I'm a newb so indulge me... I thought it might be interesting to post a daily production rant. 12:18pm EST @ first I thought "wtf, captain obvious". Then about 4 hrs later I thought "wtf am I gonna do" Then T+6 hrs later I had what I hope is an original thought. That remains to be seen. 12:30 am EST and I have "conception" on paper. Tomorrow the goal is an actual dialogue on paper. Then asking all my friends to give up a weekend for a few slices of pizza and some beer. I'm having fun already!!! That may last a day or two ;) Tune in tomorrow for my next rant...if I can think of one.

LOL...you won't have to "think of one." Believe me, it will come to you--on a daily if not hourly basis. Glad you're having fun, Dave. :)

I took the liberty of moving your post to a thread named so because of you! This will be our usual "How's it going" thread. So, have at it, guys!

sweeeeet...4,6,8,10 characters

I'm neck deep in other projects, but sometimes a thought comes up, and it speaks: "Masks, masks, masks!"
I want to hide from it.
Had some ideas, but I don't have the technical means for them. So waiting for other sparks.

Morning of Day 2.5 (east coast).........coffee, staring blankly at a page of what appears to be some form of the english language scribbled everywhere and in every direction, I swear at one point the words actually moved. I had an image of picking up the notepad and all the words floated to the bottom of the page like one of those kids toys filled with clear liquid... FOCUS!

Dialogue, well interesting dialogue is tough oh and this little thing called 'Life" keeps buggin the crap out of me. Shoo!


I'm still having fun :)

Suggestion... when doing projects with tight time limits like this, sometimes the best way to work is...

1) Which actors can I get on short notice (lock them down)
2) What location can I use easily without restrictions (lock it down)
3) Write script for that single location with your actors. Make the first draft 2 pages. By the 3rd draft, you'll have 6 pages, which you'll then kill yourself cutting down to 3-4 again. :)
4) Shoot it within 2 days of writing it, and leave yourself as much time for post as possible.
5) Get your rough cut done within 12 hours of shooting.
6) Breath
7) Realize you still need to polish your cut, color, foley, score, titles, render, updload... all within the last 2 hours before the deadline. :)

I'm getting a VG10 monday/tuesday (yey!) so have the additional fun of learning to use a new camera on this shoot! (to be fair I've got a script written, a location locked down and one of the two actors, so I'm not doing too badly...)

And I'm sooo excited about being able to do a shoot with lovely shallow DoF and a decent sized light sensor rather than my old XH-A1 :)

A little behind, as usual. My son bailed me out by coming up with an idea last night, so now I have to find actors and turn the concept into a script. Then there's location, props...man, I'm feeling tired already. Gotta light the fire for this one!

...And then Henry had to remind me that my XH A1 is OLD. ;)

Was so fired up for this one... but then my Peter Jackson ambitions smacked into a wall of reality.

Getting scrambled to cover the miners' rescue in Chile meant putting this challenge on the back burner for a couple of days. But a flawless resolution of that news story and my return home on the weekend meant it was time to come up with something to avoid the Wall of Shame.

OK, so my entry won't have the cast and script I originally envisioned, but I still managed to throw together a first act last night. The next couple of acts are to be knocked down over the next couple of days, hopefully leaving time for a decent edit. As usual, getting reliable performers together seems the hardest challenge. Reckon this will have to be a two-hander. And, for this entry at least, KISS rules.

Many apologies Lorinda! The XH-A1 is a great cam, I love mine to bits and the only reason I'm using the VG10 is cos I want to test it out in a proper shoot environment before I start using it for cherry shots on paid jobs.

That and the lovely shallow DoF ;)

Great to hear how everyone's doing. Best of luck with all the shoots!

The craft cart last night had Saint-Emilion, ravioli in black truffles and profiteroles with artisanal ice-cream. Needless to say the cast was very well fed, very content indeed with the catering, but not so productive. Nothing shot. Note to self: don't overdo the bribery; next time, stick to sandwiches and soda.

I'm having trouble with my script. :/

I have in my mind the basic idea, but I'll need about 4 people to carry it out--and when I'm the only one to operate the camera and act at the same time... Frustrations!! :P

I'll see what I can come up with, but I may have to drop out. :(

Writing is an art... that seems to be evading moi at the moment. I have an opportunity to write and direct an episodic piece (2-3 minutes each) for inclusion into a local weekly program. The skits should have one continuous story arc throughout the 13 episodes.

I'm not asking for ideas or help (at this point) just ranting that the mind is blank and my day job isn't helping one darn bit.

Hang in there, guys! When we run it down to the wire we don't get to fine tune them as we'd like; at the same time I've seen some really good short films come out of 48 hour contests.

Timothy, we've also seen some great films right here from guys who had to do it all. It's a challenge framing oneself and figuring out interesting shots, but if the story is compelling enough static shots work just fine. So don't give up!

Last night I handed over the reigns to a friend of mine who has never done this sort of thing. The story became his so he's going to write, co-direct, and act in it. All I have to do is help with cast, crew, location, props and all that stuff. Which means I just became a producer. Love it! :)

Finished most of the shooting last night. Got real lucky, my most loyal actor was finally able to reach his cousin (the guy who played the Apache in the DVC "film trailer" challenge) and my daughter found us a woman interested in acting.

The team worked smoothly with each actor "improvising" some with very positive results.

Dang this is fun.

Ok...good news and bad news...the good news is that I got quite a big promotion at work. The bad news is...well...I got quite a big promotion at work and have had NO downtime yet. I see that deadline getting closer and closer and I am praying I will have some time on my ONE day off to at least put something together to avoid the wall of shame on my first time out.

No promises though...Wish me Luck!

One scene left to shoot, pretty simple one once I find the right location.

Well, I was bragging to my crew I didn't need the whole 4 minutes to tell this story, so imagine my surprise when I finished editing what I had and with one scene left that has to be there, I was looking at 4 minutes and 38 seconds on the timeline (without credits).

After some "major surgery" I'm down to about 3 and a half minutes, the credits will roll past the last scene and it will come in at exactly 4 minutes. Having to trim here, trim there, and then some more actually improved the "pace".

Good luck to all of you, and Tim, keep after it. Do what I've seen you do and "come through".

Well done to everyone who's already finished their shoots! Much more organised than me.

I've had to scale things back a bit 'cos my boss has suddenly decided this is the week he wants me to re-edit a feature script :(

But... I've gone to the effort of building a snorricam and am determined to use it. So... I'm going to put my thinking cap on and try and shoot a little monologue with an actress friend. Already have the seed of an idea and am determined to avoid the wall of shame!

Right. Have had very productive few hours. Have had new much better script idea. Have two actors, make-up, locations, composer and shoot date pencilled in for saturday. Very, very excited :)

That sounds great, Henry! I'm excited for you. Wishing Matt luck, as well!

Talk about a new experience. I've got actors, locations, and almost there on props. Waiting now on a script! Is it me or are we going about this a bit backwards? :)

Way to go everyone.... And Lorinda, it sounds like you're doing Apocalypse Now. You can worry about the script when you start shooting!

Have just started editing. Pleased with the titles at least... now the hard part: whittling all the footage down to the allotted time. It's kind of like trying to pack everything into a suitcase after a vacation -- it never fits.

Lorinda, looks like actor availability means I'm going to be submitting on the edge of time. It will definitely be in your inbox for 9am monday though...

I'm afraid I'll have to join the wall of shame this round too. Currently sitting in airport - express working trip to Belorussia. Maybe I'll shoot smthing with my mobile if I get any ideas. :D

Unfortunately, my following of the San Francisco Giants <yeah!!> have cut into my production time, and with a long lost friend of my wife coming this weekend, I don't have much optimism about get a film out...

...it sounds like you're doing Apocalypse Now. You can worry about the script when you start shooting!
That's about how it's going to be. But, we've suddenly got a co-director amongst us so I'm backing clear away and doing more technical things; therefore, it's not my problem. ;)

I'm attempting to make my own masks because they need to be originals. Having flashbacks of my 8th grade art teacher pulling me aside and asking me not to sign up for her class the next year...

Oh, Henry...now where did you find a 9 am Monday clause? What Dylan and I have done, in our supreme benevolence, is say that IF someone is having render/upload problems we'll let it pass as long as it's in the inbox by the time we wake up on Monday. But what if I happen to wake up at 2:30 a.m.? :) Try to get it in by midnight PDT if you can, dear. Some of us pull all-nighters on Saturday to get it done in time.

UGH!

I'm out.

Fourteen hour days (YAY!) and then road work.

Wall of Shame Threepeater here!

I'm amazed. I'm in the final straight on not only my first dvchallenge entry, but my first EVER short video film I've made. It may not have the quirky confidence of a Paul Thomas Anderson or the production values of Ridley Scott, or even the budget of that small mattress company advertisement I once had a part in (I was in the mattress costume; I fell over on cue). But it's there, whittled down to just fit within the allowed time, glued together with scenes of loss, triumph, lust and transformation. From the theme of masks, is born my little "Catnip", and to my stupefaction I believe I'll even have the edit finished today, ready for upload....

Be kind to this dvchallengevirgin. It's a first toddler step for me, and a huge leap away from being known as mattress boy for the rest of my film career.

It snowed here this morning, and kind of ruined my plans for the day. :( Most of the 2-3 inches is gone now though, so maybe this afternoon I'll be able to do something towards my entry... :)

Done!

Uploaded and link emailed.

Sorry, Lorinda. I'll submit by the required Sunday evening deadline.

And there it is. This dvchallengevirgin has submitted. Link e-mailed to thedvchallenge@gmail.com, fingers crossed. Gotta be in it to win it -- but more importantly, look forward to critiques on what I can do to make productions more engrossing going forward. A first effort to build upon, this one.

Hopefully I'll get something done today, though so far nothing has panned out. :(

Day 1 of the shoot over here in Blighty. Off to import the footage now and map out a rough edit of what we've got for the composer then back on set tomorrow morning for the final scene... Nothing gone horribly wrong so far that we haven't worked out a way round. Might be in the unusual position of finishing something with my original idea of it intact ;)

Good luck everyone with the final day. Really looking forward to watching lots of shorts next week!

Wandered around with my camera this afternoon with a basic idea in my head. Trying to upload to the computer now. :)

Hey, I'm done, uploading in progress and sending the link shortly :)

Finished shooting today, thanks to a great friend. I spent most of last night in the doggy ER with my Border Collie, who finally perked up ten minutes before I was to leave for the set today. Two hours of sleep, monster cold--no shape to be making decisions, so my friend Rich came down and ran the camera. What a guy!

Just remembered some background audio I need to record back in town. I wonder if anyone will notice I'm in my pajamas...or if you guys will notice if it's not there...

Whelp... Wall of shame for me. Tour got extended, so the team's still out on the road pulling some looong hours. Sorry, guys! Can't wait to see the films!

I'll have to find this "wall of shame", as I am only partly done the editing (can't find appropriate music, need a few sound effects that I haven't had time to get, and need another scene in the middle and a proper ending.)

Sorry guys. :(

all done. email on its way now :)

Half hour to go until the deadline and we've only received five submissions? Come on, you guys--out of all the sign-ups there have to be more finishers than that!

I'm on the wall of shame. Wish I wasn't.

Just wanted to say how much I've enjoyed the contest and many thanks for Lorinda and Dylan for organising. I can think of a few other budding directors from my neck of the woods I'll point in the direction of the next one :)

Me too. I've enjoyed watching past DVCs as a spectator. Now I have a lot more respect for all you guys who have already put up films here. I can see now just how hard it is -- but also how rewarding. It makes for a fast learning curve!

Lorinda, Dylan, don't read too much into the low number of finished entries this time around. I saw the past DVC about making a trailer had 14 entries, so obviously when the stars align there are a lot of people on this board keen to try out their skills and equipment.

In any case, your enthusiasm and direction are invaluable to making this thing work -- and Guy Cochran's generosity at the DVeStore is a big incentive to make it happen here. All that and the informed criticism that fellow camera-users on dvinfo have to offer makes this a challenge too good to pass up.

Henry and Marc, your comments are much appreciated. I won't deny that it's discouraging, mainly because Dylan and I know how much Guy gives to the DVC, and how much he loves seeing as many folks as possible stretch and grow as filmmakers.

That said, we also know the times are "interesting" and are so happy about the seven of you who fought through challenges of your own to get films submitted! You won already! :)

Okay, if anyone submitted a film and didn't receive a confirmation "Got it!" from us, better speak up now. We'll post films tomorrow so gentlemen, get your feedback threads ready to roll and we'll have us some fun! Open invitation to all, not just finishers, to give comments. It's the best part of the challenge and we value everyone's helpful input.

Got no one else but me to blame
I'm on that wall of shame

Couldn't get off the starting block on this one. Looking forward to seeing the films.

Looking forward to seeing the films. No could do this time, with move from house to apartment.
No wall for me as I never officially threw my hat in on this one... But sad to see Joseph Tran up on the wall cause I was really looking forward to his magical touch. Congrats to all that got a film made.

I've been waiting hours for YouTube to process my video. Does it get backed up sometimes or do I need to try uploading again? I'm used to free Vimeo letting me wait a long time but not YouTube.

Once the file's finished uploading it normally allows you to view the video at low res. within an hour or two at most but sometimes it can take four or five hours to display at a decent quality with all the res options lit up. I'd suggest re-uploading just to be on the safe side. I have encountered the odd glitch recently when working with 1gig plus files- sometimes the upload will get to 100% and then It'll fail to process, sometimes I'll get an error message and it will process successfully regardless.

EDIT: I'd suggest leaving the one you've already uploaded in place whilst you re-upload just in case it comes through.

I just checked and it's still not processed so I'll upload again. Good idea, leaving the one, Henry. Thanks.

My pleasure. Really looking forward to watching the film!