New Respect For Filmmakers
Following last night's non-stop five-hour Passion Play rehearsal, I have new-found respect for those who work behind the scenes on movie sets.
This rehearsal was essentially for the purposes of filming the production. (We will be doing very little filming during the actual performances...only what might be needed to fill in the gaps that are left from these pre-performance sessions.) Thus, just like on a "real" movie set, the actors were asked to repeat scenes over and over, until the director felt they had been captured on video appropriately well enough to survive the editing process.
I think I'm in pretty good physical condition, but the discomfort of standing behind a camera for five hours is something you have to experience to understand.
Keep in mind that this is a cast of actors, musicians and crew in excess of 200 (including at least a dozen children), and all of them are volunteers, and most of them showed up following a full day of work at their regular jobs. Yet complaints were minimal and mostly of the gallows-humor sort; wild clapping accompanied each successful take; and we're all geared up to do it again tonight!
After all, we only got through the first half of the presentation...
[This had better be some kinda special DVD!]
I've forwarded your compliment to the designer; I'm sure he'll be pleased.
Posted by: Eric at March 23, 2004 11:15 AMWow!
With the new camera and new Mac that we got at the church, we decided to have a video rehersal for the purpose of taping our contata. I don't think we will be doing anything as complicated as you guys are, 5 hours. Let me rephrase that, I KNOW that we won't be doing anything that long because I will be taping it.
Gee, reading this makes me a little nervous...
Posted by: Christopher at March 23, 2004 06:28 PMI'm probably the only one who would think this, but I just got an image of the Amish Clark Kent as Jesus, with Lex Luthor as Pontius Pilate and the Justice League as the Disciples. I'd make Batman play Judas, let Aquaman be Andrew (character you all know but who just has a bit part) and Lois Lane can be Mary Magdalene. Martha should be played by Wonder Woman. The Flash and Green Lantern could be the Thunder Kids, James and John, while the part of Peter would be played by Metamorpho, just for a surprise.
"The Nail" was a DC Comics three-issue story a couple of years back. Not that I mean to be blasphemous or anything. But I'm sure with the success of Gibson's film, this is probably already in the works.
If you have to do 5-hr shoots after work, you both have a shorter commute than I do and could probably use some super powers.
Posted by: manasclerk at March 23, 2004 07:45 PMChristopher, we may have gotten too "sophisticated" for our own good. We've used six cameras (three stationary floor-mounted, one ceiling-mounted remote control, one wheeled-boom mounted, and a hand-held digicam for getting those crucial "MTV Passion" moments) for the filming.
The problem is that with the exception of the handheld, we can record from only one camera signal at a time. The video editor will not be able to pick and choose from five different angles of the same scene (unless we shoot that scene five times, using different cameras each time).
I'll tell you who pays the price for this complexity: the switcher...who just happens to be my wife! So she's in the control room, listening to 3 people try to simultaneously direct up to five cameras, and trying to switch to just the right shot at just the right time. I don't know how she does it.
Posted by: Eric at March 24, 2004 08:22 AMIf you have to do 5-hr shoots after work, you both have a shorter commute than I do and could probably use some super powers.
Manasclerk, thankfully, we're about 10 minutes away for the church, so the commute time is inconsequential. But I'd gladly trade a lttle windshield time for less camera time...at least you get to sit down while you drive!
Posted by: Eric at March 24, 2004 08:24 AMWe will have two handheld cameras. We will tape both of the performances from the back and then we will weed through all the footage and edit together in Final Cut Express. Ugh.
Posted by: Christopher at March 24, 2004 09:40 PM...then we will weed through all the footage and edit together in Final Cut Express. Ugh.
Funny how quickly we come to be unappreciative of technology that was simply inaccessible to us Average Joes just a few years ago! Equally funny is how much time these time-saving "advances" have ended up costing us!
Posted by: Eric at March 24, 2004 09:51 PMAbout the publisher
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Wow!! I love that logo for the title!! That looks as good as anything Hollywood ever put out! Great font! Kudos to the graphic designer/ artist!
Even the title itself is good, "The Nail", sort of like "The Robe".
Posted by: Mr. Freen at March 23, 2004 09:55 AM