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<p><font size="2"><b>Update - March, 2000</b></font></p>

<p><font size="2">Where have we been?&nbsp; What have we been doing?</font></p>

<p><font size="2">For the most part the film has been finished for some time
now.&nbsp; After the negative was cut and we had a video copy in hand it was
time to start sending the film out to festivals.&nbsp; We started with the top
festivals and those festivals that were in our time frame.&nbsp; No
luck.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</font></p>

<p><font size="2">A bit discouraged, with a video copy and no release print,
we've wandered the &quot;need to get more money for publicity&quot;
landscape.&nbsp; We have a great promotional idea in the works, but the problem
with it is that it's almost as ambitious a project as the film itself.&nbsp;
It's taken about a years planning up to this point and due to financial
limitations probably won't be done until the fall of this year.&nbsp; Onward and
upward.</font></p>

<p><font size="2">As far as the film goes, it's sitting at the lab in the answer
print stage.&nbsp; It looks good, even for 16mm and we had it printed with a
C-role which gives it a 1:85 to 1 aspect ratio. This worked out pretty good. The
only thing that I don't like about the 16mm is the sound.&nbsp; With 16mm the
sound area is so limited that all of your high-level and low-level sound imagery
simply disappears.&nbsp; With DAMAGED GOODS we had a lot of low-end ambience and
sound effects that don't exist when projected on 16mm.&nbsp; Video retains most
of the sound, so for now, it'll be projected and screening in video.&nbsp; It
would be nice, if we ever entice a distributor to bite, to go back and redo some
of the sound from the original DAT's, do some more foley and effects work and
then blow the whole thing up to 35mm with a stereo mix. We'll see.&nbsp; At this
point it just needs to get out there.</font></p>

<p><font size="2">So, for now all that is going on is &quot;real job&quot; work
to raise more money to get the website redone and get the promotional gimmick
done. Also, I have somebody helping me to put together press-kits as we
speak.&nbsp;&nbsp;</font></p>

<p><font size="2">When the promotional piece is done as well as the press kits
we will be trying for a few more festivals and markets.&nbsp; I'll try and keep
you posted.&nbsp; If you get curious for an update, give Jason a call.&nbsp;
He'll do his best to get back to you.</font></p>

<p><font size="2">Goodbye for now.</font></p>

<p><font size="2"><strong>Post Production Update-May, 1999.</strong></font></p>

<p><font size="2">Yes, it has been a few months since the last
update. I apologize. It's amazing how much time can pass working
on one or two issues.</font></p>

<p><font size="2">In filmmaking you understand early on that one
big problem delays everything else and once you've cured the
current problem you run into more. Such has been the way of <em>Damaged
Goods.</em> The ironic thing is that most of the other filmmakers
I've spoken with can't believe that I'm as far along as I am. To
me it feels like moving in reverse.</font></p>

<p><font size="2">So, I'm sure you want to know why it's taking
so long. Well, as reported before the problems come from the fact
that we've had a lot of complications going between the digital
and analog worlds.</font></p>

<p><font size="2">As you might remember we edited the film the
old fashioned way on a trusty flatbed editor and we then did the
sound edit and most of the mix in a Protools DAW (digital audio
workstation) environment. The first sound transfer from the
original mag stock came back muddy and distorted, but we couldn't
find the root of the problem. We did another transfer and it was
a bit better, so we had to go with it. Now, most people would
suggest going back to your original production tracks and
re-editing everything. Well, we had all ready gone so far and I
didn't have the resources to go back and spend the many weeks it
would take to do this. Nor, did I have any body that was willing
to do it. It's funny because once you're done with a project
you'll hear dozens of people say, &quot; I wished I would have
known. I would have done it for you for a hundred dollars&quot;.
Yeah, right. Such is the way in the film business. All good
intentions and as they say, &quot;the road to hell is paved with
good intentions&quot;. </font></p>

<p><font size="2">Enough with my bitter rants. We finally got the
sound cleaned up in Protools as much as we could and added all
the sound effects and music. The music sounds great by the way.</font></p>

<p><font size="2">Once we were done in Protools we were on a mad
rush to send in a rough version of the film to the Seattle
International Film Festival. We were actually trying to get the
Protools to spit out a temp mix to the VHS on the day of the
deadline. The computer goes haywire and it takes us six hours.
Things are going out of sync and various other anomalies plague
the output transfer. Go figure. My new saying is that &quot;
there really is a God and he is mad at me for some reason&quot;.
So, God and I work out our differences and we get the film done a
day past the deadline.... only to find out that the deadline has
been extended. Can you say &quot;ironic&quot;?</font></p>

<p><font size="2">Note: We didn't get into the festival.
Supposedly, we made it down to the final selection at least
that's what I was told by one of the programmers. I don't know if
it's true, but I'm trying to believe it to make myself feel
better. I still get a pit in my stomach when I think about it.
Oh, well. Onward and downward .... I mean upward.</font></p>

<p><font size="2">So after about a month we figured out what the
problem with the Protools was and got to the bottom of our
mysterious sync problems.</font></p>

<p><font size="2">Note: I would suggest if you start in a fully
analog world (e.g.: editing on a flatbed), stay in a fully analog
world until the very end if possible. When something goes out of
sync going back and forth between digital and analog there are
about a hundred places and a thousand buttons that could be the
root of the problem. Next film I'm editing non-linear for sound
and picture. Sorry, to all of you purists.</font></p>

<p><font size="2">We took the film to Bad Animals in Seattle for
a final sound sweetening mix that took three days. They did a
good job tweaking what Marty had all ready done a good job with.
We really want to go back, if we get picked up by a distributor,
and re-edit the dialogue on the film from the original production
DAT's. We did end up with too much noise in the sound track from
all of the transferring we did. Digital is supposed to hold up,
but there are not guarantees when going back and forth over and
over again. It will do for now, especially once it gets
compressed onto the 16mm optical track, which is not very
dynamic.</font></p>

<p><font size="2">We are currently waiting for the negative to be
cut and it should be done by the end of the month. In a final bit
of irony our negative cutting was delayed so that the cutter
could work on a film that <strong>did</strong> make the Seattle
festival and needed to get their film done in time for their
screening. Ouch, can you feel that one? At first I was hurt, now
I'm just bitter. So, I'm a child what can I say.</font></p>

<p><font size="2">Well, that's about it for now. Currently, the
film has been making the rounds to some people that I know and
don't know. The response has been great. It's gratifying for me
to have people come back and start talking about the film and
hearing them pinpoint the things that I wanted them to get out of
the film. The target audience likes it. That's a wonderful
feeling. Now, if I can just get the people with the checkbooks to
feel the same way.</font></p>

<p><font size="2">Thanks for listening,</font></p>

<p><font size="2">Jason</font></p>

<p><font size="2"><strong>Post Production Update-January, 1999.</strong></font></p>

<p><font size="2">I just had a meeting with Stephen (composer)
and I am, as usual, impressed with his talent and the length that
he has gone to bring a very unique and different approach to the
score. He has taken the film and gone a bit &quot;bigger&quot;
with the score than I thought was possible, but it fits and fits
well. I'm convinced that a great score such as we will have is
more valuable to the film than most people would give credit for.</font></p>

<p><font size="2">It would appear that we have the sound problems
on the run now. It's still going to take another month to get it
all cleaned up and in place, but the end is in sight. Marty
(sound editor, etc.) is working on adding sound effects and we
should be preparing for our final round of ADR (additional [also:
automatic]dialogue replacement) for a final mix at the end of
this month or the beginning of next. I would love to have the mix
done by my birthday which is the 9th of February (send money only
please). </font></p>

<p><font size="2">Marty is preparing a separate Music and Effects
track on the Protools system which will save a lot of money and
even more hassle when we sell to a distributor (this is called
optimism). As part of the distribution agreement, especially for
foreign sales, you will need to supply a Music and Effects track
separate of the Dialogue tracks so that it [the movie] can be
dubbed in other languages. If you don't, the distributor will
charge it back against your advance. If you get an advance. And
what that means is less money for you and your investors.</font></p>

<p><font size="2">Another interesting element of the sound work
is that we will be attempting to mix the entire film in the
Protools environment. What this means is that we will be relying
on Marty's system and it's wonderful speakers, bells and whistles
to give us our theatrical mix. If this works we will end up with
great sound at a fraction of the cost. We may, however, take the
system and hook it up in a theater to give a good listen in it's
perfect-world environment, but in theory the in-system mix should
work out very well. </font></p>

<p><font size="2">That's all the news for now. I will be talking
with you soon.</font></p>

<p><font size="2">Warmest regards,</font></p>

<p><font size="2">Jason</font></p>

<p><font size="2"><strong>Post Production Update-December, 1998.</strong></font></p>

<p><font color="#FF0000" size="2">We're back. &quot;How are we
doing?&quot; Well, I would say that the color of the font may be
an indication, if that gives you a clue. Actually, it's not that
bad. There are some great things that are happening amidst the
tiresome issues. </font></p>

<p><font color="#FF0000" size="2">Of issue first and foremost is
the production sound tracks, which we pulled off of the
Steenbeck. It has deteriorated badly over the past few months on
the flatbed and to make matters worse when we took it in to get
it transferred to DAT, so that we could dump it into the Protools
system, it came back even more distorted. If we are unable to get
a better transfer Marty Bolin (sound designer/mixer) will have to
go back to the original DAT (non-timecode) recordings and pull
out every bit of sound to match every single cut in the film.
Even if you are not technically oriented you can probably gather
how time consuming this would be, especially since there are at
least five hundred cuts. The upside is that the sound would be
very clean. The downside is that there are a couple people,
mainly Marty, who may never talk to me again and all the
deadlines for festivals have made there way to the back burner.
But another upside is that we are able to concentrate on making
the film much better and take our time. Hell, at this rate we may
just be finishing up in time for the next Sundance
deadline....just kidding. I'm going to put myself on the line and
say I should have a print in my hands by February...late
February.</font></p>

<p><font color="#FF0000" size="2">&quot;How's the film
looking?&quot; I am asked this question often and I am happy to
say that many little bumps in the film have been smoothed out at
the skilled hands of Pat Barber. On ultra-low budget films it is
scary to &quot;set the bar too high&quot; because there are so
many limitations against you, but most of the time we are able to
make it up and over the bar. It very much looks like a movie.
It's not perfect, but I think people will be surprised at how it
looks and how it holds together. </font></p>

<p><font color="#FF0000" size="2">I also have to report that the
film score is coming along great at the hands of the very
talented composer, Stephen Cavit. Stephen has been able to bring
some great ideas to the score that make it unique among the low
budget set; there are many elements that stray from the norm,
which is great for the film. I'm amazed at how much the music can
enhance the feel of a movie, so I am understandably anxious to
hear it all in place.</font></p>

<p><font color="#FF0000" size="2">More music notes: Music
Supervisor, Joanne Schmoll has found some great local talent to
help &quot;fill out&quot; the soundtrack and to complete the
&quot;source music&quot; element of the film. There is a lot of
great music talent in the Seattle area and Joanne has been able
to find many of them and bring their talent to the project.</font></p>

<p><font color="#FF0000" size="2">I would say that is about the
extent of it for now. All the trials and tribulations, with most
of the boring details removed. Check back as we get closer to
finishing, for some site changes. There should be more change in
the next few of weeks, if I can find the time. Take care.</font></p>

<p><font color="#0000FF" size="2"><strong>August, 1998</strong></font></p>

<p><font color="#0000FF" size="2">We like to call this section
the &quot;what the hell is going on&quot; section or the
&quot;when can I see this movie in the theater&quot; section. As
to the first question, the answer is; there is a lot going on and
nothing at all, but we'll get to that shortly.</font></p>

<p><font color="#0000FF" size="2">As to the &quot;when can I see
this movie in the theater?&quot; question I would
respond...someday? That's really the only fair answer out there.
We would hope to be one of the lucky few to get distribution as
every filmmaker hopes for, but we are a few stages away from that
as of yet. However, if you are in a terrible hurry or of the
impatient sort (such as myself) and need to see this film in the
theaters soon, I would urge you to call Miramax and insist that
the brother's Weinstein purchase the movie as quickly as they
can. Operators are standing by.</font></p>

<p><font size="2"><strong>The long leg of post</strong></font></p>

<p><font color="#0000FF" size="2">This stage of filmmaking can be
very long if you don't have a lot of money or are still searching
for finishing funds. It seems to be a lot of the &quot;you need
credit to get credit&quot; type of fuss. In order to raise money
you need money to get the film to a viewable state and you can't
get the movie to a viewable state unless you have money in the
first place. Welcome to the wonderful world of indie filmmaking.</font></p>

<p><font color="#0000FF" size="2">All gripes aside, the film is
starting to come together and it actually looks like a movie,
which is important since in fact it is a...movie. Funny how that
works. </font></p>

<p><font color="#0000FF" size="2">Also, I have to say I am very
pleased with the way the editing is coming along now that we are
moving forward. The most interesting part for me is that what was
in the script is on the screen; good, bad or indifferent. That
feels really good. We haven't had to go back and make any changes
to the order of shots and what is showing up makes sense as a
whole movie. Of course that doesn't mean that there haven't been
challenges for the editor and his crew. </font></p>

<p><font size="2"><strong>August, 1998</strong></font></p>

<p><font color="#0000FF" size="2">It has been six months since
the film was shot and I am becoming impatient and anxious. I
hired my composer this month and we have had some very inspiring
conversations and going into this stage seems to calm me down a
bit, since I know that the end is in sight and that music can
help a film take shape. His name is Stephen Cavit and I would
highly recommend giving him a listen when you're in the market
for material of the musical nature. He's also a really nice guy
and that helps a lot in this business.</font></p>

<p><font color="#0000FF" size="2">During the weekend of the 15th
and 16th we did reshoots and they came out looking great. My 1st
Camera Assistant from the original shoot came down to show off
his Director of Photography skills since Carl is now in Calgary.
The footage came out great and 99% of it matched so well you
won't ever know which stuff we re-shot. The editor, Pat said he
hasn't seen re-shoots come out so well. Once again I get a shot
of that ever needed energy to sustain me. </font></p>

<p><font color="#0000FF" size="2">In actuality we didn't really
re-shoot much of anything, but instead we added a new scene which
should be fun and help bring the audience into the movie a little
bit better. The rest of the footage that we shot consisted of
extreme-close-up insert shots and other quick bits. In essence
some of the shots that I didn't have time to get the first time
out, but knew that I would need. For example the opening attack
scene suffered from bad pacing without all of the insert shots I
needed and didn't get so the scene was...well it wasn't all that
inspiring. However, with the new footage in place the scene
should play a lot different and a hundred times better...no joke
a full one hundred times. It will surely be the most disturbing
moment in the film and will more than likely get people talking.</font></p>

<p><font color="#0000FF" size="2">With the re-shooting done Pat
should have the new footage in place by the first week of
September and we should be able to view it for potential
investors by mid month; I sure hope some of the interested are
still interested. If all goes well we will have the final cut
ready by the end of September, since it is already getting so
close with the exception of the new footage.</font></p>

<p><font color="#0000FF" size="2">With all that said, I start to
get nervous again with the thought of festival deadlines coming
up so soon. Sundance is October 9th, Slamdance is the 14th of
October and Berlin is in mid-November. It looks that my only
chance of making the deadline for Sundance will be with a work in
progress, which is not optimal, but I am listening to the good
advice of friends and colleagues (thanks Stephen) and I am not
going to jeopardize the quality of the film in an attempt to make
one festival deadline. Even if the festival is Sundance there is
no guarantee of gaining entrance and there are many more great
festivals ahead. Besides, there is always Sundance next year.</font></p>

<p><font color="#0000FF" size="2">Note: Darren Aronofsky missed
his first chance at Sundance and made it in the next year and
sold his film &quot;Pi&quot; for $1million. Not bad for a film
that was shot for $60,000 and finished for a total investment of
$134,000.</font></p>

<p><font color="#0000FF" size="2">Now, don't go thinking that I
have a one festival mind, I am not that narrow minded, it's just
when I shot the film I figured that I would shoot in a time frame
that would make it possible to start the festival entries during
the time of Toronto and Sundance, which can be very strong
markets in which to sell your film. That said, I should state
that even if &quot;Damaged Goods&quot; never made it to Toronto
or Sundance there are still a million (slight overstatement)
other festivals and markets to attend, even in our own back yard
[read: SIFF].</font></p>

<p><font color="#0000FF" size="2">Well that's about it for now. I
will keep you updated as more information becomes available. As I
said before, the film should be in final cut form by the end of
September and then as you may or may not know there are a few
more expensive steps to be taken. I'll be sure to keep up with
the complaining and whining as &quot;Damaged Goods&quot; goes
through these very expensive, but important steps. </font></p>

<p><font color="#0000FF" size="2">Thanks for listening,</font></p>

<p><font color="#0000FF" size="2">Jason</font></p>

<p><font size="2">The following is a brief and not-so brief
review of the events that led up to and around the filming of
&quot;Damaged Goods&quot;. Giving how long ago it was I suppose
we can call it &quot;the archives&quot; section.</font></p>

<p><font size="2"><strong>February, 1998</strong></font></p>

<p><font size="2">As promised, we're up and running. We're a bit
late posting the first production update, but we're certain
you'll understand. Casting is complete and we (and other people)
feel confident that our cast is marks above the castings of many
other monetarily challenged films (no offense) that make it to
production.</font></p>

<p><font size="2">Combine a great script, one hell of a cast and
a highly professional, talented crew and you have a recipe for
success. Stick around and join us often.</font></p>

<p><font size="2"><strong>2 Weeks Prior</strong></font></p>

<p><font size="2">We're now 9 days from the beginning of
principal photography. We could say all is well, but it never is;
on a positive note, we're still kicking and not backing down on
the shoot date.</font></p>

<p><font size="2">As far as crew goes, we're doing pretty good.
We've had a few people drop out because of obligations or gigs
that pay more. Important note to would-be filmmakers: Get you
crew deal memos signed ASAP, especially is people aren't getting
paid much. Despite some crew changes the crew is looking strong
and will be a definite benefit to the film.</font></p>

<p><font size="2">Casting has turned out wonderful despite some
minor bumps and bruises. For starters, our leading man, </font><a
href="salyers.htm"><font size="2">William Salyers</font></a><font
size="2"> is in high demand so we have some &quot;Hollywood&quot;
size scheduling changes to be made,but the positive side to this
is that Bill is well worth the effort. Secondly, our leading
lady, </font><a href="babb.htm"><font size="2">Angela Nicole Babb</font></a><font
size="2">, lives in Portland so costumes and rehearsing schedules
are a nightmare; but again, she is worth it. Important note to
would-be filmmakers: It is worth a bit of inconvenience to get
the right cast, because you can have a great script, excellent
crew, etc. and a bad cast will sink the production.</font></p>

<p><font size="2">Well, that's it for now, there are a million
boring details to be tended to as we speak. Talk to you soon!</font></p>

<p><font size="2"><strong>The Settling of Dust</strong></font></p>

<p><font size="2">D-Day has come and gone. The weekly production
update was a disaster, but the film turned out great. It was my
intention to take you along, behind the scenes and give you all
the dirty details of what went on each week, but the demands of
producing a relatively no-budget film was a bit more than I
expected. Even though we had very few problems (beyond the
expected) the time constraints of shooting a feature in fifteen
days is a bit overwhelming and one of the first things to be
sacrificed was the production update. A big &quot;SORRY&quot; to
those of you that were looking to be updated and were let down.</font></p>

<p><font size="2">So what did go on during the shoot? Lots and
lots of shooting. We exposed a little over 20,000 feet of Kodak
7293, which gave us about a 5 to 1 shooting ratio; not bad for a
micro-budget feature. About 98% of the footage is of
exceptionally good quality, technically and otherwise. The 7293
is a wonderful stock for 16mm with a grain structure and latitude
that allows for a lot of depth and richness in the right hands. I
would suggest this stock to anyone if you are shooting 16, but
you might not be able to get it if the rumor is true that Kodak
is discontinuing it soon. Check it out.</font></p>

<p><font size="2">Even though it will be from memory I will try
and recall the events of each week and any other miscellaneous
ramblings that come to mind. I'm very proficient at rambling; ask
anyone. Keep in mind that everything I write is only one persons
opinionated view of how things are in the grand scheme of things.</font></p>

<p><font size="2"><strong>Week One </strong></font></p>

<p align="center"><font size="2"><img src="livingroom.gif"
width="398" height="227"></font></p>

<p align="center"><font color="#FF0000" size="2"><strong>The
&quot;living room&quot; set in Federal Way</strong></font></p>

<p><font size="2">Oh, the horror. Day one and I was crawling out
of my skin with fear. Let me just say from my opinion that
it(feature filmmaking) is nothing like film school or short
films. The process is ultimately the same, but psychologically it
is very different. The first shot of the first day is like
waiting for years and finally getting your chance to sing at the
Grammy's only to realize once you're on stage in front of
millions of viewers that singing in the shower was not the
appropriate training; bit it'll have to do. Finally, once the
fear of the first shot is over you're faced with the realization
that you only have about two-hundred more to go; eventually you
grow to love it.</font></p>

<p><font size="2">The first few days were tense as they usually
are while the crew found their rhythm, personalities gelled and I
(Jason) the&quot;newbie&quot; director started to get my act
together. Note to up-and-comers: make sure that you don't wear
too many &quot;hats&quot;. I heard it a hundred times and didn't
listen, but it <strong>will</strong> come back to haunt you. A
good example was the fact that I among too many other things was
also the art director which means that I had to paint the
location, buy and organize all of the furniture and decorative
items and move them onto location, which was way too much to do
the couple of weeks before principal photography. I was glad
when, at the last minute, we found a person to do props and set
decoration so that I didn't have to deal with it anymore, of
course because I had been responsible for all of the props and
acquisitions before the shoot I inevitably had overlooked a ton
of small things making the production slow down and making the
prop person crazy. Note to up-and-comers: don't ever ignore the
little things in the script with the assumption that you will
figure it out when the time comes, because it is not good for
morale to have to pause while you run around like a chicken with
it's head cut off. </font></p>

<p><font size="2">I would like to tell you that all hell and
bedlam started to break out a few days in; only because I know
it's &quot;dirty laundry&quot; that people want to hear. It's the
same phenomenon that draws people to car races just to see who's
going to crash and burn. I'm proud to say that not only did we
not crash and burn, but we finished at the front or near front of
the pack. And people told me we couldn't do it in fifteen days.
That weird sound you're hearing is me sticking my tongue out at
those dissenters out there and you know who you are.</font></p>

<p><font size="2">After the anxiety of the first few days had
gone by and our lead actor had finished his overlapping
engagement with a local theater company we really started to kick
into gear and realize that we were now starting to knock off some
pages. I did however learn something about knocking off pages,
that being with limited time and money your script will probably
need some impromptu changes and you should just go with it and
learn the art of improvisation(it gets less frightening the more
you do it). I had the belief that the script worked as is, but
lack of rehearsal time had left some of the script without the
advantage of pre-production trouble-shooting so some of the
scenes that I thought were bullet proof were actually bullet
riddled. Don't be afraid to make changes on the spot, because
some of the changes will work out better than you could ever had
imagined.</font></p>

<p><font size="2">As the first week came to a close I was
starting to feel good despite the fact that I had made the
decision to cut one scene that I fear may be needed; I would call
it a case of bad judgment, a lack of stamina and inability to
focus. OK, it was more an extension of inexperience and lack of
preparation for the scene that got it axed, since for the most
part we were doing all right time wise (as all right as can be);
we had managed to work most of the days under 12-13 hours if I
recall correctly and even managed a 9 hour day, that I could have
used to shoot the previously mentioned cut scene if I had been
able to shift on the fly and improvise the scene. Oh, well you
can learn from my mistakes and know that when all is said and
done the only one that will notice that a scene is missing is me.</font></p>

<p><font size="2"><strong>Week Two</strong></font></p>

<p><font size="2">We're rolling now. For the first three days
back after one day off we knocked off quite a few pages. I think
we had a couple of days when we got near ten and a day when we
got eleven or twelve. Note: the key to getting lots of pages is
in direct correlation to experience and how your actors move
through the scenes as well as about a million more reasons. OK, I
don't know what the key is, I just wanted a good segue into a
brag session about our actors. There were a couple of scenes that
were between the two main characters that were seven to nine
pages long and pretty intense dialogue. Low budget rules tell you
that you should run split masters for obvious reasons
(inexperienced actors, etc.) and cross your finger even when
doing that. Well, we decided to shun the rules and load up a
fresh load of film into the mag and let 'em rip, since our actors
seemed to have an ability to not flub any noticeable lines. It
went something like this: I call &quot;action&quot;, the actors
do their thing while I occasionally glance to the script
supervisors' stopwatch, listen to the ticking of the mag rolling
off celluloid money....no mistakes yet. My heart rate rises as a
large grin crosses my face accompanied by watery eyes...still no
mistakes. The crew start to look at each other in bewilderment
with a &quot;something has to go wrong&quot; expression, I look
at the stopwatch....still no mistakes. And &quot;cut&quot;.
Applause which is greatly due fills the room as the AD makes her
calls. &quot;Jason? Good for you?&quot;. I nod &quot;yes&quot;.
&quot;Camera. Good for you?&quot;. &quot;Great&quot;.
&quot;Sound. Good for you?&quot;. &quot;Sound's good&quot;.
&quot;Check the gate&quot;. More applause. &quot;Jason you can
breath now so that you can tell me the next setup&quot;. I hear
that this doesn't happen on micro-budget films; well it did on
this one and many more times throughout the shoot during coverage
as well. Nothing like great actors and crew to make you look
good.</font></p>

<p align="center"><font size="2"><img src="shave2cu.gif"
width="399" height="251"></font></p>

<p><font size="2">The camera has started to make a great deal of
noise at the start of the second week and the plane noise in
Federal Way has lost us many hours cumulatively over the shoot.
Not much we can do about that; at least nothing legal or morally
tolerable. We send out for another camera magazine, but it does
little to cure the problem. If we had not gotten such a deal on
the camera we probably could have swapped the body out to see if
that made a difference, but it was out on another shoot. I really
hate to have somebody throw it up to me, about the good deal that
I'm getting and that I should feel fortunate or kiss some ass. I
know we weren't paying too much, but my beliefs tell me that a
deal is a deal and a customer is a customer and should be honored
as such, but I guess this is the movie business and it's shit on
the little guy because they're low enough to hit easily. I'll
remember this everyday during the sound edit and even more
vividly when I get the bill for the sound mix. Note: even the
littlest mushrooms can grow up to be big enough for you to trip
on; how much more those that are fertilized with Miracle Grow.
Enough bitching, I'm supposed to save that for the Shock Therapy
room. </font></p>

<p><font size="2">Normally for a feature shot in fifteen days on
the budget that we <strong>didn't</strong> have, this spot in the
report should be filled with all sorts of horror stories and
mayhem, at least as the rumors go. I can happily say that while
things never go as planned, nothing on this shoot went as sour as
I was told to expect. Barring the ever-present planes and camera
noise, things continued to sail on with only the occasional bump
and glitch, which were so minor in the grand scheme of things
that I can't even remember. Maybe I've got it all backwards.
Perhaps things went so poorly that selective memory is kicking in
and I can't access that part of my mind. Not a far-fetched theory
except that I have 20,000 feet of great footage that tells
otherwise. If things did go wrong I doubt anybody could tell from
our footage which is so good in most respects it makes you wonder
if somebody didn't sacrifice there only child to the gods. We'd
all better pay closer attention to the back of those milk
cartons.</font></p>

<p><font size="2">While nothing out of the ordinary went wrong on
the shoot I would like to give a bit more advice to those that
may be thinking of doing a micro-budget film. Keep the physical
violence and guns out of the script if you can. In my quest to
develop a simple and controllable film environment I broke both
of the two previous rules. There were a few scenes with some ass
kicking and very small amounts of gun play; all of it was needed
for the story. I had the belief that I would shoot around all of
this kind of action, which we did and as a matter of fact we had
some creative solutions, but it is hard to use weapons and stage
fights safely and responsibly on a shoot without the proper
equipment and money. Although we managed to safely get the scenes
we needed(the crew was adamant about safety) and the results look
good, we did have some bumped and bruised actors by the end of
the shoot. I think if the film would have been spinning out of
control people would have been less likely to get bumped up for
the cause, but we were fairly well put together. So, all in all
guns and fighting should be left to the shoots with more money or
the ability to entice the right professionals to help out.</font></p>

<p><font size="2">No matter how simple you think your script is,
remember that no film is simple to make. If it were everybody
would be doing it.</font></p>

<p><font size="2">Week two wound up on a positive, but tired
note. Even though our work days were short compared to the shoots
that I'm familiar with, the last day of the second week was like
a Friday; everybody, including myself knew that we had a day off
coming and energy levels told the same tale. I can't recall, but
this could have been the same day that we had a great pot-roast
for lunch. Note: We had wonderful food on the shoot which is a
must (never feed your crew poorly), but you should also avoid red
meat at all costs and heavier foods, because it goes down nicely,
but in twenty minutes you'll have whole departments wanting to
lay down and take a nap. Hell after pot roast and red potatoes I
was ready to send everybody home for the day so that I could take
a snooze for a couple of hours. Luckily better judgment, aided by
two Excedrin and two Cokes prevailed so that we could finish out
a great day and one hell of a week. I think I might actually want
to do this again, but not on this budget or lack thereof.</font></p>

<p><font size="2"><strong>Week Three</strong></font></p>

<p><font size="2">Here we are, week three and the last three days
of the shoot. We had a day off to end out week two and now we're
back for the gauntlet run that will last for the next three days.
Everybody remains in good spirits and the crew is now rock solid
as can be expected. Let's get this over with.</font></p>

<p><font size="2">The last three days were more or less a
summation of the past two weeks. We had a couple of down moments.
We had some great scenes make it into the can. Energy was high at
times and at others it was if we had all dipped back into the pot
roast, but all in all it was smooth sailing until the last day.</font></p>

<p><font size="2">On the last day we were shooting the first
scenes of the movie in a parking garage in downtown Seattle which
didn't become available until the second week of the shoot. I
forgot about the locations nightmare. Note: always spend the
money on hiring a location manager if only for a short time,
because producers and directors don't always make the best
location scouts and managers. Anyway we were shooting in an
underground parking garage that had about 160 fluorescent tubes
of which 75 were swapped out with color balanced rental tubes to
balance the light to the film so that it wouldn't come out
looking green on the workprint. Well, after the crew had swapped
out all of the bulbs it was noticed that the ballasts were not
supplying enough power to the special bulbs and we could hardly
get a light meter reading. It took the crew only about an hour or
a little over to swap all of the bulbs back to standard
flourescents. So,we went ahead and shot under the existing light
and I have to say that despite the slight hint of green we got
some great stuff.</font></p>

<p><font size="2">The day dragged on and my lack of stamina and
inexperience started to show through as we hit a pivotal scene
that no longer worked &quot;as is&quot;, given the change in the
scene prior and on top of it I was having trouble envisioning
shots in this location that I had not planned for (lack of
experience and vitamins). This was looking like it was going to
be your average 16 hour no-budget day and sensing this, the
entire crew and cast start to project there input for how the
scene should transpire, which doesn't really help because my
brain is fried. What I learned from two moments that I had like
this during shooting is that it is OK and possibly better to
break the crew and give yourself five or ten minutes to collect
you thoughts by yourself and come back ready and energized than
to sit in the corner and let them watch you pull your hair out.
On this last day I opted to take a break and when I came back we
had a solution and everybody seemed to by into it even though it
could have been more inspired, but I had to pretend that I knew
what I was doing and my mind was on &quot;fry&quot;. Smile and
try and look like you're with it. If they saw through my front
they didn't let on. What a great bunch of people.</font></p>

<p><font size="2">The last day ended up at somewhere around 16
hours which was much longer than we had gone on all but one day
during the shoot. Not bad for a feature shot in fifteen days with
little money, a fact that was made reality due to a great cast
and crew who despite little money and lack of prep time went
above and beyond. </font></p>

<p><font size="2">Once &quot;wrap&quot; was called everybody was
too tired to lament and almost too tired to celebrate so we
cheered, smiled and went home. There's always the wrap party.</font></p>

<p align="center"><font size="2"><img src="jasonTrunk.gif"
width="445" height="223"></font></p>

<p align="center"><font color="#FF0000" size="2"><strong>It's a
wrap!!! Thanks, everybody.</strong></font></p>

<p><font size="2">One day of sleep and I had already started to
feel those pains; the lamenting for more punishment and the
closeness of crew. It's strange that even though making
micro-budget films, even well organized ones, is pure hell you
miss the energy and the activity the moment it is over. I guess
I'll just have to go against better judgment and get that next
film project rolling. After Damaged Goods is complete and on it's
way to a home with some lucky distributor, of course.</font></p>

<p><font size="2">That's it. If you are curious about things that
were left unsaid give me an e-mail and I'll try to get back with
you. </font></p>

<p><font size="2">Thanks for listening,</font></p>

<p><font size="2">Jason François</font></p>

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