thememorykeeperfilm
The Memory Keeper
a fantasy short film; explores connecting with elders with Alzheimer’s through cultural heritage.
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The Finish Line
As of last night, the final cut of The Memory Keeper has been submitted. The past week was spent polishing the sound design (so much sound design), including the addition of a song, as well as finalizing the color grading.
Ethan, the primary producer, and I also completed the dialogue and music cue sheets, respectively. These documents are used to ensure we have all the rights for the soundtrack, as well as help with subtitling and any translations.
Now, we just wait for the premiere!! May 9th, in Portland, our festival will go live. I am so excited, and so so proud of everyone who worked on this film, as well as the other films within the festival/class. Thank you for all the support!
This will be my last blog post now that the film is completed. If you’d like to keep in touch, follow our Instagram @thememorykeeperFILM.
For the last time,
Kathryn Morin - Director
If you’d like to learn more about this project:
View “The Memory Keeper” trailer - https://youtu.be/DJ48CnNBLUs
Instagram - thememorykeeperFILM
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Almost There....
The Memory Keeper is now in its “fine cut” phase. One week until the final film is created (or at least, the first published version). I have some minor sound edits, perhaps 1-2 songs to add, and some color correction before the film is ready for audiences!
This is really the final push. I, or the film, wouldn’t be here without a community’s worth of support. Thank you, everyone.
Tickets are now live for our premiere showing: May 9th at Nickelodeon Cinemas in Portland, ME. Buy tickets here ➣ https://www.patriotcinemas.com/movie/the-maine-mayhem-film-festival
Our trailer is also live, which is linked below!
youtube
Kathryn Morin, Director
4/24/24
If you’d like to learn more about this project:
View “The Memory Keeper” proof of concept - https://youtu.be/p8Nyk3x-oMI?si=YwNvypkpPH9jfMoa
Instagram - thememorykeeperFILM
#alzheimers#film#thememorykeeper#quebec#capstone project#cinéma québécois#college#culture#tmk.post#Youtube
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Here is the office No Accounting For Taste poster!!! I had so much fun making it! I made it entirely out of craft construction paper and then brought it into photoshop to finish it off. I'm really happy with how it came out 😁😎🥹 I was really going for a Saul Bass, 60s/70s drama feel. Or like a pulp fiction novel from that time. Anyways, can't wait for premiere time!!
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Editing: Special Bits!
This past week was more editing! AHHH!!! The film is more or less picture-locked now, pending any groundbreaking revelations about how the pacing/flow should go. There also was another pass on the sound design, this time adding all necessary ambiance as well as incorporating 88% of the soundtrack (all original). A basic color correction pass was done, too! More excitingly, the feux-follet animations are done and they look great!
By next week, the film should be in fine cut territory! We’re in the home stretch now :,)
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Almost "Fine"
This was (and will continue to be) a big post production week!
Yesterday I spent at least six hours with our music composer, Gilon Backlund, writing and recording the soundtrack for the film. Luckily, our two major songs were already complete, so we focused on the meat of the film’s instrumentals. We have all songs done except for two!
On the other side of the post production world, just a few hours ago I received our final draft for our poster. It’s looking absolutely incredible. I’m so so proud of our poster designer, Liliana Andersen, and can’t wait to show it off.
Our VFX artist is still hard at work on the animations. Her contributions to the film are going to be done within the next week. So exciting!
Meanwhile, today I had a long meeting with an editing mentor of mine to go over the rough cut (again lol). With a few minor cutting tweaks and another pass on the sound design, the film will be in “fine cut” territory. I’m dedicating this Friday and Saturday to making the film polished and shiny (this includes color correcting and adding in the music). It’s all finally starting to feel real! After that the only major edits will be to incorporate the animations and drop in a title sequence.
On the horizon, I’ll soon start cutting a 60 second trailer as well as assemble a press release packet.
Kathryn Morin, Director
4/10/24
If you’d like to learn more about this project:
View “The Memory Keeper” proof of concept - https://youtu.be/p8Nyk3x-oMI?si=YwNvypkpPH9jfMoa
Instagram - thememorykeeperFILM
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Still Editing...
This week of production is more of the same. I reached the third draft of the rough cut, and largely completed the sound design minus the inclusion of a score. I’m excited because this means I’m nearly on a picture lock!
I’m also excited to report I’ll have a solid poster draft ready to show by next week. Our VFX artist is still hard at work animating the feux-follet. Next week, I’ll also be having a long meeting with our composer to hopefully bust out as much of the soundtrack as possible (two songs are already done). I expect serious progress to have been made on these fronts in the next 7-10 days. If you’d like to see more behind-the-scenes, please follow our instagram!
Kathryn Morin, Director
4/3/24
If you’d like to learn more about this project:
View “The Memory Keeper” proof of concept - https://youtu.be/p8Nyk3x-oMI?si=YwNvypkpPH9jfMoa
Instagram - thememorykeeperFILM
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Post Production Intensive p.2
The 1st draft of the rough cut went out to select viewers and I received some great and super helpful feedback. While that was underway, I earnestly began collaboration on the poster design alongside our lovely poster designer, Liliana Andersen! So far it’s mostly been cycling out what ideas we like and what we don’t like or isn’t plausible. I’m learning a ton from her about posters in the process.
In other exciting news, our SFX artist, Emma Jordan (shoutout to her and her Mayhem film from last year: Go to Hell!), and I have officially settled on a design for the feux-follet (French will-o-the-wisps). This is so exciting, as SFX work usually takes a ton of time and was one of the main selling points of the proof of concept. Her work will really elevate the fantasy elements of the film!
Later this week, I’ll also be meeting with the film’s music composer, Gilon Backlund. Two songs are already functionally done, so we’ll be discussing broader musical themes we want and expectations/desires for “filler” and transitional songs.
Last week, Ethan (producer + AD) and I handed over deliverables (contracts/legal work, behind-the-scenes content, trailer selects, etc) without any big hiccups. So all of our paperwork is perfectly in a row. Yay!
Lots of balls are in the air at the moment, and it’s a little overwhelming to try juggling them all while staying on top of class deadlines. But stuff is happening!!
Kathryn Morin, Director
3/27/24
If you’d like to learn more about this project:
View “The Memory Keeper” proof of concept - https://youtu.be/p8Nyk3x-oMI?si=YwNvypkpPH9jfMoa
Instagram - thememorykeeperFILM
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Big Shoutout
Another week is down as we head towards the end of production. We only have one planned day of filming left before we wrap. We are all very excited and looking forward to post-production.
There have been a few hiccups along the way but the same is true with any great film. Fingers crossed things go smoothly. That being said I am proud to have made it this far. To be honest none of it would have been possible without the amazing people working with us on set.
Shoutout to everyone who has given their time to help us solve the mystery of the Were-Man. That is how films like this are made. So when I talk about being proud, I am talking about us and everyone who has worked to make this film possible. Thanks so much from me and the Were-Man team.
-Dylan Crawford (Producer, Director of Photography)
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Editing Intensive
Not too much to report for this week’s blog. I thought I finished the rough cut, only to find the sound was out of sync. The sound was in sync for the individual scene files, but once I merged them together they fell out of sync. I’ll have to investigate that and fix it, but I know each individual scene is at the rough cut phase at least.
Most of this week has been spent gathering and organizing deliverables; the legal paperwork and the beginnings of a press package. For more exciting posts, such as photos and more regular behind-the-scenes content, follow our Instagram page @ thememorykeeperFILM!
Kathryn Morin, Director
3/20/24
If you’d like to learn more about this project:
View “The Memory Keeper” proof of concept - https://youtu.be/p8Nyk3x-oMI?si=YwNvypkpPH9jfMoa
Instagram - thememorykeeperFILM
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The Rough Cut
It’s “rough cut” week. School is on spring break and I have few things to do, so I’m busting out the rough cut as fast as I can. A rough cut is a second or third draft, it’s when editors more or less lock in the pacing of the film, the basic cuts, and the speech/dialogue sound. Some editors also encompass editing ambiance, music, and folly into a rough, but personally, I like to do that in its own edit that I think of as the “sound design edit.” But for now, I’m focusing on locking in the pacing, basic cuts, and making the dialogue perfect.
Later this week, I’ll be having a meeting with my VFX artist who’ll be creating and animating the feux-follet; French Canadian will-o-the-wisps. She’ll begin work on it shortly after!
Kathryn Morin, Director
3/11/24
If you’d like to learn more about this project:
View “The Memory Keeper” proof of concept - https://youtu.be/p8Nyk3x-oMI?si=YwNvypkpPH9jfMoa
Instagram - thememorykeeperFILM
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The End of Production
This past weekend was the last stretch of production! Yay! Things went surprisingly smoothly; we had plenty of wonderful crafts, minimal mishaps with the forecast (rain, mud), and due to the weather being cloudy - our lighting was consistent throughout. Despite shooting all exteriors, we also encounter next to no serious sound issues that set us back.
Sadly, one of our supporting actors was unable to come last minute, but luckily our BTS photographer, Gilon Backlund, stepped in and did an incredible job. He’s also the composer, and the character needed to play the flute, so it added an extra layer of realism to the performance!
On Sunday, we had a company move to a town about 15 miles away from base. There, we shot on a porch by the ocean. It was such a beautiful location, and we definitely got a few heads turning with all our gear. On the last shot of the day (as well as the production) all the clouds disappeared. I don’t know what was going on with the atmosphere, but for a second we thought it was done for. But, another wave of clouds came and we managed to get the shot. It was quite funny trying to time the shot (a pan/tilt no less) with little itty bitty clouds that covered the sun in the meanwhile.
Once we wrapped, I presented the cast & crew with a chocolate chip cookie-pie decorated in the film’s colors, blue and white, with a “Thank You” and fleur de lis on it. I’m so happy everyone liked it!! I’m really proud as quite a few people said that they had a lot of fun, in particular, on the last shoot. While the experience of directing a film was certainly a net positive, production was so much to deal with emotionally. I’m so relieved it’s finally over and I can focus on post, where I have much more experience and comfortability.
Kathryn Morin, Director
3/6/24
If you’d like to learn more about this project:
View “The Memory Keeper” proof of concept - https://youtu.be/p8Nyk3x-oMI?si=YwNvypkpPH9jfMoa
Instagram - thememorykeeperFILM
#alzheimers#film#quebec#thememorykeeper#capstone project#cinéma québécois#college#student film#québécois#culture
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So proud of these folks!
We've wrapped!
Production:
As the production days come to a close we begin reviewing all of our footage. Everything went smoothly, seeing our vision come to life was a sereal experience. As the final touches were applied, a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction settled over the team. Yet the collective efforts from our entire team had given birth to a work of art that exceeded our expectations.
Post-production:
Keep your eyes out for a trailer, as we continue into post-production, we will be meticulously crafting a glimpse of the cinematic journey that awaits. The editing process now transitions from the culmination of production days to the fine-tuning of every frame, soundbite, and visual effect.
Behind-the-Scenes: Have a sneak peek!
Future Updates:
As we navigate the intricate post-production process, we'll be providing behind-the-scenes glimpses into the creative decisions, and how we overcome challenges. So, buckle up for the journey ahead. As the post-production wheels turn, we invite you to join us on this exciting ride. Stay tuned for updates, and exclusive content.
Overview:
Embarking on a cinematic journey from conception to realization, our production days have now gracefully drawn to a close. Smooth execution and dedicated teamwork have culminated in a surreal experience, witnessing our creative vision materialize before our eyes. The final touches applied during these production days have instilled a profound sense of accomplishment and satisfaction within the team. Together, our collective efforts have given birth to a work of art that not only meets but surpasses our initial expectations. As we transition into the post-production phase, the excitement continues to build. Keep your eyes peeled for an upcoming trailer, a meticulously crafted glimpse into the cinematic odyssey that awaits audiences. The editing process is now in full swing, with every frame, soundbite, and visual effect undergoing meticulous fine-tuning to ensure a seamless and captivating narrative.
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The Last Stretch of Production
In the last week, no footage was shot, so we all had time to rest and get ready for our last two days of production: March 2nd and 3rd.
Lots still happened though: we signed on our last two actors, finalized costuming pieces, gathered necessary makeup, chose the dance sequence, finished several original songs, and created a crafties plan. Originally, a dance rehearsal was going to be held Friday morning to prepare, but folks couldn’t make it so it’s been canceled. Luckily it’s an easy dance, called “La Bastringue,” an old yet classic Québébecois folk dance.
Today, I was also lucky enough to catch our remote producer in person and have a meeting with her; she’ll be with us on our last production day as scripty! Yay!
One concern lately has been weather continuity. Usually, February and March are some of the deep winter months in Maine, but this year, it’s been consistently warm (thanks climate change). Currently, it’s been 40-50 degrees this week and most of the snow has melted, and this weekend it’s set to be in the mid-50s when we shoot. Our already shot footage has plenty of snow, so the director of photography and I are formulating a plan to transition the story into a setting without it. Thank God we’re shooting this film chronologically (initially I planned it like that encase we got too much snow. Opposite result but still a good call from my past self lmao).
The last piece of the puzzle is a final location scout in the forest for our remaining scenes. We only have 3.5 pages to shoot over the course of two days… knock on wood we have plenty of wiggle room.
As always, massive thank you to the cast and crew for all the work done so far and for their continued efforts and commitment. Excited for the weekend!
Kathryn Morin, director
2/28/24
If you’d like to learn more about this project:
View “The Memory Keeper” proof of concept - https://youtu.be/p8Nyk3x-oMI?si=YwNvypkpPH9jfMoa
Instagram - thememorykeeperFILM
#alzheimers#quebec#thememorykeeper#film#cinéma québécois#capstone project#college#culture#tmk.post#goric
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Production - The 2/3 Point
The past weekend, days three and four of production were completed. The cast and crew was slimmed down to its bare essentials, as all of us were spending 1-2 nights in a faraway town called Abbot.
The location was a cabin airbnb, who’s host generously let us film there and stay an extra six hours. This location was used for Yoachim’s cabin, where the film’s “lutin” character lives. His home is also the setting where Chloe and Viridian learn to cook tourtiere together.
The location itself was by a river, with an extra heated shed for an additional toilet and shower. We ended up using this shed as our gear room, since the main cabin was extremely small. Getting our shots was not an issue; there was the occasional lighting mishap, and it snowed during a few takes, but all and all, it was a smooth shooting period.
The chaos happened off camera. That Saturday night, the temperature dropped to be negative one, which made a cold night despite two forms of heat in the cabin and most of us sleeping in the central room. During Sunday, we found our craft services crew member sorely underprepared the meals for the day, leaving a few of us hungry and all of us dissatisfied (the location was three hours from home base and the cabin was two towns away from a gas station or grocery store. That’s northern Maine for you). Suffice to say, there will be a different person in charge of food for our last two days.
On a high note: yesterday, while editing the dailies of the weekend, I found myself very proud of the footage we shot. The cabin was dressed by our art director in a wonderfully mystical sense, the costumes pure eye candy, and the lighting gorgeous. It was a challenging location and tiring experience, but one that resulted in some beautiful work.
Kathryn Morin (she/her), Director
2/21/24
#thememorykeeper#alzheimers#quebec#cinéma québécois#film#indie film#student film#college senior#capstone project#short film#lutin#french folklore
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Production Phase
This past week, no shoots for The Memory Keeper were held. This week was all about rest and preparation for a big two-day shooting period this coming weekend; in Abbot, Maine. This town is a solid 2.5-3.5 hours from the production bases, so a lot of prep is involved!
The assistant director, Ethan, and I spent much time coordinating shooting schedules, driving schedules, food, and sleeping arrangements; because yes, the whole cast and crew is spending the night! The location is a quaint little forest cabin, but a tiny one. It’ll be a tight squeeze, but a fun one.
The director of photography, Clara, and I have also spent quite a bit of time ensuring we’re on the same page in terms of shot list and visual expectations. We’ll be having a long meeting about it tomorrow to solidify our plans and feel 100% prepared.
The art director, Mason, and I have also done a lot of costume and art preparation. The scenes we’re shooting this coming weekend involve a new character, Yoachim. There’s a post further down the blog about him if you want to learn more about him. We costumed up that character, and got prop preparation and set dressing down. One of our props is a meat pie, I can't wait to eat it after as a reward…
Some other little bits and bobs to update on is that our film is officially cast! It took many weeks to find the right person, but our Étouale finally has a face! More about them and their gimmick in the posts to follow. This was a hard character to cast, especially because I’m unable to pay the actor a proper salary (this being an extreme low budget student film). I’m so relieved this is finally done!
Additionally, our lovely social media manager has a fun trick up his sleeve; necklace making! One for Yoachim (the horse one) and one for Ocelia (the ocean themed one) are pictured. Ocelia is also a character you’ll hear about later!
Lots of energy and planning has gone into this week to make this coming shoot period the best it can be. Crossing my fingers it goes without a hitch!
Kathryn Morin (she/her), Director
2/14/24
If you’d like to learn more about this project:
View “The Memory Keeper” proof of concept - https://youtu.be/p8Nyk3x-oMI?si=YwNvypkpPH9jfMoa
Instagram - thememorykeeperFILM
#thememorykeeper#studentfilm#film#media#college#capstone project#alzheimers#culture#quebec#cinéma québécois#folktales#folkstory#mainemayhem#maine#lutin#goric
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Production Begins
Welcome to the blog of The Memory Keeper; a fantasy short film following the journey of a young woman and her grandmother with Alzhiemher’s getting lost in the forest as it comes alive with Québécois folktales.
This project is the sum work of a two semester course at Southern Maine Community college. It’s often dubbed a “senior film” for the associates degree in Media & Communications (with a focus in video production). At the end of this academic semester in May, The Memory Keeper will be theatrically premiering at The Nickelodeon Theater in Portland, Maine.
My name is Kathryn Morin, I’m the director of The Memory Keeper. Last December, I pitched the idea for this film to a panel of producers and was fortunate enough to obtain the greenlight. Last semester, as well as over winter break, I spent many hours organizing legal documents, the cast and crew list, creating the proof of concept, and running a successful Indiegogo fundraiser that raised our goal of $2,275.
This past weekend, February 3rd and 4th, were the production’s first two days of shooting. This was months in the making.
Our first day went as smoothly as it could have. The film is set mostly outside, but for this day most scenes were interiors. My father was actually one of the supporting actors for this scene, so directing him was a bit silly. It felt weird to be his boss for once! We had issues getting sound from inside a car, as the car moved while the camera was on a tripod outside of it. The audio for it was hard to get, but it just took patience and persistence. Our sound operator, Sam Martel, managed to contort himself in the back and blended in perfectly! We used my car for the scene, which had literally never been washed since I got it last August. So funny enough our art director’s first task during production was to clean my front windows.
Later in the day, a background extra no-showed, causing a bit of a panic because we really needed that background character. Luckily, I was able to “reuse” my dad’s character (Thomas, the father of the main character Chloe) there. He saved the day as dads do!
Otherwise, production went super well. There was a little hiccup in craft services (“crafts/crafties” is the film term for food) being delayed, but it got there on time and we had the best sub sandwiches.
The production day on the 4th was a little more hectic. This day was entirely outside, and involved the character’s getting lost in the forest. One aspect of production I learned quickly was that you can never communicate too much with your director of photography. For this project, our DP is Clara Edgecomb. An oversight in my directing led to a shotlist being created that did not match the location and some visions I had for certain shots, so for over half the scenes for that day we had to brainstorm the shot list on the fly. I’m so so grateful for Clara’s patience and ability to adapt and work quickly.
Our biggest issue that day, though, was the sound. Towards the later half of the day, my neighbor started logging trees right next to our shooting area! I managed to talk him into ending his session early, but then a motorcycle started ripping up and down the neighborhood, chainsaws went off in the distances, three planes flew by consecutively… it was a nightmare. The day was scheduled to last 8.5 hours, and the sound issues delayed schedule by fifty minutes.
I almost scrapped filming our last scene because I didn’t think we had enough time left, but my crew really advocated to crunch time and get it done. By then, the sun was low on the horizon and we were in the forest, so we battled the sunset for that last hour of production. Eventually, we walked away with some beautiful shots and we ended right on schedule. Phew! We’ll have to be mindful of light continuity for our next production days.
Through all the chaos of a first filming weekend, we stayed largely on schedule and things went well! Our actors did a phenomenal job, and already embody the characters to my vision and have great chemistry. The crew really brought their a-game and utilized their experience to create efficient and quality work. I’m so proud of everyone and had a great experience.
This blog series will be a semi-weekly occurrence in accordance with blog assignments for my class. Stay tuned for more posts! Feel free to ask questions, my social media manager will do his best to answer or relay information from me.
Kathryn Morin (she/her), Director
2/5/24
If you’d like to learn more about this project:
View “The Memory Keeper” proof of concept - https://youtu.be/p8Nyk3x-oMI?si=YwNvypkpPH9jfMoa
Instagram - thememorykeeperFILM
#thememorykeeper#film#studentfilm#media#communications#college#senior thesis#capstone projects#alzheimers#french canadian#franco american#quebec#québécois#culture
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Continued Funding
I’ve received questions on how to donate since our fundraiser has ended! Please see below for details. Thank you much for your continued interest. Y’all are the best community I could ask for 💙
All further donations will go towards paying non-student cast and crew.
If you or someone you know would like to donate towards the production post-fundraiser, please email [email protected] on how to send us a check, OR venmo us @ Kathryn-Morin-7
When donating by venmo, please type that it’s for The Memory Keeper to avoid confusion :)
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