Hello August Directors Log August Something 2007

THIS PROJECT IS NOT DEAD! ... just quiet... very very quiet... like a ninja... training in the dark... ready to pounce once it has harnessed all it's chi & mastered all it's deadly ninja moves... yes.... very much.

I has been over 2 years since we began production on this film... I look forward to the future when I have long completed this project & I can laugh at myself for taking so long to finish a feature film because by then I could make a feature in 3 & a half days... that would be in the year 2876... I will have robotic parts by then & most humans will be dead & I will be saddend coz all my freinds will be evolved cockroaches that aren't really that friendly... righhht.... Well if anything our low-tech aminations are looking better these days...
Below are some screen captures of some of the aminated sequences... (2d paper puppets rock)

I've also been having tiny recording sessions with the actors. Thank god they are still human... this was my first time to see Sally since our shoot... she has no beard still.


I am glad that many many people eagerly await the completion of this project... do not worry we will be done within this century.

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Hello February Directors Log February Something 2007

Mine apologies for having no updates on our developments. Me & the tiny team of elves have been busy with commercial work so that we can continue on this creative indulgence.

The elves are tired & would mutiny if they weren't so tired. I need new elves so I may set these elves free....

Here is what the 2d monsters look like once implimented on to the enviroment. I still wish money from heavens (or a proper production outfit) would fall down on my lap or I meet new compositors & 3d animators who would want in on this project... there is pay! just not enough to buy you a helicopter.



This is Sally...just in case you have forgotten what she looks like. I haven't seen this actress since we shot this project many many moons ago... I hope she has not grown a beard by the time this is finished.



This is Sally pondering a bit on the universe.

In other news.... Music! Beautiful music. I am working with my friend Acel who use to sing for this band who I did a few videos for back in the day. She is making melodies & songs for every scene. It's amazing... I mean the process... how a musician would interpret the visuals since (as a music video director) I am so used to the music coming first.

Good old fashioned stop motion was used for this sequence below. I'm using a guide recording of Marty set against one of our custom melodies. 

( right click this link & "save target as" to download a higher res version of it )

This clip here features one of the songs written for this project ... it's very rough right now, she just sang with her guitar to a computer mic... but I could imagine how nice this would be once it is properly recorded. It's an emo track set to an emo scene in which Marty drowns his emo-ness in many many drawrings. 

( right click this link & "save target as" to download a higher res version of it )

I was very lucky with the songs... I gave the composer an honorarium to start writing songs & I was so scared when she presented her demos...scared because if I didn't like them or they did not fit, I don't exactly have the money to ask for revisions so thank heavens they were pretty much what I had in mind. So hurrah to that... now I wish I would have this kind of luck for the rest of post production. *wishes really hard for indie spirited compositors & 3d artists.

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Of Recent Developments on Monsters Directors Log November 18 2006

Most of the monsters are now being brought to life with good old pencil & photoshop. It's quite a departure from the perviously planned all 3d monsters but I just couldn't get Pixar to work for fajitas & ice tea. Mmmmn fajitas...

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Of Being very Emotional & Bitter Directors Log October 13 2006

Garrr!

So many people volunteer their services to help out in this project and I am very thankful for that. But it is also very emotionally draining to get my hopes up every time someone contacts me out of the blue wanting to help out only to be let down by them flaking out shortly there after.

And yes… I understand I’m not suppose to feel bad nor do I have the right to expect commitment for I after all haven't much money to offer & I know that… it’s just draining to always be let down. So far none of the volunteers have actually delivered what they promised…again I reiterate that I am simply expressing disappointment & know that I have no right to demand… but I do have the right to expect.

My core team pushes through very slowly but at a very steady pace. Thank God for them. When this project makes it’s zillions they will surely get their fare share of bazillions. Those who let me down… Boo you! Booooo! When this gets done we get to move on to bigger, coooler things & you people will still be working your sorry half fulfilling day jobs & will forever be sorry for not taking this more seriously. Really!

I am George Lucas in 1975… Really!

Yes I am just bitter. Very bitter. And petty. Very petty. I shut up about that now.

I have not been able to update the site for I was busy doing commercial work to make sure that me & Team Sally can always eat fajitas & pay the electricity bill. Fajitas is good for the post production mind. Really!

On progress news… we have finished a lot of new stuff but I’m still deciding if uploading too much video clips will kill the movie so meanwhile take a look a t hese purdy out of context stills. Woot.



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Of El-cheapo 2d Amination Directors Log September 16 2006

I like 2d amination. In my ideal world... I would have a fleet of aminators to do my bidding & have them make super duper sequences for Saving Sally that would make Studio Ghibli ashamed & Walt Disney out of business but alas I am yet to win the loterry nor am I succesful in convincing anyone that my liver is worth 10 jillion dollars. So as always I make do with what we have. And what we have is one very talented artist who had been drawing away these past few months. I am using a very low tech aproach (though this is a practically a hi-tech project as independent productions go) for the 2d sequences... they will run at something like 4 frames per second as opposed to the proffesional 24 (which will need a fleet of robots) I will just make sure it looks pretty & it helps the story. Anyhoo below is a sample... sequences like these will be peppered around the movie since my main character (Marty) is a comic artist so his thoughts are usually aminated.

( right click this link & "save target as" to download a higher res version of it )


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Of Live Audio Recordings Directors Log September 08 2006

If it isn't obvious by now... this is my first time to make a feature length fim. I have made a lot of mistakes. One of the bigger production mistakes was the sound. I am used to directing commercials in which the producer always watches over the audio... infact at the end of a shooting day it's the producer who goes through the live audio recording to check for any problems & requests for cures & back up audio takes right there & then while I collapse after a long day of shooting with an ad agency behind my back. I'm also used to making music videos in which you simply supply a story & visuals to a nicely recorded song. Anyhoooo, in this indie film, I am also the producer. During the shoot of this project I chose to record directly into camera to save money (why Avid!? Why!?). I thought those mixers cost so much & I just opted to have the boom mic plugged directly into the camera since we were in a quiet studio anyway. So now thirty percent of the dialogue on my edit is muffled or badly recorded or unusable. Grahhh... atleast I can still have the actors dub over it & it's a good thing I have a small cast. I just hope non of them get emphysema or have their tongue cut off when we have to start recording.

Here check out a sample sequence with scratch audio.




( right click this link & "save target as" to download a higher res version of it )

Dear Audio Recording & Mixing Gods...please save my film. Sincerely, Avid.

In my head all I am worrying about is the visuals & storyflow... & I pretty much know how much each component will take... audio is an alien to me so I'm guessing when all of this is done it would take another 20 years & another sixty billion to get the audio right. Gahhhhhhhhhhh.

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Of Three Dee Objects Directors Log September 07 2006

Dear car... please materialize yourself - sincerely,Avid



My currently one & only 3d person is on leave battling invader aliens in another galaxy so I am left to imagine what our cars will look like. Maybe I could change the story & make this character the son of Wonder Woman & he just inherited a partially invisible vehicle.

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Of Our First Offline Edit Directors Log September 06 2006

Today the post team & I viewed our first full offline composite. We have had the full edit on blue screen for about 2 months now & it is only now that we are seeing everything moving with backgrounds. When I saw that the running time was 75 minutes I went “Woot! Were actually making a mooovie!”. The Sundance criteria define a feature film as 60 minutes & above. I though we can review everything in one sitting. After four hours of going through the first 20 sequences (there are 55 sequences) we called it a day. I honestly thought it would take around 2 hours at the most to go through everything. Silly me. My voice is all croaky now from talking. I guess I just want to point out how inexperienced I am with this. Workflow wise, nobody has ever done this kind of project at this scale here in the Philippines so there is no one I can call up for advice (if you have Robert Rodriguez’s number do send it to me). I kind of make up the process as we go along. This digital backlot style is something I have effectively used in music videos like Kamikaze’s Marty Nyebera but a feature is obviously a whole different ball game. I haven’t even computed how much disk space we will need once we work with hi resolution files. Anyhoo our first offline is very static… it essentially just put backgrounds on the blue screen footage… the next step is to start giving the sequences camera movements, depth of field & whipped cream.

Anyhoo look… our offline looks so professional…



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