Saturday, April 30, 2016

Friday night lights

Let me just start out with a big thank-you to local filmmaker Nick Brown, who volunteered to help Kenny and me with our rescheduled postproduction shoot down in Winfield last night.
A glamorous job, this was not. We simply needed more shots to set a scene on the football field at Southwestern College. It was chilly, windy and muddy. Some people might have even found it boring, although Kenny (left) and Nick (right) were completely into it.
Hopefully the rain continues to hold off tonight, when Mulvane is hosting this cool film event. You can bet I'll be there regardless.

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Post production shoot postponed

We had everything set up at Southwestern College, and I do love storms, but tonight's shoot was called off because of heavy rains, hail and flooding.
As it turns out, this was a weird day to schedule a shoot in the first place. Every meterologist in town predicted tornadoes ... on the 25th anniversary of the historical Andover tornado. (There were none tonight.) Because of the rain, we made the decision not to make the trip shortly after 6 p.m., which is right around the time our documentary subject's life became changed forever.
We'll try again Friday night, even though the forecast calls for rain then, also. The trip to Winfield will include Kenny, me and local filmmaker Nick Brown, who has been a major help in the latter stages of our project.

Sunday, April 24, 2016

Bald and dorky

I've had friends, girlfriends and relatives tell me I'm incapable or taking a bad picture.
There are at least three reasons this is photo proves that untrue ...
1. My dumbfounded look, which is priceless.
2. The tag, because my shirt was not priceless (and I was trying to decide whether on not to return it).
3. The stocking hat in my right hand, because it was a little chilly that morning.
Good Lord. I do look like a farmer - and a bald, dorky one at that.

Tuesday, April 5, 2016

The day our barn became a movie set


This is a barn in Greenwood County that belongs to my family. (To prove it, my dad put a sign that says "Knapp" on the side.) The barn has been there my entire life, but I don't remember it actually being used for anything, other than shelter for when it rained on our camping trips.
When Kenny Linn, our editor and DP, mentioned an old barn would be a great backdrop for narration, this is naturally the first place I thought of.
I can't say without bias how great my on-camera lines were. Between acting and singing in Wichita Gridiron and hosting a daily radio show, I'm honestly sick of hearing my own voice. Editing this shoot with Kenny over the weekend was painful.
But I'll say this: The shots look amazing. Kenny is the man. But I guess I've said that already.

Monday, April 4, 2016

Now that's blocking

This 16-square inch section was the main piece of blocking for our latest day of shooting, and it's where I spent a pretty big part of my Saturday.
I'll tell you more about this shoot tomorrow, but I haven't had much time to update this blog the last few days. My entire weekend was consumed with this, editing film with Kenny and being an extra in this movie.