Just wanted to let everyone know that our latest movie, “Screening Process,” is now available for viewing at www.tohubohuproductions.com. Even at low resolution, it’s a reasonably big file — 9.68 MB (a higher-resolution 17.62 MB version is available as well), so you’ll either need a broadband connection or one hell of a lot of patience.
While you’re at it, you can also see both the original trailer and the full movie edit of “Schlimmer,” Tohubohu’s entry into this past spring’s 48 Hour Film Project. And who knows? Maybe I’ll stick “Loose Ends” up there as well — but it’ll take me some time. Give ’em a look, and let me know what you think.
Friday, October 08, 2004
Tuesday, October 05, 2004
Tohubohu’s Latest Production: “Screening Process”
Sorry for the lack of posting of late — I’ve been absolutely swamped preparing for this past weekend’s National Film Challenge competition. And as of yesterday evening at 6:00 p.m., Tohubohu Productions completed its official entry, “Screening Process (A Loser’s Guide to Love),” and submitted it via FedEx. I checked this afternoon (after getting a good night’s sleep), and it was delivered at 12:44 p.m. today.
The genre we drew was “romance,” and our assigned elements were a map (prop), J. Upton, Dog Walker (character), and “You caught me at a bad time” (line of dialogue). The finished film (and forgive my teminology — I know it’s not really film, but that’s the convention the contest has adopted) tells the story of Kevin, who recounts to his friends his romantic misadventures as he attempts to recreate scenes from 1980s romantic comedies. I am really pleased with the end product, and believe that represents substantial growth in our production capabilities.
I’ll write more when I’ve got a chance — I’ve got a lot of catching up to do — but I did want to take the opportunity to say thanks to everyone involved. Everyone put in work far beyond the “call of duty,” and I can only hope that we at the tail end of things have produced a piece that accurately reflects the extraordinary effort everyone made.
The genre we drew was “romance,” and our assigned elements were a map (prop), J. Upton, Dog Walker (character), and “You caught me at a bad time” (line of dialogue). The finished film (and forgive my teminology — I know it’s not really film, but that’s the convention the contest has adopted) tells the story of Kevin, who recounts to his friends his romantic misadventures as he attempts to recreate scenes from 1980s romantic comedies. I am really pleased with the end product, and believe that represents substantial growth in our production capabilities.
I’ll write more when I’ve got a chance — I’ve got a lot of catching up to do — but I did want to take the opportunity to say thanks to everyone involved. Everyone put in work far beyond the “call of duty,” and I can only hope that we at the tail end of things have produced a piece that accurately reflects the extraordinary effort everyone made.
Monday, September 20, 2004
The Call...
Here it is, folks. We’re getting close to “go time.”
In less than two weeks, Tohubohu Productions will launch (and complete) its next short-form motion picture, courtesy of the National Film Challenge. We’ve added several experienced folks to our roster this time around, but we’ve also lost a few of our usual cohorts.
In other words, we have positions available. Plenty of them. Everything from actors to production support, to technical assistance, to hair and makeup... you name it. So if there’s any possibility of your being in the D.C. area the weekend of October 1st through the 4th (or, most especially, Satuday the 2nd and Sunday the 3rd) — and if you have any interest in being an integral part of what promises to be an exciting and rewarding creative enterprise — drop me a line A.S.A.P.
I’ve had several folks say they’d like to join, but don’t have any experience. And while I will say that experience isn’t necessary, you might be surprised at just how much experience you’ve actually got.
Good at planning and organizing meetings? You’d make a great Location Manager. Got a keen eye for detail? Step up and play Continuity Reporter. Strong organizational skills? Come help out with shoot scheduling and coordinating the call times of cast and crew. Got a big car? We can always use drivers, for both people and equipment. Like to cook (or just have contacts in the restaurant business who’d like a credits plug)? Hey, an army travels on its stomach. Like to play “scavenger hunt”? Scramble to find obscure costumes, props and locations at a moment’s notice. Have a sense of style? We’ve got openings for everything from set decoration to costumes, hair, and makeup. (Of course, if you’ve always had the coolest costumes come Halloween, you might be a shoo-in for that last one.)
In other words, if in doubt, ask. Believe me — we can find something for you to do. And while we won’t be screening at the AFI Silver Theater this time around, your name will be immortalized in the picture’s credits. And the better the job we can do, the greater the chance that we will end up with that screening...
In less than two weeks, Tohubohu Productions will launch (and complete) its next short-form motion picture, courtesy of the National Film Challenge. We’ve added several experienced folks to our roster this time around, but we’ve also lost a few of our usual cohorts.
In other words, we have positions available. Plenty of them. Everything from actors to production support, to technical assistance, to hair and makeup... you name it. So if there’s any possibility of your being in the D.C. area the weekend of October 1st through the 4th (or, most especially, Satuday the 2nd and Sunday the 3rd) — and if you have any interest in being an integral part of what promises to be an exciting and rewarding creative enterprise — drop me a line A.S.A.P.
I’ve had several folks say they’d like to join, but don’t have any experience. And while I will say that experience isn’t necessary, you might be surprised at just how much experience you’ve actually got.
Good at planning and organizing meetings? You’d make a great Location Manager. Got a keen eye for detail? Step up and play Continuity Reporter. Strong organizational skills? Come help out with shoot scheduling and coordinating the call times of cast and crew. Got a big car? We can always use drivers, for both people and equipment. Like to cook (or just have contacts in the restaurant business who’d like a credits plug)? Hey, an army travels on its stomach. Like to play “scavenger hunt”? Scramble to find obscure costumes, props and locations at a moment’s notice. Have a sense of style? We’ve got openings for everything from set decoration to costumes, hair, and makeup. (Of course, if you’ve always had the coolest costumes come Halloween, you might be a shoo-in for that last one.)
In other words, if in doubt, ask. Believe me — we can find something for you to do. And while we won’t be screening at the AFI Silver Theater this time around, your name will be immortalized in the picture’s credits. And the better the job we can do, the greater the chance that we will end up with that screening...
Tuesday, August 31, 2004
Tohubohu Rides Again
Well, it’s official: Tohubohu is entered into the National Film Challenge. So now, like it or not — seeing as how I just shelled out a C-note — we’re making a movie, dammit.
So if you think you’ve got anything to offer, give me a shout-out! Things are going to be a bit more organized than last time around, so the sooner we’ve got our cast and crew set, the smoother things will go. Especially since we’re already talking about pushing the envelope a bit...
So if you think you’ve got anything to offer, give me a shout-out! Things are going to be a bit more organized than last time around, so the sooner we’ve got our cast and crew set, the smoother things will go. Especially since we’re already talking about pushing the envelope a bit...
Tuesday, August 24, 2004
Damn!
The XL2 is here. I don’t know how I missed this.
And while it’s not HD, it’s still one kick-ass camera.
Anyone got about five grand they’re looking to give away? Or hell, I’d settle for borrowing one for this fall’s National Film Challenge.
Oh, did I mention that Tohubohu will be participating in this year’s competition? Well, we are.
So if anyone out there wants in, speak now...
And while it’s not HD, it’s still one kick-ass camera.
Anyone got about five grand they’re looking to give away? Or hell, I’d settle for borrowing one for this fall’s National Film Challenge.
Oh, did I mention that Tohubohu will be participating in this year’s competition? Well, we are.
So if anyone out there wants in, speak now...
Saturday, August 14, 2004
The Return of “Schlimmer”
Just wanted to let folks in the D.C. area (or any of you willing to travel) know that we’ll be having another screening of “Schlimmer” this Wednesday evening — two, in fact.
We — along with several other local entrants in this year’s 48-Hour Film Project (among other films) — will be screening in the back room at Aroma in Cleveland Park. The screenings are at 7:00 and 9:00, and while space is limited, I’d certainly like to see as many friendly faces in the audience as possible. Besides, since I’m the one mastering the DVD for the screening (something I’m working on right now), I figure I’m pretty much guaranteed a seat, right?
I hope to see some of you there! I don’t know if we’ll be having any director/cast/crew Q&A after (or between) screenings, but you bring the “Q,” and I’ll do my best to provide the “A.”
We — along with several other local entrants in this year’s 48-Hour Film Project (among other films) — will be screening in the back room at Aroma in Cleveland Park. The screenings are at 7:00 and 9:00, and while space is limited, I’d certainly like to see as many friendly faces in the audience as possible. Besides, since I’m the one mastering the DVD for the screening (something I’m working on right now), I figure I’m pretty much guaranteed a seat, right?
I hope to see some of you there! I don’t know if we’ll be having any director/cast/crew Q&A after (or between) screenings, but you bring the “Q,” and I’ll do my best to provide the “A.”
Wednesday, May 19, 2004
Dénouement
Well, the screening’s finished, and I feel... well, I have mixed feelings. The screening itself went well — in terms of overall quality, I think we were in the middle of the pack — but I couldn’t help but notice all the things we could have done better — even accounting for the time limit. Still, there’s nothing to be done about it now, so I’ll just have to consider them lessons learned for next time.
We have to keep a much tighter rein on the writing process. Yes, I’ll still need the actors to handle a large part of their own characterizations, back story, and such, but we’ll need to have just a few people (at most) handle plot, and probably even general character arcs. With luck, this’ll be easier once I have a better understanding of the preferences and capabilities of our “troupe.”
We’ve got to have a much more rigidly defined set of roles for our crew, and as a corollary, I need to be much more assertive about enforcing those roles (it also might help to have an on-set producer with a temperature below 103 degrees...). It’s hard when you’ve started by basically begging anyone and everyone to help out in any way they can, but now that we’re a little more established, I think we’ll be able to be a little more demanding. Not that everyone didn’t make a huge effort, but there are times when we need to make sure that people are doing their assigned tasks, and not those of others.
We can’t let our need to work quickly detract from our insistence on professionalism. In editing (and later, in viewing the finished product), I noticed how we’d short-changed things like on-set color checking and exposure levels in the interests of speed. And while I’ll defend the effort I made at setting up our opening shots — which put us behind schedule but served as a necessary starting point for our picture — we’ll have to make sure that part of that setup time is devoted to making sure the camera’s actually picking up what we need it to.
There are other things we’ll need to remember for next time (setting audio levels properly, considering more creative choices in editing), but the most important thing to remember is that there will be a next time. Tohubohu lives — and I’m already kicking around some ideas for another project...
We have to keep a much tighter rein on the writing process. Yes, I’ll still need the actors to handle a large part of their own characterizations, back story, and such, but we’ll need to have just a few people (at most) handle plot, and probably even general character arcs. With luck, this’ll be easier once I have a better understanding of the preferences and capabilities of our “troupe.”
We’ve got to have a much more rigidly defined set of roles for our crew, and as a corollary, I need to be much more assertive about enforcing those roles (it also might help to have an on-set producer with a temperature below 103 degrees...). It’s hard when you’ve started by basically begging anyone and everyone to help out in any way they can, but now that we’re a little more established, I think we’ll be able to be a little more demanding. Not that everyone didn’t make a huge effort, but there are times when we need to make sure that people are doing their assigned tasks, and not those of others.
We can’t let our need to work quickly detract from our insistence on professionalism. In editing (and later, in viewing the finished product), I noticed how we’d short-changed things like on-set color checking and exposure levels in the interests of speed. And while I’ll defend the effort I made at setting up our opening shots — which put us behind schedule but served as a necessary starting point for our picture — we’ll have to make sure that part of that setup time is devoted to making sure the camera’s actually picking up what we need it to.
There are other things we’ll need to remember for next time (setting audio levels properly, considering more creative choices in editing), but the most important thing to remember is that there will be a next time. Tohubohu lives — and I’m already kicking around some ideas for another project...
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