Editing, Poster and What's Left

Editing is going real smooth. I haven't been doing it as frequently as I should, but compared to the progress on my first film, I'm so much further along. The conditions were different the first time around, so that has a lot to do with it. As of this moment the NICOTINE is 48 minutes and 20 seconds. We're only on Scene 25. Originally there were 100 Scenes, but slowly as the shooting went on, we took things out, condensed some stuff, etc. I'm not sure how many total scenes there are in the film, but I think it's around 75 or 80.  During the shooting we expanded on already scripted scenes; it was the plan too, so they were expected additions.

The biggest challenge of editing is to find a balance between too little and too much. Personally, I like bloated scenes, so luckily I have John to give me feedback. As much as I trust my instincts, opinions and thoughts are greatly appreciated while shaping this film. John gave me some great ideas the other night on the phone. Unfortunately, sometimes there's not additional footage to cut here or cut there. The problem with shooting for a specific editing style, is that you limit yourself for what you can do once you get to the actual editing. There are a couple scenes where the camera is locked and doesn't cut into mediums or close-ups, it's just a two-shot of characters talking, so you just hope and pray that it will work with the film. In retrospect was it a good choice? Does it even make sense to suddenly hold back that way? Did I just break the rhythm by changing the style up? All questions will eventually be answered... unlike in LOST. J/K, Best Television Show Ever.

Poster #3

Poster #1 and #2 weren't really anything, but this third one is a bit more serious. I want to go with a minimal poster. It's hard to name some of my favorite posters, but an original idea I had for NICOTINE was basically the Criterion cover for The Vanishing. I love it. It's simple and ominous and even boring -- in a good way. But if I came up with something like that, it would be selling it as too much of a brooding drama.

I don't know what the "final" poster will be. The above poster I made with the bowling floor is a relatively small file, the image quality isn't great, so I wouldn't be able to blow that up. I might stick with something like that.

What's left? The Gas Station scene, a simple re-shoot of Paul walking inside the apartment lobby and a Paul phone voice-over. I've come up with something to replace the Gas Station scene, mostly because that whole point of the scene was to get to the last couple of lines + to see more of Paul's awkward interaction with people in the outside world. I talked with Jeff about what this scene would be, and we both agree that the gas station scene would be great, but I'm tired of people not really knowing and being nervous about us doing this. Of course I won't say what the scene is, but it will be a good addition to the story.


What's next? Finish editing, music, then doing a couple private screenings with the actors, then a [hopeful] big screening [in January?], then we'll enter this thing into some festivals.

It's all going well. I'm happy with this movie. Very happy.

12%

That number represents how much we have left to shoot. It's been a long process. Just the other day I mentioned to Jeff that we started this back in April. It was in April that I wrote out the craigslist ad looking for actors; didn't think it would work. John convinced me it's worth a shot. We were originally going to start shooting in July, then it was pushed back to the end of August. I also didn't think we'd be going to the middle of October. But, that's what happens when you try to make a movie.

What have I learned? A lot. I don't want to be the cinematographer anymore, or really operate the camera. It's an odd thing to confess. As much as I'm in love with shooting my own stuff and I have the "style" in mind, it certainly takes my focus away from the actors. That's the most important aspect of the whole production, yet my attention hasn't been 100% on them. It's awful to admit that, but it's true. I do my best. I'd like a constant crew,  yet with the insanity that is this shooting schedule, it's hard to do. We all have jobs in the real world, and as sudden as this schedule can be, it's difficult to get people together last minute. Sometimes I like when it's just me doing it all -- camera, lighting, sound, etc -- even though it's more chaotic, it feels much more intimate and personal. That's not saying I don't like crew, I do, and Jenn and Mike and Shaun have been very helpful with several parts of this production. I'm thankful that they've been able to help me.

We are shooting tomorrow night and then Friday and that's it. Shooting will be complete. There are smaller things I need to pick-up; close-ups on certain objects, wide shots of empty rooms, but we're almost done. We won't be getting the music together until November. Rudy is busy will all sorts of things, including slowly writing music for this film. So from Mid-October to Mid-November, I will be editing. As of right now I've cut together 40 minutes of the film.

Lastly, this is a "poster" I put together this afternoon.

It's not a final poster by any means, but I'm trying to figure out what it will look like. Poster designing is tough; too cliched or too indie won't work with me, yet doing something too abstract might evoke an unusual or strange perception. I need to find a balance that's not overly serious or too vague. I'm not using faces or people from the film on the poster. It's not a for sure rule, but anything I could make with the actors on it would be no good. Honestly, many of the posters made by "filmmakers" my age are horrendous piles of poop. Bad photo-shopped images of characters posing in front of false background or even directors that have their name of the poster five times. Yes, we know you did everything in your film, but just because Robert Rodriguez has his name in the credits fourteen times, doesn't mean you should too.

I don't know what the poster will be, but we'll work on that later.

That's it from the hatch for now.