Project Timeline
Definitions
Stats to Date
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Project Timeline
| 6/04 |
Project conception, Preproduction begins |
| 9-12/04 |
Crew interviews, equipment tests, Crew Deal Memos signed, crew background checks completed, Clare Woods Academy and filmmakers agree on the shooting schedule, crew members divided into two teams: Wednesday crew (2 camera operators, one sound person, one Assistant Production and Location Supervisor, or APLS) and Friday crew (two camera operators, two sound people, three APLS) |
| 12/04-2/05 |
Filmmakers seek funding; Director Becky Doppelt creates in-depth outline of topics to cover during shoot; Producer, Annick Wolkan, finalizes budget |
| 2/9/05 |
First day of filming, Becky begins logging footage |
| 2/05-5/05 |
Production: filming at Clare Woods Academy every Wednesday and Friday, Becky logs tapes after each day of shooting |
| 4/21-22/05 |
Around Our World in 80 Minutes performances, filmed with 5 cameras floating backstage, onstage, in the audience; interviews with family members as they arrive; congratulations between friends, families, and their students afterwards. |
| 4/30/05 |
Filming of the Clare Woods Academy Prom (crew members get dressed up and have just as much fun as the students; Becky gets to dance with her brother, but he prefers to dance with producer, Annick Wolkan) |
| 5/16/05 |
Columbia College Chicago’s Production Fund graciously grants the production $1000. |
| 5/20/05 |
Crew and Clare Woods Academy picnic (oh bittersweet catharsis) |
| 6/3/05 |
Clare Woods Academy Graduation, end of principal photography |
| 6/05-1/06 |
Becky logs tapes; numerous assistants transcribe interviews and log tapes; Editor Bryan Whalen digitizes footage at low-resolution; Annick continues to seek funding |
| 9/23/05 |
Pick-up segment filmed at We Grow Dreams greenhouse |
| 12/26/05 |
Columbia College’s Production Fund kindly grants us another $1000 |
| 1/06-10/06 |
Producer, Annick hunts for more funds; Becky works on paper edit while Editor, Bryan works on rough cut; Annick seeks music rights, begins accepting demos from potential composers, and hires a new web designer; a rough press kit is assembled |
| 10/12/06 |
Composer, Jeremy Borum (“Jezza) is chosen from a very talented pool of people. |
| 11/28/06 |
Pick-up segment filmed at Sunset Foods supermarket |
| 12/15/06 |
Jezza flies to Chicago for a spotting session with Becky, in order to determine what kind of music she wants in which particular scenes of the film. |
| 3/9/07 |
Bryan onlines the film, which is the process of re-importing the footage that was actually used in the film at high resolution. |
| 4/26/07 |
We acquire a fiscal sponsor, Documentary Educational Resources, which allows us to apply for grants that only non-profit organizations can submit to, further expanding our fundraising options. |
| 5/12/07 |
We screen a rough cut of the film for the students and families of Clare Woods Academy. |
| 6/07 |
Begin applying to festivals. Much nail-biting and anxious waiting occurs. |
| 11/12/07 |
“Take a Bow” finally has its sound mixed, and is crystal clear and beautiful-sounding as a result. |
| 2/08 |
Becky and Bryan decide to cut the currently feature length film into a broadcast length version (approximately 56 minutes long) so “Take a Bow” can be as marketable as possible to different distributors. |
Definitions 
| Pre-Production: |
All planning prior to shooting the film: hiring crew members, reserving equipment, finding funds to allow for the project’s completion, scheduling the shoots, ensuring transportation for crew members and equipment, etc. |
| Shooting: |
The process of recording video or film |
| Production: |
The period of time when the film is being shot |
| Principal Photography: |
When the majority of shooting happens during production. For example, principal photography ended with the Clare Woods Academy graduation in May of 2005, but we still shot a segment at We Grow Dreams, which falls into “production” but not “principal photography”. Principal Photography is the main stretch of time in any given production. |
| Footage: |
An amount or length of film or videotape that is actually shot or exposed |
| Frame: |
The smallest unit of measurement for film or video picture. Film has 24 frames per second and video has approximately 30. |
| Timecode (TC): |
Every frame of video or film is assigned a number code, which is read: ww:xx:yy:zz with w = hours, x = minutes, y = seconds,
z =frames. This allows the editor to locate an exact frame of footage when needed. |
| Post-Production: |
Everything that comes after the footage is shot: logging, transcribing, editing, color correction, sound mix, distribution, etc. This is often the longest phase of the filmmaking process, particularly in documentary work. |
| Logging: |
The process of watching footage and notating everything that happens onscreen, according to its timecode. All actions and details are written out specifically, with the timecode reference for when an event begins and when it ends. For example: 02:22:05:09 - 02:22:09:00 “Brogan poses for camera and announces she is ready for her close-up!” This process takes approximately 20 minutes for every 5 minutes of footage, often longer. |
| Transcribing: |
The process of writing down every single word that is said in an interview, (including “ums” and stuttering), including TC every minute or so. |
| Bite: |
The small selected section of an interview, which will be used in the film, usually one or two sentences long. |
| Paper edit: |
A script of the final film: a scene-by-scene layout using TC specifics of what interview bites to use and the order in which to use them, as well as TC specific clips from all the footage, sometimes shot-by-shot descriptions of how to edit the picture and sound. |
| Editing: |
The process of arranging clips in order to create a logical progression, creating the story by placing shots in order.
*This is a very broad description of a very in-depth process |
| Rough Cut: |
The start-to-finish version of the film in an extremely unfinished form, similar to a rough draft in writing. |
| Fine Cut: |
The final version of the film, no more tweaking or rearranging necessary for the picture. |
| Sound Mix: |
Once the fine cut is finished, the sound in the film is massaged, levels adjusted, final music laid in, unwanted sounds removed or lowered, etc. This process can take several days or weeks depending on the complexity of the film’s sound needs. |
| Color Correction: |
Once the fine cut is finished, each shot is scrutinized and adjusted: if 2 cameras were shooting the same person from different angles, depending on settings in the camera, the images may look like they were shot in two totally different places. Color correction will make those two shots look like they were being filmed in the same place at the same time. Also, any image that is too dark or too bright can be adjusted: if we were shooting in a room and the sun kept going behind clouds and therefore our light kept changing, color correction will make it all look consistent. It can also isolate certain colors, so if we want a scene to look very blue and sad, that can be done there too. |
Stats to Date
- 120 Hours of Footage
- 85 Tapes of Footage
- 200 Batteries
- 150 Cups of Coffee
- 105 Composer Applicants
- 100 Single-spaced Pages of Word-for-Word Interview Transcriptions
- 50 Applications for Sound Mixers
- 40 Page Paper Edit
- 21 Large Pizzas
- 2 250gig External Hard Drives
- 2 Cross-Country Moves
- 1 Heart Attack (editor Bryan Whalen, 4/9/05 on our way back from interviewing Tammy Monaco, he’s fine now though)
- 1 stolen car (Becky’s, stolen from in front of her apt on Friday the 13th, found the following day stripped for parts, declared a “Total Loss” by State Farm Insurance)
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