Thomas M. Watt's Blog, page 20

Going through changes – 5/28/20

[image error]

This goat has nothing to do with this post.

Been back on “the grind”, as they like to say, promoting my latest youtube video and liking and subscribing like a mad lad. I’ve been using discord for the first time in my life, which I predict will become the next social media giant because it is an awesome, and largely unknown, platform for social media promotion.

I’ve surpassed 200 views and am rapidly approaching 250. That is no small achievement for me, laughable as it may be, for I had to work 3 times harder to get 100 views on earlier videos. I’m proud to say I feel that it has been easier to promote due to being a better quality video than the previous.

After a week of stepping away from the series in aspects of production, I’m ready to begin preparing for episode 4. I have 5 actors who are willing to perform a role in the upcoming episode, which is awesome because I’ve previously had a very difficult time convincing friends their involvement will not result in shaming their family and hiding their faces in public.

I’ve purchased lighting equipment and 2 realistic looking bb guns. I’d like to order more guns, but amazon refuses to ship bb guns in california due to new legislation banning the kind I am looking for (I’m not a big gun rights activist but I think this is stupid as shit). For now that’s a minor problem, but the real issue is –

Location. I want a headquarters to call home for the cult members. Me and my girlfriend just happen to be searching for a new apartment to rent. She doesn’t know it yet, but I’m going to be making my decision based on which will be the best for me to film in HAHAHA (if you’re reading this I love you and I’m sorry).

So that brings me to the “going through changes” thing. I can’t really focus on developing the next episode until I have my locations squared away. I already have a vision for the basic plot of episode 4, but being an ultra low budget production I have to utilize my resources first. I’ll save the airplane crash until episode seven thousand.

As a side note, I have been doing some thinking about how I can challenge my main character and make his plight more interesting. He is a man struggling with sanity in a quest to find his missing wife. His core belief appears to be that trusting anybody is a mistake. I need to introduce a new character who will challenge that core belief, and I need to produce some changes in him to create more depth. I also want to introduce the idea of fun into the story, because I believe that’s why we enjoy stories – we want to feel a sense of joy. We turn to thrillers because we want to sense fear and suspense, sure – but we also want simulate the experience of hanging out with a friend. That’s why we turn to stories when we’re down.

Anyways, just thought I’d throw an update out there mixed with some ramblings. I hope you’re having a great week. If you haven’t checked out the show yet, feel free to watch episode 3 below.

Intermission – 5/23/20

[image error]

After posting episode 3 and marketing it over the past few days, I’m feeling much better than I did during my last post. I’ve gathered over 180 views on it, which for me is a remarkable feat. If you’ve been following me for a bit, you’d remember that I ordered all my equipment, built a camera, and started learning about filmmaking earlier this year. So I’m overwhelmed with gratitude for each new youtue subscriber I have gotten.

Since episode 3 is wrapped up, I’m taking a short break before I begin writing and organizing for episode 4. A major reason for that is me and my girlfriend are looking for a new apartment to rent. Unbeknowst to her, that apartment is going to be used as the “cult” headquarters in my future videos.

I also did some amazon shopping in preparation for episode 4. I’ve purchased a bb gun that looks so damn real I’m afraid to bring it out into public. I also got a second a hard drive, which I finally installed today. Yet to be opened is my new lavalier microphone, which will allow me to record a back up audio track and record audio in shots where it is difficult to hide my current condenser mic. I also purchased a second lens – a sigma 30mm. It’s in the box and I can’t wait to try it out.

There are a couple decisions weighing me down currently. For one thing, my current hard drive and NVME card is nearly full. I’d like to delete all my stored footage, but once I do that I will lose the ability to edit my past projects. Because the story is loosely adhering to a feature length screenplay structure, I’m hesitant to lose that ability. If I go back to my first two episodes, I will be able to improve the coloring and clean up the audio. I can then edit out a few of the credits and combine the clips to create the first 20 minutes of a feature length movie. Who knows, maybe I’ll be able to market it for distribution at some point.

Anyways, these are my thoughts. Hope you have a great weekend and stays tuned for more updates.

Burnt out – 5/22/20

[image error]

After weeks of locking myself up and editing a stupid phone screen to make it look black, I completed episode 3. I’m tired as shit, void of sleep, and genuinely sick of promoting the stupid video.

I’m proud of how it turned out – it’s easily the best thing I’ve put together. Ok, it’s not great, nothing special, whatever…. I built a dolly, learned how to color grade, and discovered some new editing techniques to create some low budget “special effects”.

I apologize to all 3 of the people out there who may have been following my blog post. I had to stop posting on here because editing was eating up ALL of my off duty time. Now that the video is completed, and posted, I should be able to interact again more regularly.

I’m already looking forward to the following episode (I’m not burnt out from filmmaking, mind you) and have a handful of actors who are supposedly willing to perform. I have a great idea for the next episode, I just want to make certain I have my resources all lined up before I type out the story.

This weekend I plan to promote the video. It is such a pain in the ass to go through different social media platforms yelling at people to “look at my work! Check it out!” but someone has to do it. Since you have a wordpress account, you’re probably already aware of that.

I just wanted to stop by here and vent out all my frustrations because I know that’s the type of content you signed up for. What better way to start your morning than to listen to someone gripe about stupid shit. I always end my post with “anyways” and even that annoys me right now.

Anyways, I posted the video down below in case you wanted to check it out. Feel free to almost click play and then click back instead so you can read a different wordpress post.

Episode 3 – Mountain Cult

It’s been a long time coming, and a shit-ton of work, but here it is:

Please leave a like on youtube if you enjoyed – it means a lot more than you realize!

Episode 3 update – 5-9-20

I have been busy. I haven’t been here, or on any social media, but God have I been busy.

I broke my cardinal rule last week and did some reshoots. I think it is for the better, and I’m happy I did it, but man oh man did it create a bigger workload for me. It’s next to impossible to blend shots together when the lighting is different and the props have moved.

So that’s what I’ve been doing – locked up in an editing room for hours. When I began the venture into making short films, I did it with the philosophy of quantity over quality. I’m aware the saying is reversed for good reason, but I also felt strongly that I could potentially waste a lot of time trying to make something perfect for an audience that didn’t exist. I stand by my former decision, however with trial comes learning.

Once a video is published on youtube, it cannot be changed. Yes, they do have an editing tool, but it is garbage. My big regret with episode 1 had to do with the action sequences and the lack of urgency in their performance. In episode 2 my coloring was weak – the video looks much more dull and visually bleh than a good colorist would put their stamp on.

So with episode 3 I decided I would not publish until I was convinced I had done everything to the best of my abilities, regardless of how draining that course of action would be. A prime example of that is I had a full 5 minute episode fully formed last week before I did reshoots of virtually everything. Now I not only have better shots and takes, but I’ve added some more tension to the story and wound up shooting a separate 5 minute intro to build up the episode’s events. I’m actually more proud of the intro than the scene I initially crafted. As of right now, episode 3 is 10 minutes long – my longest shoot yet. I am still considering splitting it into 2 separate episodes, however. I would love to hear some thoughts on this – should I leave it be as one 10 minute episode?

Anyways, part of me does not feel like posting anything because I’m still at least 4 days away from being ready to publish it. I’ll probably be more active on here when it’s nearing completion. If you’d like to see episode 2, I’ve posted it below.

 

Overwhelmed & Episode 3 – 5-2-20

[image error]

My girlfriend is obsessed with Big Ed from 90 day fiance. Unfortunately he was not supposed to make it into this take.

As anybody who follows me already knows, it seems I enjoying stacking my plate until the food starts falling off. Last week I filmed episode 3, launched a community film group, and promised my uncle I’d read and provide feedback for his feature script.

I was so excited and busy I was hardly able to sleep at all throughout the weekend. When my Saturday graveyard shift hit, I felt it. I spent all of Sunday lying motionless in bed unable to figure out where to start.

Well I rented a hotel for a couple of days with my girlfriend thanks to a special deal available to frontline EMS workers. I used this time to recover mostly but also couldn’t help myself and reshot a few scenes for Episode 3 of Mountain Cult. Well, much more than a few.

I stayed away from wordpress all week because I didn’t want to overwhelm myself like I had before. I’m still a minimum of 3 days from being ready to publish and promote episode 3 so I decided to slow things down for a change. I’ve still been busy with editing but decided to approach episode 3 a little differently. Rather than have it available for viewing as soon as humanly possible, I want the shots to all be solid with lighting, focus, and character. In the editing room I want to get the most out of coloring and audio. In my experience with the previous 3 videos I’ve published, there always ends up being something I wish I did better. I’d rather take extra time to create a video that will be easier to promote from higher quality.

A huge bonus from the week – my uncle would be happy to perform as an actor in a future episode. My work colleague is also down to film again. On top of that I have Scott who will be available from home or once this lockdown is lifted. I know of another filmmaker also willing to perform under those circumstances.

I’m very excited about the future because I feel that I am acquiring better skills as a filmmaker. By building a network of actors I can use, I can begin to apply A, B, and C plots to each episode. This may make them a little longer but, more importantly, I can begin to write better episodes as my resources expand. I have some props in the mail from amazon too.

Once the lockdown is lifted, my community film group will be able to meet in person and I’ll be able to work with like-minded individuals who I can collaborate with. I’m extremely excited as merely creating short films is more fulfilling than I would have imagined.

When you’re strictly an (aspiring) writer, as I was for years, it is next to impossible to get a strangers eyes on your creation. With each new video that I make, it’s a guarantee that some bored internet stranger will click on my video and at least give it a chance. To me this means that if I can create an engaging enough production, I can build a real audience. With improvements in technology and availability of equipment, there’s no reason I shouldn’t be able to produce quality stories that others can engage. Of course that responsibility will be mine to bear, as I am the writer, director and producer of these shorts.

I realize this is more of a journal entry more than a post that will be of any value to any person reading it, so I thank you if you’ve waded through this nonsense and read this far. I have an obligation to myself to update this blog semi-regularly, so I guess this is what I’ve got and what I’ve been up to. Have a great weekend and hopefully I’ll be posting again soon (and not just saying that like I so often do).

Staying Busy – 4/23/2020

[image error]

A beautiful image from a failed shoot. 

My last post here was pretty somber, to say the least. I felt beyond defeated after cancelling my friend’s involvement – the only person who I had to use as an actor at the time.

I spent much of Friday, or Thursday, or whenever it was, lying down with my eyes shut allowing defeat and despair to consume me to the point of a peaceful nap (am I the only one who sleeps the best when all hope is lost?).

But alas, ideas began to pummel my head. How can I consider myself devoid of actors when I’ve only contacted a few friends who don’t want to be actors? How can I possibly be the only independent filmmaker in my area who is having these problems? Why did I all of a sudden forget about Matt, who acted superbly in my first short film and more importantly somewhat enjoyed it?

Questions determine your path ahead – and the decision to avoid answering them is also known as “procrastination” and leads to that heavy, sinking feeling called “overwhelmination” (fuel for my peaceful nap).

I spent all of Friday night visiting various websites and “connecting” with people online. I put connection in parenthesis because an online relationship is the equivalent of downloading a robot that will press your star every time you press theirs.

I set up an account on a few official casting websites. I haven’t posted a job yet because I’m slightly terrified of offering no money, no chance of distribution, and no union benefits. Not to mention some repped actor is going to show up and see me holding a camera, a microphone, and a slate board. Followed by my explaining that I’ll be the lead in this worldwide exclusive. “You can add this to your reel!”

Anyway, I came across one of my favorite websites that I haven’t visited in years. It’s a website known as https://www.meetup.com/ . The way it works is you enter in your zipcode, search for a hobby or interest (writing, screenwriting, hiking, yoga, getting drunk on the train tracks) and voila! You discover you are not actually an alien sent to earth by accident, but you were sent here with other aliens to be outcasts together.

I started out by contacting others in similar groups, but that proved inefficient. The big hang-up was that I had no filmmaking group in my immediate area (!) Now, I’ve never organized anything before nor have I ever had the desire to. I do, however, wish to continue producing films. So I decided to create a group specific to what I wanted to accomplish – with the knowledge and expectation that nobody would join it.

Well, fast forward to today. There are currently over 25 members with our first event planned this week. Due to the corona virus lockdown we are unable to meet physically. Instead, I created a challenge for others to make a 60 second introduction video. I finally got around to creating mine last night. I’ll leave a link below if you’d like to check it out.

On top of that great news, I also contacted Matt, the actor from my first short film. He was down and available to do some shooting this week. The only obstacle was that I had also begun a weekend project of creating a dolly. I was pressed with time, but I managed to complete the build before filming began.

[image error]

That is Kelly’s sock, my girlfriend who refuses to participate in any video unless she gets to play a homeless extra in the background. There is also a film dolly.

I was able to get some awesome shots with the dolly, a few of which I’ve included in my introduction video below. And moving along with the theme of good news, I had another friend who said he would be happy to spend a day filming with me, and even offered his wife up to participate in an acting job.

I’ll try to continue updating here more frequently, but for now it’s time for me to drain 5 beers in 10 minutes so I can fully immerse myself in the universe of Red Dead Redemption 2 (I should clarify that I’m writing this at 2 am and not at the time of Thursday’s posting. I haven’t had a drink that early since April 22nd so relax.) Here’s the video link to my intro video below.

Like a Small Business – 4/17/20

[image error]

This is a barn

I’m writing this for no one, and to be honest it doesn’t exactly paint me in a great light.  But I believe in consistency, so I’m going to post despite having nothing good to report.

My buddy bailed on me for filming on Tuesday. He’s a personal trainer of sorts, and had 2 time slots get filled last minute. He’s also got a wife and a young son. That’s at least his 4th time cancelling, and 2 of the cancels came the morning of the shoot.

We rescheduled for Friday, but again something came up. He requested we shoot on Saturday, to which I initially agreed. I spent 3 hours editing the footage we had from our first day, doing my best to salvage shitty footage. I sent it to him and asked for his opinion. The real reason I asked is because I wanted him to see how necessary it was to reshoot the entire thing. After 2 hours without I response I cancelled his involvement entirely (in a much kinder way than it sounds).

It was a really difficult decision to make – after-all, the character was written specifically for his build and personality. I’ve invested a lot into the production, including props, rewrites, and even the edits I made. The worst part is – I have nobody to fill his shoes.

If you followed me years ago, you may remember I shot a project with a friend named Scott. I reconnected with Scott and he’s excited to play the re-occuring role of a private detective in the series who should be in episode 3. We’ll see how that works out.

Now, back to the title of the post. My friend has personal obligations – everyone has them. The problem wasn’t him or anything he did. The issue is that he doesn’t want to be an actor. I need to find fucking actors.

I’m taking my small ass youtube channel, with 15 subscribers and 3 mediocre videos, and I’m marketing it everywhere and to everyone. I’m hoping to collaborate with other filmmakers. I’m considering offering $50 for a days work, though I’m hesitant to do so because I will not see any financial return. I’ve contacted a former acting teacher, reached out through the Meetup app, and made a profile on several websites that are specific to film networking. On top of all that, I’m trying to learn how to build a motorized dolly for under $50 so that I can resell it. I figure if I can find a way to make extra cash, those funds can go straight to the film-expense jar.

Anyway, I’m doing fine. I put off making this post because it doesn’t exactly make me look like any sort of legitimate “Producer” – which is my title on so many of these websites. But I don’t really give a shit about any of that. I just want to film quality stories and grow an audience who will enjoy them. That’s it. I’ll try to update with something positive here soon.

An Overly Ambitious Day – 4-14-20

[image error]

This is a trail

I’m writing this at 5 am, and have been awake since 1 pm yesterday (I work graveyard, ok?). Today I am filming episode 3.

This episode has given me more anxiety, hassles, and all around pressure than any other one. I know I hardly have any viewers – that’s not where the pressure is coming from.

The pressure exists for so many reasons, but the main one is the story combined with my resources. The story is about a guy whose wife goes missing, so he searches the hills for a mysterious cult. Obvious sources of conflict – the cult, his wife’s family and friends, police, detectives. Shit, this is a big world!

But I have to keep it contained. Why? Oh because my budget is $0. Ok, maybe $60 for props. I don’t know any actors. I find people who like to drink and convince them to try and act. Also known as friends.

So why does this matter so much now? Because if this were a screenplay, I’d be working on page 10-15. At this point we’ve gotten to know our main character and what his problem is. He’s on the verge of entering a new world. There’s always rules in the new world – what’s the cult going to be like? What authority figure is going to be on his trail? Who will help him on his journey?

All these elements are rapidly coming into play. Case in point – there is a detective in this script who contacts Ryan early on. I’m not shooting that part today (thank God), and as a matter of fact I don’t even know who will be playing him.

But back to today. I’ve written at length about my frustration last time we tried to film the opening sequence. After 4 hours we got nowhere and I had nothing but bullshit to work with in the edit room.

Today we’re starting over from scratch. I’ve made some tweaks and added props along with story telling elements (ticking time bomb, subplots, etc.). I’m happy with how the script looks, but I’m TERRIFIED about filming it today.

My awesome friend signed up for a gym workout at two pm today, which gives us about 4 solid hours to film. I have 5 (!) pages I wants us to get through.

For the first time ever, I created a shooting script. It lists the various angles I want each take to be filmed from, along with various objects and reactions. By doing it this way, I’m able to break the script down into about a dozen little chunks. This will make mastering our lines much easier, and hopefully cut back on down time between shots.

Another thing that has come to mind for me – a second microphone. I really want one, because as it stands I have to do any takes that put us at a distant speaking range 2 times over. Otherwise, the audio quality can only be good for one of us.

Anyway, wish me luck. Last week was a really cool week for me because I gained about 10 subscribers and have now accumulated nearly a hundred views on all my uploads. I know those are pipsqueak numbers, but any of you who have created a youtube channel or a blog from scratch understand how difficult it can be to get internet strangers to click on your stuff. Good day to you, and good luck to me (I need it more sorry).

Here’s episode 2 in case you missed it:

Need Writer With Brain – 4-12-20

[image error]

Episode 2 was much easier to shoot then 3 will be

It’s been a good week for me – episode 2 was viewed favorably and a producer requested one of the features that I’ve written. On top of that, my lens hood arrived along with a lens filter. I intend to film outside again. Last time the camera began to overheat when filming in the direct sunlight, so I believe these cheap tools should help alleviate that problem.

Episode 3 is a big turning point. I’ve mentioned here before that the first day of filming was  wash, so I’m basically shooting it from scratch. That gives me an oppurtunity to rewrite the script and tweak it. I’m going to strengthen the story line, but the biggest thing I can do is reconfigure it for easier filming. The short cut to that will be having Josh leap off the rock immediately then get in my face to stop me from progressing. This way, we can placed the microphone closer to the scene and be able to run through takes more rapidly. (last time we filmed I was running to 3 different stations to make sure the camera and sound were recording before I got into position for the take. This was time consuming and cost us more takes).

But there is a bigger issue. I want episode 3 to be faster paced with elevated stakes and greater tension. Like I’ve said before, a story is about what happens. So instead of linking a script, I’ll just list out some shit.

If you haven’t seen episode 1 & 2, here is the just of what happens:

Episode 1 – Ryan (my character) has captured a hiker whom he accuses of being a cult member who played a hand in abducting his wife. The “cult member” manages to break free and leaves behind a piece of Melanie’s jewelry (Melanie is Ryan’s missing wife)

Episode 2 – Ryan shares his cult research with his brother, who suggests he is losing his mind. On his way out, Ryan’s brother suggest that he scope out “Ruggerman’s Trail” – the place where weird, supernatural shit has been reported.

Ok, that brings us this weeks project. As it stands, episode 3 plays out like this:

Ryan hikes, searching far and wide for signs of Ruggerman’s Trail
Ryan spots the pile of clothes that the captured cult member advised him about
 Josh prevents Ryan from proceeding and orders him to turn back
Ryan tricks Josh and gets to the clothes
Josh also has an ace up his sleeve, and the episode ends with Ryan in impending danger

That’s pretty much 5 pages. It’s the most action I’ve had in a single scene, and being that it is outside, I don’t believe I’ll be able to capture all the footage in one day. That is another motivation for me to reduce the scene with Josh to 3 pages, and dedicate 2 pages to raising the stakes and developing the overall story. Here is what I’m considering adding.

Ryan searches a map for the location of Ruggerman’s Trail
Ryan receives a call from his mother in law, who complains how she has only heard from her daughter through text messages, and desperately wants to come and see her face to face. She will arrive shortly.
Ryan tells her he’s welcome, then rapidly packs his belongings and heads for the hills.

Those are the baby ideas that I’d like to develop into A, B, and C story lines. What I could really use is a logical reason for Ryan to recover the pile of clothes to redeem himself from any accusation of involvement and also prove his theory that a cult has taken her. I’m having trouble figuring out a good reason that Melanie’s clothes being retrieved by prove could somehow prove his innocence, however.

On top of this, I don’t have anyone in mind to play the mother in law. This isn’t a huge concern, as the role will only consists of voice-over audio included in the phone call.

I just want the episode to feel like a race, from start to finish, with one thing going wrong after another. I want it to feel like if Ryan fails to reach the trail he will be going to prison, blamed for his wife’s disappearance, and unable to shed any light on the secretive cults existence.

I’m open to any and all ideas at the moment. If you think you see a way that I could increase the tension, stakes, or conflicts in this episode, please do not hesitate to share your idea. I’m open to anything at the moment, but keep in mind that resources are limited. No new actors or expensive props are available at the moment. Thank you for take the time to read through this blather of a post, and I wish you a happy Easter.

If you would like to view episode 2, feel free to check out the link below.