Alright folks, here's the deal. I'm working my ass off over here.

Me working with the Andy Finkel footage. 

Me at the new and improved home edit suite. Two edit systems now. 

Here's what's been happening! 

I've been able to get a good amount of editing done on the story cut, but I found that working a very demanding job was sucking away all my free time. And also, all my down time was wasted at work too: I could have been doing more editing during the day, but understandably, my boss wasn't keen on me editing my film at work.

So I did something I have been dreaming of doing forever.

I broke free and am doing my own production company full time.

Please check it out and tell your friends. We are open for business.

www.rocksteadymediaservices.com

I got a great client already and am already making great videos for them...all out of my home office. And I've got WAY more time for the film! This is the spirit of the Amiga as I always saw it. Just doing it yourself, right?

I am reenergized and excited about the film like never before! My creativity is at a peak now!

So we will be on track. I promised story edit this fall. It'll be there in about 6 weeks. And yeah, finished film late next year.

Stay tuned everyone. Thanks again for the support.

Zach

Bloggity blog blog! 

Hey everyone. I've made some posts in Facebook and on Kickstarter, but just wanted to let everyone here know that things are on track. Folks, the film is happening. Just wanted to let everyone know what's up. I've been quiet, but that's because I've been in the lab and making it all make sense. I will get back to all of you, I promise. And man, we have incredible footage and interviews.

Here's some insight into how a project like this is managed: We are in the editing phase, and it's flowing right along. I developed a strategy before shooting that is working quite well. Using a fantastic app called Scrivener to manage and sort all of the footage into various topics and story points. I wrote the interview questions to conform to this structure, so now I am sorting the clips according to the "skeleton" I made. 

By the end of the fall, we will have a "content cut"...that is the interviews and any narration that composes a framework of the film. After that comes "B-roll", camera captured imagery and archival footage, to illustrate the various topics, and then a layer of animation to supplement. After that, of course is the soundtrack. Finally, we have a color -corrector on board with the film now, who will give the movie a distinct color palette and rich shading. He works for the NFL doing high end commercial work. Yep. This is the real deal, guys.So bear with me as we move through this process. It's a long one, but I will have you a finished film next year. We are on schedule. Viva Amiga, my friends. Yeah.

Above you can see a snapshot of my computer screen while I'm cutting RJ's interview. 

Zach

Viva Amiga in Europe!

Hello my fellow Amigans...

Alright, I've gotten the message. You all want me to blog more. I know, I know. Look, I promise I'm working hard, and I'm the type of guy who doesn't say much unless he has something to say. Well, I certainly do now! To make up for lack of bloggification, check this big entry! I promise to be better at this in the future!

So, finally the time for the Eurotrip came...and went. It was all a whirlwind of beautiful sights, warm and friendly people and shooting, shooting, shooting! Let's take a look at the pics we managed to snap in between shoots in Frankfurt, Zoetermeer, and Saarbrucken. Forgive me for not including the umlauts.

Here's my friend and travel partner Marvin Droogsma with his souped-up Volvo. First of all, Marvin is one of the most incredibly cool guys I've ever met. This man totally made my trip possible. Some people offer help in the form of pointers or advice. All well and good, but when you're in unfamiliar territory, you need men of action on your side. This guy really took charge and made things happen for me, so I could focus on the film instead of the travel details. Second, this guy really knows how to drive. It was pedal to the metal all the way to Frankfurt, and Petro lives right outside of it. 

Representing Amiga while we drive.

 We had stopped in Essen along the way to Frankfurt to give us a rest point and make some calls.

 Curry Karl! It's really funny. Marvin kept trying to push McDonald's and Subway on me, thinking I wouldn't be too fond of more local favorites. Screw that, I'm having currywurst. I'm in Germany!

Mmm. Sausage and curry. Two great tastes that taste great together.

Essen. 

Petro's Place! We interviewed him first. Went well, and we got to meet a man who really tried to keep the Amiga going long after Commodore had called it quits. Petro was just like I expected...warm, personable and very eager to help us. Great interview, Petro! 

 Getting some footage of Petro, Patric Kloter, and Petro's awesome gallery of Amiga memorabilia.

We got some great stuff here. 

 Petro took us out to eat at a kick-ass Italian place after the shoot.

Amigans updating their statuses and whatnot. 

Woohoo! Hotel party in Frankfurt! Shame it's just two geeks in a room. This room kicked serious ass though. It was wired for all kinds of stuff with two big monitors. 

The Dormero. Great hotel. I recommend it next time you're in Frankfurt. The breakfast buffet is spectacular. I'll take a German breakfast over an American one any day. Yeah, I said it. Deli meats and cucumbers in the A.M. Why not? 

Me grabbing some footage of the lovely German countryside. Uh yeah, this is one heck of a beautiful country. No wonder Germans are so proud of it. 

Hold up, wait a minute! I totally somehow forgot that my great friend Hannah lives in Koln. Marvin and I were driving by and I thought, heck, let's give her a call and stop by since we have an extra minute. 

Koln.

And after an hour or so, we decided to just ask her along for the journey. Two is hardly a film crew, but is sufficient for this type of shoot. Three is much better. She came along to help! 

 Train station in Amsterdam. We went and checked the scene downtown.

 A Dam fine city.

Amiga Party in Zoetermeer! We had a nice turnout. Here's everyone just chillin' before the presentations. 

 Me in another room grabbing an interview with a really talented and interesting Dutch TV producer. This guy worked on "Lingo" and other shows. Who knew "Lingo" was Dutch? And Amigas were used? His interview was phenomenal. 

Lining up shots. We did about eight interviews here, including one with the creators of "Purno de Purno". A very weird and awesome and totally politically incorrect Dutch animated TV show. Expect to be a little dazed and amazed with their interview. They used Amigas. Google it. 

 The Purno de Purno guys. 

RJ Mical watching. 

 People hanging with RJ and generally enjoying the get-together.

 After the shoots and presentations, we all sat down for some burgers, krokets (mmm) and fries. 

Marvin and the rest of the gang. 

More to come. I didn't get a lot of still pics at the Revision party in Saarbrucken. Gonna get to grabbing some stills off the footage this week.

Stay tuned, Amigans! This Euro shoot took the film from great to awesome. Oh my God, I am so excited now. Thanks again to all my donators! It's all because of you! 

Zach

Chillin' with Porter

Hey all!

A little while back I went to Jeff Porter's house and picked up some archival B-roll footage on VHS for Viva Amiga. All kinds of promotional video and some great print materials as well. Jeff was cleaning out his basement and gave me a call to come get it. And while we were there, we played with Jeff's Commodore laptop prototypes and his CDTVs. Check it out!!

Jeff shows off the boxes of goodies.

Jeff with the prototype.

It actually powered up. And kinda worked.

Corroded AA's. Jeff, you're killing us, buddy.

Jeff with the CDTV.

What a cool design this thing had.

Ports.

Jeff with some blow-ups of those famous magazine covers.

The Big California Shoot, Part 1

The Big California Shoot.

Howdy folks. We got back from Cali a few days ago, and I finally caught up on jet lag and work, so I can show you what we did out there.

First of all, the trip was a huge success and a big step for the film. We're almost finished shooting in the US now, I feel. Just a few more random interviews and then comes Europe in late winter/early spring.

This trip was the turning point for the film. I went from being fairly confident that I had a really good film on my hands to being absolutely positive that I do. The interviews I shot out in the Bay Area and AmiWest filled in the missing holes that I felt we needed to really tell the story. Europe is pretty much the only gap we need to fill at this point, except for a small US amiga user shoot or two.

The first shoot was actually at RJ Mical's house. Wow. To an Amigan, this is a pretty big deal of course. I wish I could go back and tell my 13-year-old self that someday I would meet one of the principal Amiga designers and attend a party at his place. And oh yeah, make a film about the Amiga too. RJ threw a party for us and his old Amiga buddies, and all kinds of people showed up.

Here's a rundown of the interviews we shot first:

RJ and Dave Needle

First up, Dave Needle. There's RJ giving him a big welcoming hug.

Me giving Needle the lowdown

Needle's Interview

Next up was Mike Boom, technical writer at Amiga, Inc. 

Mike on set

Some party snacking and shmoozing. I can't remember the name of every person pictured here, so rather than name some and not others, I'll just show general party shots. They're mostly original team members. I'll get with RJ and make sure I get the names right, and fix them here. 

Next up, Don Reisinger. First Director or Marketing at Amiga, Inc. and employee #3.

Don's Interview

And last but not least, the Big Kahuna. 

RJ Mical's Interview

Oh yeah, RJ worked on Sinistar, the classic arcade game as well. Run coward! We also asked him about his time at Williams in Chi-town. 

More party pics. 

So yeah, this worked out incredibly well. We had an amazing dinner...RJ and his personal assistant cooked us chicken curry, these amazing portobello mushrooms, and these crazy pork roll things. We got amazing interviews. Some of the very best footage yet. 

Thanks to RJ especially for coming through and being an incredible host. The guy is really a class act and I plan to repay him by making the film Extra Specially good, instead of just really good, as I was planning. 

Stay tuned for the Big California, Part 2! Pics and notes from AmiWest! 

Much love and HAM, 

Zach