In May 2010, we shot our latest short film over a weekend in Toronto. It’s a drama about two people living on the streets called The Climb
SYNOPSIS | The Climb centers on Cameron and Destiny and their struggles living on the streets. Each of them must face their terrible pasts in order to move on. While Destiny lost all hope long ago, Cameron holds to his belief that he will find a way to change things one day.
The film is on track to be completed by the end of 2011 but it’s still been a year so I thought I would pass along another update. Cutting the film was always meant to be an experiment. At first, I cut it exactly how I originally envisioned it on the set. The footage looked amazing but I really wanted to try different approaches. Editing The Climb has been a fantastic opportunity try new techniques and styles.
Eventually, I thought of a completely new direction to take the film and I’ve been blasting through the edit ever since. It’s incredible how much tighter and shorter the film has become. Certain key lines of dialogue have slowly disappeared and I’m extremely proud of the film thus far.
Throughout the process, I’ve been teaching myself sound mixing and color correction techniques with the intention of doing the work myself. As you can imagine, this is a long process especially when you factor in my full time job as an editor. Honestly, I’m happy I never really imposed a deadline for this project. Rest assured, it will be completed and I can’t wait to show off a clip or two this summer.
Until then, here is a recap of the pre-production process, our three day shoot and my adventures with Final Cut Studio.
PRODUCING A LOW BUDGET SHORT FILM | PRE-PRODUCTION
25 posts detailing the entire pre-production process including the screenplay, casting, make-up, location scouts, budgets and more.
Click here to read.
DIRECTING SHORT FILMS: PLAYING THROUGH VS THE CLIMB
A look at what I learned after directing my second short film.
Click here to read.
Find out more about Playing Through here.
PRODUCING A LOW BUDGET SHORT FILM | PRODUCTION
Another 12 posts about how we made the film on a cold May weekend.
Click here to read.
EDITING A LOW BUDGET SHORT FILM
Editing A Short Film: Planning The Trailer
Editing A Short Film: Taking On The Big Scene
Think About The Edit And Nothing Else
How A Dialogue Heavy Script Became A Quiet Movie
Editing A Film You Directed: The Annoying Part
MARKETING A LOW BUDGET SHORT FILM
Does This Poster Sell My Independent Short Film?
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