Peek-A-Boo

I've been finding much solace in that old Souxie and the Banshee's song. Somehow it's been helping me stay in the right mind set as I embark on creating Monster Wings. Part of the inspiration for wanting to create a creature with huge demon wings is because of Jeepers Creepers. The character of The Creeper is one of my favs and I think is very creepy. He's also the type of character the Monster Cops would go up against.

So in the intro to the show, I just wanted to see a 2 to 3 second clip of the Cops aiming their guns at a creature as it's huge bat like wings pop open. The creature would scream and claw at them, then the Cops would open fire. Much akin to that final scene in Jeepers Creepers.

That is part of what I was thinking in the creation of Monster Cops. How would these guys react if you place them not just up against classic movie monsters, but also if you place them within classic horror scenes. There was one scene I wrote into this current episode that was a nod towards Return Of The Living Dead, but alas it had to be cut.

But the intro I had in my head would show you the different creatures and how the cops would react and defend themselves. Yesterday I started building monster wings. I've looked over all the videos and links you can find of folks who've created costume wings before. I eventually came upon my own design and built the basic skeletal structure. For the next few days I will work on the skin and rigging, and then figure out exactly what this winged creature will look like from head to toe. A tutorial/blog will follow. I like the idea of a creature in human clothes and it's wings popping out from under a coat or a jacket. Something like The Creeper, but not exactly.

I often like to turn to google image search to help me visualize what it is I'm looking for. Here's a few images I came up with that best express what I'm trying for, or at least the idea of what I'm trying for.


The winged creature from Army Of Darkness. Love the creepy face. If I can steer the face or my creature to looking like that, that would be alright.


Of course The Creeper. This is a shot from Jeepers Creepers 2.


Here's a behind the scenes look at the wing fx. If I can make the wings look this great, I'd be in heaven. For more behind the scenes photos of JP 1 and 2, check out www.makeupandmonsters.com/JEEPERS_PIX.htm


One of the Gargoyles from Tales From The Darkside The Movie. One of the better horror anothologies. Yes a bit cheesy, but back in the day it was all good. This is from the final story in the movie called Lover's Vow. In my opinion the best of the 3 plots. It was creepy, disturbing, great monster fx, and just little bit heart breaking. And possibly one of the best horror plots ever.



Here's a shot of the Gargoyles face. CREEPY! Seeing it in the movie was creepy, especially when it talked.

These last two screen caps are from X-entertainment. They have a full review of the movie with spoilers (so beware). Feel free to check em out. www.x-entertainment.com/articles/0842/

I don't expect my wing monster to come out looking anywhere near as good as the above movies. I just hope by the time I'm done, we'll have another decent monster to show you, even if it's just for a few seconds. And if I pull it off right, I'll do a whole episode around it. Maybe.

Jeepers Creepers, where'd you get those peepers.

Just thinking.

Monster Research Pics

Yesterday was working on Monsters day. I had started building the frame work for a particular creature, and went out and bought materials for another. The episode itself features mainly Zombies, Vampires, and a Werewolf, but these other creatures I'm trying to include will be featured in the intro and as inserts throughout the show. I'm trying to convey that Shadow Company deals with monsters of all kinds, therefore really establishing the size and variety of this particular universe.

I also spent sometime at Barnes and Noble today. I found myself thumbing through magazines, Fangoria, Gorezone, Horror Hound, as well as others. What started as perusing became me taking pictures with my cam phone everytime I saw an image that intrigued me. A few of these were images from ads for merchandise of T-shirts. I do recognize one image from a retro horror flick from back in the day called RETRIBUTION (creeped me out as a kid).

Mainly these are images that somewhat express the style and structure of some of the creatures the Monster Cops go up against.

Ennio Marchetto

First of all I appreciate the theatre greatly. It's where I got my first real taste of acting. I understand and respect the power of live performance. Secondly I love paper. I love the things you can create with paper. From origami to kirigami, I've always been fascinated with what can be created from something like a single piece of paper. And now allow me to plug one of my metacafe videos here.


Pop-up Paper Stairs Part 1 - The most amazing videos are a click away

It's the idea of creating something out of seemingly nothing. It's why I love improv, comedy, and most art and creation that seems to come from nothing or at the very least something simple.

With that idea in mind, along with the thrill of live performance, and the creativity of paper engineering, I had come up with a comedy act that combines live performance and paper. I can't really explain it, but it's one of those projects that's always on the back burner while I'm working on videos and movies. Perhaps one day I'll be able to put it all together. But for now, you can watch the ingenuity, skill, and talent of Ennio Marchetto. An Italian performer who's one man show is both creative and entertaining, and uses paper in creative and ingenius ways. Not exactly the show I had planned, but certainly along the same ideals. I can only hope to recreate the kind of enthusiasm and genius he displays here.



It's this kind of thinking that gets you to greatness.

http://www.enniomarchetto.com/

conundrums that force us to get smarter

Novelist William Vollman once said, "the most important and enjoyable thing in life is doing something that's a complicated, tricky problem for you that you don't know how to solve."

Vollman obviously never made a no-budget indie movie.

twice.

Myanmar

I am overwhelmed. My heart is with you. My heart is with the world.

Plus it

It was sort of Walt Disney's motto. While working on any project, he always asked, how can we plus it? Meaning, what else can we do to make it even better? It's a way to turn things from satisfactory to good, and from good to great. I don't want to work on anything I don't feel I can turn into somthing great. I think we've got a good episode, but a whole lot of work needs to be done to hit greatness.

The one thing on my brain is monsters, of course. If I really work at it, and work to plus it, I can make a goofy little short filled with dialogue and comedy, turn into something REALLY great. We can put some people in make up, sure, but what else can I do to plus it.

Here's an amazing example. I found this video 2 years ago. I drooled over it and ponder it often, always wondering how and when I can attempt such a feat. This is a great example of plusing it, as well as the kind of grandiose type creature I'm looking to include in Monster Cops.



Here's what the description reads:
This Stone Golem was constructed using about 5 foam mattresses, over 50 sticks of hot melt glue, and 8 cans of grey and black spray paint. The foam is glued in large thick sheets (approx 20cm thick) to a fabric bodysuit, and the deep cracks are carved into the foam surface. The bodysuit has a zip up the back to allow the wearer to enter it, and the zip is concealed by abutting foam. The soles of the feet are made of corflute that has been sliced in half to expose corrugations that act as grip. The arms are about twice the length of the wearer\'s arms, and act as swinging weapons made entirely of soft foam. The golem took about 100 hours of work to construct, between 3 people. On its first appearance, the Stone Golem sent twenty bold adventurers into a hasty retreat without so much as touching them.

This along with the previous posts, are examples of what I need to accomplish to get to where this episode needs to be.

So I need to find me some mattress foam. LOL.

The Dregs Of Humanity

It's on my brain. And I know it's probably not going to happen the way I need it to, but just for ponderings sake here is some research for me to further look into that may come in handy if I decide to attempt to do this particular scene I have in mind. And yes the title of this post is a reference to an 80's tv show called "It's Your Move."


http://www.vilethings.com/vilethings_skeleton_marionette.htm

http://www.squidoo.com/marionette

http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2007/05/how_to_make_a_pinocchio_m.html

Demon Face in Vegas

This guy did a nice little demon face effect using Vegas 6. Which totally intrigues me since I'm all about the monsters right now, and I own Vegas. I may have to try my own variation for the MC intro.

Wings

I'm going to attempt to build wings. Monster Wings. Here are some research vids for me to peruse over later.








AND two links to folks who've already endeavored in this project.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Articulated-Wing-Framework/
http://www.tokyopop.com/Robofish/tp_article/286954.html

Here we go again

Once again it's the end of the month and that means it's finals week over at OurStage.com. The Monster Cops trailer is once again in the top 20. Just yesterday we were in the top 10. We need help to get in and stay in the top 10 through midnight tonight in order to stay in the contest.

Some of you don't know what Ourstage is so lemme splain. Ourstage is a monthly contest for aspiring video and music makers with several different categories that you can enter. I've entered the Monster Cops: The Midnight Special trailer in the COMEDY category. You can go to Ourstage and judge videos in order to help determine who gets a hire ranking. It's a little crazy to explain how it works so just click on the banner below and know that whenever Monster Cops: The Midnight Special comes up, vote us up by selecting us the best by far. And if you've got the time to kill, you can continue to vote for us over and over. $1000.00 is up for grabs.



If you're still confused, you can go to http://www.ourstage.com/ and click on HOW IT WORKS to figure it all out. Then come back and click the banner. :D:D:D

Perhaps

i wasn't able to shoot today. But at least the boys were able to get some shooting done in Texas tonight. They sent me two pics via cam phone.



Tabije's new camera. Holy Schnikes it's gorgeous!!!!!


The weapons wall that Nigel stand in front of as he explains the basic use of an MKXseries weapon. Special thanks to Stephanie for the creation of the wall.

Yeah, I miss Texas.

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. ;)