April 13, 2016
We are rounding on the last stages of post production. All that’s left is some sound effects, mixing, color grading, music, opening credits, titles, closing credits, and maybe some VFX touch ups. Okay, so that sounds like a lot and at this stage of the movie, it’s a bit more work than I would have liked. That’s okay though. I think if I push hard these last two days (yes, two!) I can pull it out.
It helps that I’m not doing all of the work myself. Jack is handling the music, titles, and the credits. However, despite his help, I have stayed up until 2:00 consistently for the past three nights.
Yeah, it hasn’t been fun going to school the next day...
On the bright side, I’ve finished color correction and I’m almost done with sound.
The portion I’m worried about the most is the music. Jack sent me his first pass on Sunday and I made comments Monday. It had some pacing issues and I don't think it was necessary in some areas. A lot of my comments were centered around timing and pacing.
As far as I know, Jack hasn't begun to make changes. He was concerning himself with an opening title sequence. I can say I was impressed with his first attempt at After Effects, but it wasn't quite there yet. We also misunderstood each other. When I said “opening titles” I meant “opening credits.” I was thinking we would begin with the title card “Act 9 Presents” and then we fade up scene one as Gabe begins talking. We would put titles by Carter and Patrick displaying their names as their characters were introduced. At the end of the scene, we would have grand titles saying “Liquid Lightning”. Scene one was going to be mellow, punctuated with swelling tones once we see “Liquid Lightning.”
Jack interpreted the credits being the first thing seen. We argued about it after school today. He didn’t like my idea of using simple credits because it was too amateur/ cheesy/ iMovie-ish. He wanted to add production value to the film. I can relate on him in the production value regard, but I tried to explain to him that there is nothing wrong with simple titles. In fact, it’s recommended to take that route than design a title sequence with little motion graphics experience, according to PremiumBeat (a filmmaking blog). I think we agreed to go with my idea (I say I think because I don’t remember how it was worded exactly.)
We discussed (argued) a couple of other subjects today, namely being music, and more namely Monty’s speed theme. I was thinking of a more dubstep-like track. One with a nice beat that got you moving. Jack groaned right after I said the word “dubstep” and he groaned louder when I played the song. He said it was cheesy. I assured him it worked. I wish I could show him though. I didn’t have it with me.
Jack wanted to keep the song he already scored in. With Filmstro, he can change the momentum. I will admit, he had a fair point, however, I think the notes were too drawn out and even with the momentum changes, it couldn’t really feel “fast.” Plus, it sounded too climactic and cinematic rather than more fun and games. It was like a superhero going to fight crime after an emotional turning point. Jack said it reminded him of a TV Show (The Flash) main theme. I can understand where he was coming from, but I didn’t get it while watching it, and I doubt the audience would either.
Speaking of the audience, their possible reactions to Liquid Lightning has made me quite apprehensive. Will they love it? Will they loathe it? I put tons of ambition and dedication into this project. I was the most driven here than I’ve ever been in my life and I’m wondering if that was not enough. Watching the film makes me cringe in some areas, though I do think it has its strong points (the beginning is probably the best.)
The audience response mainly worries me because I don’t think I can take a bad review. I haven’t become detached enough from the project that I can receive critiques, helpful or unhelpful alike. On the other hand, I have a tendency to be suspicious of praise too. I would get the feeling they were being insincere to protect my pride. (For the record, I would take a good review over a bad one any day.)
As these last days pass, I get increasingly nervous. What will they think? Was the time I spent worth it? How will the film turn out?