Frame by Frame

We’re heading down the stretch to principle photography for  episode 2 of Courage, New Hampshire — “The Sons of Liberty.” Yesterday, we spent the better part of the day story-boarding the first week of shooting and it reminds me of a confession a big studio director once made about a major Pixar animation film.   He said they spent five years storyboarding.  Five years.

I’ve talked to a lot of folks about this process and I guess it goes all over the board.   They say major television commercials are illustrated to the nth detail at every step of the process, from pitching to production.   We’ve seen history documentaries made out here, and not only were they missing story-boards, it appeared they were making up the shots as they went.  Sometimes, when the set is fully dressed and you take measure of the light and the cast, there are certain shots that are so good you couldn’t have imagined them, and there are also frames you thought were pretty dramatic in the story-board that seem forgettable in reality.  I guess it’s all a bit like life itself, plan as much as you can, but be ready to say yes to opportunity.

Courage on Demand

In other news, we’re getting ready to release our own home-grown version of Courage video on demand.  We will be hosting the video on our site, but using the bandwidth of a major service provider to keep it fluid.  Theoretically, whether you watch in Singapore or Cincinnati, you should be able to watch in either HD or thumbnail size, without stopping to re-buffer.

A few years ago, when I was weighing the different paths for bringing an eighteenth century independent drama to the public, Netflix was actually allowing independent filmmakers to upload their productions to their site.   Just recently, however, my one contact with Netflix, via email form letter, indicated that is no longer allowed.   In any case, we were never sure if the production company actually made anything if they went with Itunes or Amazon or Netflix, so — like everything else about this project — we’re doing it on our own.

Tavern Justice

People SAY they want to learn from history, but from my own long history with living historians and the public who frequent reenactments, I can tell you it’s not as safe a road to travel as you might think.   Try arguing the plain text of the second amendment with a gun control freak and you’ll find out what I mean.   “Heah,” I begin, the ‘shot heard round the world’ was in response to a gun control mission on the part of the British government.”  There’s a pause, and sort of a long groaning sound as they begin to recount the many reasons why your reference is flawed and could never be applied to the present state of affairs.   They love the past, mind you, but they want to keep it all in the past.

Well, we’re going to start a small side show to keep you tided over between episodes.  I think we’ll call it “Tavern Justice” and we’re going to sit around the Hawk’s Head Tavern, after, or between shoots, and talk about why we’re failing the history pop-quizzes and the midterms and the final examination.   My goal is to make them short, snotty, and funny.  What say he?