YUMI EDITING

Day 3 of editing (days and nights are a blur)

FIRST ASSEMBLY STATUS: 45:00 minutes

I'm 45 minutes into the first assembly. I'm not touching the sound or the colour, only the rough picture edit.

The best thing about this number is that I'm on page 49 of the script.

I've cut paragraphs of dialogue, moved lots of stuff around, changed the order of some scenes, removed a plot element, and cut entire scenes (including one full day of shooting).

Bresson said you write the film three times, once as a script, then again during production, and finally in editing. He knew what he was talking about.

I have no problem finding a bit of distance from the writer/director. I'm the editor now. Fuck those other guys (the editor is passionate and prone to this type of language). The editor is also fearless, and prepared to cut whatever isn't working.

I've been cutting for performance only. Camera and the rest is always secondary to the actors performances...I have had to cut around continuity quite a bit, but nothing too drastic has been lost (I hope).

It's amazing how some actors repeat all of their actions exactly the same for each take (thank you!) while other actors NEVER repeat the same hand motions/facial expressions/head tilts, EVER...it is SO HARD to cut this stuff together when every take is different.

But I'm up for the challenge. It's going to be a great film.

(Kristine and I both look pissed off, but we're really just concentrating on making our film in Torri's bathroom)

DAY 30

And that's a picture wrap on Yumi in Love.

David said those words this morning at about 6:15AM (we worked through the night).

Thanks to all of the fantastic people who came on board the Yumi Express. I've edited 30 seconds of the opening scene. It's funny, Adam's great, and it feels good to stretch the editing muscles.

I've learned so much on this picture. I hope I muster up the energy and the courage to go again soon, because there are so many things I'll do differently, so many ways to save money and time, and so many great people (and the other kind) to consider/embrace/avoid.

What a trip.

Seven other features are waiting to be shot. Seven scripts, ready to go, ready to shoot, ready to cast. Even though it's off to UBC to begin my Master's in Creative Writing this year...my MFA involves Screenwriting/Stage and Radio/Fiction...I'm still seriously considering jumping right into my next film, an adaptation of a stage play, or trying to raise some money for the next "bigger" film.

STILL TO GO...
A few pickups to get, a whole world of sound to consider (composer, music, ADR, foley), and a lot of credit card receipts to talley. Yumi is (hopefully) still under $20,000...fingers crossed.

Looking forward to the wrap party. Probably Sept 8th or 9th (let me know if that doesn't work if you're a Yumi and you're reading this).

Let's get into the Yumero brand wine.
Let's get into this.

UMMM...

If this isn't disturbing...something is wrong

PRODUCTION DAY...WHO KNOWS...LAST DAY COMING UP SATURDAY

It's been a long strange trip.

A FEW EXAMPLES OF RANDOM AUDIO THINGS THAT RUINED TAKES DURING SHOOTING

-Cars/Motorcycles/Trucks
-7 Fridges and Coolers
-David "the chicks really get me" Gray
-Idiot kids yelling "porno"
-Non stop walking around
-Belt Sander
-Bartender cleaning up
-Stomach's rumbling
-Wolves
-Dogs
-Birds
-Creaking floors
-Rustling mics
-Sprinklers
-Airplanes
-Helicopters
-Moths
-Hammering
-Water running
-Water dripping
-Toilet's flushing
-Cellphone ringing
-Snoring
-Urination
-Meth Head Kid looking for his friends
-Tom Petty
-Buzzing lights
-A gaggle of freaks

PRODUCTION DAY...WHAT DAY IS IT? TWENTY-SOMETHING

Day off

Another day I'll spend avoiding the edit. Yesterday a few of us went out (Naim, David, Lori, Ariel, and myself) and shot Luna walking at night. Naim still has 2 of the 3 P2 cards with the footage, but the early indication (the one card I have) is that this stuff looks pretty great. Slow motion courtesy of the HVX200's variable frame rate.

We have no sound mixer/BoomOP for our next big shoot in Abbotsford. We really need someone for that stuff...time for another CraigsList ad.

PRODUCTION DAY 22

Ruby helping me load in the film footage (there's a lot of it).

There are only a handful of scenes left (and one HUGE day at the "Island House" that all of us live in fear of).

I'm afraid to begin editing, so I'm not.

I'm going to wait until I have all the footage. That way, when I sit down, I know that somewhere in all of this footage, Yumi in Love is waiting to be pulled out, complete.

PRODUCTION DAY 20

Things that happened over the past few days...

1. Someone borrowed and scratched up the front of my car
2. Someone snapped/stripped/busted the lever of the front passenger seat of my car (now permanently stuck in a low recline position)
3. Tried to film the last shot in the Daphne and Sam sequence, but I'm pretty sure it's WAY TOO DARK outside (we were supposed to start a half an hour earlier). I believe most of the scene works, but that last shot...we'll see.
4. Aside from a couple of key folks, I have no idea who is going to show up for Day 20, cast, crew...we've had no "big" problems with cast/crew showing up. Everyone has been dedicated and totally into making YUMI, but Day 20 has revealed a lot in the way of straining personalities...
5. We had to deal with David Gray's soundcheck messing with our sound in Deer Lake Park yesterday. He was trying to get onto the soundtrack, but screw him. He's a little soft for Yumi.
6. Sedgie was fantastic in all her scenes. A star is born.
7. Finished a VERY rough mix of the song (from Ashley Park's second record) I've been re-recording for the film (Kelly is singing, and Amie is going to be our film singer)
8. Our Dolly has been stuck at an earlier location for more than a week. We kind of need it today...
9. We have no extras and we're shooting a scene that requires a few of them...in two hours...this is because I wasn't exactly certain that the location was still "on" until late last night.
10. There is a huge pile of footage waiting to be turned into an amazing film, but I really would like to wait until principal photography is finished before I start editing and realize what I'm missing...

Bring on Day 20.

PRODUCTION DAY 15/16

Friday: 8:00PM until 5:30AM
Saturday: 8:00PM until 6:00AM

Abbotsford, B.C.

The Yumi in Love cast and crew worked around the clock to shoot out the Island House scenes. A bad P2 card incident and the late night/early morning hours took their toll and we didn't make it. We'll have to go back in a couple of weeks. Everyone's been great (although when we're super tired we're super difficult, all of us). I can't imagine ever going back and working until 6am again...but we have the best group here, and even though I promised myself Yumi in Love would NEVER involve this kind of all night shooting, the fact that I wrote so many night scenes has made keeping that promise all but impossible.

The budget continues to escalate, and I can only hope that my Visa can make it for a few more days...just a few more days...

Had to buy ANOTHER hard drive.

We have Sunday off which is amazing, but the last day off threw all of us way off our game. Still, it's worth it just to relax, although, I'm stuck loading footage all day, and then organizing the gear, and then prepping tomorrow...I can't help but think that re-setting the scenes at the Island house after 14 days is going to be a challenge. Now, I need to make sure noboby cuts or colours their hair.

T

PRODUCTION DAY 14

Today: The Yumi backup harddrive isn't responding. Kimm tells me it's about to crash. I believe him. I need to buy ANOTHER drive! Wow. This is more expensive than 16mm film stock. Also, Sedgie (Torri's doggie and one of our Day 14 stars) is on set with Torri over at Stargate Atlantis (I need to find a way to go and pick her up and yet somehow remain at our location...this is my fault, I should have set something up earlier), Brent, our location soundman, was a "maybe" for today's LONG shoot due to another commitment (I just checked my messages and he called and said he's in. Thanks Brent!). Amie fitted Daphne (Casey) yesterday, and I dropped off a new(ish) script for McKenzie (Kurt), so we've officially "seen" all of our cast during production. Still haven't picked up the dolly from Thomas and Leslie's house.

Today we shoot at Sam's House (Patrick's house). Off we go...

Lessons learned: Own a HUGE van. Have every scene in your film take place during the day and not in cars. Shoot someplace where the weather rarely changes. Schedule a day off in between shooting days. You will never be able to see a movie while you're making a movie.

Day 13 went smooth and easy, only the location folks forgot and we were stuck waiting outside without any idea when they would arrive (or if). Still, compared to Day 12, it was a cakewalk.

Day 12 was productive, but by far the hardest day so far. Everything went wrong, and it was LONG.

Day 11 Wrapped Thomas and Leslie's house with Adam doing his thing. It was a challenging LONG TAKE and Adam knocked us out. Complex blocking and large chunks of dialogue. Didn't have a truck so we had to leave the dolly.

PRODUCTION DAY 6

Things that happened on Day 6:

-The Boom Mic broke, and we had to record our sound wireless
-One of our stars had a brand new conflict in her schedule and we almost lost Day 7 (she came through for us and we're shooting later tomorrow night) She's a trooper Thanks!
-Wardrobe for two characters didn't make the trip to their location
-One character didn't get a call to say she was supposed to be on set and had no idea we were shooting. I had to shoot without her, sadly.
-Digital storage for the film has become an issue, so the Visa and I are going to buy some more equipment today.

-Ruby was great as the little brown dog in the movie
-Everyone came together and we got some great shots
-We learned that taking a day off in the middle of the shoot is a BAD idea
-I'm tweaking the ending of the film and couldn't be happier with what I'm coming up with...

This evening we shoot quite late, but I'm looking forward to shooting in a house, businesses, highways, and city streets can really take their toll when you're shooting without permits...guerilla...but we wouldn't consider shooting Yumi in Love any other way.

We would never have made it to day 7 without our amazing cast and crew, Kelly, my Dad, the doggies, Rob, Mona, and all the rest of my family and friends. Thanks!
Only 9 more days to go...