Yea, I know, it's been forever since I've updated this blog... But I've been busy, I swear. Here's what's been going on since we last chatted:
Dawn has been accepted into three festivals since the last time we talked:
I promised big news a couple of weeks ago, and here it is:
Hey, everyone!
Quick post tonight, because I have an early morning flight to catch. So, here are the bullet points. Sorry, no pictures this time.
Greetings!
Just got back from Greenville, and I am exhausted! We had the incredible opportunity to screen Dawn at the first Greenville International Film Festival, and I couldn't have been more pleased with the event. For their first year, Greenville put on a spectacular show, and I cannot wait to see what they have in store for future festivals.
 |
| Greenville, South Carolina |
 |
| Dawn screening at Zen Greenville |
“Dawn.” Joshua Matthews’ superb short film is about a young carpenter who hides a fugitive from justice at his isolated farmhouse in 19th century Kentucky.
Filmed in sepia tones, this beautifully photographed movie has the lyrical texture and unexpected violence of an early Cormac McCarthy novel.
As always, I was able to spend time with some awesome people in Greenville! Pikey Holderedge (a local filmmaker who attended SCAD with me) had his film Madly Unto Eternity screened at the festival as well, so he was able to show me around town throughout the event. I was also able to meet fellow filmmaker Andrew Disney, whose film Searching for Sonny opened the festival. He is also a Fort Worth native, and just so happens to know the guys from Shut up and Prance. If you've been following these blogs, then you know I met them at the Macon Film Festival this past February! I also ran into some people I met at the Charleston International Film Festival as well, including Tina McCard (CIFF) and Barret Burlage, whose film Wrench played at GVIFF. His film My Sister Sam played at CIFF earlier this month. Great meeting back up with both of them.
Matthews, who graduated recently from the Savannah [College] of Art and Design, is a filmmaker to follow in the future. No surprise, Matthews’ “Dawn” recently was accepted by the prestigious Cannes Film Festival.
 |
| Tina, Alfonso, Joshua, Holley, & Pikey at GVIFF |
 |
| Alfonso wins Best Short Film |
 | |
| Joshua, Miguel, Alfonso, & Pikey hanging with the Owner of Ray's |
Hello!
It's been awhile since I've updated, and I'm sorry for that. It's been a busy time for for the film and myself. But I'm back now, so let's get you all updated on what's happening with Dawn!
I just got back from the Charleston International Film Festival the other day, and man was it a blast! Great films, great friends, and great parties! Dawn wasn't scheduled to play until the final day of the festival, so I had all week to promote the film. With the help of some good friends (both old and new), we handed out tons of our festival postcards all around downtown Charleston!
 |
| Look for these at a festival near you! |
 | |
| Crowd during Q&A! |
 |
| Dawn crew after amazing screening at the Cinebarre! |
 |
| Watch Dawn Thursday, April 26th & Friday, April 27th! |
 |
| Festival de Cannes -- May 16th-27th |
Hey guys!
I've been meaning to update you all after "Dawn" had it's premiere at the Macon Film Festival, but I haven't had a chance to sit down and write it all up. And then more cool stuff happened. Like this:
And then before I could write you about how awesome that was... Bam!
So, yeah, I decided I should sit down and write this out before too much more happened, and I lost track of what to tell you. So here's an overdue update for you all...
The Charleston International Film Festival (held in Charleston, SC) runs from April 11th-15th. "Dawn" will be screened on the last day of the festival, April 15th at 1:00pm at the Cinebarre Theater in Mt. Pleasant. This is one of the festivals I was really hoping to be accepted to, because both Boogie Dabney (The Carpenter) and Daniel Jones (Skinner) are from Charleston. David Walton Smith, our Line Producer, lives in Charleston as well. And Frank Ponce, Producer, worked a stint at the Cinebarre when he lived there. So, yeah, I'm pretty stoked about playing in Charleston! In a way, "Dawn" has always felt like a Charleston production. If you want to go (and you should want to go), you can order your tickets here.
And then being accepted into the Greenville International Film Festival (located in, you got it, Greenville, SC) was one giant cherry on top. This will be GVIFF's inaugural year, and I love the thought of playing at the beginning of, what I'm sure will be, a successful festival program. Their dates are April 25th-28th, so my April is looking pretty booked; which I love! Screening times haven't been posted for "Dawn" yet, but I'll let you know when they are.
And then there's Macon. The Macon Film Festival was great. The people who run the festival are incredibly cool, and the locals are so fantastic that I really hated to leave. It was as if their happiness was determined upon the filmmakers' happiness... and believe me, they wanted to be happy. We were shown great films, and and even better times out on town. If you ever find yourself in Macon, do yourself a favor and go to The Rookery. Fantastic burgers (or so I hear, I had a fantastic Veggie Burger). And ask for Rhi. She's great!
Riley with the "Jimmy Carter." Yes that's peanut butter.
"Shut up and Prance"
JuBee and The Captain from "JuBee and the Morning After"
Hanging with the Shut up and Prance & "Cab 57" guys on my last night in Macon!As promised, the Behind the Scenes video for "Dawn." This will also be on the DVD we will be sending to all the backers.
Hope you like it. Kevin cut together something really special, and it makes me miss shooting with all these people in the beautiful state of Kentucky.
Kickstarter Backers, stay tuned tomorrow for something really special!
Till then...
Hey guys!
I wanted to pass along to you our showtimes for the Macon Film Festival this February. I'm not familiar with the Macon area, but all these venues should be downtown and easy to locate with your fancy smartphone (or Google if fancy smartphones are not a part of your daily life). Anyways, here are the times and locations:
If you are around the area, we would really love to have you come down and watch the film with us. If you're not.... Maybe plan a trip?
Also, here is the updated trailer. Well it's really the same trailer, but it has the color corrected images in place of the raw image you've been watching.
Enjoy!
Once again...
It has been far too long since I have updated you all on "Dawn". But to be honest, there hasn't been too much to update you on. Until now.
First, let me start by saying that the screening in Savannah this past November went well. It was nice to see the film blown up on the big screen, and though there were a few technical problems near the end, I believe it was a very good screening. Thank you again to all of you that could make it out.
And for those of you who were unable to attend, maybe this will be good news for you! "Dawn" is now an Official Selection of the Macon Film Festival!
This is our first film festival, and we couldn't be more excited then to screen it here in Georgia. The Macon Film Festival has been running for seven years now, and word on the street is, it's a great festival to attend. So if you are around the area, or just want to make the trip over, come on downtown to watch "Dawn" on one of their two historic theaters. The festival runs February 16th - 19th.
Next, I wanted to let you know that we have not forgotten the rewards for our Kickstarter Backers. The major reason they have not been shipped off yet is, well, I didn't feel like the movie was ready to be screened. After watching the film on the big screen, I had a few more issues I wanted to work out. It took awhile, but as of now, these issues should be wrapped up by this weekend. Another reason they are not ready is Wesley Fleming, our Executive Producer, and I want to record a commentary track for the DVD. The recording session has had to wait due to SCAD being closed for the holidays. We are trying to get studio time next week, and I'll update you on that once we are in the recording studio. The posters have been ordered, and we are waiting for the proofs to come in so we can check the quality. Should get that in the morning.
As for the DVD, here's what we were thinking of including for you all:
Commentary track with Director and Executive Producer,
The original Kickstarter video,
A special message to our backers,
A collection of some of our Volgs,
Behind the Scenes Video
If any of you guys want to see anything special on the DVD, let us know. We'll see what we can do. And as a apology, I think I'll upload the Behind the Scenes video for you guys, so you can see it a bit early. Our editor, Kevin Ray, has done an excellent job putting it together. It's short, but I think you will get a sense of how special a shoot it was.
Anyways, that's where we are at. We thank you for your patience, and once more, We thank you for your support. Please, try and see this film in the theaters if you can. It's your film as much as it is ours.
-- Joshua Matthews
What a long road it's been.
I'm proud to announce that "Dawn" is finished. Everyone's hard work has finally paid off, and we are very happy to screen the film in Savannah, GA tomorrow night (November, 17th) at 7:00 p.m. at the Trustees Theater.
I hope that those of you in, and around, the Savannah area will be able to make it out to the show. It will be playing with a few other senior and graduate thesis films, so it will be worth your time to make it out.
Thanks again for all your support! Hope you enjoy the film!
-- Joshua
Hey, guys. While waiting for the final exports from Tawan, I thought I would pass on a note he wrote on his Facebook page. Take a look at his work and thought process on color grading "Dawn"!
-- Joshua
It's been a long journey, but I can now see the light at the end of the tunnel. And thanks to Tawan Bazemore, our color correcter, that light looks much more beautiful then I could have imagined.
That's not to say we haven't had our bumps in the road. With me in Savannah, Kevin & Tawan in L.A, and Michael Lloyd in Jamaica on his honeymoon (Congrats!!!), it's been a bit difficult to work around everyone's schedule. Not to mention some technical issues that shut us down for about a week or two. However, we are back up and running.
I wanted to give you a little heads up on what's down the road for you all. Within the next week, or so, we should have our online copy of "Dawn" available for all our Kickstarter backers who donated $25 or more. The rest of the rewards will be available later in the year (Octoberish). Kevin will work on the Behind the Scenes as I put together a production book for those who bought one. Posters are finished, and they look great in frames. I will update more often once these things get closer to delivery, and give you all a little taste of whats to come.
Anyways, here's a taste of the work Tawan has done on coloring the film. Enjoy!
Okay, I confess. I'm not the world's biggest fan of visual effects. I hate the fact that, most of the time, these effects take front and center in a movie instead of the story (looking at you Michael Bay).
However, I love it that filmmakers are able to use visual effects to enhance their films. These effects are often overlooked, because they are integrated so well into the film the audience does not even realize they are seeing an effect (thank you Black Swan).
No matter what my feelings toward visual effects may be, they are here to stay. So I decided to try my hand at making a movie with a few visual effects in the way I feel they should be used. In order to do this, we had to find the very best compositor we could. That's why we asked Pat Longstreth, and thankfully, he agreed to take on the work.
Today, I was able to finally see "Dawn" in the way it was meant to be seen. And it was great! We only had around 13 VFXs, but they were essential to our film, and I'm very excited that they are finished. So excited in fact, that I wanted to share one of them with you. Here's a "before and after" shot for you:
Pretty sweet, huh? Yeah, I know it's not a giant, fighting robot. That's what makes it cool to me, though. The fact that you can't tell it's a visual effects shot is exactly what a film like this should look like, and I can't thank Pat enough. Working with him also reminded me of why I love films so much. It's a collaborative effort. Everyone on the team brings something to the table, and it's makes the film become something more then what the writer, or director, first thought it could be.
Anyways, hope you enjoyed the sneak peek. You'll be able to see the rest of the effects once the film is released...
Or will you?
Alright, so I haven't posted an update in awhile. Sorry. I guess that's the nature of this post-production process. We are busy on all fronts, though.
I was able to get a peek at the visual effects the other day, and am excited to say, they are coming along very well. Can't wait to plug them into the film and see them with the rest of the movie. Very exciting!
Sound and score are currently being worked on as well. As soon as I have a taste of the score for you all, I'll post it.
But now on to what this blog is really about:
Great, right? Yeah, it's great. That was Brett Brooks.... as he told you, already. He was the storyboard artist for "Dawn". He also designed the poster and website for us. I am very excited for this project, and hope you are, too.
So we are asking for your help to get this project off the ground. Please visit the Kickstarter page and check out all the information, and if you find yourself wanting to donate, it would be greatly appreciated. And be sure to read about all the rewards! He has a $25 "pre-order" reward that will get you a signed copy of the finished book! You can't beat that, guys.
Well, thanks for the support you continue to show for "Dawn". Any you can give to "Dust Bunny" will be great!
What a long night. But a fruitful night. After numerous attempts at a poster using production stills from on set, the decision to try something more representational with graphic art was made. And I think it was the right decision. Allow me to present to you all the final "Dawn" poster (click to embiggen):
Not only was the night spent on perfecting this beauty, but the website was updated in both looks, and functionality. If you click the "Press Kit" link on the homepage, you will get to download the film's electronic press kit. This will be sent to the film festivals we submit to later this Fall. Inside this kit, you'll find information about the film, crew, cast, and other nuggets of information. I think this turned out very nice, and I hope you all enjoy it.
None of this, however, could have been possible without the help of Brett Brooks, who took time out of his busy schedule to undertake this project. Brett also served as the film's storyboard artist.
I'm really appreciative for his time and work, because not only is he busy, but he's busy working on his first graphic novel, Dust Bunny. I encourage you all to check out his progress, and keep up with all the new updates he posts. This is going to be a fantastic novel.
We have also attached new members to the "Dawn" crew. I mentioned in my previous post that we are hard at work on finishing up the last bits of post-production, but I haven't formally introduced the new members.
Patrick Longstreth will be acting as our Visual Effects Compositor. He'll be in charge of making sure that the handful of VFX shots are integrated nicely within our film. I'm looking forward to seeing his work. The last time I worked with him, Pat gave us this. You can check out his personal website here.
In the ways of sound, we have James Scullion as our Sound Design Supervisor. He's taking charge of making sure "Dawn" sounds as if it was filmed in the 1800s. Sound is half the film, and I'm both excited and confident that James will bring something new to the world of "Dawn".
Well, that's it for today. Thanks for supporting us, and I hope you like all the new stuff we're giving you.
Joshua
Yeah, so it's been a long time since I've had the chance to sit down and send you all an update on the film. I'm really sorry about that, so I'll try and catch you all up on what's been going down.
If you're like me, then you must be missing the Vlog updates. Kevin Ray (editor) has done a great job with keeping you all up to date on our progress, and has done it in very creative, and often hilarious, ways. Unfortunately, once we began actually cutting the film, he did not have a lot of time to work on the updates. On the up side of that...we do have a movie.
I still have some behind the scenes videos lying around, so maybe I can get to them. I'll try and do as good as a job as Kevin. But no promises on either of those things. There is still a lot to do in ways of post-production. But before I get into the work to come, I'd like to reflect on the work that's been done, and the process of getting to where we are now.
We arrived in Paintsville, Kentucky on May 14th. That day we unpacked and rested in preparation of the long week of filming. We were welcomed with open arms from the people at Mountain Homeplace, and were often treated to great meals (Thank you BLUE GRASS BAR-B-QUE!) after long days of filming.
We shot at Mountain Homeplace for three nights and four days. Yes in that order. You usually do not want to start filming with nights first, but when working with the crazy logistics we had, it made sense, and worked out in the end. In order to get the harder elements of the script finished early on, the crew had to really work hard, fast. And because of that hard work, we were able to get everything we needed to tell this story. They overcame every obstacle in their way, and exceeded an already high expectation. It was amazing watching them come together as a team, and then as a family. By the end of this shoot, we all were witnesses to something truly special that I don't think any of us expected. I can never thank this team enough.
And the cast. Man, the cast in this film was a true blessing. They made my job incredibly easy. They were always willing to go the extra mile, and do it with a smile. Even when they were getting shot at, falling to the ground with fire, or even lying down in awkward positions for long periods of time in the freezing cold. I could go on and on about each one of them. I am forever gratefully for their hard work, dedication, talent, and great attitudes.
After wrapping and coming back to Savannah, Kevin and I took a day off to recoup. Then we got to it with cutting the film. Well, you know, when we weren't busy playing Angry Birds or stacking things on top of Kevin's cat. The editing went really smooth thanks to Kevin already having a rough cut of the film one hour after wrapping in Kentucky. It's one of the best things about making a movie. Putting the pieces together, and seeing the film take shape is very exciting, and very rewarding.
It took a few weeks, but we have a film now that we are all very happy with. Michael Lloyd (cinematographer) has done a bit of color correction on it, and we are currently having the sound design, special effects, and score worked on. If everything goes as planned, we should have a complete film in August. Then we'll see about getting it in to a festival near you.
Oh, yeah. One more thing:
www.dawn-film.com
There you go. You'll find the trailer, synopsis, a link to this blog, and soon some press kit materials that we'll use at any film festivals we are invited to. Please feel free to share this with your friends, family, and even an enemy or two.
Thanks again for all of your support throughout this film. It means a lot to us all. Seeing the excitement you have for this film is great. I hope you all see it soon, and can share in some of what we all have been feeling for the past few months.
Till next time--
Joshua David Matthews
Just wanted you all to know that we have some set photos up for our shoot in Kentucky up on DAWN's facebook page. They were taken by Adam Bailey, our 1st AD.
Take a look!
