Every New Beginning

Well, here we are, gentle reader. The year 2010. The year we make contact. A fresh new year, or at least most of one, is spread out before us full of endless possibilities. A new beginning. But, as was stated so eloquently by alternative rockers, Semisonic, "every new beginning comes with some other beginning's end". And so it is with me, gentle reader, and my efforts to become a real live, honest to goodness filmmaker.

When we were together last, way back in the year of our Lord two thousand and nine, I was working frantically to wrap both my Christmas presents and principal photography on up coming mega blockbuster, and instant classic, Zombies During Third Period... Again! Well, it gives me great pleasure to announce that both have been achieved. All packages to my loved ones were placed under the tree with care, and shortly after the new year began, the final scenes of Zombies were captured in gorgeous 24p High Definition. For those of you interested you can see some of the behind the scenes footage here. After having completed over thirty days of shooting, spanning over six months, the movie is, as those film types would say, in the can. It's a good feeling... mostly.

I must confess that this beginning's end has been a little bitter sweet for me, and somewhat strange. Part of that is due to the fact that principal photography ended on more of a whimper than a bang. That is not to say the footage we shot that day did not turn out well, or was particularly difficult, it was just somewhat anti climatic. As it turned out the final day of shooting found us shooting a scene that we had already shot, but who's footage had been lost due to a computer error. It was a cold day, and many of the key cast and crew, who had been permanent fixtures during the duration of the shooting schedule, were not able to be there for one reason or another. Present were only the essential actors, two extras, the director, and myself. As the final shot was filmed and verified, there was no "Ladies and Gentlemen, That's a wrap!!", with the prerequisite thunderous applause, champagne corks exploding, and smiles and hugs for cast and crew alike. It was more like we looked at each other and said "Well... I guess that's it" (insert the sound of silence as we look at each other and the word "it" faintly reverberates through a cold, dark, empty school hallway). It was not the end of the world by any means, just a little anti climatic. This project has also been a little strange for me, in that it is the first time that my part in a film has been completed without the film itself being completed. I have the satisfaction of knowing, or at least hoping, that we did a good job capturing performances. I have a reasonable expectation that the scenes will cut together into an entertaining, well produced film, but yet I don't know exactly what that film will look like. My part in the film is done, but the film itself is not. I'm now as much of a spectator to events as you are, gentle reader. Whether or not the film is finished in time to make the deadline for Comic-Con is something that we will learn together.

So that is this beginning's end. However, with this beginning's end come new beginnings. The beginnings that I thought would begin while still shooting Zombies, but didn't begin. Those beginnings are about to begin. How do those beginnings end? Well gentle reader, that is also something we will find out together.