Miles to Go...

Hollywood
Originally uploaded by mrbosslady

I accomplished one of the goals I’ve set when we started making End - I’ve learned a lot. I’ve learned so much that saying I’ve learned “a lot” may be an understatement.

1. Working with people whose dedication matches their talent is a must – especially in post. Whether it’s staying up till 3 in the morning to finish music so I can review it, pumping out new version of FX files when the mixer can’t open what was provided in record time, color correcting every shot to match my vision, or partnering with me to get all my phone calls made makes all the difference for me. Without everyone’s willingness to make sure the business gets done we’d be nowhere.
2. Remember it’s not about a deadline but a product. Every time we have set a deadline on End we have ended up pushing it. I’ve come to realize that in this budget area of filmmaking what can go wrong will go wrong: files will go missing, tapes will get eaten, people will get sick and life happens. What is important is that while I go nuts during post-production that I keep putting out fires and moving forward. We need to make a good product more than we need to make a fast product, and eventually we will be done.
3. I need to live my film, but I also need to live my life. I don’t need to do this so that I don’t become Kubrick-type obsessed or so that I remember to do things like shower, but because if I have tunnel vision for my movie I will stop being influenced and inspired to be better. End is worth the effort for me to keep looking at it with fresh eyes.
4. I have to keep being willing to listen. It is incredibly important for me to have a vision as a director but I have to be willing to listen to other people. This doesn’t mean I have to like their ideas, or even use them but by opening up to what other people bring to me it makes me think about why I am doing what I am doing and sometimes it even gives me an idea about how to do something that I would have never done before. Film is collaborative and the moment I think I have all the answers is probably the moment I will crash and burn.
5. God is always with me. While I already knew this, you have no idea how much stress and tension rolls off of me just because I know my fate is not in my own hands. I get to work hard and then see what God does with it.

End is finally reaching a conclusion and I am like a kid at Christmas Eve that just can’t wait for morning to come. I look forward to the adventure ahead even though I know that it will be filled with up and downs and probably have me jumping for joy as much as it has me pulling my hair out. This is why I went to college, made short films, worked with my friends and continued my love affair with the movies. I am not the same person I was when I graduated college and I am excited to see where I can go from here.

I left it on the doorstop

Final delivery of sound effects for End was made this last weekend. I scoured through it for every minor little sound.. everything from a door being closed to how a bed hits a window with blinds. Then I burned it to disk (properly labeled, of course) and left it on my doorstop for pick-up. And that is that..

It's weird handing it off to someone else, but at the same time, a little nice. It'll be interesting to see how someone else interprets the script and incorporates everything together. There are times as an artist, you have to step aside and let someone else take a swing at it. Out of ego, I wouldn't have minded staying on until the final mix, but out of "knowing what's better for the project", I like having someone else do it.

Besides, I've put a lot of personal time, money, and gumpshin into this project as it is. It's sort of nice to sit back and wait for the screening.

It's a good ride and I'm lucky to have been involved. Looking forward to the next one!