Two nights ago I purchased Amanda's plane ticket from Los Angeles to Reno - we'll be filming during the 5th to the 15th in May. I still have to purchase a plane ticket for myself, but I'll most likely be flying back to NY and not MI, so I have some details to work out first. It's all very exciting - May is approaching fast (58 days from now) and I've been loosing sleep trying to make sure nothing has been left unplanned.

As for the script; it currently stands at about 98% complete (I'm sure it's been at 99% in the past, but come back down due to rewrites). I've been struggling with the right way to wrap up the film's very last paragraph. So much so actually that I'll be putting the script down for the time being and re-focusing my efforts on the rough cut of the film (with intercut storyboards and all). My hope is that I'll be able to get more work done on the script when not staring at the same two pages day-in day-out.

The wonderful Karen Abad and I will be going over - via Skype - what I have storyboarded so-far as well as what still needs to be added to our May shot list. I'm nervous because time-wise, as well as budget-wise; we have 10 days to get every last shot needed involving Larry. There's some other work that requires an old 8mm camera and two college-aged girls during the 40s... but that's a different shoot for a different time.

Also, one quick Kickstarter update before I sign off - I just received the first KSR-edition of our 64 Days Production Journals in the mail and everything looks great! So for those of you who have been waiting very patiently for those, I'll be getting them out very shortly.

I apologize for the post feeling so short and scattered - but that's very much how I'm feeling currently - perhaps I should force myself to bed before 3 am tonight. I think I'll do that...

Labels: 64 Days, Crew, p52, Post-Production, t.minus, Writing

I've spent the entire week writing and re-writing and scribbling notes on script print-outs and combing paragraphs with highlighters. Which has meant two things; first, I've made a lot of progress with the film's narration and structure and story... and second, that I've fallen behind on everything else in my life.

I have a pile of dozens of emails that I need to reply to, I have phone calls to make that I kept postponing, I have t-shirt orders to package up and drop off at the post office, I have a mix CD to finish up for all our Kickstarter supporters... Storyboards to edit into the timeline, voice-over to place and, of course, dishes are piling up in the kitchen.

I plan to force myself to step away from the script over the weekend and do some serious catching up - but I do feel really good about the last week. Not to say I haven't been struggling with certain parts of writing... I have, as far as I can tell now, two areas of the script, totaling no more than a page, that need to be written or finished. Those areas are; one, the very last line of the film, and two, the bridge in story after Larry McKurtis has returned home but before he had seriously committed to his upcoming 16,000 mile adventure.

Amanda and I had a Skype call with Larry on Thursday and talked about the fast-approaching trip to Northern California to film additional scenes of the film. I'm really excited about running around the Sierra Buttes and seeing Larry and Jay again - it's been too long.

Labels: FToM, Kickstarter, p52, Post-Production, Writing

The last week of work for Pedal has been a big multi-tasking challenge. It always seems like the holidays come with a traffic-jam of task and catching-up. I've been keeping myself overworked with re-writing / storyboarding / scanning those storyboards and editing them into the FToM timeline.

I've been recording new temporary voice-over tracks for pacing. Finishing our 64 Days production journal. Packaging up all the t-shirts, stickers, and (now) little owls that people have been buying from our new store. I feel like I've had great momentum this month and I hope I can find creative ways of keeping that momentum in the next four months!

Which brings me to a question I wanted to ask: Do any of you reading have ideas about how we can be more open in what Amanda and I are working on from now until May (when we film in Northern California)? Are you interested in seeing a list of weekly task? Are you interested in simply seeing more Production Vlog Updates?

I suppose my thinking is, the next few months are going to require a tremendous amount of focus and energy... and I'm a believer in the idea that people's interaction and involvement, even oversight, is extremely motivating and sparks creativity.


Moving on. I wish I could go into details right now - but it's not time for a full announcement just yet, but I'm far too excited to keep it all to myself: Amanda and I are very close to working with two very talented people who's work we think is amazing. One will be (hopefully) involved with areas of filming, and the other will be (hopefully) involved with areas of design and illustration. More on that as soon as possible - we don't like to keep secrets from everyone.

One more small note before I go - we've been migrating all our hosting and registration to Dreamhost, and over the weekend I accidentally deleted the .css file for our main site. So I ended up re-writing it from scratch. Then I stayed up until 2:30 in the morning re-writing 64 Days from scratch. Let us know if you spot any weirdness of certain browsers. Thank you.

Labels: FToM, p52, Post-Production, Store, Twitter, Writing

I've spent most of the last week going over and over the same three pages of script. I'm not at the stage yet where I feel mostly frustrated, I just have yet to find how they fit together and overlap.

The three pages all deal with the moment Larry arrives at the Atlantic Ocean, in Bar Harbor, and for the first time in 4,200 miles, has reached the end of the road.

The first of the three pages was written well over a year ago, and the 2nd two are variations on the same moment from different approaches. One version focuses more on the "chain of events" perspective; that Larry's own experience will go on to influence other people's experiences, and how that relationship feeds itself at a level that often goes unnoticed.

Another page deals with the rush of emotions that come at the very end of any long adventure... all the memories associated with your trip, all the struggles and little memories seem to snap together at once and it's an overwhelming rush that comes and goes all too fast.

Some of the script tries to touch on how these memories are all filed away in your brain, how the human body works in an environment that's always changing and always challenging. There's also a layer of the anti-climatic, when you come to end of something grand and ambitious and no one around you seems to have any idea or any or interest.

I guess I just thought that writing about this might help me find what I'm looking for, and also it's been 9 days since my last post and I wanted to let people know what I've been working on piecing together. All this talk of Bar Harbor and arriving at the Atlantic has reminded me of this video Amanda and I recorded, knowing that we had finally made it to the end of production:

Bar Harbor (Aug '07) from mike ambs on Vimeo.

Also, before I sign off, I wanted to say thanks to everyone for all the feedback on the Digg*athon question. I've been working on putting that together as soon as possible. Stay posted.

Labels: bar harbor, Digg, Post-Production, Writing

There are days, weeks even, where this project can feel stuck in the mud. That no matter how hard I try; I just spin in place - and it goes without much saying that it's a difficult feeling to put up with. Whether it's accurate or not.

And I'm not writing this post to whine or sulk - I'm writing to say that I feel quite the opposite right now. A month ago I was still running over and over the same 4 pages of script and barely making any real progress... I was also starting to worry that I wasn't able to reach out to enough new people for our current Kickstarter campaign.

I felt like I was dragging my feet on both fronts. I know a lot of people find themselves in these situations, that no matter what it is you're working on or busy with, that there are times when you just want to crawl under a rock and sleep.

And, I admit, that I did that for several days... not literally, but I would sit at my typewriter and blank out... I would walk around in circles with the script in hand, reading the same 4 pages out-loud on repeat. I would see that we had a slow day on Kickstarter and instead of pushing harder to get the word out, I wouldn't mention it anywhere.

But last week, something finally shifted and I began to make leaps and bounds with the script. Long lost pages and narration began to fit together and tell a story that felt smooth and progressive. Which, I believe, lead to the burst of confidence and momentum I needed to re-record and re-edit a new intro' video for our Kickstarter campaign.

The morning I uploaded our new intro', we currently had raised 20% of our goal - a handful of RTs, a few dozen diggs, and a wave of status updates later - and by the time I had gone to bed we jumped forward to an amazing 60%!

Which means a few things: a) we might actually be able to pull this funding campaign off after all (which means lots of exciting progress just ahead)! b) that in the next 52 days, I should be able to piece together large and completed sections of the film (writing, editing, voice-over, etc). c) that we are reaching all kinds of new people out there... and that we are very anxious to make a lasting connection with them. d) I felt like I a fourth point... but it is past my bedtime and I'm feeling groggy. So, I don't think it's coming back to me.

Now I'm sitting here on the floor, listening to The Wind, and blanking out in the direction of my typewriter - and I just want to finish this post by saying: Everyone gets into a slump. Everyone. But in my personal opinion, it's important to let it to depress you... to let it eat away at you and your confidence... to let your lack of action get under your skin and leave you feeling anxious.

Because when all that gives way and eventually comes out in full force - you can use it in your favor. You can come out swinging harder... as if you'd been up against the ropes with the timer running out. It might not be the most efficient way of working, but it does feel damn good sometimes.

Labels: Inspiration, Kickstarter, Post-Production, Writing

Up past my bed-time getting some writing done - wanted to check in to update people on how writing has been going, and also to say thank you for all the amazing support we've been seeing through Kickstarter.

Labels: Kickstarter, Post-Production, Vlog, Weekly Update, Writing