"Bits-N-Pieces"

The SINISTRE remaster project has been placed on hiatus. When production wrapped on Madison Strain's short film, "Bits-N-Pieces" it was time for me to honor my promise to edit the film for Studio 2060, a production facility here in Springfield, Missouri.

Special FX artist, Mike Strain Jr. worked on SINISTRE and other Borderline features in the '90s and we've been friends ever since. Mike met his lovely wife, Lily (pictured in the frame-grab images in the previous post) on the set of SINISTRE. Their son Madison is a chip of the old block, following in his father's footsteps working behind the scenes on movies. Studio 2060 is an ongoing family endeavor that offers full motion-picture production facilities with a specialty in practical special effects. Pyrotechnics, make-up FX, stunts, ect. For over 20 years, Mike has worked in the film industry and has a very impressive resume of credits! "Bits-N-Pieces" is the first totally in-house production from Studio 2060.

At the moment, I'm 99% finished with the film's post-production. As soon as I publish this post, I'll spend the day adding the finishing touches. Mike & Lily host regular barbecue get-togethers at the studio. The next one is this Sunday, where I'll deliver the final cut of BnP to premiere for the guests. It's always a thrill to see an audience reaction to a movie I've worked on. Such a shame that I never accomplished that with FLOWERS despite my attempts to get it screened at theaters here. :( Anyway, beyond Sunday's show, we intend to put together a DVD package for BnP. Mike & family have plans for more movie projects and events at the studio. For instance, we're gonna do a Grindhouse Film Festival where I'll finally get to show some of my 16mm classic horror film prints to an audience. More on that as the situation develops.

Next editing gig: Phil Stevens' new movie, LUNG II. (if you're wondering where LUNG 1 is, don't ask; it doesn't exist) I've seen most of the raw footage. In a strange way, it's a natural follow-up film to FLOWERS, yet its gonna be a completely different animal. Shot totally in black & white, no dialog again, but this time it's a one-man show. Only one pretty girl this time and her appearance will be quite brief, darn it.. For more on this movie, see the LUNG II Facebook page.

So for the two or three of you wondering what's to become of the remastered SINISTRE, it'll remain on the back burner until Winter. As I suspected, it's a total overhaul edit-from-scratch. I got about 16 minutes into it when the BnP project took over. The technical flaws are pretty frustrating! Certain shots needed to be sourced from the old edit master. Glitches galore in the raw tapes. Almost gave up a couple of times, but with the non-linear flexibility this time around I can't resist. After LUNG II, if there isn't yet another editing job, SINISTRE: Final Cut will resume. Meanwhile, back to work. If all goes well and I find some extra time, I'm thinking of doing a "Bits-N-Pieces" trailer this weekend as well. Of course, you'll see it here!