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PRODUCTION DIARY
(from 1999-2001)
Reading from the bottom up (reverse chronology) may be fun for those of you who enjoy Harold Pinter plays.
1999
May 21 - First day of shooting. Rains a little in the morning, but I order it to clear up by 10am. It does, and the crew seems confused about why I take it as a given that Nature will obey me. I am the director!
May 24 - Co-star Howie Nickerson had a scheduled trip out of state, so we had three days to get all his scenes shot -- or wait a month for him to return. Wait? Never!!
Stars Sam d'Entremont and Howie Nickerson held up great, even with five location setups each day!
June 4-6 - Second weekend of principal photography. Locations include central Massachusetts and Boston. Toll booth scene goes off without a hitch. I'm tired.
June 8 - We have completed principal photography. The "present day" part of the script was filmed in Boston, Shrewsbury, Worcester, Northboro and on the Massachusetts Turnpike. We were the first film production ever allowed to close down a tollbooth lane for filming! (Thanks to all at the Mass. Turnpike Authority!)
The "1939 era" half of the script was filmed June 5 & 6 in Shrewsbury. We transformed Town Hall into a 1939 backlot street, complete with antique cars!
All this for a budget of $632!!
GEEZERS has the best crew I've ever worked with, bar none! Thanks to everyone and keep it up!
June 12 - Did a favor for someone and taped the Gay Pride Parade in Boston for a documentary. Would have been funny to have Willie and Vic walk through this.
On my way home, I picked up most of the remaining 2nd unit shots -- a doorway for the "Senior Center," a block wall to use as background for some signage (will create in Photoshop), and some kids playing basketball. Stopped into an oriental rug store that has been going out of business for a few years and shot background clips for the TV commercial that Sam watches in the first sequence. Still need to shoot that dialogue and find a "mansion" to use as establishing shots for the Thatcher house.
June 14 - Added sample production logs and free production templates online. (Later removed.)
Post-production.
So far, the footage looks great (although the dim locations, i.e. inside the car, will require some post-production tweaking.) The night footage came out fine, although I should have lit it brighter and stopped down the camera. I don't have a lot of room to manipulate the images now, as they are on the grainy side.
See for yourself... All pictures were taken on digital video and are stills from the actual production footage.
I have made a time-code dub to VHS of all 9 hours of tape. Beginning the process of logging the footage. A camera log was kept during production; however, there is still the task of logging in/out points, verifying the logs, adding descriptions that will aid me in editing, filling in the blanks where I moved too fast and didn't wait for the slate, etc.
I have created a new camera log as an Excel spreadsheet. Hoping to create a macro to take all the "good" shots and export them, so I can then import an edit decision list (EDL) into Premiere and run the batch captures from that. Haven't seen anything like this, at least that is affordable. I have seen two products, one using a PalmPilot, the other an Apple Newton, that can be used on set to create such a file. They're a little pricey right now for me.
June 16 - Article appears in Worcester Magazine.
June 18 - Article appears in The Worcester Phoenix.
June 19 - Got a haircut.
June 21 - Articles appear in The Community Advocate and The Shrewsbury Chronicle (the last issue before Chronicle was taken over by Community Newspapers.)
July 6 - Shoot the "Magic Dan" commercial spoof scene with blue screen background. (See the clip online.)
July 9 - Saw Blue Man Group in Boston. End the show by pulling on a roll of toilet paper. Pretty much how I end most Saturday nights.
July 18 - Feature story appears in Middlesex News.
July 20 - Media 100 seminar at Compaq. They're trying to sell a bundled solution. Looks good, but the machine is not the fastest available, and adding a firewire capability pushes the price up. Wouldn't tell anyone not to go this route, though. Very impressed by Media Cleaner Pro software (used extensively for the online clips.)
July 22 - While on vacation, I consider reassembling the cast to have Willie and Vic shoot down a giant waterslide. Strike up a conversation with an insurance agent and quash the waterslide idea.
August 1 - My article about scouting locations for Geezers appears on NewEnglandFilm.com website.
August 6 - Left work early, never to return.
Saw "Blair Witch Project" to make me feel better. Couldn't believe how bad the projection system was. Movie was over before I finished my popcorn. Interesting flick, but I am much more frightened by "The Nanny."
August 7 - Attended the independent producer's conference in Providence, sponsored by Immagine magazine, spreading the Geezers gospel.
August 17 - Attend an Apple/Final Cut Pro demonstration. No doubt about it, that is the best NLE system today.
The AC adapter on my Sony digital VCR is broken. "We've got no power, Captain!" Take it to an "authorized" Sony repair shop in Worcester. Something makes me wonder about this place. It's a TV repair shop, but I don't see any TVs.
August 27 - Shot second-unit material in Los Angeles. Hey, how did Vic's car get on Sunset Blvd.?
September 1 - My article on digital camcorders appears on www.newenglandfilm.com.
September 7 - Got a haircut. Am asked when Geezers will be done. During conversation, the barber cuts my part on the wrong side. Looks pretty good.
September 8 - New Geezers clips online. Three scenes in QuickTime and RealVideo formats.
September 14 - The goofball repair shop in Worcester claims my replacement AC adapter for my digital VCR is still on backorder, but is headed our way via boat from Japan. I guess with all the free time they have from not fixing anything, they can create some good lies.
New England is plagued by numerous "Mr. Haney-types" -- unscrupulous and generally dim-witted ne'er do wells (remember "Green Acres?"). It's hard to tell them apart from the good people until you've been ripped off.
I call Sony myself and explain that this vacuum tube-head has had nearly a month to get the AC adapter replaced. They send me one which arrives via FedEx the next morning. Back in business!
September 17 - Hurricane something-or-other blows through during the Jewish holidays. I continue editing, stopping only long enough to brave the hostile winds and rain for a trip to Wal-Mart.
September 22 - Showed the online clips to some corporate types. I conclude that they are "silent laughers" at this company.
September 25 - Saw "The Sixth Sense." Awesome film, nearly perfect script.
Later I think I see some dead people walking around on my way home. Oh, no, it's just MIT students. Hard to tell the difference sometimes.
October 1 - My article on PC non-linear editing systems appears on www.newenglandfilm.com.
October 3 - Install NetStudio 2000 on my editing PC. Then I open the huge Geezers file I had been working on in Premiere and watch it disappear before my eyes.
Uninstall NetStudio 2000. I'll file this under near-Y2K problem.
October 4 - System continues to be plagued by mysterious bugs and crashes. I change my editing process to only work on sections of less than 1 minute each. I will compile these later into the finished product.
Watch "Swingers" on DVD. That movie is so money, baby!
October 6 - Begin to send out "buzz" emails. The first: how is Geezers similar to The Blair Witch Project?
Blair Witch (BW): Three students get lost in the woods.
Geezers (G): Two old guys get lost on the Massachusetts Turnpike.
BW: The witch made the chick cry.
G: The chick made Willie cry.
BW: The students don't know where they're going.
G: The old geezers can't see where they're going.
BW: The camera shakes.
G: Willie shakes.
BW: Heather pees in the woods.
G: Willie pees on his shoes.
October 7 - The system has been fairly stable. I have completed the first 11 scenes, including music. This also includes the opening "dream montage" that is not in the script, but which takes advantage of the antique cars we shot on the last day of photography.
I wanted to use a Bing Crosby song in the "getting ready" sequence, but never heard back from EMI about rights. Instead, I compile a song using SmartSound for Multimedia. It sounds nice, and I even wrote some lyrics that I hope to have recorded for use later in the movie.
October 8 - Finish the sequence from where Willie leaves his apartment to where he meets up with Vic. I take liberal license with the script here, but I want to pace this out a little faster. The piece we filmed where Willie sees young Arleen on the subway was not in the script, so using it required adapting the flow and changing the order of some things.
This sequence is done except for the music under the subway scene. From the beginning now it is 5 1/2 minutes long. And it looks really good!
October 9 - Spend much of the day updating this website. Will anyone notice? Did you?
October 13 - Ordered a new Apple Power Mac G4 system for editing.
October 16 - Talked about Geezers with nine production companies and studios in Hollywood. All want to see the finished tape.
October 22 - The mouse for my new Apple system arrives. The rest is backordered until sometime after the turn of the century. Oh, well.
October 29 - Completed Toll Booth scene. Looks good! (View it on the Clips page.)
October 30 - November 1 - Take a break from Geezers to finish rewrites on "Slice."
November 4 - Upload new design to website. Everything must change.
November 18 - With only one music cue left to add, the entire system crashes (again), resulting in a reformatting of the 60 gigabyte storage drive. All the digitized files are lost into the formatting ether. But we have wisely dubbed almost everything to tape throughout the editing process, so the compiled sections are quickly retrieved.
November 19 - Geezers is completed and entered into its first film festival (with minutes to spare!)
December 6 - Geezers is available to purchase online w/ major credit card. First orders w/in 48 hours!
December 10 - Cast and crew screening (and party until midnight!)
2000
January - New marketing campaigns launch: "Are You Ready for Y2Geezers?" and "Got Geezers?"
Interest from production company about turning Geezers into television series.
February - New Geezers trailer shown at the Mass Media Alliance meeting. Lots o' laughs.
April 10 - Geezers begins week-long showing at www.StudioNext.com as the featured Million $ Movie. (Anxiously awaiting my million dollar check...)
Early May - A New England geriatrics medical university purchases Geezers as an instructional tool for med students.
May 13 - Geezers opens the inaugural Last Film Festival On Earth in the Boston area. Movie is well-received by young and old alike.
May 24 - Peter is interviewed by Independent Film & Video Monthly about a song in Geezers that was licensed online from LicenseMusic.com.
Summer 2000 - Peter Bohush quoted in The Independent (from the Association of Independent Video and Filmmakers) about licensing music for "Geezers" from Licensemusic.com.
Peter Bohush interviewed for AvidProNet article, "Achieving Success as an Independent Filmmaker."
Three distributors request tapes for consideration. "Geezers" is heating up!
Peter is back in the editing room, tightening up "Geezers" just a bit. Work is slowed due to a four-month weekday assignment in New York City.
Winter 2000 - On assignment in Philadelphia for two months. No work on Geezers edit.
2001
February - Showed clip from newly edited portion of Geezers, 2001 version, at the Mass Media Alliance showcase. New tollbooth edit was a bit hit!
March - Back in town. Remodeling studio this week. Have added additional 120 gigs of video storage and new editing applications, including After Effects 4.1, Delirium, Premiere 6 and Psunami. Getting back to work on the updated Geezers 2001 version.
June - Completed the new edit of Geezers (2001 version.) Have cut out a lot from the opening sequences to move the story along faster. Added some music and sound effects some scenes, including the toll booth scene. Minor tweaks and some music cues added throughout. Lengthened Arleen's final close-up a bit for more dramatic punch. You can see the trailer and the new toll booth scene online on the Clips page.
July - Sent tape to Western Disc for duplication. When the boxes arrive, I discover two serious audio and video glitches in a scene early in the tape. Send the tapes back (at an additional out-of-pocket cost of $60 shipping.)
A few days later, a tech from the duplication house calls back and states that the glitches are sometimes visible when playing back on their equipment; sometimes not. Since I tested the master tape on two dv players here before sending it out, my guess is that there is an incompatibility in our equipment. I will make a new master for duping and send it back out. This delays the marketing of the final version of Geezers by about a month.
-- Peter Bohush, writer/director
Post Script:
Eventually, the VHS tapes arrived in two big boxes, just in time for VHS to be killed off by DVD.
A DVD master is produced and made available for sale on the website.
Peter devotes most of his time from 2002-2006 on The Wicked Good Homes TV show, corporate videos and real estate sales.
Geezers is aired throughout the New England market on Charter Cablevision.
Geezers sales include medical colleges, who use it in gerontology classes. Who knew?
In 2008 Geezers is formatted to view for free on the WriterDirector.com website.
The story continues...
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