Letus Corporation sent a new adapter for half the price of what they sell their adapter due to a small malfunction with the adapter (it would have cost $250 more than what the half price of the adapter was) and since it's a new adapter, it has a six month warranty in case it breaks or gets damaged.
We've been shooting scenes with Keith McMahon and today we shot with Keith and Bruce for their segment to explain who they are, etc. We shot down by the beach area west of Webb Institute. Trying to expand their characters to show they're drinkers and good friends. Bruce actually drank about six bottles of beer in fifteen minutes or so while shooting - he's a huge guy, and very tall - about 6'8" so he didn't feel any effects from that.
We are shooting again possibly tomorrow (Keith Scenes) as well as next weekend with Bruce, Keith Dunn and Keith McMahon to wrap up those sequences. More updates coming soon.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Adapter
Was shooting today with Keith McMahon at one of the beaches in Glen Cove and the camera which had the camera attached to it fell off the tripod and fell onto the ground into a little water and sand. The adapter had glass shattered inside the adapter so I'll be sending it in on Monday in hopes that it can fixed for under $300 hopefully. The good thing is that the DVX100 is working because that's more expensive than the adapter. Also, the 50mm lens also survived the fall.
As for fixing the adapter, I'm not sure until I hear from them if it can be fixed. I'm looking into less expensive 35mm adapters if they are not able to fix it. I'm low on cash and this is the problem with independent filmmaking. Not enough money. It's never enough. This is why in order to make good films, be sure to have good equipment that works for you and that makes you happy to work with. We don't need $20,000 cranes or anything huge like that - although it would be nice, but spending the money on other things that will make the film better overall is more important than just one huge piece of equipment like an expensive crane.
Was going to shoot today (Sunday) but am unable to because of the broken adapter so we are hoping by next weekend we can start shooting again. Until then, going to try to get all of the score for "Mr. Mullen" done, get some new video content up on the website, get some music recorded with Mark Nadolski, etc.
It's weird because earlier in the week for a few days straight we got a lot shot. Shot scenes with Chris on Friday at the same beach and it went very well. The weather was perfect - cloudy but not too dark.
As for fixing the adapter, I'm not sure until I hear from them if it can be fixed. I'm looking into less expensive 35mm adapters if they are not able to fix it. I'm low on cash and this is the problem with independent filmmaking. Not enough money. It's never enough. This is why in order to make good films, be sure to have good equipment that works for you and that makes you happy to work with. We don't need $20,000 cranes or anything huge like that - although it would be nice, but spending the money on other things that will make the film better overall is more important than just one huge piece of equipment like an expensive crane.
Was going to shoot today (Sunday) but am unable to because of the broken adapter so we are hoping by next weekend we can start shooting again. Until then, going to try to get all of the score for "Mr. Mullen" done, get some new video content up on the website, get some music recorded with Mark Nadolski, etc.
It's weird because earlier in the week for a few days straight we got a lot shot. Shot scenes with Chris on Friday at the same beach and it went very well. The weather was perfect - cloudy but not too dark.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Updates...
Worked with a few new actors on Saturday. Bruce McIntyre whom I met at Fangoria Weekend of Horrors in June 2009, Keith McMahon and Keith Dunn, both whom I am connected with through Facebook (on a side note: I feel Facebook and other social networking sites are great for connecting with like minded people and rallying together people to make movies, music and other forms of art).
Keith McMahon arrived at my house a few minutes prior to the train arrival of Keith Dunn and Bruce and when we picked them up we went to get lunch and then came back to the house to shoot scenes of the Senator being strangled by Big Bruce.
Keith McMahon arrived at my house a few minutes prior to the train arrival of Keith Dunn and Bruce and when we picked them up we went to get lunch and then came back to the house to shoot scenes of the Senator being strangled by Big Bruce.
Shortly after we finished the scenes there, we moved to the compound to get visuals of the Senator being killed by Big Bruce.
Shortly after that we shot the scene of Keith McMahon on the phone with Chris (which we had shot the day earlier). We did many different takes - if it's one thing I have learned about the process of making films it's to always get as many takes and shots as you can. I made sure to get both hand-held shots as well as shots on the tripod.
The 35mm lens adds to the effect because you have this interesting background and the talent in front of the background and the background is blurry - which is what a lot of filmmakers look to get with their films, especially if they're working on low to no budget films like we have been for the past few years. I also think its preference. Stanley Kubrick had mostly wide angle shots in "The Shining" where you saw the whole atmosphere rather than a shot with a blurry background - yes, there were shots like that but most of the shots in the film were wide because the hotel itself was a character to the story.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Weekend Shoot...
Plans are to shoot some new scenes this weekend with a few new actors who I have yet to work with.
Chris has been extremely busy and I might re-shoot some in-depth interviews with Kelly Karavites and Tristan Spirit in mid-October. It's been so long since I've shot with them both. Must have been around May when we had to change the story of the film around due to issues with scheduling but I am glad we could get past that and one, focus on the new story, and two, get them both involved as members of the Militia.
Getting "Mr. Mullen" ready for Sunday. The deadline is early next week and am working with Mark on finalizing some of the music for the film which is really coming along well. There was this scene we were going to include in the film that was a dream scene involving Chris and the characters he witnesses during the first half of the film, but I felt the Hillary Mullen speech fit better in that small section rather than the dream sequence which didn't feel finished just yet. So we're more than likely going to use the dream sequence for "The Militia 15". The issue with it this time around was that I needed to still add a slight fog filter to the dream sequence and didn't have the time or filter in Final Cut Pro to do that so I decided to use the Hillary Mullen speech instead.
Hopefully Sunday we'll be able to shoot some more scenes with Chris to start wrapping up his scenes for the film within the next three to four weeks.
Chris has been extremely busy and I might re-shoot some in-depth interviews with Kelly Karavites and Tristan Spirit in mid-October. It's been so long since I've shot with them both. Must have been around May when we had to change the story of the film around due to issues with scheduling but I am glad we could get past that and one, focus on the new story, and two, get them both involved as members of the Militia.
Getting "Mr. Mullen" ready for Sunday. The deadline is early next week and am working with Mark on finalizing some of the music for the film which is really coming along well. There was this scene we were going to include in the film that was a dream scene involving Chris and the characters he witnesses during the first half of the film, but I felt the Hillary Mullen speech fit better in that small section rather than the dream sequence which didn't feel finished just yet. So we're more than likely going to use the dream sequence for "The Militia 15". The issue with it this time around was that I needed to still add a slight fog filter to the dream sequence and didn't have the time or filter in Final Cut Pro to do that so I decided to use the Hillary Mullen speech instead.
Hopefully Sunday we'll be able to shoot some more scenes with Chris to start wrapping up his scenes for the film within the next three to four weeks.
Friday, September 11, 2009
Updates...
Dropped Paul Kratka off at the airport about an hour or so ago. The film shoot went well. We shot footage mostly on Thursday, September 10th and did some audio earlier today.
Yesterday was visuals out in Montauk at Camp Hero. We drove about three hours to Montauk and on the way stopped off at an organic farm to grab some fruit. A lot of the farm stands are closing due to the cool weather in the upcoming days/weeks, so we were lucky to get some fresh figs and fresh fruit. On the way back we stopped off to a "Juice Bar" right next to it with had everything but freshly squeezed juice, which was pretty ridiculous. The scenes went well in Camp Hero. We've been trying to match up the previous scenes that we shot (which was on a cloudy day) and yesterday was a mixture of sun and very little clouds til about an hour and half in of looking down some trails for spots to shoot, so as soon as the clouds came we were able to get a few good shots for the film. Paul is also a non-smoker so for the character he had an idea that his character smokes in the film.
Was supposed to shoot this weekend but the 35mm adapter had to be fixed before shooting any more scenes for the film. Sent it in, and hope to have it back by the end of next week to get the ball rolling. Been re-editing a scene in "Mr. Mullen" and have been hammering out new updates of the music with Mark Nadolski. More to come soon.
Yesterday was visuals out in Montauk at Camp Hero. We drove about three hours to Montauk and on the way stopped off at an organic farm to grab some fruit. A lot of the farm stands are closing due to the cool weather in the upcoming days/weeks, so we were lucky to get some fresh figs and fresh fruit. On the way back we stopped off to a "Juice Bar" right next to it with had everything but freshly squeezed juice, which was pretty ridiculous. The scenes went well in Camp Hero. We've been trying to match up the previous scenes that we shot (which was on a cloudy day) and yesterday was a mixture of sun and very little clouds til about an hour and half in of looking down some trails for spots to shoot, so as soon as the clouds came we were able to get a few good shots for the film. Paul is also a non-smoker so for the character he had an idea that his character smokes in the film.
Was supposed to shoot this weekend but the 35mm adapter had to be fixed before shooting any more scenes for the film. Sent it in, and hope to have it back by the end of next week to get the ball rolling. Been re-editing a scene in "Mr. Mullen" and have been hammering out new updates of the music with Mark Nadolski. More to come soon.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Paul Kratka
Started the "New York Constitutionalists for Alternative Filmmaking", an organization that is looking for like minded free thinkers to contribute their time and efforts to independent films with social and political meaning. So far, over 350 people have joined us on Facebook and I plan on having a website up by the end of the year up and running
Picking up Paul Kratka from Islip Airport tomorow and evening and we'll be shooting for "The Militia 15" Thursday and Friday. Plans are to shoot in Montauk, Glen Cove and maybe even New York City (September 11th) as part of the segment that ties into some of his scenes. Chiko Mendez might be in the scenes shooting on Friday which would be nice to pair him and Paul up in a scene. This will be the second movie they're in together - the first one was a zombie film we did back in 2005 entitled "The Day They Came Back". They're didn't get a chance to be in the same scenes, so it will be nice to pair them up.
Then Saturday is a shoot with some new actors. Keith McMahon and Bruce McIntyre. Since Chris has been very busy with his life and work, I've had to focus on other scenes for the film. We plan on shooting a fun and bloody scene for an important part of the film which takes place towards the end of the film.
Picking up Paul Kratka from Islip Airport tomorow and evening and we'll be shooting for "The Militia 15" Thursday and Friday. Plans are to shoot in Montauk, Glen Cove and maybe even New York City (September 11th) as part of the segment that ties into some of his scenes. Chiko Mendez might be in the scenes shooting on Friday which would be nice to pair him and Paul up in a scene. This will be the second movie they're in together - the first one was a zombie film we did back in 2005 entitled "The Day They Came Back". They're didn't get a chance to be in the same scenes, so it will be nice to pair them up.
Then Saturday is a shoot with some new actors. Keith McMahon and Bruce McIntyre. Since Chris has been very busy with his life and work, I've had to focus on other scenes for the film. We plan on shooting a fun and bloody scene for an important part of the film which takes place towards the end of the film.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Friday
Picked up Chris at his workplace in Amityville and we drove (while also shooting some footage of Chris driving - for the scenes where we show him driving out to Camp Hero to investigate Scott Jordan's death) to Glen Cove to shoot shots for a possible scene in the film that takes place at the St. Patrick's Cemetery. It's a really awesome cemetery which has a lot of statues on top of the tombstones and interesting tombstone engravings. We had a slight issue with a spec in the adapter so a few of the shots we shot we may not use but I'm sure not all is lost. Will review the footage soon and see what works and what does not.
We also shot some final dialogue for "Mr. Mullen" where Chris says the names of the characters who he kills in the film. Not sure if it's going to make the final cut but I'd like to put it in there and see how it sounds - might add an interesting touch. Also recorded him doing some voice parts for when he kills the Mayor's wife, Hillary Mullen since we don't see his face on a few shots.
Getting "Mr. Mullen" ready for Sundance.
We also shot some final dialogue for "Mr. Mullen" where Chris says the names of the characters who he kills in the film. Not sure if it's going to make the final cut but I'd like to put it in there and see how it sounds - might add an interesting touch. Also recorded him doing some voice parts for when he kills the Mayor's wife, Hillary Mullen since we don't see his face on a few shots.
Getting "Mr. Mullen" ready for Sundance.
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