Hello!

You may recall me talking about putting together a microbudget feature film in my 2026 Incubation Year blog. And? I grabbed some footage yesterday on a scouting trip. My road trip was from Billings to the rest stop on the way to Hardin, Montana. And I picked up a bunch of shots around Billings.

Yes. I know… So very unglamorous.

That’s the point.

Cuz? I’m putting together my project based on my available resources. And my available resources? My Lumix GH4, cell phone camera, and MY IMAGINATION. Cuz dudes? I created the attached image at the rest stop. And I’m debating using it for the 3 WISHES poster. I put it up here to sit with it for a minute. It may or may not make the final cut.

As I was getting some shots to play with for the film? I realized that my story is a female version of the Prodigal Son. It’s where one sibling had stayed home to support the family and the other had gone out into the world. And cuz it’s me? I’m throwing in a psych ward with a fairy godmother wearing lace chaps.

See…

My 3 WISHES story could easily feel small cuz it primarily takes place in the two locations of the family home and the “psych ward.” I put around psych ward since it’s a staged one rather than the real one in Warm Springs.

And the thing about Montana? It’s the fourth largest state in the United States when it comes to land. For it’s population? I think it’s only broken the 1,000,000 population mark within the last ten years.

So? A story about mental health is a real story around here. Cuz let’s face it: Numerous people are isolated along with very limited access to mental health resources. I heard a story about a psychiatrist wondering if he would be sued for retiring. Why? No one was going to take over his 400+ patient load. Other people live out in the middle of nowhere. If you’ve ever been around real silence? The shit in your head can be noisy as fuck. I ran into that when I was staying in Roberts, Montana, back in December and wrote about it here: Silence.

Yup. I could honestly talk about Montana and mental health for days if not years. But? I haven’t had enough coffee yet.

Going back to my camera of the GH4 when they’re just about to release the GH8? As I’m looking at putting together a feature, wouldn’t I want the latest and greatest equipment????? My friend Veronica and I would argue about this all the time. How come? Veronica loves getting the latest gear whenever she can afford it. A lot of folks are that way. Totally cool.

Me? I’m boring when it comes to gear I want to be able to “shoot out” my camera to the point that I know it inside and out, upside and down. And I feel that I’ll be able to graduate from my GH4 after I shoot this feature. I’ve also used it on 12 of my short films. Yup. That means that I can raid that old footage for my Los Angeles shots in the film. The footage will have the same artifacts and everything else since it’ll all be from the same camera. Cool, huh?

In the meantime? I’m going to take out my camera to get more shots to break up the 3 WISHES indoor shots and show that Montana has more to it than the sweeping films show when set in the Rocky Mountains and the rest of the great outdoors around here. Cuz I want to be prepared when I shoot my actors in the summer.

This will also give me footage to play with in DaVinci Resolve. Yes. I could stick with Final Cut Pro or even iMovie or Premiere Pro since I’m familiar with all those. BUT BUT BUT??? I’m going to be teaching a short film production class this spring through Community Education. And since Resolve is free? I feel like that’s the best choice to show students in the class. It’s best to have my learning curve now. Let’s also be honest: Even the free version of Resolve is super functional.

To say that I’m excited????? YES!!!!!!

As always: Have a glamorous day for fun!!

• Uncategorized