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 But - if the basics aren't already on the film or video when it's originally made, there's only so much that can help the image in post production.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.

Day #13 is in the can!

If you're new to this blog, the title does not mean it's in the toilet .. it means it's in the film can. It's been shot and is at the developer's, then a digital copy of what we shot is on its way to the editor in LA.

The days have been full of hard work, getting some very sweet stuff. Great color, acting, depth of field in the scenes, sound.

We finish the scenes we need to shoot at the current location tomorrow, then Friday we're mostly outside.

One thing that distinguishes this shoot: singing. Sean Patrick Flanery and me do most of the singing. But yesterday Elisabeth Röhm led everyone in a spirited version of "All You Need Is Love" while we were waiting for lighting to be perfected. Our sound guys recorded it. Who knows - we may use it for the DVD version of the film.

Next week we're joined by Eric Roberts, Rick Overton, Jim Holmes and John Fugelsang. Sean Patrick Flanery has just a few days left to shoot, then he flies to Toronto to star in the sequel to Boondock Saints. The rest of us will be working for another three weeks to finish the film.

Our composer, Ragnar Rosinkranz, is watching the film being built by the editor in LA .. so he can build the soundtrack as the film is being put together.

The film is looking great, and editor Stephen Myers says it looks "excellent" so far.

In two days, THE WHOLE TRUTH principal shooting will be 50% completed. It's going by so quickly.

We're trying not to get media coverage yet because we want to keep a lot of the film's information under wraps until we're ready to show it to you! But some newspaper bloggers and neighborhood folks who saw our humongous trucks and lights wrote in a Seattle daily newspaper about what they saw us doing. The write up was pretty general, but wow. Some of the folks who read the short article and commented were pretty pissy -- writing suppositions about stuff that didn't happen, assumptions about the subject of the film and dissing it without having anything but minimal information about it.

But, that's show biz, baby, and think of all the people who will say whatever they want when it finally comes out.

At least they will have seen the movie! That is a good thing!

Today's shoutout goes to gafffer Ted Barnes. The gaffer lights the set in a way recommended by the director of photography. Ted is the very best -- lighting makes or breaks the scenes and how they are conveyed, and I have to say, our scenes are conveyed with the *best* lighting!

Lights are big and small, and can be very heavy. Working around as much electricity as we do, it is most important that safety be uppermost in everyone's mind working around all the lights, sound equipment and the heavy equipment it takes to light a 35mm film. Gaffing is very hard work; it requires a lot of knowledge, passion for the work (telling the story in the most dramatic/comedic way) and physical strength. Ted is also great to work with - he's an easy guy to be around.

But I constantly find that folks who know what they're doing and have confidence in their skills and abilities are fantastic filmmaking co-workers.

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!