Slim Pictures

The Property

*Note: "The Property" is in the process of becoming a DVD, this is also the 5 year anniversary of the release of "The Property." Keep up to date on the latest DVD updates here:

1/31/04  -  The idea for roughly the past year was to re-release "The Property" on DVD.  Initial ideas were primarily to put the movie on disc in its completion and include the "Making of" featurette that was included with the DVD release.  We also intended on including a director's commentary track and another featurette on the location where we shot.  To make a gross understatement, technology has come a long way since we first shot this in 1998, so we will be doing more.   The very few optical effects we had were done in-camera, using a chromakey with a Panasonic camera that had two lenses.

We've come a very long way since then.  The release was done with a linear edit controller, something unthinkable.  This release will utilize on of the top nonlinear editing programs today, Apple's Final Cut Pro.  In addition to straightforward editing, Final Cut Pro, allows us to add numerous filters and transitions to our audio and video.

Without going too over-the-top, we are also going to add some minor special effects and recreate the titles within Adobe's After Effects.  After Effects is a very versatile program that can do animation, rotoscoping, motion tracking...really, what it can do is a much longer list than what it can't do.  Plus, the opening titles for "Sleepy Hollow" were created in After Effects, which is a perk to me, a huge Tim Burton fan.

Today we went through the collection of around 100 After Effects plugins I have that really accents the program.  The one that Tony (and the rest of the world has fallen in love with is Trapcode's Shine.  So, when the DVD comes out, keep your eyes peeled for Shine, we'll try not to overuse it, but it will be tough (an example of Shine is below, click refresh in your browser if you can't see it yet)

2/3/04  -  For the last time before we sink our teeth back into "The Property" Tony and I re-reviewed the movie to discuss certain scenes and make notes.  While this was going on in the screening room, in the studio, the original master copy of "The Property" was being digitized and placed on digital video - our new hard copy.  While Tony edited the first version, the second time around I am at the controls with Tony by my side.  It's much more of a team effort this time around.

2/7/04  -  Very late after work I imported the first 60 minutes of the movie into Final Cut Pro.

2/8/04  -  Simply digitizing the video and adding some effects weren't going to cut it for a re-release.  Several years now removed from the project, and with more experience under our belts, it was painfully obvious that two portions of the movie crawl along at a very poor pace.  What was really unfortunate was that one of the sequences - the hook that starts the movie - was one of the scenes we were most proud of because we first thought the pacing was quick and a fast start that threw the viewer into the movie.  In truth, the cuts we made were not big.  For the most part we shortened individual shots a second or two each.  Between that and some shots that were cut all together, we probably trimmed about five minutes off the opening sequence.  There were also some short by effective wash-in transitions added to scenes.  At the end of the day Tony suggested removing the color from the opening sequence (which takes place in 1847).  The result is an entirely different look and feel that really works!

The other part of the first 60 minutes that got cut the most were the driving sequences.  In 1998/99 these shots were easy to include because they simply turned out looking so good.  It's quite apparent that in addition to being an editor, Tony's got a lot of expertise when it comes to cinematography/being a director of photography.  Nearly 10 additional minutes were removed from this portion of the movie.

In addition, through Final Cut Pro, we color corrected a handful of shots that didn't seem to show the true colors that were shot.

2/9/04  -  There was one transition Tony came up with that Final Cut Pro couldn't handle on its, so I brought the footage into After Effects to create a scene transition where the new shot flies in and takes over the screen.  I also completed editing of the road scenes by taking a number of our best shots, adding music from a band called Driftwould and turned it into a montage.

2/11/04  -  In the afternoon, the remainder of the movie was brought into Final Cut Pro.  First we tweaked a couple of scenes in the first half of the movie and then entered some of our uncharted territory.  The idea was to simply go through and slightly cut down some shots and scenes.  However, like any supernatural tale, the fun scenes start to pile up, and it's hard to resist playing with them.  For the most part we were able to hold off on the visual effects (other than some motion control), but we had a lot of fun with Final Cut Pro's built-in audio effects.

2/16/04  -  First, we fine tuned a couple sections that had heavy editing done to it.  I still get amazed at some of Tonys instincts, even after leaving video editing about four years ago.  Really, other than teaching grade school students the basics of cinematography and an introduction to editing, he has had little practical practice, and almost no exposure to the new digital age of filmmaking.  Despite this, he still picks up new things as fast as he ever did and his foundation is so strong it transcends technology.

We worked on our very first special effects shot of the re imagined version of "The Property."  We really don't want to give away all of the new exciting parts, but we will say it involves a CGI lightning generator from Tinderbox which we use within After Effects, utilizing After Effect's Motion Tracking ability.  Tinderbox has a number of fun pulgins from the practical basics to some very interesting "generators."  There are some shots later on in the picture where we may replace the sky with a Tinderbox Sky Generator.

Our first special effects shot went off without a hitch, however, we had a difficult time exporting the second shot through After Effects.  No matter how great computers are, there's never a sure thing.

2/17/04  -  After getting very creative, I finally found a way to export our second special effects shot.  I also fixed a shot that we couldn't help but allow in the final print of the original movie.  One of the main characters, Tom, is running and searching for his brother.  It's very evident that there are two rips in his shirt, though there's no way they should be there because they weren't there in the previous shots.  What happened was the shirt was ripped during filming one of the last scenes, but we still needed it for this second unit shot.

Thanks to After Effects and Photo Shop, the shirt is now fixed:

2/18/04  -  The day went very smoothly.  First we retouched one of our previous special effects shots, and then we went on to create another two effects shots.  This is incredibly efficient considering it was really just a four hour night of editing.  As well, we added music to a scene that didn't previously contain music, and we bulked up an audio effect here and there.  The final product is looking more and more refined every moment we work on it.  Before calling it a night we imported our new special effects shots from After Effects to Final Cut and watched the scenes, which look so much more dynamic than they previously were.

Going through the checklist and finishing up the next edit

Movie Description:

"The Property," an original film, began pre-production in early 1998.  For this film director Tony Michael Farmer of TMF Productions teamed up with writer Scott Markus of Slim Pictures to create NeKro 1 & 2 Productions.

Little did they know it, but it would take nearly two years, about three dozen actors, 10 locations across two states, innumerable rewrites, and hundreds of editing hours before this project premiered in August of 1999.

The film starts with a dramatic retelling of a murder that occurred in Wisconsin in 1847.  This crime lead to the last execution in Wisconsin state history in 1849.  This story is quite a gruesome one.

Jump to present day and Tom and Mike Roberts, two bickering brothers are thrown together to investigate an inheritance from an uncle of theirs who they had never heard of before.  Worlds collide as Mike (played by Farmer) and Tom (Markus) claim their new property in Wisconsin's Northern Woods.

On a shoe-string budget, this production still ended up with a professional look after 10-year film veteran Tony Michael Farmer took control of directing and special effects; including in-camera effects and makeup.  Scott Markus contributed by writing the story as well as finding some of the most ideal and photogenic locations to shoot.

Every copy of "The Property" on VHS came complete with a behind-the-scenes "Making of The Property" short. The upcoming DVD release will have this short and a slew of additional extras.