A Long Overdue Update

Virtual Crew,

My name is Kyler Boudreau. I’m a filmmaker you used to follow.

Figured an introduction was needed since it’s been 8 MONTHS since you’ve heard from me.

Was it really before Christmas? Yep, mentioned Polar Express.

I’m sorry.

Let’s avoid the laundry list of excuses.

Just know this: My commitment to finishing the film is unwavering.

What’s the latest?

Did I meet Chris Nolan? No. But it relates to his method of filmmaking.

There’s this incredible color grading product called Dehancer. It costs $500 for a license, and it’s something I just haven’t spent money on.

The company behind Dehancer reached out to me after seeing the Write & Direct YouTube channel (that’s here btw: https://www.youtube.com/@writedirect). They said I could have a lifetime license for free if I’d check out their product and do an honest review.

After screaming “HECK YEAH!” in editorial I sent them a muted, professional reply agreeing to the offer.

Okay, why do you need to know this? What is Dehancer???

Dehancer brings the aesthetics of film to digital footage.

FILM GEEK TIME:

Very few filmmakers shoot on film anymore. Chris Nolan is someone who continues to shoot all his movies on actual film. 24 frames burned for every second of screen time!

HOWEVER…even though filmmakers aren’t shooting on film, many attempt to emulate the look of film with their digital footage. This is no easy task.

With film you have various film stocks that react differently to light. You have the development process where a technician can use various chemical concoctions to yield wildly different results from the same color negative. You have the optical printing process where other things can be tweaked to affect the final image. Then there’s bloom, halation and more.

It’s a science. A science that Dehancer has decided to master. They have their own lab. They’ve sampled insane amounts of film stocks. Developed their own mathematical models and done cognitive research into how the human brain perceives colors.

With Dehancer I can literally choose the same Kodak Vision 3 color negative that Chris Nolan shoots on, and apply that look to my footage.

BRAIN EXPLODE.

FILM GEEK TIME END.

If you skipped all of that, I don’t blame you.

Here’s the summary: Dehancer proved to be so MIND BLOWING I have gone back to Scene 1 of RECKONING to revisit the entire grade.

This still of Rose Lawson is how the footage looks as shot:

Here’s the footage with Dehancer applied using their Kodak Vision 3 50D color negative emulation:

See the difference? The second image looks more like a movie should.

So be excited! RECKONING is gonna look really nice.

I’m 1/3 of the way through the grading process. Then I need to finish sound design.

And then it’s off to the composer!

Also, a bit of exciting news. Are you ready? I’m 40 pages in on a feature length screenplay that we are hoping to shoot here in the mountains of North Carolina!

It’s a thriller based on Cherokee folklore specific to the Eastern Band of Cherokee.

History Note: The horrible “Trail of Tears” happened when the Cherokee were forced from their native homelands to a reservation in Oklahoma.

However, some Cherokee fled to the mountains and avoided this travesty. Their descendants now occupy the Qualla Boundary here in Western NC, just an hour away from us!

The Eastern Band of Cherokee have a unique legend that our film will be about. Well, it’ll be about a lot more than that, but we’ll get into this later as I’m hoping each of you will remain virtual crew as we embark on a full length feature film!

That’s the latest—Thank you for hanging with me.

Kyler Boudreau