Fun with Continuity

Greetings, one and all! Despite the holiday weekend, we have actually managed to make a fair amount of progress. For starters, Episodes 5 and 6 have both been edited, and have received their first pacing pass.

It was then that I found a fairly egregious continuity flaw. Circumstances rendered only a single take from a particular angle as viable for an important section of dialog. However, this was also the only take where the hair was in the wrong place, hanging down in front of the actress, (having slipped earlier in the take,) instead of behind her shoulder. Lacking many of the higher end tools to make this right, I had to go old school, copying her torso from another take, and painstakingly adding it to the current one, frame by frame. While not perfect, I'm pleased that the results came out as well as they did.

Also, it's here that I should probably clarify. When I talk about where we are with each episode, that conveniently ignores the fact that there are several shots for each episode that have yet to be created, largely due to needing to build the models, and rigs for filming them. To that end, I will be laying out the designs for our art department to start working on, while I turn my attention to some currently classified writing...

Well, that's about all for this week. Until next time!

Another Pass at It

Greetings, one and all! This week has a few very clear highlights. For starters, we finished color correcting episodes 3 and 4. There was a bit in Episode 3 where rapidly changing weather patterns affected the lighting, and thus the color, but several passes finally got that sorted out.

We have also begun editing Episode 5, which is officially where I hit episodic no-man's land. An added scene in Episode 3 changed the pacing of the episodes, and it's finally caught up to me. So, instead of having a plan regarding where this all ends, I'm just gonna edit until the right stopping spot, and see what happens.

Sunday saw a small team meet, which worked out fine, because it made the exercise of the day much more straightforward. After practicing "bounce" for unarmed strikes, we gave the team a very specific scenario to choreograph for. As hoped, they really leaned into their characters...

With Thanksgiving coming up, the early part of this next blog "week" could be a bit quieter, but hopefully next week will bring news of a successful Episode 5 edit.

Happy Thanksgiving! Until next time!

Syncing the Second Batch

Greetings, one and all! This week is a bit more straightforward in description. Several non-filmmaking duties kept me occupied in the evenings, but despite that, Episodes 3 and 4 have been sound synced, and their edits refined, both to make the fight scene punchier, and in preparation for the color correction and effects.

Sunday saw another stunt meet, with a somewhat smaller group. However, that did allow us to expand the unarmed combat development process, through various choreography exercises.

All in all, a low key, yet productive, week.

Well that's about all for this week. Until next time!

Resuming Assembly

Greetings, one and all! This week started with the integration of the prologue footage into the Episode 1 edit. The footage went together well, but I'm not quite satisfied with the audio, so we'll be revisiting that, to see what we can do to make it work. Episode 3 has now been sound synced, and the edit for Episode 4 has received its first pass, though the episode transition has still to be decided upon.

It was during a pass through a quick render of Episode 1 that I discovered a bit of a problem. Long story short, the fix for a persistent tech issue created unfortunate visual glitches that, ironically, now need their own fix. Fortunately, the issue has finally been resolved in those first two episodes. We shall see what the solution will look like in the episodes to come.
In more productive news, we did manage to create a fake window in one shot, and actually make it move with the camera. Given that we're working with older tech, this is quite a bit more impressive than it should be in 2018.

Sunday saw yet another stunt meet, and this time the focus was around taking a hit. After reviewing the finer points of unarmed combat, the team spent the remaining time developing a six person brawl scene.

So, a week which has brought us many puzzles, that are being overcome, one by one.

Well, that's about all for this week. Until next time!