The RLT Buzz
September 2007 - Vol 2, Issue 9
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Jim

Once again we find ourselves communicating to you late in the month. We had promised a full-length trailer by September 10...so I know you are all excited to see what I've been working on. We appreciate your continued patience a little longer as I am 100% focused on finishing it up. Let me assure you, noone can wait for the trailer to be finished more than me. It's been like a really long, really rugged, all day off road trip - fun as hell but extremely draining.

I've really been pushing myself very hard to make sure this trailer kicks butt (I've also got a bit of a learning curve as I'm working with new special effects programs). So, I know we've missed our deadline as far as you, our fans are concerned, but I promise it's for a great reason. This trailer is coming together well and I promise you, you won't be dissapointed.

- James

So why the delay?

The reason is that this final trailer will be the definitive showcase of our project, "Road Less Traveled." If it's not absolutely the best that it can be, if it is lacking any of the bells and whistles that a studio or cable channel expects to see, if I leave anything out that could help sell this project and get it on a cable network...there's just no way I could live with myself.

After all, this is my life's dream and I can't let all the work that Chris Rankin, Michael Murray, Matthew Rudenburg, Sean Oakley, Rick Johnson, Mark Parry, Alex Exline, Josiah Choiniere, a cool cat named Robbie, myself, and of course my bro Steven have put into this project go to waste...let alone all the help and support given to RLT from over 70 individuals and companies combined.

And as if that weren't enough of a reason, there's you all too. You guys have stuck with us for months through our challenges and our victories. You deserve the best possible effort we can put forward. This trailer will be done soon and believe me it will be worth the wait.
This month has been a long month of sitting at the computer editing and compositing special effects with very little sleep to show for it. I could use some toothpicks to help prop my eye lids open but then again I'm guessing that would hurt.

But as exhausted as I sometimes feel, there are some very exciting and cool but tricky effects that I'm working on for this trailer which is just so cool. For example, there are a couple of segments where one image appears to float over parts of the background video. I won't tell you what these images are or where they appear in the trailer so as not to ruin the thrill of the moment when you see it yourself for the first time.

The effect is called "painting". And for every second of video that this effect is used in there are 30 individual frames. And each frame with this "painting" effect requires about 20 minutes to separate the floating image from the background video. After "Painting" the floating images I have to render them. Then I have to render the rendered floating images (or the effect) onto the background video. At that point I can see where touch ups need to be applied which requires reopening the "Painting" tool to clean up the images edge lines. Needless to say it's very time consuming and can become tedious to say the least. Just one of these excercises, a 1 and 1/2 second long segment took me four days to complete!
I can tell you that I've put everything I can into this project and I don't want to, nor will I, rush this part of it. Not only is this trailer very important to our success with this project, as I've already mentioned, but this may very well be the only time that I will be able to take my time with the post production of RLT.

If...nay, when it gets sold (fingers crossed) there will be set deadlines that we absolutely can not push or we'll likely miss air times and, in the worst case scenario, find ourselves in breach of contract. Obviously this is not an option. So this moment, right now, is the moment where an inventor, if you'll allow the comparison, is testing out his product. By doing this he learns of any possible hitches he may encounter, fixes them and polishes his baby up to make her shine before the world. This baby's gonna shine!
Until then, this month's video clip is a single shot that I'm trying to decide whether or not to include in the trailer. I have an idea. Let's make this interesting and get you guys involved in the process.

Take a look at this months short video clip.

Send me an email at james@roadlesstraveledmovie.com

Let me know If you'd like to see the shot in the trailer, or if you think I can leave it out.

I'd like to hear your thoughts, but you'll have to respond quickly as there's not much time.
Teaser #2
If you haven't seen them yet, or want to see them again, we currently have two trailers up on our website. Enjoy them and pass the links on to your friends and family to view.

We gaurantee you'll dig these trailers and the upcoming final full-length trailer will not dissapoint.
This last trailer is something I'm very proud of. It won't let anyone down and it will make believers out of those who question it. RLT is my baby and my life work coming together all at once. And it is coming together nicely. I promise you it will be available for viewing very soon. I will do everything within my power to make sure the final trailer is on our website by October 10th!

Don't forget to check out the September video clip and vote by email. You'll also want to see the teaser trailers, and to encourage your friends and family to sign up for the RLT Buzz newsletter! so they don't miss out on the full length trailer to hit shortly.

To learn more about Sam Correro and the Trans Am Trail Click here

Michael Murray continues to do a terrific job with the RLT website. Michael also recently redesigned the Trans America Trail website. If you or anyone you know has a need for web design, or if you just wanna check out some cool stuff, visit motorradmedia.com!

Ride On!
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