My journey toward production continues as I’ve recently begun casting the film. I’ve found an outstanding actress to play my character’s wife and am truly excited to have her on board. We begin filming next week.
I’m casting 5 other actors for another scene that will be filmed in July. That process is well underway and I’ll be viewing their auditions tonight. I have also ordered more film equipment and believe I have everything ready for the big shoot in the future. There are some more props that require purchasing and I don’t yet have the crew members set in stone. Regardless I am very tired and working hard at being prepared well in advance.
I have set up a Kickstarter pre-launch page here. From what I understand I am unable to accept any donations or contributions yet, but I’m excited to further develop incentives for individuals looking to support my bad habit.
Check out Film Journal – Episode 5 below if you’d like. Any time you comment or like a video it helps me immensely.
Mountain Cult Episode 5 is well on its way to development. Last week I reserved a date with the local antique shop that we will film the majority of the episode at. I have selected the date and location for a few scenes in the beginning of the film. I have an idea of where I want the one other location to be.
Casting began last week. Today I have to go through about 1000 different demo reels and select the actors and actresses who will move forward to the auditioning process. After that I must return to the script, find a single page, and send it out for them to perform a monologue. I must hammer down the script one final time and begin to analyze my needs and angles. I will be making a shot list. I must order any additional equipment and props I need well ahead of time.
This part of the process requires me to comb through the script and address all obstacles. For example, there is a creature from another dimension in the final scene. I have to figure out how I will distinguish this character from being human. Rather than focusing on how I want the character to appear, I must pursue the most effective portrayal that I will be capable of. One option is to use makeup and costume, another is to use compositing in after effects to alter the characters appearance digitally. Most likely I’ll be combining both methods. With digital effects I will need to know the lighting and shot type required. If attach 3d elements to the character I should film his scene on a tripod in order for the software to have an easier time tracking his movements (imagine attaching an object to an object moving within the frame. If the frame is moving simultaneously it adds another layer of movement that must be interpreted).
I spent far too long this week working on the graphic for T-shirts. I’d like to launch a kickstarter page and offer T-shirts for any person who helps to fund the film. I’ve come across a website called “Dafont” where individuals post creative fonts for other users to download. Most fonts are available for personal use. I need one that can be used for commercial use so that I can stick with it for the long term. For this reason I am currently using a stock font, but am highly interested in learning how to create my own. A great way to sidestep copyright issues (for music, graphic design, and general production) is to learn a new skill and do it yourself. My youtube videos lately have been featuring background music that I created in Ableton.
I would love to post here more, but I feel like I’m working 2 full time jobs. Gone are the good old days of getting blasted and playing RDR2 for 3 hours. This entire month is going to be a never ending shift. I’m really hoping to launch a kickstarter pre-launch today, but don’t know the first thing about it yet. Will write here again when I can. I should attach a picture of the current MC graphic and T-shirt but I don’t have the files on this computer.
My friend visited from oregon this week and brought along with him an A7iii. After a few drinks, I talked him into making this short film. Hope you enjoy it.
Today I’m excited to film my first commercial promo for a private business. Maria’s antiques has agreed to allow me to use their shop for the main scene in Mountain Cult – Episode 5. In exchange, I’m going to film a promotional video for them to use on their facebook page (or anywhere else). It will be my first time filming something for commercial purposes, but I have a strong idea for how I’d like the video to play out.
My girlfriend surprised me on Sunday by keeping a visit from my closest friend a secret. I hadn’t seen him in years and he made a spontaneous trip from Portland to come hang out for a few days. He brought along with him his Sony A7III so I’ve been fortunate to experiment with it and share what little knowledge I do have. He’s going to join me today so that together we can fool Maria’s Antiques into thinking we’re competent filmmakers. On top of that, we filmed a comedy short film/scene that I thought was hilarious and hope to post in the next few weeks.
I just completed “Film Journal – Ep. 4”. I’m moving forward with my experiment in the belief that regularly posts will allow me to market Mountain Cult to a wider audience. Feel free to check it out below if you’d like. Any likes or comments on the video help me with the Youtube algorithm so it’s greatly appreciated if you’d like to absolutely obliterate that like button.
It’s been a wild couple of weeks for me and each day I’ve been making progress to begin production on Mountain Cult episode 5. My involvement in youtube videos, my online meetup group, and my full time job has made posting here a challenge, to say the least.
The meetup group is kind of booming – we’re up to 90+ members in one group and 30+ in the other. Each week a small percentage of that gets together to discuss our progress toward our own short films as well as host a discussion about how to make a group project together. The group has attracted professional photographers, experienced directors, small film producers, and a sound mixer. I am very proud of bringing these talents together, but also am depleted for any extra time. On top of that, I host the meetings following my week working a full time job at a graveyard shift.
I have finally summoned the gonads to approach small mom & pop shops in my city and ask for permission to film there. I offer to film a promo-style video for their shop in exchange for the right to film at their location. I have been shocked to receive a positive response, as I previously anticipated I would get laughed out of the building. This is a huge stepping stone for my filmmaking career – you can’t do much if you are limited to your own private residence.
This Monday I will be filming a promo video in the antique shop I anticipate using. It will give me a chance to develop a commercial resume as well as learn the acoustics of the environment and find out how everything plays on camera. This weekend I will have to do research and come up with a script for the short commercial.
My next steps involve Kickstarter and twitch. I would like to launch an effective kickstarter campaign in July in order to offset some of my expenses. Before that I have more to learn about how kickstarter works. As for twitch, my knowledge is bare minimum. But I do know I have a friend who raised $600 there in a night and others have had similar success. I plan on releasing a new youtube video each week. I think I could offer something of interest if I livestream each of my editing session. Though I am no professional, I do have a lot of experience using the software programs Premiere Pro and Aftereffects. I also could feature Ableton Live, as I have been creating my background music there.
Feel free to check out my latest film journal below, and please like and leave a comment if you’d like to support my work. Every like I get means I will get 1 more minute of sleep.
I havent written here much lately. I’ve been consumed with work and making episode 5 happen. I did come up with a great story about a man realizing his situation was not confined to his luck but his effort to affect others positively, however i was drunk and it was 3 am and seemed like a bad time to flee my bed and girlfriend to go write. I have finished film journal 3 and in case you’ve been monitoring the progress of my web series, I’ll post the link below:
Thomas M. Watt 