Scene 12

It still blows my mind how something can go from an idea, to the page, and into production. Scene 12 (also known as the Mothman Conversation) was one of the first scene ideas that I would build the rest of the story out of. Scene 12 serves as an introduction to several plot points, introduces the majority of the cast, and sets up jokes for later punchlines. It's the first (and really only) scene that I had rehearsed the first time we had all met, and it's the scene that the majority of the cast is in.

As we were setting up I realized that we were about to put on to tape something that was really only in my head months ago. I was only really able to be excited about it for a few minutes. The rest of the time I was too busy remembering my lines, setting up the shots, and going over the shot list in my phone (that seems to be where I keep all my notes now.)

Solid shoot. Smoother than normal, thanks to the addition of Brian Tally. An experienced behind the scenes man who was on the ball the whole time. Eager to set up, first to start packing up after the scene wrapped. Thanks Brian. And thanks to Seth Tucker for working the boom mic. First time on sound, but an excellent job indeed. No really, I just checked all the sound and it's good.

A big thanks to the cast tonight, Jamie Bertman (thanks for letting us use Katy's Ass), Danielle Motley (A real trooper, walking as many times as she did even if she was in pain), Brandon White (funny as hell), Will Atwood (no one else is Chase), Greg Romeo (hilarious as always, great improv), Nicole Nastazzio (who looks great in camo and shines for the camera), and Chris Plouffe (who not only performed well, but also allowed us to destroy his office, thank you Chris).

It was the first and possibly the last time the whole NC cast would be together (for this episode that is), so that meant taking a whole lot of pictures. Here are a few of em.


















It was fun. But now we move on to the other 15 scenes that still need to be shot. OK guys, from the top. ;)

Son Of A Bitch!

Just cuz it's on my mind. I felt like watching the best part of Grindhouse. Yup, the trailers.



Back in the day, we use to make fake trailers for the fun of it. I think it may soon be time to get back to that kind of fun.

Michael Giacchino

Just a note. In theme with my current obsessions, Michael Giacchino did a lecture on movie scoring. Here is the podcast link for later listening pleasure.

http://www.scpr.org/programs/zocalo/podcast.php

Up In The Air

That's where things are kinda right now. There are certain scenes I can't shoot yet, because I don't have that location. And other scenes that I'd like to shoot but it's all dependent on the weather. I know what I had planned for Saturday. But according to weather.com, it's going to rain.

It's all good though. This happens on every shoot. The weeks that you just have to play it by ear, improvise, and do the things you know you can do, until you can do the things you need to do. Like right now, I'm planning to for a shoot, and at the same time doing some audio editing.

It's been interviews and insert shots so far. A good portion of the movie, but I am anxious to get to the monsters, the action, and Edgar. Edgar's scenes are going to be interesting. especially since the actor playing Edgar has promised he is a bit methody in his performance. It's gonna be good.

Back to the grind.

welcome to the wild west, I'm a gunslinger, and you're not.

You can bitch all you want about it, but it doesn't change the fact that you cannot often predict what the market is gonna be like. Every step is a risk, every move a gamble. I know you see the flaws in the system, and you call as you see it, and I commend you for it. Feel free to continue to fix whatever it is you think needs to be fixed, and I may very well be inclined to agree with you. But since it seems to be working out well for me, I won't complain.

I understand your point of view. I understand this is what you want to make a living at, fine. But just realize this particular brand of video work is new and flawed, two things that seem to go hand in hand sometimes. But despite the fact the flaws need to be fixed, the real kicker comes back to the fact that people change their minds. Companies, advertisers, sponsors, they all have the ability and capability to change their minds, even if they say the whole time they want something else. All the whining, and yes it is whining, is really due to the fact that you're looking for permanent employment and job security in a system that is only looking for hired guns to enter rogue unpredictable situations.

I recognize that I am a hired gun, and I may very well not make it out alive once the gun play is over. It's a risk everytime because there is no garuntee that you may create something that'll actually win you a prize. I know this wholeheartedly. So I create it, submit it, and try my best to forget about it. It would be a mistake to rely on it, to stake you're life on it, because in the end it's still a contest, and there has to be winners and losers. I know I may very well lose, but it's till worth it if you enjoy the process of creating it. And that's all I can do, make it, enjoy making it, and let it go. The rest is up to the powers that be.

Never Put All Your Eggs In One Basket - Or All Of Your Coins On One Game.

Shoot First Ask Questions Later

Started shooting last week. Here are a few freeze frames from what we've shot so far. Mostly interviews and dialogue scenes. More to come as I get the locations I need.


Cutter about to miss the trash can again.



Greenly being Greenly.



Weir talking about depression and toothpaste.



Windows and Jack talk about Cutter's gun jamming.



Windows offers Jack suckers he made himself.



Jack reacting to Windows telling her he keeps them in his pants.



Nigel and Bryce discuss smiley faces.



Bryce puts a smiley face on Nigel.



The consequence of putting a smiley face on Nigel.





Shooting continues throughout this month and possibly into May. If you are someone I talked to a while back and you expressed interest in helping, and you think you'd never hear from me ever again, be prepared, cuz I'm frickin calling everybody to help me get this done. Yes even YOU.

- Patrick

I always expect it. I always know it's going to happen. But I still get surprised at how frustrating making a movie is, even if it is just a 22 minute pilot. I think it is even more frustrating because it is 22 minutes. Somehow if it were 5, it would be fine. Or if it were a 90 minute feature, it would be fine. But 22 minutes is kicking my ass.

Not a big deal. Just using the ole blog to vent. In actuality(sp?), things are going rather smoothly. I just get more and more antsy every time we shoot something and I cut it together onto the timeline. Just 27 more scenes to shoot and we'll have enough to fill 22 minutes.

Everyone pray it doesn't rain on Wednesdays and Saturdays for the rest of the month.

Holy shit. I don't feel like doin a goddamn thing today.

Shut Up Unicorn

XlntAds new assignment requires you to make a video to help promote the new Harold and Kumar movie. Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanmo Bay. I immediately had an idea, but wasn't sure if or when I'd be able to get to it, as I am heavily involved with several video projects including, and most importantly, Monster Cops.

But with a little nudge from a friend, I went right into it. Took me one night. No footage needed to be shot. I utilized the assignment assets given to you when you register for the contest. Some publicity stills of Harold and Kumar, some logos. But for the remainder of my idea I would have to "borrow" from one of the Harold and Kumar marketing sites http://whatwouldnphdo.com It's a site that features actor Neil Patrick Harris aka NPH. Kind of sets him up as some sort of guru or religious idol. My idea would basically continue that theme, and the spirit of it's randomness.

I downloaded the wallpaper of Neil Patrick Harris sitting on a Unicorn. Did a little work in photoshop. Actually I didn't even bother with photoshop, I just used MS Paint. Cut his head out, cut the Unicorn's head out, stuck em in a green background ready for a chroma key effect, and after composing a bit of guru type groove music in Fruity Loops, I went to work.





I recorded the voice over directly into my camera mic and loaded them into Vegas, I didn't even bother setting up a mic. I had a ton of random things to whisper and I wanted to record them immediately. I already had the camera ready to go. Threw the images of static, and random color effects, had a heck of time multiplying Neil Patrick's head. Well there's a statement you don't read everyday.

After about 3 and half hours I was done. Uploaded it to XlntAds that night. Then I watched it and immediately thought it was a piece of crap. It's human nature to second guess your creations I guess. I guess we'll see if New Line Cinema likes it or not. The contest ends on April 13th. Ten prizes of $1,500 are up for grabs. Even if I don't win, I'm having a heck of time making this stuff. I cannot tell you the immense fun I had recording and editing around the phrase "Shut Up Unicorn."

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to editing Monster Cops and trying to figure out how we're going to shoot exteriors while trying to avoid the rain. Oh look, my inbox is full of folks requesting to be a zombie. I swear everbody loves to play the monster.

Brilliant

Ain't nothin like editing

Really, it's very addicting. Manipulating images and sound to create art. Well in this case a Budlight commercial. Finished the ad today, and I'm quite proud of it actually. We came up with some great stuff and it all went together quite well. Can't wait to show it off, but now let's see if Budweiser approves. Once again, ya can't hold your breath on this kinda thing. You send it off, and forget about it. If something happens, great. If not, oh well.

Cut together Chris's Tech Interview, finished the Budlight Ad, worked on editing Monster Cops. Even had time to snag me one of these bad boys:



More later.

What kind of day has it been?

Today we worked on the Bud Light commercial for XLNTads. I think we all had several different ideas for the past week, but really we're coming late to the game and couldn't do alot as per Budweiser's Guidelines. Tonight we got quite a bit done. Came up with a nifty idea and knocked it out by about 9:30pm.

Got started at about 4:30, first with a few videos for actor Chris Plouffe. I'm working on his demo reel as well as helping him produce some videos for his acting profile. Then went into the Bud Light stuff.

Got home around 10:30 and continued back on what I started the day off with. Editing Monster Cops.

What's that you say? We've barely shot anything? Correct. Plenty of test footage, rehearsal video, and fx tests. Out of all that, there's maybe 2 minutes of footage I could use and sneak into the actual movie. But editing goes beyond just cutting footage together. There is quite a bit of graphic and titling work to be done, and I might as well get started on sound effects work.

This is basically a 22 minute series pilot we're working on. So I've already created an editing timeline in Vegas starting off with the usual, black tone, bars and tone, and a countdown.

Can you tell I use to work in Television? Does anyone even say bars and tone anymore. If you don't know what I'm talking about here's the run down. We start off with black tone, which is really just a black screen. We use to call it black tone, or black burst, because back in the days of analog 3/4 inch video you had to actually have a machine that produced a black screen (called black burst or tone) that you'd record on to your video tape. 30 seconds worth because back in the day you had to make sure enough video tape had run through because the very beginning of the tape was always more at risk to be damaged or degraded in a video deck. Nowadays you don't have to worry about that, so I do about 5 to 10 seconds of black, all on the good old computer machine ;).

After a black screen, we have the color bars and tone. You may have accidentally seen this on tv late at night. Color bars are there so whoever is playing back your video can adjust their equipment to the correct industry standard colors. Again back in the day a machine put out a color bar signal. Now all I have to do is click a setting in Sony Vegas. So easy. The tone part of bars and tone means a sound tone. One long sound in order to help whoever's watching adjust their volume accordingly.

Then of course the countdown. Self explanatory. A countdown is there to let the presenter of your video no where to cue it. That way your video is ready to go when the lights go down, or when the curtain comes up, or whatever. They hit play and it's ready to go. The countdown you see here is the typical start at 8 and ending at 3. Starts at 8 because honestly 10 is just too long, and ending at 3 because those last 2 counts should be black screen and then the actual start of the movie. I made my own countdown, full of color and hues, just for the heck of it.

The episode starts off with very official looking government office graphics. I'm using actual department seals and logos, along with the Shadow Company Unit number, file number, video number, etc. Really trying to give you a feel that you're watching something produced in secret by the government.

Got to specify that you are watching a training video of sorts. As if you yourself are being trained as a Monster Cop, or that you are somehow being treated to a sneak peak into a secret government project.

After all the graphics and ID flashes and such, we go right into the action. Starting with this text. Trenton County is a fake county I've used in previous productions. I've decided to set most of the Monster Cops action in the town of Magic Valley, USA. A creepy little town I've written quite a lot about. When you watch the episode(s) Magic Valley and Trenton County are going to look like a hybrid of The Triad and DFW.


Here's the main titles for the show intro. The following pics are freezes from the intro.



The intro as it is right now only has footage from rehearsals and test runs, as well as footage from the first movie. Look it's Roy and Tabije.

Speaking of Tabije, I'm glad to say that the boys in Texas had a successful shoot last Saturday. They knocked out quite a bit of footage from the pages I sent them for this episode, and I can't wait to see it all put together with the stuff I'm shooting here.

This wednesday I hope to work on the Bud Light ads more, get some work done for ExpoTv, and hopefully get into some Monster Cops footage. I NEED A CAMERA PERSON!

I honestly don't think I could be more excited...

about a summer movie season. Indy, Batman, and ...



Yeah, eat it Spidey.

Obstacles

I think the hardest thing about making a movie is holding on to that fire. It's not that the passion ever goes away. It's just that so many other things take place in life that make it hard to get back to that passion.

Again it's about Juggling things. But not just juggling, but juggling well. Really getting it all done. Putting as much of yourself into your work as you can. And all those other things you have to worry about when you're trying to achieve any goal, paying bills, worrying about your health, car troubles, etc. You have to try to keep up with all of that at the sametime.

This is all a part of the juggle. It's about trying to make that car payment, and keeping yourself healthy, while drawing up those production sheets. It's about making sure you've got all the birthdays covered, making sure you put in enough hours at the day job, make sure you reach your project deadlines, while thinking about what your lighting situation will be for a particular scene.

It is hard enough to have to do your own production design and props and costumes, but having to do all that while your trying to plan out what you're going to cook for the family that night, what groceries you'll need for that week, and whether or not you can get the laundry folded before you put in the next 3 loads. That's beyond juggling.

Of course much of this could be remedied by simply getting paid to make movies, but in order to get there you have to start with nothing. You have to work for free, in order to get to a place where you can work for yourself. The Midnight Special was the first step, the next Monster Cops project is another step, bringing us closer to working on a feature with a budget, or working on a web series with a budget, which ever comes first really.

But again you've got to do what you can to hold on to that fire. I'm convinced that's why so called "bad things" happen. It's the purpose of an obstacle. For something to get in your way, it should only fuel your fire. It's the unexpected bill, the unforseen car trouble, the shitty day job, and the people that tell you you can't do it. It appears to be the thing to bring you down, but it's fully designed to make you work harder for that dream.

So the next time something gets in your way, throws you off course, puts you down, or knocks you out, you use it as an excuse to get up and keep going. You embrace ambiguity. Welcome the fight. Instead of seeing an obstacle as just something in your way, see it for what it truely is. It is the thing that helps define you. It doesn't actually block your path, because when you go around it, it helps define your path. The rocks that were blocking your way are now the landscape that helps create the road way to your dreams.

In truth everything and everyone is actually conspiring to help you. So make your own path, fuel that fire, and keep juggling.

If you can find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn't lead anywhere.
- Frank A. Clark

Change before you have to.

Change before you have to.

Change before you have to.

Change before you have to.

Change before you have to.

Change before you have to.

Change before you have to.

Change before you have to.

Change before you have to.

Change before you have to.

Change before you have to.

Change before you have to.

Change before you have to.

Change before you have to.

Change before you have to.

Change before you have to.

Change before you have to.

Change before you have to.

Change before you have to.

Change before you have to.

Change before you have to.



In other words, don't wait for the plane crash.


And as you follow your own advice Mr. Prejusa, it would be a good idea to stay on track. So ...

- JB Video Project
- Bud Light Video Project
- Expo TV Ads
- Monster Cops
- H and K ads

In that order. And you're already behind on one of them.

XLNT ADS AMAZING PITCH 2

Xlnt Ads had this great idea to have a contest to see if they could find a really great pitch or trailer for a web series. And guess who got a runner up prize?

Yup, that's right, MONSTER COPS.

Monster Cops got a $500.00 prize as well as the possiblity to get sponsors to help fund future episodes. Awesome. Really I was just aiming for the $500.00.

See the XLNT Ads blog about it.

Check out the Video that was submitted yourself.

the love you take is equal to the love you make

Wanna make a movie? Learn to juggle.

From Wikipedia:

Juggling is a form of object manipulation. The most recognizable form of juggling is toss juggling, where the juggler throws objects through the air.

The word "juggling" derives from the Middle English jogelen to entertain by performing tricks, in turn from the French jongleur and the Old French jogler. There is also the Late Latin form joculare of Latin joculari, meaning to jest

Other definitions on the web:
- juggle: the act of rearranging things to give a misleading impression

- To keep (two or more objects) in the air at one time by alternately tossing and catching them.

- to engage in manipulation especially in order to achieve a desired end

But here's my favorite one, and the one that sums it up for me.

- Juggling is simply the manipulation of time and space to create the necessary patterns during a routine, or anything Else in life for that matter.

For me I'm equating the art of juggling with making a movie. And like learning to juggle (which I am still actually quite horrible at) you can't start out without dropping a few balls. (insert dirty joke here.)

And learning to juggle is frustrating. You hardly succeed in catching your "prop" in the beginning. And thus begins a series of endless moments where you drop things and then chase after them bent over forwards, your arm outreached, hand trying to grab it, as it rolls away from you. Not unlike learning to make a movie independetly and with no money.

You can't afford a production manager, or a prop master, or a location scout, or a script supervisor. Of course you can put the call out and find people willing to help you for screen credit and no pay, but in the end much of these things are so important to your production that you don't want to risk asking someone to take on a task and then not show up to do it. So you do it all, or as much as you can. And this is where it is very much like learning to juggle.

My first few attempts I was constantly dropping the ball. Not truely understanding that I needed to catch one thing, while tossing up another, and still keep my eyes on all 5 balls. It truely is about multiple manipulation of time and space. You've got to get the script done, coordinate meetings, schedules, costumes, locations, at the sametime, find time to cast extras, do rewrites, talk to the special fx guy, and then there's those pesky bills, day job, and everyday life and stuff.

When it comes to throwing balls in the air, I'm not so good. But when it comes to juggling the tasks of a nobudget indie movie, I've gotten the hang of it. You do something enough, you get use to it, you improve upon it, and you become better at it. And that's a good feeling. Like all things new to you, you reach that point where you start to get the hang of it. You find your footing, you're not so nervous about it, not so anxious, a little bit more at ease. You understand what goes first, what comes next, and how to keep the process in motion.

I finalized the script this week, and now I immediately move to script notes, actors meetings about dialogue, production sheets, cast reports, location reports, scene reports, and additional casting. And I feel good about it. Mainly because I remember when this was about the time I would drop the ball. I remember finishing the script, and then being happy about it, and then not knowing what the next step to take was. But now I get it. I understand this process more, and it may not be the same process other filmmakers, or other productions, but it's the process that works for me. It's how I know things get done for my movies, and it's working out well.

Haven't dropped the ball yet, and I don't think I'm going to. I may not be all that great at juggling, but I understand the concept. I understand what it takes to manipulate things in order to achieve the desired end. And when I've got my act together I hope that everyone will enjoy the show. And then I hope to jump right back into it all over again.

I hope one day I can make movies as good as this guy juggles.

"The beginning is always today."

- Mary Wollstonecraft

so true.

Production Update March 10th

After months of toiling with it, rewrites, re-rewrites, and re-re-rewrites. The script is finalized and ready to shoot. I still have a ton of people to contact. If you were one of the people I talked to months ago and you haven't heard from me in a while, I apologize, but I will get back in touch with you soon and let you know what is what.

And can you believe it, I'm still casting, but that notice will be out soon enough. In the meantime, I've secured most of the main cast, and the ones that I've been accesible to (meaning the ones that live near me) I've been doing some rehearsing with, trying on the gear, just generally getting use to folks, getting them get use to eachother, and getting them use to myself. Here are a few pics of what's been going down.

The completed MKX300 Gun Prop.

Side shot of the completed prop.

Brandon holding the weapon, while wearing a costume I mistakenly thought was a good idea at the time.

The incomparable Greg Romeo, playing the part of Carl.

Greg and Brandon.

Greg Romeo, Chris Plouffe, Will Atwood, Danielle Motley, Brandon White. Most of the main cast.

And when I asked them to pose sexy, this was the result.

More later.

Black Ops Patches

A bit on MSN I found. Here's a link for future research.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/118841?GT1=43001

"It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light."

- Aristotle Onassis

Sick and tired of being sick and tired.

Hello, I'm sick. Nothing major, just a sinus infection. Nothing so bad that it's life threatening, but just bad enough to be annoying and distracting. And just as I'm trying to finalize this script that needs to be shot ASAP.

But that is how it goes. I need to write and work on music and I'm too sick to do so. But that's ok because 5 documents crucial to the script have been deleted and so have their back ups. Also one of my cameras decided to die, leaving me with 2 cameras.

All is not lost. Oh poor Patrick now you only have 2 cameras and access to a few more. And as far as the script is concerned, I'll just take it as a sign that I need to rethink the direction I was going in. I've got the story down in my head, so no prob putting it on paper. Now if I can just stop being sick and regain my concentration.

But it could be worse. I could have problems that I hate.

Diablo steals the Oscar!

So very proud of you my dear.

Google "Diablo Cody wins an Oscar" if you haven't a clue as to what I'm talking about.