UPDATE - September 25, 2007
It has been sent to the big one, Sundance. Technically, it's the 7th festival I've entered, but really just number 6, as Middle East never got my film(see below). I was driving to work this morning and thinking, "If I got into Sundance, my career would pretty much be made. I would be in!" My career wouldn't be "made" but it would greatly improve just to be on the roster at Sundance, to put those leafy things on the poster and print on there "Official Selection at the Sundance Film Festival." I am realistic and the chances are 1 in 20,000, or how many submissions there are, but it would be something, considering there was practically no budget, no name stars and an unknown director. I'll be submitting to Slamdance next month with even greater odds. Those will probably be the last "big" festivals I enter.
I'm setting my sites a lot lower now. Every submission is around $35 to $50 and my bank account is empty, so I have to be really selective and subjective. For free, I entered the Asheville "Rejects" Film Festival. Their special guest this year is Lloyd Kaufman, known for his film company Troma, and has directed such classics as "The Toxic Avenger 1 - 4", "Class of Nuke 'Em High" and "Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D." The acceptance rate is really high and is made for the films that have been rejected by all the fests they have entered.
Speaking of rejection, I won't be going to Abu Dhabi in the Middle East thanks to the wonderful service men of the US Postal Service. The movie never arrived maybe due to customs or the fact that the Middle East doesn't have postal codes! Step into the 20th century, even though we're in the 21st.
This coming weekend, I'm doing the 12 hour filmmaking race, so wish me luck and if your in Austin and have worked with me and want to join in on the fun, send me an email or call.
UPDATE - September 10, 2007
The movie has been sent to another festival, Indie Film Fest USA. That is number 6. The first rejection has come as well from the Austin Film Festival. In the rejection letter it says, "The quality of the entries this year was extraordinarily high across all of our categories," meaning that the quality of my film was not. I'll just say that that statement does not make the blow of the rejection any easier, in fact it pretty much says, "Your film sucks!" Thank you Austin Film Festival! I do agree with them saying it's not a film that fits into every festival though. I was going to enter Trail Dance in Oklahoma, but it said not to send "pornography or vulgar material," so I thought it best to not waste money on that one. If it said "Please send perverted and morally corruptable films" then it might be a shoe-in. It also seems I have thrown money away on the Middle East Fest as they haven't even received the film. Boo hoo.
I also just sent out a mass email to crew and cast of Ungirlfriendable to see if any of them would like to participate in Film Racing, which will be in Austin on the 29th of September. In case you weren't included in the email and want to help out, then drop me a line.
UPDATE - August 29, 2007
Sent to another festival, Rockport Film Festival. This is one I would really like to go to. Sort of bittersweet. My grandmother on my Mom's side, Florence Sharp, lived in Rockport, TX pretty much all of my life. She worked as editor or something in that capacity for The Rockport Pilot. If you look on the poster below, you'll see the name of the newspaper reads "The Observer Times Herald CHRONICLE." The full title is actually "The Observer Times Herald CHRONICLE Pilot," but the coffee cup covers it up. It was Brian's idea to not have an affiliation with any city so the movie could pretty much take place anywhere, so the newspaper name is an amalgam of Texas newspaper names, Dallas Observer, Dallas Times Herald(which some of you may know was bought by Dallas Morning News some time ago, but I remember getting the Herald and liking it better), Austin Chronicle and Rockport Pilot. Out of respect for my Grandma, I guess Pilot should be visible as the poster is the only place you'll see the name of the paper, but how many people actually recognize Pilot as the name of a newspaper? So, I'd like to get into the fest to visit Rockport. My Grandma passed away a few years ago, 2001 I believe, and it wasn't until a few years later that her headstone was put up, which I haven't seen or visited yet. It'd be a nice trip for my Mom, sister and I to take.
Here is what I hope is the final version of the poster. It could probably use some more photoshopping, but I'm pretty happy with it. I'm in talks with a friend of mine who can hook me up with a printing place and I'm wondering how many to get made. I'd be interested to know how many of the actors would like a poster. If any of you read this, hit me up.
UPDATE - August 23, 2007
Just a quick festival addition update. I entered the Middle East International Film Festival in Abu Dhabi. It's really pretty cool. If the film is accepted, they will fly me over there and put me up in the Emirates Palace, a three billion dollar luxury hotel, which is also where it all takes place. All sounds well and good. It'd just be nice to be accepted to a film festival anywhere.
UPDATE - August 14, 2007
Here is the latest DVD cover. Still has a little work to be done on it, but it's basically the gist of what I'd like the cover to be. The front cover is pretty much what the poster will look like. In due time I will get some posters printed up, as some fests ask for them and a few of you might want to frame a copy to hang above your toilet.
For the few that might read this today, one of the musicians I used in the movie is up for three Dallas Observer Music Awards tonight, Johnny Lloyd Rollins. Wish him luck. I may very well be there to see they hand the award to the right person.
Here is an extra that's on the DVD and has been up on YouTube and it was shown on Austin Community Television. It was for a show called "Between the Scenes," which is shot and edited by Austinite Erik Mauck. Thank you Erik for doing the interview and putting together a nice little piece for my film.
IN FESTIVAL NEWS:
The movie has been delivered to the Kern Projections Film Festival in Bakersfield, CA and Northampton Independent Film Festival in Florence, MA. I should have news in October. I will probably send it in to another film fest this week or next. Stay tuned.
UPDATE - August 7, 2007
My 2007 Austin Film Festival Trailer Competition submission. The idea can be all attributed to Brandon Dolgner who was squeezing out a gruesome log at 3 am and thought "What would happen if I tried squeezing a turd out really hard and shit myself through the space time continuum?" Obviously, you'd have to wear aluminum foil and hold onto an aluminum foil roll in order to not be taken by the Aluminatis (that's pronounced Al-loom-ah-naw-tees). Brian called me up and told me that was the idea for the trailer. I felt there was no way we could turn that in as a trailer because it has nothing to do with movies or the festival or Austin. I think it has ZERO chance of getting accepted, because only 3 people find it funny and they were all involved in making it.
IN OTHER NEWS:
The UNGIRLFRIENDABLE DVD is 90% complete. All that is lacking is the re-mastered soundtrack from Zooky. Hear that Zwckxally? It started out as one dual-layered DVD with loads of extras. Two weekends ago, I travelled down to Austin to record an audio commentary with Brandon and Brian. We got good an liquored up and sat in Zooky's storage space studio and rattled off the commentary for the movie. I had written 20 pages of notes and maybe got about half a page's worth of that knowledge into the commentary, so the following week I recorded a solo Director's commentary in my office. While in Austin, we also recorded commentary for all the deleted scenes. I added all this on to what I already put together and it didn't fit, so now I will issue it as a Two-Disc Special Edition. Here's a sample menu and the contents.
Disc One:
The Feature-Length Motion Picture Masterpiece "Ungirlfriendable"
"The Loudest, Most Obnoxious and Least Informative Audio Commentary Ever" with Actors Brian Wayne and Brandon Dolgner and Writer/Director Jeffry Chaffin
"The Other Very Informative Behind-the-Scenes Audio Commentary" with Writer/Director/Producer Jeffry Chaffin
Interview with Director Jeffry Chaffin for the Austin Community Television program "Between the Scenes" by Erik Mauck
10 Songs from the Soundtrack in their entirety
Disc Two:
13 Deleted/Extended Scenes all with commentary
Outtakes (including "69 Gashes" a compilation of how many times the word gash was used throughout the production) all with commentary
Several Photo Montages (including over 250 Production Stills, Drawings, Storyboards and Before and After Backgrounds)
Trailers (including a demo for the 2004 production of Ungirlfriendable that was intended to be used to raise funds)
21 More songs from the soundtrack in their entirety
UPDATE - July 5, 2007
The film is on its way to 1604 Nueces. That would be the headquarters for the Austin Film Festival. Actually, it wouldn't. I just checked the AFF website and apparently, they have a new address, but the deadline has been extended to the 15th, so I still have a chance to get it in. Or maybe the 1604 address will be forwarded to the new address. I swear that 1604 Nueces was written on the application I had. Anyhow, the DVD cover art is above. Click on it for a bigger image. The front cover is pretty much what the final poster will look like except for a few added credits, Executive Producer, etc. The back will also be different on the final DVD version, various pictures and a list of all the extras that will be included on the disc.
I will tell you what is really surreal is that I began filling out the application for Sundance. That is a trip. To go to Sundance would certainly be a wish fulfillment. I don't think I could afford to go, but what better way to go further into debt. I'll be looking into Cannes as well. I've also got applications for FLIFF, Omaha, Whistler, New York Cinema Market and the Accolade. We'll see.
UPDATE - June 11, 2007
No poop this time guys. I am getting very close to finishing up video glitches here and there and adding in all the special effects, like Andrea's lightning bolt fingers. I also wrote some grafitti on the bathroom stalls. You can check out those two particular snippets on my YouTube page. www.youtube.com/bfpjeff
That page also has my preiliminary Backyard Films Presents logo that will play before the movie along with Focus Features or Lionsgate or whomever might like to pick the movie up,
The sound of the movie is also being re-mastered, so it should sound really good! I'm very excited to have a friend of mine down in Austin fix up the muddy soundtrack. In regards to the post below, all the music has been changed to protect the innocent, namely me not getting sued and stopped from showing the movie anywhere. A very close version of the finished film will be ready to send to the Austin Film Festival on July 1st.
I'll also be down in Austin in a few weeks to shoot a trailer for the Austin Film Festival Trailer Competition. During writing that very sentence, I believe I came up with the idea for the trailer. Sweet. I may be calling on a few of you ladies to act in it.
It has been a journey on this flick. I can't wait to start on my next one.
Special Edition DVD Cover - April 23, 2007
For those awesome few who made it to the screening at The Hideout, here is a DVD cover to print out. For all others, you can just wish you had a copy and stare in awe at the cover. The difference between this and the final version is the music. This fine version has some glitches but it has all my dream songs on the soundtrack. Sweet.
Screening @ The Hideout: April 14, 2007
Here are some pictures I took at the first screening of Ungirlfriendable. An entire 15 people were in attendance(including myself). The screening started late due to the late arrival of the proprietor of The Hideout. Other than that, the screening went smoothly and I hope everyone enjoyed it, but it was a biased crowd, mainly consisting of cast and crew and a few friends they brought along. I feel the movie still needs quite a bit of work and I hope the next and real official screening is a full house.
February 26th, 2007
Last week, I finally got through the entire movie and it's now 95-minutes which includes two minutes for rolling credits. From here on in, the movie is only gonna get longer. Once I watch this cut, stuff might need to be added back in, as I was very "cut-happy." This past weekend I moved my Grandma out of her house and took pictures of her place to fill in for Murphy's pad and a week or so ago, I took pictures of a restaurant, for the restaurant scene of course, as nobody was there. I need some things here and there in montage sequences and have to do the moving car sequences as well as Murphy's ride on his scooter. I'm thinking I might shoot some people against green screen, act like they're driving a car and shouting at Murphy or just animate it completely. About 90% of the sound effects have been added in, so that enhances the movie quite a bit. Once I have finished Photoshopping the backgrounds and inserted them, I have to run every scene through After Effects to get rid of every last bit of green and cleare up some rough patches. It's looking very good and I have a deadline. . . .July 5th. That is the late deadline to submit to the Austin Film Festival. They haven't been to forgiving or kind to me in the past, so it might not be the best place to start, but it sure would be nice to get in.
February 16th, 2007
Scene 11 - Introducing Skyler
Two posts in one week, whoa! Thought I'd give everyone a Valentine's Day treat. A few days old, but still yummy. I have re-edited the movie up to what I call the "3rd Part" in my computer files. As far as it's going right now, the movie could very well be 90 minutes, maybe 95. Out of the first 27 minutes, I've knocked out nearly 4 minutes, putting that down to 23. The next part I knocked out 4 to 5 minutes more, and so far in the 3rd part, I've chopped another 2 minutes. I read somewhere that comedy editing is fast. That couldn't be more truthful. I'm cutting to reactions quicker and getting to the next shot faster and it's funnier, because your brain doesn't have time to assemble what it just saw but it was humorous and while you're laughing, it's still moving along. A few frames here and a few frames there and seconds are dropping out and before I know it, minutes. I watched the 2-hour version a few weeks ago and took copious amounts of notes. The start moves right along, introduce characters, have some laughs, but then we get to the present day part of the story and it starts sagging. I noticed myself saying "Cut......cut......cut......cut," so I did just that. The first time out, I was including so many pauses, waiting for a facial expression or some little actory thing that was funny to me, but I realized I have watched each shot and each take over and over and critique every movement and every moment and know where to look and what I'm waiting to see. The average moviegoer isn't going to see those tiny things, so those little moments get chopped. There is an art to editing, but there is also a science. I have to step out of the director's shoes and into an audience members shoes and keep it moving and fun and funny. Enjoy the gassy clip. Sound effects may be scaled back a bit, but at least for now, it will feel like you're on the set with me. :)
February 12th, 2007
Just got around to looking at my website to see that the below post was never uploaded. I could have sworn I wrote something newer than October. Well, it's up now. I'm making progress on the flick every day now. Forcing myself to put in a few hours every night. Right now, I'm going through the movie, scene by scene and tweaking the cut. I'm trimming the fat. So far, I've cut out nearly 10 minutes, which is quickening up the pace and making it flow better. I'm also adding in sound effects which are vastly improving the atmosphere and adding more humor. It ain't gonna be done this month. I keep saying I'm gonna stop putting estimated completion times up, so I won't.
December 27th, 2006
So, I've already been asked for a copy of the film. Sorry folks, movie is far from ready. I have projected February, but that seems iffy. I'm getting through the backgrounds creation more swiftly now with the addition of a new filter I found. Yay! Above you will find a few new added scenes that have the backgrounds added in. I put an ad on Craigslist twice, both times it has been "flagged" by either the system or someone, meaning, it keeps getting taken down. First time, thought it might have been my inclusion of the website. I removed it. Second time, I'm thinking maybe it was taken down because I'm only offering deferred pay. If I don't get anyone to help with special effects and what not, it's going to take me a lot longer to finish this guys. Sorry. Here's to hoping the next time around, there'll be a budget and I can afford some crew during production and post-production. It's frustrating that it's going at such a slow pace, but keep in mind it's just one guy doing what it would take a room full of computer dorks to do for a big movie like Star Wars or something. The special effects aren't on that scale, but I think you get my drift. If anyone reads this, and they know an illustrator or artist or computer graphics person, see if they won't mind doing a little pro bono work.
October 24th, 2006
More work on backgrounds ala Photoshop. It's not a quick method, but I have found a way to minimize work on backgrounds. I am taking a real image from my video camera or digital camera and painstakingly redo each part of the background in Photoshop rendering it to look like it's in a comic strip. As for scenes that have no green screen and have actual backgrounds, that's another story entirely.
October 16th, 2006
Reality Look vs Comic Strip Look
Not necessarily a break-through, but almost. I took a background image and drew over it with my trusty computer drawing interface and filled in some colors, comic strip style. I'm quite happy with the outcome. I encourage anyone to send me their thoughts. I believe this is the route I am going to take, as it will cut down on doing extensive background shooting and issues with matching background with camera movement. It also looks really cool! The vision in my head is getting closer on video. Yay!
September 22nd, 2006
Murphy's desk explodes - SFX Test
I happened upon some royalty free explosions and had some fun adding them into the movie. You'll also notice some additional ceiling shots with something mysteriously chipping away at the ceiling tile. Just thought I'd share my glee at how it looks! Yay!
