the last entry

I'm now burning the DVDs that I will ship out tomorrow morning and the movie will enter it's final phase of soundwork and polishing. But as far as I'm concerned it's pretty much done. It's definitely past the phase where I work on it full time. there are still a few exteriors I would love to grab that would smooth out the pacing here and there, but if I can't get them, the movie could still play.

Now I just need a little perspective. I need to clear my brain of this one and start working on some new stuff. I also have to get the Sex Machine t-shirts in production and get the promo stuff going.

So, with that in mind, I think we can call this SEX MACHINE work blog a done deal. I hope it's been interesting for everybody to follow the process of this project. Now I hope you can all see it very soon.

Meanwhile, if you want to keep up with what I'm doing... visit christophersharpe.com.

Thanks for reading!

From THE CONVERSATIONS

Murch: As I've gone through life, I've found that your chances for happiness are increased if you wind up doing something that is a reflection of what you loved most when you were somewhere between nine and eleven years old.

Ondaatje: Yes -- something that had and still has the feeling of a hobby, a curiosity.

Murch: At that age, you know enough of the world to have opinions about things, but you're not old enough yet to be overly influenced by the crowd or by what other people are doing or what you think you "should" be doing. If what you do later on ties into that reservoir in some way, then you are nurturing some essential part of yourself.

last days

The last few days have been non-stop cycle of editing, burning DVDs, watching it on the big screen, making notes back for more editing. It's pretty exhilerating actually. I am in the very final stages before I lock picture and send it off for sound. Then it will basically be out of my hands for a few weeks.

I'm trying to remember (Bresson?) who talked about a film being born three times: once while it's being written, once while it's being shot and once while it's being edited. That has been amazingly true for this movie and I would even go so far as to add a fourth birth: the sound re-recording and mixing.

There are a few more weeks to go overall, but I am definitely feeling a mixture of bittesweet emotions. I am so glad this thing is almost freaking finished. On the other hand I don't really want to let it go. Sometimes when I watch the movie all I can see is missed opportunities, things we couldn't pull off due to not having any money, technical errors etc. But the next time I watch it, I completely love it and I'm totally amazed at how good it looks, how much I love the characters and how amazing and transforming the process of making this movie was.

Be on the lookout for more sappy introspective postings in the days to come.

masami and cub

sound

In OKC working on sound at Rockhouse Studios. Taking a break for the weekend then we are back at it on Monday. The cut is under two hours now, and my goal is to have it between 90 - 105 minutes by Monday morning. Everybody who has been in for ADR so far has been absolutely outstanding, but the gold star has to go to Joseph for the grunts, groans and man-child squeals.

another scene bites the dust

I really liked this little scene between Claire and Owen outside of a motel. We grabbed it at dusk the last day we had access to Sheridan's van. It looked really good thanks to Shogo and it was a nice character beat. Alas, i just cut it from the movie.

At the same time, it's another smoking scene, which I am glad to get rid of. I wasn't really aware of how much smoking is in this movie, so I have tried to cut it down during the editing process. Not that I have anything against it, but I don't want it to look like I'm on the payroll for Phillip Morris.

Even with this scene cut, running time is at 2:18. Yes, this is longer than a few days ago. Yes, I am screwed.

blood thirsty alley cat visits the set

Here's a little clip of an alley cat who was lured out of hiding by the scent of sweet smelling fake blood. It turns out this cute little kitten while starving for fake blood was more interested in a little affection from Erika. Click on the movie to see John trying to tempt her into licking his blood stained fingers.



John ended up adopting the cat and naming her Blue (since we were in the alley behind Blue 7. She also makes a cameo in the movie.