In the Works: 3 Days Short Film Part 4

Having a definite set schedule for preproduction and production, I made the decision that we would take our time on post. Brett and I needed some breathing space. I think we both got frustrated with each other a couple of times during production but his professional work ethic held him back and me as well. That's to be expected and I have the utmost respect for this guy. Especially after lugging around a steadi-cam for hours on end with no support. That thing plus the camera and small monitors was a bitch to hold. So we took a break for about 2-3 weeks.

When we got back in touch to start editing, it was really at a casual pace. There were some transition shots and other 2nd unit stuff that we realized we needed so we worked on those for a while. Some footage we had just didn't work. That was particularly frustrating to me because I was so sure of them but here they were, on screen and they just were not working. We had to beef up the editing. The acting was fine. I was pleased with Jim and Kass's performances, it was my shots that, if I had the time, I would have gone back and redone. Because I wanted to be unconventional and go back to the classic long shot scenes of Hitchcock and other greats, our editing became limited. Editing lasted for months as we continuously went back and tried to insert other shots and retool some scenes. In early 2006 we were finally satisfied that whatever could have been done in editing had been done (with the tools available to us).

Next came audio. By this point, both Brett and my schedules were filling up with other things. I was working on scripts and started collaborating on other projects. 3 Days, our little short film kind of fell to the wayside. Kass, our star would drop emails inquiring about the status and most of the time I had nothing to tell her and I felt bad (still do). She was/is just getting started as an actor and needed my film for her resume. If she ever reads this, I hope she will forgive me. Off the cuff, she was our last actor to audition for that role when we were in Hollywood. All of the other female actors were fine, but nothing stood out. Then Kass got up there and nailed it. After she left, Bert and I looked at each other and said "She's the one." Jim, our male actor, nailed his part as well. But his credits are long and he was very experienced so I think he knew what he was getting into from the beginning.