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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

This is why we bought our REDs. . .

Stephen Pruitt

Stephen Pruitt

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A review of our first film, "Works in Progress," from a very difficult-to-please critic (Robert W. Butler):

http://www.kansascity.com/2010/12/09/2507495/works-in-progress-works-of-beauty.html

It was the first film for everyone in the cast and crew save one.

I can't wait for everyone to see our second feature, "Terminal," currently in production (I'm on the set right now, actually!). The critics won't believe their eyes. Heck, I can hardly believe my own eyes!

For those who would like to see a really tiny version of a few scenes from "Works in Progress," check out this link on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/#!/video/video.php?v=1468719591140

Thanks for the tools, Jim.

Stephen
 
Looks great stephen! Congrats on the positive reviews, what sort of DIT set up did you have on set?
 
Hi there, Timothy, and thanks for the kind words. I guess I'm proudest of the facts that "Works in Progress" was a total first-time effort on the part of almost everyone involved (including our editor!), and that Robert Butler's reviews of the most recent Russell Crowe, Harrison Ford, Cher, and Harry Potter movies also received 2 1/2 stars from Robert Butler.

Stephen
 
Looks good, Stephen! And it seems that's a review you can be proud of. Mr. Butler gave your "Works in Progress" a better star rating than The Tourist or the new Narnia installment.
 
Oh, and Timothy. . . you probably aren't going to believe this, but I honestly don't even know what a "DIT set-up" is! What does that stand for?

I think it has something to do with monitoring, but all we did for monitoring was look at a 17" Samsung monitor connected via HDMI or, even more often, just look at our RED camera monitors. If we can make it look good on those, we can certainly make it look great after the work we did in post (sent out to Hollywood for Scratch coloring).

Thanks for all the kind words guys. I have to say, were it not for this great community of REDUsers such as yourselves, my wife and I could never even have attempted to do what we did. You guys have saved me from folly countless times.

We are so grateful for all the help.

Stephen
 
Stephen, nice work man. Looks great, and even in that short sample shows a lot of heart. Made me want to see more. I've enjoyed following your progress on this forum since you first got your RED and seeing the passion you have had for getting these projects off the ground. Keep going strong.
 
Stephen Pruitt said:
Oh, and Timothy. . . you probably aren't going to believe this, but I honestly don't even know what a "DIT set-up" is! What does that stand for?
Click to expand...
This would be for the Digital Imaging Technician, the person principally involved in maintaining the camera, setting it up each day, making sure the video levels and LUTs are consistent and correct, making sure the on-set monitoring is accurate, and keeping track of files as they come off the camera and get backed up.

Very important job. It frees up the cinematographer and assistant cameraman to worry about the creative aspects of the scene: how to light it, specific room problems, where and how to move the camera, getting enough coverage for the director and editor, and so on.
 
Way to go Stephen! Good luck with the next one.

Don't forget to hug the wife every so often and thank her for being so cool. You said "we" did it. That's priceless.
 
Marc Wielage said:
This would be for the Digital Imaging Technician, the person principally involved in maintaining the camera, setting it up each day, making sure the video levels and LUTs are consistent and correct, making sure the on-set monitoring is accurate, and keeping track of files as they come off the camera and get backed up.

Very important job. It frees up the cinematographer and assistant cameraman to worry about the creative aspects of the scene: how to light it, specific room problems, where and how to move the camera, getting enough coverage for the director and editor, and so on.
Click to expand...

Marc: I have no doubt the DIT is an important job, but we didn't have one. In fact, given the almost total newbies we were (and are), we have never used a LUT at all. We wouldn't know how.

As for file management, on our tiny four-man lighting/camera crew (and that includes me. . . the co-writer/producer/director/sometime camera operator), that job falls to me. At the end of the day, I simply bring home the drives and/or cards and make two copies. Happily, it's been so far, so good. (Except the other day, when the drive acted funny (wouldn't mount), but we managed to get the files off it. Oh, there was that unfortunate incident when one of our guys reformatted a drive they weren't supposed to format, but REDundead saved the day on that one!)

In our "defense," we probably don't do things like anyone else. Since we didn't (and still don't) know how to make movies the proper way, we do them very differently. For one thing, we shoot over an incredibly long period of time. We've actually been rolling cameras on "Terminal" since mid-August. We probably won't be done until the middle of January.

Our "procedure" (such as it is) is that we go through all of the blocking, camera set-ups, and lighting on Monday (using our crew of ten, which, in total, consists of me and three other people doing lighting/camera/grip/electrical, one on sound, one on make-up, a combined script supervisor/production designer, wardrobe/executive producer, a production manager, an a PA. . . and that's it!), and then bring the actors in on Tuesday to actually shoot the scene. Rinse and repeat three times a week. It's slow work.

Like I said, it's pretty nuts, but we do like the way it looks on screen.

Oh, and Matthias, Sara Groves is one of the great, truly original Christian musical artists working today. She has visited our church here in Kansas City several times, is friends with our church leadership (one of whom, Kevin Harlan, edited "Works in Progress". . . it was his first film, as well!), and allowed us to use two of her songs in the film. Most of the rest of the film's "score" came from other indie musical artists who kindly lent us their music for the film.

It's sure as heck been a learning experience. I hope we can make enough money off of "Works in Progress" and, especially, "Terminal" (now in production) to make a third film. Otherwise, this will be it—a five-year foray into the world of film.

Stephen
 
Roberto Lequeux said:
Don't forget to hug the wife every so often and thank her for being so cool. You said "we" did it. That's priceless.
Click to expand...

Trust me, I'll have to give her loads of hugs just to stay warm when we're living in a cold little a little crime-infested hovel because I blew all of our retirement money and everything else making two feature films. It was a ridiculous gamble, but a beautiful one. And Mary wife was there with me every step of the way. Heck, when we first got #791 and we saw the first footage coming off the camera, she said, "We need to buy a second one."

:-)

Stephen
 
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