Been back home for almost three weeks now, trying to get back in the swing of things here. Cronin and John came in early last week to start the edit so things are moving on that end, but I just haven’t felt like doing anything work-related these days. I guess I deserve a break, though.

First week back was tough. Stef, the kids and I were all banged up with the time difference. We were sleepy at like 4 in the afternoon, just drifting around like zombies trying to stay up at least until 7 pm or so. One night I suggested we go to a movie and ended up watching BEE MOVIE alone, the three of them sleeping comfortable next to me. It was great fun.

But the jet-lag was expected, the semi-culture shock wasn’t. It was like we were in a completely different world over here in our home in Maryland. The familiar was unfamiliar. Even my Star Wars museum in my basement didn’t bring me as much joy as I thought it would when I thought of it in Hong Kong. Seems like things had changed.

The cold hit us immediately and then it snowed a few days after we got here, so the weather was definitely a factor. It was so nice in Hong Kong. It was also all the driving we were doing all of a sudden after three months of riding in the backs of vans or taking taxis and the MTR everywhere we went. And the fat people. I forgot how fat Frederick was. And how many people drive around in big trucks and dress in camouflage. I’m talking REAL camo, not like the TARGET shorts that I wore during the summer. I never noticed these things before.

I texted Amy after the first week here and she seemed to be going through some similar things in LA. It was like we had gone through this thing in Hong Kong that we didn’t even know we were going through until we got back to our normal existence back here in the states.

So yes, I missed the shit out of Hong Kong. I had dreamt of coming home for so many months while I was there but I actually missed my life there. I think I’ll miss parts of the experience there for a long time.

Still kind of in a funk with the sleep thing but finally got back to work this week. At least a little bit of work.

The editors Michael Cronin and John Rice arrived last week to start the edit and they are chugging along at a great clip after some technical issues right when they go here. Some problem with different versions of FINAL CUT PRO and the sound clip going out of sync. I couldn’t quite make any sense of it but that’s why we have John around, who Cronin calls a genius. That boy can fix anything once he puts his mind to it.

They’ve been working for about a week now and Michael has 20 solid minutes edited already! That boy is flying. They’re staying at these new furnished apartments about 15 minutes away from me here. Michael has a two bedroom and edits out of one of the rooms. He digs it pretty good, even though he missed his wife and little boy, Joe, quite a bit. The weather has been pretty brutal since they got here. It’s been cold and they didn’t even see the sun for the first four days they were here. Welcome to Frederick, boys!

I went to visit Michael for the first time this week today. I was nervous as hell about seeing that much of the movie already, especially the beginning, which could make or break this damn film. But Cronin blew me away. Honestly. I had given him some notes on the opening last week, trying to give him a clear picture of the way I wanted to the film to look, the way I wanted the flow of the film to go. And he just fucking nailed it.

And I knew he would. I designed the look of this film from the very first day with his cutting style in mind. I just didn’t know if I had pulled off the raw footage that he needed to make his alchemy work. And it looks like I did, so I’m a very happy camper today.

They leave on Saturday for the holidays and then return after New Years. They should have close to 30 minutes of the movie done by then. At least this cut. That’s pretty damn great. It gives us plenty of time to tweak the hell out of before looking it. Michael thinks that we’ll come in at 95 minutes or so for this cut. We’d like to end up at around 85 or so.

But his speed is great news. Gregg and Matt were worried that we’d need more time since I decided a few weeks back to start fresh and not with the cut that John had done in Hong Kong. It wasn’t that I didn’t like John’s cut, I actually liked it a lot. I just wanted Cronin to come in as fresh as he could, without even seeing what we had done in Hong Kong. I thought that seeing a cut of the film already would’ve confused him and given him ideas that I wanted him to come to on his own. I honestly thought it would slow things down.

Seems like the plan is working. Michael goes back through John’s cut as he finishes scenes, just to get a fresh feel of the scene in another way to make sure he didn’t miss anything that John caught. It’s a great system.

Anyway, it’s 10:30 and I’m about to collapse. This is really late for me since I’ve been back.

Feeling good, though. Real good. Damn good. ALTERED came out exactly one year ago tomorrow and I don’t even like to think about the shit I was dealing with at that time. I’m so grateful to be where I am right now. What a difference a year makes.

I’ll keep updating the FLICKR and YOUTUBE thing as we go. Should be a cool journey when it’s all over. Trying to keep the blogging thing going, too.

To anyone reading this from the crew in Hong Kong, Golo misses you Chinese bastards like crazy!

If case I don’t blog before then, Happy Holidays to you and yours! And let’s hope for more good things for 2008!

Peace and love from Urbana, MD.

-ed

HAXAN YOUTUBE DIRECTOR’S FLICKR PRODUCER’S FLICKR ACTOR’S FLICKR