Trailer update

So the trailer should up within the next week. I have arrived at a rough cut which I think needs some fine tuning in the middle. What is cool is that the trailer allows you to look at your work a little differently, see patterns you had not noticed before. I should have done this a while back, maybe even started on this and then assemble the final cut. Will try that the next time around.

- AAP
[Filmmaker]

Fantasy submitted by Anonymous #6

i have kind of a cliche fantasy...it's not altogether exciting. but it's very real for me. it's simple.
i want it all.
i want a husband, a child or two, a house, and a career. but i've chosen a profession that's not easy. i can't just go anywhere to pursue it unless i'm the luckiest person ever...and that's unlikely. i want to be able to have a stable relationship built on love and trust and true compatability and still be able to work.
i'm an actor...none of this will be easy...but i don't care...
i want it all!

Submitted by Anonymous #6

About Linz

Lindsey is an old friend of mine and also one of the actresses in Dear Stranger. She is easily one of the most talented actors I have met, and mind you I have spent plenty of time at the Actor's Studio (the real thing, not the school or the television show). Anyways, she has started to take her first baby-blog steps with her new blog, About Linz. I was kinda suprised (and intrigued) to hear about the blog because, outside of her work, Lindsey tends to be pretty quiet about what she thinks. I hope she sticks with it because if you know her you will realize that she has plenty to say.

- AAP
[Filmmaker]

GreenBean Screening of Dear Stranger (Rough Cut)

Last night, a rough cut of Dear Stranger screened at GreenBean, a cafe/ theater in Greensboro, North Carolina. This was the first time the film was screened to an audience larger than two, wasn't sure how it would be recieved. With all the editing, I had lost perspective on the film and wasn't sure what I was showing anymore.

The screening went very well. For the first time in a long time, I felt excited about the film. I went to sleep on a high. It has been a while since I felt that incredible feeling that I had something beautiful to say and that it was also something people wanted to hear. As I watched the film, imagining how people were responding, I remarked to myself how fast the film moved. It felt like I had compressed a feature length film in 2 mins, the film's actual length hovers around 15 mins. Yet I was able to notice every mistake, every fault, every compromise. It was quite pathetic.

People had a lot to say about the film but the biggest message I got was that the film was ready. Finito! I have the audio to mix and some voice-over recordings left but the film besides the tweaks are set. The actual responses, at times, diametrically opposed each other, however, as I listened to the feedback I realized the film encouraged a subjective viewing. The film's voice is subjective, a lot of what happens in the film is how one person might see the world. That perspective, at times, clashes with the audience. Among the comments, Stephen's comments stood out as he said something to the effect: "that it was a film that should comes straight from you (it is not an audience film). No point for us to tell you what you should do with it."
I'd like to thank Jim for his usual wonderful self. I would also like to thank Neb and the other people of the Triad Indie Group for all their support, and for also providing a space where a filmmaker can screen an unfinished film, get feedback, and then realize he is done. :)

- AAP
[Filmmaker]

Voice-over Redo: a comedy with photographs

So, as many of you know, I am in the final stages with Dear Stranger. Till now, the rough cuts have had to pass with a scratch voice-over. The sound quality of those recordings were simply horrible, I had to paste music over it just to hide the machine hums. Recording at a professional sound studio was out of the question because of the cost. As Kelly felt more comfortable doing the voice-over while the movie played rather than from across the house in a bathroom, we had to record the voice-over in my editing space. My editing "suite" is filled with noisy buggers including my G5, a couple of external hard drives and the fridge in the adjacent kitchen.

For the new recordings, I upgraded from a RadioShack mic to a Samson mic. The sound was better but you could hear the hum of the machines in the background. It was driving me insane. We blanketed the computer, the hard drives, cut off the sounds from the kitchen but it still wasn't enough. I could easily see how this could drive Sound Engineer's nuts.

To tackle the problem, I decided to build a sound-booth made of cardboard packing boxes with foam on the insides to deaden the noise. After a couple of trips around the neighborhood shops, the biggest size boxes ($22) I could find was 25x25x25. I was able to buy some bed foam ($20) at our local evil Walmart.

I figured it would take me about half an hour to assemble it. Wrong! An hour and half later I was still working on it. Here I am deep in it:

I decided to go with glue over Kelly's more sensible idea of using a staple gun. Anyway, the glue thing was a mess, it spilled all over the bloody place, and I kept getting stuck in it. Any second then, I expected a Spider to come and finish me off.

When the box was finally assembled, we had to wait to use it because the fumes were so strong. Half an hour later, the sound box/booth was deemed safe and thus ready for a grand opening. Unfortunately, I had not figured out how to get Kelly into the actual booth. The ceiling was too low to simply lift and place it over her. The construction was not very good and any excessive tilting could cause it to crumble. So pretty much I had to lift and tilt the booth as much as I could and then have Kelly crawled inside. Once inside the booth, Kelly marveled at the craftmanship. Not!




The sound was not perfect. There was still some hum but I figured I could get rid of that with a couple of high pass filters. Anyways, after an hour of recording, Kelly was losing her patience with the "bloody" booth. She had no ways of getting out by herself without tearing it all up, she could not move, was getting high, trying to please my demanding director-self, and could barely read her lines because most of the lights were turned off (so it would eliminate any extra sounds and also for my entertainment!).


Afraid I might lose my talent for good, we took little breaks in between the various scenes. Now for those who don't know me, it might useful to know that Kelly also happens to be my wife. These sort of responsibilites fall on her shoulders all the time. In an effort to help and support me, she never says no and I love her for it.

Anyways, the breaks seemed to get longer with each successive one. Everytime I suggested we get back to work, I would hear violent scratches the inside of the box. It was time to investigate.


Bad idea. Hell broke loose. The voice-over session was over before I could find time (between the laughs) to apologize. So those who plan to attend the rough-cut screening at Green Bean -- be warned that the voice-over in the second half is incomplete.

In the aftermath, I was able to find this on Kelly's notepad:


- AAP
[Filmmaker]

Festival Connections

If any of you have any connections to major film festivals. Make sure to contact me, I could use the help. Very soon, it will be time to submit the film and these things work best if there is someone on the inside that can help you.

Rough Cut will Screen at TIFN

I will be showing a rough cut of Dear Stranger at Triad Indie Film Night in Greensboro, North Carolina. So if you in the Carolinas and would like to help me polish the film, please make sure to come. Here are the details:

Thursday January 19, 2006
8:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Event Location: Green Bean Coffee House
Street: 341 S. Elm Street
City, State, Zip: Greensboro, NC, 27401 Map
Phone: (336)691-9990

To Do List

In a couple of days, I am back working on Dear Stranger. Here is the to do list:

• Re-record the voice-over
• Create a trailer
• Finesse it even more
• Create final mix for the film
• Submit to festivals
• People see the film, love me and say things like "I want you to have my baby."
• I take over the world or at least get money to make new films.

- AAP
[Filmmaker]