Tomorrow Never Comes - Ummah Films

Finally, The Short Film you have been waiting for!

2008-04-30T17:41:00.001-07:00

It has been a long journey to get us here but IT'S DONE! You can now watch the First UmmahFilms Short: Tomorrow Never Comes. There is an Intro and Outtro by Baba Ali, so be sure to tune in after the movie.

YouTube Version:

High Quality Version (350MB):

PS: For all of you who have been waiting since the beginning of April, i just want to let you know that we worked very hard to be able to output it before the end of April (4/30). We ran into many many obstacles but overcame them and you now have our first movie TNC.

Peace be upon you.

The Audio Process

2008-04-29T13:01:00.000-07:00

Assalamo Alaykom everybody...

It’s been a while since you guys heard from us and that’s because some things didn’t go according to plan but Alhamdulillah all is set and the movie will be released before April is over.

Before I write about the audio process of this movie I'd like to say, Alhamdulillah that He's giving me the opportunity to work with Ummah Films. It has been a challenge that helped learn a lot about myself, more of the movie industry, and got to know the most amazing team. The best part of it all is that each person is from a different part of the world. It's true; Ummah Films is by the Ummah for the Ummah. This Ummah is united, alhamdulillah...

One thing I've learned being in the audio industry for a good while is that the actual audio for film is taken for granted. Insha’Allah, this movie will show how important it is because it really turned things around.

The program I’ve used was Steinberg’s Nuendo. It’s very similar to ProoTools but the only reason why I use that is because it’s a lot cheaper to get since I don’t need to buy hardware with it in order for the program to work.

As soon as I watch the final edited of the movie, I knew this is going to be a challenge. The audio needed a lot of work because of lack of continuity in sound, the background noise was loud and some scenes didn’t even have sound to begin with... But I’m always up for a good challenge; it’s a door to prove myself in the industry that doesn’t know me yet.

First thing I needed to take care of was the background noise that was too loud. I simply had to EQ the sound. I lowered the hi’s where the hissing sounds are found.

The second thing I had to take care of was the continuity of the sound from one cut to another. One way of doing that is adding atmosphere sound in the background. If the scene is in a park, the atmosphere sound should be a few birds, dogs barking few cars in the background etc… If that doesn’t work, you’ll need to add reused audio in the scene to cover the skipping of the sound. You’ll need to find a perfect cut to use and just copy and paste where it’s suppose to hide the cut. Sometimes you’ll need to time stretch the sound because it might too short and if you just repeat it, you can hear the sound being looped and that’s something totally not acceptable. You’ll also need to make sure that the added sound is cross faded with the rest of the audio of the original sound recorded while filming. It’ll sound smooth.

Last but not least, I worked on the actual Sound Effects (SFX) I didn’t have to put much since the original audio had it all but some had to be emphasized and some needed to be added because it wasn’t there to begin with. I have a decent library (Sony, BBC, Digital Juice, Sound Ideas, the 1000 series and 2 of the 6000 series and some other I’ve been given to me by my former boss back in Syria) but didn’t have everything. In situations like these you’d need to innovate and record SFX yourself. That’s the really fun part. Just record the sound of what you want to use but make sure there isn’t much background noise. The best recording is the one with the purest recording. I then EQed the SFX so it’ll fit in nicely with the rest of the audio.

Some scenes had no sound whatsoever but that isn’t an issue. It’s simply like putting a puzzle together but this is puzzle of sound. Just add the sound of the atmosphere then pay attention to the details of what’s going on and try to put as much SFX making it sound as what you’d hear in reality…

One good way to learn what SFX is needed is while watching movies, concentrate on sound and what’s even better yet, wherever you are in your home or outside, pay attention to the sounds around you… Taking notes helps to keep things fresh in mind…

Insha’Allah, you guys will enjoy the movie as much as we enjoyed making it.

Editing TNC

2008-03-21T12:02:00.000-07:00

So it's been a while since we gave you a sense of where the movie is really at. Well, today we want to inform you that we have successfully completed The Final Cut. That is where the Video part of the movie is complete, and what is left is the Audio. We are now in the sound editing phase and should be completed as scheduled. In "Behind the Scenes 4" you had a glimpse of our intention to have this movie out in April 2008, and inshaAllah (If God wills) we plan to do just that.

So I thought i'd take some time and explain the process we went through to get this movie edited. So here it goes.

On our first shoot, we were able to get a lot of the footage we needed but we ran into some technical difficulty which translated into needing to reshoot some scenes. This shoot lasted 46 hours with around 8 or so hours of sleep.

From our first shoot, we edited a draft to see how the movie looks and see what kind of new footage would be needed to "Fill in the gaps"

We drew up a schedule, whopped up some storyboards, and got ready for the second shoot.

We got on set again, and got to filming. Again, we ran into slight difficulty with the equipement because of our very tight shooting schedule. This shoot lasted around a day and a half.

After this second shoot, the camera we shot with (on the first day) was actually broken and we couldn't download the footage from it for A WHILE! So the director was scrambling for literally hours daily for a week to try and get his hands on a camera that can download this footage. This set us back quite a bit but we got the footage.

Now the footage we got from the second shoot was of two formats; standard DV 30p, and HD720 24p. The HD footage we got was in Apple HDV codec format so we had to go through apple to edit it. We also had to throw in some non-HD shots with the HD ones to make sense of the scenes.

So, we edited the HD in OSX on Final Cut Pro, exported it to windows into Adobe Premiere 2.0 and we edited the movie there.

Once we had another draft edit, we got feedback, changed what was needed and found a few things missing. This prompted yet another (much shorter) reshoot.

Only a few people went to the third reshoot, and it was from Dawn till noon. We got what we needed, transferred the footage into the movie timeline, and output another draft.

From here, we got more feedback, we addressed as many issues as we could, and output what we have now: The Final Cut.

Since most of us do not live near each other, it was difficult to get everyone on the same page, and due to the lack of our experience we did run into other issues that would otherwise be fine.

BUT ALHUMDULILLAH (Praise be to God) We have a Final Cut now, and very little left to do.

The Sound Designer will start the work anytime soon and should be done before the deadline we set insha'Allah. And we should be on schedule for our release.

Behind The Scenes Footage Part 4

2008-03-16T15:33:00.000-07:00

TNC - 15th & 16th meetings update

2008-02-25T05:18:00.000-08:00

Asalam Alaikum everyone,

Regarding TNC Alhamdulillah, we had a chance to look at a rough edited sample of the film. Mostly came out pretty good, except we need some adjustments that will be taken care of through editing. So we are still under the post production stage. In addition, next week we will review another sample Insha’Allah.

Jazkaum Allah for your dua and support

TNC - 13th & 14th meetings update

2008-02-07T21:57:00.000-08:00

Asalam alaikum everyone,

In our last meeting we were able to see the draft cut footage for some of the scenes that were shot on the 19th of Dec. The footage looked good. We are still working hard with the post production process; we had a slight complication with downloading the HD footage. Insha'Allah ken will get back with us by the end of this week and update us on the status of the HD Camcorder & footage. In the mean time we'll continue our Sunday meetings for progress reports on TNC & UmmahFilms projects. I will also try to upload some of the behind the scenes insha'Alalh. Jazakum Allah for your dua & support.

Re-shoot: Done. Here's The Deal...

2008-01-25T21:47:00.000-08:00

Assalam-u-alaikum everyone,

Alhamdulillah ta3ala the re-shoot on the 19th & 20th was awesome. It was a great learning experience since most of us didn't know how to make films except for Adnan who goes to Film School at USC (studying to be a director) and Rami had some experience with filmmaking. We added 2 new people to the crew to help us out; Ken and Alex, both of whom have more experience then most of us. Ken works as a director and editor, and Alex is studying to become a director of photography at USC. Both of them volunteered to help us with this project wal hamdulilah.

And ma sha'Allah they did an excellent job and we learned so much from them. As usual Adnan & Rami were in charge, Hesam co-ordinated and made sure everyone was on schedule. We had Hussein as a supporting role and kashif as the lead role. Alex was our Cinematographer, and Ken was an assistant director.

Baba Ali and myself played small roles in the basketball scene and worked as PAs (production assistants). All of us worked as a team and we were able to re-shoot two scenes; the basketball scene and the accident scene.

We didn't have time to re-do the college scene, or Voice Over. We were also unable to attain a few POVs that we would have liked to have. These are not necessary but would have been nice. But we thank Allah for giving us the blessing of being able to get together and achieve what we had came for and get the necessary shots.

We experienced slight complications with the equipment we used on Saturday--the HD JVC camcorder. The time spent on the accident scene as well as the final dialog on Saturday took from 6:00am to 5:00pm, very close to Maghrib time. Afterwards, we were able to go as a group to Mas' Chinese Islamic Restaurant, and alhumdulillah we had a very nice time and enjoyed the food--which was great.

Sunday morning, around 8:00am, we started the basketball scene which lasted until 1:00pm. After that, just a few of us headed back down to Kashif's house for 4-5 quick shots that we were unable to get the day before due to the time contraints.

We decided to use the other equipment (Non-HD) due to battery issues with the HD camcorder. Adnan was able download all of the Non-HD footage. All of the HD footage still needs to be downloaded because the camera we shot on, the JVC, seems to have an issue. This means we may simply need to find another JVC camcorder that has HD capabilities or wait for the one we used to be fixed.

Adnan went through all the footage, including Saturday and Sunday. The quality is very good except for some overexposure which can be corrected. There are a few other issues which can also be fixed in post production. Once the complete footage is downloaded, we should be able to see the rough draft within two weeks inshaAllah.

wa salam aliakum

Behind The Scenes Footage Part 3

2008-01-08T22:30:00.000-08:00

Asalam alaikum everyone,

In this snippet, you will see clips of:

Bathtub and microphone in Tub, with Husain.

Pizza with Halal Beef Pepperoni?

Relaxing in super speed in between takes.

Positive thinking with Hesam and Kashif.

Relaxing, again, in super speed in between takes.

Jazakum Allah for your support. Please subscribe to www.tncmovie.com

TNC 11th & 12th meetings update (Reshoot)

2008-01-06T03:33:00.001-08:00

asalamu3lykum

After going over the footage, we need to re-shoot some scenes. The date is set for Januray 19, 2008. We will be re-shooting the:

1. Basketball scene.
2. Accident scene.
3. Voice Over.
4. Point-of-view shots.

If we have enough time then we can do extra shots on College scene or any other shots needed insha’Allah.

wasalam
A.F. Siddiqui

Behind the Scenes footage from TNC PT 2

2007-12-31T15:57:00.000-08:00

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

2007-12-16T21:03:00.000-08:00

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

2007-12-13T12:19:00.000-08:00

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 !

2007-12-09T15:12:00.000-08:00

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!

2007-12-04T10:04:00.000-08:00

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!

2007-12-02T14:42:00.000-08:00

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!

2007-12-01T03:52:00.000-08:00

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.

TNC 8th Meeting!

2007-11-27T23:46:00.001-08:00

Asalam alaikum everyone,

Alhamdulilah as usual we had an excellent meeting on Sunday 25th, and we are planning to do the following:

1. Adnan will get in touch with Yusuf Khan the editor.
2. Rami will get the copy of the footage as a back up from Ummahfilms.
3. Need to submit Release forms to all cast, crew and contributors of TNC.

Jazakum Allah for your support.

Quick Report from 11/16 - 11/18 Part 2

2007-11-26T09:51:00.000-08:00

Asalam alaikum everone,

After the shootings was done we were planning to do the following steps with the raw footages:

1. Will create a back up and send the raw footage to the editor (Yusuf Khan) and another one to Rami.

2. We can use DVD formats. The footage should be around 60GB. We can either burn to DVD's (2-3 copies of each) which would mean around 15 DVDs per set.

3. The best idea is to get a pair of passports (Western Digital small sized, large capacity, hard drives). If we get the small hard drives, 2 is a good number and maybe 250gb size.

After editing the film we will decide to redo some shots or not. At this moment we have some scenes that we are thinking to redo them:

1. College campus scene (because of darkness, and my poor acting --and yes Yusuf, I was the "Caucasian male" Paul.).

2. Basketball dolly scene as well as the pass-shoot scene inside the court.

3. When Hassan came in from outside and slept on the couch when he was deaf, we needed to show him looking at a Quran, or ayah or something. For this one, all we would need is for him to look above the cam, and for us to get a static shot of an ayah in the Quran about arrogance as a poster on the wall or something. We also need to choose which ayah to use (and subtitle translates it of course).

4. Outside shot of VERY simply car driving by, maybe pan, maybe just static. We might even be able to take this shot from other footage of when he ran out and we had to wait. This is for when he goes outside and he looks at "all the people, etc" and we decided he looks at cars.

The most important step is seeing what we have (after editing) we failed to emphasize how vital it is to have footage review every couple of scenes, but we were not really setup to do so. But insha’Allah it was a lesson for us.

Jazakum Allah.

Quick Report from 11/16 - 11/18 Part 1

2007-11-25T01:16:00.000-08:00

Asalam alaikum,

The cast & crew started shooting this movie around 8-9pm Friday 16th, ended at 3am on Saturday 17th. They Started around 8am on Saturday till around 2am Sunday 18th. Then they started shooting at around 11am on Sunday, and completed shooting at 6:30pm.

This shows a running total of 46 hours from beginning to finish for shooting the movie with all the breaks in between. Also, on Friday night, most people slept at 4am, woke up at 5:30 for fajr, slept, woke up at 7:30 or so.

On Sat night, most people slept around 3:30, woke up for fajr, then woke up at 8:30. This shows a running average of around 5 hours of sleep a night and a total of 10 hours of sleep.

Ma sha'Allah that was lot of work. Jazakumallahu for the awesome efforts.

Day 3 of Shooting!

2007-11-19T07:43:00.000-08:00

Asalam alaikum,

Alhamdulilah the shootings are finished on 11/18/2007. We are going through complete check up to make sure if there is anything left to fix, re-adjusted or redo the scenes. If that’s the case then insha’Allah will continue in few weeks. After that the post-production will be the most challenging and time consuming task.

Please continue to make those dua for us.

Wa salam alaikum

Day 2 of Shooting!

2007-11-17T22:54:00.000-08:00

Asalam alaikum

So far the project is going very well wal hamdulilah. 1st day was finished & here are some pictures from 11/17.

Please Keep those Dua'as coming wa salam alaikum.

Day 1 of Shooting & Production Schedule

2007-11-16T12:28:00.000-08:00

Assalam-u-alaikum,

So today is the first day of the shoot! We're getting ready to go pray Jumuah, inshaAllah. We have most of the equipment (All the main equipment) and we will pick up the rest in the afternoon. We have a 5 hour shoot later on tonight, and a testing earlier.

Here is the updated schedule.

Keep those Dua'as comin' because they've already gotten us out of sticky situations, and inshaAllah they will continue to do so. May Allah allow us to finish this movie, and fulfill our intention with it--creating clean, motivating, and empowering movies.

wassalam, peace

Storyboard sample.

2007-11-13T06:40:00.000-08:00

Asalam alaikum,

These are just samples of the storyboard. Brother Rami & Adnan will have a great idea about the angles & the freedom to improve when they get there at the set.

Shooting date on Nov 16th 2008

2007-11-12T01:01:00.000-08:00

Asalam alaikum,

Next week November 16th will be our shooting date. It will start on Friday 16th and end on Sunday 18th. Please make due that this project will be successful. Jazakum Allah.

Custom made Dolly!

2007-11-09T06:42:00.000-08:00

Asalam alaikum,

Brother Adnan made this dolly from scratch. Ma Sha'Allah.

TNC 7th Meeting!

2007-11-08T01:53:00.000-08:00

Asalam alaikum,

Insha'Allah 1 week form now and we'll start shooting the film. Almost everything is ready except for few extra hand with PA and release forms. Make dua that this project will be successful. Brother Rami is working on the storyboard and Adana finished building the dolly. Will meet 1 more time for touch up insha'Allah this sunday.

Jazakum Allah for your help & support.

TNC 6th Meeting!

2007-11-03T00:31:00.000-07:00

Asalam alaikum everyone.

Alhamdulilah! finally the date for shooting will be held on 11/16 to 11/18. Please make dua so we can be successful in this project. At the moment we are organizing, preparing and re-hearsing for the film. Stay tuned for our coming update this Sunday insha'Allah.

Equipment, Post Production, and I.C.E.

2007-10-27T21:57:00.000-07:00

Assalam-u-alaikum,

We will inshallah be using the Canon XL2 camera

as mentioned in an earlier entry but with a 35mm Lens Adapter, the Brevis35!

This will give the movie a much more professional feel, as you will inshallah see. We will be using the adapter with Nikon lenses; a 50mm F/1.4,

and an 85mm F/1.8

So since we now have a set date and we will finish the production, inshallah, by Nov 20th, we will be moving on to Post Production where everything is compiled, edited, and finalized. This is always a challenging phase for Indie films. The reason is that anyone can shoot a scene, grab their cam and shoot something, and get some folks together and mess around with a camera. The difference is in producing a movie that is of good quality and actually finishing it to a point where it is watchable, and that's where Post Production comes into play. It is a big part of the process, to put it simply.

May Allah bless this project and enable us to produce a professional, elegant movie that will help us continue towards our vision of making I.C.E. (Islamically Clean Entertainment) a reality.

Wassalam-u-alaikum

TNC 5th Meeting!

2007-10-27T01:37:00.000-07:00

Asalam alaikum,

On our 5th meeting we had a chance to talk with brother Kashif. He'll be availabe on the date of shooting Friday the 16th. Rami will be flying to LA on the 15th. We discussed many aspects of shooting and how to use different techniques. The location will be arranged by Adnan insha'Allah. The final script will be submited so the actors can prepare to practice.

TNC 4th Meeting!

2007-10-16T22:41:00.000-07:00

Asalam alaikum everyone,

On our 4th meeting we discussed to keep the new version of the scripts that's re-written by Adnan except for the ending part. Sister Summyah made some modification on the dialogue of the script & some changes on some part the scenes might take effect (based on Sister Mirza input). Adnan added 2 cast members & Husain will contact his friends for extra help. Rami will be working on the storyboard insha'Allah.

Eid Mubarak Everyone!

2007-10-11T21:49:00.001-07:00

Eid Mubarak everyone! I've contacted Friends and Families overseas and its confirmed that the moon was sighted wal hamdulilah.

Abu ‘Umayr ibn Anas reported from his paternal uncles among the Ansaar who said: “It was cloudy and we could not see the new moon of Shawwaal, so we started the day fasting, then a caravan came at the end of the day and told the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) that they had seen the new moon of Shawwaal the day before, so he told the people to stop fasting, and they went out to pray the Eid prayer the next day.”[Reported by the five. It is sahih; al-Irwaa’, 3/102, Abu Dawud 1153]

Eid Al-Fitr is on Friday 12th October 2007. May Allah (swt) accept all our Ibadaahat throughout Ramadhan.

Muslim on the authority of Abu Hurayrah: that “The Messenger of Allah (saw) forbade fasting on two days, the day of al-Adha and the day of al-Fitr”.

TNC 3rd Meeting!

2007-10-09T22:52:00.000-07:00

Asalam alaikum,

Our 3rd meeting went very well. The script was submitted and we are planning to go through it one more time this week for any feedback, modifications, ideas or suggestions from the TNC crew.

We also discussed about the location and time to shoot. insha'Allah we are looking for Mid-November.

Next week will start on storyboard and more discussion about cast & crew insha'Alalh. Make dua for us please.

Storyboard Sample

2007-10-06T01:15:00.000-07:00

Assalam-u-alaikum,

So we did a little storyboarding. We are not going to be very specific in terms of making the storyboard of every frame we wish to shoot. We will storyboard what we think are essential shot angles and add from there as we see fit. Below is a sample of the storyboard, which could change before the shoot, but should give you a good idea on how things are developing.
TNC-Storyboard1.jpg

May Allah allow this production to complete, and for this initiative to grow and help the world for the better, please say Ameen.

Baba Ali needs your help (to get Ummah Films into 28 Million Homes!)

2007-10-02T20:51:00.001-07:00

I have entered one of the Reminder videos (Muslim While Flying) in a contest and I need your vote InshAllah. If you like the Reminder series, please support it by taking a minute out of your time and voting for it by going to this site: http://www.linktv.org/onenation/films/view/8

Help us win and get Ummah Films on TV (28 Million homes InshAllah!)

This all started out in a small room and now we have the opportunity to reach the world! So please vote and comment and tell all your friends and family too! http://www.linktv.org/onenation/films/view/8

JazakAllah khair

Baba Ali
Ummah Films

Update for 2nd meeting!

2007-10-02T09:15:00.000-07:00

Asalam alaikum everyone,

The following are the main summery for the meeting that took on 09/30/07

1. Sample of the storyboard was submitted.
2. We discussed about types of storyboarding with some good software's,equipments for this projects, lenses & cameras.
3. The importance of contracts & guidelines.
4. The script will be modified.
5. Next week meeting we’ll discuss about the script.
6. Conference call meeting via Skype will be held for 2 hours only at 1:00 on Sunday 10/07/07 California time.
7. We added 2 sisters on our team to help us with the Project.

Wa salam alaikum, please make dua for us.

Moving Forward!

2007-09-23T23:02:00.000-07:00

Assalam-u-alaikum,
So it's been a while since we've had any real forward movement with this project. This was due to many factors, but all that is not important. What's important right now is that we are making things happen.

Today we got together for a meeting, and discussed where we need to go. As you can see 2 posts down we have a preliminary Production Schedule. We are now in the process of Story Boarding the movie. When that is done, we will, from there, get a crew together and insha'allah complete the production phase of the movie.

One thing i will ask, is that if you are reading this blog right now, SUBSCRIBE TO IT! If you want to see us finish this movie, subscribe, because any support will help. Comment on the posts, and let us know what you think of how things are going.

We will keep you updated as we march, step by step, towards completing one of the first UmmahFilms movie shorts.

Thank you for visiting, reading, supporting, and commenting on this blog and Jazakum-u-llahu khairan (may Allah reward you).

TNC - Production Schedule-Sample

2007-09-03T00:54:00.000-07:00

Assalam-u-alaikum,

We have a preliminary production schedule, but no date yet. Please take a look and give any feedback you might have. May Allah bless this project, and bless you all for any help you provide us, and any support you have/will give, and make this project one more solid brick in the yellow path towards Islamically Clean Entertainment! (I.C.E.)

Here are the links, you have Excel, JPG, and MS Document Imaging file:
(note: if you dont have neither MS Office, nor an MS Windows Operating System, simply download the JPG image)
TNC - Production Schedule JPG
TNC - Production Schedule Excel
TNC - Production Schedule MS IDoc

Wassalam-u-alaikum Wara7matullah

Connection to Reality

2007-08-19T00:25:00.000-07:00

Asalamu3laikum,

Hope everyone is doing well. I would like to make a suggestion: The script needs to have a beginning, middle and ending that make sense and have some connection to reality- 'What's the reason for Hassan's loss of hearing/sight?' InshALLAH, I will be in LA next week and would like to meet with you guys to discuss the project?

Take care

TNC Objectives

2007-05-15T09:07:00.000-07:00

Asalam alaikum everyone,

These are the main objectives for the making of “Tomorrow Never Comes”. Keep in mind these steps are subject to change based on funds, locations, availability, resources etc… If anyone wants to make any changes or add any suggestions, please feel free to do so. Baraka Allahu feekum wa salam alaikum.

SCRIPT

The script was posted in Elance. We get some bids, found the best candidate, and reviewed the script. Elance ROCKS! The script is open for any changes and modification by any volunteers. Currently Brother Sufaan, Kashif and Hsuaina are reviewing it again.

STORYBOARD

The script is done. We needed storyboard for the film. We posted up on Elance and the prices were too high. So we decided that if we can get a director, then he can make those arrangements for the storyboard. Since brother Sufyaan will be our director for the film we will let him decide what should be done with storyboard,

LOCATION

Location for filming is the key. We need to breakdown our script and figure out where we have access to film. Mostly it will be filmed somewhere in California!

EQUIPMENT & FUNDING

Through selling wristbands, DVDs, and UF shirts we were able to raise money to buy equipment and to fund our short films. These are the following equipments we have so far:

1. Canon xl2 camera
2. Sennheiser wireless microphone.
3. Shotgun microphone.
4. 3 500 watt soft boxes,
5. Large reflector with stand.
6. Green screen.
7. Firestone fs-100, lens filters.
8. Wide angle lens.
9. Clapboard.

ACTORS & MUSIC COMPOSER

Some Brothers will act in this film at the same time we might advertise this film as a student film and we’re going to try to pull in others by "credit only" marketing. Thus, this will give the opportunity for inspiring actors and music composers to work with us to build up their resume, and get their own copy of the film for free so they can put it up on the web. The goal is to get the film shot with two high end cameras (3 CCD cameras) and that will give the actors film quality video to showcase their skills Insha’Allah. We need to figure out where we can audition for and more importantly we need to figure out how to audition people. I leave this up to Brother Sufyaan, since he knows some contacts through his work in directing and production.

Need your advice!

2007-04-02T02:18:00.000-07:00

Asalam alaikum,

We have two matters that we wanted to share with you all. 1st as you all know most of our posts consisted in the development of scripts, storyboard, searching for director, crew etc... Is there anything else should we share or post while we are waiting for the project to start?

Our 2nd thought, we realized that some of you are already a filmmaker and others just like us trying to learn. Is there any way that you can share those experiences with us, give us advise, suggestion, feedback, more discussions, anything!

Even the one who is learning, can you please share your experience with us, something that you found interesting in the world of filmmaking or any information that we all can benefit from.

We believe all of you have been very supportive and wanted to make this project to be a team effort. So what do all think?

Please let us know wa jazakum Allah. Wa salam alaikum.

Looking for a Director

2007-03-05T11:52:00.000-08:00

Asalam alaikum ,

ALhmdulailh it’s been almost a week since my last post. I pray that all if you are in the best of health and imaan. I have three days left in Elance to finalize the storyboard project. I haven’t focused too much on it due to many factors. Gaby explained very well on the comment section Jazake Allah Gaby.

For now I’ll stay on hold for storyboard. Ali got in touch with 3 directors and we decided to go with the one that we thought will help us and be the best candidate for our project. I’ve been in touch with him, for couple days making some contacts though email and phone calls. At 1st we were all excited but unfortunately I just got his email yesterday and he didn’t want to work with us. After he read the script he changed his mind.

So we learned that next time if we are looking for a director we should do the following:

1. We have the person read
the script.

2. Find out what they want

3. Know their availability.

4. Get them on the board

Worst case scenario, If we didn’t find anyone then we'll go with Plan B ,which is to do it ourselves which means we need to study the camera work course (6 DVDs Hollywood study course). In this case you can also check the following sites. It’s free and very informative and you will learn so many things on filmmaking. camerawork, lighting etc. Let me know what you think about these links.

1. Digital Juice
2. Izzy Video

As I told this unpleasant news to Brother Ali, he advised me to be patient, because Allah is the best of planners. So the moment he wanted to post another adds on craigslist. He got in touch with Brother Sufyaan. He has an experience in directing. Brother Sufyaan will go through the script tonight and inshallah he will let us know by tomorrow. He was very excited so I think that’s good thing! Please make dua that he will be on the board with us. He knows Brother Hani and both have experience with productions, studio equipment etc. Keep in mind that everything is by the grace of almighty Allah then with your supports and duas. Baraka Allahu feekum Wa salam alaikum,

Waiting on storyboard artists!

2007-02-28T18:58:00.000-08:00

Asalamu Aliakum,

Alhamdulilah so far I got 4 storyboard artists from Elance. I’ve been busy making contacts with these artists back and forth. I learned that there are difference in cost, depends on how the project is drawn. Some charges frame by frame, others page by page and some by the job. I think the most common is frame by frame, than page by page. Keep in mind we have two month left to start making the film! So I really want the storyboard to be finished in 2 weeks at least.

Over all that is not my main concern. My real agenda is how someone can create a storyboard as a cinematographer or think like a cinematographer for the director of photography. What I mean is a professional artist can draw very good but will he or she be able to visualize what the writer of the script or the director wants the scene to look like!?

I’ll keep all you posted. Jazakum Allah for the support. Wa salam alaikum.

Craigslist vs.Elance.

2007-02-26T04:21:00.000-08:00

Asalam alaikum,

Alhamdulilah I got contacted by a storyboard artist from craigslist and another from Elance. I posted the project in Elance for 12 days bidding period. The process in craigslist is little bit different. I'll keep you all updated Inshallah, wa salam alaikum.

The script is finally completed

2007-02-22T17:27:00.000-08:00

The script is finally completed. Last Friday, I met a Labid, a producer from tworams.com, and he gave me some valuable advise about Ummah Films. I emailed him a copy of the final script and hope to get his feedback InshAllah since he has 7 years of experience in the industry and I'm just a newbie.

With two people already casted, we just need to cast the rest of the characters and start putting together a crew to film this short InshAllah. In Islam, we are suppose to seek knowledge from those who are knowledgeable. So I found a person on craigslist.com who has an XL2 camera and can help us with the directing. I sent him an email and am awaiting his call.

Although we are filming in April, we want to be prepared and organized. I have heard that many movies never finish because people quit in the middle of the project. I can't say I blame them because if the project isn't organized, then there really isn't any point of working on chaos. As Muslims, we should not only be organized but we try to do things the best we can based on our resources. Now I don't expect a Steven Speilberg movie (once again, this is our first movie attempt) but we should try our best.

Storyboard the next step

2007-02-17T05:35:00.000-08:00

Asalam aliakum,

Once the script is finalized our next step will be to create storyboard. Storyboard is a set of images created on timelines for visualization purposes so it can help the film director. Brother Ali showed me this link that has free storyboard software. It’s awesome. Check it out http://www.celtx.com/.

Wa salam alaikum

Finalizing the deal with writer

2007-02-13T14:41:00.000-08:00

Asalam alaikum,
Alhamdulilah, Inshallah tomorrow I’ll finalize the deal with writer regarding the new script. I thank the Brothers and Sisters for the feedback on it. If anyone is interested to read the new script one more time please do so and leave comments, feedback or whatever you think that should be changed. Everything is by the grace of Allah then with your help and support. Jazakum Allah wa salam alaikum.

The new script is ready!

2007-02-11T14:39:00.000-08:00

Alhamdulillah, the writer we hired finished the new script! Please check it out here and please post your comments.

JazakAllah khair for your support.

Techniques in Filmmaking

2007-02-06T18:51:00.000-08:00

Asalam aliakum,
While I am waiting for the script to be re-written and submitted by the 11th of this month, I want to share with you all some of the techniques in filmmaking or shooting a good video. So please check some of the posts by Ali at Ummahfilms for the month of March. Look for the following posts:

Home movie style vs. professional movie style
How to get the "film" look using filters
Cool film techniques
What you'll need to make a film: Part 1 - Camera
What you'll need to make a film: Part 2 - Lighting

Wa salam alaikum

Cast & Crew

2007-02-04T14:05:00.000-08:00

I spoke to Hossein and he agreed to play the role of Omar. Being that I have never gone to film school and I have no professional filmmaking experience, almost everything is a learning process for me. The goal is to record this film in April. So until then, we are trying to prepare for the actual filming day. The first step thus far has been to put together a script. I have posted the last version of the script (which is currently being rewritten) under the links tab in case anyone is interested.

The one major thing the script lacks is Hassan (main character) narrating his thoughts. Since he is deaf, I think it would be interesting to hear what is going on in his head.

Anyways, once we get the script down, the next step is to storyboard and figure out locations for filming. Yeah, the process gets harder :)

New Template

2007-02-03T01:32:00.000-08:00

Got tired of seeing the same old template look so I decided to design Tomorrow Never Comes banner. Hence, the new look of the blog :)

I pitched the idea to three friends I know and they agreed to play a part in the movie. So since I have their green light, I used my resources to find pics of each one of them and used them to put them into the banner. When people see progress, they get inspired. So far, we have been trying to keep a tab on everything that is going on and if you have been keeping up since day 1 (which wasn't that long ago), you've probably seen the progress too :)

Update TNC project.

2007-01-26T22:08:00.000-08:00

I got a chance to pitch the TNC idea to Yusuf and he has decided to join this adventure Alhamdulillah. I emailed him the draft of the script. The next step is to look for someone who writes scripts professionally to take a look at our amateur script and polish it up a little bit. A great site to find this type of help is elance. Basically, you post up what you want done (in this case someone to help us make the script better), and then professional bid on the job and then if you like one of them, you select them and your set.

I hope Yusuf can come up with the description of what we want done on Elance by this weekend so we can post it up by Monday InshAllah.

Launching "Tomorrow Never Comes"

2007-01-25T09:56:00.000-08:00

Ummah Films was launched last year with the idea of making short films. So I worked on a script called "Tomorrow Never Comes" but for one reason or another, the movie never got made. Since then, I have been keeping myself busy doing the The Reminder Video Blogs on the Ummah Films site but I want to go back and try to film this short movie.

I don't expect the finished product to look like something straight out of Hollywood type because this is our first try but I want to at least try to make it decent. Its always easy being a critic but once YOU have to do it, then its a whole new ballgame. Anyways, if this blog sounds interesting, please subscribe to it so you can get emails when something new comes up.

TNC (Tomorrow Never Comes) is a short story about Hassan, an intellectually and athletically gifted young man, who awakens one day and discovers he can't hear. He soon realizes that he was deaf long before this day because of his arrogance. His lost of hearing humbles him and he realizes that he must change. He decides to change tomorrow but tomorrow never comes and as tomorrow is his funeral.

The film is a short (only about 5 to 7 minutes in length) and its the first film project from Ummah Films.