Noah Harald & Speak Now - Hanceville, AL, Micro-budget Filmmaking Part III

Another update from Noah Harald, touring his film Speak Now on the Southern Circuit:

As I screen our film 'Speak Now' at the next four venues in the Southern Circuit I'm going to try something interesting and share my thoughts and advice about making a micro-budget improv film as well as my travels here in the South. Next up- Hanceville, AL.

'Speak Now' screened last night at Wallace State Community College. It was quite a trek from Clemson to Hanceville, AL but I've been listening to a book on tape so along with the gorgeous weather, the sequel to The Shining kept me terrified to make the time pass. I also drove a bit off the beaten path to a barbecue spot outside of Memphis that was amazing. Once I got to Wallace State, I was greeted and brought into their massive and gorgeous performing art center and I wandered their art collection in the museum til the crowd showed up. What a crowd. People really came out to support our film here, we had a packed house and a super enthusiastic crowd. The Q&A went well, and I got to speak to a couple of young aspiring filmmakers who I hope will stay in touch with me as their career grows. Super fun. I've got two days off which I will be spending with family in GA and they we have our fourth and final screening in Winder, GA on Sunday. Stay tuned!

Making a micro-budget film, Part III: Post

Some of the best advice I've ever received was from the editor of Dodgeball who spoke at Los Angeles Film School before my classes began there. He told me to graduate in a craft that could pay me when I got out of school, because nobody was lining up to hand paid gigs to directors. Since I was already well versed in post, I majored in editing. Now, I had help editing the film from my talented editor friend Matthew Hickney, but being able to see the film to the finish line is what allowed our micro budget film to stay micro.

That being said- you've come up with your idea, you've shot your film (CONGRATULATIONS) and now you have to turn it from footage to an actual movie. Because our film was improv, we had a very strange process. Erin Cardillo (writer/producer) and I watched all 6.5 hours of footage and wrote down what the major conversation beats were as we went. From there we scripted a rough outline of what we wanted the movie to be. Matthew took the outline and edited the first draft of the film. Now you may be a wunderkind, all-in-one able to do everything person, but it's so important that even when you are editing the film yourself that you bring others in on the process. For us, we were lucky enough to have a core group of 5 producers to weigh in their thoughts. If it's just you, make sure you have screenings for close friends and colleagues of the rough cut. Get their feedback and ask  the tough questions; does it work, what doesn't work, does it make sense, where were you bored, what did you love? Take all of this feedback and your own gut and finish the picture edit of the film. This is what we call a picture lock, and from here you will plan to never alter the actual edit of the film again.

The final steps are to sound mix, score and color correct the film. In my opinion, these are the 3 places where you can't skimp. Find really talented people willing to cut you a break on price and pay them to do these things. Nothing will hurt your final vision more than these three things being executed poorly. And since you have a limited budget, be flexible with people's time. If you're not paying someone enough to make working on your film their full time job, allow them the time to finish it on their own terms. Once you have these pieces together, you bring them all back into the edit bay and create your final movie. You will create HD masters, streaming masters, DVD masters and maybe even audio masters. From here, you send your baby out into the world- but I will talk about that in the next and final blog post. Thanks for following along!

Joel Fendelman - Hanceville, Winder, Chattahoochee Hills

The latest update from Joel Fendelman, touring his film David on the Southern Circuit:

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Hanceville's performing arts center

Hanceville, Winder and Chattahoochee Hills were the last three stops of my Southern Arts Tour. Before coming on this trip I had not heard of any of these places, in fact most people I spoke to had not either. Hanceville was a small town  of about 3,000 people with a church on every corner. The film showed at a beautiful performing arts center that was donated by some local philanthropists.

The turnout was small and it was probably the least enthusiastic Q/A but the townspeople who showed up were very unique in their own way. I could tell many of them probably have not been far away from their town their whole lives so seeing a film that takes places in New York about Muslim and Jewish families might of been throwing a lot at them. I remember particularly the face of one woman who must of been in her sixties and even though she was very quiet she thanked me in such a sincere way for making the film that I knew that a quiet response didn't necessarily mean any less engaged.

I traveled then to Serenbe, a newly formed community based on sustainable principles.(combining of words Serenity + Be) It's only 30 miles south of Atlanta but was such beautiful farm country that it could have been a thousand miles away.

Serenbe

The filmed showed in a small banquet like room to a very enthusiastic almost full house. The audience had immediate insightful questions to ask. My host at the center moderated with much preparation and the talkback lasted for a nice long while. The next morning I was invited to an interfaith gathering where I saw some of the attendees from the previous night.

Winder Cultural Arts Center

My last stop was at Winder, Georgia, a small town about 40 miles north of Atlanta. It was a nice eclectic group of residents who trickled in until the film began. Everyone stayed for the Q/A. My host who also moderated had such personality and created quite a nice atmosphere. I feel blessed to have been able to see this part of the country showing my film and meeting the nicest of people. Living the dream!

Winder Cultural Arts Center