'BEFORE HE WAKES' - March 2018 Update (Patreon)

Hello, folks! Long time no speak in regards to my horror/drama short film 'Before He Wakes', so I figured I'd give you all an update!

Basically, production was at a bit of a stand-still for December 2017 and January/February 2018. Some editing was done here and there, however due to the cast and crew having very extensive workloads over Christmas (some took up 2nd, temporary jobs) it means we weren't able to finish shooting when we planned. Also, I had to wait to raise slightly more money in order to pay for the renting of the sound and lighting equipment.

However, in regards to the footage we had already shot and what was left to shoot, we found ourselves in a rather fortunate position.

Without giving away the entire plot of the film, we had shot all of the night-time "action" scenes and a couple of scenes during the day. What we have left to shoot is the main dialogue segments between the two leads; a.k.a. the "character" scenes.

(Incidentally, I'm not saying that character scenes can't have action or that action scenes can't have character. I'm just using shorthand).

This meant we could take a look at the action scenes, we could reflect on the casting of the leads which was done after the script was already written and with that hindsight and with the opportunity to make the movie even better and make it smarter and more textured, 'Before He Wakes' is essentially getting a re-write.

The "action" night-time scenes are set in stone. However, going through the rough-edits, I got the sense that there's more development to be gleamed from the story I'm trying to tell. So the dialogue-heavy scenes are going to be re-written.

Once again, without spoiling anything, while the motive behind the antagonist was deliberately vague at first, now we're adding more. In my opinion, there's nothing inherently wrong with ambiguity, but 'Before He Wakes' is a metaphor for relationships, particularly abusive ones and what motivates the abuse and the enabling of that abuse. These were things I wanted to address and include in 'Before He Wakes' but upon reflection I felt like I could take these themes further and, god forbid, really make the movie  "about" something more than I originally intended.

In hindsight, the ambiguity we currently have feels artificial and while character motivations will not be entirely clear-cut (mainly because even a person does not explicitly know what motivates THEMSELVES) there will be more to chew on and hopefully even give the movie some re-watch value.

So re-writes are underway, rough-cuts of what's already been shot are being assembled and music is being composed. The project is coming together incredibly nicely and this brief production hiatus will hopefully be an example of turning lemons into lemonade and making the project even better.

Thank you all for your continued support. You folks are making the project possible and I'm incredibly grateful for your patronage.

Kind regards,
Trilbee