KERBEROS - struggle for the perfect movie.

It's been awhile since I've written but not since I worked to get this movie finished. I work every day and nearly every hour I am awake, trying to make the perfect film while knowing full well that it won't even be close. Still, it is filled with perfect moments, most probably so subtle and trivial to be unnoticed by anyone but me.

With elections, major and minor storms, the local gas crisis and the world wide financial crisis, one would think the movie might take a back seat.

Just as everybody has their issues, some life and death, this movie is mine - and is very much a part of striving for the life and career I want and the even contributing to the future well being of all those involved. These are people who put there trust in me; with their talent, their time, and their money. So maybe it seems like overstating it, but I don't think so; and I take the responsibility seriously.

My AD has been pulled away by prior obligations, and as he was wearing the many hats I piled on him, I've been forced to don a few more. It's been a major challenge to get people to the locations on time, fighting for continuity with the actor's looks, vehicles, and schedules in order to keep the picture coherent. Dragging the production of movie out in order to save tens of thousands of dollars is the frustrating but necessary evil of my day.

And the result?

I have manged to knock out a couple more scenes including the last five minutes of the movie with a first stab at the credit sequence. Some might think that's putting the cart before the horse, but having helped edit a half dozen films, producing 3, and directing and completing an award winning action feature and a prestigious received dramatic short, so I know there is no film until ALL elements are created and signed off on.

I remain thrilled with the high level of acting, and the quality of the filming continues to improve in every way. Nearly 60 minutes of scenes have been edited. A 20 second shootout from 18 people has been created with over 400 composited layers to create the gun flashes, squibs, debris, and smoke that help tell the story. Our production levels went up again with the completion of our first aerial shots - a part of the ending credit sequence.

The helicopter shots were rewarding, and though I am always aware of the the final shot - with no one watching really caring how they came to be, I still take pride in forcing the issue by searching for and finding an enthusiastic pilot, (who had never done this kind of flying before), getting our picture car towed to the set when it broke down at the last minute in a city and time where there is no gas to be found, getting the shots required when I had never even been in a helicopter before, and of course saving money by getting what I needed in the 30 minutes I was in the air.

Is it perfect? No. Or maybe it is... The rawness of the shots seem to fit the rest of our movie perfectly. If that's the movie I end up with - a perfectly flawed film about flawed characters surviving their flawed lives - I'll be perfectly happy!

Kely McClung
trading in my hats for a crash helmet...

http://www.kerberosbites.com/
http://www.bloodtiesmovie.com/