7 Hours Later

So, I've been thinking: Now that we have a Forum and a Wiki, Production Now could actually benefit from a Blog, a real blog that isn't trying to double as a Forum and Wiki. So, my goal is to start posting about the things I've been doing lately, the stuff I'm thinking about, anything I've been watching, and whatnot. Basically, a blog about the life of a professional, self-employed filmmaker intent on mentoring the next generation of filmmakers. The content that has been here will move to the Production Now Wiki.

So, today I stopped editing after seven hours of tweaking MathTacular 2. I'm working until I begin to no longer be productive on this project because I need to get it back "in house" for my client by November 1, or earlier. So, I'm in "crunch mode"... which I've been in all summer with this project. I was brought into this project after only about a week of pre-production and then we were supposed to simply start shooting this 4 hour comprehensive math DVD covering everything in 3-4th Grade math. This was not a good idea, which I kept reiterating to my client through-out the summer, and it made the project not only much more of a pain but also a lot less fun; and frankly, if you're not having fun making an educational DVD the end result will be a bear to watch. Thankfully, we are a good enough team that it will end up spectacular, but not without plenty of blood, sweat and tears on our end. As gentle reminder to filmmakers everywhere (and their clients): Please pre-produce!

We are supposed to hear back from the SAICFF at the end of this week about our film and whether we made it in. I still have a lot of BTS to edit and a few more Commentaries to record. Also, when I showed the version I sent off to the festival I found some errors, so there is more tweaking to do there too. We may not have been watching the final version because there were some big differences from what I watched before. Not sure what happened. I guess that should be a reminder to have a better filing system. I am way better than I was in College, but I still have much to learn.

Hmm, I have more to talk about, but "the kids" are coming over, so I'd better go.

~Luke Holzmann
Your Media Production Mentor