When you read the document that describes the company history, you will discover that Warren and Fred attempted to make The Empiricist back in late 1997 and early 1998. However, at that time, they were unable to sign sufficient numbers of cast and crew to make that movie. So, they began to take courses in various aspects of movie making. One such course lead to the making of a short: Light Sensitive #1. And, because of the many problems associated with that project, Light Sensitive #2 was done; being completely finished in the autumn of 2000. It was then decided to, once again, attempt to make The Empiricist. This second attempt was successful. Advertisements for cast and crew were placed in movie trade publications in the autumn of 2000; interviews commenced in October; and by mid-December, six weeks later, sufficient cast and crew personnel had been signed.

If you have read the document describing Phosphorus Alights' model for making movies, you now know that Warren and Fred are constantly experimenting, so as to arrive at an approach to making movies that is optimal. One such experiment was conducted in regard to casting actors. The script called for 39 speaking roles: eleven characters in the 1800's scenes, and 29 characters in modern times. The experiment involved having some actors double up roles: play a character in the 1800's, and then play another character in the modern period of the movie. The goal of the experiment was to discover if such doubling up is distractive to the viewing audience. If movie viewers are not distracted by actors doubling up on their roles, that would lead to greater efficiency in making a movie. So, instead of signing 39 actors to play the 39 speaking roles, they signed only 34 actors to make the movie.

Another Phosphorus Alights' principle is "first come, first serve": the first person who signs a letter of agreement, in regard to any one position, becomes the person who is assigned to that position. Read the model for making a movie document, to fully understand the basis for this principle. In following this first come, first serve approach, Warren and Fred made no attempt to ensure, that the 34 actors who were signed broke down into the exact male:female ratio called for in the script. Like with all of Phosphorus Alight's principles, they assume that God will ensure it all works out in the end. And that is exactly what took place. Incidentally, once the picture editing of The Empiricist was completed, it became obvious that the doubling up of the actors worked fine.

Once those 34 actors had been signed, all addition applicants were interviewed; each one being strongly encouraged to become "a Phosphorus Alights affiliate": sign a letter of agreement, be considered a full member of the Phosphorus Alights family, and become a member of the production if any of the first 34 actors to sign had to leave the production. The people who became affiliates were put on a roster, in chronological order of who signed; so that, the first person who signed as an affiliate would be the first person given a role in the movie, and so forth. It was fortuitous that Warren and Fred received this inspiration, because by the time the movie was completely shot, so many of the original 34 actors had dropped out, or had to be asked to leave the project, that all the people who signed as affiliates were eventually given a speaking role in the movie.

As soon as the first 34 actors had been signed, a reading day was scheduled. And on that day, it was decided which actor would play which role. In the movie industry, as in the theater industry, the tradition is to assign the roles by audition. But Warren and Fred disagreed with that approach; instead choosing to cast the roles by a reading. Read the model on movie making to find out the basis for their position. And, also read about the model, so you can fully understand how Phosphorus Alights schedules any one meeting: because they have a unique approach to that task as well.

To schedule the reading day, each cast member was called, and asked what days he had free for the next month or two (no previous appointments had been scheduled). It took about three days for everyone, who was contacted, to respond; and the first day everyone had free turned out to be six weeks latter. When the reading day arrived, it proceeded as follows. All of the actors who desired to play a particular role, say that of Winston, went to the front of the room; and each of them read a passage that Winston will speak in the movie. After they each had a turn, they all returned to their original seats. And everyone who was present, including all the actors who had just read for Winston, voted (with their eyes closed); and the actor who received the most votes was selected to play Winston in the movie.

Most of the roles were assigned without any difficulty. But, for a few of the roles, the sex of the character had to be changed. Now, from Warren's and Fred's perspective, certain personalities can only be male, or can only be female. And, in terms of those specific roles, the person who plays that character must be of the same sex that character has in the script. During the reading day for "The Empiricist", all such roles were filled by a person of the appropriate sex. On the other hand, Warren and Fred believe, there are roles in each movie that can be male or female; because the personality of all such characters is neither definitely male, nor is definitively female. In these latter cases, there is no problem if the actor who is chosen for that role, on the reading day, is the opposite sex of what is written in the script. In such cases, after the reading day is over, the screenwriter will make the appropriate changes in that specific character's dialogue. In all of the cases, during the reading day of "The Empiricist", where actors were cast for a role whose sex in the script was not the sex of the chosen actor, the roles's characters could have been either male or female; and the necessary changes in the script were promptly done.

There may be readers among you, who have experience in the movie and theater industries, who wonder how this approach to casting worked out. It went quite well. It was fortuitous, that the affiliate program was developed, and that a number of affiliates were signed; because each and every affiliate was needed by the time the movie was actually shot. Also, some young people played quite elderly parts: the largest age difference being a female who was in her twenties, who played a character whose age in the script was fifty plus years; and a male who was in his mid-twenties, who played a character whose age in the script was sixty plus years. In all such cases, each actor did an excellent job: playing her character's ages quite authentically. All the actors in the movie did good work.

During the reading day, all the actors were given the latest version of the script; and the feedback session was scheduled. The feedback session was created for the following purpose: to have the actors contribute toward having the story be most optimal. It was to take place over five days, Monday through Friday, divided into the various scenes in the movie. For each scene, the actors in that scene would first read all the lines; and then there would be a discussion about changes that were needed. The feedback session was held near the end of March.

Amazingly, there were people who had been assigned roles on the reading day, who failed to show at the feedback session. One of the principles that Phosphorus Alights' follows is that no agreements can be broken; and anyone who breaks an agreement is barred from working on Phosphorus projects. Now, please be clear, that no agreement is ever initially established, until all the involved parties fully agree with all the points of that agreement. But, once an agreement is established, it is required to be kept without exception. To the amazement of Warren and Fred, on a regular basis they encounter people who work in the movie industry, who consider this principle to be unacceptable. And such people typically claim, that Warren and Fred are inflexible when they require that all agreements be kept. Needless to say, such people are surprised when it is pointed out to them, that all dictionaries define inflexible as not being willing to consider new options, and not a single English dictionary defines inflexible as the refusal to allow agreements to be broken.

After the feedback session occured, then the final draft of the script was written. And each member of the cast was sent a copy. Then, once everyone had received their copies, everyone was called in order to set up the production scheduling meeting. Warren and Fred decided to combine this meeting with a "get acquainted with your fellow workers" party. There was to be a cocktail hour, followed by dinner. And after dinner was over, they would hold a meeting, during which the final production dates would be scheduled. That dinner was held on May 20, 2001. And, based on the discussion after that dinner, it was determined that rehearsals would begin in July, and the first day of shooting would be in September. Amazingly, there were people who had been at the reading session and at the feedback session, who failed to show for this meeting. All the affiliates had been invited to that party, and, therefore, a few of them were assigned roles in the movie during that meeting.

Extensive rehearsals were held: over six hours per day, for five days per week, for six weeks. The reason for such extensive rehearsals is explained in the model for making a movie. After the rehearsals were over, the shooting schedule commenced. Shooting the movie started September 9, and finished December 14, 2001. The schedule was maintained exactly as planned. Several people, each of whom had significant experience in the movie industry, came in contact with the production as it progressed from September through December. And all of those people were amazed, because they had never known of a movie project, that maintained its original schedule throughout the entire production: all of the productions, they had each personally worked on, had moved behind schedule by the second or third week of shooting, and got progressively further and further behind as the production continued. This is one more verification, that the model Phosphorus Alights follows is valid, as well as being superior to the guidelines proposed by the status quo.

In the approach that Phosphorus Alights uses when it shoots a movie, each crew member is expected to be involved in all non-acting activities (all behind-the-camera activities): all the crew members help build (and paint) the sets; help dress the sets (put in the furniture and furnishings, so as to have the set look like an authentic location); help light the sets; and then each crew member is assigned a specific task(s) during the shooting days; and all the crew members then help strike the sets (remove all the set dressing, and remove all the lights, and tear down the walls and other structural items). Now, when you shoot a movie in this manner, the shooting period is divided into two segments: shooting the scenes on the stage, and shooting the scenes on location. In the making of this movie, Warren and Fred decided to shoot the stage scenes first (based on reasons that are delineated in the model for making a movie); and then shoot the locations scenes last. They faced two possibilities in regard to shooting the stage scenes:

(i) Rent a stage big enough to hold all the sets: build and dress and light all the sets; then shoot all the scenes that will be shot on a stage; and then strike all the sets.

(ii) Rent a smaller stage and shoot in several phases: build and paint and dress and light and shoot and strike all the sets in phase one; then repeat that process for phase two; and then for phase three; and so forth.

During the feedback session, several members of the cast were asked which of the two above approaches they preferred. The majority expressed a desire for the several phase approach; their primary reason being that having only a few days of shooting, separated by a week or two of construction (in which they would not be involved), would allow them to keep the non-movie work they had; they needing such work to support themselves. So the several phase approach was chosen. It was also chosen to return to Mack Sennett Stage, where the two Light Sensitive shorts had been filmed, to shoot all the stage scenes; because Warren and Fred were familiar with the set up of that stage. When this movie, The Empiricist, was shot, there were five stage phases.

There were problems that occurred during the shooting phases, but all of them were resolved successfully. And, actually, with the resolution of each one, there arose an expanded awareness of how to make a successful movie. The location segment was quite educational. Several times it appeared, early in the day, that weather conditions would prohibit the shooting of the scenes, that were scheduled for those specific days. But, in every such case, by the time the day was over the scenes that were scheduled for that day had been filmed. The Phosphorus Alights model really works!

The last day of shooting was Thursday, December 14, 2001. Then, early in January, the picture editing phase began. And, as in all the previous aspects, many problems appeared; primarily in the realm of getting the computer editing system to perform correctly. The picture editing phase was completed in early April. Video tapes of the final sequence were made, and the various administrative lists that are needed by the negative cutters and the sound editors were compiled. The composer was sent a set of the videos, and the score composing phase was commenced. This page is being written late in July, 2002. And, as of this date, the negative has been cut, the sound editing is completed, the musical score is composed and recorded, the one song with lyrics that will be in the movie is recorded, and the negative is being blown-up (enlarged) to 35mm. Phosphorus Alights films with super 16mm film stock. Almost all cinemas, world-wide, project film in 35mm. So, at some point in each Phosphorus Alights' movie post-production process, the original super 16mm negative has to be enlarged (blown-up in movie industry language) to 35mm. Somewhere during August, or September, 2002, the movie should be at the release print stage (the point where you have a print, with quality sound, that can be projected in any cinema in the country). That is all for now.

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