Ockham Media

Just want to give a quick update on Music Vid#2 becasue I sound like such a whiny baby in my last post. Much progress has been made on it this week. I can’t complain. The Master Shot List is now about 90% done. I have talked to Ceavco Rentals about the equipment I’ll be using. One thing I’m so excited about is that we’ll be using a special camera that shoots in super-slow-motion. I know we’ll get some stunning shots with this baby and I can’t wait to get my hands on that camera!!! I’m also starting to scout locations which is really fun. I”ll post some pictures up sometime, once I decide on the final locations. We are trying to get permission to shoot in a hospital for part of it, so that will be interesting. Preliminary casting is just barely underway. It will be a while before I can talk more about that. Lastly, the budget. Actually I have total confidence that this will not be an issue. My passion for this project is so strong that I know it will come together. Over the next weeks I will start gathering props and continue with casting. Stay Tuned.

I might as well admit it’s another one of those phases where things are moving as quickly as a snail. I exert a ton of effort and not much happens. It is time to step back and give everything some breathing room. Life ebbs and flows and it certainly ain’t flowing lately! I don’t like this phase. I don’t handle it well. This is coming from someone who gets annoyed with weekends because they interrupt my work flow. So I am trying really hard to stay positive and believe that the seeds I have planted are growing, they just aren’t sprouting yet.

The Book: I got great feed back from my editor. I need to come up with my list of questions and schedule a meeting with her to go over everything and get a sense of what my next steps are. I have not even thought about doing this this week.

Music Video #2- Crawling along. The Shotlist is getting there. I have a very crude version of it right now. It still needs a lot of attention. I am beginning to wonder where the funding for this project is going to come from and trusting that something will come through. I hope to shoot in March so, need some funding before then.

I barely started preliminary casting for this video. I’ve had my “dream cast” selected for months. This week I pitched the project for the person I hope to have in the lead role. I wanted to go ahead and get going on this because if this person declines the role, I need to start combing the planet again to find someone else.  Later this week I’m going to go scout someone else who I want to offer a role to. I love the casting process. It is one my favorite parts. Who, oh who, will be breathing life into my characters??

Educational DVD- I have another meeting with my partner this week and after this I should have enough to start editing the 2nd rough cut. I really hope we can have this done by the end of the year. It is going to be really awesome and I think it will help a lot of people. We still need to solidify a marketing plan for this DVD. Maybe by November we can start working on that.

For now I will try to take a break from all of this. I want to enjoy Halloween with my kids. I know that things will start moving again when the time is right. You always know when it’s right because it feels very effortless, not labored and agonizing like it has been lately!

When I start a creative project I tend to distance myself from the outside world. I go into mental seclusion. My friends wonder where I disappeared to. I have no clue what is going on outside my little box of a brain. This is fine for a while. In fact it helps the creative project incubate as life is breathed into it. But if I stay in this place too long I begin to notice adverse side-effects: ego flares, doubt, and fear. (Notice the last 2 are versions of “ego flares”) I tend to forget that I am actually part of a greater universe that is alive and evolving while I’m stuck inside my mental cave.

I would guess that the universe has been showering me with blessings but I’ve been too self absorbed to notice. Now that all my projects are underway in some form, it is time to get out of this me-centered space. Yesterday I did an exercise to help me do this. I put a piece of paper in my pocket and purposely LOOKED for amazing blessings to occur. I expected them to arrive. When they did I wrote them down. Needless to say, yesterday was amazing! I am so blessed and am quickly getting back to a place of gratitude. I tallied up 7 blessings during the day- things that just happened without any effort on my part. All 7 of them are significant. I am ready to interact with the outside world once again.

As a side note I have been dealing with a ton of fear lately, because I am giving my comfort zone a huge shove. I picked up the book “Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway”. So far I think it has some good ideas. I’m open to anything at this point. Cold Call Day is tomorrow and already I want to crawl back into my cave. But… I WON”T. I’ll pick up that phone and plow through it and hopefully get a few appointments.

I’m sitting outside and the sun feels almost foreign. I could blame the regularly scheduled cold weather. But really it hasn’t occurred to me to subject myself to sunshine. Days pass and I barely remember stepping outside. Very sad! Such is the life of an artist who is all consumed.

The Book: Got the notes and critique back from my editor! She was very positive and that helped bring my level of self-consciousness way down. Luckily, she said the structure of my book is pretty good. So future rewrites will focus more on filling out the story rather than redoing parts of it. I am taking some time to absorb all her notes and get clear on the next set of rewrites.

Music Video#2: Started pre-production this week. Basically I am putting in “fake shots” in my editing program so I can map out the pacing and define each shot that is needed. Tedious but fun. Doing this process I got one minute into the song this week- slow going.

In addition this week was chalked full of taking both kids to various medical specialists (they are fine!) Also I am editing a family movie this week and next week. It takes all my time which causes things like the book and the music video to barely get attention. But I am grateful for the money, and I do still love making these family documentaries. With this paycheck I’ll be able to float another couple months and really kick some butt on the book and music vid. Once these projects are done, I am certain Metallica or Dave Mathews will want to hire me to do their next video (gotta dream big, right?)

It’s always weird how everything gets stuck for a while. Then, suddenly everything starts moving again. It’s like a landslide. Things really picked up this week. I’m left bewildered, excited, and trying to allow things to continue to unfold without being a control freak.

Music Video #1- done and sent off. I don’t expect to mention this one again until November when I will hear if this project is accepted to premiere at the band’s album release party or not.

Music Video #2- Pre Production starts this week. Basically all the planning, organizing and budgeting happens in this phase. I already have my dream cast in mind. But other things must be put in place before I can start approaching actors. I expect this one to be in phase I pre-production for 2 or 3 months.

The Book- Got word from my editor. She’s working on my manuscript! So far she said she is “really enjoying it”. I should get her feedback in a week or two. Can’t wait!

Fear is a strange thing. It is all in our minds, yet it controls everything we do. I am trying to make fear my friend. This is one of the hardest things I have ever had to face in myself and I know that as I continue in this business, I’ll have to keep doing it over and over again. The very thought of that makes me want to vomit even more. Oh well. DREAM BIG, EVERYONE!

With everything going on these days I am thrilled to finally complete a project! Yes, music video #1 is in the can and in the mail to the artist! So, do you want the inside scoop on this or what? Let me admit that a portion of this project was “fudged”. Like any production, this one was not without its share of surprises and upsets. The biggest one being that it’s a music video and…there is not a single shot of the band. I’m not sure if that’s totally cool and ground-breaking, or the stupidest thing ever. So here’s the scoop…

This video is for a contest. If my film gets selected it will premiere at the band’s release party in December. The project had strict rules in place, I guess to make it fair. But you had to shoot and edit in under 36 hours. Not a simple task. As luck would have it the band did not play a single gig during my shooting time. I asked for photos, but they didn’t have any. So ok, maybe it’s not a music vid. Maybe I should call it a short film.

Crises number 2: We show up at our last location to get the final shots. Slight problem. The location is GONE!! Yes, it was closed down. But a nice lady told me it would reopen in March of next year. I don’t have a backup plan and I am pretty much out of shooting time. So I do what any filmmaker would do. I used extra footage from another location that I had no intention of using. Pretty clever, eh?

This was also a weird situation because I never met anyone from the band. I read the singer’s blog and sorta got a sense of his personality, but still it’s hard because I like to know the people I’m working for so I can edit to suit their style. We exchanged a few emails, but nothing noteworthy. So, this video is totally my take on the song. This guy may see it and go, “What was she thinking? That’s not what it’s about?!” Big bummer if that happens.

It turned out OK. Some parts are really nice. My actors were amazing, but I am vowing to take a 3 year break from working with child actors! Anyway, I should hear in November if my film made the cut. I figure I have as good a shot as anyone. (here are some stills from the final movie)

I have been going 200mph since May. I am tired. This weekend I slept a ton and am trying to not get sick. It’s been nice to have a couple down days and be mellow. But just because I am a total bum right now doesn’t mean I can slack on my updates. Here’s what I’ve got:

Music Video #1- By the end of the day shooting will be DONE!! This one is on tight deadline, so it moves straight into post production (editing) come tomorrow. I’ll need to get it done this week and send it off. Next week I will post more about this project, what it’s all about, and my reflections on the final film.

Music Video #2- A funny story on this one. This week I talked to our film commission office to see if I could qualify this project for an incentive program where I could get back 10% of my production costs. So, I’m talking to the guy and he informs me the incentive is for productions with a minimum budget of $100,000. cough cough, excuse me??! If I had a $100k budget I wouldn’t need the incentive program! HELLLOOOOO!! Funny stuff (not really)

The Book- I’m tempted to email my editor asking when she’s going to read my manuscript. But I don’t want to be annoying. I will wait one more week. Then I won’t be able to stand it any longer.

Educational DVD- In the midst of everything else going on I’m trying to get this educational DVD out the door. The woman I’m partnering with on this is coming by on Tuesday to see the rough cut. Hoping to pay some bills with this one, so hope to wrap it up by the end of the year.