Back To Bedlam

Larry Laverty with Katie Russell

 It's now been four years since we took our first trip to Bedlam, PA. where we told the story of this strange town and what happened to that group of college students who were unfortunate enough to spend a night there. 

For me as a film maker, this was my first full High Definition feature film. We had just acquired a big fancy Sony HDV Camera and we hiked out into the woods to try our hand at what was then still pretty new technology, especially for the indie film community. 

Shooting 'The Lynching'

The technology was so new in fact, that the editing system I was using (a MAC running Final Cut Pro) wouldn't recognize the camera in High Definition. The system would enable me to capture the footage in Standard Definition for editing, but it wouldn't see it as High Definition. 

The Theatrical Premiere was scheduled before we even finished shooting, so I forged on with the edit of the film, assuming that a future version of Final Cut Pro would arrive with the ability to recognize my camera and allow me to recapture the footage in HD and the whole thing should line right up for a future Blu-Ray release. 

Well, in the meantime, Apple came out with the iPAD, the App Store and pretty much forgot all of the indie film editors who were working with their professional software. Since many Hollywood editors use Final Cut Pro, the software always recognized the $20,000 HD Camera's that David Fincher uses, and it always saw Red One footage, and 4K digital files. But I was shooting 1080/60i on a camera that cost $2500. I was simply not on the priority list. 

Jason Hull with Make Up Artist Curtis Thomas

By the start of the next project, I changed editing systems and now run an amped up Windows System running Sony Vegas Pro. We've been shooting in HD ever since, but "House of Bedlam" got put on the back burner for awhile. 

Last winter, while waiting on the weather to shoot "Blood of Ohma", I decided to re-visit "House of Bedlam" and start the process of re-capturing all the footage in High Definition. I shot over 30 hours of footage for the movie, so it took several weeks of capturing the footage in between the other projects. 

Seneca Shongo with Patrick 'Mr. Miagi' Cleary

Last summer I shot "Blood of Ohma", and when the dust cleared on that, winter rolled in. So, I've been working on re-editing "H.O.B." for a Blu-Ray release. 

I'll admit, I was encouraged by the folks at the Blu-Ray Forum. For the last couple of months, they've been picking apart "Blood of Ohma" and holding this little no-budget 3D movie against Hollywood's biggest Summer Blockbusters, and I'm proud to say "Ohma" has held his own. 

"This film is 3D, legitimate full depth inwards and outwards. How a movie like this gets minimal attention yet Day of the Dead is post converted double 2d to push the flat frame a foot back into your TV gets attention across the board while spitting on the genre is beyond me." - The Blu-Ray Forum

So needless to say, it got me thinking about "House of Bedlam" on Blu-Ray. 

Katie Russell with Paul Gorman

 

Thanks for rubbing it in Facebook. 

Since I don't have the patience for a 'shot by shot' re-creation, I'm re-editing the film from scratch. It's been an interesting process. I'm still working from the same footage I shot four years ago, but my choices are a little different now. 

I'm about 20 minutes into it, right about where the kids set up camp, and I think the film is already paced faster and maybe a little more intense. It'll be interesting to see where it goes. 

I don't have a release date, or even a window. This is very much a 'side project' for me, so it can be sidelined at any time, but I've been making a point to work on it a bit each day, and I think at this rate, it could be done by summer. 

What's next for me is an episode of "It's A Tasha Thing" for MaddyGTV. I'll be Directing "Episode 3" which will be shot in 3D. As soon as the weather breaks, we'll be starting "Virgin Pockets" the series. We've been in pre-production on this for a few months now, but we're ready to roll as soon as Mother Nature makes room for us. 

After that... Adam Moore is polishing up a script called "Mettle to Mettle" that could turn into our 'Big Summer' Feature. 

I'll be back with more...