Hey Everyone,
Defenseless: Part Two is finally coming out tomorrow! In the meantime, here are some production stills, fresh from the ongoing Forest Falls shoot. Check out the whole album on our Facebook page.
–AC
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Hey Everyone,
Defenseless: Part Two is finally coming out tomorrow! In the meantime, here are some production stills, fresh from the ongoing Forest Falls shoot. Check out the whole album on our Facebook page.
–AC
In this short update, we announce the new release date for Defenseless, as well as the title for the upcoming Halloween Film.
It’s nearly October, which means Finite Films is switching gears from our spat of “Summer Blockbusters” (Stealing Time, The Kristy Corollary, Defenseless), and starting work on our next round of films for the fall, which include the yet-to-be-titled Halloween & Holiday films, as well as Occupational Hazards.
While you already chose the constraints we have to follow for Occupational Hazards and Halloween Film, now’s your chance to vote for the Holiday Film! We’ll announce the winning constraints this Saturday, October 1!
We’re also formally announcing the release date for Defenseless: Part Two: October 11, 2011. Make sure to mark the date! This has been our most challenging and exhausting film yet, and we think it’s going to be a really fun one to watch.
–AC
When the Finite Films team tours a location for the Halloween Film, they get more than they bargained for…
Hey all,
A quick update on how things are going here at Finite Films. Ryan and Alex are hard at work writing the Halloween Film based off the excellent constraints you all voted for. As far as Defenseless: Part Two goes, we’re going to meet up with the whole cast this weekend to go over some choreography before we begin shooting on Tuesday. Meanwhile, I am drawing storyboards:
That is an example of two storyboard frames from Defenseless: Part One. Every shot in a movie has to be meticulously planned, and that usually means storyboarding. Different directors work differently. Some just create a detailed shot list but don’t actually draw the frames out; I have always worked best when I’ve drawn out every single shot of the movie I’m making. Whichever method you use, it is this extensive amount of effort put in during the planning stage that makes the movie-watching experience effortless.
These are two shots of the lovely Sophie Green that demonstrate how storyboards can be valuable. It allows me to think about every shot, and decide, for example, if I want to have max’s shoulder in Sophie’s medium-shot (like the shot on the left) or if I want her to be alone in the frame so that we just focus on her (like the shot on the right). It also demonstrates what else goes into making a shot come to life, as these storyboards don’t have the beautiful location, lighting, or performance that makes the final shot come together.
When doing visual effects work, it’s very important to know exactly what the shot will be. It helps to visualize all the elements that will be in the finished shot and helps you think about how best to go about making it all happen.
I’ve run out of mildly-interesting things to say about storyboarding, so I must now return to drawing the storyboards for Defenseless: Part Two!
—MT
(fun fact: Defenseless: Part Two will have more shots in it than the entirety of our first film, You Are Here)
It’s the start of a new month, which, as always, means a new script is in the works for our yet-to-be-titled Halloween Film! Director Ryan McDuffie and I have started developing a horror/thriller concept that we’re quite excited about, drawing inspiration from the constraints you voted for last week.
Meanwhile, I’ve also been helping director Michael Tucker finalize the shooting script for Defenseless: Part Two, which we’ll be shooting in less than a week’s time! Really looking forward to seeing the conclusion to this mega-epic-short all come together (your questions will be answered, I promise!).
While the writing process can be incredibly daunting, especially when you’re in that terrible “where-do-I-even-start” place, I really love the freedom and excitement that comes with dreaming up a new story. Later, the harsh realities of film production will surely demand compromises and disappointments (it’s amazing how much films change and evolve throughout the production process), but for now, anything is possible. And that’s a feeling I never tire of reliving month after month.
–Alex
Hey all!
I hope you all enjoy the constraints that are up for voting for the Halloween Film. There are some pretty fun ones (I personally like “one character must bite another character”) and I know Ryan is really excited to direct this one.
While you are all voting on the next constraints, everyone here is hard at work on Defenseless: Part One, which premieres on the first of September. The post-production process for this movie consists of five parts: Editing, Visual FX, Color Correction, Sound Design, Sound Mixing, and Music.
Alex and I locked the edit of the second “reel” on Thursday, which meant that David Sims could begin his work on color correction. Ryan McDuffie and Daniel Clark had already been hard at work at doing sound design on the first reel, in fact as I sit here writing Ryan is across from me with his headphones on, working away on the car chase.
Meanwhile, I’ve been here at my computer corresponding with our tirelessly devoted composer for the film, Bryan Ricker. For those keeping count, he and I have now exchanged 25 emails as he deals with my little tweaks to each of the five tracks of music (totaling over nine minutes) he has had less than a week to produce for this film.
In between those emails, Alex and I have been doing some re-writes for Defenseless: Part Two, which will continue in full swing as soon as Part One releases. This is, indeed, our most ambitious and epic film yet–traits that I feel match the constraints that you all voted on. They were a very challenging set of constraints, and this continues to be a very challenging film. Everyone has poured themselves into it and risen to the occasion, and I think you will enjoy the finished product. We’ve had a lot of fun on this movie, we’re excited for part two, and we can’t wait to see what you decide for the Halloween Film.
– MT
P.S. – Some of the gang on the roof of Terrance’s studio during a break:
And going over a scene with actress Jillian Leigh:

Defenseless is split into two parts, constraints are decided on for the voting phase of Halloween Film, and we answer our next Production Diaries question…
Hello Everyone!
First off, today marks the start of our next round of voting! Vote for your favorite constraints for our Halloween Film, premiering (you guessed it) October 31!
Our blog’s been awfully quiet this month, as the entire Finite Films team has been completely consumed by the production of our next film, Defenseless. This is probably our most ambitious, epic movie yet, and also our longest. It’s so long and epic, in fact, that we’ve decided to split it into two parts (in the mold of Kill Bill or Harry Potter 7).
Defenseless: Part One will premiere as planned—next Thursday, September 1. Defenseless: Part Two will premiere in October. As a result, our originally planned film for October—Occupational Hazards—will be pushed back to a December release date. Our Halloween Film will still premiere, of course, on Halloween.
Confused yet? We are. That’s why we’ve created a Production Schedule page on finite-films.com, where you can check the timelines for all our productions and keep track of their release dates (and generally wrap your head around everything we’re doing at Finite Films).
We’re SUPER excited about next week’s premiere of Defenseless: Part One; in the meantime, make sure to vote this week for your favorite Halloween constraints!
–AC
Total Voters: 10
Designed and Developed by Ali Showkati.