The last few days have been very crazy and exciting and exhausting. The responses from everyone on our two recent parts to 64 Days have been so encouraging and amazing. Amanda and I were both very nervous about how long it had been since part 3 - almost 7 months - and the expectations that might come with that kind of delay. So... seeing as how no one has come right out and said, "I waited all this time for this?", has really been a huge relief.

We've had a handful of really flattering blog post written by people that we wanted to point out here - and let people know that we've just passed our first 500 HD embeds out of 10,000! What exactly does that mean? The day we released 64 Days - Part 4, we purchased 10k plays in full, beautiful high definition *outside* of Vimeo's site. Usually, the videos can only be viewed in full quality when you're on Vimeo, but with these 10k HD embed plays, anyone who takes a moment to embed our episodes in a blog post, is doing so in full HD. So it looks exactly like it's supposed to *anywhere* on the web.

Help us burn through another 500 plays - it's really easy. In the colored box below, is the embed code for Part 4, just grab it all, paste it in your own new blog post and you're done. Helping us get our project in front of new people is one of the most helpful things you can do. We really, really, really appreciate it.

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The first post I wanted to mention is from Sev: "Anyone interested in motion picture, cinematography or a good story should which. Frankly, I think it is some of the best story telling I have seen."

And the second, which was incredibly flattering, is from Nathan: "It's more captivating then I could possibly make it sound in my own words. [...] There where times I felt like the person behind the camera knew exactly what I had been through....what I'm going through...and what I will go through."

You can find a ton more of what people have been saying on our tumblr 'We Heart You Too'. Your comments... your blog post... even your twitters mean the world to us. You are the lifeblood of this project - your support keeps us going when everything seems overwhelming and endless. Thank you.

Labels: Post-Production

It's taken Amanda and I a long, long time to put out this episode - and in the last several months since we released 8, the script for 9 has gone through many changes. The last two weeks that we've been working on this has been exciting, I didn't realize how much I miss posting new episodes.

I'm watching the progress bar on Vimeo slowly climb past 8% and it's a little before 1 in the morning as I'm writing this. It's gonna be a long night - but it's worth it.

So - a brief introduction to this episode. This is the 9th episode overall that we've put out, and it's the 4th chapter in the 64 Days series. It introduces in greater detail the three crew members: Olan, Olivier, and Jef. Who all flew out from Belgium to work on Pedal without any pay... at least yet, I hope I'll be able to change that when the film is finished *fingers crossed*

Our time on the road with them taught us both so much. It was an experience I will never forget - and never really know how to properly put into words. Well, enough talk. I hope you enjoy it. Amanda and I worked very hard on it.

64 Days - Part 4 from mike ambs on Vimeo.

If you do enjoy it, as always we'd love to hear your comments and questions - but also, if you have a twitter account, we'd really be flattered if you send out a quick twitter about it. Which you can do all with one click here.

We're also excited about being able to embed this episode on your own blog in beautiful HD - we purchased 10,000 HD embeds from Vimeo so you can see it in full resolution *anywhere* on the web - so please help us put those 10,000 embeds to good use!

And as I mentioned in my last post - here's a link to the PDF of episode 9's script. This was scanned in about two weeks ago, so you'll notices some slight differences in what's typed out and what ended up in the timeline. We tend to make small changes and rearrange the edit up until the last minute.

Thanks for being so patient with us - and thanks for all the support.

Labels: 64 Days, Crew, Episode, Post-Production

I guess I should start this post off by answering two questions: 1) "Why did we re-release Episode 8?" And 2) "Do I really have to re-watch this?"

First; Episode 8 was extremely exhausting for Amanda and I to write, record and edit. And by the time we were 2/3rds of the way finished cutting it together, we stepped back and said, "ehh, this is getting long, I think it's good enough the way it is now". And we chopped off the whole ending we had written. What bugged us about doing that after the fact, was that the ending is what tied the whole episode back into the rest of the 64 Days series.

And second; If you're pressed for time, then my honest answer would be, "No.", you don't have to watch the *whole* thing. But if you wanted to see the major change, then you could skip to the last 3 minutes. As for the rest, there are only minor changes... many things taken out, several small things added in.

64 Days - Part 3 - Extended Edit from mike ambs on Vimeo.

I believe Amanda and I said this before, when we first posted Episode 8, that we would never be 100% happy with this episode. That there was just too many things that could never be squeezed in - but I think we both try to remind ourselves that 8 was one of our most successful episodes. Not in number of views, but definitely in comments and reaction. People really opened up after watching it, and no matter how many little things we know we had to leave out, I think we still managed to make something people can relate to.

Okay, enough stalling. I hope you like the extended cut of this episode. As always we'd love to hear your comments and questions - but also, if you have a twitter account, we'd really be flattered if you send out a quick twitter about it. Which you can do all with one click here. Thanks!

Labels: 64 Days, Episode, Post-Production

I spent all day yesterday and most of this morning editing episode 9. As I'm writing this, it's about 99% done, there's one shot I still need to take after I shower, but the rest is pretty locked down. Amanda will be coming over later today to watch and re-watch it, taking notes, tightening things up. Short of some disaster, I should be hitting export around 10 o'clock.

If you're not subscribed already, you can subscribe to our RSS feed here, and be notified immediately when we post the new episode. There's a lot of work still left to do this weekend: I need to write up a newsletter, prepare the PDF of episode nine's script (I decided it would be fun to include that, show people how we work), and it's always tough uploading such a large HD file to several sites... this time we'll be doing it twice (with a newly edited 8, along with 9).

This was a difficult episode to write - it introduces the crew members - Olivier, Olan, and Jef - and we tried to really share what their personalities were like, and how being on the road with them shaped the film and Amanda and I. I'm sure we fell short of doing them justice, but I hope we made it clear that they are three amazing, talented, complex, and engaging individuals.

Okay. I have a lot of work to do. Thanks for all the support, everyone.

Labels: Post-Production

mike and i spent all day on sunday, editing episode 9 (64 days part 4) and crossing other things off of our to-do list.

it was nice to connect and have a full day to work on things and talk about our creative visions. we got some fresh (smoke-filled) air, took charlie for a walk and got some frozen yogurt - yum :)

this part (editing the episodes) is always my favorite ;) unfortunately writing them takes much longer :P thanks for sticking it out with us, we are almost there. charlie and breaker thank you too!


VloMo08 - Post Production - Week 49 from mike ambs on Vimeo.

Labels: Post-Production

Teaser 006 from mike ambs on Vimeo.

This was one of the rare days that the wind didn't blow directly into Larry's face... he could really fly when he wasn't the only object in the way of the wind ripping across miles of field...

I love this part of the country - the big sky, the endless green. It's all so flat and boring and unchanging... but something about it really eats away at you after a trip.

Labels: Post-Production, Teaser

last week i finally stuck in the mail, our submission for the 47th Ann Arbor Film Festival. we decided to submit 64 days part 1&2 (episodes 6&7) since we don't have a film ready yet. it took a lot of work to get this done. the day it was open for early submissions, i printed off, and filled out, all of the necessary paper work and had everything ready to mail out, the only thing that we still needed was a DVD to slide into the envelop. then we ended up having one problem after another with the disc, first missing clips, then missing audio, and so much more. when mike was hit by a car while riding his scooter, his laptop was in his backpack on his back and was damaged so that it no longer burns DVDs. so he had to create the file and then get it on my computer to burn it off and for some reason that took weeks. anyway one problem after the next, but we finally got it finished and turned it in, only a few days before the deadline. :)

this festival doesn't really promise to shower us with prizes or anything like that, but it means a lot to mike and i. it takes place in Ann Arbor, MI where both of us are from and it is held at our very favorite theater there (the Michigan Theater). in fact, after we moved to CA we would make a date to see a movie there every time we went to MI for a visit. so it will be really cool to have a chance to see our work there, on the big screen, with our families and friends.

Labels: Post-Production

Teaser 005 from mike ambs on Vimeo.

This day was a really long, slow climb for Larry - the hills just kept winding their way through the evergreens and after every turn, was another upward slope.

We pulled off the road after a while and walked around on a hill-side. Where we took this shot, and tons of other ones. We used all of our equipment on that hill: our Fx1 (with the 35kit), the Z1u, and Olivier's 16mm.

It was a beautiful spot - and I hope to go back and sit there one day... just take in the view.

Labels: Post-Production, Teaser