Documentary Update #6: The Release

Well, it has been a long time coming but at midnight on December 14th I released the final cut of Wait for the Drop. As of now (8:40pm) the film has over 500 hits on Vimeo. That’s an unreal number for me considering many of my videos don’t reach 60 in the first week and seem to peak around 400 after a year. So that might put how crazy this is in perspective. 

The response to the documentary has been fantastic, and I would like to thank everyone who linked the video on there pages (there is no higher compliment). It’s nice to get wrapped up in the praise and the view count but any video always seems like a work in progress. I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I set out to make the documentary but I couldn’t be happier with result. My goal is and will always be to tell good stories and go beyond simply “looking nice.” There’s definitely work to be done in process of storytelling and really constructing a strong narrative but time should effectively take care of that. Until then I’ll take some time to soak this one in but I’m sure in a few days I’ll be ready for the next project.

…I wonder what it will be. 

Documentary Update #5: The Drop

Three months into the production and we’re a mere four days away from the release of Wait for the Drop. Releasing a film is always an exciting time for me. It presents a good opportunity to gauge where I’m at as filmmaker. Have I improved? Is this one better than the last? All questions that I get to answer but the viewer gets to answer as well. 

Documentary has been a really interesting genre for me to work in. The need for a strong central character and solid narrative direction have never been more clear to me since working on this project. Having said that I now see somethings I wish would have gone differently. Clean editing, music and some nice effects can’t fix character or lack of direction. 

So in four days, you can be the judge. 

Documentary Update 4: Post Production

Documentary Update 3: Traveling (Late Post)

Today (11/17/11) marks the final day of filming the DJ Vibe Lime documentary. With all of about four hours of sleep at my disposal; Evan (Vibe Lime), myself and four other guys set out for South Carolina at 5am this morning to film one final show. The timing of this show was a bit problematic given that it is scheduled for Thursday night and we both have classes. However, there are just some things I couldn’t miss out on; this is definitely one of them. I’m confident that I already have enough footage to complete the film but one more big event could never hurt, and I would argue a 10 hour road trip is a pretty significant event.

Documentary Update #2: Joy in the Journey

Over the past two months I’ve had some of the best experiences of my life, and I owe it all to the documentary. Working on this project has more than reaffirmed my love for film making. It is a beautiful process. I like to create films in stages. Essentially, I’ll take months off from even touching a camera in order to dedicate take to relearning the technical and fundamental aspects of making a film. After that time passes, I like to aggregate all of that knowledge and funnel it into a single project. This project is the culmination of that study. It is the opportunity to bring these ideas together and create a project that is truly my own. The film has become my world, and I much prefer it that way. Just last night (November 6th) I began the process of sorting through the video I shot over the past month or so. A demanding task to say the least. Sifting through all of this video to find just the right shots to tell the story is has been a more difficult task than I previously imagined. Although, I can’t say there is anything else I would rather be doing. I was able to put together the opening scene last night. It’s great. Only 19 more minutes left. Stay tuned.

Documentary Update #1: …thus far

The documentary has begun (…or began). Over the past month I have been collecting interviews and raw footage for my upcoming documentary. The film will be done by the second week of December and it has already proven to be my biggest filming challenge/learning experience. I won’t discuss the subject of the film because I’m still working on developing a narrative. In short, I am discussing/posting (and will continue to post every so often) a public journal of what I’ve learned from this experience…thus far.