Cobb Field

I’m going to start editing as soon as I finish this blog entry. Finally. It has taken more than 2 1/2 months to get everything in the computer, but we’re finally ready to go.

The first layout of the film has 17 chapters, which will constitute the first cut. Obviously things will have to be trimmed down as we go, but we have a good place to start.

We have also found a poet who is willing to contribute her work to the film. Susanna Rich is a professor at Kean University in New Jersey. It’s a perfect fit, and not just because her work is outstanding. One of our main characters, Dan Zeffiro, pitched for Kean University through last year. He is a terrific young man, and I can’t believe we’ve hooked up with two people from that school.

The end of the logging is in sight. I have about parts of about 10 tapes left to log, but I’ve decided to break off from that and do a little editing. One of the most difficult parts of this phase of post production is to decide what will actually be the parts of the story, and how will they come together. We’re working on the overall structure of the show, and we’re trying to discover just the right way to tell things.

I’ve been working on a promo for the show that will also serve as the opening “tease”. It’s a real challenge to figure out how to give viewers an idea of what’s in the show, what the tone will be, and kind of why they want to stay tuned in. It’s not easy, let me tell you.

I spent a few nights last week working on the music for the opener/promo. Recorded a bunch of it, and then found out when I started to edit that none of it worked. None of it. All over-orchestrated…it really fought the visuals and the narration. I came up with a very simple piano thing that worked well, but then Joe and I decided that the whole thing was too slow, too pretty to be an opening tease. I think I’ll re-work the music on it to give us an extra promo, because it really is beautiful imagry.

I’ve worked up a new musical approach to the intro, much more exciting, and with the opportunity to include lots more shots. I’ll start editing that tomorrow, and hope to have it done to take to Cincinnati when I shoot at the Great American Ballpark on September 24.

We’ll try to get the various promos posted on the website, along with the first batch of Dean Hendrickson’s terrific photographs as soon as Joe gets a chance to take a breath from all the work he’s doing as the Illinois Teacher of the Year.

I just spent two wonderful days back in Billings. I picked up additional interviews with a number of our characters, and spent part of one morning getting shots of the stadium as art. I was just looking for light and shadow, angle and texture, things like that. It was a nice way for me to kind of say goodbye to the ballpark. Although our time there was limited, I think we all feel a bit nostalgic for Cobb Field as we get very close to the time she’ll be torn down.

Todd Frazier, one of the characters in our documentary, was called up to Class A Dayton just after I left last weekend. It will be fun to watch as “our boys” move their way through the system.

I’m back at the computer every day, logging and capturing footage. I’d like to say I’m getting close to half way through the footage, but that doesn’t include any of the game footage. Although this is a very tedious part of the process, there’s no better way to start discovering the real story than to simply slog through everything we have and just think as we go. I’m hoping I can actually start serious editing sometime in the next month.

I’ll be making a trip to Cincinnati sometime in September to do a bit of filming, but otherwise I think we’ve closed the book on the actual production phase of the project. Feels nice.

Well, we’re early in the process of capturing the footage. There will be thousands of shots, and they all have to be labeled, logged, and organized so that the real editing can begin. It’s a long process, but it really helps to identify parts of the story. As you sit and watch the footage, minute by minute, story threads begin to emerge, and the story starts to tell itself.

When you watch every minute of the footage (and there’s more than 35 hours of it), you can kind of get a sense of what viewers will be interested in. If I find myself entranced with what’s going on, chances are viewers will feel the same way.

I’ve logged all of the footage, and things are looking very good. I’m headed back to Billings next weekend to pick up a few more interviews, and some extra shots to flesh out the story.

Welcome to the Cobb Field blog. I’ll try to post an update on the project every couple of weeks or so. We’ll be featuring some of the fine photograhy of R. Dean Hendrickson, who documented the shoot in Billings, and generally keeping you up to date on the progress of the film.

We had a wonderful experience in Billings during our early July shoot. Everyone, from the players and coaches, to the front office staff and fans made us feel welcome during our stay.

We’ll have somewhere between 35-40 hours of footage to sort through, log, and get into the computer before editing can begin in earnest. Thousands of shots will have to be logged and recorded before the show can be laid out.

I’ll be returning to Billings on August 24th and 25th to do a last bit of shooting. It will give me the chance to follow up with a few of the characters in the film, and will give viewers the opportunity to know them a bit better.

-craig