In the midst of moving apartments, Erica found that we still have piles and piles of stickers, plus a box full of pins, and, lastly, a Kinko’s sleeve of film flyers! 

We’re making care packages and mailing them out to *anyone* who simply emails their mailing address to info@FToMfilm.com - free of charge. Help us run out of stock! 

Source: vimeo.com

64 Days - part 2

Source: vimeo.com

This is the first teaser from the 16mm footage we took during the trip. This is probably my favorite shot out of all four reels… the speed and feel to it is very beautiful. 

All the 16 was shot with the intention of acting as a “memory” for Larry. I just wish I had more than the 15 minutes I have - it intercuts very powerfully next to the HD footage. 

Source: vimeo.com

This was one of the rare days that the wind didn’t blow directly into Larry’s face… he could really fly when he wasn’t the only object in the way of the wind ripping across miles of field… 

I love this part of the country - the big sky, the endless green. It’s all so flat and boring and unchanging… but something about it really eats away at you after a trip.

Source: vimeo.com

This was the last time I laid in the grass. My head closest to a tree, my feet pointing towards the river. Watching the leaves dance back and forth in the wind. Enjoying the cloudless blue sky. The warm sun burning up the cotton in the air. 

We were still in Glacier Park, Montana. One of the most heartbreakingly beautiful places I’ve ever seen… 

Source: vimeo.com

This is Larry. This is somewhere between point A and point B. Where ever it is… I miss it. I miss kneeling on-top of the van, working the crane, watching Larry push through the wind. Knowing that every mile meant something to him… something people wouldn’t see passing by in their cars. Something subtle. 

Source: vimeo.com

I believe Olivier shot this with the SGPro 35 Kit and the crew’s FX1… we had Amanda’s 300 zoom lens mounted (which was a lot of fun to film with). 

We waited at the highest switch-back in Cascades National Park for Larry to pass and ride down into the valley. We took a lot of footage from this ledge, it was a very beautiful spot to spend an hour. 

Amanda was hoping our 2nd teaser would be a clip from an interview we just transcribed, but I had this as a backup, and she hadn’t gotten a chance to come over and tell me which section she wanted. 

Source: vimeo.com

Amanda and I decided we have so much extra footage floating around the timeline, that it would be fun for us to randomly pick 20 seconds here, 30 seconds there and post it on a consistent basis.

This first teaser is just Larry cruising along some road… somewhere *shrug* I’m too lazy to look it up :) but it’s pretty where-ever it is. 

Source: vimeo.com

photo and caption via Vu Bui Watched mike’s film rough cut For Thousands of Miles. Made notes but wow great stuff!!! Lan and Vu talked me - aka, peer pressured me - into playing the current edit of FToM. Vu had just purchased a brand new Moleskin journal, I guess he had never owned one before, and this page of notes on the film was the first thing he decided to write down. This brings the total number of people who seen a fairly close-to-final edit to: 7. I’ve received some really terrific feedback from these small mostly one-on-one screenings and I’m excited to make a handful of changes to the timeline before opening up screenings to other people. 
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photo and caption via Vu Bui

Watched mike’s film rough cut For Thousands of Miles. Made notes but wow great stuff!!!

Lan and Vu talked me - aka, peer pressured me - into playing the current edit of FToM. Vu had just purchased a brand new Moleskin journal, I guess he had never owned one before, and this page of notes on the film was the first thing he decided to write down. This brings the total number of people who seen a fairly close-to-final edit to: 7. I’ve received some really terrific feedback from these small mostly one-on-one screenings and I’m excited to make a handful of changes to the timeline before opening up screenings to other people. 

The decision to use voice over must be a well thought out one, and one made long before the script is finalized. Voice overs are the voice of the mind, and it must correspondingly have the gravity of that impossible weight. Use it wisely.

- Frank Darabont

This entire post was a very enjoyable read, but this quote is especially fitting to something I keep coming back to in FToM. *fingers crossed* 

Source: lilithfilm

A handful of photos from Larry’s trip between Truckee, CA and somewhere just near the southernmost border of Mexico. I had meant to share these weeks ago, after pulling them from instagram, but I lost track of this post in my drafts. It was a hell of a ride for Larry to take on alone, I’m glad the first leg of his trip ended with him coming home safe. 

And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.
T.S. Eliot, via ned hepburn

Source: nedhepburn

Trying to pick myself up and get a grip on my to-do list. Which, as of tonight, looks something close to this: 

  1. The film: editing (feedback), archival fill-in shots, sounds work, coloring, music.
  2. 64 Days: Revisit remaining scripts / outlines, music. Countdown / build-up.
  3. Connected site.
  4. FToM trailer.
  5. Player research. 

I know some of these are more vague than others; but, all the same, I’m personally trying to highlight which are doable in the next few weeks, which need to wait for hired…

A bit more details on the recently posted yet overly-vague to-do list; I’ve been in a state of limbo for the last month, I’ve exported the film as-is and sent to someone for feedback, this someone has quite a bit of experience with filmmaking and the editing process, I feel that their advice on anything from the technical to story will be a big help in my gauging where the film really stands. As anxious as I am to share the film with others, I need to take these next few steps one at a time. 

It’s Sunday, meaning that this entire weekend has gone by far too fast, but the holidays are coming up and I’ll be able to squeeze in some time to prep’ the archival shots I need. Two things I have currently been preparing: the film trailer and what will hopefully be a nearly 10 minute prologue release. I’ve been looking for sound people as well, as one of the first things I’ll do once I hear back on the feedback I mentioned above, is making a decision on who will or who could start helping to build the two distinct sounds within the film. 

Source: ftomfilm

Feeling a little stressed tonight. Actually, I’m feeling on the verge of a week long sleeping-binge. Trying to pick myself up and get a grip on my to-do list. Which, as of tonight, looks something close to this:  The film: editing (feedback), archival fill-in shots, sounds work, coloring, music. 64 Days: Revisit remaining scripts / outlines, music. Countdown / build-up. Connected site. FToM trailer. Player research.  I know some of these are more vague than others; but, all the same, I’m personally trying to highlight which are doable in the next few weeks, which need to wait for hired help, which will cost what, when I’ll have x number of dollars set aside, etc. To run through the list: I can’t emotionally get wrapped up in the remainder of 64 Days without first hiring the necessary help in sound and finalizing, so that’s going to need to wait until I know FToM is in motion. I can schedule and set-up the archival fill-in shots, so that’s high on my list. I’ve written a team earlier today about the connected site, though I’m still not sure I want separate people building the connected site vs the player, but those details are for another update. The trailer is coming along in notes - I’m closer to getting a better idea of what clips I want to pull and how I want to present the film.  If anyone has questions on the list, let me know in the comments, I’m always happy to answer in more detail. But for now, I’m falling asleep. 
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Feeling a little stressed tonight. Actually, I’m feeling on the verge of a week long sleeping-binge. Trying to pick myself up and get a grip on my to-do list. Which, as of tonight, looks something close to this: 

  1. The film: editing (feedback), archival fill-in shots, sounds work, coloring, music.
  2. 64 Days: Revisit remaining scripts / outlines, music. Countdown / build-up.
  3. Connected site.
  4. FToM trailer.
  5. Player research. 

I know some of these are more vague than others; but, all the same, I’m personally trying to highlight which are doable in the next few weeks, which need to wait for hired help, which will cost what, when I’ll have x number of dollars set aside, etc. To run through the list: I can’t emotionally get wrapped up in the remainder of 64 Days without first hiring the necessary help in sound and finalizing, so that’s going to need to wait until I know FToM is in motion. I can schedule and set-up the archival fill-in shots, so that’s high on my list. I’ve written a team earlier today about the connected site, though I’m still not sure I want separate people building the connected site vs the player, but those details are for another update. The trailer is coming along in notes - I’m closer to getting a better idea of what clips I want to pull and how I want to present the film. 

If anyone has questions on the list, let me know in the comments, I’m always happy to answer in more detail. But for now, I’m falling asleep.