Aspiring: The Pilot Episode(s)

The introduction to Aspiring: The Series is complete!

Now, I'll let you in on a little secret. The first three episodes? Well, they used to just be episode 1. So, what you've seen so far is the pilot, divided by three. Why?

Well, when I was initially editing the pilot, I had a 9 minute episode that got all the points across, but dragged. Especially in the middle. I needed to introduce Jack and Ray. I wanted to reveal that Jack was recently laid-off, on unemployment, and thinking about leaving LA. And then I had to show Jack's new goal in life, and his typical approach to getting things done. So I threw it all in to get it out of the way. And the result was too much.

I kept tweaking and tweaking, hurting some performances as a result. Trying to get it down to a length that web viewers would allow. And then the unthinkable happened...

I was losing one of my leads to Hawaii for a few months, and as a result, filming was stalled for the foreseeable future. This ended up being a good thing, however. I took the opportunity to walk away from Aspiring for some time, focus on other projects, and try to make back some of the money I had spent filming this. As a result, I eventually came back to Aspiring with my passion renewed. And with the realization that I wrote each act of episode 1 in a way that they could work individually. Maybe not as well as if I had done it on purpose, but enough to save what I had. So I began to re-edit.

And there you have it. The pilot became episodes 1-3. First-timer screw-ups on my part feel a little more spread out than they otherwise would have, but I can deal with that. It's done, I got through it, and now I can move on. Bring on episode 4!

In case you missed them, here they are. Enjoy.

- Chris

WE'VE LAUNCHED!!!

It's been a long road, with roadblocks seemingly set up about every 100 feet. But we did it. We got an episode out. And let me say what I know you're all thinking.

It's about damn time!

First, I want to get one thing out of the way. The sound. It sucks. I know. It's one of those roadblocks that I was talking about. And it was a big one. Essentially, some of the dialog was recorded incredibly low, and by boosting it in post, a fair amount of static crept in. Cleaning up said static led to other problems. Which then led to more problems. And so on. Bad news is, I filmed the first three episodes together, so it may continue for a bit. Good news is, the scenes in the first episode were probably the worst of it. Even better news is, I know where the problems came from, so everything should be fine after episode 3.

Something else you might be noticing is the grainy, cheap, black and white look. That was a big creative decision and it'll get a blog post all it's own in the near future.

Episodes 2 and 3 are in the can, so expect them soon.

So sit back, relax, hopefully enjoy.

And thanks for the patience.

What's going on with Aspiring...

Sorry to leave you hanging for so long after that last update. There's been a lot of big changes.

First, what was happening. My original plan for shooting Aspiring was to get the whole first season in the can, edit it all together, and release each episode on a weekly basis. This was a good plan in theory, but not so much in practice. At the pace we were able to sync up availability, it would have taken months to get finished with filming. Basically, scheduling is an evil bitch, that'll suck the life out of you if you let her. So plans needed to be rethought.

And rethought they were! Here's how Aspiring is going to work now. We're going to film on a per episode basis. Once I got over the defeat of my initial plan, I quickly realized how this is beneficial on nearly every level.

We now have room to grow. I can look at each episode as it's finished, and see what works and what doesn't. Under the previous strategy, the entire first season would have had the quality of a first episode, since I was filming it all at once. Now, each episode gets 100% focus. And the story and episodes can now get bigger as needed. Better parts lead to a better whole.

Also, I now have much more freedom with storytelling. I can incorporate new ideas, new characters, etc. This has already taken effect, as what was going to be the entire first season, is now just the first act of the whole story. 7 episodes have been condensed into about 4. I know how Jack's story ends now, and what I need to do to get to that end.

So those are the changes. Now, where we're at. Episode 1 is wrapped! So, you WILL be seeing something. Soon. Specifically, in January. Going to start things off right in the new year. Right now, I'm working on final edit. I'd like to launch with the full website, but if I have to launch with a single page, so be it. Whatever gets it out to you quicker.

Thanks for keeping up, and sorry for the delays. I'll make sure to keep everyone more updated in the future.

- Chris

Thankfully, It got better...

Even after the crash and burn of Day 1, I was still hopeful for Day 2.

Overall, it went great. I was shooting Jay's scenes for "Toilet". Started around noon, finished by 4. Got the shots I needed, got the performance I needed. Everything went smooth, and we finished before the bathroom got unbearably hot.

I did however, hit a snag that night. Turns out that the sound recorded at a low volume, for reasons I have yet to determine. I upped the dialog in post, which worked, except for the unfortunate side effect of also raising the volume of the background static. This was a problem. I began to freak out.

Was I going to have to rerecord everything? I thought of ADR, but I don't think I'm at the point where I could pull that off. Worst of all, I couldn't handle telling the guys about ruined footage after the mess that was the first day. And then it hit me.

I bought the Adobe Production Premium for a reason. It was supposed to have everything I would need for post. And that includes Adobe Soundbooth. I opened the sound file in the program, clicked a few user friendly buttons, and all was well. Volume was fine, no static, I was happy.

I was also done for the day. Going from that extreme low to that extreme high in a span of 30 minutes drained me. I knew the footage was good, I knew the sound was easily saved. Time for bed.

On to Day 3. Mick's "Toilet" scenes. Started the day with organizing the footage from Day 2. Blocked the scene with my roommate's assistance. He gave some great ideas for a better way to change the opening shots, so some slight replanning was done. Mick arrives at 5 as scheduled, and we're ready to go. First up, the "Steady-cam" shots.

Now, obviously, I don't have a steady-cam for this. My solution: Take my tripod, loosen up the adjustment handles for free swinging movement, extend the neck to get some counterweight at the bottom, screw on the camera, and grab and guide the whole thing by the adjustment handles. Worked out pretty well. I recommend a carbon fiber tripod, as they're much lighter.

Shooting went perfect. Got everything I needed. Sent Mick home, captured the video, organized the footage, and was ready to edit the next day.

So here I am, taking a break from editing "Toilet", getting you all up to date. Starting next week, we begin getting all the living room footage for the series.

Till next time.

- Chris

When a squirrel pees on your floor, you know it's going to be a bad first day...

Day 1. I was told to expect everything possible to go wrong on the first day. Truer words were never spoken.

Jay, Mick, and I start the day in the living room, going over lines. The front door is open, and Kilo comes in for nuts, as usual. I guess now would be a good time to mention that Kilo is the head of a family of squirrels living in the tree out front. My roommate and I provide him with nuts, and he provides us with entertainment. (He once did a flying roundhouse kick. I swear.) I tell Mick and Jay to just ignore him, and we go back to the script. And then, Mick speaks.

"Chris?"

"Yeah?"

"The squirrel is peeing on your floor."

And that was how the day started. With a squirrel showing me that when he wants nuts, he expects nuts.

We got off to a slow start, but that was expected on the first day. We all go out back to film scenes for "Headshots", only to find that a flock of birds has taken up residence on the nearby power lines, and they're singing to their hearts content. They clearly weren't going anywhere, so I decided to go ahead and begin filming anyway, and fix the sound in post.

Also, Mother Nature decided that today would be a good day for a spike in temperature in Los Angeles. It's hot. The actors look like they're hot. So I decide to add in a line of dialog referring to the heat. Since this is the argument episode, it'll add to the tension. I even envision giving the episode a nice yellowish hue in post. Problem solved.

Next, I realize that Burbank airport must have changed some flight paths, because there is a bit more air traffic overhead than usual. Whatever. More pauses between takes. I'll deal with it. But the day is starting to wear me down. And the hot day is definitely getting hotter.

It was about this point that I realized that this was the worst episode I could have picked for the first day. I had planned to shoot this one very loose and improv in style, in regards to the cinematography. I was going to go hand held, to give everything a sense of immediacy, and just circle the actors as they delivered their lines. So I didn't plan a shot list. Problem is, I also didn't block the shots. BIG mistake on my part. When the actors ask me where to stand, and the look on my face shows that I have no idea, it doesn't exactly inspire confidence. Also, this episode, along with "Decisions", is the hardest for the actors. Lots of emotion, Lots of dialog. I realized too late that I should have given them the chance to ease into their characters more before picking this to start with. These two things are definitely making the day more difficult.

So, we film a few takes, and then a small passenger plane begins circling overhead. I figure that it's just waiting for clearance, may be about twenty minutes, and then we can move on. We all head inside to take in some air conditioning while we wait it out. Twenty minutes later, still circling. An hour later... Still circling. Oh, and someone begins to use a jack hammer across the street.

It was at this point that I gave up. The day was a bust. I knew it, and I decided to call an end to the debacle. Let the actors have their afternoon back, and let me prepare for day 2. We shot two of the three character posters, so the day wasn't a complete waste. I expected the neighborhood to go completely quiet as soon as the actors left, for that one last kick while I'm down. But the plane circled for another hour, and then some local gardeners started in with the leaf blowers. It made me feel a little better, at least, to know that I made the right decision in sending everyone home.

Uncontrolled environment + bad planning = Off to a bad start...

Filming begins next week!

Wow. It feels like I'm crossing a finishing line, and yet, it also feels like I haven't even started the race.

The first day of filming is slated for Monday, August 24th. It's going to be a short first week. The plan is to shoot episode 3, "Toilet", on Monday. And then we move into episode 6, "Headshots", on Tuesday. The reason for the short week is so I can test the waters. Because this is all new to me, I can only make an educated guess on how smoothly everything will go. This way, I give myself some time to figure out what I did right, what I did wrong, and what I need to do to fix it. Plus, I can edit in the off time.

The plan was always to shoot Toilet first. That episode, more than any other, is our "fun" episode. I knew it when I was writing the episode, and that belief was reinforced by the cast reactions when we did a read through of the scripts. I'll edit it together, get the cast and crew laughing, and hopefully this will put them in good spirits for the rest of the shoot.

I decided on "Headshots" as the second episode for a few reasons. For one thing, it's outside, which means that lighting will be provided by nature. That saves a lot of setup time. Two, that's the only episode that involves specific sound design. I have someone lined up for that task, and I want to give her footage and time to work with, in order to make her job easier. Also, this is our most heated episode. So, while Toilet will get the fun started, Headshots will appeal to the acting side of Jay, Mick, and Nicole. I feel this is the other half of the motivational whole.

Next Monday.... Can't wait.

- Chris

C320 Films

Why C320?

C320 is the dorm room at SUNY Purchase where I first fell in love with filmmaking. One guy owned a hi-8 camera, so we made movies. Sure, it was just a bunch of college freshman remaking Reservoir Dogs, but it was a blast. That's where I knew that this is what I wanted to do. I decided to name the production company after that dorm room, as a reminder of why I was originally inspired to come to this strange and exotic land called Los Angeles.

Aspiring: The Series will be the first production of C320 Films.

Here's the closing logo for C320 Films. As I've previously mentioned, I want to include everyone in the process of putting Aspiring together. In keeping with that, here's how I put together the logo.

First, I did a predesign, deciding on factors like font, color scheme, and placement.

Next, using ScreenFlow, a program used to capture video of your computer monitor, I recorded as I put everything together in Adobe Photoshop. Because I knew I was shooting hi-def, I chose a layout that was equivalent to 16x9, getting as close as possible to 1920 x 1080 pixels, (1080p), without getting obstructed by Photoshop palettes.

In Adobe Premiere, I sped up the 3 minute video by about 4000%, to get it down to 5 seconds.

Then, utilizing Voice Memo on my iPhone, I recorded the dialog, and sent it to my email.

Finally, after I saved the audio and imported it into Premier, I applied it to the video, and exported the whole thing.

And that is how you get a homemade production logo in just one night.

- Chris