Edit on Just God Movie Continues

Inching forward today on the Just God edit. We each contributed to the fine-tuning of Nicholas' initial rough cut. Settled on the placement for most of the sequences. Plenty more to do still--including green screen keying, special effects, sound deign and color grading--yet the movie itself is now taking shape.

Robert, Michael and Nicholas...

Photo by Jill Wootton.

Time-Lapse Intervolmeter

We recently purchased the Canon TC80N3 Timer Remote Control to work with our 7D camera for time-lapse photography. Been wanting something like this for years but never got around to making the purchase...until we found the need on a film we're currently working on. Got a used one half price from Adorama!

"The Weather Report" in Post-Production

The edit is underway on The Weather Report. Today, Michael lent his green screen keying skills to the project as we worked on the "roof fall" sequence.

"Just God" Trailer Now Online

After many hours of intense editing, the teaser for Just God is now complete. Here's the first public look at this project.

BBB a Success at Driftless Film Fest

Our short film Beast Bike Beauty screened today at the Driftless Film Festival in Mineral Point, Wisconsin. The crowd was responsive and laughed when they were suppose to...success!

New Adobe Updates Installed

Adobe just launched a bunch of updates to their applications including Premiere Pro, After Effects, and SpeedGrade. In particular, we're very interested in seeing how the new Direct Link integration works between Premiere and SpeedGrade. Digital color grading made easier...we hope.

Beast Bike Beauty at Driftless Film Festival

Our short film, Beast Bike Beauty, will be screening at the 2013 Driftless Film Festival. The movie starts at 11:00 am on Saturday November 9th. The location is the historic Mineral Point Opera House in Mineral Point, Wisconsin.

Image via Mineral Point Opera House.

The filmmakers, Michael Haven and Robert Lughai, will be present for a Q&A after the screening.

"Cheat In Photoshop" Book

In our film, Beast Bike Beauty, we made a tombstone within Photoshop and then composited it into the cemetery scene with After Effects. We learned how to create the face of the gravestone from a tutorial in Steve Caplin's terrific book, How to Cheat in Photoshop CS6: The Art of Creating Realistic Photomontages. ISBN: 9780240525921. Highly recommend it.

"While It Lasts" to Screen at Milwaukee and Driftless Film Fests

While It Lasts is a short documentary that features the words and work of 81-year-old artist Jamie Ross. Robert was the editor on the movie along with filmmaker Marc Kornblatt.

It will have its premiere at the Milwaukee Short Film Festival, 3:15 pm October 26th in the Milwaukee Art Museum. Then on the evening of November 9th, it will screen at the Driftless Film Festival in Mineral Point, Wisconsin.

Edit in Progress on the "Just God" Trailer

Filmmaker Nicholas Wootton has put together a rough cut of the trailer for the Just God film. Over that last few days, he and Robert have been working long intense hours, tightening and polishing the piece to get it ready for launching.

Photo by Jill Wootton.

Trailer for Strindberg's Assistant

Here's a first look at Strindberg's Assistant. While the final film still needs a lot of edit work before it's ready for release, we have to say that after two years, we are pleased to finally be able to show a glimpse of what's to come.

Promo for Fusion Science Theater

Tarazod was recently hired to shoot and edit several programs by the Fusion Science Theater, a non-profit organization that puts on educational performances for children.

They liked the intros and outros we created for the shows and so asked us to compile a promo which could be used on their website.

Strindberg's Assistent is Not Lost!

It was in the summer and fall of 2011 that we shot the footage for our short narrative, Strindberg's Assistant. A lot has happened since then, unforeseen events which delayed the post-production for far longer than we would have liked. Yet, two years later, we're happy to say that the project is still alive. The film's edit is progressing. Plus a trailer is near completion and will soon be released online.

Actors Georgia Curry and Patrick Garvey (as Katina and Bjorne) on location at the Livingston Inn in Madison.

Photo by Ivy Suryana

Pickup Shots for The Weather Report

Yesterday, our skeleton crew worked through the few remaining pickup scenes for The Weather Report. The first location took place at the TV station office for our news reporter Trudy Webster (Veronica Harper). This was shot in the reception office at the village of Oregon cable access station.

L-R: Producer Rick Richards talks with Dan of the Oregon station; Veronica looks over her lines; cinematographer Michael Haven prepares to set up the first shot.

Robert goes over the scene with Veronica and Michael.

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Next up: State Senator scene with actor Richard Russell. Location was back in Madison at Meriter Hospital's Bolz Auditorium.

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Food break. L-R: Michael Haven, Rick Richards, Robert Lughai, Colin Cameron, Veronica Harper.

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By early evening, we were finishing up the final scene which was filmed in the parking lot and lobby of the United Way. It was planned as one continuous shot and took a total team effort for our small crew to pull it off.

Rick monitored sound from the lav hidden on Veronica. (The hand held mic was just a prop.)

Michael would go with a "gorilla-cam" rather than a Glide Cam for ease of making adjustments on the camera as he moved from the outside setting to indoors.

After marking the shot with the clapper, Colin would follow along behind the camera to hold the door open for Michael to get thru.

Once they'd made it inside the vestibule, Robert (as the hand of the news camera operator) would pass the swipe key to Veronica whose character would then use it to unlock the second set of doors.

The scene ended with Veronica's character facing her camera operator, saying her lines, then entering the elevator. It took us several practice attempts to get all our actions down, but the final take was spot on!

All photos courtesy of Colin Cameron (except the one of himself with the clapboard, taken by Michael Haven)

The Weather Report - Park Scene

The "park scene" concluded the near 12 hour-day of shooting for The Weather Report on this past August 24th. Several different sequences converged at this location in Madison's Circle Park. They would involve Don (Odari Kimani), Kenny (Jay Gabel), and Trudy (Veronica Harper).

First up were the Odari shots on the park bench. R-L: Odari, Jeff Blankenship (2nd camera), Michael O'Rourke (grip), Robert Lughai (director).

Andy Lindgren (boom), Ivy Suryana (sound), Kelly Lajter (script supervisor), Nicholas Wootton (production manager).

Veronica's car sequence was next. See more of her pics in an earlier blog post.

We still had good light for Jay's sidewalk scene where his character confronts two women (Karen Wheelock, Jenny Littel).

It was a race against time to get all the shots in before we lost the light. The day concluded with the last usable sun shining on our portable green screen as we hung Jay upside down from a swing set in front of it.

Tim James (PA), Craig Olsen (PA), Rick Richards (producer), Nate Lowe (PA).

Images courtesy of Colin Cameron and Kelly Lajter.

Both cast and crew once again worked long and tirelessly without complaint. It was a real pleasure to collaborate with such a professional ensemble.

The Weather Report - Bar Scene

Part of the full day of shooting for The Weather Report back on August 24th included a "bar scene". The Malt House on Madison's east side was the setting.

Productions stills...

The outside windows were covered with black plastic to imply an "evening" feel inside.

Our goal was to recreate the camera style of the opening table scene from Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs. To do this, we shot on a slider. Each actor's close-up was set up with the lights as we worked our way all around the table. Michael Haven (DP).

Actors around the table (beginning at 9 o'clock): Tara Ayres, Jay Gabel, Brian Belz, Tim Towne, Portia Genevieve Adney, Alicia McCanna, Odari Kimani. Crew L-R: Ivy Suryana (PA/sound), Robert Lughai (director), Michael Haven (DP), Jeff Blankenship (key grip), Michael O'Rourke (lighting grip).

The temperature outside was a scorcher, and the shoot was scheduled during the hottest part of the afternoon. Yes, we were inside, but after turning off the air conditioning (for sound recording) and firing up the multiple 1000 watt soft boxes, the place was cookin' by the time we were done.

Facing camera: Tim Towne, Portia Genevieve Adney, and Alicia McCanna. In the far background: Nicholas Wootton (production manager), Nate Lowe (PA).

Tim James on clapper, Ivy Suryana (PA/sound), Craig Olsen boom, and Kelly Lajter script supervisor.

Images courtesy of Colin Cameron.

Ivy Suryana (PA/sound), Veronica Harper (actor), Colin Cameron (set photographer).

Additional image courtesy of Kelly Lajter.