POST PRODUCTION
While we were shooting, we were downloading P2 cards and sending a drive back and forth to our editor, Rob Dipple. He would start putting together rough edits, as the goal was to get out of post as soon as possible. After production, our director John Asher sat with Dipple and put together his first cuts. We all met at 60 Frames one day so that we could all see them...I was so excited. Though I can say that I would have liked to see them first without the studio there, since I felt like I had to laugh just because they were there, and I wanted them to be happy. The truth of the matter was that I was not happy. It's not that it wasn't good...some parts were really funny...but I felt like the rhythm was missing. The comedic timing that we had written in, and performed in wasn’t quite there, while many parts felt a little 'slapstick,' whereas our original idea had our characters being a little more badass when killing. (I am probably going to get in trouble for sharing these notes with the world, but I want to be honest with you all about the process!) I know the studio felt like something was missing as well. They gave their notes, and we gave ours.
Let me also add that I began my filmmaking life by being an editor...way back when the Amiga Video Toaster was the best thing on the market! So not being able to edit this baby was really hard for me. But I knew that eventually I would get my hands on it. In the end, our director had another gig and wasn't able to finish all of the notes. He gave me the drive and I was finally able to turn and burn. I think I had eight hours of editing time before turning in another cut to the studio, and I had to start from scratch with two of the episodes. Because I had so much time to think about it and talk it over with Craig and Pharaba, I knew where we wanted it to go, and what it should look like, which helped me work fast. After that viewing with the studio, we locked 3 episodes, and only had minor tweaks on the others. It goes to show you that, when you are passionate about your project and you truly understand what it is, it's always going to be easier for you to put it together than someone else. I've said it a hundred times....you, me, and five other people from this message board could be given the same footage and make seven different movies. Luckily, the studio was on board with our original idea, and were relieved to see our finished edits.
SOUND
We had some issues with our production sound....I think our sound mixer was unprepared for the number of actors we would have on camera, so there were a few places where we were going to need some ADR. In addition to that, there were some sound effects and, of course, music that we had to come up with. For the music, our studio had a wide assortment of music available to them, so we filed through their library and managed to find some great music for every episode.
Through one of our producers, Jeff Ketcham, we were able to have an Academy Award winning post sound house do our ADR and final mix for us for free. They had al limited amount of time, but just having them work on it was really exciting. They were very complimentary, saying it's the funniest thing they've seen in quite a while...and these guys work on Adam Sandler films and such...so that was really nice.
COLOR TIMING
I ended up doing our color timing myself in Apple Color, but I didn't affect the color too much. Leo Jaramillo had already lit it so well, there was little that I had to do other than crush the blacks and brighten the whites. I also ran the whole show through Magic Bullet, which gave the color the S-Curve of film. I also did a bleach bypass filter, just slight, and 3% film grain. My goal was to make it look somewhat like 16mm, without going too effect heavy. Some of the episodes with bright highlights and deep blacks look really great with the magic bullet. Some of the scenes where we didn't have as wide a range of light don't look quite as cool, but the look exists. If I had my way, I probably would have gone further with the bleach bypass and gone up to 5 or 6% and the whole show would look like The 300...but I didn't want to go too comic book-like....
IN CLOSING
I won't go into how you should market your project, as I am definitely not an expert! We have done many things, such as writing press releases, articles, and of course sending emails to everyone we know. What I will say is that the web allows you an opportunity that has never existed with previous distribution formats. Once you put your project up on a site like Youtube or Hulu, almost anyone in the world can see it...and they don't have to spend a dime! That should be exciting to everyone who thinks they have a great idea that needs to get out into the world. It's an exciting time...and right now, it's a level playing field! It's up to you to mark your territory...
Be sure to check out our series at: http://www.youtube.com/user/Infamoustheseries
