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Mental Reset

Wed, 27 May 2009 15:36:36 UTC

There's this odd time, at least for me, between wrapping principle and pick-up's/editing, where I feel very restless.

For about twelve days it's constant motion and then it's just... calm. All the people you saw every day for LONG hours are gone. The questions are finished (for now). It's calm. And it takes some getting used to. At least for me.

It was a truly mind-blowing experience and I can say with a lot of confidence that it was a perfect storm of amazingly talented, creative, and energetic people working toward one goal. I have to admit, I sometimes found the incredble synergy distracting.

There's no one from the crew who could have gone missing without leaving a gaping hole. I have to thank Mike Klassen, the AD, for running a tight ship (REAL TIGHT) and selecting an amazing crew. This guy was so organized he made Melvil Dewey look like a hack. Someday we'll do a film requiring a truckload of entrails, for sure.

In order to make it work, everyone on location had to have numerous talents. Rigging lights one minute and dressing a set the next would distract most anyone. But this crew was amazing.

In no particular order, a thanks and a comment:

Nick Matthews: Nick was the DP and put in a lot of work well before we opened shooting. We saw that work pay off every day as we almost never fell behind. Thanks for your tireless work, abundant creativity and patience. Big things are coming your way.

Ian Brennen: Ian and Nick tag-teamed cam-op duties. Ian was also the steadicam operator and in that capacity especially, was amazing to see in action. The way he and Nick choreographed scenes and watching Ian execute the moves was crazy. Thanks for everything you brought to the table, which was a lot!

Diana Birsan: Diana was a grip. What a ridiculous title. Her's was the almost always the first name called when something needed doing and she was right there and always had the tools or a way to get the job done. Thanks for everything, Diana, including explaining to me what the heck was going on at times.

Christi Fedecky: Christi was the production designer. She managed everything from props to dusting up shiny actors and making sure Emily's hair was properly deoderized. She always knew where every prop was and is very organized. Thanks for EVERYTHING, Christi. Your plywood and tubing hospital was amazing! ;-)

Amanda Teixeira: Amanda was the SFX/Make-Up Guru. Somehow humble, in spite of her CRAZY-AWESOME skills, Amanda put in nutty hours prepping and it definitely paid off. She designed a wound so incredible I couldn't stand to look at it... and I've seen three children born! Thanks so much for contributing your amazing talent to this film. There are undoubtedly huge things in store for you!

Chris Lawson: Chris was the location audio supervisor and boom operator. Mild-mannered and pleasant, this dude's Samurai-like boom moves were just awesome. The patience it must take to not only get good audio, but to take crap from everyone for shadows the whole time... madness. Thanks for everything, Chris. It was a pleasure.

Mike Howie: Mike is referred to as "the swing", but seriously if there was someone on set who was like Dr. Manhattan, this dude was it. At any given moment he was logging footage, slating, running cables and correcting anyone who accidentally or intentionally revised history for a good story. I only remember him admitting to being tired once and an energy drink quickly over-cured that, because he was almost sprinting around the place after he drank it. Thanks a million-billion, Howie.

Mike Klassen: I mentioned this cat earlier, but it must be understood: Without this guy, this film doesn't happen. I've known Mike for a while, first back when we incited mosh-pits and deafened the young and old alike with the sweet sounds of metal. He's got everything it takes to be a force in the film world and I wouldn't hesitate for a minute to work with him again. I'm not sure the feeling's mutual, but...

Next on the list is a day of pick's up and the second unit (which bears a striking resemblance to the first unit) road-tripping to NYC for a few odds and ends, not that we need an excuse to head to New York.

There are a load of other people who need thanking too. None of you have been forgotten, I promise!

Thanks to everyone who's watching our progress. It's all for you!

Jason Armstrong
May 27, 2009

Mother's Day

Sun, 10 May 2009 11:56:50 UTC

Well it's Mother's Day - a pretty exciting day around my place for sure. As I (and presumably the others involved in the film) take a little breather today to focus on family, it's a reminder to keep things in perspective. The whirlwind of filmmaking, like many other exciting times in life, come and go in a blink. It should be our family and friends around us that have the most meaningful place in our lives. They'll be there when the dust settles, unless you abandon them in pursuit of a collection of exciting moments.

This week is going to be crazy! I'm going to spend Monday on some "real" work helping a friend finish shingling a roof. Great writers can tell brilliant tales not only because they're story-tellers, but because they have lived. Few things are more inspiring than smashing your thumb with a hammer, believe me.

After that it's head first into movie-land. Final bookings, location inspections, wardrobe assessments and all the final scrambling which no amount of preparation seems to eliminate.

Thursday morning I'll have the pleasure of collecting our DP and two lead actors in Toronto, and by Thursday night we open set on a mini-shoot (candid footage). Friday Morning the sparks fly and we go into two solid weeks of 16+ hour days. You can't store sleep, and you can't catch it up, but a steady flow of coffee is almost as good!

As I'm able I'll be "tweeting" and sharing photos from shooting at least daily. For those of you who twitter, the link is http://www.twitter.com/skinlessjsn. It's very unlikely I'll get in more than one blog entry during that time, but we'll see how it goes.

I hope you're all having (or have had) an excellent Mother's Day.

Jason

Movie Madness

Mon, 4 May 2009 18:00:59 UTC

Sometimes as production gears up you get lost in the technical stuff.

I'm so blessed to have a crew with artistic vision AND an ability to stay focused on the boring stuff (to me). The zeal of this group amazes me.

Thanks to someone from the ARG realm of the film, I've got a Twitter channel. I decided to make it my own and pass along film news for now. We don't have the infrastructure we once did for people to manage the goodies, so I'll do my best to keep everyone posted when something interesting (or not) happens.

Set opens in EXACTLY ten days. YIKES!

Jason

The air is getting slippery!

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 02:41:58 UTC

The weather is getting warmer, shooting approaches, and there's an intensity in the air around this production - the story will finally come to life.

I'll be honest, it's nerve wracking. Not in the logistical sense, the producers, AD and DP are keeping me sane and relatively organized.

There's something spooky about handing your vision over to others, making them partners in your story and still seeing it come to life - better than you could dream.

Exciting. A weekend away in Boston and a day of normal work - I helped a friend work on a roofing job - have helped me focus in.

There are starting to be "bits" of press, and the interviews are coming as well. Here are the first couple of links:

http://horrornews.net/ (check the April 24 entry)

http://babblingbrookeblog.blogspot.com/2009/04/babbling-brooke-blog-april-26-2009.html

I'll do my best to keep the blog up-to-date as we head into production, even it's mobile.

Rest well, the war within soon becomes the war without.

Jason

Production 2.0

Sat, 4 Apr 2009 20:13:08 UTC

Well, it seems strange to say that a movie that's already been made is under production. Despite that, it's true.

As we went full speed through hoops and over speed bumps in the production process we had some fun, but the journey ultimately knocked the wheels off the bus.

So here I sit, the day after a production meeting with an entirely new crew, about to embrak on the righting of a significant wrong. 48 Hours in Purgatory is about to become what it was supposed to be.

What does it all mean? Well, I suppose for the general masses, not much. For a few of us, though, it means a lot.

For me, it means recognizing a lot (there's an understatement) of work and energy must be chalked up to a learning experience. It's tough to swallow, but you've got to man up and admit when you no longer are travelling the road you should be. A million technical reasons aside, I had to finally look over the whole entity of our film and admit that it was not "right." I also had to scrape numerous people off of numerous ceilings and brace myself for the ensuing anger of those affected by the hard decisions myself and the producers had to make.

So here we are, a good little jaunt past "square one" and running along at high-speed. No major studio involvement, no creative hiccups, no sudden dis-associations, and no union-reated predicaments.

The old script has been shredded and the screenplay has been taken back to the day of it's birth and set on a more careful course. The vision can be summed up in purity. A glimpse into one man's love, madness, fall and redemption. Truth.

It means that contractually and artistically, some roles have been recast, while others have been eliminated. It hurts in the real world, but it's the proof of love for the world we're creating. The budget is tighter, but the crew and production value are expanded thanks to some wonderful professionals who are going all-in for the love of the story. As a writer, it's amazing to share that feeling with others.

It's a unique situation for a first-time director to be in, as well. I think so, anyway. How many people get a chance to make their first film better before even moving on to the second one.

It means Skinless Jazz has to wait, probably a couple of years, but that's ok. For the best, probably.

Anyway, off I go to leave the land of bloggish-ponderances and to begin approving schedules and casting decisions.

Until next time.

Jason

PS. Just a quick shout-out to those who played the game. You guys were great and some of this is for you.

Major Changes

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 15:18:19 UTC

Skeleton Key Films has joined forces with two anonymous partner-companies to rework the film 48 Hours in Purgatory.

While it is not time for me to publish full details, I can say that I'm VERY excited about this development. The last 18 months have been filled with ups and downs in this process and we're all quite happy to move in an established, positie direction. I'll keep this area updated regularly, as news becomes available.