It is with a heavy heart that I pass along the news that Shawn Felty — or “Felt” as we were wont to call him on set — passed away this afternoon, after a long struggle with colon cancer. While it seems all too clichéd to describe someone’s battle as “courageous,” in Shawn’s case it certainly seemed apt, as he never stopped remaining positive, never fell into self-pity or victimhood, even when his illness was at its worst (the title of his blog — “All It Takes Is Guts” — speaks volumes).
From our first meeting — on the night before we were to shoot “Schlimmer,” Tohubohu’s inaugural entry in the 48 Hour Film Project — Shawn showed himself to be not only talented, but creative and extraordinarily dedicated to his work. Following quickly with his starring turn in “Screening Process,” he cemented his position as a regular in front of the camera, appearing in nine of the thirteen short films we’ve produced. But his contribution never stopped there: We rapidly came to depend on his assistance in the postproduction arena, where he would jump in on everything from researching to organizing to editing (earning him the official title “Switch Hitter” on the Tohubohu board). When his health wouldn’t permit him to take a more active role, he would help in any way he could — on “Number One With a Bullet,” he took a turn helping coordinate the auditioning process, a task that he leapt into without a moment’s hesitation. And then, when his health improved, he was right back in the thick of things with “All Roads Lead Away” and “Please Forward.”
But more than all of that, Shawn was a good and valued friend. He never ceased to make the often arduous process of filmmaking a fun experience for everyone involved. His upbeat attitude, positive outlook and unbridled enthusiasm were truly unparalleled, and he routinely made friends everywhere he went; seventy people came by to see him in the hospital yesterday. And while I consider myself fortunate that I was able to be one of those visitors (where despite his weakness, his infectious smile was as wide as ever), that small feeling is overshadowed by the larger recognition of the tremendous impact he has had — and will continue to have — on my life. The world is measurably poorer for his passing.
Thanks, Shawn, for leaving the world a little brighter than it was before you entered.
Bill
Service arrangements are still being made, but Shawn’s family has asked that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the American Cancer Society — Colorectal Cancer.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Monday, November 30, 2009
Counting Down... Again
Less than a week to go before we jump in on the 48 Hour Film Project International Shootout, but we still have some final details to get ironed out. Most significantly, just where to shoot. Turns out we don’t have a lot of our regular haunts available this time around, so if you’ve got any suggestions to offer up, please pass them along ASAP. The more interesting the better, of course (I have a fantasy of shooting in an abandoned steel mill), but even an ordinary apartment, office, bar, restaurant, school, or park will be helpful. We’ve got a couple of intriguing options out of the city (in some cases way out of the city), but I figure if we can shoot closer in there’s a greater chance that we’ll be able to keep everyone on board. (Yes, as a confirmed suburbanite, I’m used to driving, but not all of our city-dwelling brethren share my comfort level with distance travel.) Our main shooting day will be Saturday, but (since we’ve got the extra day for editing) we may do some additional scenes Sunday morning.
(And remember, if you’re going to be watching from the sidelines this time around, be sure to follow the weekend’s progress on my Twitter feed.)
On another note, I wanted to congratulate Erik Synnestvedt on winning a Silver Award for Acting on Camera – Dramatic, Male at the 2009 TIVA Awards for his work in “Please Forward.” So... congratulations!
Okay, that’s it for now — hope to see a lot of you in just a few days!
(And remember, if you’re going to be watching from the sidelines this time around, be sure to follow the weekend’s progress on my Twitter feed.)
On another note, I wanted to congratulate Erik Synnestvedt on winning a Silver Award for Acting on Camera – Dramatic, Male at the 2009 TIVA Awards for his work in “Please Forward.” So... congratulations!
Okay, that’s it for now — hope to see a lot of you in just a few days!
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
48HFP International Shootout
I suppose I should start with an apology for being effectively incommunicado for the past three months. Wish I could say that big film projects were afoot, but the reality is that this fall’s been a perfect storm of work, personal, and family obligations that occupied the vast majority of my personal time and mental energy.
That said, there’s nothing like a new project to get me out from under my rock, and it looks like we’ve got one: Tohubohu has just been invited to participate in the 48 Hour Film Project International Shootout! The good news is that this gives us the excuse we’ve been looking for to get another film in before the end of the year. The bad news (and there’s always bad news) is that the competition is the first weekend in December, which gives us very little prep time. Still, after talking to a few key folks and making sure we at least had our basic needs covered, we’ve decided to go ahead with it.
The competition works very similarly to the regular 48 Hour Film Project, but with a few variations. First, because this is a simultaneous international event, the drawing and submission processes are done remotely — we’ll receive our elements via email, and submit our finished film by mail (much like in the National Film Challenge); if you’re thinking ahead, you may realize that this effectively gives us an extra day to get everything wrapped up. Second, there won’t be a big-screen AFI Silver premiere — though the winning film will screen at Filmapalooza and at the Cannes Short Film Corner. And third, there will be other thematic elements besides the genre and the traditional required elements; because they’re looking to distribute a selection of the finished films as a package, the plan is to have some commonality connecting the films in the series.
Unfortunately, there’s no SAG waiver this time around, so alas, that means that our SAG-actor contingent will be unable to participate (well, not in front of the camera, anyway). Which is certainly a disappointment — particularly as our invitation to participate in this contest is due in no small part to all of the fantastic work you’ve done for us of late. But this will give others a chance to shine, and rest assured, we’ll have more opportunities soon!
Given the comparatively short prep time, we’ll naturally be giving preferential consideration to those with whom we’ve worked before (particularly on our most recent projects, “Number One With a Bullet,” “All Roads Lead Away,” and “Please Forward”). But — especially since several of our regulars are otherwise committed — if you’re interested in joining in, drop me a line ASAP! (And yes, I’m planning once again to tweet our progress across the weekend on my Twitter feed.)
Time to start shooting!
That said, there’s nothing like a new project to get me out from under my rock, and it looks like we’ve got one: Tohubohu has just been invited to participate in the 48 Hour Film Project International Shootout! The good news is that this gives us the excuse we’ve been looking for to get another film in before the end of the year. The bad news (and there’s always bad news) is that the competition is the first weekend in December, which gives us very little prep time. Still, after talking to a few key folks and making sure we at least had our basic needs covered, we’ve decided to go ahead with it.
The competition works very similarly to the regular 48 Hour Film Project, but with a few variations. First, because this is a simultaneous international event, the drawing and submission processes are done remotely — we’ll receive our elements via email, and submit our finished film by mail (much like in the National Film Challenge); if you’re thinking ahead, you may realize that this effectively gives us an extra day to get everything wrapped up. Second, there won’t be a big-screen AFI Silver premiere — though the winning film will screen at Filmapalooza and at the Cannes Short Film Corner. And third, there will be other thematic elements besides the genre and the traditional required elements; because they’re looking to distribute a selection of the finished films as a package, the plan is to have some commonality connecting the films in the series.
Unfortunately, there’s no SAG waiver this time around, so alas, that means that our SAG-actor contingent will be unable to participate (well, not in front of the camera, anyway). Which is certainly a disappointment — particularly as our invitation to participate in this contest is due in no small part to all of the fantastic work you’ve done for us of late. But this will give others a chance to shine, and rest assured, we’ll have more opportunities soon!
Given the comparatively short prep time, we’ll naturally be giving preferential consideration to those with whom we’ve worked before (particularly on our most recent projects, “Number One With a Bullet,” “All Roads Lead Away,” and “Please Forward”). But — especially since several of our regulars are otherwise committed — if you’re interested in joining in, drop me a line ASAP! (And yes, I’m planning once again to tweet our progress across the weekend on my Twitter feed.)
Time to start shooting!
Monday, August 10, 2009
Quick Bits
Just wanted to take a moment to give everyone a few updates (only one of which is strictly Tohubohu-related, but I figure that at this stage I can be forgiven a little digression).
First of all, the “director’s cut” of “Please Forward” is now up and available for viewing at our official site. Not a whole lot different from the original 48 Hour Film Project version, but just a couple of minor alterations that we hope will give it a little life beyond the 48 Hour audience. Give it a look and let us know what you think! We hope to start sending this out to festivals shortly.
Second, a sort of follow-up shout-out to Barry Gribble and the Integral Arts team for their independent TV pilot, “Dog.” Last time I mentioned that it had been accepted into the Independent Television Festival in LA (and, of course, dropped the little fact that I did a little production design work on it). Well, as it so happens, the pilot took home the Best Overall TV award! The pilot should be viewable at the festival site soon, so be sure to check back — it’s definitely worth seeing (as if the fact that they won the top award didn’t give you a little clue). Congratulations!
Edited to add: Actually, the pilot won’t be viewable at the ITV Fest site right away — because it’ll be screening at the New York Television Festival in September! And as a special bonus, you can check out the trailer for “Dog” right here! (It’s kind of NSFW, though the language is muted. Use your own judgment.) And if you look carefully, you’ll see one of my poster designs in the opening shot. Just sayin’.
Third, a call to arms for fellow filmmaker Francis Abbey, of Boxing Day and video blog “Running Commentary” fame (or notoriety, depending on your point of view). His latest feature, 6 Nonsmokers, is looking for background actors right now. As in this week — Wednesday and Friday, to be specific. It’s a non-union shoot (and not a paying gig), but does promise to be a fun time. You can check out the official site for details on the film — a comedy about conflict resolution — but as for the pertinent practical details, here goes: On Wednesday, they’re looking to shoot a big crowd scene at the Oxon Hill Public Library, and need to fill an auditorium with journalists and academics. And on Friday, they’ll be staging a college party along with some bar gatherings (a regular bar, country-western bar, and a club). If you’re interested, you can contact casting director Laura Carlson at lauracarlson74 [AT] hotmail [DOT] com. Preferably sooner rather than later.
And finally, I just wanted to call attention to some promising new web series for your entertainment (as if my ramblings weren’t entertaining enough). First is “Shrinkage,” starring Gia Mora as an online advice columnist with a less-than-traditional therapy style (written and directed by the aforementioned Barry Gribble). Next is the ever-popular “Appletinis with Ken,” starring Ken Arnold as... well, Ken Arnold — not exactly a “new” series, but I haven’t mentioned it here before, and it has featured a few Tohubohu veterans in the guest chair. And finally, there’s “ParaAbnormal,” a show about dysfunctional paranormal investigators, featuring Ken Arnold and “All Roads Lead Away” star Joe Hansard. So give ’em a look-see and spread the word if you’re so inclined — gotta do what we can to expand the audience for the DC indie production community!
That’s it for now — thanks for listening (or reading), and we’ll be back in touch soon!
First of all, the “director’s cut” of “Please Forward” is now up and available for viewing at our official site. Not a whole lot different from the original 48 Hour Film Project version, but just a couple of minor alterations that we hope will give it a little life beyond the 48 Hour audience. Give it a look and let us know what you think! We hope to start sending this out to festivals shortly.
Second, a sort of follow-up shout-out to Barry Gribble and the Integral Arts team for their independent TV pilot, “Dog.” Last time I mentioned that it had been accepted into the Independent Television Festival in LA (and, of course, dropped the little fact that I did a little production design work on it). Well, as it so happens, the pilot took home the Best Overall TV award! The pilot should be viewable at the festival site soon, so be sure to check back — it’s definitely worth seeing (as if the fact that they won the top award didn’t give you a little clue). Congratulations!
Edited to add: Actually, the pilot won’t be viewable at the ITV Fest site right away — because it’ll be screening at the New York Television Festival in September! And as a special bonus, you can check out the trailer for “Dog” right here! (It’s kind of NSFW, though the language is muted. Use your own judgment.) And if you look carefully, you’ll see one of my poster designs in the opening shot. Just sayin’.
Third, a call to arms for fellow filmmaker Francis Abbey, of Boxing Day and video blog “Running Commentary” fame (or notoriety, depending on your point of view). His latest feature, 6 Nonsmokers, is looking for background actors right now. As in this week — Wednesday and Friday, to be specific. It’s a non-union shoot (and not a paying gig), but does promise to be a fun time. You can check out the official site for details on the film — a comedy about conflict resolution — but as for the pertinent practical details, here goes: On Wednesday, they’re looking to shoot a big crowd scene at the Oxon Hill Public Library, and need to fill an auditorium with journalists and academics. And on Friday, they’ll be staging a college party along with some bar gatherings (a regular bar, country-western bar, and a club). If you’re interested, you can contact casting director Laura Carlson at lauracarlson74 [AT] hotmail [DOT] com. Preferably sooner rather than later.
And finally, I just wanted to call attention to some promising new web series for your entertainment (as if my ramblings weren’t entertaining enough). First is “Shrinkage,” starring Gia Mora as an online advice columnist with a less-than-traditional therapy style (written and directed by the aforementioned Barry Gribble). Next is the ever-popular “Appletinis with Ken,” starring Ken Arnold as... well, Ken Arnold — not exactly a “new” series, but I haven’t mentioned it here before, and it has featured a few Tohubohu veterans in the guest chair. And finally, there’s “ParaAbnormal,” a show about dysfunctional paranormal investigators, featuring Ken Arnold and “All Roads Lead Away” star Joe Hansard. So give ’em a look-see and spread the word if you’re so inclined — gotta do what we can to expand the audience for the DC indie production community!
That’s it for now — thanks for listening (or reading), and we’ll be back in touch soon!
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Rosebud Film & Video Festival 2009
Just wanted to remind everyone that the Rosebud Film & Video Festival Nominee Showcase is this Saturday at the Rosslyn Spectrum Theatre (1611 North Kent Street in Arlington — just two blocks from the Rosslyn Metro station)! The (twenty-film) screening runs from 12:30 p.m. until about 5:30 p.m., but (for those of you who may not be inclined to stay for the entire event), “All Roads Lead Away” will be showing at 2:00. That said, there are some really great films in the lineup — be sure to check out the official site for details!
Tickets for the all-day event are just $8.00, and include an invitation to the Rosebud Awards ceremony at the Clarendon Ballroom on Sunday. Tickets can be purchased in advance by calling 703-524-2388.
Hope to see you there!
Oh, and while I’ve got you here, I wanted to give a quick shout-out to Barry Gribble and the Integral Arts production team, whose independent pilot “Dog” (for which yours truly made a very small production-design contribution) was just accepted into the Independent Television Festival in LA. Congratulations!
Tickets for the all-day event are just $8.00, and include an invitation to the Rosebud Awards ceremony at the Clarendon Ballroom on Sunday. Tickets can be purchased in advance by calling 703-524-2388.
Hope to see you there!
Oh, and while I’ve got you here, I wanted to give a quick shout-out to Barry Gribble and the Integral Arts production team, whose independent pilot “Dog” (for which yours truly made a very small production-design contribution) was just accepted into the Independent Television Festival in LA. Congratulations!
Sunday, May 24, 2009
The Results Are In...
“Please Forward” has taken home the Audience Award for screening group G in the 2009 48 Hour Film Project! (We’ve got a nice little certificate and everything.) And given that there were four films from our screening group represented in the “Best Of” screening, that’s no small feat. I just wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who helped make this effort such a success. The screening itself went great, and was a fantastic opportunity to celebrate with a veritable Who’s-Who of the DC filmmaking community.
The full listing of results are posted at the official site, but I thought I’d point out a few personal highlights. (Just my own opinion, of course, but I like to think my opinion’s pretty significant. It is to me, anyway.) Fellow Audience Award winners included Dobler’s Pen entry “He Drove,” Card Sharque’s “Cry Guy,” and River Run’s “Happy Hour.” Cinematography and Editing honors went to Dead City Films’ “The Imperial.” The WIT Films entry “Rakirovka” took home the Best Directing award (as well as Best Sound Design). And our frequent collaborators (co-conspirators?) Integral Arts took home Best Costumes, Best Special Effects, Best Writing, and Best Film awards for “Gwendolyn Dangerous and the Great Space Rescue.” (Whew!) I also want to give a quick shout-out to The Quest for their film “Stonking,” Cavegirl Productions for “Motivation,” and Star Wipe Films for “Like It’s Your Last” — all worth a look.
That’s it for today, but I’ll sign off with another reminder to keep your calendars open (not to mention passing the news along to anyone who might be interested) on June 27 for the Rosebud Film & Video Festival, where “All Roads Lead Away” will be screening. And in the meantime, I’ll be sure to keep everyone posted on any other showings or events to come!
The full listing of results are posted at the official site, but I thought I’d point out a few personal highlights. (Just my own opinion, of course, but I like to think my opinion’s pretty significant. It is to me, anyway.) Fellow Audience Award winners included Dobler’s Pen entry “He Drove,” Card Sharque’s “Cry Guy,” and River Run’s “Happy Hour.” Cinematography and Editing honors went to Dead City Films’ “The Imperial.” The WIT Films entry “Rakirovka” took home the Best Directing award (as well as Best Sound Design). And our frequent collaborators (co-conspirators?) Integral Arts took home Best Costumes, Best Special Effects, Best Writing, and Best Film awards for “Gwendolyn Dangerous and the Great Space Rescue.” (Whew!) I also want to give a quick shout-out to The Quest for their film “Stonking,” Cavegirl Productions for “Motivation,” and Star Wipe Films for “Like It’s Your Last” — all worth a look.
That’s it for today, but I’ll sign off with another reminder to keep your calendars open (not to mention passing the news along to anyone who might be interested) on June 27 for the Rosebud Film & Video Festival, where “All Roads Lead Away” will be screening. And in the meantime, I’ll be sure to keep everyone posted on any other showings or events to come!
Monday, May 18, 2009
Best of the 48 Hour Film Project 2009
Well, it’s official — “Please Forward” will be screening as part of the Best of the 48 Hour Film Project this Thursday evening. We’ll be showing with the 7:00 show, and in glorious HD, no less. (I dropped off an HD master with the editor last Friday.)
If you’d like a recap of the big shooting weekend, Pam posted one earlier, so I won’t go into detail here. But I will say that everything came together fantastically. The writing (from “You Pay Your Dues” scribe Robin Brande) was spot-on, the crew was totally gung-ho (a big help given the daunting number of setups we had), and the cast (including a couple of very talented young newcomers) was enthusiastic and extremely dedicated.
Here’s the official listing of films (with links where available):
Screening 1 — 7:00 p.m.
Beyond that, be sure to mark your calendars for the Rosebud Film & Video Festival on June 27, where “All Roads Lead Away” will be showing. And we’re scrambling to finish up music for “Number One With a Bullet” so we can start shopping that around to festivals in earnest (though we have already made one submission). More news as we have it!
If you’d like a recap of the big shooting weekend, Pam posted one earlier, so I won’t go into detail here. But I will say that everything came together fantastically. The writing (from “You Pay Your Dues” scribe Robin Brande) was spot-on, the crew was totally gung-ho (a big help given the daunting number of setups we had), and the cast (including a couple of very talented young newcomers) was enthusiastic and extremely dedicated.
Here’s the official listing of films (with links where available):
Screening 1 — 7:00 p.m.
- Eastern Avenue Films: “American Institution” (Mockumentary)
- Roadside Productions: “Cirque d’Amour” (Comedy)
- Unfinished Productions: “Decidophobia”
- South County United: “From Behind the Corn Hole” (Buddy Film)
- River Run: “Happy Hour” (Surprise Ending)
- Two Meter: “Looking for You”
- Hugs Productions: “Make a Difference Day” (Holiday Film)
- Cavegirl Productions: “Motivation” (Thriller/Suspense)
- Bad Media: “Nowhere, Man” (Historical Fiction)
- Tohubohu: “Please Forward” (Holiday Film)
- WIT Films: “Rakirovka” (Foreign Film)
- Woge Sloth: “’Za” (Stoner Film)
- Card Sharque: “Cry Guy”
- Second Minute Films: “Family Outing”
- Integral Arts: “Gwendolyn Dangerous and the Great Space Rescue” (Film de Femme)
- Dobler’s Pen: “He Drove” (Comedy)
- Ad Infinitum: “Ivan Pagoda: A Feel Good Story” (Comedy)
- The BetaMacks: “Janice and Jonas” (Silent Film)
- Cardiff Giant: “Life Is Super”
- Star Wipe Films: “Like It’s Your Last” (Sci Fi)
- Loud Noises: “Pipe Dream” (Fantasy)
- Dusty Negatives: “Propagation 8” (Sci Fi)
- The Quest: “Stonking” (Mockumentary)
- Dead City Films: “The Imperial” (Detective/Cop)
Beyond that, be sure to mark your calendars for the Rosebud Film & Video Festival on June 27, where “All Roads Lead Away” will be showing. And we’re scrambling to finish up music for “Number One With a Bullet” so we can start shopping that around to festivals in earnest (though we have already made one submission). More news as we have it!
Monday, May 04, 2009
“Please Forward”
It’s fair to say that the idea for Tohubohu’s newest short film, “Please Forward,” came to me in a dream. Seriously.
In the days before the 48 Hour Film Project, Bill and Robin were joking about chain emails and then thinking how that concept would be interesting for the movie. But with our genre and required elements still not established, they didn’t want to go too far down that road. (In the 48 Hour Film Project, you pick your genre out of a hat and there is a required prop, character, and line of dialogue.) However, that night as I slept, I took that germ of a concept, mixed it with The Office, and a parody video, “Flutter.” I dreamed about a mockumentary about a business that starts all of those obnoxious chain emails. When I told Bill in the morning, he laughed, but not knowing what we’d have to use when we wrote our film, it didn’t make sense to work up the idea. We thought about writing it up afterward for our own film.
When Bill went to the kick-off party and drew the Holiday Film genre, the idea came back into play: What if we went with the mockumentary, but it was at the office Christmas party? On Friday night, Bill and Robin started off the brainstorming and script writing while I finished up the Drama Club performance with my fourth grader (she did an amazing job as a chicken). Back at home, Robin wrote up the script as Bill and I made suggestions, selected our cast, and made phone calls. I ran around the house finding Christmas decorations.
Saturday morning, we headed into Bill’s old office building, where he had gotten permission to film. It was a great set-up for us, offering lots of spaces for scenes, but also lots of room to wait around. Even with only one day to film, there’s a lot of waiting around in the movies. Both of the girls came to be in the Research & Development scenes, and also to help with the clapper board, set decoration, and general gofer jobs. I took calls from our cast and crew, made sure everyone was where they needed to be, picked internal locations, decorated and took down sets, made sure everyone had plenty of food (very important), arranged the order of filming for scenes, walked the actors through some parts, and made sure all the paperwork was in order. Bill just directed the movie. Slacker.
We had a great time during the day, with a pretty relaxed feel considering our tight schedule. The actors gave us some stellar performances. Really top notch. I may be biased, but my favorite scene is with my fourth grader, where the marketing woman is trying to get some ideas about the next generation of chain email users, but is having trouble working with a kid. I also love my seventh grader as a typical teen, texting instead of thinking about the marketer’s questions. The party scene was the most fun to film, and I do make an appearance there as an employee.
We wrapped up at 10:00 p.m. and Bill went into the office to work with the preliminary edit. In the wee hours of the morning he came back to the house for a few hours of sleep, and then went back to edit the film and add sound effects, music, and credits. Oh, and play with sound levels and color correction and technical film kind of stuff. I saw a rough cut at 2:00 and loved it. I reminded him to temper his technical perfectionism and get the film turned in early — no last-minute run for the doors at 7:00.
He did turn the film in with time to spare. Robin has seen it and really liked it. Bill went off with a couple of other directors for a mini-showing at someone’s house and got great feedback and lots of laughs. I can’t wait to show it to you... but it will have to wait until after our screening at the AFI Silver Theatre, Friday at 7:00 p.m.
The 48 Hour Film Project takes place in cities all over the country, so if you’re interested you might check the upcoming dates. While we work with a set team, many other groups need to fill positions in the weeks and days leading up to the competition. On the website, you can indicate your interest in joining a team, and there are often meet-and-greet events to help fill positions. It can be exhausting, but it’s a blast.
In the days before the 48 Hour Film Project, Bill and Robin were joking about chain emails and then thinking how that concept would be interesting for the movie. But with our genre and required elements still not established, they didn’t want to go too far down that road. (In the 48 Hour Film Project, you pick your genre out of a hat and there is a required prop, character, and line of dialogue.) However, that night as I slept, I took that germ of a concept, mixed it with The Office, and a parody video, “Flutter.” I dreamed about a mockumentary about a business that starts all of those obnoxious chain emails. When I told Bill in the morning, he laughed, but not knowing what we’d have to use when we wrote our film, it didn’t make sense to work up the idea. We thought about writing it up afterward for our own film.
When Bill went to the kick-off party and drew the Holiday Film genre, the idea came back into play: What if we went with the mockumentary, but it was at the office Christmas party? On Friday night, Bill and Robin started off the brainstorming and script writing while I finished up the Drama Club performance with my fourth grader (she did an amazing job as a chicken). Back at home, Robin wrote up the script as Bill and I made suggestions, selected our cast, and made phone calls. I ran around the house finding Christmas decorations.
Saturday morning, we headed into Bill’s old office building, where he had gotten permission to film. It was a great set-up for us, offering lots of spaces for scenes, but also lots of room to wait around. Even with only one day to film, there’s a lot of waiting around in the movies. Both of the girls came to be in the Research & Development scenes, and also to help with the clapper board, set decoration, and general gofer jobs. I took calls from our cast and crew, made sure everyone was where they needed to be, picked internal locations, decorated and took down sets, made sure everyone had plenty of food (very important), arranged the order of filming for scenes, walked the actors through some parts, and made sure all the paperwork was in order. Bill just directed the movie. Slacker.
We had a great time during the day, with a pretty relaxed feel considering our tight schedule. The actors gave us some stellar performances. Really top notch. I may be biased, but my favorite scene is with my fourth grader, where the marketing woman is trying to get some ideas about the next generation of chain email users, but is having trouble working with a kid. I also love my seventh grader as a typical teen, texting instead of thinking about the marketer’s questions. The party scene was the most fun to film, and I do make an appearance there as an employee.
We wrapped up at 10:00 p.m. and Bill went into the office to work with the preliminary edit. In the wee hours of the morning he came back to the house for a few hours of sleep, and then went back to edit the film and add sound effects, music, and credits. Oh, and play with sound levels and color correction and technical film kind of stuff. I saw a rough cut at 2:00 and loved it. I reminded him to temper his technical perfectionism and get the film turned in early — no last-minute run for the doors at 7:00.
He did turn the film in with time to spare. Robin has seen it and really liked it. Bill went off with a couple of other directors for a mini-showing at someone’s house and got great feedback and lots of laughs. I can’t wait to show it to you... but it will have to wait until after our screening at the AFI Silver Theatre, Friday at 7:00 p.m.
The 48 Hour Film Project takes place in cities all over the country, so if you’re interested you might check the upcoming dates. While we work with a set team, many other groups need to fill positions in the weeks and days leading up to the competition. On the website, you can indicate your interest in joining a team, and there are often meet-and-greet events to help fill positions. It can be exhausting, but it’s a blast.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Preparations, Screenings, and the IMDb
Just a few days away from the 48 Hour Film Project now. We are still looking for anyone who’s interested in makeup and guitar or keyboard work — otherwise we’ll likely have to go for the wild card if we draw “Western or Musical” or “Horror.” Please get back to me ASAP if your skills fit these categories!
If you’re not working on the film (and that includes most of you on this list) but are inclined to follow our progress, we’re going to try providing at least semi-regular status updates via Twitter, which you can follow at twitter.com/coughlan. No guarantees we’ll make it through the whole weekend, but we’re optimistic.
Our official screening has been set — Friday, May 8, at 7:00 p.m., once again at the beautiful AFI Silver Theater. Be sure to get your tickets as soon as possible to make sure you don’t miss out!
In other news, “All Roads Lead Away” was accepted as a Nominee in the Rosebud Film and Video Festival. The screening will be at the Rossyln Spectrum Theater on Saturday, June 27. Stay tuned for details, but be sure to mark your calendars!
And one final notification — the Internet Movie Database now has dedicated pages for “Homemade Hero” and “You Pay Your Dues,” and both “Screening Process” and “Number One With a Bullet” will be following shortly. While not all of the details are up there yet, be sure to check out the pages to make sure all of your personal info is correct (and congratulations to anyone who’s earned their IMDb page with these additions)!
If you’re not working on the film (and that includes most of you on this list) but are inclined to follow our progress, we’re going to try providing at least semi-regular status updates via Twitter, which you can follow at twitter.com/coughlan. No guarantees we’ll make it through the whole weekend, but we’re optimistic.
Our official screening has been set — Friday, May 8, at 7:00 p.m., once again at the beautiful AFI Silver Theater. Be sure to get your tickets as soon as possible to make sure you don’t miss out!
In other news, “All Roads Lead Away” was accepted as a Nominee in the Rosebud Film and Video Festival. The screening will be at the Rossyln Spectrum Theater on Saturday, June 27. Stay tuned for details, but be sure to mark your calendars!
And one final notification — the Internet Movie Database now has dedicated pages for “Homemade Hero” and “You Pay Your Dues,” and both “Screening Process” and “Number One With a Bullet” will be following shortly. While not all of the details are up there yet, be sure to check out the pages to make sure all of your personal info is correct (and congratulations to anyone who’s earned their IMDb page with these additions)!
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Two Weeks’ Notice
No, nobody’s quitting anything. But in just two short weeks, we’ll be kicking off our sixth year (and our seventh short film) with the 48 Hour Film Project! (Well, technically, as of this writing — Sunday morning — we'll be deep into the editing process.) A lot of elements are coming together, but we still have plenty to work out (as always) before the big weekend.
With that in mind, I’ve got a couple of quick questions for everyone:
One, are there any makeup artists out there (established or aspiring) who’d like to join in? While making our actors look their best is a real concern, my greater interest is in gauging our ability to pull off something in the horror genre. I’m not talking Rick Baker effects work, but at least dressing up a ghostly apparition or two.
And two, I wanted to know who we had out there with quick-working musical skills, should we draw the dreaded “musical or western” genre card. Nepotism accusations aside, both of my daughters are actually really good at writing music and lyrics, but we don’t have any quality recording capability. Assuming we could cobble together some kind of “click track” to work from for the shoot, do we have any guitar players, keyboardists, or even GarageBand experts who could lend their skills to our efforts? (In fact, even if we don’t make a musical, it’d be a real bonus to have an original song or two. We’ve done it before.)
Speaking of genres, here’s the list of genres for this year’s competition:
Buddy Film, Comedy, Detective/Cop, Drama, Fantasy, Film de Femme (i.e., film with strong female protagonist), Holiday Film, Horror, Mockumentary, Musical or Western, Romance, Sci Fi, Superhero, and Thriller/Suspense.
Should we opt not to go with our assigned genre, we can go for a “wild card” pick. Potential wild card genres are:
Fable, Family Film, Foreign Film, Ghost Movie, Historical Fiction/Period Piece, Martial Arts, Silent Film, Stoner Film, Surprise Ending, and Tragedy.
Once again, the competition has worked out an agreement with SAG so that we can use union actors. (I’m glad, ’cause we were kind of counting on it.)
And finally, I’m toying with the idea of Twittering our progress on the big weekend — if so, updates will be at my Twitter feed, @coughlan. No promises (don’t know if I’ll have time), but it certainly seems like a possibility. Maybe we’ll have a designated Twitterer...
With that in mind, I’ve got a couple of quick questions for everyone:
One, are there any makeup artists out there (established or aspiring) who’d like to join in? While making our actors look their best is a real concern, my greater interest is in gauging our ability to pull off something in the horror genre. I’m not talking Rick Baker effects work, but at least dressing up a ghostly apparition or two.
And two, I wanted to know who we had out there with quick-working musical skills, should we draw the dreaded “musical or western” genre card. Nepotism accusations aside, both of my daughters are actually really good at writing music and lyrics, but we don’t have any quality recording capability. Assuming we could cobble together some kind of “click track” to work from for the shoot, do we have any guitar players, keyboardists, or even GarageBand experts who could lend their skills to our efforts? (In fact, even if we don’t make a musical, it’d be a real bonus to have an original song or two. We’ve done it before.)
Speaking of genres, here’s the list of genres for this year’s competition:
Buddy Film, Comedy, Detective/Cop, Drama, Fantasy, Film de Femme (i.e., film with strong female protagonist), Holiday Film, Horror, Mockumentary, Musical or Western, Romance, Sci Fi, Superhero, and Thriller/Suspense.
Should we opt not to go with our assigned genre, we can go for a “wild card” pick. Potential wild card genres are:
Fable, Family Film, Foreign Film, Ghost Movie, Historical Fiction/Period Piece, Martial Arts, Silent Film, Stoner Film, Surprise Ending, and Tragedy.
Once again, the competition has worked out an agreement with SAG so that we can use union actors. (I’m glad, ’cause we were kind of counting on it.)
And finally, I’m toying with the idea of Twittering our progress on the big weekend — if so, updates will be at my Twitter feed, @coughlan. No promises (don’t know if I’ll have time), but it certainly seems like a possibility. Maybe we’ll have a designated Twitterer...
Friday, March 27, 2009
Springtime Update
Spring’s finally here, which (hopefully) means the weather will be brightening up a bit soon (though admittedly, the forecasts for the weekend aren’t looking particularly promising). But in my own attempt to raise spirits a bit, I thought I’d throw out some quick positive notes.
One, we’re now just about a month away from the 2009 48 Hour Film Project, and we’re actively working on assembling our team. If you’d like to join in and haven’t gotten back to me with that decision, now would be a really good time. We can use everything from actors to crew to offers of interesting or unusual props and locations — so if you think you may be able to offer a contribution, drop me a line ASAP!
Two, our short film “The Big Lie (That Solves Everything)” has joined “Quite Contrary,” “Machinations,” and “All Roads Lead Away” in being listed at the Internet Movie Database! So when you get a chance, head on over, check the page out, and submit your own rating for the film (and if you worked on it, take a second to make sure your listing is correct).
And three, “All Roads Lead Away” will be screening on Friday, April 3, as part of the 2009 Heritage Film & Video Festival. Check out the site for details as they become available, and I hope to see you there!
Okay, so maybe the sky’s still a little overcast — but I think I see the sun poking out from behind a cloud up there. Cherry blossoms can’t be too far behind...
One, we’re now just about a month away from the 2009 48 Hour Film Project, and we’re actively working on assembling our team. If you’d like to join in and haven’t gotten back to me with that decision, now would be a really good time. We can use everything from actors to crew to offers of interesting or unusual props and locations — so if you think you may be able to offer a contribution, drop me a line ASAP!
Two, our short film “The Big Lie (That Solves Everything)” has joined “Quite Contrary,” “Machinations,” and “All Roads Lead Away” in being listed at the Internet Movie Database! So when you get a chance, head on over, check the page out, and submit your own rating for the film (and if you worked on it, take a second to make sure your listing is correct).
And three, “All Roads Lead Away” will be screening on Friday, April 3, as part of the 2009 Heritage Film & Video Festival. Check out the site for details as they become available, and I hope to see you there!
Okay, so maybe the sky’s still a little overcast — but I think I see the sun poking out from behind a cloud up there. Cherry blossoms can’t be too far behind...
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Tales of My Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated
No, we haven’t dropped off the face of the Earth — though lately it may seem that way. In all honesty, I think this may be the longest we’ve gone between updates in... well, a long time, anyway. Things are moving forward, if a bit more slowly than we (and no doubt many of you) would like. Alas, outside commitments have been a little more daunting than in times past, but there has still been some progress of note. Postproduction is moving ahead on “Number One With a Bullet”; the edit of the film is fairly well locked, we’re doing some cleanup work on visual effects, and we’re working on the score (and trying to license some other music). And, of course, we’re gearing up for this year’s 48 Hour Film Project; no date has yet been announced, but we’re planning on the first weekend in May (the usual weekend).
In the meantime, we’re working on several collaborative projects with the folks from Integral Arts, Team Jabberwocky, and the 48 Hour Film Project. Not a whole lot we can talk about just yet, but as soon as we can announce anything, you’ll hear about it here.
Honest.
Edited to add: The dates for this year’s 48 Hour Film Project have just been announced: May 1–3. Be sure to mark your calendars, and let us know if you’d like to join in the production festivities!
In the meantime, we’re working on several collaborative projects with the folks from Integral Arts, Team Jabberwocky, and the 48 Hour Film Project. Not a whole lot we can talk about just yet, but as soon as we can announce anything, you’ll hear about it here.
Honest.
Edited to add: The dates for this year’s 48 Hour Film Project have just been announced: May 1–3. Be sure to mark your calendars, and let us know if you’d like to join in the production festivities!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)