Producing an independent film is difficult process, made all the more difficult when the budget is small.

Writer/Director/Editor Jay Edwards takes you behind the filmmaking process of this comedic head-on collision between '60s beach party teen flicks and a good old-fashioned monster. Add a retro soundtrack and you've got the makings of a cult classic.

Edwards is probably best known as a producer and editor for Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block, working on both Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and now Aqua Teen Hunger Force. A professional television editor since 1991, he also worked on CNN's Cold War documentary. His Monster Trilogy collection of short films has been a favorite on the festival circuit.

You can visit the official Stomp! Shout! Scream! site here, and be sure to check back each week as we chart the film's progress…

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APRIL 19, 2005


As I mentioned in my last journal, these entries may be few and far between while Stomp! Shout! Scream! makes the last few steps toward the finish line of post production. I didn't realize it'd be 6 weeks before I'd have anything to talk about. The film's score is almost done. Composer John Cerreta has done great work. We've met maybe 6 times and at least once a meeting, I giggle to the point of out-and-out laughter. Not because what he's done is goofy, clown-ish music, but because it's so perfect for what we're aiming at.

The animated opening credit sequence is progressing well also. Designer Evan Miga at Radical Axis has done a great job storyboarding the sequence. I saw the first rough moving animations of the girls playing last week. Animator Todd Redner is using the original footage we shot for the scene as reference to wonderful effect. I can't thank everyone at Radical enough for the added production value this will give the final film. It's really going to look great.

Here's the remaining schedule: another 2-3 weeks to finish up the score, 4-5 weeks to complete the animation, Cinefilm Atlanta will re-transfer all the original 35mm film to Hi-Definition tape, the edit will be conformed on HD (more on this later), a day or two of HD tape-to-tape color correction at Cinefilm, and finally I'll start to mix the sound. As I've said before, these last steps are the ones that really make this film so much more than the sum of it's parts.



- Jay Wade Edwards
Writer/Director
Stomp! Shout! Scream!