So I've been making a movie...

So, for the last 6 months (well, more like year and a half) I've been actively involved in making a short film. For the most part, I've been quiet about it except for people in my network and my close family/friends - and that's not because I haven't wanted to tell anyone, but rather because it's been so time consuming to get to the point I'm at now that I haven't really wanted to give a half-assed effort of internet self-promotion.

However, after a 3 day shoot in July, and a long edit process that started without proper facilities, I'm proud to see that this film, aptly titled "Dana", is really starting to take shape. In a short week, I'll have passed off my main editing portion to the next phase - special effects and colour correction.

To date, I've spent upwards of 18,000 dollars to get to the point I'm at now. And when it's all said and done, I suspect that I'll come in around 22,000 Canadian. This is for a film that figures to run between 15-17 minutes. I had initially budgeted 16,000 dollars - which was more than I ever thought I would spend - and that figure was tossed out the window before we shot our first frame. Being that this is my first foray into the world of professional filmmaking, I anticipated costs that I hadn't considered initially. I had put 9,000 aside for the 3 day shoot - 3 thousand a day - and I ended up spending 4,500 per day on it. But when I sat down with industry pros, veterans of filmmaking, and greenhorns like myself (albeit as director, I certainly was in a more powerful position), I knew that I was where I was supposed to be.

Filmmaking has a steep learning curve, without a doubt. And the shoot wasn't perfect; but it was functional, my actors performances fantastic, and in the end, as I sat down to edit the footage, I knew that it was worth every penny up to that point.

Now, as I venture into the next stage of the post production process, one that will have me focussing on other aspects while I pass the footage off to other industry pros, I will actually have time to talk about it. Over the coming few months, right up to the completion date of March 1st, 2011, I'll be blogging semi-regularly about the project, and all the aspects that I, and my team have gone through to get to the point we're at now, and tidbits of info of current progress.

My hope is to give the casual reader an insight to the pro filmmaking process, which seems so foreign and glamorous to many (and is and isn't). Along the way, I hope to promote and tell you stories of Dana, the short film that's consumed my life for 2 years, and figures to take at least 1 more out of it.

While I'll divulge more detail about the plotline of Dana in upcoming posts, for now I'll leave this: Dana - A love triangle gone horribly wrong.

Oh, and this:



Mark