Clearly

I'm going to have to get a little more agressive in making this episode.

Let's sum up.

All the scenes that express the actual plot of the episode are shot and edited. With the exception of the final scene with Edgar Smirch. Right now I'm actually rethinking the end of the episode.

Other than that, we just need to shoot, zombies, vampires, werewolf, cops, action, and a crap load of monologues and we'll be all set. LOL. Here's how it looks like right now.



Those red circles are my main concern. And a good portion of those circles must be filled with horror and action. Time to get bloody. Alright, who wants to be a zombie and have their head blown off?

Damn

now that's a poster.

Just thinking

about zombies. A few vids to ponder.

Whether The Weather is ....

ah hell.

It Can't Rain at Indian Wells

Yes I'm using Sports Night episodes as blog titles again. Those of you reading (all two of you) will remember that from my days on Livejournal. But I digress.

I felt the title fitting, as both the mood of that particular episode and the subject of rain both tie into the events (or rather non-events) of this evening.

To sum up: It rained so we couldn't shoot exteriors, nor could we shoot the Werewolf scenes.

However we were able to shoot Scene 23B and we got the final shot of the entire episode, since we had the use of Chris's office. Again, thank you a ton Chris. So the great news is I finally shot the scene I've had in my head for months. The ender. The final shot that ties everything up in one big bow. And in a few minutes I will actually cut it together on the timeline to see if it plays out the way I hope it will. If it does, I hope people get it. I hope people react to it the way I pray they will. At the very least I hope it'll make people smile.

We shot some very funny bits tonight with Brandon and Chris. Several very funny takes. But that's kind of the bitter sweet stuff right there. Just like the first movie (The Midnight Special) the performances, the dialogue, the comedy, we've got all that down. It's the other stuff that was lacking from the first movie that I have to fight for. The monsters, the action, the horror, the real B-movie thrills and moments that will make this more than just a goofball comedy, or a low grade melodrama.

Tonight I was hoping to feel a little bit better after knowing we had the Werewolf footage in the can, or at least a Zombie head explosion. But we got rained out. I know I'll make it all work in the end, I'm just anxious.

In terms of what the feel of the movie is supposed to be, well, it's supposed to be like this:

And this ...

and this ...

and this ...

with a little bit of the empathy and drama of this ...


And we've achieved all that. We've gotten all the scenes down that have the pathos, and most definitely the comedy. We've got all of the above. We've even got a bit of this ...



But now I'm ready to throw in the other ingredients that are supposed to make Monster Cops what I see in my head. A bit like this ...


and this ...

more like this ...

I can only hope to achieve anything close to this ...


Just gotta stay focused on that vision, and keep rescheduling. If only I had more than just Wednesdays and Saturdays to shoot. And it's about to be crunch time. This is the action, comedy, drama, horror show. Just gotta get that action and horror in, and soon.

It can't rain at Indian Wells forever.

XlntAds Harold And Kumar Winner!

Guess who just won The Harold and Kumar Video Contest. That's right bitches. My NPH Obey The Master Video won one of top prizes, $1,500. I even got some praise from one of the directors of the movie.

Now we can win even more money if we can get this video posted and seen by everyone. The higher the views the more prize money they'll send us. And even if you don't like Harold and Kumar, you'll be supporting me and Monster Cops.

I've uploaded the video to Youtube and Myspace, now all I need are high ratings, great comments, and a ton of views. Do me a favor, watch it, and spread it around.



Harold And Kumar Escape From Guantanmo Bay: Obey The Master

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!