UPDATE: BUSY BUSY BUSY

This entry was posted on 5/8/2007 11:41 AM and is filed under Post Production.

No sooner after we had our Wrap Party at ARTFARE THE MUSE, where we staged the production of our feature film for the past seven months, I had to put our Visual Effects on hold for a few weeks to strategize our marketing plans for CineMatrix software for the year with Steven Adelson as well as getting the opportunity to bring some of the techniques we developed for our feature to Film School projects for UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA Media Arts students and PIMA COMMUNITY COLLEGE Media Program students.

I also got the opportunity to video tape the Champion TUCSON SIDEWINDERS opening game and post-game interview with Randy Johnson for Jay Zucker, Owner of the Tucson Sidewinders Baseball Organization. Every time I talk to Mr. Zucker, I learn how to be an even better businessman.

 

I also got the opportunity to video tape the production of "The Last Days Of Judas Iscariot" at ARTFARE THE MUSE for Paul Clinco. I'm not a big fan of live theater because I usually fall asleep but that show was the most engaging and enjoyable stage play I've ever seen. It was a blast but I haven't even had a chance to reorganize the gear in my garage yet because it's been so busy, busy, busy.

My producer Gabriele Andres called me and told me that Jeremy Hamley from PCC had been patiently waiting for us to complete principal photography on THE LAST MAN before asking her to produce a short film-noir for him that he wanted me to film on Eastman black and white negative. It's been a few years since I shot anything on film but my minor in film school was photo-science, which I thought was an obsolete craft in these digital days, so we jumped in with both feet after getting to know how dedicated Jeremy was to shooting film. We didn't have time to send our exposure tests to the lab in Los Angeles so I push-processed the motion picture film out in the field by hand with a wristwatch, using a pair of coffee cans filled with DK-50 and Fixer chemicals. How's that for old school D.P. work?

Jeremy brought "Scream Queen" Actress Tiffany Shepis in from Los Angeles and Actor Lucero Less in from Chicago to star in his short film-noir called, "Kiss Your Ass Good-Bye". Jeremy also cast local talent for a supporting cast that absolutely shined. Brian Mulligan played the Crime Boss with hair-raising malevolence that just may steal the show. John Lushbaugh played the Playboy, he reminds me of a young Steve McQueen. Melissa Mitchell played the Wife of the Crime Boss like a femme fatale right out of the Warners lot. This high caliber of talent really added a great deal to the final product, in addition to shooting on film instead of video, with some visually interesting locations that all came together, complimenting each element on screen in a gorgeous film-noir, black and white film.

It was a great experience. Sure, there's a lot of things that can go wrong shooting film and it has quite a few subtlties that are a little bit more time consuming than just popping in a tape, white-balancing and hitting "record". Jeremy made the transition from student filmmaker to self-disciplined professional with nerves of steel. No matter how high the pressure got, he never deviated from his shotlist. His film instructor said it couldn't be done, that it was too ambitious but that didn't stop him. He bowed out of the program and rolled the dice to make his film. Three and a half days of photography later, the film was "in the can" and off to the lab. When we got the telecine back, I could see that Jeremy had a hell of a lot of footage that can be edited into something remarkable.

Below are some behind-the-scenes photos of KISS YOUR ASS GOOD-BYE:

 

No sooner did we wrap Jeremy's film did Justin Mashouf, my Assistant Director on THE LAST MAN, call up my Producer Gabriele Andres with a need for actors, musicians, locations and equipment for his production of THE RUNNERS, a short film screening on campus 9 May 2007, which he co-Directed with JorDan Fuller at the University of Arizona. I worked a day on that film as the Audio Mixer and was really impressed by how organized the production was put together. I think it's going to be a great film everyone who worked on can be really proud of.

Then, no sooner did we wrap Justin Mashouf's film did Justin Stern and Chelsea Coles from the University of Arizona call up with a need for actors, weapons and equipment for his short film called, THE FALL OF SANTIAGO starring Fausto Olmos, Robert Linden, Paul Adkins and Tyler Steffenson, all from THE LAST MAN. Below are some behind-the-scenes photos from Justin Stern and Chelsea Coles film, THE FALL OF SANTIAGO:

 

It's great to see talented, young filmmakers coming out of Tucson and it's film schools with the technical skills, leadership skills, and the potential to produce commercial quality movies for the motion picture industry. Although I had to work the night of the screening, people from the U of A told me that Justin Stern and Chelsea Coles short film THE FALL OF SANTIAGO played to an appreciative audience who were jumping out of their seats from the on-screen action. And we like to keep them jumping in their seats, just like our visual effects did at last June's screening of THE DECOY at the Fox Theater, which just made it into commercial distribution. Congratulations!

This past weekend, I created a filmmaking seminar called the "Movie Gun Safety Course" to train Performers and Filmmakers how to safely employ blank firing weapons in their motion picture productions, seeing how many performers and filmmakers were using guns in so many productions lately. It's a great service to the film community that the Hansen Film Institute is funding for U of A students because it helps make the workplace a lot safer for everyone making films in Tucson.

In the immediate future, we'll be answering the call for Robert Linden's short film DEUCE BOUNTY that may be going into production by summertime. Everyone knows him as the Black Bruce Lee, so you know his action scenes are going to be kinetic and wild. I'm pretty sure Gerren Ard is going to be involved in this one too, so stand-by for some really amazing action.

In the meantime, it's back to work time on the Visual Effects for Mary Shelley's THE LAST MAN.

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