HawkProd Blog

Along with my Wii and Wii Fit I got a really bad head cold for Christmas. I can thank my girlfriend for the kick a$$ Wii/Wii Fit and my co-workers for the head cold. I’ve had to delay filming of Episode 2: Blood and Money because my voice has sounded like I’m going through a second puberty. It will begin shooting this coming weekend after the New Year’s Celebration/Recovery Time.

I hope not to have to delay release, but even if I do it shouldn’t be for more than a few days. Shooting is in two locations, both of which are at the house, so there isn’t a lot of set up time as far as equipment.

I haven’t received any viewer comments yet on Episode 1: Soul Debt ( http://www.hawkprod.com/videos/video02.html ), so I’ll go ahead based on the comments I received from an individual at Fox Television as far as things to improve upon for this next Episode. My sound should be better this time around. It won’t be perfect (yet!!) because at this time I can’t afford to have someone else re-mix it and therefore must continue to use a shareware program to do so. However, my lighting will be vastly improved in this Episode.

I was overly worried about the scenes looking like “night” in the first Episode which lead me to darken them too much in post. I’ve been paying more attention to the lighting in everything that I watch since then. I was actually surprised to see (once paying enough attention) just how much light really is used in many “night” scenes. The second setting in Episode 2 takes place in a shed at night. There are lights in the shed, but I’ll be using a Coleman Cable 05932 6-foot 18/2 SPT Reflector Light with 8.5-inch Reflector to allow me to better control the shadowing of actor’s faces, etc. Lighting is an art, and I won’t insult those who do it for a living by claiming to have it down. I will say that I’m improving though and that I plan to one day master as much of it as possible.

I hope my fan (again singular on purpose. HaHaHa) will enjoy this second Episode. I’m also working on a new feature length script and once I’ve got a draft I’ll let someone other than myself and my girlfriend read it will be posted on the site as well.

Best of Luck and Life,

Jerry W. Hawkins

President

Hawkins Productions

www.HawkProd.com


Some Suggested Reading

Rebel without a Crew: Or How a 23-Year-Old Filmmaker With $7,000 Became a Hollywood Player

$30 Film School, Second Edition

Setting Up Your Shots: Great Camera Moves Every Filmmaker Should Know

Film Directing: Shot by Shot: Visualizing from Concept to Screen (Michael Wiese Productions)