Before I left, I turned the camera's picture adjustment settings (contrast, sharpness, and color) as far down as they would go. The theory behind this was that the midway default settings really weren't true defaults. That, at those middle settings, there was a lot of picture adjustment going on, and to reverse the video look of ultra-sharp, ultra-contrast, ultra-punchy colors, I would have to turn these all the way down. In my tests before I left, the image looked very natural with these settings turned down. It was like turning off the video look.
The risk here was that without the sharpness and contrast, the video might be indistinct and unremarkable. Upon close inspection, though, it does look great. No loss of detail, just loss of the artificial edge. I've got some great footage to work with.
I went through all of the tapes and made sure things were in order. All in all, I have over four hours of footage for the Chinese Movie, nearly eight hours of TMINM documentary footage, and ninety minutes of Random Kate music video footage. I bought DVFilm Maker tonight. It's a tool for 24p conversion.
I am thinking that it's time for the "Chinese Movie" to be named. First thought, "The Ballad of Tim Nm" or "Tim Nm: Filmmaker" or "Tim Nm, CPA". Also, the film within a film needs a name. Something like "Campus Laundry Express" or "Laundromat of Broken Dreams". Help me out, here.
Anyway, here are a few still caps from tape 3, which contains parts of CM scene 2 narrative, scene 2 interview, scene 4 narrative, scene 4 interview, scene 3 narrative, and TMINM Thursday afternoon practice.
15 comments:
Wow! It's great to see some stills of the footage. I look hot! Plus, that's a great ode to Outside In with the mailboxes. Can't wait to see the finished product.
Oh, and don't forget, I want to be intensely involved in the MWITCM editing process.
Ah, that's right, you didn't get to see the footage, did you? Ha, yeh, must be frustrating to be an actor. Trust me, this stuff is brilliance.
You look very Dr. Stranglove in that second picture. Hey, where' the name suggestions? How about "Tim Nm, Filmmaker; or, what you accountant does in his spare time"
The first and second picture of Jeremy is great. You really got some great lighting and depth with him sitting there in the theater. Very neat stuff. I'm teased considerably with these shots. I like the mailbox shot too.
Title suggestions? I don't have any at the moment. It should probably be a play on a Wong Kar Wai title though. That would only be fitting.
Wong Kar Wai titles:
As Tears Go By
Days of Being Wild
Chungking Express
Ashes of Time
Fallen Angels
Happy Together
In The Mood for Love
2046
Campus Laundry is the name of the landromat (or laundrymat at Jeremy likes to say), so Campus Laundry Express was a take on that. Then there is the Godard influence, and there are titles there to play with.
There will be two cuts of this film. I'll run them by you guys to see which works better. One cut will focus more on the comedic aspects of this. The crazier things Tim says and does. There are even quite a few references throughout that make him sound like a semi-racist stupid American. The other cut will be more serious, delusional, yet not over the top.
What's "Nm?"
Yes, the stills look good, can't wait to see it.
Title suggestions:
"Fabric Softner Tears"
"In the Mood for Spin Cycle"
"Ashes of Snuggle Bear"
"Days of Being Wrinkle Free"
"Dr. Smellgood: Or How I Learned to Stop Smelling and Wash My Clothes"
Gabe, your brilliance knows no end. I'm sure Jeremy will appreciate these greatly.
Actually, Gabe, your insightfulness is uncanny. As in the Cleary video, fabric softener plays a pivotal role in the film.
FYI, I have an email in to Jet Tone Film Ltd, WKW's production company, to get clearance for the opening scene, in which Tim Nm obsessively views a WKW film. We'll see how that goes.
Nm is Tim Nm's last name. Jeremy swears it should be Nm, I say Inm would be better, Tim Inm. Tim Nm = TMINM = The Moon Is No More. Maybe it should be Tim Minm, T. Minm?
But wait! It gets worse. My brother Carl, who wins the lead role, is named Shiphighin Transit, after his band. Think German, Schibbhein Tranzzit. Schibbhein plays the role of "Captain" in the film within a film.
That name made me chuckle.
First off, I really like Gabe's "Days of Being Wrinkle Free." It has a great ring to it. Of course, I also like the very plain but effective "In the Mood for Laundry."
I still maintain that it has to be Nm just like the Asian Ng. Trust me!
Yes, I did come off as semi-racist. And yet I love foreign cinema. That's quite a plot hole. How are you going to explain that?
Anyway, I have a lot of comments on the DOBWF footage and that's why we need to work closely on editing. I can't stress this enough.
You keep stressing this close collaboration in editing. And yet, I don't know how that will be possible. Only that you did indeed do a good job co-directing. As I was watching the footage, I noticed some good catches you made to get good shots, and some bad ones. It seems nearly everything was shot both my way and your way. Much as you have said about many TMINM songs, it's not about changing, it's about adding, use all the parts. In the end, I may use a lot of the shots. This could be a long short film.
When do I get to see some sample clips or at least some more stills? I'm anxiously awaiting this.
Man, first things first: TGB DVD, new computer, RK video, then some sample clips. Or, maybe I'll get restless and throw something together tonight?
I'm going to need a lot of horsepower and storage to get the movie cut. The finished movie uncompressed will be anywhere from 100-150 GB. The raw footage will take up two to four times that. I'm looking at getting a couple 250 GB drives just for this thing.
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