shadowsofmefilm

[shadowsofmefilm]

As I write this, my brain is descending with the buzz of adrenaline (hopefully I don’t get a headache). I have just submitted a final volley of paperwork for the semester, so that my film can be legally screened. Sounding irrelevant to Shadows of Me, I can assure you that what I just did is a microcosm of what’s been happening with the team this week. You’d be surprised with the amount of white collar work that happens behind the scenes. Do you have permission to use your actor’s likeness? Do you have the rights to your music? What about your crew and location? Can’t forget that damn dialogue cue sheet – you’ve got to be down to the frame for when they open their mouth. It’s unglamorous. I’m not even going to give the caveat “but it’s important”, because if it wasn’t nobody’d do it. If we had a lawyer or accountant, I’d give them a shoutout. But alas…we don’t. I want to pivot to the topic of sound. Much like your location agreement, sound is frequently an underseen aspect of the filmmaking process. But, I will award it with the “it is important” – it really is. Sound effects when perfected should be invisible, sound is ever going to draw attention to itself when it’s bad. I’m sure Isabel Libby (our editor), has listened to that one sound effect over and over again, trying to layer it in so it sounds organic. Now finished, I hope she gives her ears a break. Music gets the limelight it deserves. John Williams has been considered a god amidst men for half a century. Andrew Joy, our composer, tapped into that dark, melancholic feel of the movie. I believe at this point in the film’s life we know this is not a comedy. I’ll end with a challenge. We’re a week out from the premiere of Maine Mayhem (the Nickelodeon Cinemas in Portland, get tickets here). If we can get ten comments on this either on Tumblr or Facebook, I will wear what the most liked comment says. Please don’t make me regret this.

-Nolan

[shadowsofmefilm]

This Week for the production of Shadows of Me... We mostly focused on my producers Micro Shorts! I DP's both of them, and it (in my opinion) went very well! I'll save the story details for the premiere, but I was quite happy with the shots we got.

In other news we finished a fine cut of the film. Still waiting on scoring, but my Composer Andrew should be done with it by the weekends end. He has sent me previews and I am very excited to share the music with you all. My editor Izzy is continuing to build up the sound design (something that I'm definitely not confident in).

All and all not much to share this week as we continue the edit and adding to the film. I am very happy with the direction that the film is going and I can't wait to share it with you this May 8th at the Nick!

[shadowsofmefilm]

This week we have continued our editing journey. Having a rough cut finished has been very nice and helpful for us to actually see how the film flows together and more importantly, see if it's any good. I know I am biased, and its not perfect, but I am quite happy with the film so far. The thing I think I’m the most happy with is the performances. Gianna and Emily did an amazing job and it really shows. The only things we have left to do are finishing touches and final color and sound. My composer is currently working on the music right now for the film, which is very exciting and I can’t wait to see what Andrew has made. 

In other news, my producers have started making their micro shorts. Last night we filmed Ayden’s short which I think is going to be pretty funny, and on saturday I am DP’ing Nolans. I am very excited about this. It's been nice to have a little mental break from my film, especially now that I am just editing and waiting. 

Tickets also went on sale and are almost sold out! Which is very exciting. It's going to be amazing to see our films on a big screen, and the day is fast approaching. Thank you all for supporting us in this endeavor!

-Gryph V

[shadowsofmefilm]

This week for the production of Shadows of Me we started (and finished) the rough cut of the film! It has been so exciting seeing it all come together. I did the editing for the rough cut, and overall it was a good and pretty easy experience. I started by Assembling all of the shots and making sure I liked the passing. After that I did all but one of the VFX shots in the film. I saved one for later because I knew it was gonna be more time demanding. After that it was as simple as finishing the audio pass, the color pass, and the last VFX shot. My goal is now to get multiple other sets of eyes on the edit to really ensure that not only me, but others are happy with the final product. In other news. My producers have been hard at work for their micro shorts. I am DP’ing at least one of the shorts for my producer Nolan which I am pretty excited for. I am also helping on other peoples micro shorts, so I am still just as busy as I was during production and that's just the way I like it. Overall a good week for Shadows of Me, I am so excited to share it all with you this May 8th. Tickets went on sale a day ago, so get them quick before they sell out!

-Gryph V

[shadowsofmefilm]

Come near boys and girls, I have great news to share: We have finished Principal Photography! It took a day longer than we expected, but we have finished nonetheless. What was left to film were all the exteriors for the film. For better or for worse, all exterior scenes took place at night. And we’ll dive into the surreal experience that is a night shoot. The production set its crosshairs on the circular field adjacent to Spring Point lighthouse for the two nights. The two most notable scenes shot here were Chloe and Farrah sky gazing and the film’s climax. As already stated, we planned for one night, but due to our slow pace, Gryphon and I held a small meeting during “lunch” (10:00 PM), and made the decision to split the day in two. Night shoots are funny things. For the first handful of hours you’re running on adrenaline, but, as it dries up, you suppress it either with caffeine, or (in my case) sugar. Then you become giddy and wild-eyed. Everything becomes a joke. You laugh at everything, and the work grinds to a snail's pace. And soon, you’re having to confiscate the stunt knife because the Grip is throwing it at the 1st AC. This is not necessarily a bad thing. We were all in a good mood and well fed. Morale was high–which is imperative. A night shoot with low morale causes you to want to strangle yourself with an extension cord. The extended shoot days also gave the actors more energy for the climax. Emotionally cathartic, filming that on a separate day gave Gianna and Emily the reserves to give the gusto the end of the film needed. And, giving all respect to the actors, they went all-in for that final kiss. I was caught off guard, thinking it was going to be less passionate and more comforting. Again, props where it’s due. I come to you now several eleven-hour nights of sleep later. Happy that all that sweat* has paid off and we’ve passed a major milestone. (*There was no blood spilt, and no tears… as far as I saw)

[shadowsofmefilm]

This week we are continuing (and hopefully finishing) our filming journey. We had to ask for a short extension due to weather, so our last film day is actually tonight! The last scenes we need to film are the climax of the film and some inserts. We are filming this on SMCC campus. On Tuesday (the 25th) we did about half of the outdoor shoot, which definitely had some challenges. The biggest of which was simulating the moon. Finding power outside was also tricky, but we worked around it. Overall the scenes that we filmed turned out very well in my opinion. Gianna and Emily have such amazing chemistry on and off screen. They bring such a wholesome energy to the scenes which makes them feel so natural. This week I also started editing. This is one of the biggest projects I have ever made, and with that comes a lot of editing challenges. Filming outside obviously has the challenge of audio. Filming on an active campus next to a road has made the audio a little challenging. After forming together the dailies to show in our class though, I am not worried about the audio mixing. It will take time and tweaking, but what doesn’t with film! \ Tonight starts our last day of principle! It should go very easy, we are just continuing our shoot from Tuesday, same lighting set up and everything. This shoot though has the added challenge of the climax. With the film having themes of self harm, needless to say, the climax is intense. Though intense, the scene will really make the film come together, and I am glad we got to split it up to film on another day as I think the scene deserves the time and commitment to make it stellar.

I hope you all are having a great week and I can’t wait to share more! -Gryphon V

[shadowsofmefilm]

It has been both an eventful, yet slow week for the production of “Shadows of Me” as we await our final production day that is currently set to be a week and a half out. I’m Caleb, a producer on the film, as well as the Director of Photography. We’ve gotten a lot done in the past few weeks. We’ve had three production days so far, and the fourth will be out last. Everyone involved with this project has been working hard, and bringing all they’ve got to the table. I know I’ve been happy with the work we’ve been able to accomplish so far.

Last Saturday, our production consisted of the void scenes. Some of these shots utilized a slider, to add camera movement. I am particularly happy with the way these turned out. I feel that adding camera movement to a scene will almost always help to elevate the emotions. The director Gryphon, really wanted to use the colors blue and purple in the scenes. With this information, our gaffer Nolan, did a great job lighting the scene. I cannot wait for everyone to get to see it! This Saturday, we will be recording some dialogue snippets in the studio. This will be an interesting change of pace from our normal production days.   

Although we don’t have any production days this week, we have been working to get our last day of production locked in. Unfortunately it has been delayed twice now because of the weather. That's the difficult part about shooting outside scenes. We are hopeful that we will be able to wrap principle photography on the 29th of March.   

Overall, our production has gone very well and we are both sad and excited to wrap the production phase. It has been a great journey so far, and we have high hopes for the finished product! 

[shadowsofmefilm]

Big week in the life of Shadows of Me. We’re three days of filming down, and patting ourselves on the back for our work. A quick introduction, my name is Nolan and I’m a Producer and Gaffer on the film. I’m a late addition, I joined right before the start of principal photography. So I consider myself more an Associate Producer (in the film industry, the Associate Producer is awarded typically for political reasons to appease somebody, and in reality aren’t that high up on the food chain). But I enjoy playing with lights, and am content to gaff to film. Caleb (the Director of Photography) is very open, and essentially left me to my own devices to light the sets. I opted for the softest light I could get. Gryphon really likes a shallow depth of field, so every scene we’ve shot has used an f-stop of 2.8 and below. Using hard light with so much bokeh in the frame would be ugly in my opinion, so my solution was to bounce a key light off the ceiling to bring up room ambience and then light the actor’s faces as needed by motivating small LED lights from practical lamps in the room. But enough dry technical talk for now. Why don’t I share some fun behind the scenes trivia for you to look for when you see the movie in May. First off, in the bar scene, When Chloe walks into the bar and the camera trails her, for a split second you’ll see a guy with his face in his palm, surrounded by a forest of beer bottles. That’s yours truly. I wish I could give you a backstory to who I was playing. But there’s a reason why I stay behind the camera. A two-by-four would be less wooden and more imaginative of an actor than me. Finally, as a bit of inspiration for any budding filmmakers who feel constrained in the budget department; we used trash bags to cover the windows to achieve day-for-night. So don’t always think you need an expensive array of gear to make a movie.

-Nolan

[shadowsofmefilm]

Hello everyone! This week had our first day of principal photography! Although exciting as with any film, there were some issues. A good filmmaker is not someone who avoids issues (though that does help) but rather someone who adapts to them. Our plan was to film on the morning of the 3rd. The original call time was 7:00am for the crew and the wrap was going to be 1:00pm. This day was already stressful because of the time restrictions, but we tried to plan as much as we could in the previous weeks in order to hopefully have an easy shoot. 

Now the drama. It’s the night before the shoot. We are nervous as it's our first day, but we feel prepared. We have 5 hours to film 4 hours of content, so we have plenty of time. Our actors, Gianna Codega and Emily Bartley are ready to go, and overall we are all feeling good. At about 6:30 pm though I got a text from the owner of the bar we are filming at. She says for unforeseen circumstances we can now only be let into the bar at 9:30… This was a pretty scary text to get. Me and the other producers immediately hoped in a meeting to figure out a plan. With a small rewrite we were able to come up with a different transition for scene 5 of our film. So now instead of filming scenes 3,4,and 5 we would now be just filming scenes 3,4. Not ideal, but it works (in fact, it might even work better than the original). Even with that we were still gonna be crunched for time. By the time we had the first shot set and ready it was 11:00. With only 2 hours left we filmed the rest of the scenes. None of this was ideal, but I was very impressed with my cast and crew. Everyone really pulled together despite these hiccups and really did an amazing job. I wish we could have gotten more content in the bar because it is a very cool location to film in, but nevertheless I am mostly happy with what we got. 

The remainder of this week is now being spent preparing for our next shoots which is on the 9th and 10th. Hopefully these will go a lot smoother seeing as we have 10 hrs in location instead of 4. 

I hope you all have a great rest of your weeks and thank you for reading! 

(Picture is a still from our shoot on the 3rd)

-Gryphon V

[shadowsofmefilm]

Weekly Update #5

Hello Everyone! 

I hope you all are doing well. This past week Gryphon, Caleb, and I met back up to talk about fixing some technical problems happening in pre-production, and about paperwork we have to make sure we have filled out before the end of production. 

Last week we learned that our AD could not work on the film anymore, although this was bad news, we understood that things happen and we immediately started to look for a new AD, and luckily for us we seem to have found someone that can fill that role. We’re just working on locking them in availability wise in order to ensure that there is no miscommunication on that end. Their job should also be a lot easier due to the previous AD getting a lot of the pre-pro paperwork done beforehand, they’ll just have to deal with the on set work. 

Another problem that we had to fix involved moving one of our production days. One of the things about shooting in Maine in the winter is that the snow has negative effects on production days. Mostly things like, driving and parking hazards. Due to the forecast on one of our production days, it looks like it's going to snow pretty badly, so with this, we immediately moved it to our planned contingency day, and scheduled a new contingency day. Contingency days are life savers. I'd personally recommend that every film production should have one or more based on the scale of the project. You can really never predict the weather super early on so when it comes time to see the forecasts, it's better to adjust to be safe rather than sorry. 

Lastly, another thing the three of us had on our agenda, is to ensure that we are aware of certain paperwork and their assignments. Thankfully, a lot of the paperwork has been done, but there's still a handful of paperwork that needs to get done. We have deadlines we have to meet, and this paperwork is very helpful and keeps track of the production process of the film.   

Thanks again for following along our journey to bring Shadows of Me to life! I hope you all find our weekly updates helpful.

Ayden D

[shadowsofmefilm]

Weekly Update #4

Hello Everyone. 

As we work towards the beginning of principal photography, here is an update on what work has been going on this past week. For starters, our digital media team is still looking for a day to have our media day. A lot of work goes into the scheduling of this day, despite it just being a media day. We have to make sure that we have members of our cast and crew present in order to ensure that we get the material we are looking for, and that everything goes to plan. Basically, we are treating this as a production day, even though this is for the film’s marketing. It’s necessary because it gives viewers a sense of the film's tone before watching the movie. 

Some other tasks that took place this week were blocking and storyboarding. These tend to go hand and hand, as both are working off the composed shot list. With all of the shots planned out, drawing a storyboard provides a visual demonstration of what the director wants the shot to look like. That being said, thanks to the visual demonstration of the storyboard, the pre-pro crew began blocking to make set days a lot easier. Essentially, blocking is mapping aspects of the production like where the camera is going to go, where the actors are moving, and what the limits are for power and space in the location we are shooting. This is a very crucial task to accomplish in pre-production as if this hadn’t been done, are set days would be more stressful and longer as a result of it.

That is all I have to share this week. I am beyond content with that progress we are making, and I am very excited to show what we have in store for you guys.

Ayden

[shadowsofmefilm]

Weekly Update #3

Hello! I am Caleb, a co-producer and director of photography for the film, “Shadows of Me” directed by Gryphon, and also co-produced by Ayden. Over the past few weeks, our very talented team has been working hard to make this film come to life. We are still in the preproduction phase, but that doesn’t mean that there is any shortage of work to do.

As of right now, we are working on finalizing our new location. This is a good step forward as our first production day is approaching in a few weeks. A location falling through is one of the most stressful things that can happen in this process. Without a location, the scene can’t come to life. Like I mentioned, things are looking bright though! 

Another big thing that has been happening recently is the development of our shot list. Gryphon and I have worked to visualize each shot, but we are now working to figure out the logistics of them. Our main focus has been to figure out the order in which we will film them. Something else that we have in the works is a test day for certain shots. We will be trying to create a few specific moving shots, and getting comfortable with the equipment. 

In terms of marketing, we have talked as a team, and are looking to set up a possible media day with the cast before production starts. Emily and I are in the beginning phases of planning out our marketing strategy, but there is much more to come! 

Thank you for following along, as we will continue to keep you updated on this exciting journey!   

[shadowsofmefilm]

Weekly Update #2

Hello Everyone! 

My name is Ayden Delamater (He/Him) and I am one of the co-producers for Shadows of Me! I am very excited to be working alongside such a talented cast and crew who all have a passion for this amazing film. I have loved being able to be a part of this project, as it has been such a fun way to enhance my filmmaking skills. 

This past week. Our director Gryphon, our other co-producer Caleb, and I have been hard at work in the pre-production phase to ensure our production goes smoothly. We all had our first big scare of the week as one of our locations dropped out. But thankfully after a meeting, we were able to find another location to fill that spot. Granted, we have another few weeks until production officially starts, but it never feels good when that sense of security is gone for a moment. 

Also, Caleb and Gryphon have been hard at work at building a shot list this past week. Caleb is also going to be the Director of Photography, so he has been locked in on the shot list in order to bring Gryphon’s vision to life. The three of us have also been able to schedule an ADR day, so one of our actors; Kayla Newmeyer, can record some lines that we need the audio for but not the video. The communication between the production team has been perfect, and I have enjoyed it. With our weekly Zoom calls and group chats, it feels like no aspect of the production is being left out.  

The final thing that we have been working on this week is our Instagram and Facebook pages! Gryphon, Caleb, and I were introduced to our digital media supervisor Emily, and we talked to her about what we want our marketing for the film to look like. We all talked about creating some stuff for the pages and later on in production, we will have plenty of BTS features for you all to follow along with. 

Thank you all for following along, Gryphon, Caleb, or I will be sure to keep you all updated on every aspect of the film's journey. We can't wait for you all to see what we have in store for you! 

Ayden Delamater

[shadowsofmefilm]

Weekly Update #1 | Safety protocols!

Hello everyone!

This week we began working on safety protocols. Protocols are very important for any film set as, above all else, safety comes first. We reached out to all cast and crew to ensure that any safety issues were taken into account and to ensure that if a safety issue arose, we would be able to take care of it. 

One of the big concerns for me as a director was the weather. As you all know, we live in Maine. Although Maine is beautiful, that beauty comes with very cold winters.  Because of that, filming outside during the winter months can cause some points of concern. Our safety protocols were written in the hopes of preventing any of these concerns from turning from concerns into issues. 

We will be filming outside during night time for one of the shoot days. Safety measures will be put in place to make sure that all cast and crew are taking the full precautions needed to stay happy and healthy. During our daily safety meetings we will encourage the cast and crew to watch out for signs of hypothermia and frostbite as well as promoting self advocating. 

These shoot days will also be on SMCC campus so we will have access to warm buildings to take our breaks in. On top of that we will also be utilizing and supplying personal heaters and hand warmers to any cast or crew that needs them. (I am also looking into seeing if I can get any hot beverages to be on set that day). 

In the next coming week I am hoping to have shot lists done and call sheets made as well as getting together extras for the scenes in the cafe and bar. 

I was hoping to get more done this week, but unfortunately I came down with a pretty bad cold, but was still able to get work done with the help of my wonderful producers!

-Gryphon V

[shadowsofmefilm]

Hello everyone!

My Name is Gryphon Vorbach (She/Her)! I am so excited to be directing one of the 8 films in this years Maine Mayhem Film Festival! It means so much to me to be able to represent my community and I feel so honored to have been chosen. This story is very personal to me as a Trans person and simply as a person who also struggles with anxiety.

Shadows of Me is a short film about a Nonbinary person named Chloe struggling with anxiety and a lack of confidence represented through conversations with a darker version of themselves. Chloe has never been shown true kindness or support in their life, least of all from their unsupportive mother. This all changes though when they meet a new person, Farrah. Farrah is a lesbian woman who through her kind nature and growing love for Chloe shows them their true worth... But will this be enough to save Chloe from the shadow within.

The entire preproduction process so far has been a treat to work on! I have gathered an amazing crew, cast and locations. This week we worked on revamping our shoot schedule, as well as picking new dates for filming. Principle Photography will be taking place in March and (as of right now) is looking to be about 5 days of filming.

We have an amazing cast for this film, in fact Chloe and Farrah are being played by the wonderful Gianna Codega and Emily Rose! The two of them were actually costars in last years Mayhem so they have already proven their chemistry on screen. Chloe's Mom is being played by Kayla Newmeyer.

For locations we are going to be filming on campus, the CNMS studio as well as two local businesses! Cia Cafe and Evie's Ferry Village Watering Hole. All party's have been very gracious with our production and we can't wait to film in them!

If you are unaware of the pipline for Mayhem, in order to get your film greenlit you must go through the Preproduction class here at SMCC. Personally I really enjoyed this class. Working through making budgets, schedules, and most importantly the pitching process.

We are so excited to share our creation with you all! We will be updating this blog every week with updates on production and BTS info, so keep on the look out!