It's not long to go now until the premiere of "The Devil Came Today". The date is set and the venue is booked, so I've been working hard making tweaks and fixing issues with the edit I submitted to uni. The version of the film I'll be showing in September is the final version, no ifs or buts. I've had a couple of meetings with Fergus recently, and between us we've discussed exactly which scenes need music and what sort of music they need. While Fergus works on composing this music, I'm getting the film as ready as I possibly can, visually speaking.
And that includes a new scene.
It was never intended, but I've been able to piece together a thirty-second sequence that was never written in the script and never filmed, using assorted trims of video and audio from what was shot. It's not a deep, intense dialogue scene or anything, but it adds a little something to the film which was lacking earlier (and also lead me to discover the things I can do with a lowpass filter!) The scene came about by accident. I'd been reviewing the rushes, watching the material at either end of takes in the hope of finding something interesting - a lot of the better bits of the week one blooper reel I prepared for the wrap party surfaced this way - and began messing around with different techniques I hadn't had opportunity to use for a long while. Eventually, after a few hours of trying out just about every option Premiere gave me, I had a brand new scene. I hoped to keep it completely under wraps ahead of the screening, but without music it feels barren and incomplete. So Fergus has had to see it for the music.
As for everybody else, well, they can wait until the premiere.
Recently I've also begun thinking about the DVD release. I don't plan to do a commercial release of any kind (maybe in twenty years' time I'll be a big enough name for there to be public interest in "The Devil Came Today", but right now there certainly isn't) but I don't want to scrimp on the DVD that the cast and crew will receive. Perhaps it's because I grew up on the Doctor Who range and was spoiled by the effort put into each release, but if I don't have a booklet inside and multiple worthwhile special features, I might as well not have bothered making a DVD.
One idea which has gelled with me is that of taking some of the scenes that I cut out of the script/rewrote, animating them as brickfilms - a chance to go back to my filmmaking roots! - and bringing the original voice cast in to record some new lines. I've collated my favourite scenes from the cutting room floor, and all being well I'll be able to start putting them into production within the month.
