Come one, come all to the NYC screenings September 3rd and 4th! We are doing one in Queens at the amazing ATTIC STUDIOS and also one in Manhattan at the historic BLEECKER STREET THEATER. The screenings are FREE and there will receptions following both. Please come and help us celebrate the culmination of this amazing adventure!
We still have 30 hours of editing to go, but we stop all work at 11:59:59PM TOMORROW!
Love to you all!
-ML
YO YO YO! Four Week Feature is officially complete in T-minus 48 hours!!
Celebrating the occasion at midnight was Keith, Mike Lavoie, DVG, Michael Rhoton, and myself. Watch the video to see how excited and tired we are!
And as a bonus, you can get a sneak peek of a SPECIAL FRAME from our feature! (Which may or may not be edited out.)
We are excited. And scared.
love/peace/midnight,
Sumi
Sorry 14-year-old Mormon fans – Brewvies got FULL BAR status in November so to see the Four Week Feature you’ll need to buy a fake ID or just wait until Sundance!*
*We have not been accepted to Sundance. But maybe we’ll have a private screening at the condo DURING Sundance!!**
**Did I just invite a bunch of 14-year-olds to Keith’s condo? Hmm. Probably should end this post immediately.
SEE ALL YOU OLD FOLKS SUNDAY!
-ML
With only three days left to go until our project deadline, it no longer makes sense to reckon the remaining time in days. We have sixty hours to go before midnight strikes and the project is concluded. After that, we have twenty-one hours to export the final version of the movie, test it to make sure it plays properly, and get ourselves to Brewvies for our 9 PM screening.
Well, okay 60 HOURS. Or, to put it differently: only 59 hours until this image is appropriate!
Last night, we screened a complete rough cut for the team. Well, it was supposed to be a complete rough cut; turns out, in our haste to assemble the film before showing it, we had omitted a couple of scenes (and included one scene twice). There were massive audio problems, too: some scenes were inaudibly quiet, some obnoxiously loud, and some had so much background noise over them that it was hard to make out the dialogue. Oh, and at one point a reflector came into frame.
And yet, for all those flaws, the movie is starting to look like a movie. Certain sections of it still feel like rough assemblies, but other sections play smoothly, even dynamically, and at times I actually found myself engaging as an audience member — which is pretty remarkable for a film I’ve dedicated my whole being to since the first of the month. The ending of the film was especially affecting — which is good news, since that’s what the audience will take with them as they leave the theater. If all goes well, I think there might be tears in a few eyes as people exit the first screening. That’s what I’m shooting for, anyway.
For now, though, it’s time to put my nose back to the editing grindstone. Derek, Mike, and Redfield have been doing tremendous work, and I’ve got to scramble just to keep up …
-KB
Last night, Gabi, Will, Matt, and I traveled to Salt Lake City and returned the film’s 1986 Oldsmoblie station wagon rental, which we affectionately named Woody. On our journey home, we decided to stop at Cold Stone Creamery and bring back some ice cream for those at home tirelessly editing, organizing receipts, securing venues for New York screenings, composing music, cleaning the kitchen, synching footage, etc.
We had fifteen minutes to get to Cold Stone before they closed at 10pm. We were at least twenty minutes away. Mission seemingly impossible. Matt guided us with his smart phone. Will called Cold Stone to announce our arrival and promise a big ice cream order. Gabi bent space and time, as she carefully drove the Acura. And I sat in the passenger seat, marveling at each of them. We pulled into our parking spot at 10:01 pm. Glancing at the open sign, we bolted out of the car and calmly walked into the Coldstone. The employees could not have been kinder. So Coldstone – thank you, thank you, thank you for accommodating us and our late night sweet tooth.
Today, we returned briefly to the “production” phase of the project, taking a break from editing to shoot a short dialogue scene that we hadn’t managed to work in to our original production schedule. As it turned out, our production skills were a little rusty, and we ended up having to wait around in Salt Lake City while Lee went back to Park City to retrieve some needed equipment.
But the time was not lost! As luck would have it, our shooting location was just across the street from Brewvies, the venue for our inaugural screening (coming up in just five days). We headed over there to scope out the joint, and we were all blown away by what we saw. Brewvies is a full-fledged movie theater with a bar out front — or possibly a full-fledged bar with a movie theater in the back. Either way, it’s extremely cool, especially the theater part. Sitting there in the dark, knowing that in less than a week we’ll be there to screen a movie that as of now we haven’t even rough-cut, was a wonderful and terrifying feeling.
Movie schedule not current. But it still looks this awesome.
Details of the screening can be found on our Facebook Event Page. RSVP! And invite your friends!
We’d better make this thing good. It’ll have to be, just to live up to the venue …
Back to the editing grind,
-KB
So it’s time for the big announcement: a week from today on Sunday, August 29th, we will be screening the film that we have all worked so hard on this month. We’ve locked down a fabulous location – Brewvies Cinema Pub at 677 South 200 West in Salt Lake City. The screening is free, and the 4WF cast and crew will be in attendance. We’re all getting there at 8PM for drinks and a reception, and the screening starts at 9pm.
Four Week Feature Screening Flyer
Keith, Mike, and Derek are slaving away all week to pull all of the gorgeous footage into a feature film. We’ve had a chance to see the first sequence, and it looks great. If you are in Salt Lake, come by Brewvies for the screening.
That's a lot of manila.
One of the first things Will, Matt, and I decided to tackle today– the first day of post-production– is to send out the lovely 4WF t-shirts to our generous Kickstarter donors. This project really could not have happened without the support of the many family and friends (and even strangers!), and you can now proudly sport the colors of your favorite filmmaking team!
If you didn’t get a chance to pledge, don’t forget that there is STILL time to purchase the 4WF t-shirt that my friend Eric Noon of Go West T-Shirt Company designed for us. The t-shirts are $20 and you can purchase them HERE. Water bottles are only $15!
And if you purchase now, I will include a personal thank-you note with a 4WF quote of the day.
Go team blue,
Sumi
That is love.
I don’t know the exact date when I was asked to be a part of this but suffice it to say it was way back in may, when this was originally proposed to me. If any other group of people had asked me to join along for this ride I may have doubted them but I knew this group of filmmakers and I knew that there was a talent and drive in them that I have found in few others.
So I said yes.
Now most of my job is done, I was mostly brought on for the filming/brainstorming part of this production and I have to personally head back in a couple days to act in another feature, but this past month has been an amazing journey and it is not over yet.
About the project,
Two nights ago while drifting off to sleep I started to replay this movie in my own mind. I have the privilege of not only being on set to help with lights and camera but capture the magic in my own camera (as the b-cam operator), also acting in a scene, and dumping footage at the end of the night allowing me a backdoor view of some great dailies captured by the magical DVG and acted by our wonderful cast, and I truly think this movie has all the pieces to be a really good movie, that I will not only be proud of, but excited about in every way.
Principal Photography is over.
Last Shot
While we magically collaborated and sent Mike and Keith off to write an amazing script in under three days, then planned and shot a 90 page script in under two weeks, the biggest and often not thought of task of cutting the movie together is happening…now.
Don't Stop...Editing 24/7
Mike and DVG are up and editing while Keith finally closes his eyes for a moment. (Keith really does not show his tiredness, God Bless Him.) I think this task of editing the movie in now 8 days is accomplishable and I wish I could stay here in Salt Lake for the preliminary screening at the end of this month. (If you are here for that more details should follow.)
Unbelievable.
The last week of shooting was soo tiresome; shooting fireworks off in the desert, getting chased by bad weather, and forgetting to eat and sleep have almost become second nature to us. But we have all found time to enjoy the surroundings, and have a little fun.
Buying Fireworks, Shooting B-roll of the Highway.
Michael between takes
Our Fireworks Backdrop.
Wish us the Best.
Utah & Wyoming are Beautiful, so if you get a chance come out and find the spots were we made our movie.
I am off to Dreamland, underneath the dreamcatcher I bought in a Wyoming Gas Station (something tells me it’s fake.)
My Dreamcatcher
Love~
Cint
Eat, SLEEP, Make a Movie.
This morning at around 7:30, we declared principal photography for the Four-Week Feature wrapped. We had been shooting since 5:30 the night before, mostly in a small forest clearing just outside Park City, which we lit up with generator-powered lights. There’s a special kind of magic to exterior night shooting. Or maybe that’s just the fatigue talking.
An hour later, we were sitting on couches in the condo’s living room, drinking mimosas and eating chocolate-chip pancakes, which were lovingly prepared for us by Sumi Lee and Gabi Madsen. It was a welcome moment of celebration after an intense seven straight days of shooting. Spirits were high; the mood was jovial. Clint showed off his Iron Man undies. Will appeared to be asleep.
Proud. Happy. Borderline delirious.
Now, I freely admit that this whole “wrap” concept is a bit of a sham. In truth, we still have one small dialogue scene left to shoot, plus a bunch of montage footage and other miscellanea. But we’re not going to rush out and grab those shots tonight or tomorrow. In fact, we’re going to put off getting them as long as we reasonably can. The editing phase of this project has waited in the wings long enough; it’s time to wheel it out into the spotlight. I’ve been itching to get my filthy Final Cut paws on some of Derek’s beautiful footage. Today, I will scratch that itch.
Sumi and Michael Redfield are headed to Salt Lake City to return some equipment. Everyone else, as far as I know, is in bed. The footage beckons. I think I’ll make a pot of coffee and get started.
Wish me luck.
-KB
