Why so silent?

Honestly because there has been nothing to report. Every time I think about posting, I realize that all I have to say is... "Sorry guys. No news about the DVD release yet."

I know. The wait is longer than any of us expected. But stuff happens and Regina and her family are working really hard on a lot of stuff right now (they just took over publishing the John Paul 2 High books). I've been through surgery and major personal stuff including the ongoing battle with my health.

However I've gotten through the most intense phase and from now on I'm really going to try and post at least once a month, even if it's just to say that I don't have a whole lot to say.

Actually that's not entirely true... I do have one fun little piece of news. Are any of you Tumblrs? You should check out the new Regina Doman/Fairy Tale Novels themed tumblr! It's pretty cool actually for there to be something like that run by neither myself nor Regina... but anyhow the blog owner is looking for submissions and stuff so go on over and check it out if you're in a tumblring mood.

(Oh, and I also have a personal tumblr where you'll find all the cool pictures and humor and short anecdotes and quotes that I come across but aren't big enough for a full post on my blog. Check it out at www.elenatintil.tumblr.com)

Updates

Quick update...

I've been having a wonderful month of July being able to focus on school and not crazy film stuff! Well except for the one day last week when my computer was tied up for 8 hours transferring footage to Regina's hard drive. The hard drive is now in the mail, and when Regina receives it she'll pass it on to the editing company that is doing the final work.

There is also some discussion of shooting a few pick up shots... please pray that Regina is able to coordinate that and get the shots that are needed to finish the film.

We are still hoping for a Christmas release and it looks like we will hopefully be able to meet that deadline.

Have you enjoyed following this blog for the past few years? Want a new project to follow? I'd like to invite you to check out my personal blog (elenatintil.blogspot.com) where I discuss movies, books and writing, or my sewing blog (seamstressconfessions.blogspot.com) where you can see my sewing projects and learn about life as a Fashion Design Major!

The Premiere

And now at long last, the news you've been waiting for... how was the premiere?

Wonderful.

We had over 100 attendees who were extremely positive about the film and by the general sounds of laughter during the screening seemed to enjoy it a lot.

I had a crazy, awesome time and was thrilled to see my work at last on the big screen. I only wish ALL of you could have been there!

But, since that wasn't possible, I instead am going to share with you some of the best photos of the night. Thanks to Hannah and Amanda for giving me permission to use them!

Lastly I know you all are about to ask...

The DVD will be coming out later this year. Regina herself is taking over coordinating the final polishing work so that I can focus on college. This means we could see the DVD anywhere between September and Christmas. However I no longer have control or the responsibility to worry about that timing, for which I am immensely grateful. When I have a date I will of course post it here immediately, but it may not be for awhile.

Video: Snowball Fight

In honor of the premiere tonight, I release to you one last scene --- the snowball fight! This also includes music!

You can watch it at youtube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOGakk_ZXAk

Final Premiere Updates

Tickets will remain available for pre-order until midnight tomorrow (Tuesday). If you don't get your order in by then, you'll need to purchase at the door. (checks prefered but cash accepted. No credit cards.) At this point we WILL have tickets available at the door, but they will be first come first served, so if you do plan to purchase at the door, come early! You can arrive as soon as 5:00. We advise arriving no later than 5:30 to get decent seats, and the program will begin at 5:45.

Following the movie (which will be running at 1 hr 50 minutes), we will have a short presentation followed by a question and answer session with the actors. Afterwards there will be a chance to request autographs from the cast and crew. (We advise bringing your own pen and paper ;) )

We originally were going to try to have concessions, but at this point will be unable to do so. Do plan to eat supper ahead of time!

We're dressing up for the occasion and would like to invite all of you to do the same! Formal dresses and suits are welcome, "church clothes" are also completely acceptable for the more casual folk.

Again, this is not the 100% completed version of the film -- we are working desperately to do all that we can do, but were unable to get all the ADR or music completed in time. It's a minor miracle (and the support and assistance of my amazing family) that is even ensuring that the sound is good enough to allow the premiere to proceed. (You wouldn't believe how close it's been over the past few weeks). As I type this my own health has kept me pretty much incapacitated for most of the day... I hope and pray that I will be able to make it through the premiere myself.

However, for all that, there is so much for this night that I am excited for and I would not have fought so hard for it if I didn't care so much for all of you and believe in the story we are telling and it's power to shine through no matter how rough the medium.

In order to get the sound done, I had to lend out my computer. Therefore I have limited internet access and limited time (as I prepare for the coming days). If you have any questions, I BEG you to check our FAQ section, or e-mail theshadowofthebear [at] ymail [dot] com and Janny, our ticket manager will do her best to answer (she knows most everything important AND she has my text number if I can't get to the computer to answer, however she's also working a full time job so patience is appreciated!)

Finally, I've answered this many times in many places but I keep getting asked... YES. There will be a DVD. It will not be available until later this summer. All information regarding it will be posted here on this blog.

Thank you all for your support, prayers and patience. Please continue to offer up supplications as we get through the final part of what has been a very difficult process.

Rob's Story

Meet Rob Tirsch. Good looking, got a way with girls. And he just happens to be showing attention to one of our heroines....


Sound isn't final in this video, but the picture is fine cut! Also, I kept the youtube quality low so that you all could watch it easily no matter what your internet speed. The actual movie is much higher quality.

SOUND :)

(Rob, stunned by Rose's accusations)

Many many thanks to my friend Alicia for directing me to a website where I could get just about all of our needed sound effects free! You can visit it here: http://www.grsites.com/archive/sounds/

(To download, right click the file type you want and hit "save link as")

I had a blast last night laying in the sound effects and most of the prom music.

We're still looking for a suitable swing song, at least something to use as a placeholder for the premiere. It needs to be free and public domain and we'd greatly appreciate any help!

ONE WEEK!

The movie premieres exactly ONE WEEK from today. I can't believe it, can you?

Oh yes... and if you are planning to come and haven't ordered your tickets yet, may I point out that there is no time like the present? ;)

Screenshot Wednesday

We are so close, folks...

Every day I have to deal with adjusting to a new idea of what the movie at the premiere is going to be like. I have to give up stressing about a piece of sound, or a missing shot, or a type of music. It's been a lot of hard lessons for me.

HOWEVER. That said. I think even if you all saw the movie right now, understanding that music, audio and color correction were not done, you would STILL vastly enjoy what you saw. Because the whole story is there. The characters are there. The journeys, the moments, the lines...

I've done three films previously and this is the first one where I have sat down and watched the rough cut and actually been excited about it.

Will it be perfect? No. Will it be "The Shadow of the Bear"? YES.

And those of you who are coming to the premiere get to see this all on the big screen AND meet the actors, myself and Regina!

What would I rate the movie?

What would the movie be rated?

I've always thought it would be the equivalent of a PG-13 rating. Why? The movie is quite faithful to the book and Regina has always said the book is intended for ages 14 and up. If you would like to see a rundown of more mature content in the book, I suggest checking out Regina's Picky Parent Guide here: http://fairytalenovels.com/docs/Picky%20Parent's%20guide%20to%20Shadow.pdf

Screenshot Monday

Back from the wedding (and it was WONDERFUL!). Now to catch up on movie stuff...

Our Ticket Coordinator is in the process of moving to another state, so please be patient if she doesn't reply to your e-mail immediately. :) Thanks!

"Paper Moon" update

Word came in today that we will not be given permission to use "Paper Moon" in the movie. This is disappointing to me because I do love the song very much... but since there's nothing to be done about it, I'm moving on to trying to work out an alternative song that will fulfill the need.

Fine Cut complete!

The fine cut is -- well just about --- complete. I still have to do the credits and input a couple shots, but the timing on everything is locked --- it can't be changed. I did the ENTIRE fine cut today and am really very pleased with how it turned out. My rough cut was not so very rough which was why the one day thing was even possible.

So now I'm off to celebrate a wedding. I'll be back next Monday to get the movie finished. :)

In need of some audio assistance.

Mr. Freet is not a very pleasant man, is he? (Our actor, Greg Bunce, on the other hand, is awesome)

So! We are in need of some assistance! Those of you who are forum members have probably already read Regina's message, but I will repost it here:

As you probably all know, Elizabeth has been struggling with illness for these past few weeks and that has been VERY frustrating for her particularly as it's inhibited her ability to finish the movie.

The GOOD NEWS is that, thanks to the support of her family and friends, the Shadow of the Bear movie premiere will still happen!

The BAD News is that it probably will not be 100% perfect, although Elizabeth is going to do her darndest to get it to be at least 95% perfect. There's always time to perfect it for the DVD release.

So please pray for Elizabeth in these coming weeks before the movie premiere. As I told Elizabeth tonight, "If God asks you to do something and He really doesn't want you to screw something up, He tends to make sure you're as weak as possible when you do it. Because that way, He can be strong through you."

So all I can think is, God must have big plans for this movie! Please pray!

~Regina Doman

My co-producer and I are working as hard as we can to get the movie in the best possible shape before the premiere. I spent nearly every free moment in the last week and a half doing nothing but editing. Yesterday I probably put in a good eight hours. I will be continuing to work right up until Tuesday night --- but Wednesday I am due to leave town for five days to be in the wedding of my very oldest friend.

The picture itself should be in pretty good shape by then. My co-producer, Josh, is working on getting all of the ADR done. We've got one composer signed on and are trying to secure a second so that we can get as much music as possible done before the premiere.

However, I have just been informed that the level of audio work that needs to be done is so great that my co-producer cannot complete it in time for the premiere. I might be able to do some, but since I'm severely hard of hearing it's not a very practical or optimistic situation.

Therefore we would like to see if any of the fans have the experience, software and time to help us get the SOTB audio into good shape. You should be able get a good idea of what we need from the clips I've posted. And while we can't promise any monetary compensation, you WILL get to see the entire film quite early. :)

If you are interested, please send me an e-mail at theshadowofthebear [at] ymail [dot] com ASAP!

While Audio is our biggest concern, we could also use assistance with color correction, if that interests anyone.

New Clip: A Visit to St. Lawrences

Bear takes Blanche and Rose to the church of St. Laurences and shares a little bit about his past.

(As always, this is still a rough cut. We're starting ADR work this week though!)

To Order Tickets

Tickets are $7 each.

Simply send an e-mail to theshadowofthebear [at] ymail [dot] com with the number and names of the attendees, as well as whether you'd like to pay via paypal (preferred) or check.

As soon as we receive your payment your tickets will be confirmed. You will be able to pick them up the night of the premiere.

If you have registered for ReginaCon (full time or Thursday) your tickets have already been taken care of.

Because space is limited, we encourage you to order your tickets as soon as possible. We cannot guarantee that there will be any available to purchase at the door.

Screenshot Friday and a chance to see more Movie Footage!

Blanche and Rose discuss whether or not they can find Bear's Penthouse.

NEWS!

Want to see some exclusive new footage from the movie? If you're a Minnesota fan, stop by the Minnesota Catholic Homeschool Conference and visit the Chesterton Press table and ask to see some of the movie footage!

Screenshot Wednesday and some FAQ's

Rose shares her intention to do some sleuthing.

So I've been getting some questions over and over again that I feel I should probably answer here once and for all. ;)

#1 -- When will we be able to order DVDs?

Hopefully July. The movie will still need some final color and sound tweaks after the premiere, and there are also things like a blooper reel, commentary (???) and subtitles to pull together. Then the DVD actually has to get produced! That all takes time, and I'm due to move in August so we'll see how it all comes together!

#2 -- are we getting a trailer?

No. I've recently been very sick, and only just got the last of the footage a week ago. This means that if we are going to have any sort of presentable film for the premiere I have to devote all of my attention just to getting the movie edited. I will however continue to post movie clips, as those would have to be edited anyhow and take minimal time to render and upload.

#3 -- I'm coming to ReginaCon/Fairy Tale Festival. Do I still need to order tickets?

Nope! If you paid the full price (or Thursday day price) for the festival, your ticket is included in that.

Captured by an Evil Prince

Once again the talented and creative Chelise has taken a scene from the movie and redrawn it in the realm of fairy tales! I am absolutely in love with Rob's coat. Please. Someone commission me to make it so I have an excuse to sew it! ;)

Screenshot Monday

Some of my absolutely favorite scenes are the quiet romantic ones between Bear and Blanche. Hannah and Jed are such marvelous actors and their onscreen chemistry makes you truly believe you are watching Blanche and Bear.

In this scene, Blanche confesses her feelings to Bear.

In the meantime, take a look at my editing stories here: http://elenatintil.blogspot.com/2011/05/editing-till-my-eyes-blur.html

Premiere Set!

It's official, folks!

The premiere for "The Shadow of the Bear" will be held in Minneapolis, MN at the St. Anthony Main Theater on Thursday, June 23rd, 2011.

Festivities will commence at 5:00 pm.

The cast, crew and Regina Doman will be in attendance.

Formalwear or nice dressy clothing requested.

(Girls, please no strapless dresses, deep cleavage or skirts above the knee.)

We have limited seating so tickets will be available for order ahead of time. We recommend you order as soon as we get the system set up. Tickets will be $7 a piece.

Because seating is limited, and because the movie is a PG-13 equivalent, we would not encourage children under the age of eleven to attend.

To keep track of the latest information regarding the premiere, I highly suggest that you visit our event page on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=106559492767607

To learn how to order tickets, please visit this page: http://theshadowofthebear.blogspot.com/2011/06/to-order-tickets.html

Bear and Fish Clip!

I took a short break from editing to upload another quick clip for you all! It is, again, rough in that the audio has not yet been done, but visually it is quite close to what the final product will be. Watch it here, or watch a higher rez version on youtube.

This scene is not in the book. It was adapted from a series of scenes that appeared in the award winning radio adaptation. I just couldn't resist the chance to give Fish more to do!

Screenshot Friday

Blanche awakens.

I love eyes. I probably pay more attention to them than any other physical feature. So I was thrilled when one sequence in the film allowed me to spend a lot of time on Blanche's beautiful blue eyes. :)

Screenshot Wednesday

Rose vents her frustration over the situation with Rob.

Screenshot Monday

Take one down, pass it around... 99 bottles of beer on the wall.

Can I ask for prayers? I haven't been able to edit at all or contact composers for the last two days due to a violent attack of nausea. I would really like to be able to get back to work (not to mention sit up without feeling worse!).

Screenshot Friday

Rose and Suzanne chat at Rob's party.

Screenshot Thursday

Rose creeps down into Freet's basement!

NEWS and UPDATES

I've been blown away by the number of composer applications we've received! Now to sort through them and figure out who to use. Please pray for us!

Editingeditingediting... is never done. Last night I edited my second fight scene and it was crazy. Anthony's coming over tonight and I'm hoping for his input on all of my cuts. The footage is great, I just have to make sure it flows.

THE PREMIERE -- if you've been keeping an eye on the blurb on the top of the page, you've probably noticed that yesterday I changed the date to the "23rd" and the city to "Minneapolis." We are in negotiations with a theater in St. Anthony Main (which is a part of Minneapolis across the river from the Guthrie) and we hope to visit it and confirm everything next week. We could use prayers on this as well!

Getting the rights for "It's Only a Paper Moon" could be complicated and I frankly don't have the time to do it (I am still trying to figure out if I actually have time to breathe), so thoughts, expertise and offers of help from those who feel confident in this area would be greatly appreciate. (Please e-mail me at theshadowofthebear [at] ymail [dot] com)

Meet Regina Doman and the Director and actors of SOTB!

Do you live in the Midwest? Are you a fan of Regina Doman? Then ReginaCon 2011 is the opportunity of a lifetime for you!

Regina will be teaching workshops on writing, I'll be talking about filmmaking, plus there will be murder mysteries, a FTN-themed Swing Dance (we've rented out an auditorium for it!) and more!

We're behind on our minimum registrations though, so if you haven't registered yet I would like to encourage you to do so soon! You can find out more information at Regina Doman's website.

And don't forget, your registration for ReginaCon covers the cost of your ticket to the MOVIE PREMIERE! :)

Screenshot Tuesday

Rose creeps into Freet's House.

Composer (no longer) wanted!

We are looking for a composer!

Due to a variety of issues, it's only now that we have been able to start the process. However with the movie premiere just five weeks away, that means we need someone who can get pretty involved right away!

We need someone who has the know-how and a hard work ethic, who is willing to work fast. Even if we could just get a few unique themes that would be better than having to use entirely stock music.

Know of anyone? Have them contact me at theshadowofthebear [at] ymail [dot] com. Don't know of anyone? You can still help by reposting this to your blog, facebook, tumblr, twitter or forum!

I'm still getting messages about composing, even though the movie is 'finished. So just to clarify, we no longer need a composer. Thanks!

Screenshot Saturday

Rose sneaks into Mr. Freet's house. His security code COULDN'T be 666... could it?

Screenshot Wednesday

Rose is excited about going to the Opera!

Screenshot Monday

Blanche worries that going to the Opera with Bear may not be the wisest idea.

Screenshot Saturday

We had a little bit of a scene where Blanche unpacks a few things. This is to show a) that the Briers are still recent arrivals to the city, and b) why the set changes between this scene and the previous one. We got a load of props from Regina after filming the first scene and had to figure out how to incorporate them into the set without setting off the screaming of the continuity nitpickers. ;)

Video: "Princesses in Disguise" - Extended

Friends, I have a treat for you today.

This is not the trailer. I so badly wanted to have that done for you all, but right now I need to focus on getting the movie itself cut.

However I appreciate so much what you all have done to bring the production to this point and I want to share something with you.

So I present to you the rough cut of the second half of the "Princesses in Disguise" conversation.

Rough cut means that we have done NO audio correction, we have NOT fine cut between shots, and there is no color correction or music added. However it gives you a look at the actors and camera technique.

I hope you enjoy it!

Screenshot Thursday

Today we have a pretty cool image.

If I am correct, this is the first image we've released of Rose held captive by Freet. Pretty dramatic stuff....

Screenshot Saturday

Carl teases Blanche

Screenshot Tuesday

Rose comes to Blanche's defense and tells off Eileen and Lisa.

Screenshot Saturday

Does this picture need any explanation?

Screenshot Tuesday

Today's screenshot is another look at the "Princesses in Disguise" scene. This scene was a rather difficult one to adapt, as the dialogue is important both to the plot and to the fans, but it doesn't translate well visually as it is basically people just sitting around and talking for ten minutes.

Regina suggested that I break the discussion into two bits -- therefore we do have Rose start the conversation earlier in the story, while she and Blanche are at school. It's a pretty neat intro and I think it'll work well.

The second half of the scene I enlivened visually by adding a chess game. The pieces on the chess board were great metaphors for the different kinds of fairytale characters the Briers and Bear are talking about. In addition, it's my own personal nod to "Black as Night" in which chess imagery figures prominently.

Screenshot Friday

In today's photo, we see Rob holding Blanche captive!

Screenshot Monday

Today we get a glimpse of Rose's excitement when she tells Bear about "Fairy Tale Identities."

Screenshot Friday

Finally got some new screen captures! Today's shot is at St. Catherine's. Blanche has just escaped teasing and is willing herself not to faint...

Updates

Hey friends!

Sorry for the long silence. Coming home from vacation meant I had a ton of 'real life' responsibilities to catch up on! Also I had pretty much exhausted my store of screen captures and need to take some more before I share them with you.

No new developments on a trailer yet, except that I am open to ideas! So if you have an idea for a trailer, post it in the comments and let me know!

Secondly, we are looking for a theatre at which to host the SOTB premiere in June! It needs to be in the Twin Cities or the northwest metro, have the capability to project digitally (and preferably with a good clear picture), and also not be too expensive (I don't think we could spend more than $500 at the very most to rent the place for the evening). So if you have any leads, or want to do some internet searching and come across something, please let me know! You can send your findings to theshadowofthebear [at] ymail [dot] com.

Screenshot Wednesday

In today's screenshot, Blanche eavesdrops on Fish and Bear in the Penthouse scene.

Screenshot Saturday

Eileen.

Screenshot Wednesday

Trailer plans

I've been asked again about when the trailer is coming out... I'm still waiting for that footage, which I hope to get as soon as I return home from vacation, sometime after the 11th of March.

Screenshot Monday

So apparently Saturday isn't going to be the best day for uploading screenshots... oh well. Enjoy today's picture of Fishy...

Screenshot Wednesday

Today's screencapture is another shot from the Penthouse scene.

Note of interest for those of you who weren't around when I first blogged about this day... yes, according to the book, Blanche is supposed to be in her prom dress in this scene. However, the dress was being shipped to me and had not arrived by the time we had to leave to shoot the scene. So I had Hannah bring a kimono and wear that in the scene and our logic is that it was something Bear's mother had around and Blanche was cold or whatever and wanted to put it on. (We do see her putting it on over the prom dress in the scene when she wakes up, which was filmed at a later date).

So when did the prom dress arrive? When I got home from filming that date, the package was waiting for me. Figures.

Screenshot Saturday (on Monday)

I apologize profusely for missing Saturday's screenshot! It was my birthday this weekend and things just got far too busy. However the upshot was that I had a group at my house on Saturday that watched most of my current rough cut and gave it their approval. So rest assured that editing is going well!

Today's shot shows Rose entering Freet's basement...

Cinematography

Are you a film fanatic? Want to get in the business? Or just enjoy movies?

Over on my personal blog today I wrote up a piece on the power and history of cinematography. If you're interested in film, you might just find it interesting!

Rose and Fish Fan Art

Another beautiful work by Chelise! She did this in honor of St. Valentine's Day and again used one of our SOTB publicity photos. I think it's fantastic! (and who else here wants Rose's dress?)