SHOW

Show is a low-budget feature film produced in Danville, Illinois.  It’s a drama about a close-knit theater group whose relationships are tested when the stranger hired to videotape their latest show insinuates himself into their lives.

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NEWS

• Public Premiere (2/10/06).  The public premiere of Show will be Friday, February 24 and Saturday, February 25, 2006 at the Danville Public Library, 319 N. Vermilion St. in Danville, Illinois.  Showtimes are 8 p.m. both nights, and admission is free.  Though the film is not rated, it contains adult situations and language and is recommended for mature audiences.  DVD copies of the film will be available for sale at the screenings for $10.

A private premiere for cast, crew, and invited guests was held at the Danville Public Library on Saturday, December 10, 2005 at 8 p.m., followed by a reception at the home of Mike and Leslie Boedicker.

• DONE!!! (11/21/05).  Show is finally finished.  Color correction and sound mixing took much longer than I'd anticipated, but the DVD authoring went quickly.  I burned a test DVD on November 18 and will soon begin making copies and designing DVD cover art.  A premiere for cast, crew and invited guests will be held in December, and public screenings will hopefully be held early next year.  

A Brief History: Show has been in production a long time -- a REALLY long time when you trace its origins.  It started in the fall of 1990 as a 30-minute short script called Voyeur, written when I was a graduate student in the M.A. Film & Video program at American University in Washington, D.C.  The basic story and characters were the same as in Show, but the setting was a college campus, not a community theater.  From 1993-94, while living in Binghamton, NY, I took on a collaborator, Brian Wilson, and we expanded the Voyeur script to feature length.  At that point I intended to produce it myself, shooting on Super-8 film with editing and distribution on video.  The proposed budget was far beyond my means, however, even with a low-end film stock like Super-8 and a measly shooting ratio of 2:1.  Digital Video (DV) did not exist at the time, and professional analog video equipment was prohibitively expensive.  So I shelved the project and started writing feature film scripts on speculation, never thinking I'd produce Voyeur.  

Fast-forward seven years, and I'm working as a librarian in Danville, Illinois.  One day in 2001, I mentioned Voyeur to a library patron -- a retired cinematographer -- who asked if I ever considered shooting the project on DV.  Though I was a broadcasting major in college and had shot lots of analog video, I hadn't kept up with changing technology in the field.  As he told me more, and as I did preliminary research, I became very excited by the possibilities of DV.  Equipment that would have cost tens of thousands of dollars in 1990 could now be had for a fraction of that price, and could deliver even better results.  Lower prices also meant equipment could be purchased instead of rented, so we wouldn't be rushed during production and postproduction.  By this point I had also lived in Danville long enough to see some excellent acting on local stages.  Since Voyeur was always intended as a character-driven piece, the quality of acting was even more important than technical considerations.  In short, with all these new options available, I realized we could finally proceed with the project.  I called Brian Wilson, now conveniently living nearby in Chicago, and we began revisiting and rewriting Voyeur, working mostly by emails and long phone calls, and sometimes by visits.  Several drafts later, the script evolved as Show, but these drafts only marked the beginning of the changes.  The rehearsals, shooting and editing changed the story still further, and when I showed Brian the rough cut, he commented on how far the story had come.  Now, after four years (or is it 15?) and lots of time, energy, and money, Show is finally finished.  

• Final Cut Editing Finished (5/31/05).  After lots of cutting, trimming, and obsessing, the final cut editing is finished.  The film now runs 80 minutes (down from the rough cut's 91 minutes).  Pianist Eric Simonson did a terrific job recording the Bach score.  There are now three tasks remaining before the film is truly finished: scene-by-scene color correction, final sound mix, and outputting the project to DVD ("authoring").  Each of these steps is quite detail-oriented and meticulous, but I'm still aiming for a premiere this summer.  Thanks once again, everyone, for being patient during the never-ending post-production phase! 

• Score Being Recorded (2/29/05).  Eric Simonson, composer and music instructor at Danville Area Community College, is recording the film's score (piano selections by J.S. Bach) as I continue working on the final cut.

• Rough Cut Finished! (9/19/04).  It clocked in at 91 minutes.  A screening will be arranged soon for cast & crew before editing begins on the final cut.  Thank you, everyone, for your patience during the long post-production phase.

• Editing Begins (3/13/04).  Editing began several weeks ago with logging of the footage.  Because all 26 hours of dailies will not fit on the computer at once, the film will be edited in thirds. 

• Editing to Begin Soon (1/28/04).  To make a long and frustrating story as short as possible: I bought the Macintosh computer back in November and immediately started learning the editing software (Final Cut Pro 4).  Soon after I began, the computer starting having problems at boot-up.  After a dozen calls to Apple Tech Support and as many tedious software updates failed to solve the problem, I took the computer in for servicing.  They had it a month and could find no hardware problems, so the issue is most likely in the operating system ("Panther," Apple's latest).  The boot-up problem shouldn't prevent me from editing, but it's still annoying as hell to have this happen on a brand-new system -- and a Mac no less.  Currently I'm acting in a local play, and once that wraps (this coming weekend), I'll get started editing.  More updates will follow on this site, so please check back.

• Shooting Wraps! (7/28/03).  Shooting concluded on July 27, with the exception of some minor pick-up shots.  We shot 26 hours of footage over 3 months of weekends for a planned 80-90 minute film.  The remaining pick-up shots should be completed in a few weeks.  Editing will commence this fall.

-postings by Mike Boedicker

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PHOTOS

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PRESS

• Before premiere (Commercial-News, 2/21/06) 

• Before production (Commercial-News, 2/20/03)

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BUY

Show is available on DVD for $12, tax and shipping included.  Send check (made payable to Michael Boedicker) or money order to: Michael Boedicker, 319 N. Vermilion St., Danville, IL 61832.  For more information send email to mike@roselawnproductions.com.

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FAQ

What was the shooting schedule?
Filming began on April 19, 2003, and continued most weekends through July.

Who was cast?
Open auditions were held in Danville on February 24 and 26, 2003, with the following actors cast:

Where was the film shot?
Show was filmed in locations around Danville, Illinois, including the Kathryn Randolph Theater (home of the Red Mask Players).

How will the film be distributed?
The film is intended as a direct-to-video production.  Theatrical distribution deals are very difficult to obtain and usually require either star casting or favorable reception at recognized film festivals.  We do intend to pursue the festival circuit with Show.

On what format was Show produced?
Show was produced on DV (digital video), with editing and postproduction performed on a nonlinear computer editing system.

If you have any questions or comments, please email me (mike@roselawnproductions.com).

Mike Boedicker
Show Producer

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Show and the contents of this website: Copyright 2006 by Roselawn Productions Ltd.