Second Runner Up and BEST Score!

Thank you to everyone who supported our team during this somewhat crazy journey. We all had a blast making this short film, and I am so proud to announce that we were recognized for all our hard work. Drum roll please.....

Chasing Aces: The Musical -

NYC Film Race 2009 - SECOND RUNNER UP (ie: third place - bronze medal out of almost 60 films)

BEST SCORE (Eric March is a musical genius. Serious watch out for him in the future because he is on to big things!)

BEST COSTUME DESIGN (That cowboy hat, beret, and tacky shirt helped to get our fabulous actors into character and they took it from there!)

To check out the complete list of winners, and watch the top films check out this link:
http://www.filmracing.com/Films/competitions/nyc2009.htm

VOTE ONLINE for "Chasing Aces: The Musical"!

The filmracing people put some of this year's films online. "Chasing Aces" was one of those films. So, if you missed the screening and want to WATCH IT and VOTE, follow the link below. There are some other really good films up there too.

http://www.filmracing.com/Films/competitions/nyc2009.htm

Thanks to all who followed us during this crazy process. I will let you know when the final awards are posted.

At the film race after party! We won third place for the audience award!! The pseudo-porn movie took first. It as pretty funny and filled with great butt shots.

Waiting in line for the film race screening! It's getting pretty full. And ChasingAces is up first!

"Chasing Aces: The Musical" screening this Saturday 5-7 at the NYU Cantor Center. Tickets are $9. You should come and see 18 amazing films but vote for ours. Let me know if you want to attend!

Chasing Aces: The Musical (a low res version better for streaming wirelessly)

Hi blog,

Here is the youtube version of the musical. It might play better on your computer if you have wireless internet.

Also, in the vimeo video below, click the link below the video window to be transfered straight to the website where you can see it full sized.

Thanks to everyone for your wonderful words of support.

Much Love!!
Liz

Chasing Aces: The Musical

Drum Roll Please!!! Here is our cinematic musical masterpiece (created in 24 hours for the 2009 New York Film Race)

I want to thank our amazing team who worked their butts off to make this musical a reality! It was an incredible experience and I am so glad that I was able to share it with such a spectacular group of people.


Chasing Aces: The Musical from Josh Miller on Vimeo.

It's been a crazy 40 hours but I am finally off to bed. Good night.

In line with a number. We made it!!!!!!!!

Team four square I love you. Our film kicks ass and I can't wait for it to be unleashed on the world!!

Crap. We forgot some important credits. Josh is creating new credits in fcp the we will rerender, export, and burn a new DVD. We have 15 miutes but we are here will get to the drop in time

http://ping.fm/p/vjrIB - Josh in the car burning the DVD on the way to drop off. We have twenty
minutes until the deadline. Ahh!!!

Team four square and chasing aces the musical rock my world!!!!!

Ok seriously. We've worked so hard. We are cutting it so close.

Ok now I am getting nervous about the time.

Crunch time! We are still finalizing credits and audio. Then we need to export and burn the DVDs. Then we need to book it down to 26th street and 6th ave. We have 1 hour and 15 minutes. Can we do it???

Final color crrecting and sound mix. We are 95% there!! Less than two hours until the deadline.

Movie is coming together. Watching final cut before the sound mix. Damian is hilarious!!

http://ping.fm/p/jXSvG - Waiting to see the final cut.

For better or worse, it's nap time. Wake me up in an hour.


Ps just saw some of the edit and our footage looks and sounds incredible! Can't wait to see the first full cut!

The tired just hit me. On my way to the office to hopefully crash out for a bit.

http://ping.fm/p/rRBC2 - Load out complete. And it's a gorgeous day outside.

Crew is on their way bck to the office to work on the rough cut. We are pacing up the gear, loading out and cleaning up. I just made the mistake of lying down on the couch. Yikes, gotta rally.

That's a wrap!!

12:30 - already about a half an hour behind, we have one final shot to get that requires a compliated lighting reset. I'm wondering it it's necessary but we're going for it anyways.

Ok I'm am going into my 29th hour of being awake and doing stuff. Wow. I see everyone around me moving slower, getting frustrated more easily, or falling asleep after sitting down. But on the flip side, we are starting to log the chase footage from this morning and it looks Fabulous!!! I can't wait to see the finished package. Less than 12 hours to go....

Done with the first set up. 70% done with shooting. Whoot.

Smoke machines not cooperating. Jared accidentally puts the wrong contact solution in. Ouch. Coverage of the actors. Moving along.

http://ping.fm/p/dY4Eo - On the set.

About to roll tape on take one of the poker game. Only a little late...

Dolly shots. Poker games. Back light. And a sound track in repeat. Production fun.

Lighting for the poker scene.

Duncin donuts run complete. A bountiful spread greets the hungry cast. They just returned from shooting the chase scenes. They dig in. Wow we are kinds Sorta on schedule. For now..

It's raining. We're shooting. And still loading stuff into the apartment. Yay sandbags.

4:45 in the morning. "poker face" by lady gaga is on the radio. We blast it and dance driving thru midtown on the way to queens!

Finally leaving the office. Mixed and mastered audio tracks in hand. The next problem. It's raining and we are filming outside. Hmmmmm.

Crew one off to queens. Playing dress up with the talent.

I don't want to jinx myself but I am still surprisingly awake for having only one cup of coffee.

The stairwell powwow with Demetri josh and Shana was fruitful. New plan in place.

Leave the office by 4
Then shoot chase from 5 - 7.
Set up 7-8
First poker shot by 8.
Still on track to be out of there by 12.

Hope this plan sticks.

Ok. Just kidding. Manhattan is out. Queens is in. Reformulating a new shoot plan take three.

Off to scout locations in the streets of manhattan

Huzzah for releases! And eric at the key board!

Getting close to hearing the first pass on the song. We've spent the last hour discussing locations, costumes, and how the schedule shooting.

So a magician, a cowboy, and a Frenchman are playing poker....

Do you have a baret we can borrow?

http://ping.fm/p/SjQxD - Our story laid out on the white board

Brain storm over. We've got a great idea. Chase scenes. Poker games. Shinanegans. Eric is off writing and we are plotting and scheming as much as we can.

And we're off!!

Theme: breaking the rules
Surprise element: clinking glasses.

Brainstorming begins now!

http://ping.fm/p/Iq9Sv - Josh waiting outside the office.

We're at the office ready to get the email. This anticipation may be the most exciting part of the night. Really excited!

Film race kicks off in 3 hours! Until then - go cuse!

Sent from my iPhone

Film Race TODAY!!!!

Wow - two months of preparation and today is the day!!! We've assembled a superb team, and I cannot wait to work with them. Everything kicks off tonight around 9:30 when we meet to brainstorm. (But first we have to watch Syracuse beat the pants of Oklahoma. Go Cuse!!)

Here is a quick rundown of our proposed schedule for the 24 hours:
9:30 PM - Meet at Jay/Lane/Shana's office to prepare for the brainstorm.
10:00 PM - And we're off...
12:30 AM - Talent needs to be at the office to practice and record the "scratch" vocals
3:30 AM - Move to Apartment
6:00 AM - First shot (fingers crossed!)
12:00 PM - Wrap shooting. Talent go get some rest, move back to the office for post
5:00 PM - Talent (and Eric) need to be back at the office to record the final vocal/instrumental tracks
8:30 PM - Export the final movie and get our asses down to the drop off locations
10:00 PM - Drop off our cinematic masterpiece and CELEBRATE!!! (EVERYONE is invited to the drop off location - Rouge Bar on 6th Ave bet 25th and 26th Street)

Wish us luck and check back tonight to keep tabs on our progress!

Whoo Hoo!
Liz

YouTube Video of the Test Run...

This is a more compressed video of the test run. It works better over wireless internet....

SNEAK PEEK! Video from our test run...

In preparation for the Big Day, Team Four Square wanted to practice. Over the course of two evenings we wrote a song, shot some rough video, edited the sucker together, and laid in final vocal and instrumental tracks. Here is a ROUGH video to show you what is in store. (Did I mention it is rough??) I hope this whets your appetite for the musical we are making on Friday.

Enjoy!!


ADR Test for 24 Hour Film Race from Josh Miller on Vimeo.

NY Daily News Article - I'm quoted!

Hi all,

The NY Daily News ran a story about Film Racing yesterday, and yours truly was quoted. The whole article is a really interesting look at the Film Racing phenomenon and has some good tips for aspiring film racers out there. Check it out! (It's the March 23rd article, right on the top of the list)

http://www.filmracing.com/Press/press.htm

Test run a HUGE success!

We all met up on Wednesday to test out our musical idea. I randomly
came up with the theme "hurry" and the surprise element "washing
hands". What ensued was three hours of creativity, a catchy pop duet,
and some great performances from all involved. The story revolved
around two roommates who have had enough of each other and want the
other one gone fast.

We learned so much from this process and I hope that this practice run
will give us a leg up come "game day".

Below is a picture of Eric doing his thing at the keyboard, Adam and
Damien singing scratch track vocals, and Josh capituring all the
shinanegans with his camera.

Location Scout to DanBro Studio

Josh, Taemi and I went on a location scout to a band rehearsal space off the Montrose L stop. It was certainly an interesting experience. I think the space would work if we were filming a horror movie or action thriller, but not so much for a 24-hour musical. However, I think the DanBro studios is a really cool venue with a great mission. Check out their website if you get a chance: http://www.danbrostudios.com/index.html

See the pics below:

Prepping Prepping Prepping!

Well, Four Square has been very busy getting ready for the Film Race. Between meetings, location scouts, and long winding email chains our creative juices are definitely flowing. Here is a brief run down on what we've been up to:

** We are still trying to make this short film into a short musical. We've had many back and forths about how this is technically going to be possible. It looks like we have pinned down a plan - we will record all the audio onto a separate 4 track recorder, then sync the audio in post. Slating will be huge! Also, we will try to run the scratch track and click track into one of the tracks to make the post side easier. Then we will get the actors into a sound booth to ADR the final vocals. Sounds easy, right? We're not crazy, right?

** In order to fine tune our plan (see above), we planned two different test runs. Wednesday 3/18 the main team will meet to rehearse the writing/composing phase. I am going to randomly pick a theme and action from a previous race and we will brainstorm a 1 - 2 minute song. Josh will bring his camera and we will get a quick recording that will transition us into the post test run. Some time next week, we will all meet and practice the audio mix and ADRing.

** Josh has big ideas for the cinematography of our piece. Becuase we will be using a 4-track recorder for sound, Josh suggested that instead of his EX3 we use a Canon 5D mkll - a digital SLR still camera that also shoots HD video. He has a bunch of lenses that will work with this camera. If we use this camera, our story will look like it was shot on film not video. I am very excited about trying this new technology!

** Our team is growing! Lane joins us as sound man extraordinare. Jared will act and sing. Matt Lipton might not be around for a the actual race, but he will be with us in spirit. We are even considering getting a photographer to document the 24 hours.

** My biggest concern right now is finding a suitable location. Making a musical adds an extra layer of complexity when it comes to locations. On top of finding a place that we can brainstorm, write, and hopefully shoot, we also need to find a place where we can play music throughout the wee hours of the morning. We have a few leads, and a bunch of dead ends. Fingers crossed that everything works out...

Whew - well that is what I got so far. There will be more updates coming! 11 days to the race...

-- Liz

Our First Team Meeting - A recap!

Josh and I were super excited to meet with Demetri, a potential director for this film. It was clear within five minutes that we needed to look no further. Josh and Demetri geeked out, talking about lenses and cameras for a solid twenty minutes before I could jump in and steer the meeting to other topics. Here is a brief run down of what came out of the meeting:

Basically, the biggest thing was our decision to seriously consider turning this 3:30 minute film into a 3:30 musical. This decision clearly raises a lot more questions, including:
* Is it possible to write and entire song in no more that 6 hours (and that's being generous)
* When including live music, what additional sound recording considerations do we need to take into account
* How does the addition of music effect the length of time we realistically need to spend in post

Other discussion highlights:
** In prepping for the film race, the creative team should have contingency plans for three of our favorite genres (Thriller, Comedy, Horror). These plans can include possible additional locations close to the home base, visual styles, and ideas of what we might want musically.

** The brainstorming session after getting the theme and action will not be a big affair. We don't need 20 people weighing in on the plot. HOWEVER, we are looking to come out of that meeting with a decent outline of the plot. Then the writers and break off and fill in the details, and the production team can start setting up.

** We will try to have two main actors who will definitely be involved with the final film. (Hi Damien!) But we will also have a bunch of other actors on stand-by if we need additional people. Same goes for locations. We will try to find a good base location, but will have scouted additional places if we need to use them.

** Josh and Demetri should look into the possibility of securing different lenses for Josh's camera and/or procuring a second camera. If we have two cameras, we will need to consider the time and additional resources it will take to split into two crews.

We are six weeks out, and I am still getting so excited for the race. We are quickly building an awesome team of super talented people. Not only do I think I a going to learn a lot working with these guys, but I think that we are all going to have fun doing it.

Watch out other team - Four Square Productions is going to be a force to be reckoned with!!

Getting Pumped for the FilmRace!

We are officially signed up for the Manhattan Film Race - March 27th - March 28th 2009. I'm excited! Are you??