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Here is the link to Episode# 2001 - "On the Set of the Film NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY" Video Diary 2001
http://vimeo.com/14849927
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Second Season Begins!
The Second Season of my online series DIARY OF A FILMMAKER has finally begun with the first episode (Episode #2001) spot lighting my work on the Blank Stage Production of the short film NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY, which is directed by Brent Brooks.
The film NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY is the story of a serial killer who uses the allure of acting auditions to bring in his victims. Some people are desperate to be a star not realizing that they're nothing more than lambs for the slaughter.
This epsiode is just one of several is the series depicting the video diary of the film but it's the start of the new season of which I hope to have 12 done before the end of the year.
The film NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY is the story of a serial killer who uses the allure of acting auditions to bring in his victims. Some people are desperate to be a star not realizing that they're nothing more than lambs for the slaughter.
This epsiode is just one of several is the series depicting the video diary of the film but it's the start of the new season of which I hope to have 12 done before the end of the year.
MAN IN THE LAKE - Production Diary Day 7
DAY 7:
On Day 7 of filming on the Southlan-Films Friday the 13th fan film The Man in the Lake we return to on-location filming at the property of Roland Force to not only film the death of actor Chris Whitley but to also do reshoots of the death of the Sheriff (played by Jim Adams), among other things. The most interesting thing about today’s filming are the reshoots.
Writer/director/editor Ron McLellen had already put together a rough edit of many of the scenes and soon discovered that there were sequences within the scene in which the Sheriff comes upon the domain of Jason Voorhees (of which we all know what happens when someone comes upon Jason’s home). He wanted to make the whole sequence longer and he wanted to elaborate on Jason’s “shack” through the eyes of the Sheriff who is the first person to come upon it. This being the first sequence filmed on the production, McLellen soon realized that the sequence was far too short and needed more suspense before the Sheriff died, so, since we had to return to the location anyway it was decided to do some extensive reshoots to make the sequence really stand out early in the film.
Today is designed to be a very light day. I missed the previous day of filming (Day 6) which was the production’s return to the camp grounds to film the wrap around segment of the film which includes a group of kids who are at Camp Crystal Lake when they start telling the story of Jason Voorhees (the rest of the film which is presented as a story told by the children). I missed all of this day of filming which reunited McLellen with the stars of his previous fan film Return of the Sandman – actors Ashley Ballard, Hunter Ballard, and Callan Wilson.
Once the reshoots with actor Jim Adams are complete the rest of the day is waiting for the sun to go down to film Whitley’s death for the film. In the mean time we waited for the make-up artists of 9 Cop Productions (Ondie Daniel and Ace Talkingwolf) to put Adams in his “death” make-up and prep for the death of Whitley’s character who wanders into Jason’s home and finds the Sheriff’s body just before he dies at the hands of Jason. It’s no secret that he’s going to die but it is the way in which he dies that will have every Jason fan screaming in their seats. McLellen has crafted many death sequences that will not only pay homage to the Friday the 13th franchise but will all leave fans with a big smile on their faces. This is a Friday film and the bloodier the better!
Today is just a very laid back final day of filming on The Man in the Lake. I say this because all principal actors on the film will be wrapped but we still have 2nd Unit scenes to film which don’t require any of the main cast members. This happens to be just a very relaxed day of filming because everyone is excited to be at the end of the production (even though it was only 7 days).
For me, it’s a totally different story as I will be on hand throughout the post-production process on the film and up to its Friday, August 13th premiere both online and on the big screen (as we plan on screening the film for cast & crew and anyone else who want to see the film). Once this film is complete I won’t have any time to rest as McLellen is prepping a sequel to his Halloween fan film Return of the Sandman which is tentatively called Revenge of the Sandman.
For more info on the Southlan-Films production THE MAN IN THE LAKE you can follow the production on Facebook here - http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=592735751#!/pages/MAN-IN-THE-LAKE-Official-Fan-Page/278862841916?ref=ts
On Day 7 of filming on the Southlan-Films Friday the 13th fan film The Man in the Lake we return to on-location filming at the property of Roland Force to not only film the death of actor Chris Whitley but to also do reshoots of the death of the Sheriff (played by Jim Adams), among other things. The most interesting thing about today’s filming are the reshoots.
Writer/director/editor Ron McLellen had already put together a rough edit of many of the scenes and soon discovered that there were sequences within the scene in which the Sheriff comes upon the domain of Jason Voorhees (of which we all know what happens when someone comes upon Jason’s home). He wanted to make the whole sequence longer and he wanted to elaborate on Jason’s “shack” through the eyes of the Sheriff who is the first person to come upon it. This being the first sequence filmed on the production, McLellen soon realized that the sequence was far too short and needed more suspense before the Sheriff died, so, since we had to return to the location anyway it was decided to do some extensive reshoots to make the sequence really stand out early in the film.
Today is designed to be a very light day. I missed the previous day of filming (Day 6) which was the production’s return to the camp grounds to film the wrap around segment of the film which includes a group of kids who are at Camp Crystal Lake when they start telling the story of Jason Voorhees (the rest of the film which is presented as a story told by the children). I missed all of this day of filming which reunited McLellen with the stars of his previous fan film Return of the Sandman – actors Ashley Ballard, Hunter Ballard, and Callan Wilson.
Once the reshoots with actor Jim Adams are complete the rest of the day is waiting for the sun to go down to film Whitley’s death for the film. In the mean time we waited for the make-up artists of 9 Cop Productions (Ondie Daniel and Ace Talkingwolf) to put Adams in his “death” make-up and prep for the death of Whitley’s character who wanders into Jason’s home and finds the Sheriff’s body just before he dies at the hands of Jason. It’s no secret that he’s going to die but it is the way in which he dies that will have every Jason fan screaming in their seats. McLellen has crafted many death sequences that will not only pay homage to the Friday the 13th franchise but will all leave fans with a big smile on their faces. This is a Friday film and the bloodier the better!
Today is just a very laid back final day of filming on The Man in the Lake. I say this because all principal actors on the film will be wrapped but we still have 2nd Unit scenes to film which don’t require any of the main cast members. This happens to be just a very relaxed day of filming because everyone is excited to be at the end of the production (even though it was only 7 days).
For me, it’s a totally different story as I will be on hand throughout the post-production process on the film and up to its Friday, August 13th premiere both online and on the big screen (as we plan on screening the film for cast & crew and anyone else who want to see the film). Once this film is complete I won’t have any time to rest as McLellen is prepping a sequel to his Halloween fan film Return of the Sandman which is tentatively called Revenge of the Sandman.
For more info on the Southlan-Films production THE MAN IN THE LAKE you can follow the production on Facebook here - http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=592735751#!/pages/MAN-IN-THE-LAKE-Official-Fan-Page/278862841916?ref=ts
MAN IN THE LAKE - Production Diary Day 5
DAY 5:
This is the second day of on-location filming at the camp grounds of which the majority of the Southlan-Films Friday the 13th fan film The Man in the Lake will take place. I was unable to be there for the first day on filming due to my obligations at my 9-to-5 job but this is just as well as the production was rained out for most of the day and only a little was actually filmed (a minor setback that will require an additional day at the camp grounds which we had not originally scheduled).
Today is a tough day as we try and squeeze in a lot of scenes that we didn’t get filmed last night. All the day scenes need to be filmed in addition to many of the night scenes and all of the “kill scenes” of the entire cast (with the exception of the death of actor Chris Whitley which is scheduled at a different location). On tap to do the Special FX make-up for the film is 9 Cop Productions (on set today are chief make-up artists Ondie Daniel and Ace Talkingwolf) which will have their hands filled killing 3 people (when it’s a major achievement just to kill one person per day on the set of a horror film). In addition to the 3 deaths scenes that have to be orchestrated we also need to film the climax of the film which requires is reminiscent to that of the ending of the original Friday the 13th. Although the running time of the film is not expected to be longer than 45 minutes, it is very ambitious as per the request of writer/director Ron McLellen.
The film is trying to make its release date of Friday, August 13 of this year. This seems like an impossible tasks but the production is filled with a talented cast and crew that work very hard to accomplish the impossible task of filming a lot of pages today despite the on-location problems. It does continue to rain today but not enough to cripple the production like the previous day and everyone works hard to finish filming all of the days pages and scenes.
Our make-up department also goes above and beyond the call of duty as they push themselves to complete 3 major kill scenes in the film. We’ve lucked out that there are so many people out there who love and respect the Friday the 13th franchise that they are willing to come out and help on this production for free simply to work on the film for no pay. It’s important to remember that fan films are produced by people who love and respect the film/franchise for whom their production is based. These films are produced simply for the fun of it and for all the fans out there.
My job on this production has primarily been as still photographer and as the “background” producer allowing McLellen the freedom to produce the film that he wants to without and hang-ups or problems. This has been made easier from a cast and crew who are simply doing this film for the fun of it and not for a paycheck (although regardless of the fact that this is a fan film it would be nice to pay the cast and crew).
Everything does in fact go on as planned for today’s production even though we were filming into the wee hours of the next morning. We encountered a few problems in regards to policies at the camp grounds that we filming but despite this the filming was complete and we do, in fact, plan on returning for another day of filming to finish everything else that still needs to be filmed.
For more info on the Southlan-Films production THE MAN IN THE LAKE you can follow the production on Facebook here - http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=592735751#!/pages/MAN-IN-THE-LAKE-Official-Fan-Page/278862841916?ref=ts
This is the second day of on-location filming at the camp grounds of which the majority of the Southlan-Films Friday the 13th fan film The Man in the Lake will take place. I was unable to be there for the first day on filming due to my obligations at my 9-to-5 job but this is just as well as the production was rained out for most of the day and only a little was actually filmed (a minor setback that will require an additional day at the camp grounds which we had not originally scheduled).
Today is a tough day as we try and squeeze in a lot of scenes that we didn’t get filmed last night. All the day scenes need to be filmed in addition to many of the night scenes and all of the “kill scenes” of the entire cast (with the exception of the death of actor Chris Whitley which is scheduled at a different location). On tap to do the Special FX make-up for the film is 9 Cop Productions (on set today are chief make-up artists Ondie Daniel and Ace Talkingwolf) which will have their hands filled killing 3 people (when it’s a major achievement just to kill one person per day on the set of a horror film). In addition to the 3 deaths scenes that have to be orchestrated we also need to film the climax of the film which requires is reminiscent to that of the ending of the original Friday the 13th. Although the running time of the film is not expected to be longer than 45 minutes, it is very ambitious as per the request of writer/director Ron McLellen.
The film is trying to make its release date of Friday, August 13 of this year. This seems like an impossible tasks but the production is filled with a talented cast and crew that work very hard to accomplish the impossible task of filming a lot of pages today despite the on-location problems. It does continue to rain today but not enough to cripple the production like the previous day and everyone works hard to finish filming all of the days pages and scenes.
Our make-up department also goes above and beyond the call of duty as they push themselves to complete 3 major kill scenes in the film. We’ve lucked out that there are so many people out there who love and respect the Friday the 13th franchise that they are willing to come out and help on this production for free simply to work on the film for no pay. It’s important to remember that fan films are produced by people who love and respect the film/franchise for whom their production is based. These films are produced simply for the fun of it and for all the fans out there.
My job on this production has primarily been as still photographer and as the “background” producer allowing McLellen the freedom to produce the film that he wants to without and hang-ups or problems. This has been made easier from a cast and crew who are simply doing this film for the fun of it and not for a paycheck (although regardless of the fact that this is a fan film it would be nice to pay the cast and crew).
Everything does in fact go on as planned for today’s production even though we were filming into the wee hours of the next morning. We encountered a few problems in regards to policies at the camp grounds that we filming but despite this the filming was complete and we do, in fact, plan on returning for another day of filming to finish everything else that still needs to be filmed.
For more info on the Southlan-Films production THE MAN IN THE LAKE you can follow the production on Facebook here - http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=592735751#!/pages/MAN-IN-THE-LAKE-Official-Fan-Page/278862841916?ref=ts
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