I haven’t posted in a while because I’ve been incredibly busy finishing the movie! Well, it’s done and I’m showing it in my hometown this weekend.  If you’re in Connecticut, I’d love for you to attend!  More information can be found at www.marlborougharts.org

Thanks!

One step in the post-production process is to cut the shots I’m going to use out of my negative rolls in order to get them transferred to high-definition. This is a cost-cutting measure, but boy did it take a long time. I was in the 8th floor darkroom for 4 days straight! It all paid off in the end though because the transfer looks incredible (see below!)

music: buckaroo banzai theme

Took a little road trip out to Rock Meadow in Belmont, MA to record some sound for Hindsight. Gotta get the sound locked by the 31st of March!

As you can see, there was a lot of editing, and reviewing that was done.

music: balabaristas by tristeza

Other than that,  I just wanted to let everyone know about the new stages of production.  Once I’m done working on the sound design, the music will be recorded at the University of Hartford by my good friend Ian Bates.  I’m going to be cutting my own negatives in March and then getting the film transferred to video.  Getting my prints made will be the last step and will take place in April.

If anyone has any questions about the process of finishing the film, please let me know via email or leave a comment below!

On January 9th, I shot what I hope will be the beginning and end of HINDSIGHT.  It’s been a long road.  A full 12 months of shooting.  I’m thoroughly exhausted.

Music: Colonial Homes by Jason Anderson

I found this file on the flipcam that I borrowed from work. It’s a quick update from my last shoot in November of 2009. I had to sit in my car for hours in the cold while I did timelapses around town.

Since then I’ve processed the 16mm and yes, it came out wonderfully!

I shot more on January 9th, and I’m in the process of making a behind the scenes video for that.  I thought this will tide everyone over until then.

Anyway, I’m back in Cambridge after the holidays. I just cleaned my entire apartment, and I thought I should also update this blog. I apologize to all my family who asked me today why I wasn’t posting updates about Hindsight.

Well let me tell you this. I’ve been hard at work editing the film. I can’t remember if I wrote about my last shoot in the November update, but I’ll do it again — I shot some extra pick-ups the weekend before Thanksgiving. I have that footage back now and I’ve edited into my rough cut, which is about 13 minutes at this point.

The direction of the film underwent some incredible changes over the past month. I’ve been screening it around Emerson and getting as much feedback as I can. As you may know, the film had two elements to it - the straight, objective look at my hometown, and also the subjective point of view that came through the use of my VHS home movies. I always felt that these two elements were battling each other. I assumed the poetics of the piece would come through the subtle melding of these two mediums. I’d say that some sequences worked well together, but overall the use of both didn’t agree with each other. Saying this, I’ll announce that I’m cutting the home movie parts of Hindsight. As it is now, it’s pure 16mm film and I’m happy to say it! The project is definitely coming together more elegantly. I’m proud of the cutting that I’ve done. It feels more like a professional piece.

That all being said, I’m on winter break now until the 18th of January and I plan on shooting a little bit more in Marlborough to fill in some gaps and smooth over some transitions.

I applied for the UFVA Carole Fielding Grant for my finishing funds before the end of this semester. I’ll find out about the results of that grant in March. That should help with the finishing costs as Emerson has told me that the BFA fund is frozen this year and I won’t receive any support from them. Though, I don’t know if I should be saying that.

What else? Hmm. I don’t know. I promise I’ll make some type of trailer or something once the cut is a touch more refined and has some music. Maybe I’ll do a behind-the-scenes editing update.

I’ll say farewell. Thank you to all my supporters! Happy New Year!

But I’m making good progress though.  Right now I’m working with a 25 minute assembly.  I’m still searching through my old home movies to find bit of clips and audio to splice into the 16mm.  So far I’m liking the cuts but I’m nervous about the overall direction of the film.  I’m having trouble tying things up and making the message clear.   I’m sure I’ll be able to work things down and find what I’m looking for - it just takes time.

There have been some wonderful donations to the project in the past few weeks so I wanted to give some shout outs.  As always, a very special thanks to the following supporters!

Jerry & Lori Lyng, Sam Molleur, Mike Ulloa,

Beth Petroni, and Cindy Wise

October 23-25th I headed down to Connecticut once again to film autumn scenes for Hindsight. Music: The New Science by Ola Podrida

Here is a twitpic of Pumpkintown, at Paul’s and Sandy’s Too in East Hampton, CT. I didn’t get any video of my time there because the sun was setting fast and I had to get the shots quick!