Anyone who thinks moviemaking is something glamorous needs to have their idealistic vision of what it’s like to make movies washed away by reality, either by doing it themselves or by listening to someone who does it at this level. As far as I can tell, pre-production on a movie is no different from any major corporate project businessmen across the world tackle every day. It’s really all about formulating lists and timelines. It’s also very much about making decisions.
“Aftermath” is underway, but right now, it’s all on paper. Prospective shooting dates, a list of possible cast members, a list of probably locations, and a specific scene shooting schedule that plans for four fairly long days of principle photography and one day of ADR. (Additional Dialogue Recording.) No red carpets, applause, or barely-clothed starlets. Just a screenplay, a bunch of people we need to get permission from for various reasons, and a really expensive camera.
The camera is pretty exciting. Today I tinkered with it for the first time in the week or so I’ve owned it, and it’s really an impressive instrument. There’s a lot of science that goes into replicating film image on video, and for the most part it works pretty well. More importantly, the image presented fits the mood of the image fits that of several upcoming MINDSCAPE PICTURES’ projects, “Aftermath” being one of them. There’s a mode on the camera that “cinelooks” the color presented, and everything becomes rather flat – much like an older 16mm Kodak stock. I love the look of it, and with the greyness of New England winter all around us, “Aftermath” will have the appropriately bleak tone.
So we’re at the beginning of yet another production, our 11th in a year! Amazing stuff. And to be honest, because this one is written in such a different voice than my own, I’m very excited about it. It’s not often you really get to stretch yourself into something totally new.