Dead Set Films

Sunday night (last night) was the night of the Round 5 Scary Cow film screenings. In the category of “unfunded” projects, “Cursed” went up against a few short of a dozen films. The screening went rather well, with some jokes going over really great and other jokes creating rather uneasy silences.

But all-in-all, the attendees voted, and “Cursed” tied for 2nd place (or 3rd, depending on how you look at it). First place was a tie between films “Time Addict” and “Seconds”, and then “Cursed” tied with “Geek Loves Punk” (another great film by writer/director Julie Kerr, on which I was the camera operator). Read More »

After a grueling two nights of shooting in Piedmont, California, “Cursed” has wrapped up principal photography. We started at 5pm on Saturday and 8pm on Sunday and went until just about 2am each night. Grueling, but we made it through.

So far, the footage looks good and I’m waiting to pick up the audio tracks from sound man Brian Moss. I’m hoping to have a rough edit done by the end of the week, which will let me know if I need to bring back actors to loop some dialog. If not, I can proceed with adding in foley and soundtrack, and move on to color correcting and toning.

This was an interesting experience because I cast a Screen Actors Guild actress and had to deal with the paperwork involved. In the end, it wasn’t too bad at all, but it did catch us by surprise because I assumed the film co-op production house Scary Cow Productions had a relationship setup with SAG, which it apparently did not. But thanks to Fatna at the San Francisco SAG office, we were able to rush the paperwork through and get the contracts signed so we can shoot in time.

Also of great help, Mark Brown, co-Producer. I couldn’t have gotten everything juggled without him and his extra hands at the shoot were much appreciated. Mark did a lot to help out given the limited time he could devote to the project and his participation is appreciated.

Cinematography on “Cursed” was handled by Brian Doom. Sound was recorded on some very nice professional equipment by Brian Moss. The direction of the actors was greatly aided by my Assistant Director Sharon Huff. Jimmy Houng was our badass Production Assistant. “Cursed” stars Khary Moye, Jennifer Linkous, Ronald Acosta, and Orlando Mendoza. Expected completion date is May 25th.

Link: http://www.vimeo.com/808243

Send your friends to this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4K3zD15rzHg

I think I’m going to gather some more information and online resources and prepare a post on lighting for film/video. It is a tricky and under appreciated task. On the “Why Don’t You” music video project, Brad Piontkowski did a bang up job making the most of lighting using the cheap lighting kits I owned and some poster board. But now I’m working on a project with a gentleman with expensive equipment and the lighting is just looking like crap. It has helped me to appreciate what a challenge it really is to properly light a shot. You can’t just buy equipment and hope to flip a switch and voila! There is definitely an art and a science to it.

With that said, I’m wondering if I should start by buying a better kit. I was considering getting this Britek 3000 Watt kit from Steve Kaeser or this deluxe indie filmmaker kit from Pacific Coast Lighting Systems.

My first short film project (”Cursed”) is making slow progress.  I’m very lucky to have friend and fellow filmmaker Mark Brown of Xoflow Films onboard as Producer and Sharon Huff onboard as Assistant Director and Casting Director.  We’re hoping to have cast picked by next week and shoot on April 19th and 20th.

But I’m feeling a bit paralyzed on the script.  I’m not happy with it (starts too slow and some of the jokes are getting old) and I’m not sure how to fix it.  The concept itself was something I was fine with when I came up with it about half a year ago but now I’m not really happy with it.  The basic idea was to invent a reason for three characters to spew comedic dialogue of ridiculous things they’ve done in the past.  It is a thin premise and it shows.  At this point, I think the best I can do is tweak the script to make it entertaining, but giving it true substance might be out of the question.  Perhaps I’ll ask another writer to take a shot at it….

After months of delay, procrastination, and hard work, my first video project is finally complete. The Chemistry Set’s “Why Don’t You” music video is now being burned to DVDs for distribution to project participants.

You can view the video here.

I can’t believe I written anything in such a long time.  Rest assured, I’ve been working hard.

The Chemistry Set music video (”Why Don’t You”) is progressing nicely.  Steve Duncan and Meredith Knoll dropped in to check out the status of the project and helped with some edits.  We’re getting close to a release.

I’ve also pitched the short film “Cursed” at the last Scary Cow Productions pitch meeting and it was well received.  I’ve got interested parties and co-producer Mark Brown of Xoflow Films and I will be getting together a production schedule around the project with an estimate shoot date in mid April.

For those who haven’t had a chance to go watch the Oscar nominated films, you are missing out!  “No Country For Old Men” is my pick for Best Picture, but “Juno” and “Michael Clayton” were also superb.

Been a while since I’ve posted.  Been a busy holiday season.  I’m happy to say that on December 30th, we shot all the band footage for the Chemistry Set music video.  I think it turned out great but haven’t seen the dailies yet to confirm.

All my thanks to the band: Steve Duncan, Merideth Knoll, Cory Helms and Josh Hoover.  Thanks also to Victoria for doing makeup and Jessica for taking still photos to document the shoot.  And a very special thanks to Todd Worlock for helping direct and run the camera: his special touches will make all the difference, I think.  Last but not least, my gratitude for Zounds Sounds for letting us shoot in their building.

Now begins the fun of editing it all together.  Wish me luck!