We here at Daros are fully into post-production on Greyscale, which means there are far fewer fun photos to post, and far less exciting status updates. We have an image lock and are now working on sound design and visual effects via Andy Gilliam and Daniel Lipats respectively. Honestly, it’s a relief to know that if I take a short breather, then the film is getting closer to completion without me. That hasn’t been the case since February of 2008.
Back in April we wrapped on Greyscale and shot a short film called Leave Me (posted on this blog recently), which has gone on to get over 80,000 views over its various venues, and will soon be popping up on Hulu.com! It was a nice break from the behemoth project, and something of a nice reprieve to remind ourselves that what we’re working on isn’t worthless as we received many stories of people who were dealing with the death of a family member, a divorce, or any sort of traumatic separation. It was humbling and reinvigorating. Artists may make art for themselves, but it’s the opinion of the consumer that dictates whether the artist can continue (or sacks of money the artist has stashed away…).
With Greyscale reaching almost 2 years in the making, it was good to know that something we could produce within 36 hours could move people. The verdict is still out on the behemoth since it hasn’t been released, but I’m very pleased with how it’s shaping up.
It’s quite an amazing thing to spend months upon months crafting characters only to have them come alive for a few days (or for larger characters, months) and then forever be relegated to footage.
.:New Beginnings
In fact, the whole process is beginning again.
We still haven’t begun pre-production as the story has to be greenlit, but that isn’t stopping us from beginning to form together our next big story. Dustin Ballard (co-writer of Leave Me and storyline consultant on Greyscale), Gloria Roundtree (AD on Greyscale), and myself have been meeting on a weekly basis to hash out the framework of the story.
While I am very hesitant to give details on any story elements so early in the game (if you remember, Greyscale was originally a sci-fi concept…), I can tell you that it’s currently shaping up to be something quite different from Greyscale and a bit more like Leave Me. Since we had such a massive (and very primal) reaction to that, it’s becoming more apparent the healing power that a good story can have. It’s something we’re planning to explore further, and when we have some concrete news to share, we’ll post it here.
.:Done in 60 Seconds
The same organizers that put together the 36 hour film fest that we created Leave Me for is now at it again with a 12 hour festival on December 28th. This time the limit is 1 minute, and we are most definitely participating again. More updates on that as it nears.
If you’ve been noticing a distinct lack of news on Greyscale, it’s probably due to the new Greyscale Blog over at GreyscaleBlog.tumblr.com, which you can find on the official greyscale site: GreyscaleMovie.com!
Also, if you’re a Facebook user, you can find both pages for Daros Films and Greyscale as well! We keep up to date news there as well.
A lot has been going on with Daros Films lately. We’re essentially booked until October, and this is a very good thing.
Greyscale is deep into post-production, and some of the team got together to watch what I like to call Version .03. There are a few elements missing still, such as soundtrack and foley, and it’s being run through rudimentary color grading to get a feel for the black and white (which to be fair, is what you’re seeing in the trailer and screengrabs, so it’s a bit more involved than slapping on a basic black and white filter).
At the moment I’m very pleased with how things are shaping up, and as we bring in fresh eyes to watch the edit, it’s incredibly enlightening to see what elements people are picking up on, and what’s being glossed over.
…As long as the emotional heart of the story is clear and working, the plotline that accompanies it that deals more with the twisty nature of noir doesn’t have to be fully understood, and spending time making sure the audience gets everything at first blush will probably bog things down (go ahead and tell me you understood all the double-crosses and factions in The Maltese Falcon the first time you watched it…).
All of the needed info is available, but it might take more than one run through to understand exactly how the 3D puzzle fits together. Did I mention Memento is a favorite of mine?
The emotional track though… I still get a little choked up every time I watch the end (and I’m told I’m not the only one), so as a storyteller, I feel like my goal is accomplished if I can get people to care more about the characters than the macguffin… because I’ve yet to leave the theater thinking about a macguffin that made me want to be a better person.
.:Other Things As I continue to work on the edit, the rest of the Greyscale crew is continuing to hone their skills on a pet project that our world-traveling DP, John Barnett(just left Israel and is in France at the moment) is coming back into town to shoot on the new Canon 5D Mk II. I’m excited to see how it turns out and hope to be able to make it to set a few times and be more than just a producer. More details on that later.
This was an entry Daros Films put out for ChristianFilmmakers.org’s 36 Hour Film Festival. We’re really pleased with how it has turned out, so if you have 3 minutes, please check it out!
…the item being used was a plastic rod covered with dense foam to make it look like a lead pipe. While it did not hurt like a lead pipe (and thus make for a far shorter video… er… movie…), it did still hurt.
Thanks.
The Management.
Music: Modest Mouse “Float On” (which we wish we had rights to, but don’t)
Blake pours Oliver a glass of milk.
OLIVER: I was thinking something a bit stronger.
BLAKE: (looking at the carton) It’s almost expired…
.:156
There are one-hundred, fifty-six scenes in Greyscale. There are 38 locations and 21 speaking roles. 16 locations are locked down while 29 have a place in mind… and 11 speaking roles have been cast. While this may not seem horribly interesting, you must keep in mind that this is coming from a kid who used to spend days laying his baseball cards out on the living room floor and organizing them by team, position, and alphabetical by last name… obsessive compulsive? Perhaps. I am thankful for Microsoft Excel.
Although, all of these things are going to be of importance when we press the record button for the first time (well, 2nd time if you don’t count “The Oliver Chronicles”).
.:Colorscale
The filming schedule has been broken down into 5 categories: Dark Red, Red, Orange, Yellow, and Green (those were just in a row in Excel, if you’re curious). We begin in Dark Red, and film all of those scenes (specifically where the grass is green and Julia has red hair), and once we finish those, we move on to Red, and so on and so forth (they are based on logistics, location efficiency, and personal schedules). Once we hit green, we’re on the home stretch… that will be a nice day.
If you’re curious as to the Dark Red locations, they are:
-Old Warehouse -Oliver’s Old House -University Classroom/Lobby/Outside -University Library -Coffee Shop -Shooting Range -Julia’s Car -Jonathon Cole’s House -Graveyard
The only difficulties we foresee is shooting in a graveyard and talking to a coffee shop owner and getting extras… Thankfully everything else is just about locked down.
.:Facebook
If you are Facebook inclined, it would mean quite a lot if you could head over to the new Daros Films page: http://www.new.facebook.com/pages/broken-arrow-OK/Daros-Films/21069809066. If you are already a member of the Daros Films or Greyscale Group, please join on the new page as the old Groups won’t be updated any longer. It will give me statistics and some other good information to see how interested people are in the project/discuss the projects/see videos/etc…
Sarah and I are getting on a plane tomorrow and heading off to NYC (well, technically Philly, then Princeton, NJ… but then we’ll spend some time in NYC) for a week. Sort of a last vacation before Greyscale hits, and it’ll be good practice for me to get used to the new Nikon lenses with a digital still camera. I’ll probably be shooting in black and white too for practice… So, week 12’s update won’t come in until at least next Friday… unless I decide to get bored and ambitious with my cell phone… So, until then!
Hey everyone, just wanted to drop in and post the finished product of a video that a group of friends came together to create (myself included). Please take a few minutes to watch it, and if you enjoyed it, please let us know and pass it along!
About
Daros is a rough interpretation of a Hebrew word that means 'Reclaim.'
The purpose of Daros Films is to reclaim the Story that is being told by showing it in other stories. The purpose is to reclaim the quality of a beautiful artform that has become in some regards, a mindless pastime.
