Time Traveling with Norman

How I fell into being an associate producer for a sci-fi feature film.

UPDATE: “Norman” is now available for streaming on Amazon (and other VOD providers)! And you can also watch “7 Years of Agony: The Making of Norman.”

Writer and director Joel Guelzo had already been working on “Norman”, his sci-fi indie film, for at least three years before it came to my attention. In January, 2014, I was perusing Kickstarter (as I often do) and stumbled across his project. He was looking to raise US$7,000 for what was essentially completion funding. What initially caught my eye was the story since I’m a sucker for clever time travel films like Primer, Looper, and 12 Monkeys (La Jetée). I also felt a nostalgic pang when I learned how he’d shot everything on the side with his friends, similar to what we used to do as kids (akin to what J.J. Abrams used as the basis for Super 8).

On top of all that, they’d already shot some really professional-looking footage. Joel has an incredible eye that focuses beyond the obvious framing, always looking for the most interesting angles. Plus, the professional flair went beyond just their Kickstarter trailer. His attention to detail was evident in all of the supporting material as well. It was clear this wasn’t a call for funding by someone hoping to learn what they needed to do on the backer’s dime, but rather a final push to get them over the finish line. And while I even thought at the time they were asking for too little, it seemed they didn’t need much to get ‘er done.

Fast forward to the summer of 2017 (almost three years after Joel’s planned release date), and Norman still wasn’t in the can. They’d shot all of the principle photography (including some pick-up shots funded by their over-subscribed Kickstarter), but a lot remained to be done. Keep in mind that Joel was primarily running the show on his own, relying on a volunteer crew, and he had to squeeze the work around his day job and the schedules of his friends and brother, Jonah. Couple that with the fact that this was his first run at such a large project and it’s easy to understand the constantly shifting expectations.

For my part, I just wanted to see the film for purely selfish reasons. In a word, it looked amazing. In addition to the couple of trailers he’d produced, every scene Joel released as part of the backer updates continued to buoy my interest in the project. His eye for composition and editing kept me yearning to see the film in its promised entirety. So, I reached out to Joel and asked how it was going. And, importantly, whether there was anything I could do to help move the project along.

Given that I have a background in media production, I figured that I might have something to offer. I used to produce special effects for a TV production company in Massachusetts, plus I was an executive producer of digital media for the New England Patriots (where I produced the first nightly video show on the web). With more than a dozen years of experience and contacts in the industry, I hoped that there would be something I could bring to the table. Plus, by this time I’d even been lucky enough to have appeared in Star Wars: The Force Awakens (which I thought might catch his attention).

In a few polite conversations back-and-forth, Joel said that he had everything under control. He’d already sorted out some issues with music composition, and all that was left was final editing, sound, and color correction. He was optimistic that everything would be buttoned up by the end of 2017. I have a feeling, too, that he might have felt a tad leery about an offer for help that came in out of the blue. So, I left it with him to contact me if he ever felt stuck.

A few months later, I received the call. He and Jonah, who was in charge of sound, had contracted a company to produce the foley work. The problem was that they were short on being able to afford the fee. If that was all that was holding them up, I agreed to shoulder the bill. After all, I knew that one of the clear markers of an amateur production was poor sound, and I didn’t want that to hobble what was clearly shaping up to be a solid film. By this time I knew Joel reasonably well and had a good gut feeling based on what he’d shown me of the film so far. So, I paid the foley invoice on their behalf and wished them luck (not asking for anything in return — other than to see the completed film some day).

A few more months passed, and in February 2018 I checked in with Joel again. He said they had received the foley work and Jonah was slowly layering it (and the rest of the sound) into the mix. So he thought all was going well. But, in passing, Joel mentioned that his plans for the final color correction fell through. As it turns out, my best friend just so happens to be a professional colorist! What’re the odds, right?

I contacted D.C. Barns, a colorist for Citizen Pictures, and pitched the idea to him. Essentially, I was asking if he would be able and willing to do the color correction for a feature film. To my (happy) surprise, he jumped at the chance to be involved. He said it sounded like such a great opportunity to expand beyond his usual fare of Food Network programming (e.g. Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives). In fact, he was even willing to give up his vacation time to do the work.

At this point, all I was really doing was connecting dots. Joel needed color correction, and I happened to know someone who could do it. In fact, I was even willing to pony up the bill to cover the costs, but it turned out not to be necessary as D.C. was happy to do it gratis. So, I flew Joel to Denver and we buckled down for a long weekend of coloring.

For those of you who are curious, color correction is a reasonably tedious process (in my personal opinion) that involves matching the color of one shot with that of the previous one to minimize jarring transitions. This is more important when using multiple cameras (each with their own lensing and on-board compression algorithms) and various angles in non-uniform lighting (e.g. when shot outside on different days).

Layered on top of that, though, is when a director wants a specific “look” for the film or various scenes. For example, if the scene is somber, a more muted look might work better and they’ll want to tune the color in that direction. Similarly, it might be more impactful to go for a higher contrast look for whatever reason. And, honestly, sometimes you just need to correct poorly lit shots or other issues.

In this specific case, Joel shot everything with a single camera (minimizing the issue of matching different ones). He also took pains when filming to make sure that he was capturing what he wanted. So, all that was left was to give him the “looks” that he wanted and generally clean up the entire thing to look more like film than video.

It was really just a matter of fiddling with the color/saturation/contrast to build master “looks” for various scenes. Then it was an exercise in iteration across the film shot-by-shot, matching them up, and occasionally creating a track mask to correct specific areas in a shot . From there the scenes were rendered for approval, notes taken, and then it’s lather-rinse-repeat until the director is happy (or you run out of time).

As was now a common theme with this project, we assumed that the work would only take a week of D.C.’s time. A month later and we (finally) had a complete render of the film that met Joel’s approval. I’ll set aside the additional tweaks that needed to be done a couple months later. But in the end, we were able to put a copy in Joel’s hands that he was happy with.

All that was left was for Jonah to finalize the sound sound mix for theaters. While we collectively tried to figure out how to accelerate the process (including my paying for his full attention — which was too rich for my blood), the driving factor became a planned premiere date. It turned out that Stephen Birge, the actor who played Norman, was the real forcing function. The premiere had to occur before his wife gave birth to their first child.

Finally, it all came together. The private premiere was held on July 20th, 2018 in Joel’s hometown of Lynchburg, Virginia. All of the long-suffering cast, crew, friends, and family descended on the theater… and it’s not an overstatement to say that we were all blown away by the final film. Coupled with the after party, it was truly a night to remember.

It was seven years in the making, and I can honestly say that it was worth every agonizing minute. I know that I played only a minor role in the production, but I’m so honored to have been a part of bringing Joel’s dream to reality.

I can’t wait to see where Norman goes from here, and I’m especially excited for a broader audience to experience the film. While I know they won’t feel the same sense of connection and understanding that we bring to it, I’m hopeful that it’ll spark in them the wonder that was intended.

Further, I’m thrilled to see Joel’s next film. He’s a man full of amazing ideas, incredible talent, and an unstoppable drive. I’m sitting on the edge of my seat for his next project, as I know that it’ll be amazing.

UPDATE: I’m excited to see that Norman has been accepted into five festivals, and was the topic of a local newspaper article. The momentum is building!