Locking the film

This means the editing process is basically - primarily - finished.

Now it's time to pursue two separate and equally important processes: color correcting and sound mixing.

Color correcting means a technician (in our case at Modern Digital post production in Seattle) "equalizes" and enhances each frame of the film's color in a digital program. In some cases, as in one scene we shot - half of a room was shot on one day, the other half the next. Predictably, each half looks different because the lighting cannot be specifically calibrated to make the picture look exactly like the day before for another location.

I'll sit near the technician, asking for exactly the look I need for the film for every frame of the film. Today there are amazing ways to affect the appearance of a movie. But - if the basics aren't already on the film or video when it's originally made, there's only so much that can help the image in post production.

Fortunately, between DP Paul Mailman, Gaffer Ted Barnes (he's the lighting genius) and Grip Greg Smith, our film is knee deep in production values, depth, color and dramatic detail, highlighting not only our actors but the production design work of Rachel Thomson.

With this rich tapestry, we can pull all sorts of magnificence out of every picture.

The other process, sound mixing, is a finite, weeks-long creation of every sound heard as you watch a movie. Music is mixed with sound effects and dialogue and natural sound and Foley creations. Foley is creating a sound that sounds like another sound.

Like in one scene, a brush is painting a creamy concoction. To get the rich juicy sound of what this *looks* like it will sound, editor Stephen Meyers and I got a paper towel dripping wet, folded it into a small square, and I dragged my finger across it. When the brush is supposed to tap the concoction, I tapped my finger on the soaking wet surface.

Or there might be a sound created by the same thing as the actual sound, only in a confined space. Like a character walking across a gravel road. We put gravel in a box and wearing shoes identical or similar to the character's, someone steps exactly at the speed of the actor onscreen as it's recorded.

It's way fun. Stephen and I created a lot of sounds and sound effects; he's the master.

In the mix there are many channels of sound that need to be sorted and scaled so each can be heard appropriately by you. Is Ragnar Rosinkranz' fabulous music up enough when it is to be heard along with natural sound (sound that can be heard naturally where we filmed the scene).

It's an extremely detailed and distinctly subjective procedure led by the director. But sound technician Dave Howe at Bad Animals studio provides the best of the best from which to choose.

It's all very exciting to me. Sitting day after day over a period of weeks for incredibly long hours as each minuscule piece of the acoustical program is put into place, just as the color correcting procedure calls for the director to attend to each tiny element as it is finessed.

I love it when people think what I do is "glamorous." It's just many many many hours of hard work, putting a huge puzzle with a couple hundred thousand pieces together, creating what is commonly known as one's vision.

Directing is such a massively collaborative effort, but there is a basic vision that drives all of us in the same direction. With a little bit of luck, the outcome is a film that you find worth watching - again and again.

I'm thrilled to report that many people who have seen the test screenings of the film say that is exactly what they want to do - see THE WHOLE TRUTH again! All I can say is after our final edit, the color correction and sound mix, it will look and sound many times better than it was when they saw it.

Only one week left to finish The Whole Truth

Well, actually filming will take another week and two days, but essentially the clock is winding down on all the work left to do to finish our feature film.

In addition to the scenes we have to capture, we have "wild sound" we need to record -- several audio pieces that will be in the film that need to be recorded while the actors and crew are still here, up and running.

Working out of the old (now deserted) Federal Courthouse in Tacoma for seven days was a terrific experience with one tiny exception. No working bathrooms. We were filming on third floor sets and all the offices were located on the third floor, so skipping to the loo meant rushing down by stairs or elevator (lots of essential equipment used that elevator as well) to the honey buckets waiting for us outside the courthouse.

No complaints really, even in the pouring rain we had that "aren't we having fun camping out" sense that got us through with flying colors.

All our stars were totally game for every challenge we have faced, and stayed in great spirits. I love doing comedies because there's lots of laughter.

What's not funny are all the errors made by local media reporting about our feature film. Seems so far the folks writing about us don't really understand how films are made or how the industry works -- thus how very different we are, but they have beliefs about all of it that are apparently unshakable.

We've been reluctant to make ourselves available because it doesn't seem to matter what we say, the same old stuff gets out there with all sorts of built in biases that simply are not factual about the industry or particularly our film.

Yesterday we actually had lunch with a reporter (even though I have absolutely no time to talk with anyone other than staff, cast, crew and family; we made an exception) and sure enough, too much of the same old disappointing stuff appeared.

Interestingly, there is also misinformation galore about the industry within the industry - I found it rampant when I coached actors.

We're very protective of the film's story and characters, which need to be seen for the first time when you see the film or their entertainment value will be devalued. No photographs on set are allowed other than those over which we have control.

Meanwhile, whether from fatigue or the additional complications of finishing the last pieces of the jigsaw puzzle that is our feature film, some very minor frustrations have flared, but fortunately nothing has happened that has interfered with the overall pleasure of working on the film - witness the comments left on my blog by people who have worked alongside us!

And at this rate, we are coming in (finishing the film) on time, under budget and because the film is being edited as we shoot it, the rough cut should be completed a week after our final day of shooting - Oct. 31.

I'm off for a week of vacation after the wrap party -- coming back in time to start location scouting for our next feature The Lonely Goatherd and greeting editor Stephen Myers who will come up to Seattle from LA to finish editing the film. I'll be sitting beside him as we finish assembling the motion picture you will see in theaters next year.

I have learned so much from this shoot -- about myself as well as my directing style.

Nothing has felt stressful or overwhelming, and even with the pathetically few and minor glitches that have crossed my path, I've had the time of my life. My energy has actually increased as time has passed; it's done me good to have all the physical activity I've had in addition to the creative and mental challenges. Laughing several times over the course of every day is not only healing and fun, it's downright inspirational.

Speaking of inspirational - our production designer Rachel Thomson has been a virtual wizard. Everything she designs and that her crew dresses is phenomenal. Every scene presents its own set of problems and challenges; Rachel and her crew have done work worthy of every award given to set designers from her creations on The Whole Truth. I can hardly wait for you to see them.

Cameras roll in 9 days ..

THE WHOLE TRUTH update:

Location scounting, tech scouting (making sure all the locations we chose will work with all the technical aspects of making a film) is nearly at its end. Craig Stewart, our "Scout Master" and his team have landed us some terrific places in which to film that will be dressed by Production Designer Rachel Thomson, filled with props by our Prop Genius Christopher McFadden.

Director of Photography Paul Mailman and his crew, including gaffer (lighting) Ted Barnes - one of the best - are setting up equipment to create the most effect scene captures on film. Paul and I are a strong team .. and he has an eye for putting you (the audience) in the scene rather than just "taking pictures" of something happening, which is what I look for in a photographer, and few are capable of doing it well.

The lead actors begin to arrive tomorrow, a week early, and we're mighty excited to see them - with preproduction and preparation at its peak now. Our lead actors rehearse at no cost to us - they're paid for their work before the camera but make rehearsal at no cost part of their contract if requested. I find that fine actors prefer to rehearse and request it; actors like Paul Newman, in fact, insist on it and offer filmmakers two weeks of rehearsal "off the clock."

I am coaching some of the local actors to get their performances perfected for the shoot - we'll also have some rehearsal time before shooting each scene. I've been sending notes to all the lead actors that I believe will help them develop their characters.

Editor Stephen R. Myers, in LA, is prepared to receive our dailies to start editing them as we shoot; composer Ragnar Rosinkranz, also in LA, will be seeing them as Stephen builds the rough cut of the feature, assessing how the music we've worked on over the weeks will suit the characters and scenes.

We're all headquartered in a large former school house - giving every department plenty of room to work.

I have my keyboards in my huge office - which is shared by my assistant Matt Schmidt - so I can work on musical ideas. I even wrote a little ditty that will be sung by Elisabeth in the film.

This week end my "job" is to rest - and in fact although Paul and I will be prepping every night for the next day's shoot and on the weekends for the following week's work - all of us must rest on our weekends or we'll wear out, since we'll all be working hard for long hours during the week.

Our Leading Lady, Elisabeth Röhm, is working all 30 days of the demanding 30-day shoot. Now *that* is a lead role! We'll be rehearsing stunts this coming Friday - she's very athletic and strong so she might be doing some of her own -- if we're sure she won't risk injury! Fortunately, there are only a few.

She'll be rehearsing with Jim Holmes and Sean Patrick Flanery later in the week, which will be great fun.

Back to hanging out, tending a few TWT details, watching a couple films, baseball and football games for me! Enjoy the weekend!

He's baaaack!

After being told three times we couldn't have Sean Patrick Flanery for our film THE WHOLE TRUTH because of the production schedule of Boondock Saints 2, in which he stars?

We got him!

Thanks to Sean's insistance and the willingness of Boondock Saints 2 producers, he's coming up to star with Elisabeth Rohm, Eric Roberts, Rick Overton, Jim Holmes, John Fugelsang and our little Talented Animals star pup, Tin Tin.

We're also introducing Seattle actress Pisay Pao.

I was out location scouting last week with our scout "master" Craig Stewart, 1st Assistant Director Megan Griffiths, Production Designer Rachel Thompson and our Director of Photography, Paul Mailman. A Teamster driver took us to all the places we evaluated for their potential as natural "sets" for the film.

Tucker Dropout Productionz' THE WHOLE TRUTH production offices are set up in a school that's not being used. My assistant Matt Schmidt will be joining me there in our office Monday.

Lots to do before cameras roll in two weeks, but we have a great team - crew and cast - all of whom are very enthusiastic about our project.

Stay tuned!