The Pearl of Greatest Price

Well, another month has snuck by! But, not without me doing a few things:

As you might remember, I announced the end to the visual fixes (barring anything major I might have missed), and have moved on to sound. And, just like all other phases, I have ridden an emotional roller coaster in this phase - going from “This is all terrible! I can’t do anything with it!” …to “Hey, this is going to work!” I’ve had a lot more of the latter, too; if you aren’t on the movie’s Facebook page, you need to be, for more frequent updates. One you might have missed: A very kind soul donated some amazing software to the project - some that is ending up to be very worth it’s price tag in helping clean up the dialog (it’s called “SoundSoap” - isn’t that awesome?!)

Using this software, I am able to take a lot of the audible junk and remove it, leaving the dialog. Now, it’s not perfect, and the sound files are so bad, it can only do so much… but it’s a whole heck of a lot better than hearing a constant background hiss, that’s for sure!

Also, I’m getting the actors to come in and re-record some of the dialog, too - some where things just can’t be fixed any other way. And, I’m happy to report, these sessions are going very good, too. So, I have a lot to be thankful for!

Now, looking to the future: I’m going to need some music, and it’s hopefully coming up fast that I need it - so you can pray about that, as well as helping this audio clean-up go very smooth. One other thing - you can start praying about the release of the movie… it’s going to be another challenge, but with people like y’all, I’m sure it’s going to be overcome - just like everything else that has come our way! Thanks!!!

So, that’s it! Y’all keep praying, and it’ll be the final end to the project, I promise.

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Hello everyone! Another month has come and gone.

Briefly, July has seen the end to fixing the visual problems. It has also seen the beginning of work on the audio. That is a major shift! Let me tell you what the future holds for the movie.

In reviewing the movie, I saw one visual issue that I had missed before. I don’t know how I missed it, it’s really obvious (the microphone is reflecting in a window). So, yes - I have one more visual fix to do that just slipped in between the frames… but I’m hoping it will be an easy fix. It seems like it will be. But I won’t fix that until I finish with the sound.

In starting the sound, I am finding that I do not have the skill to “just fix it.” I have been working on it for a number of days, and all I am finding I am accomplishing is discovering I can’t do it this way or that; which is surprising, because I have done things this way or that for a long time. You see, when we were filming, I inadvertently misled myself with the audio. I had headphones on, and was listening to everything that was filmed. I could often hear things like air conditioners running, and traffic outside the building on the road, and just assumed that it meant I had a soundtrack I could work with. But when I got it into my office, I quickly discovered it wasn’t loud enough AT ALL. When I boosted the volume, I also introduced a lot of background hiss. Now I find myself struggling with how to remove that hiss. It really is a crushing problem, because my skill with my tools is not reaping any good sound.

After the sound is done, either by a miracle of process that it can be saved, or by re-recording and re-synching it (which is asking for another problem), then I have to turn to focus on music. Sadly, I have lost the extra help in making the music - so I am now looking at using pre-recorded music instead of our own. What that means is, you have to fit something already existing into the time, rhythm, and emotion of the scene. Very difficult.

Once the sound is done, I’ll return to the visual - I’ll fix the one last issue, then I’ll do what is called color correction or color grading, making everything visual match as close as I can.

Ladies and gentlemen - if all is good at the end, I think we’ll have an amazing movie. It may not draw the box office, but it should be entertaining - and that’s what we wanted in the first place!

So this month’s update ends positively. You can see that there is a huge amount of work yet to be done, and because I can only do so much by myself, I’m still not ready to give a release date. But please, keep praying, and keep asking. Your continued interest in this marathon project really does encourage me.

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Hey everyone!

If this update sounds like I’m peeved, I’m not, really. I’m just sick of telling y’all that it’s not finished yet.It’s always getting closer, but the time… oh, the time…. Ladies and gentlemen, it should not take this long. I’m ready to just stop right now. I tell myself it’s worth it, but it is very hard.

Currently, I have worked through a large chunk of the fixes. I believe that in the next couple of days, I will review the rest of the fixes and decide which ones I should fix, and which ones I should let go. I need to have this finished, but I do not want to let go of it until I am pleased to offer it to the one I made it for. So, who knows when it will be done. I pray to God, soon.

When I look back on the whole process, I’ve learned so many lessons that it’s been worth it. This is God’s movie - that I know. But as far as working on this movie, it has not quenched my desire to continue; as a matter of fact, I am very excited about making another one, after all the lessons I have learned on this one! Please, all of you… pray I stay on focus, and finish fast. We all need this to be done, for the movie’s sake!

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Hey all…

It’s been a crazy month - I haven’t really been able to sit down and work on this steadily, except for about the last couple of weeks. I’ve worked on it, yes - but not consistently. But let me tell you where we’re at:

As of today, we have fixed about 70 of the almost 200 shots where something is wrong. Some have been easy, some have been very intricate. Hopefully, you’ll never see all the hard work being put in to them! There are three others that have the abilities to help with the movie at this point, and some of the credit goes to them; not much, though - it seems that life is complicated for everyone involved, and they cannot find much time at all to dedicate to the fixes. I pray for them, for their schedule, but in the end, I suppose they must put bread on the table - and this gig ain’t paying them anything. I hope that changes, for the sake of the movie and finish date - but as it stands, I’m facing the majority of it alone… in my spare time… on a rinky-dink computer… Wow, it’s amazing I get anything done!

Well, among other things - the sound and the music both seem to be in the same boat. The people working on them are quite talented and capable, but they can’t seem to find the time to focus on the movie (do you see a trend in this update?). Please pray for these guys - I want their help, but I want it to be enjoyable - and not feel like they’re under pressure.

All in all, I can very confidently say the movie is shaping up. Actually, it’s already shaped - we’re just cleaning up and polishing (but if you follow that metaphor, there’s a LOT of chrome and brass to polish!). I also have someone who wants to work on promotion - but again, the time factor is really wearing everyone down - or so it feels like it.

So, be encouraged… the movie is much closer now to being finished than even at the beginning of the month! But there’s still so much to do, if I do it by myself it will still be a long time to finish, if it’s going to be quality. Please pray for everyone involved, that God would give them time to work on the movie.

I want to also remind you that, if you’re on facebook, become a fan of the Pearl:
www.facebook.com/pages/The-Pearl-of-Greatest-Price/87035591913
You’ll get weekly updates of the progress. Those that twitter:
twitter.com/PearlProject
Following the project on twitter will get you daily, if not hourly, updates (things like, “Just got rid of an annoying flying insect”). Some find it interesting, so it’s there if you want it!

Until next time…

His,

Jamey Halfast
Director, The Pearl of Greatest Price
An Independent Film Project for the Concho Valley Christian Community

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Hey all:

I thought I’d let all of you who aren’t on Facebook or Twitter know that so far, April has not been extremely good for the movie.

First off, after Easter, the computer started acting up - randomly freezing and/or rebooting. I first thought it was related to rendering, since I was really working the machine over. But after that, the problem continued… and got worse. I swapped out everything I could, trying to find the bad component, but that only led me to the worst conclusion: the mainboard (what everything else plugs in to). There is no swap for that, only replacement - and I do not have that kind of money.

The balance point to this is that I recruited a crew to help me with the fixes on the movie, and another group to help with the music, and another to help with sound, and still another to help promote the movie! so even though my computer is down, work can continue.

The bad side of that is, I lost one of my music people (which is good for him, I wish him all the best!), and it looks like the computer graphics guys have become very busy, and are not able to turn things out much.

Losing my computer didn’t mean losing my work, it just meant that I couldn’t continue. It has really absorbed all my time trying to fix it, which has caused me to have to postpone some serious work with re-recording dialog.

The good news? Well, it’s not much. I have a small computer I bought for on-set work, like for capturing the video, that I have tried to re-tool for working on the movie. It has been a struggle, to say the least - and it’s too early to be completely confident - but early trials have shown that it can do some bare minimum work.

All in all, ladies and gents, I hate to say it, but the movie will be delayed once again. I really can’t say by how much, either. This is the conclusion that really, really bothers me. I’m not so much messed up, but really disappointed. I really felt things were beginning to progress downhill. Sure, there were some big hurdles, but I knew they could be overcome. They’ll still be overcome, but sadly, it’ll probably take a bit longer.

What can you do, you ask? Pray. Pray for patience, pray for open schedules and dedicated hearts, pray for a new computer. Pray for this crazy thing to come to an end! For those who want to keep up with it more closely (like, what you could pray for, all the way down to the moment!), you should become a fan of the movie on Facebook - or on twitter.

It’s coming, I promise!

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Hey All:

Lots has been going on with the movie over this month - the biggest step is, the “final” rough-cut of the movie was completed. What this milestone means is that, the movie has been put together. The story is there, it makes sense, and it’s actually not that bad, all things considered. But here’s the road ahead:

I have a list of almost 200 problems with the movie. Lots of them are things like the microphone on the boom being held above the actors dips temporarily into the picture. Another large group of them are continuity problems - like an actor is leaning on their elbow, but the next time we seem them, they have their arms crossed. The last group are problems with the camera - either a wobbly picture, because the dolly wasn’t smooth, or a lens flare, or a smudge on the lens.

The sound is also bad right now. There’s lots of issues that must be dealt with, like microphone “thumps” - when the boom is bumped, it gives off a low thud sound. There are also volume problems, like when the microphone is too far away from the actors. Then you have the ambient sounds, like trucks driving by outside, or a hum of the air conditioner. Still other issues involve technical glitches stretching back to the first day of the shoot. A lot of these problems can be dealt with, but some are just too bad, and we face the problem of re-recording the dialog. That’s going to be a mess.

The Foley sounds are also needed to be gathered - things like doorbells, glass breaking, footsteps, etc. I have a few notes on this, but I will have to pay closer attention in the coming days.

And lastly, we need music. I am working with a couple of people on this, but we have to write and record the soundtrack over the next month or so.

And there is one more, small problem with the movie: It’s too long! Can you believe that? I was shooting for 90 minutes, and the thing clocks in right at an hour and 40 minutes! In my estimation, that’s way over what a movie like this should be. That means, I have to cut it. I have to trim things out. And that, friends, is very difficult, because I have to decide what really carries the story, and what’s not needed. The only glimpse of happiness here is the hope that what gets cut just happens to correspond with the worst in quality!!!

But, can you believe the movie is put together? Did you ever think it could get that far? It’s taken way too long, but yes, there is a light out there in the distance. It’s time to start moving towards it.  I’m not going to say a date of completion, but… May-ish?

Please pray for all involved, as we pull this project along towards that light.

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Hey all!

A lot has happened on the movie since this time last month. If you haven’t been keeping up with things on a more regular basis (www.facebook.com/pages/The-Pearl-of-Greatest-Price/87035591913 AND Twitter: @pearlproject), let me tell you - We are now working on the final edit!

Yes, I said the FINAL edit. What does that mean?

Well, basically, it means that we now have a movie put together, and all the work is now going into making it presentable and enjoyable; in other words, removing as much of the stuff showing our shortfall of time, professional talent, and resources as possible. And, as you can expect, there’s a lot.

But what continually builds encouragement in me is to see the movie shaping up and, taking those shortcomings into account, it looks exceptional. Everyone who participated in the project and knows the limitations we worked with will be proud: And my goal is to step that up and blow you away. I will knit together a new trailer, once I have a sufficient amount of music to do it with.

Let me make sure you understand this element though: Just because it’s the final edit, doesn’t mean it’ll premiere in a couple of weeks! There’s an awful lot of things besides the edit to work on, like music, promotion, and distribution… So I’m shooting for a finished product sometime in April.

Please, pray for me. This project has taken it’s toll on me and my family. I’m not going to tell you details, because I don’t want to portray myself as a victim of circumstance, looking for sympathy. Suffice it to say, we’ll all be glad for a break after this is over.

…but then, we’ll start talking about the next movie!

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Hello, Pearl fans!

Here it is, on the downward slide of January - and here I am, still working on the Pearl of Greatest Price. I never thought it would take this long.

I guess that’s really the update this month, that’s it’s taking so long. For the most part, I’ve been cleaning up the sound track - which is a tedious process, but one that is worth it. I thought I’d have to go in and re-record a lot of the dialog between the actors, but it’s turning out that I can salvage quite a bit more than I had originally thought I could.

Where does that put the end date? That’s the bad news. Two things continue to make this drag out. One is, I’m actually still correcting mistakes that were made in the filming process. If it weren’t for… this or that… Oh, never mind. I can always find something to blame it on, but that’s the past. I’m just thankful there’s more there to use than I had thought originally.

The second thing is, I’m all by myself in this editing process. Oh, believe me - I’ve tried my best to find help in the process… but that remains a very strong but elusive hope. Strange, it is - that I try to pick a software package that is more “standard” than my favorite video editing program, so I would have a better chance of finding help - and then discover that it’s not so “standard”, at least in San Angelo. I have offers of help, but for each, there are barriers that stand in the way.

So - here’s the prayer for this month: Find a way, a process, a tool, that will allow more people to become part of the post-production process. Oh, and encouragement… It is so hard to maintain focus on this project, when life crowds around. For the sake of all who have been involved in the Pearl, and also more importantly, my family who need my time and attention, I need to be through with this.

Thanks for your determination to stick through this - I pray some of that will rub off on me.

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Well, here it is - another month has gone by. What news of the movie?

Well, for starters… the rough cut is finished - again. If you remember back a few months, you’ll recall that due to a cascading string of errors, the work done on the previous rough cut was erased, forcing me to start again on it. With every other part of my life pushing forward, the time I have had to spend on it had been very little. But, praise God, the rough cut, minus a couple of scenes (I have to digitize a little more footage) was finally completed last week.

What that means is that now, I am focusing on the scenes, one by one, and making sure I can remove as many problems as possible, making it a distraction-free movie. I, uh… well… there’s a lot of those, according to my viewpoint. But, there’s more about that at the end of this update.

Coming up in January, I’ll be capturing the actors’ voices on their characters where the sound on set wasn’t very good. Also in January, the music will hopefully begin to take shape. The release date continues to be pushed back further and further. That’s mainly because of 2 things: I’m the only one working on the movie, and I am learning as I go… So that adds up to a lot of guessing and wishing when it comes to a release date. And those reasons also drive the next few comments:

Some might take this the wrong way. Please understand, if you’re hurt by any of this, I have already beat myself up and down about how much time, energy, dedication, and money that was given to this project, and you can’t even imagine what affect the process of putting this thing together has had on me. But after months and months of working, I believe I am finally coming out of my denial about The Pearl.

When I started this project, I had this amazing vision in my head about how this movie would look like in the end. But, after cutting the film together, I have had to come to terms with reality: This whole movie project has been an experiment in making a movie with volunteers learning on the job, using borrowed equipment and very little money, filmed under tremendous time pressure - yet still stretched out over months and months of production. I do believe this experiment has been a success, and everyone who accepts the same reality will be very proud of their accomplishment, and of the final product.

But for me, coming to grips with that means that I must also take responsibility for leading people along - right along with myself - in having grander visions of what would be. There’s too many strikes against this production to reach the level I believed early on that we couldn’t help but reach. I have been operating under the idea that, if I treat this like what I think a big-budget movie should be, then even our meager abilities should be enhanced, and it will be tons better quality.

Not so.

As a matter of fact, treating it as such probably has had more of a negative impact on the footage than positive, and is causing the vast majority of headaches in the post-production phase. For instance; we should never have filmed parts of the same scene at different times. It’s true, we couldn’t avoid it, while we worked around everyone’s schedules. But still, we shouldn’t have. trying to assemble it all together and make it look great is, well, almost impossible.

So, are you still supporting this movie? Here’s the prayer: May God make me a liar, and a fool, for doubting what He can do. In a sense, we’ve done exactly what we set out to do - something so big and so audacious that only He can receive the glory from it. That’s my hope. So… just pray for the best, expect the worst, and be surprised when God does what He will with it.

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Hey all -

It feels like my monthly updates are becoming rather predictable, but here goes again:

The rough cut continues to take shape… about 20 more scenes, or about 15 more sequences. I hope to be able to spend quite a bit of time over the next couple of days, and hopefully finish it before Sunday.

What happens then? Well, then the work starts on refining it, polishing it, and generally cleaning it up for a public appearance… what should have been going on for the past month or so. And, the clock is ticking - According to my calculations this big, powerful computer I’m using to edit on is due back to Computer Bytes (a local computer store here in San Angelo) on the 20th of December. That means, a lot of the work that needs the horsepower of a big PC will need to be squished into about 80 hours.. and that’s not very much. What does this mean? Just another mountain to climb, nothing more. The edit will go as God planned. And the movie will be released early next year - about 8 months after the very first plans were laid down.

What else can I tell you? The production staff had a final meeting to discuss what went right, what went wrong, and what needs to change… for the next movie. Yes, folks, there is a next movie! But don’t hold your breath for any more news, ’cause there isn’t any. I have no sript, no schedule… not even an idea for a story at this point. But, surveying the staff, there’s no loss of desire to put ourselves through all of this again - though it will probably be on the magnitude of years, not months. We’ve learned a lot of lessons, and we intend to do things… more right next time.

But as far as the pearl goes…

While the editing process is still in process, you can begin to pray for the release - to the public, to festivals, to… whatever ways we can get it released. That’s the pinnacle of our climb, the climax of our story. And we can now actually see a hint of it on the horizon!

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