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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
Showing posts with label horror. Show all posts
Showing posts with label horror. Show all posts
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
Saturday, May 29, 2010
MAN IN THE LAKE - Production Diary DAY 3
DAY 3: Monday, May 24, 2010
By the time we get to the third day of filming on the Southlan-Films production of the Friday the 13th fan film The Man in the Lake, writer/director Ron McLellen has already put together a preliminary edit of all the scenes thus far filmed. This is not unusual considering the amazing turnaround time we had when we filmed the Halloween fan film Return of the Sandman last year. It was interesting to be able to view these scenes prior to going out and filming scenes that linked to the scenes thus far filmed.
Today is planned to be a light day as we are going out to Roland Force’s property once again to film the scenes where the Sheriff (played by Jim Adams) encounters Ralph (Dave R. Watkins) on the side of the road and Jason Voorhees (this time played by Kyle Thrasher) drags Ralph into the woods and kills him. The scenes where the Sheriff chases after Voorhees and is himself killed were filmed on Day 1 but now we will be filming everything that leads up to his death. We are also scheduled to go back to the Pop Stop (from Day 2) and film the exterior filler scenes of Ralph riding away on his bicycle (which we didn’t have on the original day of filming). By the end of today we should have two whole sequences of the film done.
Adding Thrasher to the film is a big coup for the production. After having played the iconic Michael Myers in McLellen’s Return of the Sandman, Thrasher is even more adequately cast as Voorhees. There is a slight difference in body type between Thrasher and Nathan Standridge (who is also playing Voorhees). Standridge is taller but Thrasher has the bigger and more muscular body frame giving him the Voorhees look of Parts 6 & 7 of the original series. Despite two actors playing the role I doubt that the regular audience members will even be able to tell that the role was played by two separate people. For Thrasher, this role is also preparation for his return as Myers in the proposed sequel to Return of the Sandman tentatively called Revenge of the Sandman which will film later this year before McLellen takes a break from his fan film trilogy of terror.
The location of filming on the Force property should be familiar to fans of the Southlan-Films production Bad Land as we filmed on the same spots used in that film. It was a great bit of homage that made filming that much more fun. It was an extremely hot day and we were plagued by the presence of ants and various other insects but that didn’t stop us from having a good time killing Watkins’ character Ralph, in fact, killing him was more exciting than killing the Sheriff (shoot me, I like to see people die in a horror film).
Although today was a short shoot it was a very eventful one as should be on the set of a horror film. Now that some of the easier scenes are done we will be able to more on to the real “meat & potatoes” of the film, which is killing everyone else!
By the time we get to the third day of filming on the Southlan-Films production of the Friday the 13th fan film The Man in the Lake, writer/director Ron McLellen has already put together a preliminary edit of all the scenes thus far filmed. This is not unusual considering the amazing turnaround time we had when we filmed the Halloween fan film Return of the Sandman last year. It was interesting to be able to view these scenes prior to going out and filming scenes that linked to the scenes thus far filmed.
Today is planned to be a light day as we are going out to Roland Force’s property once again to film the scenes where the Sheriff (played by Jim Adams) encounters Ralph (Dave R. Watkins) on the side of the road and Jason Voorhees (this time played by Kyle Thrasher) drags Ralph into the woods and kills him. The scenes where the Sheriff chases after Voorhees and is himself killed were filmed on Day 1 but now we will be filming everything that leads up to his death. We are also scheduled to go back to the Pop Stop (from Day 2) and film the exterior filler scenes of Ralph riding away on his bicycle (which we didn’t have on the original day of filming). By the end of today we should have two whole sequences of the film done.
Adding Thrasher to the film is a big coup for the production. After having played the iconic Michael Myers in McLellen’s Return of the Sandman, Thrasher is even more adequately cast as Voorhees. There is a slight difference in body type between Thrasher and Nathan Standridge (who is also playing Voorhees). Standridge is taller but Thrasher has the bigger and more muscular body frame giving him the Voorhees look of Parts 6 & 7 of the original series. Despite two actors playing the role I doubt that the regular audience members will even be able to tell that the role was played by two separate people. For Thrasher, this role is also preparation for his return as Myers in the proposed sequel to Return of the Sandman tentatively called Revenge of the Sandman which will film later this year before McLellen takes a break from his fan film trilogy of terror.
The location of filming on the Force property should be familiar to fans of the Southlan-Films production Bad Land as we filmed on the same spots used in that film. It was a great bit of homage that made filming that much more fun. It was an extremely hot day and we were plagued by the presence of ants and various other insects but that didn’t stop us from having a good time killing Watkins’ character Ralph, in fact, killing him was more exciting than killing the Sheriff (shoot me, I like to see people die in a horror film).
Although today was a short shoot it was a very eventful one as should be on the set of a horror film. Now that some of the easier scenes are done we will be able to more on to the real “meat & potatoes” of the film, which is killing everyone else!
MAN IN THE LAKE - Production Diary DAY 1
DAY 1: Saturday, May 15, 2010
Discounting all the preproduction work, the teaser trailer, and the pre-visual photos, today is the first day of filming on the Southlan-Films production of the Friday the 13th fan-film The Man In The Lake. The original story is by Ron McLellen and me with the final screenplay by McLellen, who is also producing and directing, among other jobs. The film is designed to be a short film the same as McLellen’s previous fan-film Return of the Sandman (based on Halloween) and the shooting schedule is only suppose to be just south of ten days.
The first day of filming McLellen decided to start things off right by killing one of our main actors. Of the actors on set today are Jim Adams (as the Sheriff) and Nathan Standridge (as Jason, although two people will play the iconic character throughout the film because of scheduling). The Sheriff is in much of the beginning of the film but it’s always good to start production on a horror film right by killing someone. Adams is in good spirits as today’s scenes require him to run through the woods, a lot, before being dispatched by a train spike through the head by Jason. It’s as good a way to go as any in a Friday the 13th movie.
We are once again filming at the home of Roland Force, an actor frequent in McLellen’s films (Jack O’Lantern, Hell’s End, Bad Land, Return of the Sandman) but his home has also been used in many of McLellen’s films including Bad Land, Jack O’Lantern, Return of the Sandman, and now this film. Force’s land is so vast that we could probably never see any of the same spots in any of McLellen’s films no matter how many times we return.
We are light on crew today as this first day of filming was meant to be fairly easy on all of us not to mention the production itself. In addition to McLellen and me, Eric Forest Burton is also on hand. He came aboard on the Southlan-Films team during the production of Return of the Sandman (not only as crew but as an actor as well) and returns on this film as well. On this production I am the production manager and still photographer (and generally anything else that needs to be done).
One of the reasons why we are keeping cast and crew down to a minimum is the fact that this is a “fan-film” which means we can never sale, distribute, or otherwise make a single penny on the production because the characters and rights all belong to someone (or some company) else. It would be against the law for us to ever make a dime off this production. We are making this film simply because McLellen has a need to produce this film not only for him but for all the other Friday the 13th film fans out there. It is also a good way to advertise the talents of all the people involved as well as meet other people who are enthusiastic about the same subject matter.
I’m not a Friday the 13th film fan. In fact, I don’t really care for many of them but I do understand why the franchise has so many devoted fans. I’m a huge fan of the original Night of the Living Dead (1968) and I have a huge collection of related memorabilia. The same can be said of McLellen and several of the people involved in this production. My number one reason for doing this film is because there is such a huge following for this franchise that doing a film based on it just seemed like a lot of fun and 80% of why I do low budget (or no budget as this film suggests) is because it’s a whole lot of fun.
That’s what this first day of filming was like – a whole lot of fun and it wasn’t just me that had a lot of fun it was everyone from Burton to Adams to Standridge and most of all from McLellen who was like a kid in a candy shop and wouldn’t you be if you got to kill off someone on the first day of filming? Every film production should be so lucky as to have as productive a first day as this day was.
Discounting all the preproduction work, the teaser trailer, and the pre-visual photos, today is the first day of filming on the Southlan-Films production of the Friday the 13th fan-film The Man In The Lake. The original story is by Ron McLellen and me with the final screenplay by McLellen, who is also producing and directing, among other jobs. The film is designed to be a short film the same as McLellen’s previous fan-film Return of the Sandman (based on Halloween) and the shooting schedule is only suppose to be just south of ten days.
The first day of filming McLellen decided to start things off right by killing one of our main actors. Of the actors on set today are Jim Adams (as the Sheriff) and Nathan Standridge (as Jason, although two people will play the iconic character throughout the film because of scheduling). The Sheriff is in much of the beginning of the film but it’s always good to start production on a horror film right by killing someone. Adams is in good spirits as today’s scenes require him to run through the woods, a lot, before being dispatched by a train spike through the head by Jason. It’s as good a way to go as any in a Friday the 13th movie.
We are once again filming at the home of Roland Force, an actor frequent in McLellen’s films (Jack O’Lantern, Hell’s End, Bad Land, Return of the Sandman) but his home has also been used in many of McLellen’s films including Bad Land, Jack O’Lantern, Return of the Sandman, and now this film. Force’s land is so vast that we could probably never see any of the same spots in any of McLellen’s films no matter how many times we return.
We are light on crew today as this first day of filming was meant to be fairly easy on all of us not to mention the production itself. In addition to McLellen and me, Eric Forest Burton is also on hand. He came aboard on the Southlan-Films team during the production of Return of the Sandman (not only as crew but as an actor as well) and returns on this film as well. On this production I am the production manager and still photographer (and generally anything else that needs to be done).
One of the reasons why we are keeping cast and crew down to a minimum is the fact that this is a “fan-film” which means we can never sale, distribute, or otherwise make a single penny on the production because the characters and rights all belong to someone (or some company) else. It would be against the law for us to ever make a dime off this production. We are making this film simply because McLellen has a need to produce this film not only for him but for all the other Friday the 13th film fans out there. It is also a good way to advertise the talents of all the people involved as well as meet other people who are enthusiastic about the same subject matter.
I’m not a Friday the 13th film fan. In fact, I don’t really care for many of them but I do understand why the franchise has so many devoted fans. I’m a huge fan of the original Night of the Living Dead (1968) and I have a huge collection of related memorabilia. The same can be said of McLellen and several of the people involved in this production. My number one reason for doing this film is because there is such a huge following for this franchise that doing a film based on it just seemed like a lot of fun and 80% of why I do low budget (or no budget as this film suggests) is because it’s a whole lot of fun.
That’s what this first day of filming was like – a whole lot of fun and it wasn’t just me that had a lot of fun it was everyone from Burton to Adams to Standridge and most of all from McLellen who was like a kid in a candy shop and wouldn’t you be if you got to kill off someone on the first day of filming? Every film production should be so lucky as to have as productive a first day as this day was.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
My Review of the (as yet unreleased in the USA) [REC] 2!
Watching the sequel [REC] 2 just this past week reminds me of how timid and inept modern American horror has become. The original [REC] was an amazing camera-POV film most closely resembling the films MAN BITES DOG, THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, and more recently PARANORMAL ACTIVITY and DIARY OF THE DEAD. [REC] is the story of television reporter Angela Vidal (Manuela Velasco) and her cameraman who follow two firemen on what should have been a routine call to a tenement building. The situation goes to hell fast when they realize that they’ve been quarantined from the outside world and they now find themselves trapped in a building not only with the building’s residents but with a highly contagious disease that may become the death of them all.
Most American audiences were unable to see the original [REC] until its American remake QUARANTINE had gone through its theatrical run and DVD release. The two films are virtually identical except the origin of the outbreak/disease (QUARANTINE decided it was easier to make the disease a highly contagious form of rabies).
I was lucky enough to get a hold of a Region 0 version of [REC] (from ebay no less) prior to the theatrical release of QUARANTINE and I was immediately taken back by the sheer terror and vitality of the film. The film was a fast paced tour de force of suspense and terror. This was a feeling I thought was missing from the current slate of American horror films. Although I enjoyed the American remake QUARANTINE, its biggest flaw was having familiar actors in the film. [REC] was more suspenseful and terrifying because I was unfamiliar with any of the actors, whereas, QUARANTINE was littered with actors and character actors familiar from both television and film. This is the biggest problem of all modern day American horror films. They are always cast with rising stars and television actors rather than “unknowns” like horror films of the ‘70s to mid- ‘90s.
The reasons why I like [REC] are why such films like THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT and PARANORMAL ACTIVITY work so well (and even the similarly executed film CLOVERFIELD). When I heard that a [REC] 2 had been produced I was a little apprehensive (kind of like hearing about THE DESCENT 2 and DOG SOLDIERS 2 and CABIN FEVER 2). The first film was so good that I didn’t think there could ever be a way a sequel could match the original. Boy was I wrong. When I heard reviews from advance previews and festival screenings that the film was actually really well received.
[REC] 2 takes the simple concept of the first film and turns it on its head. The sequel takes place just moments after the events of the first film in which a SWAT team enter the building with a medical official for the purpose of recording and documenting what happened in the building and how to prevent the disease from spreading. The situation gets more complicated when the SWAT team encounters the infected and realize that the medical official knows more than what he is revealing. To reveal the medical official’s purpose in the building is to reveal the true nature of the outbreak/disease and it really needs to be seen to be believed. Writers Jaume Balaguero & Manu Diez have crafted a smart new chapter in this horror saga that is far from predictable. Balaguero and Paco
Plaza, as co-directors, also change the style of the film as the camera-POV goes from one SWAT team member to the next creating an even more suspenseful film especially when the story starts to unfold.
Like the first film, I got a hold of [REC] 2 as a Region 0 version from ebay (which means you should all go out there and find a copy) mainly because I believe American distributors are slow when it comes to foreign films. I’ve picked up the following films as Region 0 from ebay prior to any American release – RED CLIFF PART 1 & 2, THE HOST, 4BIA, DEATH BELL, DEAD SNO, [REC], MULAN, Jet Li’s WARLORDS, and numerous others. I normally wouldn’t recommend this as I’m a huge supporter of watching films theatrically but the sad fact is that fewer and fewer foreign horror films are going theatrical and the lag time between when I hear about these films and when they actually get an American release has been way too long for me to actually continue to wait. If I had waited to see the original [REC] until its American DVD release it would have been almost two years after its original International release and almost eight months after the release of the QUARANTINE remake.
[REC] 2 is set for a limited American theatrical release this July 9 before eventually getting a DVD release and I’ve been hearing about this film for almost a year now. I just couldn’t wait, especially considering I bought the film for only $14.99 on ebay which will be about the amount of a movie ticket. When the film is released theatrically, I’ll probably still go see it (if it plays near me) since this is one of the few horror films I’ve seen in the last year that is actually worth seeing theatrically. I just hope that amid all the other dredge of American sequels and remakes that this film does not get lost or buried.
Most American audiences were unable to see the original [REC] until its American remake QUARANTINE had gone through its theatrical run and DVD release. The two films are virtually identical except the origin of the outbreak/disease (QUARANTINE decided it was easier to make the disease a highly contagious form of rabies).
I was lucky enough to get a hold of a Region 0 version of [REC] (from ebay no less) prior to the theatrical release of QUARANTINE and I was immediately taken back by the sheer terror and vitality of the film. The film was a fast paced tour de force of suspense and terror. This was a feeling I thought was missing from the current slate of American horror films. Although I enjoyed the American remake QUARANTINE, its biggest flaw was having familiar actors in the film. [REC] was more suspenseful and terrifying because I was unfamiliar with any of the actors, whereas, QUARANTINE was littered with actors and character actors familiar from both television and film. This is the biggest problem of all modern day American horror films. They are always cast with rising stars and television actors rather than “unknowns” like horror films of the ‘70s to mid- ‘90s.
The reasons why I like [REC] are why such films like THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT and PARANORMAL ACTIVITY work so well (and even the similarly executed film CLOVERFIELD). When I heard that a [REC] 2 had been produced I was a little apprehensive (kind of like hearing about THE DESCENT 2 and DOG SOLDIERS 2 and CABIN FEVER 2). The first film was so good that I didn’t think there could ever be a way a sequel could match the original. Boy was I wrong. When I heard reviews from advance previews and festival screenings that the film was actually really well received.
[REC] 2 takes the simple concept of the first film and turns it on its head. The sequel takes place just moments after the events of the first film in which a SWAT team enter the building with a medical official for the purpose of recording and documenting what happened in the building and how to prevent the disease from spreading. The situation gets more complicated when the SWAT team encounters the infected and realize that the medical official knows more than what he is revealing. To reveal the medical official’s purpose in the building is to reveal the true nature of the outbreak/disease and it really needs to be seen to be believed. Writers Jaume Balaguero & Manu Diez have crafted a smart new chapter in this horror saga that is far from predictable. Balaguero and Paco
Plaza, as co-directors, also change the style of the film as the camera-POV goes from one SWAT team member to the next creating an even more suspenseful film especially when the story starts to unfold.
Like the first film, I got a hold of [REC] 2 as a Region 0 version from ebay (which means you should all go out there and find a copy) mainly because I believe American distributors are slow when it comes to foreign films. I’ve picked up the following films as Region 0 from ebay prior to any American release – RED CLIFF PART 1 & 2, THE HOST, 4BIA, DEATH BELL, DEAD SNO, [REC], MULAN, Jet Li’s WARLORDS, and numerous others. I normally wouldn’t recommend this as I’m a huge supporter of watching films theatrically but the sad fact is that fewer and fewer foreign horror films are going theatrical and the lag time between when I hear about these films and when they actually get an American release has been way too long for me to actually continue to wait. If I had waited to see the original [REC] until its American DVD release it would have been almost two years after its original International release and almost eight months after the release of the QUARANTINE remake.
[REC] 2 is set for a limited American theatrical release this July 9 before eventually getting a DVD release and I’ve been hearing about this film for almost a year now. I just couldn’t wait, especially considering I bought the film for only $14.99 on ebay which will be about the amount of a movie ticket. When the film is released theatrically, I’ll probably still go see it (if it plays near me) since this is one of the few horror films I’ve seen in the last year that is actually worth seeing theatrically. I just hope that amid all the other dredge of American sequels and remakes that this film does not get lost or buried.
Friday, February 5, 2010
PLAYING A ROLE IN INDEPENDENT FILM PRODUCTION: ON THE SET OF THE SHORT FILM NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY
PART 1: “STILL PHOTOGRAPHY”
The following series of articles document my experience on the Blank Stage Studios production of the short film NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY, which was written & directed by Brent Brooks. These series of articles will go into detail on the different aspects of production in which I participated. As such this first article I will touch upon still photography and how I contributed to the film.
A little background on the short film NO EXPERIENCE NECEASSARY. Brent Brooks (whose previous film was the art house feature ART OF SUICIDE) developed the screenplay through the screenwriting group The Blank Page and decided to make this his first post-ART OF SUICIDE production (and the third film from the writer’s group to go before the camera). The plot is fairly simple as it depicts a serial killer who uses the deception of a casting call for a movie to lure his next prey. Nothing new in terms of writing but Brooks wanted to production a high production value production in which to use as a potential calling card for future work. This could be such a production.
I came on board as production manager (which I will discuss in a future article) because much of my experience in film production stems in this area. Although I did not intend to do any still photography on the film (since Brooks had already hired a photographer to do just this thing), I have the habit of doing this on my own accord mainly for my own archival purposes. I’ve learned through the years that many indie productions still do not see the benefit of having good production stills taken on set. I do this not only for myself but for all the other cast & crew as well. I freely give the pictures away and post most of them online so that everyone has access to them. This allows everyone to have a record of the production.
On the set of NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY I took approximately 3,000 pictures over the course of 4 days. This is actually not as many as you might think considering that only about 500 of them are usable which includes both production stills of scenes in the film and behind the scenes pictures. The actually photographer on set didn’t take nearly as many as I did. There are several reasons for this the chief being that because I can put my camera on “silent mode” I can use it while we were filming whereas he could not. This allowed me to get numerous photos from all different angles. I was able to get the photos he could not.
This means that I got a lot of scene accurate photos which is good for the film in terms of representing actual scenes. I also paid a lot of attention in terms of getting a lot of behind the scenes pictures with cast and crew, not only in actual scene set up shots but also in group shots and in the obligatory “fun” shots.
The sheer amount of pictures that I took on the set of the film would not go unnoticed as when I started to post them online both cast & crew were finally able to see everything that happened in front of the camera as well as behind it.
Sometimes the importance of still photography is not recognized until it is too late to do anything about it. Indie films use still photography not only to craft and create movie posters but also to help with production stills for the film and marketing as well. A lot of the advertisement and marketing for an indie film can be seen online and nothing can sell a film to an audience better than a photo (unless of course you have a trailer already crafted).
Although I’ve got about 500 photos that represent the film, it was to Brooks’ idea to slowly reveal them to both the cast & crew and the public in order to help promote the film through production and into the film’s future which I now believe was only one of the most ingenious ideas he’s had to market and promote the film and in really that’s exactly what still photography is intended to do.
TO BE CONTINUED.
The following series of articles document my experience on the Blank Stage Studios production of the short film NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY, which was written & directed by Brent Brooks. These series of articles will go into detail on the different aspects of production in which I participated. As such this first article I will touch upon still photography and how I contributed to the film.
A little background on the short film NO EXPERIENCE NECEASSARY. Brent Brooks (whose previous film was the art house feature ART OF SUICIDE) developed the screenplay through the screenwriting group The Blank Page and decided to make this his first post-ART OF SUICIDE production (and the third film from the writer’s group to go before the camera). The plot is fairly simple as it depicts a serial killer who uses the deception of a casting call for a movie to lure his next prey. Nothing new in terms of writing but Brooks wanted to production a high production value production in which to use as a potential calling card for future work. This could be such a production.
I came on board as production manager (which I will discuss in a future article) because much of my experience in film production stems in this area. Although I did not intend to do any still photography on the film (since Brooks had already hired a photographer to do just this thing), I have the habit of doing this on my own accord mainly for my own archival purposes. I’ve learned through the years that many indie productions still do not see the benefit of having good production stills taken on set. I do this not only for myself but for all the other cast & crew as well. I freely give the pictures away and post most of them online so that everyone has access to them. This allows everyone to have a record of the production.
On the set of NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY I took approximately 3,000 pictures over the course of 4 days. This is actually not as many as you might think considering that only about 500 of them are usable which includes both production stills of scenes in the film and behind the scenes pictures. The actually photographer on set didn’t take nearly as many as I did. There are several reasons for this the chief being that because I can put my camera on “silent mode” I can use it while we were filming whereas he could not. This allowed me to get numerous photos from all different angles. I was able to get the photos he could not.
This means that I got a lot of scene accurate photos which is good for the film in terms of representing actual scenes. I also paid a lot of attention in terms of getting a lot of behind the scenes pictures with cast and crew, not only in actual scene set up shots but also in group shots and in the obligatory “fun” shots.
The sheer amount of pictures that I took on the set of the film would not go unnoticed as when I started to post them online both cast & crew were finally able to see everything that happened in front of the camera as well as behind it.
Sometimes the importance of still photography is not recognized until it is too late to do anything about it. Indie films use still photography not only to craft and create movie posters but also to help with production stills for the film and marketing as well. A lot of the advertisement and marketing for an indie film can be seen online and nothing can sell a film to an audience better than a photo (unless of course you have a trailer already crafted).
Although I’ve got about 500 photos that represent the film, it was to Brooks’ idea to slowly reveal them to both the cast & crew and the public in order to help promote the film through production and into the film’s future which I now believe was only one of the most ingenious ideas he’s had to market and promote the film and in really that’s exactly what still photography is intended to do.
TO BE CONTINUED.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
HALLOWEEN Phan-Film A Sucess!
Last Halloween's Premiere of the Southlan-Film's phan-film HALLOWEEN: RETURN OF THE SANDMAN was a tremendous success. It first had a premiere screening on October 20th at the Gwinnett Center where it was greeted with an enthusiastic audience before having it's World Premiere online at You Tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JF5GH1Q3F9s in which it was separated into 7 parts (or 73 minutes). The featurette has gotten great reviews from fans which is whom the film was made for.
Writer/producer/director Ron McLellen was at had at the Gwinnett screening (as was most of the cast & crew of the film) to support the film and to see it on the big screen with an audience. Although McLellen plans to do more phan-films in the future only time will tell if he does a sequel to this one.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
05/31/09 Rewriting the Script
Emailed the director approved version of HISTORY OF THE VAMPIRE to producer Ondie Daniel and director Ron McLellen yesterday (in addition to actor Chris Whitley, more on that later). Par my conversation with McLellen it was decided that the main character in the screenplay WILLIAM should not know he is a vampire, which upon closer examination I agreed with, so I incorporated those ideas into the current version of the screenplay.
HISTORY OF THE VAMPIRE is just one story of five in the Daniel produced vampire anthology (title currently unknown) of which I contributed one of the stories and wanted McLellen to direct if I was not going to do so myself. I could have easily done the film myself but I want to see how someone else interprets my work so I'm being very hands off on the production of the film.
Another fact is that I do not particularly like vampire films as the majority of the ones I've seen (which is a substantial amount) are dull and uninteresting. I just think the monster itself is dull and uninteresting. But I came up with a story that put my love of horror films and the vampire mythos on its head (or at least I hope it does). I hope the story is both informative and funny at the same time even in the gore-soaked bloody parts at the end (which I had a oy in writing).
I hope the film comes off just 70% as originally intended because then I know I'm closer to writing the type of screenplay that any director can come in and adequately interpret which is my true goal with this endeavor.
We'll see how the re-writes are taken when Daniel and McLellen give me feedback.
HISTORY OF THE VAMPIRE is just one story of five in the Daniel produced vampire anthology (title currently unknown) of which I contributed one of the stories and wanted McLellen to direct if I was not going to do so myself. I could have easily done the film myself but I want to see how someone else interprets my work so I'm being very hands off on the production of the film.
Another fact is that I do not particularly like vampire films as the majority of the ones I've seen (which is a substantial amount) are dull and uninteresting. I just think the monster itself is dull and uninteresting. But I came up with a story that put my love of horror films and the vampire mythos on its head (or at least I hope it does). I hope the story is both informative and funny at the same time even in the gore-soaked bloody parts at the end (which I had a oy in writing).
I hope the film comes off just 70% as originally intended because then I know I'm closer to writing the type of screenplay that any director can come in and adequately interpret which is my true goal with this endeavor.
We'll see how the re-writes are taken when Daniel and McLellen give me feedback.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
05/06/09 - Reading the Script
Just finished reading writer/director Ron McLellen's short film script HALLOWEEN: NIGHT OF THE BOOGEYMAN which is meant to be a fan-film that he plans on filming this year. It is a short film that is part remake and part re-imagination of the original John Carpenter film.
Being a short film and a remake of the original film (and not the Rob Zombie remake) McLellen's script borrows a lot from the original film with only a few minor changes mostly in terms of names of characters but the plot is 100% Carpenter HALLOWEEN, which is not a good thing.
In this day and age there are virtually hundreds of HALLOWEEN fan-films out there and doing a remake of theoriginal is probably not the best way to go. Of the few HALLOWEEN fan-films I've seen most of them have either done sequels to various films in the franchise or created stand alone one-offs but none that I have seen have tried to remake the original (which point of fact is too straight forward and kind of bland which is why Zombie changed so much for his version). McLellen has done some very interesting short films in his past, most notable NIGHT OF THE HUNGRY DEAD (which gets mention in this fan-film), THE INN, FROM ABOVE, and DER SOLDAT, but this film is lacking in originality and...well, a sense of fun.
Most of the fan-films I've seen relish the opportunity to have fun with their favorite character being able to put them in situations that "Hollywood" never would but this sense of fun is completely void in McLellen's script and in fact comes off as dare I say - bland and emotionless. Now this may be exactly what he is going for as it is a remake of the Carpenter film and if that is the case then he has succeeded but that doesn't always make for a good fan-film.
Regardless, I've always trusted McLellen with his productions and for the most part they are sound, so, I'm not too worried when we actually start to film. I'm actually looking forward to the filming as this will be my first fan-film and McLellen is working on getting the Myers mask from HALLOWEEN: H20 as opposed to any of the other versions of the mask. I know that he'll change it around and augment it to fit his own perceptions of how Myers should look. I also happen to be in the running for a small role in the film which should be fun since I've had no roles in quite a long time (by choice since I'm too busy) and I thought that this film would be a good film to re-enter the field.
I'll have more as we get closer to filming the movie.
Being a short film and a remake of the original film (and not the Rob Zombie remake) McLellen's script borrows a lot from the original film with only a few minor changes mostly in terms of names of characters but the plot is 100% Carpenter HALLOWEEN, which is not a good thing.
In this day and age there are virtually hundreds of HALLOWEEN fan-films out there and doing a remake of theoriginal is probably not the best way to go. Of the few HALLOWEEN fan-films I've seen most of them have either done sequels to various films in the franchise or created stand alone one-offs but none that I have seen have tried to remake the original (which point of fact is too straight forward and kind of bland which is why Zombie changed so much for his version). McLellen has done some very interesting short films in his past, most notable NIGHT OF THE HUNGRY DEAD (which gets mention in this fan-film), THE INN, FROM ABOVE, and DER SOLDAT, but this film is lacking in originality and...well, a sense of fun.
Most of the fan-films I've seen relish the opportunity to have fun with their favorite character being able to put them in situations that "Hollywood" never would but this sense of fun is completely void in McLellen's script and in fact comes off as dare I say - bland and emotionless. Now this may be exactly what he is going for as it is a remake of the Carpenter film and if that is the case then he has succeeded but that doesn't always make for a good fan-film.
Regardless, I've always trusted McLellen with his productions and for the most part they are sound, so, I'm not too worried when we actually start to film. I'm actually looking forward to the filming as this will be my first fan-film and McLellen is working on getting the Myers mask from HALLOWEEN: H20 as opposed to any of the other versions of the mask. I know that he'll change it around and augment it to fit his own perceptions of how Myers should look. I also happen to be in the running for a small role in the film which should be fun since I've had no roles in quite a long time (by choice since I'm too busy) and I thought that this film would be a good film to re-enter the field.
I'll have more as we get closer to filming the movie.
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