We filmed The Climb over a weekend in May 2010 for about $300. It was the first project we developed after I launched this blog so there was a ton of coverage here.
There are posts about every topic including budgets, screenwriting, stories from the set, post-production, marketing, promotion, trailers, posters and more.
Now that the film is completed I thought it would be useful to gather every post in one place. So check out the entire story of how we produced The Climb.
First and foremost, I love to write movies. Having said that, I’m also a massive fan of blogging, writing short stories and creating accompanying images and logos in Photoshop. On a daily basis, I normally have a number of projects I can work on but lately, I’ve been focused on finishing my short film The Climb.
It’s a project we filmed in May of 2010 and I’ve been experimenting with different editing techniques ever since. However, the time has come to wrap up the short so I can reorganize and prioritize my projects in 2012.
So for the last month, I’ve been completely wrapped up in post production with a couple afternoons of screenwriting here and there.
In all honesty, The Climb will most likely be finished in a few weeks and I’ve spent a lot more time figuring out what I want to create in 2012. It’s always beneficial to think ahead. Besides two big feature screenwriting projects and a slight 17west.ca redesign my schedule looks like it will be pretty open.
Finally, it looks like Ill be able to put a dent into my…
BACK BURNER PROJECTS
Anyone who enjoys being creative has a couple of these occupying the dusty storage shelves in their minds. These are projects you might get to someday. Unfortunately, many of these projects remain unfinished or worse they never really get off the shelf.
2012 will be the year of the screenplay for me as I don’t have plans to direct another film anytime soon. (Especially with a wedding less than a year away). Its going to be a year of words and two related back burner projects I’ve wanted to tackle for years.
The projects in question are eBooks. Since I began this blog in 2009, I’ve had a number of ideas for extra content to offer and these eBooks represent my first foray into the online self-publishing world.
But when you add up screenwriting, filmmaking, blogging and life in general, taking on an eBook simply didn’t fit into my daily routine. But that’s what a back burner project is! It’s a project you pick away at slowly. Something you work on and think about during quiet moments. I’ve already laid the groundwork and created over 40 pages of content for my first book. I’ve just never really given the project the time it deserves to graduate from back burner status.
Having said that, I’m extremely excited to wrap up a couple things and finally have time to write these projects. They will come in handy when I’m not working on my latest screenplay or blog post.
In my experience, back burner projects rarely get taken off the shelf and dusted off. The only one I can think of other than these eBooks was a children’s book I wrote for my parents years ago. It was something I always wanted to do but regularly put off. There was always something else that needed to be done. Finally, I got it finished and had a friend illustrate it. The memory I have of giving them copies of the book are precious to me now. I think about that memory fondly and I’m thankful that I took the time to write it for them.
Some back burner projects are meant to rise up. I won’t know if these two eBooks will fall into that category but I’ll never know until I finish them right?
Maybe its time you gave your back burner projects another look?
Last week, I finished the rough cut of The Climb and while a few final tweaks are being made, I decided it was finally time to release a trailer for the drama.
The Climb is the story of 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.
Expect more on the trailer soon!
Check out www.17west.ca for more information about our films and upcoming projects.
Follow the project with regular updates posted here.
I showed some footage of my short film, The Climb to my producing partner Eric the other day. The plan was simple. I was going to show him the new sequences I just locked and then go over the entire film scene by scene. What I failed to mention to him was a fairly major change I’ve been thinking about.
Cutting one of the opening scenes completely…
It was interesting to watch that 2 minute scene play out. Could I lose it entirely? Will the film be better or worse?
When the footage was over, Eric made a suggestion. He wondered what it would be like if we lost the exact scene I was thinking about cutting. (We work well together for a reason.) We discussed the changes in depth. The issue at hand is whether or not I can get rid of a scene that I love and whether the story will survive without it. Every director must face these decisions but it’s tougher when you’re the editor as well.
The director in me is attached to the scene.
The editor in me knows it will make the film tighter and potentially better.
It’s a tug of war I’ve been dealing with ever since. Truthfully, I haven’t even taken the scene out yet. I made the excuse to leave it in until the whole film is locked. Then I’ll step back and evaluate the film’s pacing and whether or not I’ve told a good story.
Letting go of a scene is hard. There are always moments in a film you can’t bare to lose but I think you HAVE to make those tough decisions. In the end, it’s all about crafting something you can be proud of but also a film that will entertain other people as well. I’ve definitely taken my time editing this film but I’m in no hurry. The Climb is an exercise. How many different ways can I cut a scene? What if I lost this line of dialogue? Would this moment work better earlier in the film? Can I cut out this scene entirely?
In a way, editing The Climb has made me a better screenwriter. It’s interesting to see the impact one passion in my life has on another.
At the end of the day, I don’t think I see this particular scene making the final cut. No matter how much I enjoy it. A short film is meant to get in, tell you a story and get out. The scene I want to lose delays that right now. It slows down the beginning of the film. So, for now, I have 4 options.
Leave it in.
Move it somewhere else.
Re-Edit with a different approach.
Cut it out.
I’m not entirely sure what I’ll do but the process is inspiring. The Climb has been a wonderful opportunity to grow as an editor and a filmmaker. That’s exactly the kind of project I wanted it to be.
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.
