Trick or Treat: A Trailer & Some Updates

Ahhh... I said awhile back that I wanted a new trailer out by October 31, just in time for Halloween, and I was as good as my word. Late last night we put the finishing touches on our latest trailer. I can't thank Sean Feuer enough for his invaluable help in the trailer creation. He knows his stuff, and if you watch the trailer it shows.

So, the trailer is out now. You can view it on our facebook page, here on the blog, youtbe: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qY3rAHuUepY, and soon our website: www.BlameRomero.com.

I am very happy with the reaction that we have received so far. It has been very positive. One of my friends, upon watching the trailer, told me how everything he saw before looked like a movie his friends put together, but this latest trailer... Well, this looks like an actual movie. I couldn't agree more. See, I have mentioned before that I am relatively new to Final Cut, so many of its features are new to me. And so, all of our footage prior to now was raw footage... direct from the camera. Imagine my surprise when we started editing this trailer together, Sean looked at me and asked, "Do you want to adjust the colors to make it look better than raw footage? More like film?" The only thing I could say was, "Is that a possibility?" Apparently it was, and we did. I think this makes a world of difference as far as the visual quality goes, and I wouldn't really know about it without Sean's help, so big thanks to him for that bit of knowledge. I learn something new about Final Cut every day, it seems.

So, the trailer is out there. Besides just looking better, it has much more detail about the overall plot. We see new characters, and get a better idea of just what's going on in this movie without spoiling anything.

As for the status of the movie itself... The pieces are together for the first cut of the film. The scenes have all been cut together. It runs 94 minutes. Now, we still have plenty of work to do. The color correction we did for the 2 minute 45 second trailer? That has to be done to the entire movie now. We have some audio to tweak, along with a few things to record still. Then we have to add SFX and music. But we are on our way.

On behalf of the entire cast and crew of "Blaming George Romero," I truly hope you enjoy the latest look at our little film.

Stay tuned!

Sam

Actor, Writer, Producer

"Blaming George Romero"

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Another BGR Milestone Achieved!

Phew. When we started out, I think I mentioned before that I had no idea what went into audio for a movie. So, when we decided to go for external audio rather than hooking up a mic directly to the camera, I was warned by many people how hard it would be. I am very glad to say that those people were wrong. As of 1am, I have finished syncing audio for "Blaming George Romero." There are still a few voice over audio things to pick up, but all of the audio that we recorded along with the movie... has been synced. Again... Phew.

I owe big thanks to Sean Feuer for showing me how to sync up audio in Final Cut Pro. Once I saw how it was done, it was actually pretty easy. Tedious at times, but not difficult... Not at all really. SO, I am very thankful for that.

Instead of just syncing up all of the audio at once, I decided to sync while we went. So, I synced audio... We edited... When we finished editing the synced footage, back to audio sync. Today, as I said, I finished that. That should tell you a little something about how far along we are. There is still a load of work to do, even once we have our first rough cut... but are moving right along.

I am going to end this blog with a tease in picture form of something that you will be able to see very shortly. You will see it soon, and it will be really, really good.

Stay tuned!

Sam

Actor, Writer, Producer

"Blaming George Romero"

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When things work out, and when they don't...

I was working on a scene this week; a scene we shot the 2nd day of filming. It seems like so long ago, but watching that scene was interesting. Its funny... back then we had no idea what was going to happen. For all we knew back then, everything would fall apart at any minute. We got lucky. We passed that 2nd day and here we are now.

You never know what is going to happen. You can plan, and plan, and plan, but in the end you need to be able to adapt. For example, the initial screenplay called for a camp fire for the scene we shot in the woods. Unfortunately, (or fortunately) we shot in the summer. The woods were dry, and we couldn't start a fire without the very real risk of starting a much larger campfire than we had in mind. So, we adapted. I could be wrong, but I think I have to credit Bobby with the solution that saved us (I won't get into too many story points for fear of spoiling). Our lighting guy, Doug, created a lighting rig (and did an amazing job of it) and it fit the story!

Sometimes what was written on the page was filmed exactly as written, and sometimes it worked out very well. Sometimes it didn't, and I have had to cut some stuff that I had in my screenplay. Sometimes what was filmed went above and beyond what was in the script, and again... Sometimes it worked very well, and sometimes it did not. It's quite an experience going through all of the hours of footage, and shaping it into a movie. Seeing what worked, what didn't work... What surprised us, what disappointed us.

It makes the small stuff seem very small, knowing that the final product will be as good as it is. I have been slightly lazy with stills over the last two weeks, so below you will see a bunch of them.

Right now, the first cut of the movie is 1 hr and 10 minutes long. Not bad. Not bad at all.

Stay tuned!

Sam

Actor, Writer, Producer

"Blaming George Romero"

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Who Wants a Shirt?

It's getting cold outside, ain't it? What better prize than a tee shirt? And what better tee shirt than an official "Blaming George Romero" tee shirt?

Now, we have had minor contests in the past, but this one is going to be slightly more detailed. Ready?

We, at "Blaming George Romero" are artists, and we support the arts. So, we want you to do something artistic that is inspired by "Blaming George Romero." It can be anything from a painting, to a sketch, to a sculpture, to a cartoon, song, poem, short story, etc etc etc. If you want a BGR shirt, then be creative. Once you have created something, either post what you have created on the BGR Facebook Page or email it to me at splatizky@gmail.com.

I will assemble a panel of judges, and we will choose a winner who will receive their very own BGR shirt. If there are a number of great entries, then 2nd and 3rd place winners will receive a signed copy of the official "Blaming George Romero" poster.

Entries are due on October 31st at 11:59pm. If you already have a shirt you are ineligible.

Good luck!

Stay tuned,

Sam Platizky

Actor, writer, producer

"Blaming George Romero"

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BGR Related News

Here are just a few snippets of information that are related to BGR:

*We were all thrilled with the excellent work that Elizabeth White & Catherine Carlisle did on our wrap party cake. We were not the only ones. Their boss, Buddy, (who is also the boss of cakes apparently) liked the cake so much that he has put it in their display book of spooky themed cakes. What's more, at least one person has ordered it already! So, congrats to Liz and Catherine on having their beautiful work recognized by more than just the BGR family.

*Our very own DP, Raul Garcia, has completed work on a short film entitled "Crude Remains" that you can view here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16_NyF6GjZI.

*A significant portion of the cast/crew of BGR was involved in a production of "Play On" at the West Side Theatre in Jersey City over the last two weeks. I saw it last Thursday, and was very entertained. Congratulations on an excellent run!

*Below is a picture of the wonderful cake to remind you how great it looked, along with two pics that we are showing in honor of October and Halloween.

*Work continues both on the full cut of the movie (approximately at 53 minutes right now) and the "theatrical trailer." The goal for the latter is still to have it for your viewing pleasure within the month.

Stay tuned!

Sam

Actor, Writer, Producer

"Blaming George Romero"

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Excitement & Tedium... Making a movie.

When you're making a movie, things can go from incredibly exciting to downright tedious really quick. There is a lot of waiting around, before you can get to all the good stuff. Same with post. We have finished the first "Act" of the movie, and are going back through to adjust the audio so that it all matches, etc. Its all very necessary, but very tedious... And again, I am learning on the job.

But anyway, I've watched what we have of the movie several times, but today was the first time that I just watched it straight through and just watched instead of working on it... and I really like the movie. More, I am proud of it.

We are working on a full length, theatrical trailer now. I know that some of you may be confused at to what the movie is all about. Is it a horror? Comedy? Drama? Porn? If you've just been relying on the pictures, or the teaser trailer, I can understand why you would be confused. One of the things I am looking to do with this trailer is to give you all a taste of what this movie really is. After assembling some scenes for it (including some scenes we haven't edited yet), I am really happy with what the final product will be. In fact, I am so happy that below you will find some stills from the trailer. It is really exciting to see all of this footage come together. It makes all the stress and tedium that went along with the movie disappear.

Also, I get asked a lot: "When can I see the movie? Can I see it now?" No, you can't. The movie is not ready yet. We are working on it night & day (seriously, I am forgetting what sleep is like), and are creating the best possible movie that we can. Like I said before, 40 minutes are edited, and we are adjusting that to make sure it is polished before we jump ahead to the rest. I don't know when we will be done... I can tell you that I HOPE to have a first cut of the film finished prior to the end of 2010. Whether that is in November or December, I don't know... and it may take longer... But stay tuned to this blog, for information on future screenings.

The trailer, on the other hand, should be available within the next few weeks.

Stay tuned!

Sam

Actor, Writer, Producer

Blaming George Romero

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