Thursday Thirteen - 214 - 13 Things About Moving Onto the High Resolution Editing System During Post Production

1 - Met up with Doug Woods for our third editing session at 902 POST, his post production facility here in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

2 - The editing system shown above displays the offline edit stage - this part took us two sessions to complete.

3 - In the offline stage, the creative decisions are made by the editor and director using the original footage as shot by the director of photography.

4 - The director verifies which shots will be used, and the editor lays them out so that the sequence of shots tells the story.

5 - At this point, the final decisions in digital file form are loaded onto the high resolution editing system. For this project, Doug is using the Avid editing system. I can vouch for its gee-whiz, jaw-dropping, cutting-edge hallmarks.

6 - For the initial session with the high res system, Doug completed the first of two sequences in online edit form.

7 - At this point, all the technical elements are in place at full resolution. He can now add backgrounds and effects to the footage shot against greenscreen.

8 - Using the chroma key process, Doug places the photographic stills which I chose to stand in for exterior locations, and adjusts the moving footage to match the implied exterior. This stage is called compositing.

9 - During this process, Doug creates a negative image where the background is black and the moving figure is white. If you've seen Sin City, you'll know what these images look like. He then adjusts any greenscreen spill which shows up as gray sections on the black or white figures. After these adjustments, the positive footage then reads true against the supposed exterior.

10 - He can also draw a section around the middle ground of the two-dimensional background photo, and using his effects toolbox, blur the section selected. This contrasts nicely with the foreground figures, who are in focus. It gives the impression of greater depth of field to the background, which adds to a feeling of authenticity for this effect.

11 - He added a glowing effect to surround a near-death vision of the main character's beloved, as well as slowing her movements to suggest that she is a vision and not moving in real time.

12 - He morphed one character into another by first matching the two characters' body positions in the frame, then matching up eyes to eyes, nose to nose. Freakin' cool.

13 - Finally, he color corrected the shots to match the lighting of the supposed source of the exteriors. For example, as the sun sets, he bathes the main character in a warm glow. But when twilight comes, he leeches out the warmth to create the cool tones of moonlight.

Stay tuned to A Piece of My Mind for more updates as the book trailer nears completion.

Thursday Thirteen - 211 - 13 Sneak Peeks at the Making of My Book Trailer

I shot the trailer for my upcoming vampire novel a few weekends ago. Here's a behind-the-scenes view of an incredible day.

All photos courtesy of Caroline Ruyle















1 - Scott Baker as Peredur















2 - Stevie Cooper as Tanwen















3 - Bernie Matthew as Melnak















4 - Brennan Handy as the Saint















5 - Brad Smith as the Vampire Lord











6 - My dream-come-true producer, Tara MacDonald stands beside me at far right.

My husband Brad gets ready to press the amulet against Scott, at left.











7 - I give direction to Scott regarding the amulet ordeal.











8 - I go over the battlefield scene with Bernie and Scott.











9 - Stevie and Brad rehearse a more complicated blocking for their shot.











10 - Tara applies really great-looking blood for the vampire-bite shot.











11 - Director-slash-art department-slash-wardrobe fusses with Peredur's cloak.











12 - My DOP - or Director of Photography - Luke Hudgins, left, sets up the next shot, while Tara and I get Scott ready for his next scene.












13 - The beautiful bouquet of flowers which Tara presented to me on set as we wrapped the shoot.

In her words: "For coming out of the director's closet after sixteen years."

I would like to take this moment to thank everyone who worked so hard on the shoot. It was a joy to work alongside people who gave their very best.

An absolute joy.

Stay tuned for more updates - I just met up with the editor last night and we've already got an assembly edit of the trailer.

It's freakin' amazing.