Project Updates 2025 March 30

I made progress on “The Urgent Phone Call, and “Speed Date” over the last few weeks. I was also involved with the CSIF Older Filmmaker’s Club.

“The Urgent Phone Call”

I have been submitting the film to some film festivals through https://filmfreeway.com/. This week I added a new synopsis and a trailer.

Synopsis: Jessie, a retired widow, is peacefully immersed in a beloved book on a quiet afternoon when she gets a phone call from "someone she loves dearly." The caller needs help with an urgent problem. Though she wants to do the right thing, Jessie remains cautious.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdNeC4KqCU0

I found writing the synopsis. The director, Sherri Dahl wrote one. That prompted me to write one based on hers. I wasn’t happy with what I wrote, so I asked ChatGPT to rewrite it. I wasn’t happy with what it came up with, but it did spur me to write an updated version that I felt better about. I did one more minor revision later.

The trailer had some challenges too. The copy of the film I have was in 4K, and the older video editor I use, Premiere Pro CS4, can’t handle that. I had to convert the file before I could do the trailer. I’ve been stalling about getting a newer video editor because I felt comfortable with the old one.

“Speed Date”

“Speed Date” is a short video I did a few years ago using Nawmal. The initial feedback I got on it was negative. I put it off to the side for a long time. I used text to speech voices for the dialogue and I felt that was why people didn’t like it.

Recently I redid the voices myself, using Voice.ai to modify my voice to give the characters distinct voices. The feedback I got was much more positive. I still wasn’t happy with the voices. My acting skills are not much better than the text to speech voices.

I asked Mona Dallmann, who acted in “My Most Difficult Case” to rerecord some of the dialogue. (https://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/filmlist/my-most-difficult-case)  I was happy with her performance. I haven’t completed incorporating her dialogue into the video yet.

When we discussed the video, she made a comment that surprised me. She pointed out the repeated use of the phase “from time to time.” One character uses it twice and another uses it once. All characters use the word “time” multiple times, and one character looks repeatedly at a wall clock.

I hadn’t noticed that myself. My initial thought was that the phrase “from time to time” is just a favorite expression of mine, so I tend to overuse it. However, I see the phase as suggestive of a kind of drifting through life attitude. That fits the story, which is about two people who have drifted through life.

I have noticed before that in much of the work I’ve done, other people see things that I didn’t consciously put in, but which makes sense or reflects my own attitudes.

The CSIF Older Filmmaker’s Club

I continue to be involved with this club. We had a couple of meetings. One was a session where people talked about project ideas. The other was the Saturday Afternoon Film Night, where we screened films that members made.

This post is a mirror from my main blog http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/blog

Update on “The Audience for AI Films” 2024 December 1

I have been working on “The Audience for AI Films” off and on since May 2023. I have now made it a higher priority and might even get it finished this time.

I created the video with NAWMAL. Although it does not claim to be an AI system, the voices are computer-generated. It did strike me as ironic that I was using it to comment on AI filmmaking.

I had a version that I shared with a couple of people early on. They were positive about it, but I had some doubts about it myself. First off, it felt too short, at less than two minutes. Then, I was having trouble choreographing the characters and camera. So I procrastinated about finishing it.

When I went back to it later I was not happy with the voices. I used computer-generated voices. NAWMAL allows you to record or import actor’s voices, but since the two main characters are robots, I went with the computer-generated voices. The problem was that the voices did not sound robotic enough for me. That stalled me again.

In this go-around, I first concentrated on adding and revising the dialogue. I felt much better with how that turned out. The run length is closer to four minutes now, which is about the length I wanted. I got the choreography of the characters done to my satisfaction.

The next step that I’m stalled on now is the camera placement and choreography. NAWMAL allows you to set up multiple cameras and switch between them in the program. It can be a little finicky at times, especially when the characters move around, which happens in this video. In my previous NAWMAL videos this was not a big problem. This video is a little more complicated and I felt it would take me a long time to get the nuances right. I was stalled again.

I have come up with a different approach. Although NAWMAL allows you to do an entire video with it, I have on occasion gone back and manipulated the video in a video editing program. Usually this is to combine short videos on different sets into a single video, or to speed up action.

What I am thinking is to “shoot” the video the same way I would do a one camera live shoot. This would allow me to set up shots more precisely. It would also allow me to cheat angles to get the images I want. Then I could pull it all together in the editing program.

I am still waffling on the voices though.

This post is a mirror from my main blog http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/blog

Incomplete Projects – September 2023

I am frustrated that I have so many incomplete projects hanging around. This is not a new problem. But, with my lack of energy these days, it seems worse. What I need to do is start setting priorities and whittle down my backlog.

“Ted Writes a Novel” Demonstration Video

I started this project in response to a suggestion to do a video demonstrating how I record the writing exercises I post. This has been my main project since early August. I wrote the short story, then recorded a video where I did the audio recording and edited it. Later, I recorded some additional voice overs to describe what I was doing. Now I am editing the video. I am almost done the first cut. My main worry now is that it seems boring to me.

“The Dread of the Daring Rocketeer”

This will be an animated video using NAWMAL based on a writing exercise I did in 2022. I collaborated with an actor to record the character voices. I got stuck when I couldn’t work out how to show a rocket. Eventually I was able to get a rocket image I thought would do using Unreal Engine. I did an initial version of the video in Nawmal. It needs a lot of work, but I haven’t looked at it since May. I think this one should be my priority after the “Ted Writes a Novel” Demonstration Video.

“Time Enough for the Anxious Social Media Manager”

This will be an animated video using NAWMAL based on a writing exercise I did in 2022. I collaborated with a couple of actors to record the character voices, but I haven’t even looked at creating the video yet.

“The Audience for AI Films”

This is a satirical/cynical take on AI films. I used NAWMAL to make a video about two minutes long. As it stands, I feel that it is too short, but I got stuck when I tried to write some additional material. I haven’t added in the camera angles I want yet. I did show the work in progress to a couple of people. I haven’t done anything on this project since last May.

“After You're Gone”

This is a fictional story based on conversations I had with my wife before she died. I’ve had encouraging feedback from people who’ve read it. Because it is so personal, I have struggled with whether I should continue to develop it. I translated it in the Chinese and sent it to my brother-in-law.

“Bright Freedom”

This is a project I’ve picked up and dropped multiple times since I first conceived the idea back about a dozen years ago. I alternate between feeling I owe it to the main character to finish her story, and frustration that I don’t know how to fix the problems with the story. I took another shot at it earlier this year and shared an outline with several people. That generated a new pile of problems I don’t know how to solve. I think I’ve abandoned it for good now.

“The Barrier”

I completed a version of “The Barrier” back in 2014 and posted it on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATcKnFAwlU0 I wasn’t happy with it and planned to revise it. I did start on a revised script in 2015, but I haven’t looked at it since then. I would be a large project and I find it intimidating.

Script Collaboration

I’ve been collaborating with an actor on a script off and on for over a decade. We do have a script now, but it needs work. With my current lack of energy, I find it hard to get back to work on it. I feel the obligation to see it finished, but it is hard to get motivated.

New Website Host

I wanted to switch my website to a Canadian based host. Back in April I decided to go for it, but there were snags in the transfer and we had to cancel. At the time there were a bunch of other issues I had to deal with, so I decided to leave it until later. So far, I’ve done nothing. My current hosting agreement comes up again in a few months, so I think I should get back at this.

New Software

I started to investigate how to use Blender, Unreal Engine or iClone for my animation. I have used Blender but think I can do more sophisticated animations with it than I’ve done so far. Both Blender and Unreal Engine are free, but I found it difficult to learn how to do the things I want to do. iClone looks like it may be easier for me to learn, but it is a paid product. It has a free test version, but it has a time limit on its use, so I didn’t want to try it until I had the time to try it out.

This post is a mirror from my main blog http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/blog