Back from Berlin

I’m back! Sorry I couldn’t blog from Berlin, nor clean up the comment spam until just now. Photos and stories to come after I sleep off my jetlag, but first some news in brief:

1. Sita got a Special Mention from the Generation 14plus Jury

2. Someone took a hot photo of me at the premiere

In addition, everyone loved the story of how you blog-readers helped the film, especially with the 35mm print. Congratulations to all of us!

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Where’s My Pie?

intermission1-00.jpg

I recently met a film producer who, after congratulating me on Sita’s admission to Berlin, patiently explained that I’m a “shiny little fish about to enter a shark tank.” I’ve long avoided thinking about the real business side of my feature film endeavor, but suddenly I’m paying attention.

Which calls to mind this audio clip. Sound Designer Greg Sextro recorded numerous improvised conversations for the ironic “Intermission” scene. Some of these are very clever; some take advantage of Indian accents; and one is even in Hindi. But I’m thinking of this one, where Will Franken channels a Hollywood executive discussing the film’s sales potential, or lack thereof. Enjoy.

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Credits Locked!

As of midnight, I locked and rendered the final credits for Sita Sings the Blues. Finally! At last! I set up my machine to render the final reel of the film overnight and went to bed, exhausted.

Lying there, drifting off, I remembered I’d forgotten one name. Just one name. Couldn’t it wait until tomorrow? No! Must take hard drive to lab tomorrow! No time to re-render whole reel! So I got up, hit “cancel”, re-did the credits, and again set my machine to render reel 4 overnight. Sweet sleep at last…

Until I remembered another important credit I’d overlooked. You’d think with all the preparations I’d made, I wouldn’t have to wait until entering fugue state to recall the damn credits correctly. It’s now 1:18 am, and I’m rendering the credits for the third time in as many hours. I suspect I’ve nonetheless left out some important things and people. So, an advance apology to anyone or anything whose name is missing: I’m very sorry. I’ll correct it before it’s released, if a distributor ever picks it up. Mea Culpa.

On the other hand, the list of names and things that are included is pretty staggering. I used to joke about how short the credits would be, since I wrote, directed, produced, designed, animated, and edited the whole thing myself. But that was before “Re-Recording Mixer,” “Dub Facility” and “Dolby Sound Consultant” were even a twinkle in Sound Designer Greg Sextro’s eye. Happily, the longest addition to the credits is the list of names of generous people who donated or loaned me money to make this 35mm print. There’s like 160 of you!

Now it’s 1:30 am, and reel 4 is once again beginning its overnight render. Estimated Time: About 9 Hours. Good night!

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