Rewrite, rewrite, rewrite, rewrite, rewrite, rewrite, rewrite, rewrite, rewrite, rewrite, rewrite, rewrite, rewrite, rewrite, rewrite, rewrite, rewrite, rewrite, rewrite, rewrite, rewrite, rewrite, rewrite, rewrite, rewrite, rewrite, rewrite, rewrite, rewrite, rewrite, rewrite, rewrite, rewrite, rewrite, rewrite, rewrite, rewrite, rewrite, rewrite…

I think I’m going blind!

Still, the good news is that Secret Thoughts of Angels (Draft 2) is more or less done. Think I might send it round to a few trusted colleagues for review now.

Despite reading many mixed reviews about the stability and usefulness of Cinelerra, it seems to be holding together. I put experimentation back a few days when I feared that I might have rushed into things with Fedora Core 3 and decided to try Mandrake Linux 10.1, only to find that things were much more stable with Fedora. So I’m back to square one. Useful learning curve though, even though it meant some very late nights over the weekend.

I’ve also been looking at DV and HDV cameras in the prosumer range, trying to work out which is the most suitable. There seems to be three contenders, Sony HDV FX1, Canon XL2 and Panasonic DVX100, and I really can’t work out which one is the most suitable. At then end of the day, I’ve got an old Canon XM1 which should do the trick, but it would be nice to go with a new one, perhaps hire one for a few weeks if the budget allows (budget?).

I think Cinelerra will handle HD OK, I’ve haven’t really checked, but for the ‘film look’, whatever that is, the Panasonic one seems to get the thumbs up.

And then what ratio – 4:3 (and mask the widescreen) or 16:9? Decisions, decisions. As I recall from some guys I met last year, shooting 4:3 and masking gives better results as you aren’t streching or compressing the image in any way, and you get a bit of leeway with the vertical framing in post production as well.

Now I’ve got the editing side sorted and the screenplay into a decent shape, I’m starting to get quite excited about this filmmaking lark.

Now all I need to do is find two more actors, secure some locations, some lights and we’re off!

Oh and a DVD writer would probably be useful before long as well…