Monday, May 29, 2006

Monster Hunter IV: Beyond Repair


We made it. Film handed in on time, having been played through to check sound. Whew! I am now very tired, as might be expected. I've learned a hell of a lot from the experience, and we have a pretty kick-ass film as a result of our efforts. I'm hugely looking forward to seeing it on the big screen. Debbie has blogged about the 48 here Matt's Experience: Pre-48 I signed up to be the assisstant editor this year, as it was something I was keen on, and I felt like having at least 2 editors would really help speed up the post-production process. I decided not to try out for the writing team this year as I figured having the editors fresh would be wise - last year was pretty ridiculously hard, going from writing to acting. Friday Night I prepared Monday's relief lessons before leaving school, then headed home. We watched the start of the 48 on Campbell Live, and got quiet excited. Luke and Sam came over, and we regularly checked NZRaG for updates. Svend was being a fly on the wall at the writer's meeting, which was fantastic. We did ask him to post photos of the writers' snacks, but I guess he had other priorities... Debbie found out that she had the lead part, which was cause for much excitement, and we found out that we needed several special forces type costumes, so plans were made for black cargo pants and skivvy buying in the morning. We got to sleep around 11pm? Saturday Living up here, and having the meeting down in Kingston, meant a very early start. I think we were in the car by about 6.30am? Meeting at Norm's, where people rushed around getting stuff done. We learned that Luke was cast as the male lead, and that Nick was in there too. I started pushing the title Monster Hunter IV: Old wounds, fresh salt but I'm not sure I made much headway. I worked on the credits a little in the morning, updating last year's names. I took behind the scenes photos, and picked up my (nifty looking) t-shirt. I tried to look like I confidently belonged wherever I was, and that seemed to work OK - nobody questioned my presence at read-throughs or rehearsals. I was to discover later how important it is for an editor to have a clear idea of how a scene was envisaged when written and work-shopped, so this was time well spent. As there was nothing much for me to do until there was footage to capture, I went to the location to help out, and then run the first tape back to base. The plan was for that to happen at lunch time. To be updated later, when I have less pain in my head:
  • Set-up at location
  • Awesome costumage
  • Rain
  • Mud
  • Monster-Makeup
  • Mooks!
  • Mud
  • Rain
  • Flecky boards
  • Seaworld/Wet'n'Wild
  • Slippery Bank
  • Monster death
  • Awesome Acting
  • Back to base
  • Batch Capture?
  • Rough assemble
  • High Spirits
  • Sleepy ride home
  • 4 hours' sleep?
  • Back on set
  • Nettles!
  • Back to base (via Pak'n'Save)
  • Batch capture
  • Assemble edit
  • Repeat
  • Looks good!
  • No rough cut to tape?
  • Past the deadline!
  • Render NOW! Stick!
  • Ahhh, emergency tape done
  • Work to deadline, prioritise
  • Computer failure during final output!
  • Back on line
  • 17 minutes early
  • Celebrate
  • Home
  • Shower
  • Sleep
  • Obssess

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Don't forget "Splash Planet".

hix said...

Just to say it again, you learning Adobe Premiere over this last year was an EXCELLENT decision, Matt.

I took much comfort from knowing you had stepped up to be co-editor on the film.

And editing's fun, right?

Matt said...

It is fun, but having the job that has to be last on the schedule for a tight deadline is not without a modicum of stress :) It was a blast, and I have upskilled greatly in using Adobe (which I spent a lot less than a year familiarising myself wth - I think it's officially 6 weeks tomorrow since I first used it?)

Anonymous said...

I forgot about Splash Planet and Sea World!

Anonymous said...

Awesoma powah!

I hear (read) you already have copies of the film on DVD. I'll buy you candy if you have one for me on Wednesday.

Seriously though, the cut that you and Norm had put together looked awesome and I feel like we changed very little of it. Thanks so much for being an editor it made a huge difference.

Anonymous said...

yay matt! Your editing powers are awesome!