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

Planning the shots

I knew from the start that I didn't want to go in blind when it came time to shoot. While keeping a loose style has worked out well for me with my photography, and has worked in the past for video, it just wasn't going to cut it this time. This one required planning.

I debated between storyboards, or a shot list. I was warned that storyboards were necessary, by people who know from experience. Unfortunately, I rarely do what I'm supposed to. So, I decided to go with a shot list. A very detailed shot list.

There were two reasons for this. One, I know myself well enough to admit that I would never make it through the storyboarding process. And even if I did, it would stall the start of shooting for an unacceptable amount of time. Two, I'm running the camera, and I already know my vision for this. I knew it as I was writing it. Living in the same place where I'll be filming was also a factor in this. No need to draw what's already pictured clearly in my head. I guess you could say I was storyboarding while I was writing, in the same way I'm now editing while creating the shot list. Because of the all-in-one filmmaker role I have to take on for Aspiring, I'm kept one step ahead at all times.

Of course, as I create this list, I have my inspiration movies constantly running in the DVD player. Comedies that will make me ambitious while filming. (Probably too ambitious based on the limitations I'll have). Yesterday, Raising Arizona. Today, I'm thinking Better Off Dead.

- Chris

My phases of writing

When I write a script, I usually classify it in three phases.

Phase 1, is the first draft. For me, this is a glorified plot outline with dialog. Loose, sloppy, and for my eyes only. But, as basic as it is, this phase also takes the longest. This is the phase that usually defeats me. It's where most of my projects fall apart, sometimes as soon as two pages in. Therefor, only a few people know what I'm working on during this time. All of Jack's ideas in Aspiring come from actual phase 1 scripts I had attempted to write.

Phase 1 is designing the house.

Phase 2, is every full draft after the first. This is where I make sure everything makes sense, really discover the characters, and so one. I'll also go more public with a script at this point, as I feel more confident that it'll get finished. This phase makes the script an incomplete whole in my eyes. It's there, but needs some tightening. When this phase is finished, that's when I'll give the script to people to read. And, in case of emergency, I could shoot this script. But I would prefer not to.

Phase 2 is building the house and making it livable.

And then there's phase 3. No more complete rewrites, just constant additions and subtractions to the last draft. Hour here, hour there of work. Adding one line of dialog, then making sure that line doesn't contradict anything previously said. Or, adding something earlier to compliment the new line. This phase is where I'll more carefully apply foreshadowing. I can also throw in little quirks, to fully flesh out a character. Basically, a tidying up of the whole thing. This phase happens during pre-production, and doesn't end till the last day of shooting. Aspiring is in phase 3. Specifically, anything relating to Mara, as she wasn't cast when I finished phase 2.

Phase 3 is picking out the furniture and wallpaper. It's when the house becomes a home.


- Chris

Why the early promotion?

I decided to start promoting Aspiring early, because I wanted to let everyone in on the fun, chaos, thrill, and pain involved in putting together a web series. Experience the goings-on of a production so small, "guerrilla-style" filmmaking would be an upgrade. Witness the mayhem that will ensue, due to me being a first timer in almost all regards on this thing. If anyone reading this is thinking about doing something similar, feel free to learn from my mistakes and accomplishments as I make them.

This is going to be a hell of a journey, and I'd love to have you all along for the ride.

- Chris

Meet The Cast

First up, we have Jay Preston as Jack...



Next, we have Mick Gallagher as Ray...



And finally, we have Nicole Dionne as Mara...

Meet the characters

Meet Jack.

Some days he's a photographer, and some he's a filmmaker. Lately, Jack's been the photoshop guy for The Toony Company. Jack's a guy who's never happy with his place in life. If he's broke, he wishes he had money. If he's getting paid, he wishes for the freedom of the starving artist. And he's always willing to let you know this, whether or not you want to hear it. Born and raised just north of New York City, Jack moved to LA eight years ago, decided he didn't like it after two, and yet he's still here. As we open the series, Jack is ready for a change, and a big one is coming.

Meet Ray.

Jack's roommate. Ray has been a film buff from birth, which is convenient, since he grew up right outside of LA. He started out wanting to be a filmmaker, but ended up an actor, moving into the Los Angeles area right out of high school. He is fiercely loyal to Hollywood, never feeling the urge to be anywhere else. He used to have the drive to go out and audition as much as possible, but got comfortable doing work as a film extra. A little too comfortable. He'll still claim that just being on a movie set is good enough for him, but his increased bitterness is starting to show cracks in that facade.

Meet Mara.

Mara's the type of girl that can hang with the boys just as easily as the girls, and isn't afraid of letting people know what's on her mind. Her off switch isn't broken, but it definitely has some loose wiring, so she has a tendency for TMI. She and Jack met years ago at a part-time job, and they just clicked. This was due to their shared trait of never being able to decide on what they want to do with their lives. They've remained friends, but have always had a habit of losing touch for long stretches of time. Mara practices a nomadic lifestyle, except, instead of changing where she lives, she changes her path in the arts. Painter, singer, dancer, etc. You name it, she's done it. She's currently going through her actress phase, and needing headshots has once again brought her back into Jack's life.

We have a poster... again!

Well, that didn't take long. When I said in my earlier post that I was likely to change it, even I didn't think it would happen that quick.

The original design just felt sloppy, and rushed. Definitely a first draft poster, and I made the rookie mistake of showing the first draft. So, I took some more time playing with fonts and layout. And made a slight adjustment to the tagline. Going to leave the original up, so you can catch a glimpse of the process.

Anywho, here it is. A design I'm much happier with.

- Chris

We have a poster!

Got Jay over to the house today to shoot the teaser poster for Aspiring. Went quick and smooth, thanks to me having a clear image in my head, for months, of how I wanted this thing to look. Matter of fact, I think the poster was the second thing to pop into my head after I first thought of the idea for the show.

However, the grief started after the shoot, when I had to design the damn thing. I knew what I wanted the image to look like, but beyond that, I was making it up as I went along.

All in all, I'm pretty happy with it. Of course, knowing me, I'll soon become unhappy with it, for whatever reason, and decide to either change it. Or make a new one entirely.

Till then, here it is.

- Chris

To title or not to title...

When I began writing Aspiring, I had to figure out if I wanted to give each episode a title, or stick to episode numbers. I decided that simply attaching a number to each episode was no fun. It actually felt kind of lame. So titles won.

I decided to go with a one word description, of an important aspect of each episode. I'd like to give a specific reason for why I went with this style, but, all I can honestly say is, it just felt right.

That being said, I give you the episode titles for Aspiring, season 1:

1 - Cubicle (A necessary location change will probably alter this one)
2 - Goals
3 - Toilet
4 - Project
5 - Porn
6 - Headshots
7 - Decisions

- Chris

A little break never hurt anyone...

One thing I've learned over the years, is that a short break from a project is needed at times. When writing, for instance, I always like to take a week off between drafts. Or, as is currently the case, after the scripts have been delivered, and before pre-production starts. I like the distance, as it helps me come back with a fresh perspective. This is when the best changes happen.

So I took a week off from Aspiring. It was hard to do, but I knew it was necessary. I caught up on headshots, photographed the chaos at Michael Jackson's Walk Of Fame Star, finished Prototype, (fun game, by the way), and watched some movies. Now, I'm ready to get back on track.

Next up, I need to shoot the teaser poster, build the teaser web page, find the lead actress, and start to fill this blog with posts... Oh, yeah, and schedule the actual shooting of this thing. Guess I shouldn't forget that one, huh?

- Chris

Never underestimate writing time...

Wow. When I started this little adventure, I assumed that I would finish writing all of the scripts within a few weeks. Cut to a few months later, and I'm just finishing. I suppose I missed the mark on that one.

I'm definitely happy with the results. Obviously, I'll be rewriting and reworking this thing until the day we shoot, but I feel that the scripts are as locked down as they'll ever be. If it works out as written, there's seven episodes. Five story episodes, and two stand-alones.

- Chris

So what is “Aspiring” all about?

"Aspiring: The Series" is about Jack Corvin, a guy that thinks big, but does little. Jack has to figure out what he wants to do with his life, and where he wants to do it.

Does he stay at the secure, full-time job that he hates? Should he stick with photography, which has been working out pretty well the last few years? Or, does he go back to his dream of being a filmmaker, the reason he moved across the country in the first place? And, speaking of which, why is he still in Los Angeles, when he's sure he'd be happier somewhere else?

But most importantly, when will Jack get off his ass and do something?

The first official blog of Aspiring.

Welcome!

I promise to have more to say in the future. Like, for instance, what the show is about. But for now, I just wanted to get this blog set up and established.

Be back soon.

- Chris Sista
(Creator of Aspiring: The Series)