Archives: Virtual Crew

Virtual Crew,

Why has RECKONING taken so long?

I’ve been shooting a film school at the same time.

Well okay…that’s one of the reasons. I suppose acting, running the camera and directing hasn’t helped anything.

But here’s the point:

Today the film school is officially operational!

Wait, that sounded like I’m talking about the Death Star.

How about this:

Write & Direct is LIVE!!!

​https://writedirect.co/

I started this project 19 months ago.

Students will learn how to make a movie in literal, hands on steps.

From idea through post production. And they’ll be plugged into a private, growing community of filmmakers.

And that’s just the beginning. More is coming like the new Write & Direct Studio platform!

The school isn’t 100% done. We’ve launched with the Development course. Over 30 lessons on how to tell a story for the big screen.

Pre-Production launches next. Then Production and finally Post Production.

You are hearing about this first.

Check my Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok (my goodness).

No announcements yet. Just you guys!

Remember: If you know anyone who wants to be a filmmaker, as Virtual Crew, you can get them in for free. They pay nothing.

Email me for the discount code.

Here’s the link to register: https://writedirect.co/enroll/​

I’m telling you, anyone who goes through this training will be so much further ahead in many areas than I was after graduating from film school in Hollywood, CA.

Back to RECKONING…

Journey and I return to the farm to reshoot a few shots in the barn tomorrow. Her tooth is much more loose, but it’s still in.

Oh, and I just received permission to use this song in the film:

Josh Turknett has graciously agreed to let me use his music for FREE.

So kind. Thank you Josh!

That’s all for now…

Kyler Boudreau

P.S. Thanks so much for celebrating with me. For any sharing of the school, the film…for your moral support!

​

Virtual Crew,

Life never goes the way you plan. Right?

For example, you think you’ll celebrate certain things. Like your daughter’s first loose tooth.

But when your daughter is the star of your film and you’re not done shooting?

HECK NO.

48 hours ago, Sandi announces Journey has two loose teeth.

You could hear my scream echo through the North Carolina mountains.

NO!!!!!

She can’t lose a tooth! Rose Lawson can’t suddenly have a gaping hole in her smile.

Instead of celebrations from Daddy, Journey received lectures.

“Do not wiggle them!”

And yesterday, last minute, we set out on a LONG shooting day to get two final scenes completed.

It all began with breakfast that included scene inspiration.

Then it was back to it.

One of the scenes was SCENE 50. The final duel betwen Ghost and Rose. To be honest…I’ve been avoiding this scene. It’s big. It’s tough.

But the loose teeth kicked me in gear.

The weather didn’t really care about RECKONING. We sat on the porch of an old farm house, waiting for the rain to stop.

It stops. I haul the gear back out. Rain starts. Return to porch.

Daddy Director became frustrated. Rose Lawson stayed happy.

Hey….at least there was a porch.

Then God granted us cloud cover without rain. Journey stepped into the role of Rose Lawson.

At this point in the story, her character has realized nobody is left to help her face Ghost. She’s gotta trust God and do this again.

Ghost is in for a surprise. Whups…that was a spoiler. I’m supposed to alert you ahead of time. But you’re crew! That’s part of it.

After the final duel it was was off to Rose’s cabin.

It was time to finish SCENE 8.

Here the audience is introduced to Rose’s shooting abilities as she pops apples off the fence with a six shooter.

Good story telling always, always, always includes setups and payoffs.

I can’t have seven year old Rose Lawson pull a gun at the end without showing her handle a gun earlier. The audience would cry “foul.”

But here’s the other part…You can’t just stick a setup in for the payoff.

Setups MUST work on their own as entertainment. The payoff is the bonus. If you remove the payoff, the setup should still stand.

In RECKONING we see Rose shoot apples off the fence. Jacob Miller shows up to compliment her skill. Jacob tells her “the Philistines kept coming back after David.”

Problems in life never go away with one punch. They regroup and come back after us. Sometimes worse than before.

Goliath was just Philistine fight number one for David.

The Philistines never gave up. And David had to continually trust God to beat them again. So does Rose. So do we.

So back to the setup…the apple scene works on its own as entertainment, but keeps the audience from having an issue with the end of the movie. And it also speaks to the theme of the entire story!

BTW…wanna know how the apples fly off the fence?

Fishing line tied to the stem.

I asked Journey if she’d like me to tie a bit to a loose tooth.

She said tooth fairies don’t leave a reward if you force the tooth out.

Wait…what? The rules have changed since I was a kid and my Dad yanked my tooth out with a string. Without me knowing it was about to happen btw.

So that’s the latest. THANK YOU for reading and being a part!

Kyler Boudreau

Virtual crew,

Hey, a huge thank you for those who are helping share the school!

Official post production on RECKONING is slowly beginning.

Not much is cut together yet.

However, there is one scene put together as a rough cut that I want to share with you!

It features actors Journey Boudreau, Terri Goodman and Keith McKim.

And by rough I mean rough.

You know, how you look when you roll out of bed in the morning.

Okay, okay. How I look after rolling out of bed in the morning.

It’s scene 13 in the movie.

Color correction isn’t done. VFX on the windows isn’t done. Sound design isn’t done. There’s even a moment when the sound completely drops out.

But you’re virtual crew, so you get to see this film in the rough stages.

Here’s the link to watch it:

​https://theatereleven.com/scene-13​

The password is virtualcrew.

Hope you enjoy! There are some bloopers at the end, so let it play after it hits black.

Kyler Boudreau

P.S. I’ll tell you more about post production soon. And as more is cut together, you guys get to see it first!

Virtual Crew,

The last update was nearly a MONTH ago!

I know, I know.

Completely unacceptable.

So here’s the deal…actually, let’s circle back to that.

Have you ever failed?

You know, just botched something in life?

Yesterday, Journey and I hit up a local creek to shoot the intro scene where we meet Rose Lawson.

But yesterday was a RESHOOT. I screwed it up the first time.

How???

By not doing my shot list.

A shot list includes every camera setup, movement, framing, etc that you want in a scene. Basically, a director visualizes the movie ahead of time. Shot by shot.

I’m a HUGE shot lister.

But for this intro scene, some type of director laziness set in.

“I can just take Journey and knock this one out.”

Uh, yeah….WRONG answer.

Got back to editorial and realized I was missing a key shot.

Or two. Or three.

DANG IT!

Next step? I did the shot list like a good little director and we went back.

Fortunately, Journey is a good sport.

But don’t worry virtual crew….production is close to wrapping.

In fact, we’ve even begun post production tasks like FOLEY.

My final actor arrives in 5 days. For those who read the script, it’s Jacob who tells Rose the Philistines “kept coming back.”

And that, by the way, was the film’s theme spoken.

Many movies do this at the very beginning. Someone other than the protagonist, speaks in a subtle manner to the overall theme of the film.

So anyway, that’s the latest.

But do you have 29 more seconds?

If so, keep reading!

I wanna circle back to something from up top.

A reason RECKONING has taken so long is that my time has been divided.

You see, shooting RECKONING is a two-fold project.

One, to keep making movies and shoot a sequel to Rose and the Outlaw.

But the larger purpose?

To use the film as a class project.

Many aspiring filmmakers are nuking their finances at film school, only to realize Hollywood doesn’t care about education.

Film school is not the silver bullet some believe it to be.

Especially if you want to write and direct.

An alternative?

Write & Direct. My upcoming, cohesive filmmaking education.

It will liberate aspiring filmmakers.

All of that to say, this is why RECKONING is taking so long. There are two productions going on.

But we’re moving forward! And you guys will be the first to know about the school launch. In fact…I have something really cool to give you.

Thanks for hanging with me on this!

Kyler Boudreau

P.S. Visit https://writedirect.co/ to see the early stages.

P.S.S. I was named after another Kyler. His name is Kyler Welch. His parents Beverly and Leroy Welch are dear friends of my parents. Beverly is part of our virtual crew, and she has been hit with very serious health complications in the last month. Could you ask God to heal her body in the name of Jesus and bring them through this? That would mean so much!!!

Virtual Crew,

Mother’s Day had us out of town. It was good!

We got back, ready to shoot and that’s when my hero fell off her bike.

Just like that. WHAM! Face injury.

So I could either recast or wait it out.

Decided to go with the latter.

Good news is the scab is off and we’re back at it!

Yesterday we returned to the Elizabeth Prince House in Highlands, NC to reshoot some scenes — Thank you Lance and Harry!!!

I didn’t get the footage I needed of Journey during production, so she and I were a small crew to knock out her takes.

Pictured below is a key scene in RECKONING where Rose discovers Doc and Addie have both been injured.

Another scene we had to get Journey’s takes on was with Addie Crain played by Terri Crain Goodman (pictured below).

So the big question is, “How does Journey act without the other actors?”

It’s tough.

There’s so much at play when you’re acting off someone.

In fact, in the industry they call it being a “generous actor” when you put your full heart into a performance when you’re not on camera.

Meaning, you’re doing it to help the actor who is.

With our micro crew, Daddy is the fill in.

I attempt to act like Terri Crain Goodman (emphasis on attempt).

But other challenges arise — For the scene with Doc I tried to sit on the bed, but my reflection was caught in the mirror behind her.

Crud!

So no generous acting happening for Journey.

But she needed an eye line at the least.

So our actor Keith McKim was reduced to a light stand on the bed.

Journey used the silver top of that light stand (above) as the imaginary face of Doc Howell.

This my friends, is a talented actress.

Look at the emotion…

And now I’m realizing I paid Keith too much.

Wait…He wasn’t paid. Thank you Keith!

Today we take Rose to a stream for one of the film’s opening shots.

As long as she stays off her bike. Or doesn’t fall into the stream.

The details. I just wanna direct!

Our FINAL huge scene to shoot is the stand off between Ghost and Rose.

It’s epic and I’m a tad nervous about it…but don’t tell anyone.

Thanks for going on the journey!

Kyler Boudreau

P.S. My wife’s incredible work with Young Living is what has freed me up to make movies. I worked full time before she started with Young Living. Not only has it transformed our health, but our finances. She just shared about her 9 YEAR ANNIVERSARY today! I’d love it if you checked out her post on FB: https://www.facebook.com/sandi/posts/10166659470365207​

Virtual Crew…

This is what it looks like when you foolishly decide to act in your movie.

(Thanks for grabbing the shot Sandi!)

And as promised…The first teaser is up only for you to see!

Nobody else has viewed outside immediate actors and crew.

This teaser is super short, and designed for those who watched Rose and the Outlaw, but don’t know Ghost Face is still alive.

Well…actually Ghost Face did die and now he’s Ghost. Hahaha. Only you guys know the inside scoop!

The video is password protected.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzjJLkLTJBk

Thank you Dane Walker for your awesome work on the music!

Journey and I are heading out to the Cashier’s Historical Society today to grab some final scenes.

More soon! Thanks for being a part.

Kyler Boudreau

P.S. If any of you have 15 seconds to do me a favor, could you go to IMDb and rate Rose and the Oulaw for me? That’s a huge help!!!

Virtual crew…My sister (Katie) emailed after the last update and said:

“Wow, I never realized how films do that with the hero. Okay, so now I need to see what Lightning McQueen did to get us to like him before he ridiculed his crew.”

Good point Sis! For those of you interested, here’s how Pixar did it:

There are four general categories for Empathy Intentions.

1) Cool Factor

2) Not as Bad

3) Endearment

4) Relatable Person or Problem

With CARS and Lighthing, they used:

1) COOL FACTOR

If your hero is skilled, intelligent, strong, confident — the audience is on board. Lightning was fast, popular…and the audience wants to be with the cool cat. But this isn’t enough!

2) NOT AS BAD

Chick Hicks was the competing, green race car. Hicks was so arrogant and selfish that he was willing to put lives at stake in order to win. Ego isn’t cool, but killing others to get what you want? That’s way worse.

The audience instantly wants Lightning to smoke this Chick Hicks guy.

That’s how “not as bad” always works. Right away, in the beginning of the film, they show us a bad guy who is worse than our hero.

If you have a hero with major issues, or a character who is a thief or some other villain (Michael Mann’s HEAT is an example), make sure someone else is worse, and you’ll be okay.

4) RELATABLE PERSON or PROBLEM

Most of us can’t relate to being a race car. We can relate to what a rookie feels like. The new kid on the block. The underdog. And that’s how they positioned Lightning McQueen. And this tactic always works.

So there you go…Pixar is genius. Cars, Finding Nemo/Dory and so many others just CRUSH story telling like nothing else.

In fact, did you know Cars also uses personality colors? Similar to Enneagram. But that’s another conversation entirely.

Hope you enjoyed!

Kyler Boudreau

P.S. Going to send the teaser out to you tomorrow!

Virtual Crew…We’re back!!!

Today we returned to the restored share croppers cabin.

But lemme say, the family break was dang cool. A FREE trip to Maui.

What???

Yep. My wife (Sandi) earned the trip with Young Living, the essential oils company she’s been involved with for 9 years.

In fact, Sandi’s hard work with Young Living is what allowed me to pursue filmmaking like this!

Not kidding.

Before Young Living, I had a full time job with all my film stuff happening nights and weekends, and zero budget for gear. Not ideal.

This is the sad story of so many people in Hollywood trying to make it in the industry. So…THANK YOU Sandi!!!

Today we shot in the cabin and a scene in the barn.

Goats, chickens, dust and straw.

Something extremely important in RECKONING happens in the barn, with a goat named Buster.

Why is a goat important?

It’s the “pet the dog” scene. Others call it “save the cat.”

These are industry terms for something filmmakers do early on in a film.

I personally call them Empathy Intentions.

WARNING: We’re about to nerd out again.

But that’s why you read these updates, right?

A crucial job of every filmmaker is to ensure the audience sides with the hero. Right away, at the beginning of the movie.

Why?

Because if we don’t care about the hero, we won’t care about the story.

Writers strategically use empathy intentions to make this happen.

Shouldn’t it be easy?

You’d think, but here’s the thing: Every hero has a flaw. It doesn’t matter if it’s Batman or Lightning McQueen. And sometimes the flaw is pretty bad.

Take Lightning McQueen in CARS.

If you remember, Lightning was extremely arrogant.

His entire pit crew quit at the beginning because he was so mean. And Lightning ridiculed them as they left!

So we’re supposed to like this guy?

Yes, and we already did because Pixar used empathy intentions to hook us before the flaw was introduced.

One empathy intention often used is to have the hero do something nice to an animal. This is called “Petting the Dog.”

Why does it work?

Because when an audience sees someone care about an innocent animal, we’re sold.

Take Gladiator for example — They used two animals with Russel Crowe in the first three minutes of the movie.

There’s more to say, but I’ll hold off before your eyes glass over.

I cover this in granular detail in my online film school that launches this summer. More on that later!

Journey did good today. She really got into her roll, which was super cool for me to see!

See the small lamp in the foreground? Sandi purchased it from an antique store on the day Journey told us she wanted to put her faith in Jesus.

Production design always has meaning!

Okay, I’ve gotta start logging footage.

Good to be back…more soon.

Kyler Boudreau

P.S. Dane Walker (our composer) finished the music for the teaser! I’ll show it to you first before release.

P.S.S. So I can’t just mention a film school and not say more. It’s called Write & Direct, and it’s designed to hit the fast forward button on those who want to become filmmakers. I promise to share more soon!

Sometimes the set of RECKONING is bustling with actors and crew.

And sometimes it’s just me solo — This was the case yesterday.

I play Ghost in the movie.

A beginning scene in RECKONING involves Ghost and a man named Noble. As you may remember, Noble is played by Rick Roepke.

(He was in town a few weeks ago to shoot his scenes)

The problem?

I only had Rick for one day. This meant zero time to shoot Ghost’s takes. So what do you do?

You go back later and shoot the rest.

But this gets tricky…eyelines, different locations. It can go wrong very fast.

Additionally, I had to re-shoot a few shots because I left my wedding ring on the last time. Those of you who commented (thank you!) will be pleased to see the updated ring-free hand:

Another fun event this week was including two of Journey’s cousins in the film! Mercy (right) and Sylvie (left).

They did awesome. And their mother, Cara Lee, didn’t realize I was gonna put her to work on set too!

Thank you, Cara Lee.

Today, cold weather and snow shut down production, so I’m doing post work instead. This involves labeling shots, beginning rough cuts, etc.

On a “normal” studio film, the film editor works in tandem with production so there’s a completed cut of the movie ready for the director to watch once production wraps.

In the land of low budget indie film, it all falls on me.

But I love every part.

Thanks for being virtual crew!

Kyler Boudreau

P.S. One of the next scenes we shoot is the final duel between Rose and Ghost. It’s gonna be intense!

Virtual Crew,

This last week was a complete whirlwind.

I can’t say thanks enough to my talent and crew for hanging with me.

We shot in a cabin that was so cold you could see your breath. The only bathroom was an outhouse, inhabited by a squirrel.

No joke. You knock, open the door and step back for the furry bullet.

One time it landed on me.

Anyway…

I want to introduce you to our main characters:

First off, Doc Howell played by Keith McKim. Keith is a dear friend who lives here in Highlands, NC. He’s an entrepreneurial builder with a lot going on, but he gave of his time to be in the film. Thank you Keith.

Terri Crain Goodman (my third cousin) has been in theater since the age of 13. She flew in from Chicago and WOW! We were blown away by her talent and incredible help on set. Terri plays Addie Crain.

Lyle Matthis is a good friend. He and his wife Jakema DROVE from Texas and worked crazy hours for a week just to help us out. They were incredible. Lyle plays Lyle Amos in the movie.

Jakema Matthis was our official Script Supervisor, or “Script Super” as they’re known in the film industry. She was awesome. You can see her working away just behind me below…

Rose Lawson is played by our very own Journey Rose Boudreau. When you’re 7 years old, sometimes a lady bug on set is more interesting than your line, but Journey stuck it out. I couldn’t do this movie without our big girl.

Lucent Taylor (Ghost) is played by myself and Aniah McKim. Aniah stepped into the role for me when I had to be behind the camera.

Here’s Aniah in the Ghost costume on set at Highlands Historical Society’s “Elizabeth Prince House.”

Aniah also acted as Second Assistant Camera.

Jehlena McKim was our production sound mixer and Gardner (blue cap) is a local indie film guy that volunteered his time one day.

Elias McKim ran important errands for us and helped me move from one location to the next. I seriously couldn’t have done this without the McKim family!!!

Also, a huge thank you to Derek and Kennick Oldenkamp who drove from South Carolina and slaved away in the cold!!!

And last but far from least is my wife Sandi. She has been CRAZY supportive during this insanity. Sandi performed in all sorts of roles from acting coach, to 1st AD, 2nd AC, Producer, Host, Marketing Consultant…and more.

Thanks sweetie.

Thank you for your prayers for us on set!

We felt them.

Production isn’t finished, but I’ve had a couple slower days to grab shots with just me and my daughter, and get more sleep!

Thank you virtual crew!

ALSO, I’m going to send out text messages for behind the scenes info as well. If you’d like to see other updates via text (that will not be sent via email) simply text ‘reckoning’ (not case sensitive) to the following number:

(424) 529-1122

That’s all for now. Hope you have a restful Sunday!

Kyler Boudreau