On the Second day of Shakespeare.

Crikey! Forgot a post yesterday. Oh well.

I'm going to talk about money today. I'm going to reflect on how much money was spent and what I learned from spending that money.

Here is what the top sheet looks like for the final cost report turned in to my capstone instructor, Lisa Cook:

First off let me explain a couple things-

I had originally budgeted for approximately $2200. This is what I had projected to spend (this includes a 200 contingency). The total budget, $2500, is what I actually had to spend. So in actuality I had an extra $300 dollars that I didn't tell anyone about.

Why did I hide $300 dollars? It was more of a mind trick I sometimes do when I budget in my every day life. I only allows myself to spend a fraction of what I actually have in case of an emergency.

Though this time around it didn't really help much, because I kept thinking about that extra contingency. I didn't keep my spending down as much as I should have. But at times I had to spend a whole bunch of money at once and I couldn't really keep an accurate record of what I was spending (at the time). My mind was preoccupied with a lot of logistic problems as well, and throwing money at it was the best fix - one day I had to rent a U-HAUL to store some pieces of set dressing, and I didn't account for not knowing anyone with a truck to move it. That set me back a good $100. And renting ANOTHER, bigger truck the week of production was also pretty damn expensive. This is mentioned in the top sheet above.

We also spent more than I expected in camera gear, but I think it was probably the best purchase made, other than food. I budgeted roughly $350 on food, but a lot of the food was bought and prepared fresh so I had to spend a little more (one day we had leftovers though, which wasn't too bad).

Anyway, things I learned:
- Make sure you rent your trucks and find your transportation in advance. Really shop around for the best deals.
- Budget a little extra on food if you really want good food

Thanks to Christina for helping get this budget report together, and for helping to get all the receipts organized during the production. She's a real life-saver!

On the First Day of Shakespeare, my true love gave to me...

In keeping with the holiday spirit, I've decided to make twelve consecutive posts about the project daily, leading up to Christmas. Mainly because school is over and I don't have much else to do, but also because I want to make up for all the posts that I didn't make leading up to and during the production.

So, on the first day of Shakespeare...

Set photos!

Kind of giving the good stuff up early, but here are some of my favorite photos taken with the Canon 7D (the same camera we shot the movie with).

I think this pretty much sums up the characters:

Josh wasn't acting here - he told me he deliberately didn't sleep the night before to prepare for the role!

Cool overhead shot of Justin

I was unaware that this photo was taken. Pretty sinister.

This is for the back side of the album.

Not sure what's going on here. Make-up touch up?

Pretty much how we all felt at the end of the shoot.

More of Jo being cute.

And that's pretty much it for the first day of Shakespeare! Stay tuned for the next installment.



-Andrew

Production is over! What?

Wow, it's been a good 2 months since I've updated the blog here. Life and the responsibilities related to the project were a bit more than I bargained for. But, like a speeding train, the time came to shoot the thing, and my crew and I prepared the best we could with what we had. And it turned out AMAZING!

Where to begin? Well, I said in the last post I'd begin with casting so I'll suppose I will begin with that.

We had a great cast lined up. I chose Jo Crandall to play Junior. I actually considered him to play one of the bigger Shakespeare roles, but he was able to bring the kind of humor that was required of the Junior character, and did an amazing job. Couldn't be happier.

The original actor chosen to play Dr. Giles bailed out on the project, but Matt was able to find a more than adequate replacement in Alan Gallant a mere two days after I received the news from the other actor! Giles was my most challenging character, but Alan lent a campy edge to the character that meshed well with the tone I was going for in the story.

Natalie Strissel played Lisa, who I think lends an innocent connotation to every scene she's in. I was worried about Lisa being "likeable" but I don't think I have to worry about that since Natalie's in the role.

Justin Bowen, an actor who's made his rounds acting in many UCF Films graciously accepted the role of Dr. William Shakespeare in the first post-transplant. He lends so much energy into anything he does, is patient, and is pretty much down for anything. I have seen him work on other projects in the past as well, so I knew he was also great to work with. Couldn't have picked a better Shakespeare 2.

I sensed an eagerness in Josh Ingle when I spoke with him about acting in student films. It was a bit risky to cast him as Dr. Shakespeare after the second transplant but he ended up working out really well. He exudes a different energy than Justin, which worked for that particular phase in the character. He told me on set that he didn't sleep to prepare for the shoot, and was on time to set - that surprised me, but really made me glad that he would offer so much dedication to my project. A real pleasure to work with.

And of course, Matt Deicke, the Final Shakespeare. I thought that the character should go out on a big note, and Matt really delivered. Few words can describe how fun he is on set and in during the pre-production phase.

And there's everyone that volunteered to be onscreen to get slapped in the face for the Montage. That was a fun little part of the production. I even got the opportunity to implant a Director Cameo! Fun!

Of course there are all the players BEHIND the camera who was there to lend me a hand. You all know who you are, and I extend my gratitude to you all for making the production run smoothly.

From now on this blog will be used to chronicle the post-production process. I will occasionally also reminisce about everything leading up to the production: rehearsals, art production, etc. There's a lot of material and photos to blog about so also expect more frequent posts in the future.

That's all for now, as I wait for this 7D footage to convert..