My First Indie Film

Editing 9: The Hackintosh crashes Jason’s progress and emotions. He shares how "Rebel without a Crew" TV show encourages him. Then Jason reflects on some scenes he was surprised by in the editing and…

Editing 8: Jason misses self-imposed deadlines for completing the film and discusses his honest feelings of the post-production slog. He shares his new deadlines. He shares great insight from Robert …

Editing 7: What is most important in making a cut in the footage?Jason revisits Walter Murch’s book, “In the Blink of an Eye”. Jason tells how he implemented it to make a scene better. Hear Soderberg…

Editing 6: Jason gleans from the movie Traffic on editing point-of-view and how to get into a scene. He shares how he’s choosing the take he likes as he edits a scene.

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Editing 5: Actual cutting of the footage is underway and Jason shares reactions of a first viewing. He shares some encouragement from Jeremy and how taking longer is actually what it takes to get whe…

Editing 4: Honest fellowship with other filmmakers gives Jason perspective on life and career. He finds creative inspiration from a twitter thread of successful directors, James Mangold, Craig Mazin,…

Editing 3: Raw honesty from Jason as he shares his struggle with working on the film in editing. He shares what helped break the resistance and what may help you as well wherever you are in your crea…

Editing 2: Jason meets with a possible composer. A post-mortem call with producers goes very well and Jason shares the excitement that comes out of that meeting.

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Editing Update 1: The realities of post-production set in quickly with syncing sound to the footage. Jason discusses how the 90-day timeline is going. He shares how much footage they shot and tells h…

Day 67:  Jason reflects on becoming a feature film director and reentering family life. He discusses what the day after production entailed with returning equipment and taking a few days off.

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Day 66: A day full of script and logistical drama, Jason has to rewrite the script for the last day and doesn’t know what to write. He also forgot to secure the location for the day and so there is a…

Day 65: Jason forgot to cast day players, but was able to secure two actresses last minute. He discusses location needs when shooting and the themes of the scenes. Jason discusses how he directs one …

Day 64: After a late night with kids and little sleep, Jason gets up to write 8 pages in 2 hours before getting to set. Brooke finds a way to secure a difficult role and location we need that day. Th…

Day 63: With one scene to shoot on day 8, production has a relaxed feel. A day of rejuvenation was well needed and embraced. Jason talks about giving yourself a deadline and making it public might be…

Day 62: There’s nothing that can prepare you for some things in life. Dealing with sudden tragedy is one. Dealing with sudden tragedy while making a film is what this day of shooting became. Jason te…

Day 61: Back to Anson, Texas for the first of two back-to-back night shoots, all 7 main cast members have a pivotal scene at the Anson crossroads. Jason discusses how the shoot day went, behind-the-s…

Day 60: Finishing the basement, moving outside and across town twice... the production has a lot of moves but the nature of the scenes simplifies the production needs. Jason breaks down the scenes of…

Day 59: Inclement weather returns to town but filming is in a basement so production stays the course. Jason and Doug collaborate to solve lighting needs from out of story and then work through stepp…

Day 58: Why chose the "Anson Lights" folklore to create a story around the for the film? Jason explains why they ran over an hour in shooting the first scene of the day. Jason also explains the tone …

Day 57: Day 3 of production is set aside as another prep day. A tornado plows through Abilene while we all slept. Jason shares a perspective on life struggles from his wife. He talks through how they…