Updates

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Updates...

Went to Montauk, New York to shoot at Camp Hero with Mike. Still have to look over the tapes - will do so when I finish and make a copy of "Mr. Mullen" onto Mini-Dv tape. Almost done with the film and am very happy with the direction of the score. This week should be the week of scoring/mastering and then I will send it to Sundance Film Festival. It's a $50 fee which isn't terrible but still, when you have little to no money, it's hard to part with it.

I have a rough finalized shotlist that we'll slowly cross off over the next two months for "The Militia 15" - I have some really cool ideas as far as the storyline with there being a rift in the mindsets of the militia members. For those who do not know, "The Militia 15" is a film we're working on right now that is about a group of militia members who are sick and tired of government control. So there are different characters and even though they all believe in freedom, they all see it differently. One wants violence, the other doesn't and so on. So there's this one scene where one of the character decides to get violent where as the other members are not into stooping down to the level of the corrupt thugs who run the country. They'd rather continue to make a change through posting video blogs and reaching out to people and waking them up since a lot of them believe that a lot of the general public are not yet awake. So I like that even though they all are in this for a common goal of freedom, they all have different ideas as to what it is - so that is fun to have where we can branch out to different areas and different ideas for the characters which I feel can make this film a very deep film.

Slow...

Things are going slow as far as shooting scenes since Chris Margaritis has been very busy with his day job so I've been shooting pick up shots for various scenes as well as scheduling an upcoming Montauk shoot with Mike (who I've known through Chris since 2008 but had not met til recently). We need to get this scenes out in Montauk as he searches for clues to Paul Kratka's characters death with other members. When we venture out there, we're focusing on Mike's scenes out there and still have to shoot another day out there with Chris. I attemped getting some crane shots yesterday but was missing a screw for the crane so the shots might have not come out - still have to look over the footage. Most of the time I was there, it was sunny which doesn't match the previous shots we filmed but clouds came about an hour later and shot some pick up shots.

Paul is coming out in early September to finished his scenes in the film for "The Militia 15" which is now what the film is called. A lot has changed since we planned to focus the film on Mind Control as it's now mainly about the militia and their quest to inform people of the lies of the government and mainstream media. I want to get some more audio with Paul for the film as well as shots of him actually out at Camp Hero, which we had not gotten due to time issues as he had to leave to go back to California later the day we shot the scenes that we masked as "Montauk".

One issue has been the noise issue at Welwyn - due to the heat, the cicadas are in full force so I've been focusing on shooting scenes that are away from the "compound" in the film so in the next week I should be working with Mike on his scenes. One idea is shooting a scene at his shop where in the back he has this shed and underground area that I'd like to make a scene out of. He sent me pictures via e-mail and I think it would be an interesting scene to shoot for the documentary part of the film (which is shown in Black and White to seperate the film and Chris' documentary in the film) where he talks to the camera about silver and gold, as well as his "hide-out" that he has (Chris' character films all the documentary scenes and shots in the film).;

Back on a roll...

Shot some scenes for The Project with Chris Margaritis as well as an interview with him which is up on YouTube.com under the account 'ScottGoldbergFilms'. It's entitled "Scott Goldberg interviews Chris Margaritis". We talked a little bit about our experience of making the film
"Mr. Mullen" and will continue to make videos like that which will hopefully give people insight to what independent filmmaking is all about and to focus on your own way of making films and not how the mainstream is doing it.

We shot at North Shore High School at the track area and got a few shots but I still feel we need more so we plan on shooting more since the scene is a voice-over where we hear Chris talk about how his friends death woke him up to getting into shape and being stronger both mentally and phsyically.

Might shoot again either Tues, Wed or Thursday of this week to extend that scene and shoot another scene or two.

Updates...

Chris Margaritis has been slammed with work in the past seven days so we have not been able to trek out to Montauk to shoot the final scenes at Camp Hero that involve Chris and the other characters. There is still a lot to get with the film and everyday I am getting new ideas.

So the focus has been on finished "Mr. Mullen" with Mark Nadolski which is coming along very well. The score is a retro 80's type of score through synth sounds and I'm really happy without the outcome so far. We've also been working in sections and that's given more freedom for both myself and Mark to really focus on certain scenes that are bunched up into each section and to have something that we can play around with when I still have an unedited scene or two that still needs a few shotes (for example, the dream scene Chris' character has - I'm planning on adding more to the dream scene and if I had sent Mark that scene it would already have been scored and no changes would have been able to be made).

Updates

We were supposed to go out to Montauk to get some more shots for the Paul Kratka sequence but due to scheduling conflicts the day before the shoot, we're planning on shooting scenes in Glen Cove today. Wanted to get a interview with Chris' friend Mike at the "compound" for "The Project". We recorded some interview dialougue with him a few days prior but I feel that we can really get some deep and in-depth conversations with him. He is very knowledgeable about the New World Order and many other aspects concerning the government and our country.

Then we might shoot another scene or two depending on the weather.

Mark has been compsoing "Mr. Mullen" and I'm very happy with how it's coming out - lot's of cool synth sounds, very retro 80's synth - nothing like todays standard mainstream sound. I can't stand that type of sound - ie: Friday the 13th remake type score. I never want to have any part in that type of music. I feel music is so important in both life and art and the more we expose ourselves to music that is generic, the more we are going to suffer both with our minds and artistically. I used to be into a lot of pop punk type bands in 2002 when I was making my feature length film "Dead End Massacre" and the type of songs I put into the film at the time were horrendous. The whining voices and same type of sound that every Long Island band has - that just annoys me to no end now. Back then I was such a different filmmaker and that's what
I find so interesting as the years pass - what type of filmmaker you become, as well as an individual.

It all derives from life I feel and the experiences you have living your own life. That's one of the most important aspects of filmmaking and from that comes the inspiration.

Music and film go hand in hand. The sounds, the feeling, the visuals and what the sounds remind you of - how they trigger a part of your emotions and memory. That is what I think a lot of people do not understand. The music needs to feel right and fit in the scene for the filmmaker. "Day of the Dead" for example. In my opinion that score was perfect for that film. The sad feeling through the synths and sounds of the score really gave that film a dark and creepy atmosphere. And I love how the walls in the underground bunker are gray and dirty looking. Simple things like that bring out the atmosphere of a film.

Mr. Mullen Updates

I am very excited since Mark is officially starting the musical score for "Mr. Mullen". I sent him half of the film (final cut) and am still working on a final cut for the second half and may shoot a sequence to go in between two scenes in the film that might need a sequence to space out the two scenes. I received a few e-mail replies from a Casting Call I put out and think I may have some good leads - just have to do some voicemail auditions.

We didn't shoot yesterday due to the weather conditions so hopefully today. Chris Margaritis has been busy with work which is good since the money is needed - so hopefully today we can shoot the cemetery scene and beach scene for "The Project" which will fill in more of the Scott Jordan death scene that came to be back in June when we shot Paul Kratka's scenes.

Updates...

We're shooting again tomorrow and Friday for "The Project" to finish up the Glen Cove scenes that involve the Scott Jordan / Montauk segments and have to trek out there atleast one more time to get visuals of Chris making his way out to Montauk to investigate the death of one of his friends and former Militia members who died out there.

There is something about Montauk and Camp Hero that I find so thrilling. The location reminds me of Welwyn Preserve in a way - it's vast and has interesting aspects to it. Camp Hero has this interesting Radar Tower which is very creepy and unsettling - Drew and I got close to the Radar Tower yesterday when shooting and it's such a breathtaking view being right under it and looking up. For those who do not know, the Radar Tower is talked about a lot in conspiracy blogs, videos / books - there are people who have supposedly had Mind Control Experiments done there and well as possible Alien Abductions / time travel experiments, etc - this is all explained in my friend Chris' movie, "Montauk Unveiled" which should be out later this year. Without knowing Chris I would have never known about Camp Hero.

I like how in "The Project", we don't really go into any of the Alien or Time Travel aspects, but rather feature Camp Hero as a place where Paul Kratka's death takes place due to elecontric waves that Mind Controlled him to kill himself - what is interesting is how it evolved to where I wanted to explain why he did it and how his friends went out to investiage it and plus there's a feature length documentary already being made about it so I'm not really interested in going indepth about it but just using it as a location to shoot some interesting scenes. I believe it was Paul who suggested shooting out in Montauk a few weeks back before we shot - him and I had went there in September 2005 because he wanted to hit some waves since he is an avid surfer.

Looking forward to finishing up the Montauk related shots and moving onto RFID Chipping / Martial Law segments.

Updates on "The Project"

Been busy scheduling scenes for next week. Due to weather and scheduling issues, Chiko Mendez has not been able to shoot this weekend and into next week. I was hoping to feature him as a bigger role than the interview we did, so maybe we'll continue when he comes back in August. I am in plans of locking down the final shoot out in Montauk with Drew Henricksen, an actor who I've been in touch with and will be working with shortly - so the scenes that I wanted to shoot with Chiko are the scenes I will be shooting with Drew this upcoming week. We'll take it day by day since we need to match previous scenes with cloudy day visuals. I'm excited to be finishing the Paul Kratka related Montauk scenes this upcoming week so we can move onto other parts of the film which we still need to shoot.

"Mr. Mullen" is currently being looked over and composed by Mark Nadolski. I'm excited to finally get this film out there. The projected release for the website will be September 11th, 2009.

Betterstream.com should have the videos up by Sunday on their site. You can search "ScottGoldbergMovies" in the search box and it will come up with a link to our account.

BetterStream.com

Within the next week or so, BetterStream.com which is owned by Ben Ligeri, will have a bunch of content pertaining to our work and the films we've been working on for the last few years. Some are never before seen clips from recent documentary work, behind the scenes footage, final cuts of films (Loss of Hope) and trailers for our latest work - Mr. Mullen. So we're excited to be collaborating with BetterStream.com and having our content on their website. The best thing with their site is that they do not run commercials or advertising clips before the clips like most online video streaming sites now do.

Chiko Mendez and "The Project"

I met Chiko Mendez back in 2004 while working on my college thesis project entitled "The Night They Came Back" where we have since worked on many films... In the recent months I did some audio work and interview footage with him for "Mr. Mullen" and "In Production" but nothing really in the realm of visuals for a film, so we shot some scenes on Friday at Welwyn with Chris Margaritis and Chiko Mendez - mostly focusing on the Chiko Mendez interview answers which take place during the film "The Project" and wanted to extend a little into the Montauk scenes to finish off that segment of the film which includes them both going to Montauk to look for their friend Scott Jordan (played by Paul Kratka) who allegedly "commited suicide" which is what the news media has stated but they feel something weird went on out there - so there's a scene at the Welwyn bay area that we shot Paul's death scene at that I am trying to plan to shoot on a cloudy day to match previous shots in where they both meet up and a scene out in Montauk where Chiko explores Camp Hero and calls up Chris' character telling him to meet him in Montauk.

The interesting thing is you shoot a lot, and most of the time you use very little - but I suppose it's different for every filmmaker as some might use more footage from their day of shooting than others would.

Last week when Chris and I went to Montauk we didn't have the chance to shoot for as long as we wanted - it started to rain, although it was a good start, and since Chris' character breaks down, I feel, as of now it might be best if Chiko's character had just gotten up when he heard the news and went searching for any clues - that I feel add's to his character and his decision to get up and go without thinking twice - just to hop in the car and go out to Montauk I feel would be best for his character.

Then you have the Chris Romero character who is the type of person who would sit at the training compound in Glen Cove and sit and think about the death of his friend for a bit. Upon recieving Chiko's ("Enrique" in the film) phone call, he decides to take the drive out to Montauk.

So those are the ideas that I have in mind for the sequence and I feel it can work to recap that sequence. I am also looking forward to shooting more of the Mind Control / RFID / "all hell breaks loose" scenes that I feel are the most important parts of the film.

There is also a final sequence that still needs to be shot that I'd like to shoot towards the end - that way we can cover all bases on what was shown in the film.

Montauk...again

The ideas keep on coming. A few days prior to Tuesday, while on my way to East Marion I was getting all of these ideas as far as shooting sequences for "The Project". While taking a detour route on Route 25 I found this really interesting fenced in building that had a "NO TRESSPASSING" and "US Government Property" sign on it and the fence stretched for a good three miles. I'm not sure what the place was but it was in Calverton / Riverhead area. If anyone knows what this place may be, e-mail me with the information. Anyway, it's west of Edwards Avenue in Riverhead on Route 25. That was one of the first spots that I found interesting. The land out in Riverhead, New York is so spaceous and beautiful - farm land, windmills, long stretches of land, farmstands, etc. A wonderful place to shoot scenes for a film.

So Tuesday Chris Margaritis and I ventured out to Montauk to do some shooting for the Paul Kratka scenes in "The Project". We arrived around 2:30 PM and started setting up a crane shot at Camp Hero and then started shooting shots on the tripod and hand-held shots. There was even a point where I hopped over the "No Tresspassing" fence to get a reverse shot. It was a chance you had to take in a situation like this - but as Chris stated to me while we drove away, they probably wouldn't have done anything harsh other than a "slap on the wrist". The scene is to be used for the Paul Kratka featured scene in the film where Chris goes out to Montauk the day that he hears his friend commited suicide which he doesn't believe to be the case so he goes out there to look for clues, to find nothing.



I remember going to Montauk in the fall of 2005 with Chris Garetano, a filmmaker from New York who I had become good friends with after meeting him at the Fangoria Weekend Horrors convention. He invited myself, along with two members of WickedFx and actor John Brodie to come out to Montauk to check out this placed called Camp Hero. We all drove in seperate cars and I remember having my Green Jetta at the time and driving around the area in the fall and how surreal it was... And I've always been interested in featuring Camp Hero in a film and I feel "The Project" was the best way to do that since the film is about Mind Control and even though the film isn't about Montauk, Camp Hero and the alleged Mind Control experiments are something that interested me enough to feature a scene about in the film (it fully took my interest in 2006 after listening to an Alex Jones podcast about Mind Control). I like that the film touches on that subject a little bit, as well as RFID chipping which will be the main topic of the film.

Be on the lookout for Chris' documentary "Montauk Unvieled" which you can see trailers for on YouTube and other sites. That should be out very soon and that is a film that covers it from top to bottom so if you're interested in a documentary that touches fully on that subject, check it out. He's very talented and his films are unique and original and I think we all should strive for something like that with our work.

Surreal...

Today was interesting. First time shooting in over a week due to scheduling and weather issues, and we shot down at the bay / beach area at Welwyn Preserve and got some really awesome footage. At first it was sunny and since I wanted to set the mood with a cloudy day, it was aggravating. At one point while cleaning out the 35mm adapter, a screw came loose and fell onto the floor and Chris and myself spent a good five minutes trying to find it. We eventually got everything set up and this dark patch of clouds came over us. It was surreal, as if it were a dream. You could only dream up these type of cloud formations and colors. The water was this dark color but also had light patches to it. We shot a sequence of Chris picking up rocks at the beach and throwing them into the water, scenic shots, as well as standing and sitting around looking out into the ocean.

Tomorrrow we play on finishing up the Vietnam sequences for "The Project" in where Chris' character is in Vietnam all alone and is going insane. This is for a sequence in the film that touches on a war that was fought years ago with no winner. Might be shooting a paramedic / stretcher scene on Friday in Port Washington if all goes planned to tie in a scene where Chris' character goes crazy from too much research and awakening to the truth a little too quickly.

It was originally planned to have a bodybag for the Kratka death scene, but it evolved to that. Also, since we can't shoot in a hospital room, might just fake it against a white wall.

Rest In Peace Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson was a big influence on me as a child growing up from watching his music videos with my family to listening to his music throughout the years. My prayers go out to his family in this tough time. Very shocking...