First Fest Submissions for 'Endure'

Pressing hard on 'Endure' this week to get first pass on coloring, sound design, and music done in time for works in progress submissions to Atlanta, Nashville, and DC fests.

Homecoming 2009

Elyshia and Jimmy before homecoming 2009. He is turning into such a great young man. Where has time gone?

When to Worship

I was having a few rough days this past week, allowing circumstances to dictate my outlook on life. During that time I was having a discussion with Elyshia on my lack of desire to worship at that time. I just didn't feel like praising him or seeking him at all. And, as only Elyshia can do, she shared with me a passage from Acts.

Acts 16:22-26
"²²The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten. ²³After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. ²⁴Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

²⁵About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. ²⁶Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody's chains came loose."

Talk about being in a tough moment in life. Paul and Silas in chains, refusing to let their circumstances determine their outlook. In all things praise Him. Praise Him is not an option, it is a command.

Living The LIfe

I recently read this article on relevantmagazine.com:

Something odd happened yesterday when I went to the supermarket. I was standing in the snack food aisle trying to decide between corn chips or pretzels when a slightly built, balding man approached me. He was about my height and dressed in clothes that had faded from hours of being hung out in the sun. He approached and said, “Sorry to bother you, Ma’am.” My thoughts of snacks were interrupted by the absurdity of someone calling me, “Ma’am” since I’m only 27 and lean more towards an athletic build then a stooped-over old lady.

Now that he had my attention, I noticed he had odd little blue patches at the very corner of the bags of his eyes, and his skin was stretched so thinly over his face I could make out the pattern of veins that brought very little color to his complexion.

“My wife and daughter were killed in a car accident two weeks ago,” I heard as I realized he was still speaking to me, “and I spent all my money on their funeral but now I need to buy diapers for my grandchild, could you please help me?”

My mouth opened and the words came out: “Sure, go choose them, I’ll meet you back here.”

Even as I was saying it, I was processing the cost of what I was saying. I don’t have children, but I have friends that do, and I know that diapers cost a lot more than a can of cola or a bottle of beer. I’m not made of money so I did a few quick calculations and worked out I could either buy the diapers or the luxury items I had been planning to purchase. So quietly, while he was in the other aisle, I dumped my purchases and walked with the man, whose name turned out to Michael, toward the checkout. While in the queue I asked him if he would like to buy himself a chocolate or something for himself. I expected him to gratefully pick up a chocolate and add it to the diapers I clutched in my hand. Instead he said, “I don’t know if you can afford it, but what I really need is baby formula.”

While we were walking out, I was having an internal battle with myself about whether or not I should ask if I could pray for him. You see, the day before I had read in the Bible of the time when Peter and John had met a beggar who had asked them for money. They said they didn’t have any but would he mind if they prayed for him and then they asked that God would heal him and the man who had been crippled for forty years stood up and walked. It struck me when I was reading Acts 3 how quick I am to either pass by beggars saying I have nothing offer or on philanthropic days I offer money that does very little good. I’d challenged myself to try and offer active, life-changing prayer to people I met who were in desperate situations rather than just paying them to keep silent and leave me alone. It struck me that Peter and John didn’t only offer prayer but the dignity of recognizing the beggar as a person with value before God.

Michael and I stepped out into the sunlight, and I realized the moment had come for me to follow Peter and John’s example and resemble a little of Jesus incarnated. I still hesitated though because my prayer probably wouldn’t result in a miracle; after all, Michael could walk and it seemed a little stupid and hollow to pray for a man in the middle of mall, a man who I had only just met. But God got the better of me and as we were about to part I said, “Would you mind if I prayed for you quick before we go?”

He said he’d really like that. I laid my hand on his shoulder and I closed my eyes. I’m not sure why I closed my eyes because I’m normally a wide-eyed pray-er but perhaps the absurdity and solemnity of the moment demanded it. We stood there with the security guard looking on and I prayed that God would continue to provide for his needs, that his heart would know healing and that in these hard times he’s experiencing that he know God to be very near. The prayer was uttered in a minute, and I will probably never know whether that prayer changed his life, or whether God intervened in his life in a powerful way.

Sometimes I choose not to do things because I don’t know what the outcome will be. Even worse, I sometimes choose not to do things because I think the other person will think I’m strange or I’m just scared I’ll fumble and looks like a klutz. Something odd happened yesterday when I went to the supermarket, I wasn’t any of things to this man who approached me, I wasn’t strange, or fumbling or klutzy, rather for a few minutes I was a person who was doing life a lot like Jesus would. As Michael and I went our separate ways I prayed that I learn to do life the way Jesus would not just for a few minutes but for every minute of my life.

Wendy Harbottle is a TV Producer for Africa’s only 24-hour Christian music channel (www.onegospel.co.za) and writes about love, life and the Holy Spirit in her free time at www.undonebook.blogspot.com.

Music for Polk Movie Coming From a Converted Garage

by Gary White of The Ledger

LAKELAND | There is a memorable scene from the movie "Amadeus" in which Emperor Joseph II, after hearing Mozart's opera "The Marriage of Figaro," tells the composer the piece contains "too many notes."

Unlike the movie Mozart, the Davidson brothers don't take umbrage at such suggestions. Simplicity is their guiding principle as they create music for the low-budget detective thriller, shot in Polk County in April and May.

The Ledger has been following the film project with occasional reports since the filmmakers began seeking investors in 2007.

"This is not a movie like 'Star Wars,' where there's a grand orchestral theme that runs the length of the film," Adam Davidson said.

Instead, the Davidson brothers are putting together a small-scale, ambient score attuned to the conflicted state of the movie's protagonist, Emory Lane (played by Judd Nelson), a police detective pulled between his gravely ill wife and an urgent case. The music will lean toward keyboards and restrained guitar playing, with touches of violin and percussion.

Adam Davidson, 35, director of arts and worship at Lakeland's Trinity Presbyterian Church, provided music for O'Brien's short films "Blackwater Elegy" and "Wait." His chamber-music score for "Wait" won a silver medal for excellence the Park City Film Music Festival in Utah in 2007.

Adam Davidson read an early draft of O'Brien's script and has been close to the project all along. He also watched the shooting of several scenes and appears as an extra in one.

"Endure" has a budget of about $1.2 million, and Adam Davidson said all the money for the music went into recording equipment for his home studio, a converted garage. The Davidsons and the musicians they enlist will only be paid in the unlikely event the movie generates a soundtrack. O'Brien and his production partners, Rob Tritton and Jim Carleton, are still seeking a distribution deal.

Though the Davidsons want to create an uncluttered score, the process itself is complicated by geography - Adam lives in Lakeland and Dennis in Los Angeles. Dennis, 29, spent two months in Lakeland brainstorming ideas with Adam, and the pair now swap music files on a shared computer server.

The Davidsons began developing ideas well before they received the director's cut of "Endure" in mid-August. Adam said they aim to have the score complete by mid-October. He said Trinity Presbyterian is allowing him to devote one day a week to the project.

Sitting in his dimly lit studio , Adam Davidson played the opening 12 minutes of the movie, complete with music, on a large, flat-screen computer monitor.

The first sound heard is a countrified version of the hymn "The Old Rugged Cross" playing on a TV set. Adam Davidson arranged the tune, which is sung by Lakeland's Barbara Hart, an investor in the movie.

A short establishing scene yields to the opening credits and the main theme, which arose from an improvisation between Adam on piano and Dennis on lap steel guitar. For the finished version, Adam added accents on glockenspiel, a percussion instrument like a xylophone but with metal bars.

It is a somber piece, set mostly in the key of F minor, without a dominant melody. The title theme establishes musical ideas that will recur throughout the film.

"It was a good sense of accomplishment to get that musical piece finished and get our feet under us," Adam Davidson said.

Adam Davidson said the brothers want to craft two other distinct motifs, one for the scenes between Emory Lane and his ailing wife (Joey Lauren Adams) and another for a sinister character played by Tom Arnold.

Adam said the brothers' influences include Philip Glass, a minimalist composer known for rhythmic patterns that repeat with subtle variations, and Brian Eno, a pioneer of ambient music. Another model Adam cites is James Newton Howard's understated score for the 2007 film "Michael Clayton."

Adam Davidson said the average movie contains 30 to 60 minutes of music. He expects the "Endure" score to be on the low end of that spectrum. O'Brien describes the Davidsons' music as "integral but not pervasive."

Big-studio movies often include well-known pop songs. The "Endure" filmmakers don't have the budget to pay hefty licensing fees, so any music emanating from a TV or radio will likely be either an Adam Davidson composition or his arrangement of a song in the public domain.

For example, Adam wrote a country song to play on radios in successive early scenes. He has invited Rachel Plating of the Lakeland-based band Pemberley to sing it.

Adam Davidson said he talks to O'Brien regularly and plans to meet with the director at regular intervals to review the music. He said established film composers normally complete a score without consulting the director.

"I don't have confidence in my abilities enough to work that way," Adam said.

O'Brien, though, has plenty of confidence in Adam Davidson.

"What Adam is creating is essentially a story in its own right, and it really does help bring out a depth that we wouldn't get with just the picture and dialog alone," O'Brien said. "Sometimes it's surprising what results in our collaboration. I may come in with something in my mind, but when he's done working it's an altogether different feel and many times it's better."

[ Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or at 863-802-7518. ]

Thriving on Chaos

By Rick Warren | Wednesday, August 5, 2009 | 4:21 PM EDT
From PurposeDriven.com

In our Devotionals series, Pastor Rick Warren discusses the Bible passages that inspire him the most. Today's Devotional is based on this passage:

“Now your attitudes and thoughts must all be constantly changing for the better (Ephesians 4:23 LB).

Things change unpredictably today. There is no pattern to many of the changes in our world. Forecasting and long-range planning are high-risk activities now. Today we cannot guarantee more of the same of anything. About the only prediction we can safely assume is that things will change!

In this “Age of Unreason,” to use Charles Handy’s term, we must learn to think upside-down, inside-out, and backwards in order to cope with this unpredictable environment. The business writer Tom Peters calls this ability: “Thriving on Chaos.” To succeed, you must do more than cope with change, you must capitalize on it! Every change is an opportunity in disguise. Since you can’t stop change, you must learn to take advantage of it. Here are three suggestions from the Bible.

1. Keep a positive attitude toward change. Although not all changes are good, we do have the freedom to choose our attitude. Change, even when it is negative, can be an ally if you take advantage of it and use it for good: “Now your attitudes and thoughts must all be constantly changing for the better” (Ephesians 4:23 LB).

2. Never stop learning. Never think you know it all. Stay humble and you’ll be surprised who you can learn from—friends, neighbors, kids, employees, clients, and business competitors, etc. “The intelligent man is always open to new ideas. In fact, he looks for them” (Proverbs 18:15 LB).

3. Stay flexible! Before glass bottles were invented, wine was kept in canteens made of animal skins. As they aged, they’d become brittle and crack from new wine that was still fermenting. Jesus once said, “You can’t put new wine in old wineskins” (Luke 5:37–39). Here was his point: When faced with change, we must adjust or we’ll explode!

Pray this: “Dear God, help me be more flexible this week.”

Pickup Shots for 'Endure'

The NFocus crew spent two days doing some pick shots and reshooting some establishing shots for their feature film 'Endure'.

First Pitch @ Rays Game

Behind Scenes on Set of 'Endure'

Jimmy, Me and Drew on the set of 'Endure'

I am the Executive Producer of a feature film project entitled 'Endure'. We recently spent three weeks shooting the film and we are currently in post-production. You can see some more of my behind the scenes photos by going to my flickr account. Also, you can find out more about the film by visiting www.enduremovie.com.

Post-Production Process For 'Endure'

By Gary White

THE LEDGER

Published: Wednesday, June 24, 2009 at 3:25 p.m.

RICK RUNION | The Ledger

Jim Carleton, producer-editor, works on the film "Endure" shot in Lakeland.

Jim Carleton leaned close to the flat-screen monitor, peering at the video image of a criminal profiler's face. As Carleton's right hand worked a computer mouse, the scene slid forward and backward, sometimes slowing to a frame at a time.

"... his use of restraints ..." the woman on the screen said. Carleton backed up, seeking the exact right moment to cut from one camera view to another.. " ... his use of restraints ..."

"This is the tedious part," Carleton said.

Carleton is in the midst of editing "Endure," a movie shot mostly in Lakeland in April and May. He hopes to complete a director's cut this week, after which the sound editor takes over.

Carleton, a partner in Lakeland's NFocus Visual Communications, has been a video editor for nine years. He and NFocus partners Joe O'Brien and Rob Tritton serve as producers on "Endure," a small-budget detective thriller written and directed by O'Brien. It stars Judd Nelson, Tom Arnold and Devon Sawa. The Ledger has been following the project since 2007.

The 16-day shoot ended May 10, and eight days later Carleton began editing the results. Carleton, 49, has been working 10- to 12-hour days in his dimly lit office, where he has an Apple Mac Pro computer and two large, flat-screen monitors at his command. He uses a program called Final Cut Pro to edit the footage, shot in digital video.

"Endure," like most movies, was shot out of script sequence, but Carleton edits it in narrative order.

Carleton said he's averaging about one minute of "rough cut" footage for every hour of editing, or about 10 minutes a day.

"I don't know if that's good or bad," he said of his editing pace. "I just know it's very time-consuming, but we're really liking what we're seeing."

The finished movie will be about 90 minutes long.

SCENE NO. 69

On a recent morning, Carleton began on scene 69, set in a fictional police station created inside the former Southside Baptist Church.

The scene opened with a split view of a hallway and a detectives' bullpen. The police captain, played by Dennis Neal, turned a corner into the hallway and rapped on an interior window for Detective Emory Lane (Judd Nelson).

Nelson rose to meet Neal at the front of the room. After a brief exchange about a dead kidnapper, the pair walked out of the room and down the hall, still talking.

Carleton scrutinized each take, looking not only for technical errors but also assessing the composition, the performances of all the actors, including extras, and the timing of the action.

In one take, a boom mike showed at the top of the frame. In another, Neal slightly flubbed a line. In another, Carleton noticed an extra failed to react to the chief's rap on the glass.

"There's a lot to pay attention to," he said.

During shooting, a digital time-code generator synchronized the sound and picture, but in some takes technical problems occurred and the audio and video did not match up. For those, Carleton had to do "old-school" editing, manually aligning image and sound through the visual cue of the black-and-white slate clapped before each scene.

TRIAL AND ERROR

Carleton said editing is a matter of trial and error. He splices a segment together and then watches the result to judge whether it works, often repeating the process many times until everything seems right. It took him 40 minutes to construct scene 69, which lasts about 20 seconds.

Carleton moved on to the next scene, a meeting of Nelson and Neal with a criminal profiler (Candace Rice) who suggests a second suspect may be involved in the kidnapping. He watched several takes of the scene from three camera positions.

"She did a good job in this scene," he said as Rice delivered her lines crisply in take after take.

Carleton decided on an opening shot of Rice seen over Nelson's shoulder with the camera panning slowly to the left. He cut in a reaction shot of Nelson and then cut back to a tighter image of Rice.

Carleton assembles segments of eight to 12 minutes and then consults O'Brien, who watches the footage and suggests revisions. Though this is their first feature film, the men have worked together for years and Carleton said he has a good sense of O'Brien's preferences. As a result, he said O'Brien rarely requests significant changes.

The "Endure" team's post-production schedule is geared toward having a finished version ready for submission to film festivals in the fall in the quest for a distribution offer.

"Since we're doing the editing here, we do have a little luxury in time," Carleton said. "If we took it somewhere else, we would have to adhere to a very tight schedule because it's money, money, money. Doing it here, we can be a little lax and make sure we get what we want."

'Endure' Pre-Production

'Endure' Pre-Production Meeting

We are currently in pre-production on our feature film project. We begin principal photography on April 20. You can keep up to date on what is happening by checking the film's blog - enduremovie.blogspot.com.

Endure Pictures Inks Deal with Judd Nelson

Endure Pictures has finalized negotiations with Judd Nelson for the lead role of Emory Lloyd in its feature project entitled Endure. Producers of
the project are excited to have landed Judd for the lead character. “He will bring a great wealth of experience and depth to the character – We are fortunate to have him.”, says director Joe O’Brien. Judd is best know for his work in The Breakfast Club, St. Elmo’s Fire, and New Jack City.

Endure is a crime thriller in which the main character Emory Lloyd must risk everything to identify and find a missing woman before it’s too late. Central Florida will serve as the backdrop for this fast-paced highly emotional film. With a principal photography start date of April 20, the project is being produced by NFocus Pictures in partnership with producer Philip Glasser and Hi-Def Entertainment out of Franklin, TN.

Judd Nelson was born and raised in Portland, Maine; the first of three children to (attorney) Leonard & (retired 5-term State Representative) Merle Nelson. After graduating from St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire, Judd attended Haverford/Bryn Mawr Colleges in Pennsylvania where he studied philosophy. He also began acting in college theatrical productions, and performing in "summer stock." Ultimately, Judd decided to leave college for NYC to study under the legendary acting teacher Stella Adler. After two years with Ms. Adler at her conservatory, Judd made his motion-picture debut in the film Fandango, and has been working in film, television, and theatre ever since.

Jimmy's High School Jazz Ensemble

Drew's Jazz Band

Drew's Ensemble Competition

Drew warming up

Drew participated with some of his school friends in an ensemble competition this past Saturday. His quintet received a superior.

Endure Pre-Production

Phil, Dirk, Jim, Rob, Joe, and Laura going over budget.

Phil and Dirk came down from Nashville for some initial pre-production meetings for four days, during the week of February 2. We had the opportunity to meet with some potential key crew people and do some location scouting in the Lakeland area.