Finite Films

Hey gang,

While I quietly wait for the constraints to get locked in before it’s full steam ahead on the next film I’m directing (our Halloween film), we’ve been continuing to work around the clock to finish up Defenseless: Part One.  Michael’s doing some last-minute visual effects work on reshoots from last night, Alex and David are finalizing the color/de-noising process, and I’ve been double-teaming the sound design and mix with Daniel Clark (who did the sound design for Stealing Time). So for me this includes doing foley.

For the uninitiated out there, foley is the process of manually recreating sound effects when the production audio is unusable.  Much like how the practical aspects of shooting a movie are more awkward in reality compared to how everything appears in the finished product, the same goes for creating foley.  For example, two nights ago I was recording myself squirting water from my teeth into an empty minced-garlic jar, rolling around and convulsing on the floor, and kissing my arm.  It’s actually as fun as it is challenging trying to figure out to how to create, record, and then digitally alter sounds.  Just like the filmmaking process as a whole, if I did my job right then it will seem effortless and nobody will be the wiser.

So the countdown is on until the premiere on September 1, which is also when voting for this round is over (be sure to vote if you haven’t already)!  I’d also like to give a quick shout-out and special thanks to our friend and fellow UCSC Banana Slug Matt Latham for his too-kind blog entry on Finite Films.  It’s easy to get caught up in our isolated filmmaking bubble here, so it’s always extremely appreciated to know that people are participating and enjoying what we’re trying to do.  Thanks, Matt!

–Ryan