Behind the Scenes footage from TNC PT 2

Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem,

In this snippet, you will see five clips:

Everyone was tired from staying up late shooting the movie from the night before except Rami with his powdered donut

Behind the Scenes Camera man, Hesam

Michael Jackson impersonation, Hussien

The Need for sleep, Adnan and Hesam discussing it @ 2am

Baba Ali's take on TNC

Jazakum Allah for your support.

Pre-Production: The Vital Catalyst

Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem,

Assalam-u-alaikum (Peace be upon you),
cat·a·lyst : someone or something that helps bring about a change
This post is to backup a little bit and "start from the beginning."

There is a saying that goes something like "A journey of a thousand miles starts with one step!"--this most definitely holds true to this day. Today, in this day and age, it is very easy to find the basic equipment to make movies so you can tell your story. Just like, today, there is all the information you need at your fingertips to accomplish whatever you want. You obviously need motivation to make you want to do something, but nothing happens if You don't do it!! So, if you want to accomplish something, start now, do something, anything. Open a text file on your computer right now, and write some ideas down, or grab your camcorder and shoot something, or sign up for a blog and document something awesome--just DO SOMETHING! Many people nowadays would love to do something, or should i say, they love the idea of doing something. That first step is never easy, but someone has got to take it--might as well be you :).

Enough with the lecturing, wow, now back to Pre-Production: The Vital Catalyst. As i just explained, you need a first step, and that first step in making a movie is, the broad, Pre-Production. This could involve you doing many things, like just shooting some clips and worrying about the rest later. But most of the time it involves writing a script and getting a producer. For Tomorrow Never Comes, UmmahFilms wanted to do this right, and wrote a script and got some, more experienced individuals (check archives on that), to help them get the script up to par. From there, the blog was advertised to entice people to jump on board, which allowed for people to come on, and help make this thing happen. The producer was already designated since UmmahFilms already had the person who would be "in-charge." But they truly wanted to get as much experience on the team as possible so they kept searching and attempting to get things together. After a while, an undisclosed number of months :-p, UmmahFilms got enough motivated individuals to put this project on the fast track. This was done with patience, and by believing in the project and continually working on getting the right team together. Meetings were setup weekly, on Sundays, and most aspects of Production and Post-Production were discussed. For instance, location of the shoot is very important, so options for that were laid out and discussed, etc. After things settled, the script was analyzed, and a Production schedule was made, the date for Production was ready to be set. Setting the date allowed the team to move forward and detail even further who, how, and when people would get together, and how and when this movie would be shot. The Producer is the person responsible for ensuring most of this happens. A director (or two) is/are usually brought on early in Pre-Production as well to layout how the movie should be shot, which constrains the Production Schedule. This sums up in a "big" nutshell how UmmahFilms got through the first, and most vital stage in making a movie.

Takeaways:

• "Be the change you want to see" -Ghandi.
• Pre-Production is The Vital Catalyst to making a movie.
• The only reason anything happened is because that first step (action!) was taken to make the goal, of making this movie, a reality.
• Subscribe to this blog so you can see how we progress :)
• Take that first step, and start your "Pre-Production" today.

Behind the Scenes footage from TNC PT 1

Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem,

In this snippet, you will see four clips. Three of which are from the first night of shooting; preparing for the scene with some guidance from Adnan (Director), then shots from the set itself with some lighting and crazy camera stuff. The fourth clip is from one of the last scenes we shot, the basketball scene. Here you will see Kashif (The lead actor), after horribly missing a shot, making three in a row. And then a random occurrence at the end. Enjoy!!

Jazakum Allah for your support.

TNC 10th meeting !

Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem,

Assalamu alaikom all, the outcomes of the ninth of December meeting....

1. Rami created a rough clip for the film and we gave feedback.
2. Yusuf the video editor is still working on the footage
3. We had a good discussion about the business structure, and organizational plan so we can take ummahfilms to the next level. insha'Allah we'll do more research on that topic.

Jazakum allahu khiran,

TNC 9th meeting!

Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem,

Assalamu alaikom all ,

The outcomes of the 2nd of December meeting....

- Yusuf, Rami & Adnan will work on the post production of the movie
- Sarah is going to create a Google group and maintain
- Sara will create music for the movie (after she gets the final video) or add what she already has. (There will be 2 tracks, music & percussion)

The last thing that we need is ur dua'a to succeed insha'allah
wa assalam

Ummah Films making films? Yes!

Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem,

For all those who don't know about the script that started Ummah Films, make sure you check out the Tomorrow Never Comes blog. Amazing enough, a team of people have been meeting and planning this film for many months now and just a few weeks ago, they finished filming the movie that Br. Sammy and I wrote over a year ago. Now the film is in the editing stage and once post production is completed, it will be posted up on the blog for all the Ummah Films viewers to see InshAllah.

Although this blog isn't as active as it has been in the past because we're between seasons (yeah Season 3 is coming in March) but the Tomorrow Never Comes has had plenty of progress and updates. Actually, if you're a subscriber to that blog, you're probably receiving the updates.

If you're interested in Ummah Films and you're not subscribed to the Tomorrow Never Comes blog, make sure you subscribe to Tomorrow Never Comes InshAllah. If you've been out of the loop, make sure to check out the TNC blog.

Footage Submitted!

Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem,

Asalam alaikum everyone,

Adnan and the guys, Hesam and Hossein met over pizza & gave Yusuf the tapes. Insha'Allah we will wait to hear from him on his free time. The hard-drive (footage for back up) will be sent to Rami possibly this weekend or on Monday. We will have our usual meeting this coming Sunday insha'Allah. Jazakum Allah for all your dua & support.