Creatures crawl in search of blood, To terrorize y’all’s neighborhood 

Spooky season is fast approaching, and with it comes the annual tradition. One that has been long observed. A tradition steeped in Irish history. A time when everyone gets together for a laugh or two. A few folks dress up. Some spooky happenings may, or may not, occur.

I am of course referring to the Newforge Studios halloween film. Dating back to the late 2000s, we have been making films in our family on a semi-regular basis. Now separated geographically, we endeavour to keep the tradition going by producing at least one film a year. The amount of work involved in “short” films is incredible. I’ve talked about it before, but the minimum I need to get something made is an outline, a script, and a shotlist. There are lots of other roles and nice things to have, but we can settle for those three.

First step is to write out the story in prose. I find this helps to clarify where I want to go with it, and what works and what doesn’t. I tend to intersperse this with notes and potential shots so it isn’t a pure document. If I have time (in this case I didn’t have quite as much time as I hoped) I draft a proper script and work on the dialogue. Making good dialogue is harder than it seems. Not too brief, or too complex. Leaving out inane details unless they serve the story. Avoiding exposition where possible. There’s a lot to it, and this time round I was too time limited. No script? It’s not a deal breaker, but you have to be wary around continuity.

The shotlist is the most important document for getting a functional film together. It might not be great, but it will cut together if you have thought out your scenes and shots and work through them methodically. It’s better to have more and edit down rather than realising at the last moment that you are missing a shot you need to make sense of everything. It’s jarringly obvious when a film is cut poorly, and it’s something to avoid at all costs.

There’s a lot that editing and music can do, but they can only do so much. Being prepared gives you the best chance of coming up with a decent finished product.

If you’re looking for a cocktail to accompany some Halloween editing, why not try the very pumpkin-coloured Paper Plane. Equal parts Aperol, bourbon, lemon juice, and Amaro Nonino Quintessentia (have I lost you?). Shake vigorously with ice. Served in a Nick and Nora glass here. It’s a beautifully balanced drink which is sweet and sour, and a little bitter too.

This was just a little teaser of what is coming soon. I have the rough cut of the film finished without music. Now to waste an ordinate amount of time making tiny adjustments that are barely perceptible to anyone else, but will haunt me if I don’t get right. Adjusting clips. Colour matching. Maybe even colour grading.

When I have a bit more time and inclination, I will pen some scathing criticism of Uber Eats. A broken service, trafficking in broken dreams (and cold food). It’s shite.

Time to get back to Premiere Pro.