Chris Jones Blog

Archiving Gone Fishing

Last night I collected the camera negative for ‘Gone Fishing’ from Midnight Transfer, who digitally conformed and graded the movie. This brings up one of the hidden problems that always needs dealing with when you make a movie. What do you do with all the stuff? 35mm neg is big and heavy and there were 11 large cans that now need archiving. In reality, I may never ever use them again as the film is now digital.

But… Who knows what the future holds. Maybe in ten years time, all films will be reconstructed in 10k res, or converted to 3d? I have learned to never discard all your ‘elements’. In feature length production, you may go back and resurrect a scene because Japan wants a movie four minutes longer! I know of two low budget feature films where this happened.

I have also made three feature films and I have had to deal with all the ‘stuff’ those projects generated. Right now in my hallway I have three enormous boxes with 60 BetaSP tapes from the last film, Urban Ghost Story. My plan is to copy these all onto around 10 DVCam 180 minute tapes with timecode. These tapes are a telecine of the rushes, and again, probably will never be used… but who knows. All I know is ten small DVCam tapes are better than 60 whopping great beta tapes!

As we move digitally, so stuff gets smaller and easier to archive… but that also makes me a little nervous too. For years I have archived all my stuff digitally and every so often, as hard drives get cheaper and bigger, I move the archived data onto new, larger drives. I just moved all my features (which were digitised as uncompressed Avid projects) onto a single 750gb external USB2 drive which cost £100. I still have loads of space left too… But my worry is the drive failing in the future. So now I really need to think about cloning the data so it’s also stored else where too… but we are talking about 100’s of gigs of data. It goes on and on…

As an interesting footnote, senior grader John Clause at Midnight Transfer told me when we worked on Gone Fishing, that Chris Nolan, (Batman) still insists his neg is cut in the traditional way and then scanned. He does this so there is a master neg copy, where most films now just get scanned and remain a mountain of camera negative. It seems that even in studios, storing this stuff is a problem as the camera neg gets ditched once digitised. From that day onward, the film can never be restored from the original camera neg, The digital files are all that exist. That’s why I am still filling my hallways with big silver cans!

Onward and upward!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

After running the Masterclass this weekend, I have myself been pretty amped up! For me it’s the hidden benefit of doing something like this. You get to spend the whole weekend, out of closet, and screaming at the top of your lungs, I LOVE MOVIES! And everyone feels the same way too! I had not planned to do this course again this year, but this weekend was soooo entertaining and inspirational for me, I can’t help but start planning another for the Summer.

Of particular note for me is that the new career path section that I developed for the Gone Fishing seminar, really does seem to resonate with people and give them a clear and firm hook for their own aspirations. It’s a four step plan that details what should be done (and should not be done) in each step. It helps people focus on what to do and when, but most importantly, it helps people to NOT over reach too early, so that when a genuine opportunity emerges, you are ready and can take full advantage.

Here are some comments I received after the seminar.

'I can most definitely confirm that my life changed over the weekend, apart from not being able to sleep on Sunday evening until 3am, and Monday being a continual buzz of energy and excitement!!! I know I have stepped into a new phase of my life, been on the edge of it for too long… You can rest assured you not only have a talent for story telling, and making great movies but also changing people's lives. That's a gift! It was both inspiring and intensive - it’s film school in a weekend! It’s amazing what you can learn in a short amount of time… It made me look at life through the camera lens, you are totally exposed and suddenly everything makes sense…'
Heather Freedland, Film Maker and Marketing Expert

'Thank you for the weekend. Seriously. I learned more useful, practical and inspiring tips and advice in the two days than I had in four years at university on a film course. I came away fired up for the challenge ahead of me and motivated to tackle it. Feel the fear and do it anyway. It looks set to be a busy and exciting couple of months and beyond. Thanks again for giving me the additional shove I needed to get out there and seize every possible opportunity…'
Helen MacIntyre, Writer Director

'You displayed a great mix of "shoot for the stars" inspiration / optimism / enthusiasm, with a "been in the trenches and paid your dues" grounded, reality check. I really respected you for that...'
Alan Brash – Screenwriter

Blimey…!

Onward and upward!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

The week from HELLLLLLL!

Last week was the week from hell. Aside from all the Gone Fishing stuff, I had to take care or an enormous corporate video job, and host one of my gruelling two day masterclasses over the weekend.

The corporate job was ENORMOUS and I enlisted the help of second unit director on Gone Fishing, Simon Cox. Together, we worked away for a week, editing and mastering three films in English, French and German, and in both NTSC and PAL, with the client constantly making changes to all three! We put in 20 hour days for four days in a row… and then I had to do my two day masterclass straight of the back. The class was an incredible event and everyone, including myself, left exhausted but amped up and ready for action…

The only problem for me is that the client on my corporate had changed their mind yet again, and more changes were needed, plus 100 DVD’s! And all by tomorrow morning at 9am for a presentation. So after the gruelling weekend, I then spent the whole night editing and mastering DVD’s, then duplicating. It was hell. Really very painful.

But… it also reminded me of just how hard we can push ourselves. And how often, we don’t push hard enough. In fact, almost all of the time. On this occasion, I was pushing Gone Fishing, my course and the corporate. Usually only one of those would dominate my time, but now I was managing all three. I was amazed at how much I could achieve in a 15 minute coffee break during the seminar – while others stood around chatting, I was beavering away on a DVD and setting off another one hour render… Effectively, how much you can do when you really need to do it with focus and no procrastination. To me, this is one of the real joys or working under pressure.

And I managed it – I did everything I needed for Gone Fishing, the course and I managed to deliver the DVD’s on time… And then I slept for a whole day. Really, it feels like Monday to me but I know it’s Tuesday.

Blimey…

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

Meeting with the British Council

Today, the Film Festival plans for Gone Fishing took their first big steps. I met with the charming Kasia Skibinska from the British Council - she looked relieved whe I saw her as it’s just been reported that the knife hanging over the film department at the BC has (for now) been removed. It’s business as usual... but with a possible reshuffle in the future. Still, she told me, everyone was a lot more comfortable when it was announced today. Great stuff.

So... we discussed the plan s for Gone Fishing, about getting it into Oscar accredidetd festivals (so it is elligable for an Osacr nomination in the 2009 awards), where to Premiere, what other festivals to attend and how to manage it all.

It was an excel;lent meeting and I am delighted with what we disacussed. Kasia also mentioned that it’s quite unusual fo rthe British Council to meet with the film makers before filling out the online forms, but she really loved the film and it stood out. This is terrific news as one of may gold rules has always been ’make somethihng that will stand out...’

I don’t want to be specific about what our plans are just now, as you can imagine, much of it is about pulicity and managing that closely – so I have to keep a tight lid on it for now.

But it’s all good news and we feel confident that we will get some excellent coverage.

Onward and upward!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

Rules, principles and guides...

This weekend coming, I will be running my weekend masterclass at Ealing Studios, and probably, the last one for some time. Every time I run one of these classes, I spend time beforehand reflecting on current trends and shifts in film making. Of course, I still have last weekends premiere bouncing around and I am still high as a kite! So that’s skewing my perspective.

During my seminar, I offer a number of what I would call rules, guides and principles. When I made Gone Fishing I was resolute that I take my own medicine, and I am delighted that adhering to all my own rules paid off. One of those rules is shooting 25 frames per second in the UK – and I feel more than ever, even on HD, this is the way to go (if you have a limited budget). Without getting too deep into techy jargon, the main reasons for shooting 25fps and not 24fps are all technical. But there is one counter argument I hear regularly from people who shot 25fps and then watched their film at 24fps in a cinema. They can sense the drop in speed of 4% - the movie is that little bit slower and voices that bit deeper. To my ear, that pitch drop is better than a pitch increase, which I now have on GF (and I know that it’s possible to re-pitch these days, but that comes with its own set of problems too). And as for people noticing their film is slower in pace, I think that has much more to do with it being slow film in the first place, and perhaps a movie that has not been cut as tight as the narrative dictates.

One regular problem I see are films being screened that are really not complete. There is still work to do. I believe this is also a rule too. I believe it so much that when Guy Rowlands, one of the writers who did a polish on Gone Fishing, came to me with a re-edit idea AFTER the premiere, we tried it out. Eddie Hamilton did a recut to accommodate this idea, emailed me a QT, and we watched it. In many ways this recut worked, but I felt it interrupted the narrative and was also slightly disingenuous (it was a flashback that implied a certain story ‘truth’ that was in fact ‘not true’.) So we didn’t use it. But the point is, we did try, and really gave it a good and credible attempt. So thanks Guy for pursuing excellence with us all.

Of course, all films have to be completed at some point, or as James Cameron says, ‘all films are abandoned…’ but you want to do that when you have exhausted every possible alternative and idea. I felt I owed it to everyone involved – cast, crew, contributors, audience, and of course myself, to know absolutely that the film we end up with is the best that it can be.

I also got notes from a few other film makers which were fascinating, but often veering off into personal opinion, or likes or dislikes of certain aspects of the film (some people like the wobbly cam of the ‘Bourne’ films, some don’t - it’s not right or wrong but a choice…) All fascinating stuff and good to get different perspectives from people whose opinions one trusts.

Onward and upward!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

The British Council

Every film I have ever made has made it out to many film festivals. Luckily for me, I live in the UK and the British Council has always been there to help get my movies, and the movies of other UK film makers, out there. Essentially, they help promote British Culture abroad. I am going in to see them on Friday, to see what they can do for Gone Fishing. I have high hopes. The BC also has a great website at…

Rather worryingly though, the government wants to cut back on their activities… I don’t know the full extent of what’s going on, but I just got the letter below from the The New Producers Alliance (NPA) – it would be great if you could forward it to anyone you know who you feel would take action…

As I said, when I know more, I will report back…. Here is the letter from the NPA….

Dear Members, Friends and Colleagues, the New Producers Alliance is writing to voice it's concern at the current restructuring of the arts departments within the British Council and the consequent closure of the Film Department.

As you are probably well aware the British Council Film Department has provided essential services to the independent filmmaking community and it is out of respect for the work of the department that we are writing. The film department was already forced to take on a staff reduction last year so this would not appear to be an isolated attempt to dilute it's operations.

I would urge you to e-mail your concerns over the removal of the Film Department, the restructuring and the lack of public and industry consultation to [email protected] (CEO) and [email protected] (Head of Arts)

I would also urge those of you who are members of other membership organisations to pass on these concerns to your organisation and it's membership. These proposals are being implemented as we write and I would urge you to act quickly.

With best wishes, THE NPA

TAKE ACTION GUYS…

Onward and upward!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

What's next for Gone Fishing?

So now we have tow major steps to complete for Gone Fishing.

First is getting it out there, getting the film working for us, especially with regard to things like film festivals, awards, agents, managers, studio executives etc. More on that in the next few days.

The other major step is to complete Gone Fishing from a technical perspective. This is done in three parts - Legal stuff (like the music cue sheet and Dolby licence), picture stuff (like archiving the digital files) and sound stuff (like making a stereo fold-down mix and the Dolby MO disk). Yes I know, propellers are spinning on heads!

Let’s just deal with the picture part for now. Yesterday I went into Midnight Transfer to do a tweak on the titles. I had to recreate the end roller to accommodate some mistakes I made, some were simple spello’s, some were peoples stage names that are different to their real name, and one was to accommodate the Make-up and Hair Department which I had incorrectly credited. That’s now done.

But while I was there with John Claude, we also had a chat about what needs to be done next… Yes I know we have already premiered but there is still loads to do…

Some are just technical hoops, others are tweaks after we saw the film for the first time out ‘in the wild’ as it were last weekend at BAFTA.

Here is a short precie…

1. Final tweaks on the picture grade.

2. Final tweaks on the end roller and re-grade title cards to be true black backgrounds (some of you may have noticed this at the BAFTA screening, I am guessing most didn’t).

3. Re-lay new version onto HDcamSR tapes in 4:4:4 at 24p (these will then be our master video tape versions now)

4. Render out a TIFF stream at HDCam res (1920x1080 res) so I can bring into After Effects and render out a BlueRay picture file.

5. Render out a TIFF stream at SD res so I can make an MPEG2 for DVD.

6. Render out Data for 35mm transfer at the recommended facility for Midnight Transfer (every facility has different specs and so we want to work with who MT recommend). This will give us a 35mm print of the film, unlike the digital version we saw at BAFTA.

7. Final archive of project to either hard drive or tape. This is a short so there is not too much data, perhaps only half a terabyte! On a feature we would be looking at anywhere between 2.5TB and 4TB! Blimey!

8. Collection of all materials including 35mm neg which should go into storage.

And that’s just the picture elements at Midnight Transfer. We will also have a whole separate process at the 35mm scanning company who will make a 35mm negative.

So much still to do…

Onward and upward!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

HD Sound Encoding

I am now working out how to make an HD DVD or BluRay disk for Gone Fishing, so I can show it on courses and at home in HD – and also, send it off to festivals (if they start to move in the ‘domestic HD delivery format’ direction). While the difference between DVD and HD-DVD / BluRay is not sooooo noticeable to the layperson, on a big screen (projected), you can really see it, especially when you see one next to the other.

So far, the tools to make an HD disk are pretty thin on the ground. There are lot’s of ‘halfway houses’ on both Mac and PC, designed really for HDV home movies or Sony BluRay camcorders, but my problem is accommodating 24fps AND 5.1 24bit sound. So I have to approach sound and picture separately.

As it stands, I think I may be forced into a 25fps version of Gone Fishing – but that may not be set in stone just yet. As for sound, I previously made a Dolby Digital AC3 file which worked well on DVD, but it’s highly compressed like MP3 and I could hear we were losing detail. I have since found a way of encoding in DTS, which has a bit rate of 1.5mb/s, opposed to the max of Dolby Digital which is 640kb/s (and usually lower). So effectively, DTS has three times more digital data – and you can hear it! I made a test DVD last night and was really impressed with the sound I got with this extra information. So for now, DTS will be the way that I deliver the sound on the HD disk I choose. It isn’t 24bit, but until I find a better way, DTS is good enough. In fact it’s splendid! And of course, even the cheapest players now handle DTS sound.

Now, onto the picture element… How on earth do I get it onto my PC in full uncompressed HD, and then encoded into a stream that the HD-DVD / BluRay software can handle? Crickey. Watch this space.

Onward and upward!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

The Final Word...

Over the last few days I have received over 100 congratulatory emails. Thank you to everyone who wrote, it was touching, and also great for other cast and crew members to hear just how much you appreciated the design, costumes, makeup, image, music, sound… I don’t have space for them all, so here are a few…

The production values are super high, it looks and sounds beautiful. The story was well honed and crafted so that twice during this short I caught my breath and had to totally re-evaluate what I had been expecting to happen. It’s delicious when that happens and a real testament to a well thought through plot. I am totally delighted with how the film turned out. It got a standing ovation and everyone smiled and laughed all night long at the party, the feelgood factor from the film was so infectious. I would love to see more people raising the bar on short films to make them as good as this.
Leilani Holmes

Saturday 12 January 2008 was a day to remember. The seminar should be saved as a template for all future film making seminars. That was "The" Seminar... Save it!!! Nothing but the love of movies could have prepared us better for such a magnificent premiere of a well crafted story in pictures, sound and music on to the silver screen – all in ten minutes, a showing that was so complete, it felt like it was the viewing of a full-length feature. With the benefit of persistence of vision, I declare, it was a complete success. And thanks to your hard work Chris, you made it all happen.
Emil Hazeley Wilson

Chris, many Thanks for what you are doing for the U.K Filmmakers. You make me believe that I can do it! So it is stop procrastinating and I have been planning for some time. "Gone Fishing" is a story well told, with a Superb Cast. Cinematic! Emotional! Captivating!
Johnny Roberts

The film was great - we wanted more!! Me and my friend were really impressed at the way you told the story in such a minimal way yet on such a big scale - if that makes sense?! It felt like we'd watched a much longer movie by how engaged we were with the characters / story. Congratulations!
Rachel Murray

What a journey you have been on.  The standing ovation you received last night was a sign of the support you have from a huge number of industry colleagues and companies who believe that the talent and spirit you demonstrate in your film making is passionate and unstoppable. Although I played a very small part in the making of “Gone Fishing,” I was very proud to be sat in BAFTA being blown away by the superb surround mix that Andrew Stirk created at Videosonics.  I hope that you will consider that this film is just a stepping stone on the way to greater things and I hope that you remain as focused as you have always been in your hunger for great movies. I will always find it a great inspiration and honour to be working with you on any of your projects.
Adrian Bell

I've always felt that the film industry needs people to push it along. To keep the standards high and to keep the quality coming. Last night's screening of "Gone Fishing" was for me the archetype example of how the bar SHOULD be raised: how striving for quality yields results far greater than anticipated. The whole is more than the sum of it's parts type deal.
Richard Purves

An Epic journey, with dividends for all involved way above our collective expectations. A short film to watch for a BAFTA and Oscar 2009!
Damien Donnelly

Thanks for a wonderful Saturday - I am sure this event was one that none of us will forget in a hurry, least of all you!!  I woke up yesterday and wondered if I had dreamt the whole thing but fortunately not. This was even without seeing the film that was equally wonderful.  It managed to evoke so many different emotions and crossed a myriad of genres (tradgedy, comedy, action, horror, epic etc) in a relatively short space of time.  I remember laughing heartily and then suddenly being brought close to tears.  The emotive performances of Bill and Lynn were juxtaposed impressively by the youthful playfulness of Devon and James.  Each scene shared something different and sometimes it felt like there was a removal of the fourth wall and that we were witnessing something private.  This is a truly remarkable feat especially for a short film.  I am a firm believer that this film will do well and if it wins the Oscar for Best Film Short then this will be well deserved.
Brenda Smith

The night was a great success, and it makes you realise the sheer number of individuals involved (especially as I guess not everyone was there).  Sophie, my fiancée had a great time, and really enjoyed the film.  She was particularly impressed with the sound (and music) and quality of the picture - it does look beautiful.  For me, the one shot that really stands out is that initial shot just before the opening credits tracking back from Old Bill surrounded by photographs - very powerful.  We also met your mother, which was a great honour, and she was, of course, extremely proud of you and your latest film. So I wish you all the best with your bid for the festivals, and of course, the Oscars!
Phil Ashcroft

Blimey!Right. Enough self adulation, back to the graft and getting the film into some festivals! And of course, the feature films...

Onward and upward!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

Premiere Photos Online Now

I have uploaded most of the photos that I have received from people who attended the ‘Gone Fishing’ premiere last weekend. They are in a Flckr account, which after some trawling, I decided was the best way to do it (if anyone knows a better online free photo share site, let me know). The pics really do bring it all back and there are lots of great shots. You can view as a slideshow, view high res and order prints by clicking here.

If any more pictures get sent to me, I will upload them too. I didn’t include all the pix I received as some were very low quality and taken with camera phones. As we had so many great shots, I figured let’s stick with quality and not upload hundreds.

Thanks for sending so many great shots on for all of us to share.

Onward and upward!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

Music for Gone Fishing

I have received a huge amount of emails from people saying how much they enjoyed the film. I have also had requests about the music, some of you want to know how to hear it again. So I have made up a short edit of the music tracks, which runs for about 15 minutes, and includes the complete music cues from the film. It is saved as a high bitrate MP3 and you can play it on your computer, convert it to a CD or load into iTunes or your MP3 player.

You can save it by right clicking here and saving to your desktop.  Or just click to play it. This link will only be live for a week or so and is only available to cast, crew and associate producers for ‘Gone Fishing’.

I hope you enjoy it and that it brings back memories of the day.

Onward and upward!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

The Big Night Finally Arrives!

If you have problems playing the video, click here

After a long, hard, but immensely rewarding day running the seminar on ‘Gone Fishing’, the time had come to get changed into my DJ and prepare for the premiere.

We had been very worried about numbers as we had invited nearly 300 people to the event, all of whom had said they would come, and the theatre has only 228 seats! As it turned out, around 210 people arrived, so that worked out fine.

AND THE ATMOSPHERE WAS ELECTRIC!

I was personally delighted that so many people made a real effort to get dressed up for the event, and those who didn’t, I know came from some filming work and did not have the chance to get changed. To make such an effort made the event extra special and memorable.

As 7.15 arrived, we ushered everyone into the theatre and my heart started pounding as I watched everyone take their seats. This is it! No more claims that ‘in the future my movie will be…’ In a matter of minutes, it will be ‘the movie was…’ and ‘Gone Fishing’ will be officially out in the world. It’s a nerve wracking moment for any director. As Eddie Hamilton says, ‘you have instinct, you have experience, but ultimately, you just don’t know how people will react…’

The lights dimmed and we showed the trailer from Kodak, one of our major and very generous sponsors. The lights came up and I climbed the steps to the stage and was hit by a deafening wall of cheers! I was quite unprepared for that level of encouragement and quite humbled. For a moment I paused, a tear in my eye, a frog in my throat, but I pulled it back together… I had a speech to deliver, even though right now, it was a piece of paper shaking in my hand!

I won’t go through my speech, you can click on the video link of the while event below if you want to hear it again, but I must mention two enormous gaffs!

Both happened because I wrote my speech at 11.30 the night before, and used the end roller to make sure I didn’t forget anyone. As it happens I did forget two very important people, who were not on the end roller as they were on the single title cards.

First was Russ Wharton, visual effects guru – I don’t really need to say much more as you have seen the movie and know just how amazing his work is.

But I was particularly mortified to realise, as soon as I saw her after the screening, that I neglected to acknowledge my very good friend who I have known for years, Catherine Arton, our casting director. Catherine put in more work than any other single crew member on Gone Fishing, working tirelessly for months to find the right cast, working with sometimes very difficult agents, with no budget, in fact spending her own money! So Cathy, I am sorry, you know you are a superstar and that this film could not have been made without you!

The lights dimmed… The curtains opened… The movie played.

I am delighted to report that the audience reacted in the way we hoped. They laughed. They cried. They wanted more.

To see the movie projected was awesome. It simply looked jaw dropping. All Vernon’s hard work (and the camera team, the Labs and Midnight Transfer) really paid off. The sound I think is what most people were surprised by though, just how BIG it was, much like a huge action movie! Thats all down to Ro Heap’s on set sound, Eddie’s editing and Videosonics mixing, all of which was first rate.

Then came the moment I was truly unprepared for.

As the lights came up, I got a standing ovation! I don’t know how long it lasted, but it seemed to go on for ages. So much so I began to feel very self conscious. When you spend all your time shining the light on others great talents, when the spotlight hits you unsuspectingly, it kind of takes you by surprise. I was very humbled, and hope that we can all share that the standing ovation – it was really an outpouring of emotion for us all. This movie belongs to everyone involved.

Blimey! And phew!

Form that moment, it’s all a bit of an adrenaline haze! I was floating on air.

The after screening party was great, with photos of the shoot up on the plasma screens, a glass in everyones hand and a smile, hug and kiss from everyone I met.

For me, that moment is why I strive to make movies that reach out and touch people. It’s the pinnacle of the craft and artform that I aspire toward. It’s what drives me.

Since the premiere, I have received so many emails from people saying how much they enjoyed the film and the event. I will post some of them in the next few days, along with a link to an online photo archive where you can get prints of the premiere made if you want them…

My final thoughts? For me, this premiere will be remembered forever. It goes down as one of the top ten moments of my life so far, and it’s quite near the top too.

On a personal note, some of you may know I lost my father a year or so before ‘Gone Fishing’. If there is a place we go to after we die, I suspect my Dad popped back down to BAFTA for the night, and I know he would have been very proud.

Finally, if you have not watched it yet, watch the premiere video  here, complete with speech and after party clips. Thanks to Matt and Steve for shooting this, when you really should have been in a seat enjoying like everyone else.

Onward and upward!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

The Big Day Finally Arrives!

Blimey! Blimey! And thrice blimey!

What a day Saturday was, the ‘Gone Fishing’ Seminar and World Premiere. I am going to write about the seminar today and premiere tomorrow.

I had been thinking about the seminar from before I made Gone Fishing, and so collated all the important document and materials. I thought the course would be a nuts and bolts course about production and getting deals, but as time wore on, I realised a much more valuable course was possible in the ‘creative journey’ that we all go on during a film. Accordingly, over the few days before the seminar I began ordering my thoughts in a Powerpoint Presentation, bouncing ideas of other people involved, especially editor Eddie Hamilton.

About 60 people arrived bright and early Saturday morning – and we even had people fly in from Ireland, Spain, Germany, France, even Los Angeles, just for this seminar and premiere!

During the morning, we worked our way through several drafts of the script, getting feedback as we went. What was interesting is that most people were providing the same script feedback that we got during script development. Mid morning, casting director Catherine Arton came on stage and shared with us all, her knowledge of how casting a film like this can work. Then we read some more drafts and got a bit more intimate with the story. Everyone was in broad agreement that the extensive script development was improving the story no end. I even spoke to some guests who shared with me that they could now see clearly why their last short film had not worked as well as it could have, as they didn’t develop the script enough. It just wasn’t ready for them to shoot.

In the afternoon we worked through the storyboards, and also invited cinematographer Vernon Layton to the stage for a chat. As usual, Vernon was tremendously entertaining and insightful, and getting access to a DP of his experience and creative ability is worth its weight in gold. What shone through for me with Vernon was the passion to create something that really touches people’s hearts. His love of the art is infectious and it felt like a breath of fresh air. Today I have received an enormous amount of emails from people who also felt inspired by Vern’s passion and energy. It’s great that people at the top of their game are prepared to share their knowledge so openly. Thank you Vern!

We then watched some edits of the film, showing how it goes from first assembly, through effectively more script development but now in post production, through refinement and recrafting. Editor Eddie Hamilton stormed the stage with his usual laser like insight and overwhelming energy. Eddie is directly responsible for so much that is terrific about this film, and to hear him talk was wonderful. I think the editorial journey we went on was as revealing as the script development for the group.

Senior colourist John Claude from Midnight Transfer also cam up on stage to talk us through the colour grading for Gone Fishing, and JC (as he is known) is one of the reasons why Vernons amazing cinematography looked so polished and consistent. JC made the very salient point that some directors (especially new ones) often go into the grade and try to go crazy with all the powerful tools available, but that part of his job is to reign it all in so that at the end, the movie is consistent and hasn’t gone too far that the film would inevitably be re-graded later. A powerful lesson for us all there.

As the seminar drew to a close, the tension in the air was palpable. We were only an hour and a half from the premiere…

MY HEART WAS POUNDING!

We managed to film the whole seminar too, so that we can make it available in some way in the future, and I would like to thank the camera team of Steve Brooke Smith, Sylvie Bolioli and Matt Moreale for manning the cameras all day and helping commit this course to tape.

After the seminar ended, there was a dash for the loos as everyone changed into their evening wear for the premiere. It was quite entertaining and very much in the spirit of the movie, stood in the loos with ten other associate producers, while changing your trousers and giggling like excited kids!

Less than one hour to the premiere and…I will report on that tomorrow!

Finally, below are a few comments from the seminar…

Onward and Upward!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

What a great day and what a great night. The film was simply superb. To see it in all its glory, both sound and picture was a delight. Even though I'd been on the course all day, analysed the script, and seen the film various times, it was like watching it for the first time. I was taken out of analytical mode and became involved in the story. I never expected that. As for the course, it was a truly unique experience and thank you for involving us so fully on the journey. To have Eddie, John Claude and Vernon there also really made the experience unique
Steve Payne.

You shared a vision with us, asked for our money and made us a promise. Yesterday that promise was delivered - in both the masterclass and the film. Thank you for the chance to be involved. I feel privileged to have been part of the process. You may be interested to see the review I posted on my blog. 
Rod Duncan

An Epic journey, with dividends for all involved way above our collective expectations. A short film to watch for a BAFTA and Oscar 2009 ! The concept, the viral call, the blog culminating in the transparent and wonderful premiere. An undertaking that you should truly be proud of.
Damien Donnelly

Truly inspirational and educational. We see a lot of people presenting, in both the academic and real/business words, and it is rare to find someone who can present all day, without notes, without repeating himself, and continually engage the attention of the audience. I know it is no mean feat, so well done.
Sophie Ibbotson and Max Lovell-Hoare

Just wanted to say thank you so much for the experience of 'Gone Fishing'. I have never heard someone talk so clearly and directly about a career path in film as you did yesterday and as a recent film graduate working in retail to support my film aspirations that was pretty amazing for me.
Alexzandra Jackson

I have been to a lot of seminars - mostly creative writing - and I usually learn something from them, but not much these days. Your seminar was an exception. I learned LOADS.
 
I took in so much information yesterday that I am feeling rather dazed today. That dazed feeling is, I know, the result of my subconscious mind working away to process what I took in. Too early yet to say what will emerge, but I have no doubt that something will. Something good.
 
I particularly appreciated the way you structured it - leading us along the same creative journey and ending up with the premier in the evening. A unique experience.
 
I got a lot from listening to different people who had been involved in the process. It gave different views on the same thing. A kind of triangulation that helped me to see it in a three dimensional way.
 
Ever since hearing about your project, I have felt inspired by the approach that you took - getting it funded in that way - your proceeding as if the money was already there, the strength of your vision that was self-fulfilling. The seminar yesterday reinforced that impression and helped to flesh it out into a whole picture for me.
 
As for the premier - this was the amazing thing. Having gone through that creative journey, seen the various stages, seen the film in different forms so many times, surely the thing on the screen in the premier would not feel fresh. But it did feel fresh. The story took me in once again. I laughed. I cried. What more can be asked from any story in any form? It is a really special film.
Rod Maude

There are many many more kind words that I will distil and post in due course.

Thank you everyone for sharing.

CJ

Resting for a day...

As I promised today, the day after the premiere for Gone Fishing, is that of lying down, snoozing and pizza. I am really extraordinarly tired. I will be reporting on the seminar and premiere over the next few days, with photos and hopefully a video too.

Never mind onward and upward, now it's stay still and horizontal! (just for one day of course).

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

The Longest Day

Today is the day….No more procrastinating. It’s all ready, or as ready as it could be…

It’s 6.30am as I write this and ahead of me lies a whole day seminar on the making of Fishing, followed by the world premiere at BAFTA. I can’t tell you how many things could go wrong… but I am trusting in my own experience and the experience of the very talented people who are helping me out through the day, to ensure the whole event goes smoothly. I know it will.

The last thing I did last night was write my speech, which brought back all sorts of memories. I also got a text from John Claude at Midnight Transfer to say that he had completed the HDCamSR master tapes and they  are waiting for us at their offices. So that's it. In theaory, the film is completed...

IT IS FINNISHED!

I have very severe butterflies… Let’s hope that the next entry on the blog reads… ‘Amazing success…!’

Right. Lot’s to do.

Onward and upward!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

One day to go…

One day to go…

And the film is still not complete! And BAFTA keep changing their minds about what we can and cannot do in terms of screening… And I am about to have a heart attack!

The seminar is all coming together nicely though, and it looks like it will be an amazing day.

But everything else is distressingly incomplete. Mainly the movie. On reflection, this is one reason why exhibitors have held on to 35mm for projection. The format just works, and it is very robust. You can pretty much screen it in any cinema on the planet with only a moments setup for sound format and picture aspect ratio.

HD has a long way to go before it standardises on a global level in that way.

Last night I mastered a DVD from a TIFF stream Midnight Transfer gave me. And it looks AWESOME. I also got the sound converted from the 24bit / 24fps cinema mix to a 16bit / 25fps DVD mix. I had to go in and clamp down the levels on the sub woofer track at two points as when I made my first DVD, it overloaded my amplifier and it shut down! It was a minor change and served to highlight how theatric presentation and domestic presentation are two different formats with different technical specs. One doesn’t necessarily work in the other without some modifications. Anyway, the sound is FANTASTIC too, and that DVD is now serving as my bullet proof, it will ‘play one the day’ backup should the HD playback develop unforeseen problems. Without this kind of built in redundancy, I always feel very exposed. And I have learned two things from experience. There are always problems. And the show must go on.

Onward and upward!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

Final preparations and De-Spotting

The last few days have been a whirlwind of preparations for both the seminar and premiere of Gone Fishing on Saturday. Believe it or not, with only two days to go, the film is not yet complete! Right now, it is being de-spotted by Tom, at Midnight Transfer. We shot on Gone Fishing on film, and film is a mechanical process where occasional flecks of dirt can find their way onto the image. The process of de-spotting paints out these minor blemishes. It’s not a terribly hard process most of the time (outside of major negative damage), BUT it’s really painstaking… So a moment to consider Tom as he does this essential but often un-thanked task to deliver to us all, an image that is superb. So thank you Tom, we all appreciate your excellence and hard work!

My printer is running 24 hours now, in an attempt to print everything out for Saturdays seminar. It’s all going well and everything is on schedule, but like a movie, there really is a huge amount to do! I have three long To Do Lists with all manner of things on them. We are planning to video record the whole seminar which will make it available in the future on DVD – all eight hours we hope. We also hope to include interviews on Saturday with a few key crew members to explain how they tackled the problems they faced.

Tonight I will be going out to get my Dinner Jacket sorted. Those of you who know me will fully appreciate how much horror this fills me with. I rarely get dressed up, let alone go into a shop for a fitting! Blimey! Still it’ll be worth it.

Getting VERY close now… Two days and ticking…

Onward and upward…

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

Stop Press – I just spoke to Tom at Midnight Transfer and he confirmed that he has just completed the de-spotting… So with one working day left before the premiere, we still need to master the film onto HDCamSR tape for the premiere, both picture and sound… Goodness, you need nerves of steel for this!

STOP PRESS AGAIN! I just managed to buy a whole dinner suit, on offer, from M&S, for just £74 – Jacket, shirt, trousers and of course, dickie bow! Not a bad investment.

Mail out to contributors

I have just mailed out to the Seminar and Premiere guests for Gone Fishing… We still have some places left so if you want to come, click here… You can read more about this course here too...

Welcome to the Gone Fishing Premiere and Seminar, January 12th, 2007 at BAFTA, 195 Piccadilly (map and directions here). It is a few minutes walk from Piccadilly Circus tube.

The seminar will begin at 9am sharp, so if you want coffee before hand, please get here early. We do not plan to serve tea and coffee throughout the day but there are lots of coffee shops right on BAFTA’s doorstep.

There will be a break mid morning, and one mid afternoon, with a short break for lunch. The seminar will conclude around 5.30 and the Premiere will kick off at 7.00 – so please think about how you will get changed and grab some food before the premier. As glamorous as it is, some of us will resort to getting changed in the bathrooms of BAFTA (myself included). Ah the film business. The Premiere will conclude at 11pm. During the event there will be a cash bar.

Dress code for the seminar is casual, and for the premiere it is posh frocks and black tie (though that is not mandatory, so if you don’t want to get dressed up, that’s OK too.) just a hint, if you are a film maker, this is a chance to get your photo ‘looking like a director at a premiere…’ which can be used in PR. It’s an opportunity.

Tickets for the premiere will be collected on the day and names will be on the door for all guests, so please don’t expect any tickets to arrive ion the post.

Now for the seminar…

I have crafted a really unique seminar that will take you fully on the creative and financial journey while making this film.

My goal is to have you feel like you were directly involved in the making of the film, so that you can experience the triumphs and failures in such a way that you will own rather than observe ‘the experience’. Almost like you made the film but didn’t have to go through the hell of actually making it.

That experience will then be yours that you can draw upon when you come to your next project.

And the journey begins now…

Attached to this email is a PDF script for the first draft of Gone Fishing. I would like to you print it out and read it, as though you were the producer or the director, and make some notes about what you feel. Keep the notes short and bullet pointed and please remember to bring it along on the day. If you are up for it, think about budgeting and scheduling as an exercise now – go ahead and draw one up if you feel like it – it is something that can be compared with our experiences later. You will get more out of this course, if you put more in right now. And remember, this is just stage one of an organic process, so whatever budget or schedule you draw up, (will just like the movie) evolve and change…

And remember – THERE ARE NO RIGHT OR WRONG ANSWERS..

There are just people who TAKE ACTION AND THOSE WHO DO NOT…

I look forward to an excellent day and truly amazing evening!

Onward and upward!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

More Creative Issues...

Six days to go…(blimey) And still the film is not complete!

I spent this morning back at Midnight Transfer, completing the picture grade. Editor Eddie Hamilton came in to take a look and some very minor tweaks were made – one frame here, two frames there, shaved of shots - mainly because we could see eyes more clearly now as we are full 2k resolution – something we could never have done on the offline Avid at DV res. The changes were tiny, but again, they made all the difference. It’s wonderful to work at such a high level where literally, we discuss and modify individual frames.

One other major concern was also tackled today. ‘Gone Fishing’ contains a long flashback sequence, and ‘movie convention’ states that flashbacks somehow look different to the main narrative in the film. Often you will see flashbacks strobed, or in black and white, or de-saturated… In the offline cut, Eddie had de-saturated the look, reducing the colours. And it really helped the narrative through the various edits. But in the final grade, we went the other way and saturated colours giving it a Kodachrome kind of look. Personally, I loved this look, as did DP Vernon Layton, but I had a niggling doubt that it could do with more. We discussed putting a soft vignette over the flashback shots, but both Vernon and grader John Claude, felt this was too much. We also ran out of time to deal with it in the main grade before Xmas.

So today we applied a vignette to the flashbacks. Each shot looked very attractive with this darkened edge look, but collectively, it became too heavy and resulted in a ‘narrowing’ of the image. These flashback sequences now looked darker and somehow less widescreen. So Vernon was right.

This really helps illustrate the creative dilemma we all face as film makers – who is right, which idea is best? All you can do is your ‘due diligence’ – try it out. Surround yourself by smart people, listen to opinions and then make a choice based on your own gut and their advice. Thankfully, on this occasion, trying out the vignette mean’t that everyone ended up on the same page and in complete agreement. So the vignette was removed.

We also had a problem with the end roller, so I am typing this blog now as 90% of my computer resources are rendering a new end roller in After Effects – only 40gb of individual frames saved as DPX files! Hopefully, I can drop them in tomorrow at Midnight Transfer.

Onward and upward!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

Six in, one out... 'Muxing' the soundtrack

Now the final mix is complete, I wanted very much to listen to it in Dolby Digital at home, on my own 5.1 system, as well as start the process for making a DVD of the completed film once everything else is done. The only problem is that I left the final mix on Friday with a copy that is saved as 24bit, 48khz WAV files, six of them (one for each channel), all recorded at 24pfs. I needed to convert them to a single AC3 Dolby Digital file, which I believe is at 16bit and 48khz, and as the final picture transfer onto DVD will be at 25fps, the sound is also currently running 4% slow for that DVD.

The short answer to this problem was that I used, for now, a 24fps version of the film which inserts an extra frame every second, so that it’s running time is that of a 25fps version (though ever second the picture ‘bumps’ as a frame is repeated). I then used a program to ‘mux’ the sound from 6 discrete (separate channels) into a single encoded file. I used Soft Encode by Sonic Foundry, and it took all of five minutes to encode it. On balance, it was pretty easy.

I then took that AC3 it into Adobe Encore and used the ‘plop’on 2 (that’s the beep on the leader at the head of the film) to sync it up with the picture. Again, it worked fine and when played back, my DVD player recognised the Dolby Digital stream and my amplifier separated the tracks and sent them of to the correct speakers – left, centre, right, left surround, right surround and sub woofer.

I chose to shoot ‘Gone Fishing’ at 24fps, mainly to have the experience. I have always been an advocate of shooting at 25fps if your budget is low, and frankly, I am still an advocate of it. It seems to me that there are several technological hurdles when shooting at 24fps, with no real benefit to the end product. Certainly shooting at 25fps has no impact whatsoever on the final consumer or any potential distributor or broadcaster (if this were a feature film for instance). For me, choosing 24fps (when you have a low budget) is a matter of misinformation or zealous puritanism.

Of course we will have to see how HD pans out, and if 24p does start to dominate in the home and on broadcast, then that will change things… but I am not holding my breath. I believe that sadly, PAL and NTSC, are her to stay for the foreseeable future. HD had it’s chance at one world format, and it blew it.

Anyway, at least right now, I can watch ‘Gone Fishing’ with an offline cut at 24fps and hear the amazing soundtrack we produced last week at Videosonics, and experience it in all it’s acoustic glory.

Onward and upward!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]