball game; in a toy shop where JAMES picks out a toy.

PAGE 15

15.1

BRUCE is walking with JAMES back to the Children’s home. JAMES stops BRUCE

15.2

SMALL SHOT of JAMES looking down.

15.3.

SMALL SHOT of JAMES looking back up at BRUCE, a tear is in his eye.

JAMES: Thank you.

15.4

JAMES hugs BRUCE, crying.

15.5

BATMAN is standing right next to JAMES, at the bank.  The pistol still aimed at his head.

JAMES: How…how did you know?

BATMAN: I remember every criminal I’ve caught. All of them. Every day, I have to live with what they do when they get out of prison.

PAGE 16

16.1

Close up on BATMAN

BATMAN: Sometimes it’s not easy knowing which ones will still be criminals, or what they will do after they get out. You’re right, it was my fault.

16.2

BATMAN puts his head right up to the pistol.

16.3

CLOSE UP of JAMES reaction of shock.

16.4

CLOSE UP of the pistol at BATMAN’s head.

BATMAN: I know the anger you’re feeling. How badly you want revenge. All your life, the one thing that keeps you going is getting vengeance on who took your family away from you. It won’t help though; deep down that anger will never leave you.

16.5

JAMES focuses his pistol to BATMAN’s head, his expression full of rage and anger.  JAMES finally has the chance to do what he has imagined for years.

16.6-.16.7 (Both small, next to each other)

JAMES expression turns from anger to sadness.

PAGE 17

17.1

JAMES lowers the pistol.

JAMES: “Oh God…”

17.2

JAMES collapses to the floor.

JAMES: “What have I done?”

17.3

BATMAN holds him as JAMES cries. THIS SHOT SHOULD ECHO THE ONE FROM 14.3.

17.4

JAMES looks up at BATMAN.

JAMES: “I’m sorry”

17.5

INSIDE THE BANK, BATMAN looks on as BULLOCK takes JAMES out of the BANK in handcuffs. BATMAN looks at JAMES walking out. GORDON is talking to an officer.

BATMAN CAPTION: “No one should know what that anger feels like. Only those who have experienced it know what it does to someone.”

16.6

Close up of BATMAN looking at GORDON.

BATMAN (TO GORDON): “Commissioner?”

Page 17

14.1

6 MONTHS LATER…

JAMES is stepping out of a taxi, in front of him is a building, the taxi blocking most of the building, including the sign.

14.2

CLOSE UP OF JAMES staring at the building.

VOICE FROM BEHIND JAMES: James?

14.3

The voice is revealed to be BRUCE WAYNE.

BRUCE: I’m glad you came.

14.4

JAMES shakes BRUCE’s hand.

JAMES: Thank you for giving me this opportunity.

BRUCE: “Commissioner Gordon told me what happened at the bank. Batman told him what you went through. The commissioner and myself talked to the judge on your behalf; instead of going to jail, you can serve your sentence here.

14.5

BRUCE and JAMES stare at the sign of the building: ST. FRANCIS HOME FOR CHILDREN.

BRUCE: “To help others like us. Give those children part of their lives back.”

14.6

JAMES looks at the children playing. He is smiling.

JAMES CAPTION “When I was a boy, I remember my father stopping a man who just stole an old lady’s purse. He didn’t have to, but later that night when I asked him why he did that, he sat me down and told me: ‘Because it was the right thing to do.’…”

THE END

Finishing a film one year later: The Visitor

My apologies that it has been a while since I've been on here, needless to say the last few weeks have been busy. First the good news, the project of re filming The Visitor is done, and has been accepted to it's first film festival! Now, I mentioned in the last few posts I'd talk more about the work done to remake The Visitor, and the truth is, not too much. I know i've talked in length about making the film the first time, and here's a link to the original version so you can take a look:

The Visitor original version

Although I was proud of what we made in a short time span, because of some problems I decided to fix up 'The Visitor' and shoot some footage to submit it to the local film festivals. Since the submission dates for the film festivals were in August and early September, unfortunately I didn't have the opportunity to re shoot two out of focus shots of the film that were in the forest. As the film is set on Halloween, the lack of the fall setting and leaves changing color would destroy the continuity. However we could reshoot the inside footage as there were some problems with the effects. Since the house has been painted in the last year, nearly all the footage done inside the house had to be redone. Now, to replicate something that you thought worked really well the first time is next to impossible, it just seems like a imitation, not a carbon copy of the original footage, so I reworked some moments of tension, seen when my character walks in the kitchen (actually that was done on the second day of reshoots, after we reshot it the first time I edited everything, but the downside is that it still didn't work, so we had to reshoot it AGAIN).

The ghost effects allowed me to have some fun with since I've learned a lot in the last few months. There was a shot I wanted that I couldn't do in the original version where my character actually is in the same shot, looking at the ghost of his brother as he sits down. In the original version it was cut around, this time I actually wanted to show it. So in editing I decided to lock off the camera, shoot a clean plate of the living room, a plate of Will as the ghost sitting down on the right side of the frame, and a separate plate of me staring at him as he sits down. In editing, I was able to crop the left side of the frame when Will sits down, as well as the clean plate so he looks like a ghost; and in my plate, I cropped the right side of the frame until they matched in the middle, and so it looked like I was staring at his ghost sit down. I tried the effect for 'In Memoriam' and that didn't work well, but when I did it in this film, I was able to make the seam between the shots invisible.

Once the first day of reshoots was done I decided to edit the footage in. However it seemed in the last year I deleted the Final Cut file, which meant I had to completely re edit the film from scratch using the original version and match it as close as I could with the new footage. In doing this I could also cut little frames out for pacing reasons. Some of the dialogue is also taken from the original version, and matched it to the reshot footage.

And here is the final cut I submitted to the film festivals (well, for now. When it becomes fall and it's the one year mark, I'll be reshoot the two out of focus shots). I hope you enjoy, and please provide feedback.

The Visitor Final Cut

The Magic of Editing

There are three different ways a movie is made: In the writing, in the filming, and in the editing. The writer may have a different idea in his mind than the director does of how the movie should look, and the editor may have a different idea than both of them. Unless you are the writer/director/editor, chances are the visions won't match.

Having just finished my (for lack of a better word) 'remastered' version of 'The Visitor' (more on that later) my cameraman came to me, and needed my help with some shots for a film he is making. I had no idea he was currently filming one himself, so of course I would offer to help (I think it's important to help those who want to be filmmakers, to help them out if you have the knowledge and experience to). We spent an hour working on a couple shots, and then he asked me if I would be interested in editing it for him. Having no plans to film anything else until November (more on that when the months progress), I said of course. Having no idea what the film is about, and with no script or plot line, I looked at the footage like it was a puzzle piece without the box that shows the complete picture. This is not an ideal way to edit someone else's film, typically it's a lot better to read the script so you have an idea of the storyline, and then work on an assembly, and work with the director along the way to fine tune it. With this film, it's a series of shots with no real connection or dialogue in the film, which is liberating and frustrating: It allows you to basically create the film wholly on your own in terms of editing, but you have no guideline to go on. I've been working with my cameraman/newfound director on the edit, just so I can have a better idea of what he was thinking during shooting, the themes he was trying to get across, the journey the character goes through, etc. I came up with the idea to overlay the film with classical music themes to accompany the images in order to help create an emotional mood (Some fantastic films have done this, 'The Tree of Life' comes to mind). Currently, after discussing with the director and looking over all the footage, we have come up with a general storyline which allows me to create a film that will have a story while still following the themes he wanted to explore.

Editing is like playing in a filmmakers playground: you can bend space/time; enhance a mood; create an actors performance; through editing you can make the same scene funny or scary or dramatic, just by the way you choose to edit that scene. If you are ever stuck editing a movie, or want to try editing out, there's some great films to watch that are remarkably edited: The Tree of Life, Memento, Requiem For a Dream, Breathless, Lawrence of Arabia, Inception, The Social Network, Bullet, JFK, Black Hawk Down, and Traffic.

RIP Robin Williams

Hearing that Robin Williams passed away earlier today, and the out pour of emotions and impact he had on everyone since, has left me deeply saddened. Very few people had the pleasure of meeting the man (I have not), but it feels that through his films, everyone felt like they knew him. Robin Williams was like the cool uncle: Whenever you were down, just by watching one of his films he could make you smile, feel better, or provide you deep life lessons. 

My first introduction, like many people from my generation, was his voice as the Genie in 'Aladdin'. I was 5 in the time, and I think it's safe to say that his voice as the Genie made that movie. Without his work, the film wouldn't have been nearly as good (it would still be a good film with the great animation and songs, but the Genie made the film timeless). When my dad moved us to basically the middle of nowhere (Kirkfield, Ontario) a year later, we didn't really have much so my dad would tape what was then channel CKVR all night, which had Mork and Mindy on at 3am (I think), so we could watch them the next day. I was educated on the man behind the Genie voice at a young age. After seeing films like 'Hook' (Which I barely remember), and Aladdin 3 (ditto), As I grew up I could have a better grasp of his acting. I remember seeing 'Good Morning Vietnam' when I was about 10, which made me laugh and cry. I didn't expect the film to be serious. As soon as I got into film school, among other things I started watching more of his work, 'Insomnia' (my favorite serious performance he ever did), 'Good Will Hunting' (a well deserved Oscar role), 'One Hour Photo (Proving he could scare the living shit out of the audience), 'Dead Poets Society' and 'The Fisher King' (which would make a great double feature).  I was one of the few people who liked 'Man of the Year', and one of the many who didn't like 'RV'. The last film I saw him act in was back in March when I watched 'The Birdcage'for the first time. If you haven't seen it, my god is he fantastic in it.

I'm sure everyone has their own favorite Robin Williams performance, whether on stage, on TV, or on film. For me, it's a tie between the first scene of Dead Poet's Society, and this scene from Good Will Hunting:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qM-gZintWDc

That one scene just speaks volumes. The performance, the camera slowly tracking, his amazing and well written monologue. He was a force of nature, and his loss to the world is tragic. Depression is a terrible thing to suffer from, and if there's anyone reading this, and you suffer from it, just know that you are not alone. There is always help: Talk to a friend, a family member, a help line, hell send me an email. I can't think of a better way to honor this man's memory and impact than to put one of his films on (one of your favorites), and remember the impact he had on you when you watch the film and look back on it. If it makes you laugh, warms your heart, frightens you, or makes you feel better about the world. A great man has been lost, but he will not be forgotten for entire generations of people.

How to make a film in a day - Making of 'The Visitor'

NOTE: First, watch the short film before you read this, so what I say has context:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9oh5uZqrEg

It was 2013, I've always wanted to do a film based around Halloween, I think it is a lot of peoples favorite holiday (if it classifies as one), and there is something in the air around Halloween that makes people just love it: The atmosphere, the candy, the ability to dress up, to scare people and be scared, the fall colors of that time of the year, there is something magic to it. It is my favorite time of the year and I wanted to make a film that encapsulates why it is my favorite. With all the films and stories about Halloween, it is hard to come up with something original, so I wrote a script that played with the (for lack of a better word) superstitions and traditions about the day. It was mid-October when I came up with the script, and I wanted to have it ready for people to watch in time for Halloween. I talked to my cameraman, who was willing to also be in it, and we spent an afternoon and part of an evening filming it.

In order to get it done in time, I wrote the script so it could be all shot within the span of the day, very minimalistic to film, and to have it focus on atmosphere (which is what some of the best horror films do). The goal wasn't to make it the next big film, but something small, no budget, and enjoyable. We shot everything outside first, in a park in Orillia. The bookmarked beginning, although a cliche now in film, I did on purpose specifically to have the viewer hooked: Who is this person, what does the note say, whats the box about, why is he hiding it? The first scene's goal was to create suspense and hook the viewer. Shooting in the woods was surprisingly easy to do, you have a freedom of coming up with a lot of shots and ideas, however when you only have an afternoon to film everything, every shot has to service the story you are telling. The pictures inside the box are all from my cameraman and myself, family members, relatives, etc.

The stuff inside the house is actually in my place; it's always great to use your surroundings if you are making a film, if it's set in a house, use your or a friends home (whatever works best for the film). For the carving of the pumpkin, I don't know why but I wanted the first knife shot where I hold the knife in the air before cutting the pumpkin to create a little bit of tension since you don't see what it is being used for. I don't think it worked well (the music really helped, more on that later). The shot where I put the knife down, and the camera comes around me and I notice the knife is now on another table I wanted done in one shot specifically, so the viewer doesn't think it's just a cheat. There is something more scary about having it in one shot than in cuts. The shot took about 15 times to get right, and the cameraman actually takes the knife out of frame and puts it on the table as he moves the camera around me. It was very tricky to do, but it works well to build suspense. The shot of taking the Jack Lantern outside, putting it down and having the candle blown out I love because of the slow tension it builds. Although it does go a little long, the slow pace of it works well with the film, and I love the shot.

As soon as my character sits on the couch, the one problem I had as a filmmaker is I have no idea how to show that the character is looking at a picture on his laptop. Something so simple to show is mindblowingly hard to have it interesting, so I just screengrabbed the picture and put it in the editing. I think it's probably the one thing I wish I could figure out a way to do better in the whole film. Using 'Night of the Living Dead' was fun because A) It's a great classic of horror; B) It's public domain, meaning anyone can download, watch it, or use it, and the soundtrack worked well with the film (plus I don't plan on making any money on this short, so it's fair use). Using a film's audio to build tension is a little bit of a cheat, but I enjoy it. As my character walks into the kitchen, I didn't want it to be something spooky at the beginning, but to start it off normal and once the strange sound comes in the suspense builds, and then the knock on the door (which I don't know works in the short, it probably would have been better to have a shot of the door). The shot of the kid as I open the door is actually the pumpkin wearing a mask, and my cameraman talking, which I know sounds horrible, but worked quite well, although that shot you can tell takes place during the day which is a huge continuity error.

With the end, shooting the character as a ghost is actually simple for low budget filmmaking: You need to have the camera locked off on a tripod do the shot of the actor, then once he leaves, keep the camera rolling with a clean plate, and in ending you just overlay the two shots and bring down the opacity of the shot of the actor, so you can see though him. It's a good basic trick for doing ghost effects, and in another post I'll show you how you can do a more complicated ghost shot). The only problem of writing the film is there there is no dialogue fore 80% of the film, until the climax which is exposition heavy because it needs to be. The reason my character can his character is because with the traditions of Halloween, the spirits of the dead walk the earth, and to keep spirits out of your home you have a Jack O'Lantern outside. When my Jack O'Lantern is blown out, he has access to my home, with the amulet acting as a beacon of sorts to attract only the spirits of the dead that you know. So if you have the amulet, and it's Halloween and your Jack O'Lantern is blown out, you can see the spirits of those you have lost. The idea of the pictures was that the box and the amulet has been around for decades, and everyone who uses it puts a picture of the family member they saw again and hid it in the woods for someone else, which is why the pictures look very aged, having old and young people in them. I honestly don't know if all of that came across well or clearly, and really it would have benefited from having a shot of me putting a picture of him and I in the box before I hid it again, but since it was on the computer, I couldn't think of a way that would happen, which is where the idea of the note came from. I will admit my acting isn't that great (my cameraman's acting is quite natural though which I really liked). And the last scenes going back to the beginning with the forest, now that the audience has the context, has a less ominous music and tone, adding with the voice over (which not to praise myself, I thought was a perfect way to end the film), to really have the story resolve itself.

With all the filming done, I spent the rest of the night and most of the following morning editing. The great thing about the internet is that it is a great source of free stuff. Royalty Free Music is great to have music in your movies, and it is where I got all the music from my film, and the music perfectly sets the tone for every scene, build suspense, and in some cases allowed the viewer to get into the characters mindset. Since the film has no sound or dialogue, the music played the most important role to convey the mood and the tone I was trying to set. A main reason why I didn't have much sound is that, by using the internal mic on my camera, the sound makes dialogue hard to hear and usually gets background noise, the sound of wind, and generally makes having sound in your film terrible (If you can, get an external). I felt that the lack of sound adds to the film though overall. In the end, I had the film online with a couple days to go before Halloween, which was a great accomplishment, and overall quite positive feedback. I always wanted to take more time to redo certain things I didn't have a chance to correct for Halloween 2014, which I am finishing now. In a future blog I'll do a post on the final version of 'The Visitor'

5 years later

It's been 5 years since I've been on here. A friend of mine told me to get a blog so I could do my film reviews that I kept doing on Facebook, but I guess I just stopped doing them here and kept doing them on facebook. Where has the time gone?

Well, in the last 5 years I have written/directed 3 short films, and I am currently in the process of completely reshooting another one soon called 'In Memoriam'.  The footage was shot, but due to a major continuity error that I didn't notice until editing, I needed everyone back to reshoot, sadly due to scheduling conflicts I couldn't reshoot the scene with the main actor, and I haven't had a chance to reshoot any of it really. So now it is in limbo until the actors schedules fit together, or if I recast, which I'm trying to avoid. It was a shame, for months I was looking forward to making it. To be fair, it was my fault I didn't catch the goof, the main character wasn't wearing a sweater in one scene but he has it on in the scene previous and after. Making a short film with no budget, as a director you pretty much have to become an entire crew in one, and make sure you notice the little things. I was stressed by filming everything in one full day and a morning (my original plan was to spread it out over a couple weekends). Shooting 10 pages with 6 different locations in a day and a half is fun, and it gets your creative juices going, but it is also very stressful and with very little preproduction time, you really have to be on the ball.

I wanted to make a film that showcased a professional quality. My previous work has all been pretty student film, I wanted In Memoriam to prove I could do a professional quality short film. The storyline was 3 parts David Lynch film, 2 parts Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, about a man who after a car accident goes through his memories as he is in a coma before he dies. The film all took place inside his mind, so we see him wake up, go to the bathroom, and then he hears the sound of the doctors working on him, talking to his mother, as if the doctors voice was the voice of god. As the film progresses, he goes through his memories and you realize with the protagonist what happened (the car accident, the coma). In his memories you learn about his relationship with his girlfriend, the regrets he has about his mom, and eventually he finds some closer in saying goodbye to them as he goes through his memories before he passes away in real life. It was meant to be a surreal, character driven experience watching the film, with all of this happening in about 8 minutes. The idea came to me from two things: the film 'Johnny Got His Gun', about a WW1 soldier who, after being hit by a shell, is in a hospital with no arms, legs, he can't see, he can't speak, he can't hear. The whole film goes through his perspective on the events, as he reflects his life. It is a brilliant movie, and although I have not read the book, I highly recommend it (there is very little films or books about World War 1 sadly). The second thing was a brilliant TV show called 'Life On Mars', about a contemporary police officer who, after being hit by a car, is taken back to the 1970's, and he doesn't know if he's dead, in a coma, or traveled back in time.

I liked the basic idea of the man in the coma, but I wanted to take that a step further, having him look back, see these memories happen again as just a viewer, unable to interact, just reflecting on his life just before he dies. I liked the idea of the character going through the Kubler-Ross model of the 5 stages of grief throughout the film, and taking the religious ideas of death such as how your life flashes before your life before you die. From a story point of view that's why I was interested, sadly I wish the film didn't have to be at most 8 minutes, I could have done a lot more with more running time. The sad part is, I'm a better writer than a director. I have great ideas, I love to write, but when it comes to directed, sometimes I'll have the idea of how the scene should look short for shot, other times I have no idea and I collaborate with the actors and my cameraman. For this film I wanted to have everything planned out, but I've realized is when you have no budget or equipment, you have to think about things in a different way: A guy holding a tripod is not the same as a steadicam. My equipment consists of: A Nikon DSLR that shoots 1080P at 24 frames per second with a 18-55mm zoom lens, a tripod from the 70's, and a old copy of final cut pro on my laptop. It's not the best equipment, but it still works. If you want to get into the filmmaking business, really that's all you need; you can even make a movie with an iphone nowadays with decent quality. The only downside is shooting with a DSLR, the internal mic isn't the best, and it's quite hard to find a half decent microphone attachment for a DSLR for better and cleaner audio, so my projects tend to have very little dialogue. I don't mind this, it allows me to be creative and have the story flow purely through visuals when I can, however when it comes to someone talking, you really have to work hard to clean up the audio in post.

Hopefully by the end of the year it can be finished again. I feel like I let my actors down by not realizing the continuity mistake, and also because the film wasn't the professional quality when it was (mostly) edited. Every film though is a learning experience, you learn new tricks, new ways to edit, to develop the story, etc. Almost no filmmaker has hit it out of the park the first time, it takes practice and hard work to direct. it's been 5 years since I made my first film, and I still have a lot to learn.