a blog – I’d better write something ….
I wrote a kind of a blog for DV Mag. for over 10 years. They paid me – usually 550 words for $250.00 and later 1,300 words for $725.00
it was about work for clients – very honest, as many of my featured subjects were dead and could not complain
My three part story on launching the Matthew Turner – never got paid, they owed me 3 x $725.00, that’s a lot …
well, to be correct, it finally did get paid – but it took a whole 10 months – TEN MONTHS – and a stream of emails and later phone calls – so I quit, who needs this kind of aggro?
pity as I enjoyed the 10 years – but non payment and months of emails and calls is a downer
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at the moment I’m editing my ship film
Call of the Sea – I call it “carry on building” – in 2012 when I started, it was meant to take two years. Oh yeah …https://callofthesea.dunked.com
The upside, now, I have a good six months plus to edit and tweak as much as I want – no hurry, no deadlines …
Here we are in March 2018 with another 6 months before the ship sails with young people. You know it could be in 2019.
So to – like the poster – I carry on …
My youngest got married in NYC in Oct. 2017
My darling Tricia and her sister Norma, flew off to Mexico City the day after the event – I set out alone to Pompano beach with a MacPro and 15″ iPad. Florida was cold and windy. Disappointing – forget Florida in October.
At the hotel room, I’d edit in 2D and try to take an hour out of the existing over long edit.
Then I met them coming back from Mexico at Fort Lauderdale airport.
Now, after about five months of non productive chaos (don’t ask), I have a new MacPro black cylinder and can conform my Pompano Beach Oct. 2D edit into a real 3D edit.
It’s a manageable one hour and 40 mins. Looking good. High hopes.
more to come ..
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this is the MORE – March 18
I think I’ve spent another 2 or 3 days editing
my fault – it’s a real mess – there are six years of rushes – mostly called “untitled ” – the good news is that the cameras (plural as I have eight 3D cameras) auto date info
so untitled 3 becomes Jan 14, 2015 – shooting in 3D is a pain but still Jan 14 will be there both left & right shots – maybe on three cameras too
while all this stuff is really hidden to the viewer it’s a pain for me
today I finally cracked the opening – I had cut it in 2D way back in October in Fort Lauderdale – 3D is SO HARD – but it works – I keep watching the same 3D opening as it is IMHO so good
today I cut out the whisky plank seq. – gone, a brave thing to do – it was really good but something had to go – maybe it could be a DVD extra
I replaced by a song and funny visuals
one hour 40 mins is a long stretch and not many docs make it
Searching for Sugarman did – almost
Dark Nights – got there – so too Mad Hot Ballroom and Exit through the Gift shop – all terrific
Man on Wire (boring and fake), Icarus (yawn), Particle Fever (OMG what a mess) failed
I’m trying hard to help the viewer survive 1 hr 40 – there’s lots of breathing space punctuated but an OMG moment ever 10 minutes
I expect one or two tearful moments (not a dry eye in the audience) not many docs achieve that – Michael Jackson’s This it did – well for me
“I cried when I wrote this song” (Steely Dan – Deacon Blues)
me too – I cry every time to see my Matthew Turner movie
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Hey, it’s Sat Mar 24 – musing – here we go
I seem to have a daily routine: I go downstairs to my little editing room – see it here in I think August when it was new, neat and tidy
at 10:00 – I edit for two hours – all I can take – lunch and a little sleep between 12 to 2 and then stagger back for 2 more finish, wiped out at 4:00 – sad but at four. I’m done. Whacked. It ain’t easy.
I used to say that editing in 3D was 3 or 4 times harder than 2D mono – no, it’s more like 10 times harder
Why do left and right shots that you think are locked in, go off and disappear – a mystery?
Editing is a mix of being “creative” (hate the word) and just plain old, techie, boring stuff, like searching for shots or missing sequences
Today, for example, there is the lead pouring sequence -Brandon shot it in Seattle in 2015 – I cut it in ’15 – it’s in my first version of “We Built A Ship”. Last year I went to Seattle, Puget Sound, and shot the sail maker seq. – I drove back and “dropped into” where the lead keel was poured two years before. I recorded a voice over in one take – he made it up while watching my MacBook.
Sometime later I added the extra VO to the edited seq. – so much better – but where is it these days? Gone. I look and look but I can’t find the edit – or even the unedited VO – perhaps it is tagged onto the last day of sail making? – I will look tomorrow…
On the other hand, I have archive shots of the old wreck of the Galilee – the transom moved to Fort Mason – the bow to Benicia – OK, I’ve lost the photos but I have watermarked photos – I can live with that, Photoshop clone would fix.
I was planning to put them somehow into the Galilee underwater seq. but that would spoil it. Looks good as one shot.
Then it came to me that I could add them in Chris’s fund raiser talk about Matthew Turner. I tried it out and it will work – I guess that’s “creative” editing – pity that it’s 90% a drag looking for shots and fixing screw ups – but the 10% of great leaps like this, kinda make up for it. Tomorrow, I will make the seq. look better by getting all the stills the right 1920 x 1080 size in Pshop. Again a task for tomorrow …
Also why is there a missing shot right before Angel Island? Huh? Gotta find it …
Then should I use James Everingham’s music https://soundcloud.com/james-everingham/atlas-feat-luke-standridge
played over Alan walking around the ship at night, or Mendelssohn’s violin concerto.
Mmmm – tomorrow, I start at 10:00 by watching the amazing HERO3+ promo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3PDXmYoF5U
get’s the Adrenaline flowing every time – a real classic, did it win an Emmy – I guess not – but, folks, I am making a 100 minute epic – this little gem is just five minutes and not even in 3D –
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Another Day – It is Mar 25
I thought it ws about time to move on from the FCPX ship project I was editing – called Rough Try TWO – so I created a new project THREE as a safety – I copied #2 over to #3 –
Sadly, Rough Try THREE was a disaster – before I did anything it was full of missing files – mainly 3D type match files – missing left or right
I did it again – but same outcome – doesn’t make sense – Ive done this before
Decided that if I could “SHARE” LEFT side the SHARE the RIGHT side – I would have a good safety edit of work in progress so far – good news –
I created the LEFT and it seems intact , no missing files –
Sharing FCPX-wise is deadly slow but if it works overnight, tomorrow morning I will have a good safety mix down copy in full 1929 x 1080, LEFT & RIGHT – pray for me – I will copy that to a 256 Flash SD drive (or two)
As sharing is a “background” task, I thought I’d look again for the missing VO for the lead seq. Just using search got me nowhere. I had sent to email – it must be here – found Alan asking me to contact Force10sailmakers – and then I found their replies – finally fro me:
I will fly in Sat morning, rent a car and drive to Port Townsend Rec. Center.Flight: Alaska 311
Equipment: Boeing 737-900
Departs: San Francisco (SFO) on Sat, Nov 12 at 8:30 am
Arrives: Seattle (SEA) on Sat, Nov 12 at 10:35 am
Yeah ! NOW I know the date Nov 12,2016, (yesterday I thought it was 2015) Nov 12 is the day I arrived in Seattle, now to find the file from that night’s shoot – yes, there it is is is dated Nov 16 …
File found – there are the shots of the sailmakers out the window and lo – the next shot is the lead pouring guy doing his VO – I am saved .. phew, it ain’t easy
All this time the LEFT side is “sharing” it will take all night – I’ll check at 10:00 pm
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I really want this documentary to be an adventure – like a water ride at Universal Theme Park or Disney Land / World – a little water journey (say 3-5 secs.) – we drift up to a black door – wham – a tree falls over and there is the wood for the keel – another short ride -black door – wham – we need a lead keel – water ride to next seq. -Would be nice to have ship’s cannons too from Chris talking about Matthew Turner’s sail rig.
hmmm – might work – might be just plain silly – worth a try – will use The Boathouse music from Digital Juice – https://subscriptions.digitaljuice.com/store/c/1263050
Tricia wants me to shoot some stuff in Sausalito – got to go – cold outside – will wear my heavy jacket.
Tomorrow, Monday, Peter Hodges from London & Andrei from Moscow arrive – Andrei sleeps on the sofa, Peter has a hotel in San Rafael
MARCH 26th
The big day is over – Peter & Andrei here – there and everywhere –
RIGHT crashed after 1% – entire computer – frozen – mouse locked –
Peter arrives, we chat, went to the Rough Linen offices – tour of establishment- collected the Ebay Sonos Play 5 – ( first generation) also the Berlinger X Touch return from Florida – went to Gotts for lunch – saw ship Peter and Andrei interview Steve in engine room on two cameras (huh?) went to see Galilee wreck in Galilee Harbor , bought ice creams in Sausalito, drove home saw crash, at home wine on deck, left at 6:00 for Pier 15 – $100 – drove home – coffee for peter – un packed Berlinger X Touch & Play 5 – phew time for bed – T has cold/ flu – banked We Got Offer $1,500 mailbox has Albuterol box – nothing else ..
Peter thought that RIGHT might have crashed because memory couldn’t hold 2 hours – but it didn’t crash on LEFT – anyhow, I will try to do a L & R of just 20 mins – worth a try
MARCH 27
They have gone – yesterday -I had two old friends here until after 9:00 at night – nice BUT …
today – I’m free – back to my 3D feature film – I confess I can’t do it anymore – things come up in 2D or scrambled 3D – even the pure 3D projects ae a mess – they look good then go into 2D or scrambled …
Should I start again in Avid or Resolve? Of course not! – but everything I try to do in FCPX with Tim Dashwood’s plug in, yuk! – it’s out of date and not working, particularly on export L & R – getting nowhere ..
I tried to export a LEFT and it told me I was exporting a RIGHT – impossible – when I try LEFT – it crashes – can’t be me …
I think I should give up 3D and make a definitive 2D version – make the 2D version “perfect” and the spend another six months trying to replicate a 3D version – sigh – I can do it, just need time and psychic energy …
must be better than banging my head against an impossible 3D wall
tomorrow I will do Tricia’s 2D linen video and some eBay listings
no more 3D editing for a while
oh – must say I had a little break thru’ on the first 19 mins – exported RIGHT first – now doing LEFT – seems to be working – hmmm – leave to cook over night – you never know
S
MARCH 28
I finally achieved something – I had started editing this two weeks ago on my new expensive iMac Pro – 27″ – it as all there looking good – I added a Photoshop file for the top right and poof – every file related to the project disappeared
I tried Disk Warrior and the usual but no – they were gone so painful
Anyhow, it’s up on YouTube and safe on a Flash Drive called London 2015 (huh?)
First thing this morning, I went downstairs and looked at the 3D export of the ship – and just as I suspected LEFT & RIGHT were failures – actually RIGHT was OK but LEFT was just black with a title saying “right”
so that’s it – I will forget 3D for the next few months and make a definitive 2D flat version
Benicia Museum dropboxed me the files I had lost today – so many good ones of the Galilee as a ship and wreck that I will create a new section for Chris to VO.
It might be liberating to just concentrate on 2D and figure out 3D in six months time – there is no hurry – is there?
S
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APR 1
huh? Where did March go? I thought I saved it!
Anyhow here we are in Apr 1 – OMG – I was meant to meet Tricia after Yoga – we go the times wrong – anyhow nothing was ion ’till 10:00 am – signs saying breakfast – but closed for 40 minutes before – we had Starbucks snack and went home_______________
I couldn’t wait to try out the Ariel BOLD style – yeah – looks good – different – I’ll go with it
Spent most of the morning adding titles and trimming incoming sequences