Worldwide Distribution

Well, Spirits Among Us has now been distributed worldwide! I met with my client here in Thailand and gave him a copy of the "director's release" dvd. I will also be giving a copy to my business associate and friend who I will meet with today. A third copy will go to someone here, but I don't know who just yet.

Although it is a huge exaggeration to say that handing out a couple of copies equates to "worldwide distribution," I am excited that I am able to spread God's message through my movie to people all around the world. I am finishing the contract details for my distribution agreement, which really will result in worldwide distribution-which is great, Praise the Lord.

It is very pleasing to me that I can serve the Lord through Christian media. It is a dream come true. If He arranges it so I can make a living at it someday, that would be icing on the cake-or gravy on the potatoes, whichever analogy you prefer.

The photo is of Mary Sarah with Mr. Rumples at the movie premiere. Photo taken by Jodi, thanks Jodi.

Premiere and Distribution

This will be a short post, because I am tired. I fully enjoyed the premiere showing of Spirits Among Us. The crowd turnout was very good, and everyone was very supportive. I know that making these movies is what I am designed to do. I had the pleasure of announcing that I have a distribution deal in the works, so soon you will be able to buy the movie from numerous outlets-to be listed in a later post.

The photos are from the premiere, I guess that is pretty obvious.

Premiere Planning

Editing of "Spirits Among Us" is complete, but post-production as a whole, and making preparations for the premiere showing and cast party are far from complete. Gail and I are scrambling to get out invites, and sort out all the other details. Our church is promoting the movie alongside the promotion for our showing of Rich Christiano's movie "Time Changer" on the weekend prior to the premiere. It will be a couple of fun, busy weekends. I am getting very excited.

Final Edit Rendered

Editing of "Spirits Among Us" is complete! Praise the Lord for that! I enjoy the editing process. Even though it is a tremendous amount of tedious exacting work, I like it. But, I needed to get this part done so I could get to the dvd authoring, planning the premiere party, and get the movie on the market. And then of course, start on the next project(s) that I have in my mental storehouse of plans.
I just packaged the dvd to go to a film festival (International Christian Film Festival in Irvine, CA) and to a potential distributor. We will see how those pan out.
The premiere party is at 7:00 pm on October 4, but there is much preparation to do.
YeeHaww the edit's done! (sung to the tune of "ding dong the witch is dead"). I have the strangest songs get stuck in my head.

SAU Near Completion

The movie is starting to look and sound like it is complete. Last Friday I watched it on the "big screen" at our student center at church. I was pleased with how it looked and sounded. The musician doing the musical score has been putting together some very good sounds and songs, Wow! what a difference.
I am starting to get very excited.
As you can see, I am still playing around with the dvd/poster artwork.

Close, Very Close

Post-production of Spirits Among Us is very close to complete. I just have some final touches on the music for two scenes, maybe three, then the movie will be completed. By “movie” I just mean the movie itself, from opening to ending credits. I still have to author the dvd with the out-takes and behind the scenes bonus features, and add in the copyright and license information.

This is a huge milestone, I am very happy. With considerable help from the musician doing the score, I have made substantial improvements to the overall quality and impact of the film. Sound and music contribute more to a movie than most people realize. It always surprises me. In addition to music, I finally figured out a good method to alter the image so it looks more “film-like” rather than a soap opera shot on video. The difference is subtle in appearance, but considerable in perception. I know that sounds contradictory, but it isn’t. What we “see” and what we “perceive” are often very different. People have seen so many media productions that when they “see” certain visual cues, they “perceive” what type of production they are watching. If they see the visual cues particular to video, they perceive it is a lower budget production, even if the picture quality is outstanding. That is just how it is.

It is very rewarding to see what all the hard work has yielded. I have not added up all the post-production hours yet, but I’m sure it will be eye-opening to see just how many hours were poured into this.

The photo is a screen capture of an intense scene with the angry husband, played by Diego Arias.

Almost There

Hello everyone,
The last week has been good. The film is looking/sounding much better. Even though I understand it, and practice it often, I still get surprised when I "see" how much the sound track affects the quality of a film.
The picture is the current art I plan to use for the promotional posters/graphics and dvd cover, but it is not final yet.
October 4 is the premiere showing of the film. We are still working on the venue.
Thanks for reading the blog.