By Heather Dodds
Daily News
Oct 6, 2008
Get a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the filmmaking process with “Dreams Awake” cast and crew at the 2008 Mount Shasta Film Festival.
“Dreams Awake,” written, directed and produced by Ventura, Calif.-based filmmaker Jerry Alden Deal, is the first feature film to be written, shot and edited in the Mount Shasta area. Shooting wrapped last fall, and Deal is now staying in Weed, where he and film editor Bob Gordon are chiseling away at the laborious editing process – a process that Deal describes as “putting together the puzzle.”
“To me, the most fun part is the production – we work 12-hour days, six days a week, and it’s fast-paced. I’m easily making 100 decisions a day during that process,” Deal said while taking a break from editing at his vacation home in Weed. “During the editing process, we sit back, take our time and edit 40 hours of footage down to two.”
Deal said he interviewed many editor candidates before landing on Gordon, who has cut films like Pixar’s 1995 animated hit “Toy Story” and 1980’s “Blue Lagoon” starring Brooke Shields.
“Partly I was looking for experience,” Deal said, “but it’s also important to find someone I get along with – we’re in close quarters for a long period of time. We’ve had a number of ‘friendly disagreements’ about how to cut a scene, but it always comes down to what’s best for the film. You have to be able to check your ego at the door.”
Gordon took that moment to interject with another “friendly disagreement.”
“Jerry says that production is the most fun, but I disagree – I love the editing process,” he said. “Jerry is a fantastic director to work for – he’s enormously receptive and a great contributor to my part of the process.”
Gordon and Deal are currently working on creating what’s called the “picture lock” – all the shots they want in the correct sequence. The picture lock must be in place before the score is added, along with visual effects.
The first time Gordon went through the film, he made sure it followed the script. From there, he and Deal work together to decide how to maximize the film’s impact on the audience.
There’s currently no hard release date for “Dreams Awake.” Deal said that these days, a small percentage of films make it to the theater – the film will be shown at festivals until it is hopefully picked up for wider distribution.
“The number is constantly changing, but it’s estimated that around 5,000 to 10,000 films are made each year, and only 600-700 are distributed in theaters,” he said, citing alternate distribution platforms as one reason for this – people today are able to host films online or send them straight to DVD. “Some people think we’re jumping out of a plane with no parachute,” he said, pausing. “Maybe we’ll grow a parachute on the way down.”
Deal, along with the film’s star Erin Gray (“Buck Rogers in the 25th Century,” “Silver Spoons,” “Baywatch”), supporting actor Tim O’Connor (“General Hospital,” “Peyton Place”), production designer Renee Prince and Gordon, will serve on the panel, which takes place on Sunday, Oct. 12 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the College of the Siskiyous. In addition to the panel, Deal will show several clips and behind-the-scenes footage shot during production.
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