Texas Rangers head back to the World Series!

I'm so unbelievably happy right now. I really wish my brother could enjoy this with us. Our Texas Rangers are the American League Champions.  First the Mavericks, now it's the Rangers turn to bring another title back to DFW. Wish I could've been there.

I'm just so happy that me and Juli were there for opening weekend earlier this year. We saw that grand slam and we didn't realize that it would be a sign of things to come.  It's been a bitter sweet year, but the great moments have truly been great. I hope to see and make more great moments.

Go Rangers!

Steve Jobs

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

- Steve Jobs

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I'm having an amazing time here at the beach, but it doesn't keep me from thinking about the previous events of this year, and about my brother. It's been a rollercoaster today. Up and down.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.7.4

Mr. Peppermint

Rest in peace sir. You did so much for me as a child. Thank you.

http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/-ON-HOLD--JERRY-HAYNES-OBIT-130516373.html

Published with Blogger-droid v1.7.4

REDD Production Vlog 2

Been working on REDD since last Winter. Been powering through the spring and summer and it looks like we'll be picking back up in October, shooting through November, and editing through the Winter. Now aiming for a Spring debut, hitting fests, cons, and screening venues, followed by a DVD release soon after.

Catch up on what we've been doing from July to September. Amanda talks of dimensional vagina's, Alethea throws an axe, April puts a gun to her head, Richard picks up a chick, and Chris continues to act like, well, Chris.




I've got the two ads, and Lost Zombies to knock out. Now it looks like I've got another ad to take care of. Then I'll jump into knocking out a Monster Cops episode. And then back into REDD. Yup, I'm busy.

Showing Up

Here's the latest clip from REDD. This is some of the footage we shot September 3rd. It was our first day working with Alethea Delmage. She's pretty bad ass, and will fit in quite nicely with the rest of the regulars, which, eventually I'll get together some day.

Honestly, I had to scramble to my plan B, as some folks (quite a few actually) did not show up. But as I've been doing this a while, I normally have a plan B, C, D, E, F, G, in place. I mean I'd probably get alot more done if I could just stick to plan A, but hey, this is what happens when you're no budget and you can't pay people.  That's the only thing that complicates any of my productions. If people could just show up, we could make something that people would say "Wow that was amazing" instead of "That was pretty good for no-budget".

But I digress.

As I said previously, September is all about these two ads I need to shoot as well as my contributions to the LOST ZOMBIES project. I have to get all that done in the next two weeks. But I may dare to squeeze in a Monster Cops shoot. Maybe.

Feel free to check out the new pics posted over at REDD. Some really great ones of Alethea Delmage. I really cannot wait to get the rest of her scenes done. It's going to be amazing. Now, if we can just get April back in from school, all will be well.

Pressure

I was supposed to go to sleep a few hours ago. But as usual, something happens to keep me wide awake. Two things.

1. Nike may very well be making an announcement about a certain shoe many Back To The Future fans may be interested in.

Thanks to Mark Wilson for posting this on G+. This teaser just kills me.

My mind is blown at the possibility of these shoes being real. Next up, Hover-board please!

2. Monster Cops

I swore I wouldn't talk about it, blog about it, express it in any way, but I've seen a few posts online and her a few podcasts talking about comparisons between MTV's Death Valley and Monster Cops.

It's got me riled up.

And not because I'm angry at MTV. In actuality, I'm not angry at anyone for any reason. Seems like plenty of people are angry on my behalf.  Alot of folks seem to think that MTV stole from me and have completely ripped off Monster Cops. And I've gotten MANY messages from people telling me so.

First of all, I'm happy there are alot of people out there who love Monster Cops. I think that's great that there are alot of folks out there willing to be pissed on my behalf. But the truth is, I don't really care about MTV's Death Valley. And if they stole from me, I really don't care about that either.

People keep telling me to sue them, but they haven't done anything illegal. The concept is similar (and actually alot of the scenes and clips somewhat resemble the first Monster Cops movie The Midnight Special), but legally they've done nothing wrong. You can sue someone over an idea. Any copyright lawyer will tell you that.

What I'm riled up about is that I know what I see for Monster Cops. I don't even actually see it as a web series. I have a very specific vision about what Monster Cops is and what it can be, and I'm anxious to get that vision out to you.

Lord, how many times have I blogged about how passionate I am about writing these Monster Cops episodes? If you track back a few years on this blog, you'll read about it over and over. Me WHINING again and again, about what it is I have in my head, and how I dream of getting that out to the masses, and about how if I can just get one episode right, even on the minimal budget we have, and get it out to the proper audience, it would be a hit.

And when I say hit, I'm not talking about making money. I'm talking about people actually being able to see it for free online, and sending me messages that tell me that they got it. They got the plot, they got what the episode was trying to say, and they got to feel exactly how I was hoping they would feel. They would laugh, be thrilled, be creeped out, and even cry.

I'm just so very anxious to get out more than the two episodes that are already out there. I'll be happy if I can get the full 6 episodes online and have the word spread that if they go to MONSTERCOPS.COM they could watch a fun series, filled with action and horror, excitement and comedy, and be surprised by the fact you also get a solid character driven drama to go along with that.

For the rest of September I have to work on Ads and Commercial work. Production on Redd and Monster Cops will be on hold until October. I'm anxious for October to get here, so I can get to work on that vision.

I have no idea who reads this, or if anyone at all is reading this. But if you do, and if you've got sometime, do me a favor, check out my series Monster Cops as well as the feature I'm working on, REDD. And if you like what you see, please, please, please, tell someone.

REDD will be do out next year. Check out and tell people about that website REDDMOVIE.COM

And check out and tell people about MONSTERCOPS.COM

Let em know that there are 2 episodes up, each about 20 minutes, and there will be at least 4 more episodes coming soon. They're free to watch, you can even download em, copy and sell em on DVD and keep the money. I don't even care about making any money from Monster Cops. I just want to make these 6 episodes the best that I can, and get it out to as many people to see as humanly possible. Who doesn't love free entertainment right?

I've been working on Monster Cops for so long. I really feel like it's time I finally got my vision for it out there.

Whatcha Gonna Do?

Cross Posted from The Monster Cops Blog

We are on the verge of completing at least one more episode by October, with at least 3 more to follow. So it would be a good thing to have a bit of buzz going on for our little cult series.

So we find it frickin fabulous that a couple of site have taken notice of us.

Killer Aphrodite gave us a really great write up. Check that out here:http://www.killeraphrodite.com/2011/08/monster-cops-series/

And Evil Episodes has also given us mad props as well: http://evilepisodes.com/2011/08/24/bad-boys-bad-boys-watcha-gonna-do-watcha-gonna-do-when-the-monster-cops-come-for-you/

We're quite excited about the new buzz and hope it continues. We are, after all, no budget, and we have to rely heavily on word of mouth. SO, if you like what you see here, and want to help us out, then please tell a friend. Post us on your Facebook, Tweet us on your Twitter, plaster out url on your naked body and run around screaming "I LOVE MONSTER COPS!"

Maybe not that last one (unless you want to). Don't blame us if you get arrested. But if you happen to be near some folks in jail, please tell them about us.

Excited about these episodes, we're going to kind of break some rules, but it's kind of ok, because this series will be completely free for you to see online. No need to purchase a download, or a DVD, these particular episodes will be totally free for your enjoyment. Why? Because everybody's frickin broke. And free stuff is awesome.

But how do we make money, you ask? We don't. We put it out there, hope you love it, and then see what happens.

That's how we role.

More, very very soon! 

Dancing In The Moonlight

What a truly great and fun day I had with my wife. I'm seriously the luckiest guy ever.

I know it's going to work out. I know it'll be amazing. I hear you. But I'm just anxious to see how.

August Update. Redd, Monster Cops, and a New Web Series

Keep Me Where The Light Is

Image taken from operaphantom.net

I dreamed I was at a movie theater.

I was walking down the hall and I found my Godfather, Ray, sitting in a directors chair in the middle of the hall just outside one of the auditoriums.

I asked him how the movie was. He had this mixed reaction of laughter and fear. Like it was the most amusing yet terrifying thing he'd ever seen.

He then seemed in awe of whatever movie it was he'd seen (not sure what it was).

He put his hand on my shoulder, looked at me directly, and said.

"You  have to start having nightmares like that."

My immediate thought was "No."

I cringed a little when he said that.

I woke up.

I realize he was implying that if I wanted to create something as great as what he had seen, that I needed to feel and experience the same kind of terror. And I get it. Write what you know. And if you're trying to create a nightmare, then you have to start experiencing nightmares.

I'm fond of horror. From a very young age, it was a symptom of being tortured by my older brothers. As we were one of the first families on the block to have cable tv, they almost always messed with me by putting on whatever scary movie was playing that month (Friday The 13th part 2, Salem's Lot, etc.) Stuff that they new scared the crap out of me.

I mean it is what you do to your little brother, and I was the littlest.

As I got older, horror movies became something I would dare myself to tolerate, because they scared me so much. I could even stand in the horror section of the local Video Library.

I forced myself to face it, embrace it, and visibly so in front of my brothers. Cuz if it looked like I was enjoying them, even loving them, then it was pointless to try to scare me.

Eventually I would truly start to appreciate them. I wanted to make movies after all, so it only made sense that I would find interest in how even horror movies were made. I got really curious about how to make monsters, murder, and mayhem, in that grandiose and cinematic fashion.

But the truth of it was, I loved movie in general. More so than horror.

Especially now, it has become more evident that it's really just the old horror flicks from the 70's and 80's that I revel in. And I realize that it's mostly for nostalgia's sake.

In reality, I'm a little sensitive when it comes to some of that stuff. Alot of the more recent bloodier, gorey, brutal fare, don't really appeal to me.

In truth, I look to horror movies that lean more on fun than shock.

As much as it may appear that I revel in the dark, it's the light that I love so much more.

The movies I love are the movies I want to make. Fun, thrilling, entertaining, inspired, enlightened, refreshed, child like, and dazzlingly brilliant.

And that's why I cringed when I was told that I needed to start having nightmares in order to create. Because inevitably I feel like my inspiration comes from the light. And the creative brilliance that comes from your highest and grandest dreams.

I stand by the phrase, "In order to make a beautiful picture, you'll need to use dark colors." But in truth, I love all the colors on my pallet., and the countless numbers of portraits I can paint.

I know, the light can't exist without the dark.

I just want to be kept where the light is.

Pandora's Box

The day my brother died, I was of course crushed.

I was lost for a bit.

I wouldn't go as far as to say that my world had fallen apart. But I will say it felt different. Nothing seemed like it was where it was supposed to be. My existence felt like it was rearranged. My entire history felt like a dream.

My brother Robert was a huge part of my world, my history, my childhood. Something that you thought would never be taken away, was all of a sudden gone.

When someone close to you leaves, you search for familiarity. You want something that feels like home. Something to take you in, tell you it's going to be alright, but not to your face. You want something to speak this truth to your soul.

And how the hell does that work. How do you comfort something so powerful and low as a spirit that feels broken. How do you mend that?

I found out how.  I started listening.

To Pandora that is. I have a couple different stations on Pandora. One I labeled "think".

I don't even remember what it was I had typed in to fill in that list. But as soon as I played it, I started hearing music that spoke directly to me. One song after the other turned out to be exactly what I wanted to hear, what I needed to hear, what my soul, my spirit, my broken heart, needed to feel.

I cried my eyes out.

Every song either brought me back to a time I forgot, a moment and a memory I had lost, or it spoke to me, agreeing with me when I needed to be agreed with, and more so telling me what I needed to hear when I didn't know what to think, what to feel, what to do.

Have you ever been lost in the woods or lost your way driving around? Do you know that despair you feel when you realize you've lost your way. Even if it's just for a few seconds. When you realize that you don't know where you are, and you don't know how to find your way out, or find your way back.

That relief that comes to you when you find your way, when you realize that you're not completely lost and you know how to get home.

That's how I felt listening to each song that came on. Each song brought me home.

I can't say it completely healed me. It didn't fully mend my broken heart. But it did speak to my spirit. It let me know that it was going to be ok. That my brother is ok. That we're all ok.

And I believe that. We're all going to be ok. As long as we can find a way to listen.

I'm not saying when in doubt go listen to Pandora. I'm saying when you're looking for answers, even to the toughest questions, you'll often find the universe telling you the answers.

If you're listening.

Holy Shit!

Damn. I got really deep there, didn't I.

Ok, ok, look, I'm not a Shaman, or a religious nut, nor am I a spiritual freak of nature.

I'm just a guy. Going through shit. Just like the rest of us, I mean we're all going through shit.  I'm just saying that, if you need a bit of guidance out there to get you through your particular shit, I believe there is something out there, something more, something bigger, that is conspiring to help you get through.

But you've got to look for the signs, listen for the cues. For me, that day it was Pandora. Other days it's a line from a movie, or a passage from a book, or a bit of a conversation I hear when I pass by someone at the grocery store.

Whatever it is, it's out there, and I do believe that it wants you to succeed. It wants to help you as long as you're willing to help yourself.

It's out there, I know, I've seen it, I've felt it, and I've definitely heard it.

Ok. What's going on with Redd?

Well, we've been shooting, and shooting, and shooting. And I'm confident we can get this all finished up by October and have a local screening in November.

Dealing with scheduling conflicts. My main actress may disappear off to college before we can get all of her stuff shot, so I'm trying to figure out a way around that.

It's getting horribly hectic by the minute, and I'M LOVING IT!

I can't wait to see this movie, and I definitely can't wait for you to see this movie.

P

Dolly in

Don't tell me there's no such thing as magic. You couldn't possibly know what I've seen, heard, felt tonight. If you did then you'd believe like I do.

I'm going to do my best to show you.

This is a commercial, and you'll never guess for what.

Brilliant!

Amy Winehouse

Questlove on Amy Winehouse

Notes:
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=jawn

Thank you Amy. Really.

Birthdays and Visual FX Research

After Dinner Cheesecake while watching The Office

 When I was a kid, my family, especially my Dad, always made a big deal out of my birthday. I recall Tiki torches and makeshift Luaus, extreme catering with Filipino Food, large potlucks, cheesy birthday cakes, and themes ranging from Star Wars to Spiderman.

Yesterday I turned 36. And I didn't care one bit about what I did for my birthday. Long gone are those days that I craved a ton of attention, cake, toys, and parties. Now all I want to do is make this movie(s) happen. Even if that means working on it for my birthday.

I got my wish.

Not to say this wasn't a day without some sort of a celebration. My wife insisted we cook some classic Filipino food. Lumpia and Pancit. Never had it? IT'S DELICIOUS.

Takes a bit to prepare, but it's worth it.

We cooked, had a fine meal, afterwards we spent some time playing on the Wii, and then I got a great birthday present. I got to do what I always do, and have been doing for the past year. Work on my movie. I'm working on re-writes for Redd, preparing for shoots for the next few weekends, and started editing the next Monster Cops video.

In my head there isn't a minute to waste, and definitely not on something as trivial as my birthday. I have GOT TO GET THIS THING DONE.

But there was cake. My wife had stuck a candle in a piece of cherry cheesecake we bought the night before and brought to my desk as I worked, along with a nice cup of irish cream coffee. It was quite sweet of her.

But honestly, the best present I got tonight was really being able to spend time with my wife. I cherish every minute I have with her. It's always a party and a celebration when I'm around her, and I'm so very lucky to have that, and her. She's amazing.

Oh, I did watch a movie tonight. I got a bit of writer's block and I decided to scroll through Netflix Instant Watch to see what was on. Ya know, I understand people being up in arms about Netflix's new prices, but I'm so fascinated by how I'm able to scroll through a database of movies with my remote, hit a button, and watch something crystal clear on my large screen TV. I mean wow. We've come a long way from watching grainy video tapes you'd have to pick up from the store and watch on your square picture smooshing television.

I mean I'd love it if they could widen their streaming selection, but hey, I refuse to complain (too much) when I have a great wife, a roof over my head, and the technology at my finger tips that enables me to both watch and or create movies. I find it truly amazing and an utter blessing.

And you know what else is amazing? Gareth Edward's MONSTERS.

It's the movie I watched tonight. I heard alot of buzz about this last year. Now I know why. It's a brilliant movie. Now to be honest, this barely qualifies as a horror film, and just barely makes it in as a Monster Movie. The heart of this is a road trip movie, where two people grow closer as they experience the unexpected. It more closely resembles a love story and a character study then that of a full on creature feature. Not to say their weren't moments of eeriness. There were definitely some solid Giant Monster moments, very creepy stuff. But if you're expecting hardcore action like Cloverfield or ID4, you might find yourself bored. Me? I loved it. Great filmmaking, great ending, and as a fan of practical visual fx I thought it was brilliant. So many scenes you wouldn't think would have visual fx in it or recognize any kind of effect, and that's what makes it work so well.

One of the reasons I sought out a movie to watch, and was glad to have selected that movie, was because my brain is thinking about the visual fx for my own projects. I'm going to be trying to pull off some pretty neat and complex stuff before the year is out, and I'm trying to workout some of the best ways I can accomplish this. That means it's research time. Time to start looking at videos that stimulate my brain on the subject.

A few videos that have got me thinking about visual fx. Both for Monster Cops and for Redd. These are just the ones I happened to have perused this fine evening.


Ben 10: Alien Swarm VFX Behind the Scenes



Sweeney Todd - visual effects (behind the scenes)



Time Freeze Shootout - Behind the Scenes



Dead Land (VISUAL FX BREAKDOWN)



VFX Breakdown



Terminator Salvation Breakdown Video



The Troll Hunter (Trolljegeren) - SuperRune VFX Shot Breakdowns

Thinking About A Monster

We've got major shooting to do for REDD, but now it's time to also turn my attention to Monster Cops and some of the new Monsters that they'll be hunting.

Again, I find myself researching monster costume techniques. Here are a few of the videos I'm finding inspiration from.

I'm looking to build something HUGE!!!


Krampus



4 Legged Stilt Costumes - Handmade



Demon Werewolf Costume



Freakenstein



QUAD STILT SUIT test 5



QUAD STILT SUIT TEST #6



And thinking about the giant pumpkin guy for REDD


Unpainted hand carved pumpkin head for oversize costume



Hand carved pumpkin head for oversize costume



Backyard FX: Halloween Pumpkin King Costume, Monsters : BFX

You Are A Moneytrasher

CVS was awesome enough to buy the spot I made. They are currently using it on their YouTube Channel and Facebook Page.  Features Chris Plouffe blowing his nose on a twenty (not really), and my nifty little voice over.





Check it out here as well to see it in action on their FACEBOOK PAGE, along with 4 of my other Poptent Brethren's creations.