coming not soon enough

Ah, it's never an easy ride when you want to make use of new technology. And so, despite our best-laid plans, Conversion has hit its first hitch.

I worked for years in product development, which has given me an in-depth understanding of all the things that can go wrong in the process of introducing something to market. When you know what can go wrong, large stores with many products in them start to seem kind of miraculous.

So I have a bit of sympathy for the fact that Panasonic has delayed the launch of their new Lumix hybrid camera, which we had planned to use to shoot Conversion (see video blog below). These things happen. I also understand that, because things happen and are difficult to resolve, that they've had to delay the launch multiple times.

It's hard not to be frustrated, however, at the fact that the latest delay in launch makes the camera available roughly three weeks after Conversion is due to start filming, and even then, there's no guarantee that Panasonic will be able to meet their launch date.

So we've made the decision to set our sights on acquiring a new camera, the Nikon D-5000. Like the Lumix camera we'd originally settled on, this is actually a high-end still camera, with remarkable high definition video capabilities. The drawback in this case is that, unlike the Lumix, the Nikon does not have good sound recording, meaning that, after filming, the video part of the movie will need to be synched up with a completely separate audio track. While not unheard of, this is something that adds a considerable layer of complication to the post-production process.

The major advantage of the D-5000 over the Lumix is that it's actually available for purchase.

Here's a short marketing video showing what the camera can do in the hands of some young amateur photographers:

Meet the Converters

Here's a short video where the producers and stars of Conversion talk about the project, as well as some scenes from our first group read-through.

locations, location, locations

It's of limited use having a script you want to film if you don't have a place to film it. Sometimes, the glamourous life of a film-maker means that you get to spend your days doing this...

you have to start somewhere

In this case, we start with a tiny scene, some basic dialogue between the two central characters. The scene will actually take place with these two walking down the street, but this is the very first attempt at reading any part f the script out loud. It was recorded using a no-frills digital camera, the kind that's normally used to take still shots, but which can capture short bursts of grainy-quality video as well. The purpose of doing this was to see how the reading translated to film (you could argue that the sound going in is so muffled that it is a failure in that respect) and to record for posterity one of the earliest moments in Conversion history.

Yes, the lighting is almost non-existent and you need to turn up the volume really loud to hear anything (especially my lines, since one of the things I have to work on is projecting). So what's interesting about this? If nothing else, I think that the body language (limited because of the fact that we're both seated on a sofa, rather than walking outside) really captures the spirit of friendship that rests at the heart of the story.

the early buzz

Well, in this case it's very early, but we've had our first media mention, in Montreal's Voir. Check out what they had to say.

so what is this anyway?

Welcome to Conversion. This blog is here to track the development of a feature film in progress, from its origins (well, almost, the fact that there is something to write about in this space means that the project is at least in development).

To bring you up to speed on where we are in this saga, Conversion is a script I wrote- my first attempt at a script, after a long time writing short stories. I wrote it mainly as an exercise in a new form, wanting to share it with my movie-buff partner, who's also an experienced director.

Knowing nothing about the film industry, I didn't think I was doing anything except having a bit of fun, trying out a new writing style and telling a story that really didn't lend itself particularly well to a pure fiction format. That's where having an experienced partner comes in. In early January, having read the script and given me some advice on changes, he also pointed out that the script was concise enough and realistic enough that it could easily be filmed, even without going through the normally long and arduous official process associated with submitting a script to production companies and hoping for the best.

Moreover, having a director who knows the people involved and who knows the roots of the story- because every story does have roots, beyond what ever gets explained- brought the remarkable opportunity to be able to make our version of the film- the way that I saw it in my head when I wrote it, combined with the voices of the people who are closest to me.

For instance, rather than waiting for someone to cast an actor in the lead role, we have the liberty of asking the person for whom the role was written, an excellent stand-up comedian and actor, to join in.

It also means that, having little to no money to spend on the project, we're relying on the enthusiasm of those involved to move things along. What's been remarkable to this point, and the reason why the project exists in a form that can be written about, is that there has been no shortage of enthusiasm to go around.

So now you know as much as I know.

Conversion is scheduled to start shooting in August in Montreal. Casting and location scouting are ongoing and rehearsals are taking place. We have a group of dedicated people who are attempting to do something that normally takes a group three times their size and thousands of times our budget. It is a challenge.

So why is this here?

This is here because, having never worked on a film before and knowing less about the film industry than just about anyone involved with the project, I'd like to have some kind of living record of what happens over the course of our experiment. Let's see if this film has a happy ending.

And so it begins...