Production dates for Bush League: Nov 27,06 - Feb 27, 07

Production budget:

Flights to and from Malawi: $1055.00
In Malawi, cash spent: $1200.00
Back up camera: $500.00
Mini DV tape: $550.00
Sound upgrades: $120.00
Batteries: $80.00
Rain Jacket and Umbrella: $50.00
Gifts: $50.00
Personal items: $100.00
Rents/bills state side: $580.00

Total production budget: $4285.00

I tallied this up on my way home, and was really surprised by how far I'd gotten with so little. Though keep in mind, this doesn't include all the equipment I've bought over the last few years and I got a free flight for the US-Europe leg of the trip. I also didn't have to pay for any inoculations since I got most of that covered in Peace Corps, nor did I have to buy malaria medicine.

Post Production Budget (so far, this is just getting started):

Mini DV tape: $550.00
Hard drive: $650.00

Here's a thumbnail outline of the workflow for finishing this film. Plain English notes are in the (). Postproduction is a monster!

1. Duplicate master tapes

(80 hours of footage has to be duplicated to protect against damage/digital dropouts on the original tapes. This is a real-time process, so 80 hours of footage takes at least 80 hours to duplicate unless you have multiple decks.)

2. Digitize tape to hard drive(s)

(All 80 hours of footage gets written onto a hard drive. This is a real-time process
which I just finished. It took at least a hundred hours and the total disc space used is
about 1 Terabyte.)

3. Log, on paper, notes on content, duration, picture, sound etc

(This to me is the heart and soul of the edit. I'll go through every single tape and take notes on every shot with comments on the content, audio and picture quality, technical notes and anything else that comes to mind. This is the best way to learn the footage and it gives you an index to reference all the content without having to plow through the video. I cut a couple of my short films without this step and ended up wasting way more time than it takes to do this.)

4. Prep material for translation and output to VHS/DVD

(For the sections of the film that are in the Tumbuku language, I'll have to format and output that footage for a translator. This is tough because a. the language is rare b. it has to be dead on so I can lock the subtitles to the speaker accurately.)

5. Compile translations and start the paper cut

(Once the translations are finished, I'll use the written notes to script the first version of the film on paper scene by scene.)

6. From paper cut, rough cut video footage

7. Rough-in the audio and music tracks

8. Start multiple rounds of feedback on rough cuts

(It's usually pretty painful, but you have to find out what's working and what is not.)

9. Prep picture lock and last round of feedback

(Picture lock is when you fix the visual portion of the film, then set for the rest of the audio work.)

10. Make final changes and lock picture

11. Complete sound design and music

(All the audio elements are laid in and locked to the picture.)

12. Sound mix

(An expert in a special studio adjusts all the audio tracks relative to one another, so the music doesn't drown the dialog, the dialog is loud enough to hear and so on. This is a powerful experience because good audio brings it all to life.)

13. Color correction

(In another special studio, an expert adjusts all the color and brightness elements in the picture so it looks it's best.)

14. Output to final formats

(There are a million possibilities here, but basically the final film goes from being digital to several different medias like DigiBeta tapes, DVD and miniDV. This takes another studio and another specialist to manage all the data and machines.)

So that's a rough outline of the post process, it's a money munching, humbling, bumbling marathon. I'd also like to get some thoughts down on the creative side of documentary filmmaking. This tech stuff is really just the shell, the creative stuff is where the big wheels turn. That's next.