The Nevsky Prospect

amy-blue: “Create your own visual style… let it be unique for...

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 16:25:19 -0500

amy-blue:

“Create your own visual style… let it be unique for yourself and yet identifiable for others.” - Orson Welles

strangewood: Sellers and Kubrick on the set of Dr. Strangelove

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 16:13:20 -0500

strangewood:

Sellers and Kubrick on the set of Dr. Strangelove

And finally, with post completed, we arrive at: DELIVERY! We...

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 19:39:23 -0500

And finally, with post completed, we arrive at:

DELIVERY! We delivered the film to Amazon Studios at the delivery date, thereby completing an exhilarating, intense, and greatly rewarding experience.

Once again, thank you for everyone who donated their time, talent, money, resources and mind power to making this film happen on an impossible budget in an impossible amount of time. Somehow, with hope, creativity, talent, work and a whole lot of stubbornness and determination, we pooled our resources and made it happen!

I guess there’s only one thing left to say—

SEE YOU AT THE PREMIERE!!

PHOTO: 1. The color correction suite at Master Key is where we...

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 19:14:58 -0500

PHOTO: 1. The color correction suite at Master Key is where we put the final touches on the image. 2. The sound mixing was done at the new state-of-the-art facilities at Proper Post.

Once the picture is locked, the score recorded, and the sound effects all assembled, and the special effects completed, we were off to the finalization stage. This stage has two main components.

COLOR CORRECTION: The final touches on the image quality come in color correction. This is where small imperfections are corrected, color is given the desired look, saturation, and contrast, and the overall tone is finalized.

SOUND MIX: The sound mix is where all the sound effects, foley, ADR and score are blended seamlessly into the picture, the levels are adjusted so that dialogue can be heard, music swells where it’s appropriate, and sound effects are made to sound as though they come from the environment of the film, as opposed to a sound file off of a computer.

The sound mix, the final step in the grueling post production process, kept us at the sound studio, PROPER POST, well into the early for two straight nights to complete before the delivery deadline.

PHOTO: An ADR stage where actors can sync their lips to their...

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 19:02:00 -0500

PHOTO: An ADR stage where actors can sync their lips to their performance on screen.

The next monumental task to complete within the weeks before delivery was Sound Design. Chip Johnson, our talented Sound Designer, had a huge task ahead of him.

We needed to accomplish two main areas of sound design:

1. FOLEY: Foley are the elements of the movie that were either not recorded satisfactorily on set, or need to be augmented. Things like footsteps are often accomplished with foley artists either performing the movements required (while wearing the appropriate footwear on the appropriate surface) and recording them, or using sound libraries to find pre-existing sounds that would fit.

2. ADR: ADR is when lines need to be changed or added to the picture, often in sync with the lips of the actor. Again, this is often needed when production sound is subpar, or last minute changes in the script are made. ADR requires a special stage where actors can watch themselves on screen, and replicate the energy and emotion of their performance. We needed to do this both in LA, and also Latvia. We didn’t have the budget or time to fly out to Latvia to do this, so we had help from Latvian friends who coordinated, recorded and delivered all the necessary ADR.

PHOTO: The special effects team rigged an explosion, that will...

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 18:19:00 -0500

PHOTO: The special effects team rigged an explosion, that will be augmented in post by Master Key.

POST PRODUCTION: Once we got back to LA, we had to edit at a breakneck pace. Alex Kempton had been assembling the film while we were shooting in Latvia, and was now joined by Rajeev who co-edited from this point on in order to meet the deadline. Usually one would have 6-8 weeks to cut a feature, we needed to edit it in about a week for our first test screening.

Meanwhile, while Rajeev and Alex were having sleepless nights editing, Rajeev’s company was compositing the special effects, and we also had to add music to the film.

Scoring a movie in a week would usually be considered an impossible task. Fortunately, we had the incredibly talented Toby Chu compose, record, and deliver us the score before the Christmas holidays.

PHOTO: Crew photo with projection of star Tina Casciani on the...

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 17:51:09 -0500

PHOTO: Crew photo with projection of star Tina Casciani on the side of the Latvian presidential palace.

And that’s a wrap! Miraculously, we finished on schedule in 22 days of shooting abroad. We were extremely fortunate to find such an inspiring, talented group of people as our crew in Latvia. They worked tirelessly, twelve hour days, six days a week, in the cold and rain, and by the end we all felt like one big family. I’m sure I can speak for everyone when I say that it will be an experience that I will never forget.

So thank you again to all the Latvians, Bulgarians, Russians and others who helped make The Nevsky Prospect not only possible, but an amazing experience.

And, of course, our work on the film is not done yet. So back to LA we go, and on to post production.

PHOTOS: 1. Stunt Coordinator/Producer Roman Morozov inspects the...

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 17:13:45 -0500

PHOTOS: 1. Stunt Coordinator/Producer Roman Morozov inspects the debris and stuntmen. 2. Producer/Stuntman Artem Grigoryev warms his hands by the burning debris in frigid cold Riga. 3. The explosive device that will appear as a car once post-special effects are completed.

LATVIA SHOOT, WEEK 4 – For our final week of production, we formed a splinter second unit to assure that we got all the coverage and interstitial shots that we needed. We also had our biggest stunt sequence—the car chase. This involved taking over areas of the historic downtown Old Riga, and reverting to night shoots in cold, cold Riga.

Luckily, Rajeev owns and operates a special effects company called ‘Master Key’ and was able to expertly and cost-effectively execute the effects. The brief steps necessary for the car explosion is as follows:

1 - shoot actors jumping away from a fireball that lights them up

2 - create a 3D model of the car, and place it into the scene with a 3D camera

3 - create a simulation that breaks apart the car

4 - create a fire simulation that creates the explosion, and interacts with the breaking car

5 - render both of those, and composite it together with the original footage

PHOTO: 1. Gary Hudson gets all Chuck Norris with producer/stunt...

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 16:44:00 -0500

PHOTO: 1. Gary Hudson gets all Chuck Norris with producer/stunt coordinator Roman Morozov. 2. A digital slate lit internally for dark situations. 3. Artem Grigoryev with paintball gun filled with zircs to create sparks. 4. Rajeev with protective facemask. 5. 1st AD Boris-turned zombie dancer.

LATVIA SHOOT, WEEK 3 - Back in Riga, we found ourselves entering the effect and stunts-heavy portion of the shoot. Much of the week was spent in the ‘dungeon’ location, which was an abandoned Pepsi warehouse from the Soviet times.

Some of the techniques we used were:

1. Hand-to-Hand Combat- Gary Hudson blocked the action for quality and safety with stunt coordinator Roman Morozov extensively before shooting. Actors were rigged with squibs, balls of fake blood that explode when triggered from a remote control.

2. When small charges are fired from a paintball gun, they create sparks called Zircs, used to create the illusion of bullets ricocheting off of metal and rock.

3. Real guns filled with full blanks were used to assure maximum noise and gun flare upon shooting.

4. Stunt doubles. In one scene in particular we used a stunt double for the Renko character when grappling with the more professionally-trained Gary Hudson.

LATVIAN SHOOT, WEEK 2. On location in SIGULDA, LATVIA.

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 20:44:00 -0500

LATVIAN SHOOT, WEEK 2. On location in SIGULDA, LATVIA.

LATVIAN SHOOT WEEK TWO: On location in ARAISHI, doubling as a...

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 20:38:00 -0500

LATVIAN SHOOT WEEK TWO: On location in ARAISHI, doubling as a Romanian Village in The Nevsky Prospect

PHOTO: 1. Yuris Zagars as Renko and Madara Botmane as Alina...

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 20:34:00 -0500

PHOTO: 1. Yuris Zagars as Renko and Madara Botmane as Alina preparing for a scene at Cesis Castle. 2. 1st AD Boris Taskov and director Rajeev Dassani discuss a scene. 3. Stuntman Artem Grigoryev plays with guns.

LATVIAN SHOOT, WEEK TWO, CESIS, LATVIA:

For week two, we traveled outside of Latvia’s capital, Riga, to an historic town with 17^th Century castle, Cesis. We were grateful to get the location for three days at a very small cost.

We also used a small, historic village nearby, Araishi, to double as a Romanian village, and foggy Sigulda, as the Latvian countryside.

Three Eastern European proverbs that were learned during this week:

1. If they give, you take. If they beat, you run.

2. Sometimes the best lie is the truth.

3. And the universal dating law: No money, no honey.

PHOTO WEEK ONE: 1. Star Tina Casciani stays warm with a human...

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 20:20:00 -0500

PHOTO WEEK ONE: 1. Star Tina Casciani stays warm with a human blanket, costume designer Lote Eglite. 2. Russian producer/stunt coordinator, Roman Morozov. 3. DP Kris Carrillo prays for good lighting. 4. Liga Igovena prepares for her scene.

PHOTO: 1. Star Tina Casciani and Rajeev Dassani stand with the...

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 20:00:00 -0500

PHOTO: 1. Star Tina Casciani and Rajeev Dassani stand with the ceremonial plate that has been signed by the crew. 2. Rajeev prepares to smash the plate on the camera. 3. Plate go boom.

LATVIAN SHOOT, WEEK ONE:

Everything seemed to be going smoothly until our star Tina Casciani got stranded in Stockholm, Sweden after missing her connecting flight. Once we actually got her to Latvia, we got to shooting. Here were some discoveries we made during the stressful, yet exciting, first week:

- It is a Latvian tradition for the crew to sign a plate, and then smash said plate over the camera after the first shot. Then, everyone carries a piece of the plate shard with them through production for good luck. Warning: shards of glass are sharp, have first aid on hand.

- The lawyer for Riga Film Studios (the production company that found and organized the Latvian crew), was a tough negotiator. As it turns out not only was he ex-KGB, but also one of our stunt men. Many of our crew had multiple jobs—producer Roman Morozov and Line Producer Artem Grigoryev were also stuntmen, drivers became brothel clients, and catering assistants became body doubles.

PHOTO: DP Kris Carrillo, 1st AC Mark Legaspi, and Rajeev...

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 19:51:00 -0500

PHOTO: DP Kris Carrillo, 1st AC Mark Legaspi, and Rajeev Dassani take a look at the Red Epic.

LATVIAN PREP: Immediately we flew to Latvia to finalize prep there before shooting. Many unforeseen obstacles would arise. Here were the three most daunting:

1.Equipment. After pricing equipment in Latvia, and Eastern Europe at large, we realized that it would break the bank to rent the equipment there. We had to transport all our own gear from LA. After ruling out freight air travel, we decided that the most economical route, would be to bring almost ALL the equipment as luggage, and pay for the overages.

The key to the successful transport was having a CARNET, which are essentially ‘Merchandise Passports’— international customs documents that simplify customs procedures for the temporary importation of various types of goods and equipment.

Latvia customs were not familiar with these forms, so in conjunction it was helpful to have our Latvian production manager Daiga Livcane translate and help us make passing customs problem-free.

2. SAG RULES: We were listed under the SAG New Media Agreement, which makes all clauses in a contract negotiable, yet still there were some sticking points that were challenging.

First: portal-to-portal. Usually actors work a 12 hour day from when they arrive in the morning, to when they wrap at night. However, when on location, the actors are on the clock from when they get picked up at their apartment, to when they get dropped off at their apartment. This could essentially take 30 minutes out of working day. Taking this into account in our already insanely tight schedule was a challenge.

Second, per diem. When shooting on location actors need money to pay for living expenses outside of their usual rate. Although per diem is negotiable, it still added a large hidden cost to production.

Third: health and pension: a non-negotiable while using union actors is that an extra percentage of their pay goes towards health and pension. This is not included in their rate, and is a large hidden cost.

Fourth: Payroll service. For insurance purposes, SAG highly recommends that a production company use a payroll service to cut the checks and pay the actors. Payroll services aren’t cheap, and add another hidden cost, and a lot of paper work.

3. CREW EXPERIENCE. On the technical end, we were concerned that things may get lost in translation from our English team and Latvian crew, and as an insurance policy, we decided to transport the following crew members from LA to make the transition efficient and seamless—Mark Legaspi (1^st Assistant Camera), Lee Narby (Best Boy), and Alex Kempton (Editor and data wrangler). We also brought in a first assistant director from Lithuania, Boris Taskov, whose tireless and expansive expertise helped production incalculably, and Chevy Chen and Tchavdar Georgiev joined us from LA to manage producer duties.

PHOTO: Crew preparing for unpredictable weather. ROLLING WITH...

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 19:41:00 -0500

PHOTO: Crew preparing for unpredictable weather.

ROLLING WITH THE PUNCHES IN LA:

On one occasion, we had heavy rain, so we rewrote the scene to fit the weather. As soon as we were ready to shoot, the rain cleared, so we made a makeshift rain device (hose with holes held up by c-stands) to create artificial rain.

By this point, the sky had completely cleared, and it was sunny, so we had to dismantle the rain contraption, and in the end, we shot the original scene.

‘Rolling with the punches’ and improvising would be our greatest strength throughout the production.

PHOTOS: 1. Tina Casciani and Carter Jenkins hack world banks. 2....

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 19:36:00 -0500

PHOTOS: 1. Tina Casciani and Carter Jenkins hack world banks. 2. Rajeev Dassani mans the Red Epic. 3. Gear lines the street in downtown LA.

LA PRODUCTION: Production in LA went relatively smoothly. The three thing that helped it work without a hitch:

1. We begged and pleaded, and used friend’s houses, actor friends, and warehouse spaces as inexpensive locations. We also got large areas of downtown permitted for little money with the help of Master Key producer Chevy Chen, through Film LA under the SAG New Media contract.

2. We used the brand new Red Epic with HDRX setting, and performed extensive camera tests before production to avoid technical pitfalls.

3. We had charitable and enthusiastic Waterline Productions, with Chris Jacobson and Roger Roth, offer their full support in the form of free lighting equipment, camera bodies and lenses, and general production equipment.

PHOTO: Tina Casciani and Leif Gantvoort perform a scene on a...

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 19:32:00 -0500

PHOTO: Tina Casciani and Leif Gantvoort perform a scene on a rooftop in downtown LA

LA PRE-PRODUCTION: Returning back from Latvia, we had one week to prep the LA shoot. Shooting in LA was easier than Latvia in that all of our resources were. Still, with one day left before production, we had a major problem—we still didn’t have our star. Some say that casting is 90% of shooting the movie. If this was true, we were still at square one.

We held one final emergency casting session, and luckily found a talented actress/model, Tina Casciani, who fit the bill. We sent her an offer, and by the next day, she agreed and we immediately started to put into motion wardrobe, script rehearsals, and a creative meeting with Rajeev.

With mere hours to spare, we had all the major building blocks of the movie, and we set for principal photography.

SCOUT PHOTOS: I took the following photos in Riga, Latvia...

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 19:12:00 -0500

SCOUT PHOTOS:

I took the following photos in Riga, Latvia during the location scout. The look is achieved by using HDR photography— taking three exposures of a subject (two stops over exposed, properly exposed, and two stops under exposed), tone-mapping them using a program like Photomatix, and final processing using Lightroom and Photoshop.

PICTURE: A picturesque view of Old Riga, Latvia. LOCATION SCOUT...

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 13:29:00 -0500

PICTURE: A picturesque view of Old Riga, Latvia.

LOCATION SCOUT LATVIA: Once we decided on Latvia as our country of choice, and we got the ball rolling in LA, we were off to scout. Having never shot in Eastern Europe, we were faced with many challenges. Three things to remember while shooting in Europe or abroad:

1. ADAPTERS: Adapters are needed to convert American plugs into European sockets. Transformers are also needed to assure that a 110 Volt American razor (for example) are converted to a 220 Volt socket. I learned this lesson the hard way when my electric razor nearly ate my face with twice the power surging through it.

2. MONEY: Many European countries do not accept American bills that have any kind of imperfection. Bills that have been stamped by banks, have pink dye around the edges (usually marked by banks to prove they are not counterfeit), or are overly worn (and sometimes dating pre-1996), will not be accepted by most foreign financial exchange places.

Exchange rates also seem conspicuously negotiable. It is advised to ask commissions upfront, calculate the proper exchange before giving over your cash, and double check when receiving your cash.

3. CULTURE: Knowing the intricacies of a given country’s culture is also helpful. At first, we thought that we were working solely with Latvians. It took us two weeks to learn that most of the crew was Russian, who did’t speak Latvian at all. Learning to navigate the three languages, and varying cultures, was a challenge. In the end, both Latvians and Russians overcame their cultural and language differences, and worked to make a great movie.