short & sweet

Earlier today, I posted a ‘help wanted’ on Craig’s list, stating that I’m looking to fill the last of the four crew-positions, the sound technician, as usual, I’ve received a handful of “I’m interested” emails… but I just had to share this one;

"i can do this for you"

That’s it, I swear, even the “i” wasn’t capitalized, there was no “hello” or “goodbye”, this person didn’t even leave their name. I have to admit - I’m strangely curious. To be honest, it’s the only email I’ve replied to today, I wrote back saying;

"okay".

"getting the word out"

Now that the domain is up, I've been eyeballing the web-stats to see how I've been doing at 'getting-the-word-out', the results, not exactly positive. It could be worse - but not by much - I am feeling very "underdog'ish" to say the least. So here the project is, with five months left until production, and the pressure is building [daily].
I'm finding it hard to focus on training or the actual film's preproduction in contrast to it's lacking budget - not to mention its lack of awareness.

There's the obvious solution: stickers - which I am in the process of ordering at the moment [anyone who would like a handful, feel free to email me]. But I need something more, and at the same time, something cheap, which pretty much leaves me with stickers.

So I'm sitting here listening to 'Sigur Rós' + 'Garden State' iMix, staring out my second-story window at the palm trees, fantasizing about the trip ahead. Trying to focus not on the 'things-left-to-do', but the open road - that feeling of going to bed at night knowing that there was no better way to spend the day. I can't wait - and I think that's what scares me the most - I can only stay lost in my day-dreams so long, until the point where I am reminded of how important this is to me, that's when reality sinks in and the fact that I have over $7,000 left to raise. And this isn't simply an attempt to pity my readers into emptying their pockets - this is, plain and simple, how I feel at the moment - how I feel most of the time lately.

Moving on; I have a folder tucked away inside my "project pedal" files that is stuffed with pictures that I find inspiring or, in most cases, reminiscent, many of the places in these photos are places I've actually been to during my first trip - and that we'll be traveling through again during this one. I think I'll share a few;











I found these five photos at 'Panoramic Images', I believe all from the same photographer, Thomas Winzs.

projectpedal.com

Exciting news, everyone. Project Pedal is now official - the domain name is up and running - which means we have a real forum [no more pop-ups for you PC users] - no more server-sharing - and best of all, no more 'blogspot'.

q & a

This is a 'cut & paste' from an email I sent to Olivier, the DP, last Friday - I thought I would share it with the rest of class to try and fill in some more specifics of what to expect from the film:

+ Not a "how-to" documentary:
* No tips from us or any other travelers
* I don't even plan on focusing at all on the 'getting ready' aspect
* No 'recommendations' for bikes or gear we like to use...

+ Not really about the "bike":
* Focus isn't on the cycling - it's on the journey itself...

+ Not really about "us":
* We are simply "anchors" in the film that connect traveler to traveler - and it is [hopefully] these [interesting & inspiring] people who, overall, narrate the film with their own personal stories and insight on their own travels - for what is underneath it all... a narrative of our own journey.

[...]

+ I want to try to avoid a 100% chronological story...
* I don't want the audience wondering if this is a story about whether on not we "make it"... I want them to know we make it - so they can focus on the more subtle things taking place.


Hopefully this, along with the synopsis & the trailer, helps answer a few questions – but if it raises more for anyone; please feel free to ask anything [questions about the story, about the route, the trip, the crew, something technical, etc…] in the forum, you would be doing me a favor by giving third-party input.

three's company... four's a crew

As most of you are aware, Olivier, the Director of Photography, was the first crew member to come aboard 'project pedal' in early December, almost immediately afterwards he had sent me an email, referring two of his close film-partners, Olan Bowland, a talented photographer, also the builder of the new mini35 kit [or in this case the new HDV35 kit], and Quentin Aksajef, who is, from what I hear, an amazing editor and a very experienced camera operator. Both had studied filmmaking techniques in Belgium, and both were personally familiar with Another State of Mind's unique style and approach.

I knew I wasn’t going to come across a better situation. With this team of three I had a –very talented - bulk of the project’s crew fulfilled, most importantly; these three wouldn't require any “adjustment period” during the first few weeks of shooting - they could jump right in and feel comfortable enough with each other to express their own ideas and concerns.

So, I am, of course, very excited to announce the addition of Olan and Quentin to the film’s crew. I really can’t say enough about how ecstatic I am with the film’s progress… to quote Moulin Rouge’s Harold Zidler, “every things going so well”!

less technical...

Today while Amanda and I were stuck in traffic on Van Nuys due to a sudden down-pour of rain, she suggested that I write something more 'personal', I guess the past few updates have been on the technical side, then she said, "you know... like Zach Braff's blog". I kinda' laughed at the comparison - but he does do a great job of mixing humorous-everyday-stuff with behind-the-scenes talk on Garden State... but I'm sure it helps that his "day job" is the hit-show 'Scrubs'.

Anyways; there is one thing that springs to mind when it comes to more 'personal' aspects of proj:pedal, but I don't know quite how to explain it, I know that probably seems strange. Where do I begin? In it's most simplest form, a film requires two things: people & money. I'm lucky enough to have three of the four crew positions filled [and with plenty of time to spare]. Not to mention it's been a huge relief that the crew I do have so far is bringing with them a long list of high-end filming equipment... I'm getting technical again... moving on.

But then there is the lack of financial interest. Which means I have the crew - but I can't feed or house them. I have the cameras but there's no film for them. I guess I had always assumed the money would come first, then the people. It's a more comfortable position to be in I suppose. Not that I'm complaining - I'm just concerned. I still have six months [just under] to raise the money and fill the last crew position [I'm looking for a sound person for anyone who might be curious], but sometimes those six months seem like tomorrow to me. I've had dreams, several actually, I guess they would be better described as nightmares, where it's suddenly May 29th, the day we are leaving, and everything is half-ready. Every time I wake up from them they are too 'fuzzy' to really recall, but I can still feel the tight-chest’ed panic attack... it takes a few minutes to shake off.

But - I mean for this to sound more 'positive' than it probably does - after all the three crew members I do have attached to proj:pedal are amazing, I can't wait to work with them. I'm just really looking forward to narrowing down the list of reasons I have to worry.

untitled

Happy New Year, everyone. Okay, I'm back in L.A., home sweat home, it took me a little longer than I expected, thanks to Delta's computers crashing on Christmas - causing thousands and thousands of people's flights to be delayed for 2 - 3 days, but that's another story for another time...

First two things; the brand-spanking-new completely-reworked 'budget outline', and a sneak peak at the mini35 kit * that will be used for proj:pedal. The budget outline of course can be found under 'the production' drop-menu to the left, please take a look, compare and contrast - Olivier did some research and dug-up some really, really great deals that helped the budget get a lot more bang for it's buck. Also, if you're interested in learning more about the original design of the mini35 kit by A.S.O.M.; you can click on the 'dig deeper' drop-menu and download the "Just Facts ..." PDF under the "recommended" category.

I just received an email from 'Aquatix International' - I had asked them the other day if they could build a custom water-tight housing for the Sony HDR-FX1 [which would actually have to be around 16 inches long. The camcorder only measures 14", but I wanted room for the wide angle] but unfortunately, despite their "custom video housing", they said they were unable to design a housing of that size. It seems every time I post a new 'budget outline', the next day it needs to be reworked. It's a never-ending battle.

I just realized while writing the last paragraph that some of you might be asking, "I though the budget outline said proj:pedal was going to have a home-made housing designed & made, why the change of mind"?

Well, that still may be the case, depending on what the budget allows and how much financial support the film pulls in by May. The plan is to buy a housing for under $400 - $500, so if any of you out there happen to know someone or somewhere that sells 16" long casings for that price - it would be greatly appreciated. The only problem with a homemade housing is that it would be a "prototype" and the fear if there was one tiny mistake or flaw in it's design - it could destroy a $4,000 HD camcorder. Needless to say, that can not happen.

As far as everyday 'rainy' situations, a homemade casing would work just fine, you'd never know the difference with the end result. But if you look at pg.8 of the storyboards [under 'the production'] you'll notice that one of the shots I hope to get involves the DP, Olivier, jumping off the edge of a small cliff with of course, the camera in his hand. This made Olivier very nervous... understandably. I guess if we get the money for a professional housing, that shot will find it's way into the film, and if we don't then we'll just have to stick to safer [less creative] shots.

* update: the mini35 "sneak peak" picture has been removed temporarily...