filmscorehunter

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Joined: 28-JUN-06

Last Online: JAN 26 2008 04:26PM


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UNIMATRIX 384 trailer is up! Mar 24, 2007 07:10PM
The official trailer for the Jake Thompson sci-fi short UNIMATRIX 384 is now available. Simply check out www.myspace.com/unimatrix384 to view the trailer, and don't forget to check out the UNIMATRIX 384 website at filmscorehunter.googlepages.com/unimatrix384. The trailer is also available here on Withoutabox (Just click on "Movies" on the Unimatrix 384 page). Enjoy!

Film Production Blog "unimatrix384"

new website! Mar 14, 2007 10:12PM
I have created a new website for Dark Knight Legacy Pictures called filmscorehunter.googlepages.com. It'll have a page with my bio on it, along with links to information on my films, including UNIMATRIX 384 (which can be accessed at filmscorehunter.googlepages.com/unimatrix384). Go check it out; it's loaded with information about my film and you can even send me comments (you can send me comments here at withoutabox as well, so don't hesitate). You won't regret it!
The Making of "Unimatrix 384" - Post-Production: Editing Jan 22, 2007 10:17PM
When I shot "Unimatrix 384," I knew for the most part how I wanted to edit it, and I shot only the footage I knew I’d be using. My intent was to create a short film that goes in chronological order so that it can stand on its own and also be a part of a much bigger film. All of the elements that will be discussed have helped to maintain the continuity editing used for my film. I started out with some title cards for the sparse opening credits, which were then followed by a scrolling text box that lasts for 1 ½ minutes (it gives the back story to the film). I used mostly straight cuts for a good rhythm, although there were a couple of uses of the fade out/fade in dissolve (bridging the end of scene one to the beginning of scene two, and also for the appearing and disappearing effects of the hologram). There was a shot I had cut out early from the film. After the second shot (Logan asks Jessica where the device is), the original third shot would have been a shot of them starting to walk. I cut it out because the cut from the second shot to that one looked a little jarring and felt out of place when compared to the way the rest of the film was edited. The following shot was a medium shot of Jessica (which looked like she was starting to walk). So I decided to cut the original third shot and let the next shot become the new third shot (which allowed a better rhythm from the second shot to that one). The story was able to flow better as a result. I had also cut out one other shot (it’s of Jessica talking to Logan about the facility; it seemed redundant especially when considering the hologram later says something similar about the facility). It was a ten-second clip and it seemed to stop the story, so I cut it out and the story continued to flow naturally, keeping the rhythm in place. The film had a good rhythm even when I used some long takes. Some examples would be when Logan and Jessica get to the device and meet the hologram, as well as when Logan listens to the audio recording. Some shots of the longer takes lasted from twenty seconds up to a minute. After the last fade out dissolve, I used some title cards for the end credits. Since my shots had been carefully framed, I used the widescreen filter to matte my film to 2.35:1 (my intended ratio) and I didn’t lose anything that I had wanted in the frame. There were some graphic qualities I wanted to achieve with my film. For the first scene, I used the brightness/contrast filter to darken most of the footage a bit (this was done partially to hide the fact that my film was shot at Hunter College). I also used the color corrector to make the footage in the first scene more bluish (sometimes bordering a bit near purple, but still bluish). It helps set the tone for the scene. In the second scene, I used the color corrector to make the footage a lot more yellow (in an attempt to show that Logan and Jessica were in a different location). I also mixed in a little red, and it certainly shows in the film. I played around with the brightness/contrast levels for the clips in this scene (again, partially to hide the fact it was shot at Hunter College). But I also wanted to achieve a unique look for it; I wanted it to be visually striking and hopefully look like it belonged to an alien world. Although the use of CGI was not possible, the closest to a special effect would be the look of the hologram. I had shot Kristin first by herself doing her lines, and then I had shot the very same background without her. When it came time to edit this, I first laid out the background clips. Then I superimposed them with the hologram clips. Combined (and after a little tweaking), the hologram actually looked transparent, thus giving an artificial look to the character and achieving believability. For all of the audio, the channel 1 levels had to be raised higher (to the maximum for some clips). The channel 2 audio levels were actually lowered to improve the sound. The sound recording from the shoot had been so good that I didn’t need to replace certain sound effects. In the first shot, there are the footsteps you can hear as Logan and Jessica walk down the ladder. There are a few shots where you can actually hear Logan and Jessica’s footsteps as they’re walking towards the device. There’s the insert shot where Logan takes out the disc (I thought the sound for that was fine). Some diagetic sound effects had to be added (to give the film a better sci-fi feel to it). The sound effects that were used were all from "Star Trek: Generations" (helping to give the sci-fi feel to the film). The very first sound effect used was placed right before the footage I shot started playing. The sound effect is of some futuristic doors closing (which are never shown). Star Trek fans will recognize this as the sound for the opening/closing of the turbolift doors. As this sound effect is heard, the film fades in to Logan and Jessica walking down the ladder. In the second shot, the sound effect of the scanner Jessica is holding was added, and it continues for a few more shots. I lowered the channel 1 levels on it to an appropriate level so that it wouldn’t be too loud or distracting to the audience. I used the same sound effect later starting in the shot where Logan asks Jessica, “How much further is it to the device?” In the shot where Logan raises the phaser at the hologram, I added a whooshing sound effect for the part where the gun is raised. The sound effect was originally part of the sound effect for a Klingon transporter, but I only used the two seconds that had a sort of whooshing sound. Another sound effect I added was of some explosions. I used it twice briefly at a low audio level. The first use of it was during one of the shots where Logan is listening to the audio recording. As the voice is talking about the attack on the Planetary Federation Headquarters, I snuck in the sound effect because I wanted to use it as an internal sound effect. It is something that only Logan can hear; it’s from one of his memories (although that doesn’t become clear until later on when it’s used again to reiterate that point during his conversation with Jessica). The biggest sound work I had to do involved the audio for the hologram and a little bit later for the audio recording that’s played. For both, I used an echo audio filter to enhance their voices. I played around with the echo levels a little to achieve a clear and audible sound. The echo filter gave their voices a more artificial sound; something more appropriately synthetic. For the only non-diagetic sound in the film, I used some orchestral music to reflect the mood of what was happening. Originally, a composer was supposed to write some original music for the film. I screened a rough cut for her, and she agreed to write some music. Unfortunately, she had not been able to get back to me, and my deadline to finish the film was approaching. Rushing to meet the deadline, I considered the use of classical music, but I couldn’t quite find the pieces I had wanted or had appropriately fit the film. There was no time to get another composer, so I opted instead to try to find some free, downloadable royalty-free music on the Internet. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to find anything, and I feared that I might have to use score tracks from other movies (even if it was just for a temp track until I could get some original music for the film). Luckily, not only did I actually find some free royalty-free original music, but it was also music that fit the film. I burned the tracks I needed at home and then imported them at school. I then inserted them to where I felt they belonged. After so much time spent editing, I finally finished it in late May. I screened it for myself several times before declaring its official completion. Four months had passed from the time I wrote it until the time it was completed.
The Making of "Unimatrix 384" - Production: Shooting Jan 22, 2007 10:15PM
Shooting went pretty smoothly. The camera ratio was about 3:1 (three takes per shot), although a couple of shots took as many as six takes. The film was shot in sequence for the most part. The only part shot out-of-sequence was the hologram shots, which were done at the end. I shot the film using the 16x9 function on my camera for a widescreen image (it’s 1.66:1 on my camera). However, I had shot it intending to matte it to 2.35:1 (my shots were carefully framed so that everything I wanted in the 2.35:1 frame would be there). Andrue had to leave by 1:30 p.m. for a play rehearsal, so I had first considered shooting all of the shots he’s in first. Jennifer suggested that shooting all of her shots after he’s gone might break the flow between the two characters and the film might not come out right as a result. This was the option I was leaning towards more, and when she suggested it I agreed with her. I stuck to the shot list (over forty shots!) I had already prepared and continued shooting. About half of the shots were done handheld, while the other half were done while on the tripod. Sound was important, therefore I had Zac hold the boom as close to the actors as possible without casting any shadows or showing up in the frame. After every hour, there was a ten minute break. Not including the breaks, the shoot lasted three hours. There weren’t a lot of outtakes, but the outtakes that did occur were pretty funny. I even had some spontaneous ideas during shooting. There was an early handheld medium shot of Jennifer that was supposed to be just a medium shot. Before I had a chance to say, “Cut,” Andrue had started his lines that had responded to Jennifer’s. I suddenly decided to move back a little further so that the medium shot can pull back into a two-shot. I still did the medium shot of Andrue saying the same lines as before, but now this would give me something extra to have while editing. A little later, there was a reaction shot of Jennifer filmed that wasn’t in the script. It just came to me suddenly, and it felt appropriate for the scene. I told Jennifer about it, and we did that shot quickly. By 1:15 p.m. all of Andrue’s and Jennifer’s shots were completed, and Andrue got to go to his rehearsal. Zac then told me that he had to go buy some paint for a film he was working on (and then go to work). Since all that was left was the Hologram material, I didn’t mind letting him leave. I asked Jennifer to stay a little bit longer so that she could read her lines with Kristin. Once Kristin’s shots were completed, I thanked them for their hard work and I stayed to shoot the background. After a few more minutes, the shoot was finally complete.
The Making of "Unimatrix 384" - Production: Preparations Jan 22, 2007 10:13PM
On Saturday March 25th, I had Room 543 of the Hunter College North Building reserved until 5 p.m. I was hoping that shooting would be completed much earlier than that. I picked out this room because it was basically a giant studio. I opened the room at 8 a.m. to get a jump start on setting up. Zac Petrillo, the only other crew member, was supposed to meet me there at 8, but he got delayed and didn’t arrive until about 9:30 a.m. Surprisingly, it only took me about forty minutes to prepare the room. I only had a limited amount of space because usually there is a class in that room and I wasn’t allowed to move the giant television set. I moved the giant ladder across the room so that I could use it for my opening shot. I moved the tables, benches, and chairs out of the way. There were curtains that descended from the ceiling, so I moved them together so that they could block out the TV, tables, and all the other things that I didn’t want to show up in the frame of the camera. I then found an object that would serve as “the device” in the film. It seemed to be the outer portion of some old sound equipment. I moved it halfway across the room to the right spot. I put a blinking blue light inside to give it more credibility as a functioning machine (even though there was nothing inside!). I had traveled by bus and train to get to Hunter College, and I had brought all of the necessary equipment with me. I had my camera bag stuffed; besides the camera (a Panasonic AG-DVC7 MiniDV Proline Camcorder), I had packed a slate (which I ended up not using), the props, a few Mini-DV tapes, some pens, and a few copies of the script (including one that was entirely shotlisted and had a couple of adequate storyboards). The main props were a “phaser” that was formerly a “Deer Avenger 2” video game (its shape is of a mini shotgun; I removed the batteries and colored half of the gun black, including the screen), and a “scanner” that was actually an upside-down blue calculator. I had also brought several water bottles in case anyone got thirsty (it was unfortunate that I didn’t have time to provide actual food for everyone since there was no one else to watch my things at the time). And of course, I brought a tripod for the camera. Andrue and Jennifer arrived at around 9 a.m. (on time) and changed into their costumes (Kristin’s call time was for 11 a.m.). We went over the scenes twice and then I set up the camera and tripod. When Zac arrived, we tested for sound in order to adjust the audio levels. Before shooting commenced, I took a couple of production stills of Andrue and Jennifer (one of which came out decently). Shooting would finally commence at 10 a.m.
The Making of "Unimatrix 384" - Pre-Production: Costume Design Jan 22, 2007 10:11PM
The costumes I initially had in mind had a kind of neon shine to it; an obvious futuristic look to them. Thankfully, I soon realized how silly they would look. I then started thinking about the costumes in movies like "Aliens," "Blade Runner," and "Serenity," and I realized that even those movies had regular 20th century clothing. I told Jennifer about what clothing her character might wear, and she said that she could bring several pieces of clothing to the shoot for me to pick out for her character. For Andrue, I asked him to bring the boots he had worn to the rehearsal. We decided upon a black T-Shirt for his character, but I felt that the Logan character would wear cargo pants. The beige cargo pants that eventually I bought at Old Navy for Andrue to wear on the day of the shoot turned out to be the only thing I actually had to buy for the shoot (I returned the pants two months later for a full refund). As for Kristin, I felt that the Hologram would be dressed professionally (white shirt, black pants, hair tied into a ponytail). On the day of the shoot, Jennifer brought the several possibilities of her character’s outfit, and we decided upon black pants, a T-Shirt, and a maroon jacket that looked perfect for a sci-fi film. The last part of Andrue’s costume was the skull ring that his character wore, which I already had.
The Makng of "Unimatrix 384" - Pre-Production: Rehearsal Jan 22, 2007 10:10PM
The rehearsal took place on the Sunday before the shoot. It was held at Hunter College, and was originally going to be in the editing room on the fifth floor of the North Building. What happened was that no one was in the film office to open up the room for me, and when someone finally came to the room, she wouldn’t let me in despite the fact that I had the room reserved. When Andrue and Jennifer showed up, I took them over to the main lobby of the East Building. There, we met up with Kristin and we found a good spot to rehearse. We sat at a table and I explained much of the story, particularly the backstory to the characters so that the actors would get a sense of how to interpret them. I also talked a little about myself, and then I had them rehearse the entire script (only eight pages long). Overall, they rehearsed the script about three or four times; I didn’t want them to rehearse too much since I wanted to leave room for any possible improvisation on the day of the shoot. Afterward, we sat down at the table again and went over a few more things, including costumes, approaches to each character, and the origins of the story. I then told them to expect a solid and fun shoot on Saturday. After the rehearsal was officially over, I was surprised to find out that it had lasted just an hour.
The Making of "Unimatrix 384" - Pre-Production: Casting Jan 22, 2007 10:08PM
On the first Friday of March I held auditions for the two short films I was planning on shooting. I had posted the audition notices on craigslist.org earlier in the week and most of the responses I got were for "Unimatrix 384." For the first two hours, only a few people showed up. But in the second two hours, nearly the rest of the actors and actresses arrived. All but one person had confirmed that he/she would show up, and I had three people who did confirm that they were coming who didn’t show up. For "Unimatrix 384," a few of the actors who did audition did pretty good. Andrue Sullivan had originally come in to audition for the other short film I was holding auditions for, but he saw the sides for Unimatrix 384 and I let him read for the part of Logan Freeman. He did a good job and I knew he would be one of the top choices I would have to pick from when I was going to decide who to cast. When I finally came to a decision, I regretfully picked another actor for the part. Fortunately, that actor had not e-mailed me back. I waited two days, and then I e-mailed Andrue. I gave him the part and was confident that he could bring the character to life. I regret initially casting someone else as Logan because Andrue was indeed the right actor for this role. I’m just glad things turned out well. Most of the responses I had gotten from my craigslist.org posting were from actresses interested in the part of Jessica Clarke. Most of the actresses showed up for the auditions on the first Friday of March, and they did pretty well. Jennifer Scheer was one of the last actresses to audition for the role, and it was her audition that stood out from the others. My friends and I thought she had been so good that we suspected she was a member of SAG (Screen Actors Guild). It was no surprise when she revealed that she was in fact a member of SAG. I immediately began to worry since this was supposed to be a non-union shoot, but she assured me that her manager approved of her being involved in non-union shoots (provided that she gets a copy of the film within two months after it is fully completed). After she left, there was a consensus that she was the best actress for the role, but we still had a couple of more actresses to audition and it was painful thinking that Jennifer was probably the one I’d pick for the role (although I did manage to finish auditioning the actresses fairly). By Sunday, I had sent out an e-mail to her indicating that she had gotten the part. I also e-mailed the other actresses, thanking them for auditioning and I let them know that they would be invited to do screen tests for future films of mine. The casting of Kristin Leim as the Hologram is an interesting story. Kristin had actually responded to my craigslist.org posting to audition for the role of Jessica Clarke. At that point there had been no Hologram character in the script. Kristin had confirmed her audition time for the first Friday in March, but due to unforeseen circumstances she was unable to show up at the last minute. I had contacted her while auditions were still going on, and I told her that she could still audition some time early the following week (this call had taken place about an hour before Jennifer Scheer had come in to audition). I tried to reserve a room for the following week so that Kristin could still come in to audition, but there were none available. A few days after I sent the e-mail to Jennifer, I promised Kristin a small part in the film despite the fact that there were no other roles. As a director I know that this was a very unusual thing to do, if not a very stupid thing to do. But this “stupid” decision was actually a blessing in disguise. I looked at the script again and tried to think of a way to reduce the amount of exposition given by the two characters. Then it hit me: What if someone else could deliver a portion of the exposition? And thus the Hologram character was born, which helped to solidify "Unimatrix 384" as a sci-fi film.
The Making of "Unimatrix 384" - Pre-Production: Location Scouting Jan 22, 2007 10:05PM
Location scouting was difficult because there’s a scene that takes place outside of the facility. I was looking for places in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens that looked isolated and abandoned, but also needed to have a kind of other-worldly feel to it in order to help the plausibility. I found a couple of potential areas, but the noise in those areas was too loud and I wouldn’t have gotten any good sound. I didn’t want to take a chance on having to ADR that entire part of the film because there was a lot of dialogue (although, I probably would have done it if I thought I had the time to finish all that extra work by the deadline). That’s when I decided to shoot the exteriors inside. Finding a location for the interiors proved to be even more challenging. It wasn’t until I was helping out at my friend Chris Purcell’s auditions that I finally found a spot. The auditions were being held in Room 436 of the Hunter College North Building. I looked around the room and started to picture the scenes from my script. I decided that I would shoot the film here despite the loud air conditioning. A few days later, I was helping out at my friend Zac Petrillo’s auditions in Room 543. I looked around the room and realized that this was a better place to shoot the film. It was more spacious and there was no air conditioning to mess with the sound.
The Making of "Unimatrix 384" - Pre-Production: The Script Jan 22, 2007 10:02PM
I came up with the idea for the script during one of many sleepless nights in January 2006. The idea for "Unimatrix 384" had been gestating in my head for a while, so I finally decided one night to write out a quick treatment. There were various influences on the story I was trying to develop. Stanley Kubrick’s "2001: A Space Odyssey," Joss Whedon’s "Serenity," and George Lucas’ "Star Wars" were obvious influences, as well as "The X-Files." The story itself, however, was surprisingly more influenced by 9/11 and the current war in Iraq. Essentially, "Unimatrix 384" is an allegory of the Iraq war set in a distant region of space in the very distant future, as evidenced in the story by the war between the planets Earth IV and Ceti Omega. Further evidence would be the bombing of the Planetary Federation Headquarters Building, which is a reference to the attack on the World Trade Center. I envisioned the story for the short as being an excerpt of a much larger, more epic story. I didn’t have money for lavish sets, special effects, cranes, dollies, or even a decent-sized crew. Therefore, I had to determine from which part of the bigger story I would have to write about. It had to be a part of the story where something really important happened but didn’t require extensive set design or CGI. I also knew that because of this, it would be the post-production phase that would make or break this film. The script I ended up writing takes place much later on in the bigger story. With so much having already happened by the time we get to this section of the story, it was necessary for me to write a quick summary of the back story so that viewers would know what the hell was going on, who these characters were, and what they were doing. The summary was placed at the beginning (obviously), and would set the tone for what kind of film this would be. The finished script was eight pages long, which was good because I was aiming for a ten minute short. Originally there was a lot of foul language in the script, but after a few reads I decided to reduce the number of swear words (although one or two remain in the final version). Despite my enthusiasm about the script, it ended up sitting around for about a month while I settled into my new classes for the Spring 2006 semester. It was only when I realized that I needed to have footage available to edit for my final project in my editing class that I turned to two short scripts I had written (one of which was "Unimatrix 384"). I began planning auditions for both scripts, intending to shoot at least one of them but still hoping to shoot both. Admittedly, "Unimatrix 384" was the script that was more likely to be shot.

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Impunity | posted 26-FEB-07 |
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Unimatrix 384 | posted 28-JUN-06 |
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I'm not going to lie: I love my film. All the hard work that went into it really paid off.

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