Well, I can confidently say that most of those have been successful, with a few mistakes. However, now I realize how much better I need to be at certain things. Notice the only technical thing I have up there is the exposure. Now I realize I need some people behind the scene who care about the technical things and make sure I'm doing them right. Recently Tim Gobble has been great at this.
I am not a technically minded guy. I wish I was a little bit more, but it's just not how I was wired, for better or worse. I am glad, it's how God made me. But I need some people to make sure that the lighting is good, that I use a tripod, that I don't skip any steps. I'm always thinking about the action, about what's going on on screen that I don't think about the other things. This is where a real true assistant director comes in handy, somebody who makes sure everything gets done. Nate Archer has been my AD for most of the movie, and he's doing absolutely great at what he does, but I never sat down with him and told him what an AD does. So most of the time he didn't really know what exactly he was supposed to do. But he's done great without knowing what to do, if that makes sense. I can't say enough for Archer though, he's been there through thick and thin and been the biggest help I've ever had in any movie ever. He does whatever needs to be done. Hold the camera (which he is a master), the boom mic, fix dialogue/action, anything. He always has useful ideas and brings something to the table.
I've learned a ton about the fundamentals of filmmaking. From setting up shots to directing the action and dialogue, to acting, everything has been steadily getting better. I think I can set up shots and pick angles pretty well, though I can get better at it.
Acting is a huge thing I need to get better at. I recently sat down with my cousin Tim Green and we watched a rough cut of the movie, and he liked it but he said he didn't really understand exactly who the character of Calvin (my character) was. I agreed. Not good. When you watch the movie, you will know exactly who Keith is, Sami does a good job of portraying Keith through his journey. However, I don't. And I don't even have a character arch, and I still don't play the part good! Sometimes I play Calvin right, all spaced out and aloof, but other times I play him sharp and normal. Very bad. Thank the Lord I can reshoot all of those specific scenes (or have already), but man. Talk about undeveloped acting. At least I've learned a lot from Haj.
So, apparently Nate Archer has dissapeared from the planet. Haven't seen him in like a million years and he hasn't been on set the last 4 or 5 shooting days. He is very enthusiastic about the movie though, so he will be back. But meantime, Tim Gobble has stepped up huge. Thanks Tim!
Heather Schwalm has been the focal point of the last few shooting days. She is a very interesting person and it comes across on screen. I don't think I've ever met anybody with her characteristics. Well, maybe one, the french girl from 'Around the World in 80 Days.' Actually, come to think of it, she really reminds me of Heather. Anyway, Schwalmi is rockin the house, and she's been funny.
So yeah, still working on that trailer. Did a lot of work on it today. I still need to shoot a couple things to make it work, however. All that will be done this week! Oh man, this week is going to be CRAZY. I need to shoot 20+ pages this week, half of them reshoots. Ya know, people keep telling me that I can't keep reshooting and reshooting, but who wants to believe that? I mean, if a scene sucks it can't stay. You gotta reshoot it. I wish I could reshoot the whole movie. Okay, say the movie is good say for two or three scenes, then the movie isn't good.
It will be very apparent when you see the flick that I am an amatuer filmmaker. The movie is inconsistent. Some scenes are good, some are great, others suck. Thank the Lord the bad scenes are short, and the good scenes are long. I have so much to learn about lighting and framing. Again, some scenes are great in those aspects, some suck. I recently went through my annual "my movie sucks and I should die" phase for the third or fourth time during production. I also went through a few "this movie is professional and brilliant and we will all get rich" phase. With a cool head, I think the reviews will read, "Spade on the River has strengths and glaring weaknesses. The story is original, it's fresh, funny and has a good dose of drama. Sami Haj is a real find, and the rest of the cast does a good job. However, the technical problems keep 'Spade' from being the great movie it could have been. A good attempt for an amatuer, and we hope that Kyle can clean up his act and make a better one next time."

I've started writing the script for my next film, and it's going very well. Nate and I have determined to have a two camera, three light set up at the least.

Man, I should have done a better job at 'Spade.' I didn't direct it very well. I didn't act in it very well. The movie is being held down by the person who started it. Next time I promise I will do better in every aspect. Truth is, I know I could have tried harder, been better, etc... But the movie isn't even done yet, and I'm not even done with Calvin yet, so all this can and will change.
I still think it's a lot better than most of the stuff coming out of college films.