DVD

Last night I burned a DVD of the art show piece. I expected a drop in quality but hopefully it would be watchable.

Well, there was no drop in quality whatever! In fact, on the TV screen it looks as good as any show or film. Again I am blown away by the power of Flip Video to do this. Whatever my shorts will lack, it will not be video picture quality. I'm going to look as good as the big boys here. Quite amazing.

Yesterday was the last day of class. I brainstormed with my students about adding a "filmmaking" option for my advanced screenwriting students ("this would be awesome," they said). That is, I am going to let them shoot short movies on a cell phone or whatever as an option to what they do now. I'll put together a syllabus for fall.

A nice chat with my friend in LA where we'll be staying. I'm going to shoot a lot of footage at the wedding dinner tonight and the wedding tomorrow, see what I can put together. I'd never do this normally but I'm still learning so much at every level, I like jumping right into something like this.

So far I have ten screen tests scheduled for the week of June 18th. I should be able to cast the two shows and think about, pre-cast, others, and I'll be looking for special talents I can take advantage of in future projects.

I have to admit, I'm already thinking about the possibility of shooting a feature next summer. It's simply a matter of finding the right story. I'm thinking of a spin off of The Brazen Wing, a version where someone comes TO Portland, not from it, and most of it is shot here, maybe using the coast or Mt. Hood as the scenic backdrop. But the same story concept, getting the lady out of the retirement center, going on a fishing adventure. Or make some other adventure. But the spine of the story could translate to something here, I'm sure. I could simplify the story in other ways for a smaller cast, combining small roles. I'll be thinking about this.

Life has interesting surprises. Only a few weeks ago my summer looked very, very different from how it's turning out to be. Then I watched H's vacation video shot on the Flip, and everything changed once I found out I could afford first rate editing software.

By the way, the editing software has the DVD burner built in. I didn't take advantage of the menu options, making scenes, etc., just burned a DVD that starts right up. Sufficient for shorts. The DVD on TV may even look a tad better than the piece on computer. I keep pinching myself. What a world.