Working it all out.

Hey folks,

Long time no blog. Been busy getting this edit together and dealing with all things life-related.

I've met with both my professors, Ula and Mark, and they've graciously offered their input. Some of it I agree with, some I don't, some I don't completely understand. But it was all helpful nonetheless, in that it helped me understand how my film plays so far.

The thing they had the most to say about was "Dr. Giles" (that's the script name - he's unnamed in the film). They didn't understand what he was doing there, why he was reacting the way he was, what the purpose of the multiple brain transplants were. And I had a hard time coming up with the explanation on the spot.



I looked back on something that inspired the project: The "Pigs is Pigs" cartoon. Why was that evil dude trying to stuff that pig so much? It's not just to be evil. Evil has to want something. The pig overindulged on food and the evil scientist wanted him to regret it. He was making a point. I believe Dr. Giles is trying to make a point as well - that you should think with your head, and not the other one.

And so to emphasize that point, Alan and I recorded some voice-over narration last Friday at EXPO to make things a bit clearer. Once that and the music is laid in, I can finally begin showing the general masses!

Which means a lucky few of my friends will be asked to step aside into my edit lab... muahahaha!

Rough cut.

I've gotten to the point where nothing about my movie is funny anymore because it's all old news. Every time I look into a cut, I think of new material I should have put in as a writer, or an emotional thing I could have changed as a director. The weird thing about editing your own movie, at least for me, is that nothing is really good enough - every time I open the timeline, something gets changed depending on my frame of mind.

That said, the rough cut is coming along nicely. I'm going to be refining it before the big screening with my instructors as best as I can. But I'm not sure if I will have time to show it to anyone else before then.

Definitely for the second pass, though.

One of the things I am curious about is how the montage sequence will play out. I think there's a nice logical structure for the most part, but right now, it's really just an experiment. The musical rhythm idea that I originally planned for isn't working out, because I simply don't have enough people getting slapped in the face. I don't have any music that I can *officially* use yet, so I don't want to restrict myself to one if I can't use it for any reason. But for now I have music laid in for tone:



It's dark enough without being too serious, and has a mechanical rhythm. Perfect(?). We'll see what my illustrious professors say, I am really looking forward to hearing and receiving their input.

Complaints aside, what material I do have is enough to make a funny montage. I won't be doing a reshoot, so that is also good news.

Music Potential.

Happy New Year!

I'm currently still working on the rough cut. The holiday season's left me lazy, and easily distracted.

I'm taking a moment to research some music to use for my film. I remember some cartoons I watched as a kid having some particularly notable music, so I did a quick google search and found exactly what I was looking for. Here's a sample:



Fun instrumentals, with a hint of creepy cleanliness. I'm going to look through the APM catalogue over to see what else is out there. I definitely need something catchy for the montage sequence. But for now, let's get a rough cut together.