Taking A Run at Picture Lock

For the 'un-initiated', the 'First Cut', is sometimes also called an 'Assembly Cut' - which means the movie is assembled, usually minus special effects, color correction and sound mixing. 

Following the assembly, is the 'Director's Cut'. This is my best version of the film from what I shot.

After that... it can be chopped up into a bunch of different versions from 'youtube' to cable tv and foreign markets. For "Blood of Ohma" to be marketable in the cable / broadcast market, I need it to come in at no longer than 1:40. An hour and fourty minutes.

The Assembly Edit - containing all the scenes we shot, came in at 1:57. Almost 2 hours.

I edit largely by feel. As I watch the film thru, I make a note of area's that seem to drag, are repetative, or just aren't neccessary to tell the story. I trimmed 10 minutes off the cut after my first screening. Now, I'm refining it, scene by scene to 'tighten' it up and I'll see where I'm at. I'm pretty confident I'll get there on my 'Director's Cut'.

Because I shot "Blood of Ohma" in 3D, the post production work is doubled. Every color correction and effect has to be duplicated for each 'eye' and then combined into the stereo image. All of it is essentially a 'special effect' and so every shot has to be rendered prior to me being able to proof it. The process has been painstaking. Watch, Render, Tweak, Render, Watch... 

Don't take that as a complaint. If this was easy, everyone would be doing it. We make micro-budget films here at GMD. Every film we do is an attempt at something we've never done at these budgets. This time, with "Blood of Ohma", we're setting out to see if you can make a real movie - in 3D - with gear you can buy at Best Buy. Total budget? $6,800.

With the exception of a special visual effect, the whole movie was shot on a pair of Sony HDRCX100's and the Sony Bloggie 3D. About half and half. The rig we built ourselves.

I'm editing with Sony Vegas 10, which is largely the reason shooting a 3D feature at this budget is even possible. While there's a lot of room for improvement, their Stereoscopic 3D Tools built into the new version makes it possible to get real 3D with camera gear you might already have.  

I know Sony isn't exactly at the top of everyone's list in the 'indie film' community. But I'll tell you, they had my back on this project the whole way. I had a myriad of technical questions going in, that they answered, including some they had to figure out answers to. They built a codec for the Bloggie 3D and updated my software to enable me to do things they probably didn't really intend with Vegas 10.

I'm at the very end of it now, I'll have the 'Director's Cut' of "Blood of Ohma" in the next few days.

It'll be premiering at the Erie Playhouse Theater November 5th in Erie. And we'll be showing it in 3D. After that, you'll be able to check it out on DVD, BluRay and Digital Download thru all the usual sources and you'll see it on MaddyGTV and BlackFlagTV on the web too.

- PG