"Puss N Boots - NOT!" Rushes - Page 2

Chapman Photography · #11 (**permalink**) 08-02-2006, 05:42 PM

Kuwait! That sucks. What station? TV or are you in the service?

worddigger · #12 (**permalink**) 08-03-2006, 05:50 AM

Originally Posted by Chapman Photography

Kuwait! That sucks. What station? TV or are you in the service?

Neither. It is a U.S. Government shortwave/medium wave/television satellite broadcasting and satellite relay station. I am a broadcast and communications engineering manager. I work for an agency of the U.S. Government (BBG/IBB) which operates such stations worldwide.

Having said that, be advised that my film making activities are a personal and private affair that is in no way connected to my Government employment work. Government employees are not permitted to have fun at work - smile.

worddigger · #13 (**permalink**) 08-07-2006, 02:26 PM

Update:
For those of you following the development of this film project, just an update to let you know we have added two additional scenes which we did over the weekend. The scenes pick up where the movie left off (we are now filming and editing in sequence).

In addition to the two new scenes the following changes have been made to the previously shown portions:
1. The opening credits font has been changed, to something more pleasing.
2. The Cat morph in the intro scene has been reshot and extended with SF agumentation.
3. Some additonal sound effects have been added to the third scene (where Jay hits the Cat over the head 4 times with her fork and weiner).
4. The two new scenes added I call "Rewrite" and "Holding the Bag" for obvious reasons - smile!

The DivX preview link URL remains the same http://www.christiangeology.com/video/dinnerscene.html

As always, feedback appreciated.

Chapman Photography · #14 (**permalink**) 08-08-2006, 11:19 PM

It looks like its coming along well. You used the name Daisy Duke, did you get permission from WB?

worddigger · #15 (**permalink**) 08-09-2006, 07:19 AM

Originally Posted by Chapman Photography

It looks like its coming along well. You used the name Daisy Duke, did you get permission from WB?

I don't think that is necessary, as it is making a satirical reference to an American icon and therefore falls under "fair use" doctrine, IMHO.

See: http://www.publaw.com/parody.html

One can't do a pisstake on something unless you reference the original.

enc · #16 (**permalink**) 08-09-2006, 10:33 PM

link isnt working.

worddigger · #17 (**permalink**) 08-23-2006, 12:27 PM

There are three parts to any good movie story. 1. Character - development/background. 2. Conflict - quest to obtain 3. Conclusion. We have now reached the end of the Character and plot groundwork portion. For those of you following the evolution of the "Puss N Boots - NOT!" movie it has been updated on the same link: http://www.christiangeology.com/video/dinnerscene.html (DivX File). It now runs about 11:30.

Producing this movie has been a real learning experience. Learning from mistakes we have had to go back and reshoot a few scenes, but were rewarded with a better product for the effort. The actors are getting more experience and are starting to understand the shooting process, making things easier for all of us. I'm also finding that little things that don't normally register in real life become big issues for movie making. Things like makeup defects, scene continuity blunders, and background noise levels are issues that have to be delt with. I'm beginning to understand how the "Devil is in the details" as it is lots of little things that have to be just right, else they come glaring through, and that is just in the studio. Problems are really magnified outdoors.

The strangest experience happened this past weekend when we went to do our first outdoor location shot near a lake in Austria. We setup the camera off the road near a lake shore to film a two minute sequence. My wife was in her Cat outfit and the other lady was in a bikini. All of a sudden two car loads of Japanese tourists stopped next to us, then got out and started taking pictures of the lake and us. The ones that did not have cameras were chatting away on cell phones. We had to abandon the shoot because it was just not possible to get good sound under the conditions. Next week we will attempt a reshoot at another, more secluded location, and very early in the morning. Stary tuned.

PS: By the way, towards the end of the newly added scenes, we needed the special effect of a carbon arc, theater grade "spotlight" to set a mood. Of course, I didn't have such a device available, so we faked it. First, I shot a few minutes of the empty background set in darkened lighting conditions. Then, not moving the camera, we relit the scene with the actress standing in front of the same background and lit her with only one key light. This produced a strong shadow. I then used the "cookie cutter" feature in Vegas to insert her, inside a circle and contrast it against the darkened background footage. The effect: As long as she remained in the circle, she appeared to be in a spotlight on a darkened set. A final touch of applying blue-mid-tone boost gave the lighted area the simulated bluish light that a theater arc lamp throws.

Chapman Photography · #18 (**permalink**) 08-23-2006, 05:52 PM

Nice job, It looks good.

Mark W · #19 (**permalink**) 08-24-2006, 12:50 PM

Looks / sounds very nice commensurate in part cos of all that lovely gear you are using so well (goes green).

A few criticisms -

The (very small) mics are often visible, could they be hidden?

I also found all the direct to camera stuff a bit tiring. A few times the actors didnt appear sure if they should be adressing the camera or the other person in the scene.