Tuesday, November 23, 2004
Production Set-back.
We suffered a setback last Sunday at a very crucial moment in the final post-production process. When we were about to output the film from the computer to master the DVDs one of the hard drives containing nearly 120 Gigs of video footage had a catastrophic failure.
Since then we have been going through a complicated process of recovering the footage. We've also encountered additional, unrelated system problems hampering this effort. Fortunately our team includes top-notch computer experts.
If the media on this drive cannot be restored we will then begin the painstaking process of reloading the video footage from the original tapes (which number over 100.)
I'm sure this is very frustrating for those who have been waiting so long to view this film. For me, personally, it feels like a twisting dagger in a very long and arduous process.
At this point we do not know how long this will set us back. Best estimate right now is 1-3 weeks.
I will make an effort to update this blog frequently to chart our progress.
Since then we have been going through a complicated process of recovering the footage. We've also encountered additional, unrelated system problems hampering this effort. Fortunately our team includes top-notch computer experts.
If the media on this drive cannot be restored we will then begin the painstaking process of reloading the video footage from the original tapes (which number over 100.)
I'm sure this is very frustrating for those who have been waiting so long to view this film. For me, personally, it feels like a twisting dagger in a very long and arduous process.
At this point we do not know how long this will set us back. Best estimate right now is 1-3 weeks.
I will make an effort to update this blog frequently to chart our progress.
Wednesday, November 03, 2004
It's 1:32 a.m. PST, November 3rd. The Presidential election is still too close to call. My editor, Jason, and I have been working all evening on the final edit of the film. We've been delayed once again because Jason's primary film project is also being completed and has been screening extensively on the west coast for the past couple weeks.
We'll be wrapping for the evening shortly and will still need another day of editing. We'll also need several sessions to put together the packaging and DVD mastering.
To continue filling in the gaps of my infrequent blogging, I'll talk a bit about attending the annual National Alliance of Families meeting in Washington, DC in June.
I was invited to the three-day event to screen a work-in-progress of the film. The screening was the last event of weekend, which coincided, with the Dept. of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) annual meeting of Vietnam POW/MIA family members.
I videotaped the speeches and was especially happy for the opportunity to finally get former DPMO analyst Insung Lee on tape.
On Saturday, the film was shown on video projector allowing for a large screen viewing. This was the first audience to screen the film that was well versed on the POW/MIA issue. I knew this was an important test for the film. I was ready to listen to criticism of the film's shortcomings.
I was happy with the audience reaction during the screening but never expected the long, standing ovation when the film ended. During the Q&A Rich Sanders and Bill Kessling of Vietnow presented me with a $1000 donation. This was the most rewarding experience of this project.
We'll be wrapping for the evening shortly and will still need another day of editing. We'll also need several sessions to put together the packaging and DVD mastering.
To continue filling in the gaps of my infrequent blogging, I'll talk a bit about attending the annual National Alliance of Families meeting in Washington, DC in June.
I was invited to the three-day event to screen a work-in-progress of the film. The screening was the last event of weekend, which coincided, with the Dept. of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) annual meeting of Vietnam POW/MIA family members.
I videotaped the speeches and was especially happy for the opportunity to finally get former DPMO analyst Insung Lee on tape.
On Saturday, the film was shown on video projector allowing for a large screen viewing. This was the first audience to screen the film that was well versed on the POW/MIA issue. I knew this was an important test for the film. I was ready to listen to criticism of the film's shortcomings.
I was happy with the audience reaction during the screening but never expected the long, standing ovation when the film ended. During the Q&A Rich Sanders and Bill Kessling of Vietnow presented me with a $1000 donation. This was the most rewarding experience of this project.
