On The Editing Stage and What's Gonna Happen Next.

Hello everyone. I made a post over at my Tumblr the other day that I think many of you would find interesting about the status of my film Black Mass and how that's going. But I also thought I should expand on it a bit to include what's going to happen after the film is finished as well as what I'm currently working on.

I have the first cut of Black Mass mostly cut. Typically I do three or four passes on an edit before I move into completion. 

First cut is for story and performance. So I cut the whole story together, proper visual storytelling, get all my shots assembled and timed out for the entire action. I cut some dialogue performance, but it’s difficult to really get a sense for performance when you don’t have audio to inform the atmosphere for the performance. I just completed this cut.

Second cut is for tone and functionality. On the second pass I usually go through the film with a fine toothed comb and make sure that the film with get across the general atmosphere and emotionality of the scene, typically this is where I start adding sound to get a sense for how the performances interact with the location and atmospheric sound. 

Third pass is typically called a ‘fine cut’ which basically means the film is 95% of the way there as far as picture goes. On this pass, I typically start really getting deep into sound choices and color choices. 

Picture Lock/Final Cut stage is when picture is 100% in place and nothing can change from this stage, so it all has to be right. At this point, I finish up coloring the film as well as scoring, and all post-sound fx and mixing. Typically after final cut, I can have it ready for delivery.

After the film is completed, I'm going to be submitting to festivals but I also want to self distribute to you fine folks who have been absolutely integral to the creation of our five films these last few months. I want to put the film out in a manner in which you can enjoy all of them in the best way you possibly can. Due to some of the extreme nature of the content, we may have to seek a platform other than YouTube for release, or release as an exclusive for you all. 

We are debating a physically release, which would be costly but may help recoop some of the cost of the films, which all went a bit over-budget. It would be nice to find some way to actually earn money on my creative work but due to the overall content of the films and the length and whatnot, there's not really a solid platform for them in which we can earn anything. I'm considering outright making the films Patreon or Paypal exclusive accepting any and all donations to see them as opposed to finding a way to put them online somewhere. So naturally everyone here will already be getting a copy of all the films. 

We're still playing out the details but we know we want to take the films to festivals around the world if possible. I think they're that good that they could get in and get some decent attention. 

NEXT UP:

So next up for me, I'm going to make a Patreon video. I don't have one really. I used to but it's outdated and was generally stupid to begin with. With what's been going on with advertisers recently, I've realized that my content really isn't something that a lot of advertisers can get behind and I totally understand that. I think my content is better suited for a relationship between the artist and the audience, which is why Patronage historically has been so important to a lot of artists. 

So I'm going to make a video about it with this in mind and hopefully this leads to more support which generally means more content, greater success, better creative work and a better relationship with my audience. The internet is changing, and I think it's best to find a way to change with it. With out worrying about the constraints of ad revenue to 'make-it' I can better worry about the content and less the finances. 

After that, I'm not really sure. There's a lot of different directions I can take my content in the coming months so I'm trying to figure out the best way to do something exciting, crazy, creative, fun, ridiculous and genuinely informative and helpful. I'm open to suggestions, but my priority right now is getting my film done and out so you all can see it. I can't put into words how excited I am for you to see this film, which is without a doubt the craziest thing I have ever done in my entire life. 

You've given me everything I have now, and I can't thank you enough. I truly feel the sky is the limit now and I can't wait to watch everything change and fall into place and get really good. It's gonna get really good now.

<3 Nyx