From last month's blog post it was pretty clear in my writing that I needed more footage to a final product ready for June 8th (the now decided on release of my film). During April I took one last trip to Murrays, and I think I accomplished exactly what I went there to get. I spent the entire day following Murray around and collecting observational footage of him and his wife. The reasons why: (which I have explained partially in my previous blog posts) to round out Murray’s character, create more than an interview centered film, and to add an element of interest that correlates more to cinematography than to a literary perspective.
What’s left?
Post production: meaning I have a rough draft, and I have this new footage that I need to somehow insert into this piece. What I have now is a film concentrated around a talking head, and I want to change that to combine both the literary and cinematographic elements to what I consider a concrete documentary of a man. April was a good month for shooting, but I wish I was farther ahead than I am. I said I wanted to have all the filming done by early February, and obviously that didn’t happen. That said, I’ve learned a lot about timing long scale projects like this one. When you’re looking to make an independent film, I think it’s easiest to see it in three components: the planning, the filming, and the editing. But there's much more to it than that, and I don’t think that by yourself, all those tasks can be accomplished in such a chronological, timely order in which there is no overlap. Not to say this is a negative aspect of filmmaking, my filming process took a lot longer than I thought it would, meaning I have all four seasons included in my film and story that doesn’t only capture one point in time.
By the end of May through early June, my entire project will be finished and showcased. This month is going to take a lot of work to get to where I want to be, but I’m up to the task. The next blog post will be the last; I will be summarizing the finished pieces of work and reflecting on the year as a whole.
One month left,
Fritz