Makin' a Movie

This summer has been a wild ride for us as Kyle has taken on the huge task of creating his first full-length feature film, Eadweard.  It's a film about 1880s photographer Eadweard Muybridge who is known as the godfather of cinema.  He created the first photograph of motion and then continued to document thousands of photographs of human and animal locomotion.

After spending time last year writing the screenplay, Kyle and producer Josh spent the first part of this year working on pre-production and then filmed the movie in the month of July.

He is producing it independently which means it's low budget and takes a lot of extra work hours to make up for the lack of cash.  And he made good use of all the local resources he could. Costumes and props from local theatres, sets and locations from friends of friends, crew members wanting a leg up, and actors who just believed in the script.

And of course he enlisted as many family members as he could...

Esmé, Tyne, and I waiting for our scene. We didn't have any lines, although Tyne thought she did.  She was great for the first scenes but cried through all the rest.

Esmé did great as a boy, even though she didn't know that she was supposed to be a boy.  Here she is with the director after she nailed her scene on the first take.  In the background are the prop cameras that Eadweard Muybridge used for his motion studies.

Heading to her trailer, AKA the car, after a long day of filming.

Kyle watching the scene on the monitor.  This is where the director spends most of his time.

Brother Nick as an art student.

Cousin Pia at the World's Fair.

Auntie Elaine at the World's Fair.

Getting Tyne into costume.

The young actress ready to go.

And don't forget our cat, playing Eadweard's cat.  He might have nearly overdosed on catnip that day.

Kyle needed a picture of a baby as a prop in the film.  So we took Tyne to her first photo shoot where she posed for an old camera.  The kind where you have to sit still for a few seconds while the plate is exposed.  The photographer, who specializes in wet plate photography, then mixed all the chemicals by hand and created a tin type photograph of Tyne.

Tyne as an 1880s baby.

So now the footage is gathered and the big task begins.  Editing, visual effects, music composition, possible pick-up shots, marketing, media, festival applications, etc.  So look for the finished product sometime in the spring!