DO THE LORD OF THE RINGS EXTENDED EDITIONS CONTAIN
THE BEST SPECIAL FEATURES EVER PRODUCED?

I watch the extended editions of The Lord of the Rings trilogy at least twice a year.  The second I finish watching the films, I immediately watch the incredible special features included with each film.  These wonderful documentaries are THE most in depth and interesting special features I’ve ever seen.  Indeed, the story of the filmmaker’s journey is as compelling as the movies they dedicated themselves to create.  Each and every person associated with these legendary films brought so much passion and commitment to their craft.  It’s beyond inspiring.  As an aspiring screenwriter, it makes me feel lazy and that’s a GOOD thing.

I’m at the point where I can pretty much recite the documentaries from memory.  It’s fascinating to watch their journey play out.  It’s so inspiring to watch people pour so much effort into something they believe in.   So much thought is put into every detail no matter how small it may seem.

What’s even more inspiring is the leadership shown by director Peter Jackson.  Throughout the documentaries, people sometimes question whether or not he has pushed them beyond their limits.  Only to discover that they are truly capable of remarkable things when challenged.  Peter Jackson commanded a well oiled machine with thousands of artists willing to do whatever it took to achieve his masterful vision of J.R.R Tokien’s world.

The documentaries themselves are split on two discs for each film.  One disc is devoted to pre production covering everything from inspiration, to the screenplay (nice) and finally the creation of all the sets, props, weapons, armor and more.  The second disc chronicles the production itself with tons of behind the scenes footage from the set.  This disc is complimented by an in depth look at the fascinating post production process.  This includes the tale of Weta Digital and their Oscar winning visual effects work.  There is nearly 6 hours of content to view for each film.  All of this is complimented by lengthy interviews with the cast & crew.

It’s a phenomenal wealth of information for anyone who loves ‘making of’ documentaries.  In fact, these documentaries redefined what special features could be.

WILL THE HOBBIT CONTINUE THE TREND?

I sincerely hope The Hobbit will come packaged with more amazing stories from the set.  Actually, I’m not concerned.  It has to!

We’ve already been treated to tons of behind the scenes videos including these:

It’s great to see so many familiar faces hard at work again.  I’m already planning on skipping the initial Blu Ray release in order to save my money for the inevitable extended editions.  More inspiring documentaries are on the way and like the movies, I can’t wait to follow the journey over and over again.

17 West Productions, recently wrapped another low budget short film called The Climb.

We started pre-production right around the time I began this blog.  As a result, there are a ton of posts on this site dealing with virtually every aspect of the production process.

Click here to catch up on The Climb

Right now, I’m just about finished rolling out a series of posts on our 3 day shoot and I’m planning a recap as soon as the final post is published.

I also thought it would be a good idea to collect all of the posts I’d written leading up to the shoot.

Many of them deal with the challenges of producing a short film on a low budget.  It certainly wasn’t easy…

Click here for a detailed look at how much the movie cost us to make.

1. 17 West’s Newest Short Film Is…
2. The Climb’s 1st Location Scout
3. Screenwriting: Rewriting The Climb
4. I Like Working
5. I Like Working: The Follow Up
6. Meet The Cast Of The Climb
7. Storyboarding When You Can’t Draw
8. Designing The Tattoos
9. 17 West Productions’ Brass Meeting
10. What A Busy Week
11. The Director Of Photography
12. First Tattoo Sketches And Tests
13. No Budget Filmmaking: Producing A Short Film
14. The Need To Edit A Movie
15. Improving The Screenplay
16. Pre-Production Day
17. Final Make-Up Tests
18. Wardrobe And Props
19. Rehearsing A Short Film
20. Tweaking Your Screenplay
21. Directing Short Films: The Calm Before The Storm
22. Making Progress
23. Making A Short Film: The Little Details
24. Final Location Scouts
25. It Begins!

Hopefully, this gives you a look at how we pulled off our latest short film.

The Climb will probably be our last low budget short for a while as we are now actively planning some bigger and more ambitious films.  However, it was definitely a fantastic experience!

Stay tuned for more on The Climb’s production process including more on the actual production as well as in depth details on the post-production process.

Yesterday, we spent nearly 13 hours working on our latest short film.

The day started early and the momentum never slowed as we worked out a lot of important details with our May shooting dates inching closer and closer.

When it was all said and done we really accomplished a ton:

• Destiny’s facial tattoo designs and make-up tests. CHECK
• Wardrobe and Props. CHECK
• First cast read through. CHECK
• On set rehearsal. CHECK

Throughout the week, I’ll be posting detailed thoughts on the entire day including stills and potentially some video if I can set aside some time to cut some rehearsal footage together.  It’s not looking likely but it’s on my list nonetheless.

I wish I could draw. Having the ability to see an image in your mind and translate it perfectly on the page is a skill I would love to have.

As a writer…

I have to rely on my ability to describe what I want people to see.  A part of me hopes there are artists out there who wish they could write.  It helps me sleep at night even though I remain insanely jealous of talented visual artists.

As a director…

I have to be able to communicate what I’m looking for clearly with as many tools as possible.  I’d like to present key crew members with beautifully drawn storyboards but  I can’t draw!

This coming Spring, I’ll be directing The Climb.  I wrote the script a while back and I have a very clear vision in my head of what I want the movie to be.  We’ve reached the point in pre-production where I have to start bringing people up to speed on what I’m looking for visually.

Storyboards would be perfect at this stage but I don’t have the budget to hire an artist and we’ve already covered that I can’t draw…

So what’s my answer?

The Cahier

I’m bilingual by the way.

Among my film friends, The Cahier is now a household name on productions I’m a part of.

It’s basically a notebook you would use as a journal in the second grade.

I start a different book for each movie and inside, I plan every single detail I can so I’m prepared when the cameras roll.  Playing Through was the first time I used this system and I loved having it around on the set.  It was well worth the effort.

Essentially, I plan one scene at a time.

First, I describe each shot I want to achieve.

I then write notes on what I think will be needed to pull them off.

I also do my best to draw stick figures and simple shapes to help convey the framing and composition I want in the shots.

It’s not a perfect system but the results are the same.

You have to know what you want on set. I like to have a clear idea before I get there.

Some directors like to arrive and plan each shot in the moment.

I like to have a plan going in while doing my best to remain open to new and better ideas. I think that’s the reason why I rarely use The Cahier on set.

Planning, storyboarding and thinking in advance can seriously help you artistically but you can never ignore your instincts when you’re in the moment.

Regardless, the whole process is unbelievably fun because after all, I’m making movies!

To quote M. Night Shyamalan from the documentary found on the Signs DVD:

“This visual script should represent the absolute worst that this movie can be.”

Still…  I wish I could draw.