How about that crazy internet, huh?
Barely 24 hours old and already someone is ripping off my movie on the internet... Oh yeah, it's me!
UNTIL THE ANGELS is complete, barely. This version (RealPlayer req'd) is the exact edit that was submitted to the NYC Midnight Movie Making Madness contest. They should have their tape in a few days. You can watch it right now, no charge, no ticket required. There is a strict 10 minute time limit which we just fit into, however that was only by skipping things like credits - I'd like to thank the folks who helped make this happen, look for a special edit to list them all, until then feel free to tell everyone that YOU made the film yourself, I don't mind. Scratch that I do mind.
I want to see 'The Angels'.
Quick warning: This film contains some language (the F word) that might not be good to play really loud in your office cube.
Feedback would be greatly appreciated. Yikes! I can't believe what I just saw!
the blog knows all - http://tinyurl.com/6yf6s
Thanks & ENJOY.
Toby
Sunday, August 15, 2004
Friday, August 13, 2004
THE HORROR....
Until The Angels - Horror never more horrific™
It probably comes as no surprise that the story behind the story is the best story. True or not it's a good cliché and I'm running with it. If you'd like to know how to make a 'scary' movie from scratch in just 2 weeks, then read on...
First of all, why would you want to make a 'scary' movie from scratch in just 2 weeks? Sorry, it's an old Dov Simens trick. Hook the mark (that's you, gentle reader) with an impossible, or at the very least unwise premise and keep running til they stop following you. Using this simple principal (and by drinking the blood of would be filmmakers) Dov has eluded the authorities for over 200 years.
BUT I DIGRESS...
I entered a contest. The bottom line is that I thought I could 'catch-up' with my personal goal ghost by banging out a quickie movie. Also I am unable to perform without deadlines (and often I am unable to perform even with deadlines) so like any other idiot that I would usually criticize, I attempted to 'trick' myself into actually doing something. Fool!
1. The Rules.
NYC Midnight Movie Making Madness is a contest (and a mouthful) where the participants are given a genre (comedy, drama, sci-fi, musical) and a log line (that TV Guide style one sentence description of the story, ie - "B.A. loses his memory and thinks he's still back in Vietnam"). Then the participants (teams really, no one does it all by themselves) have 2 weeks to write, shoot edit and mail their submission back to New York City for consideration. It was almost 2 weeks ago that I got my notification, and the cursed log line.
HORROR - SOMEONE IS BEING WATCHED
Horror is right! I don't know horror, I don't do horror (although laundry day is pretty bad). So by assigning me this wretched genre, the organizers of the soiree did something they didn't expect. They challenged me.
I figured out that I could spend just under a week coming up with something cool, and yet do-able. I didn't want to cop out and go for gore, or schlock. I've never tried to scare anyone, and I decided I wanted to.
2. The Plan.
If you know me, then you know that I do not plan well. This was no exception. Apart from figuring out that I could use my friend's ample garage as a set/dungeon and relying on the kindness of friends for crew and actors (and the basis for the idea in the first place), I didn't have any of my sh1t together. Bear in mind, this is standard operating procedure for me, so I was not nervous. Fool!
3. The Catch(es).
Things went wrong. How could they not? I'm not naming names, I don't want to point fingers, suffice it to say that I was let down by a couple of people. I accept responsibility for that, I was relying on others to do things for me, and after all, it was ME who entered the stupid contest, my desperate need to 'catch-up' so as much as I would like to rant, I can't. After all, things went right too.
4. Things Go Right.
Brushing over the details, I had a cast and crew of exactly... one. Stand up Tony, I'm talking about you. originally I wanted Tony to only be concerned with his acting. The story rests entirely on his shoulders and I needed a lot from him. As my crack production team dwindled to zero, Tony stepped up to the plate. In case I forget to thank him again, thanks again Tony. The day we were supposed to shoot (Sunday) found us completely un-prepared, so we spent that day setting up the dungeon and working on making our limited resources work. Tony would know better than I the details, but we were under-equipped in the grip and electric department. We overcame adversity (kinda) and postponed the shoot until Monday. That night I did the work I was going to do on Monday, so technically I was ahead of the game.
I WANTED TO QUIT.
I had been pretty smart. Only a few people even knew I was supposed to be doing this anyway, I could call it off and who would know? I would be out $100 entry fee, but I would be able to sleep-in for a few days instead of sweat like a dog in a dungeon of my own construction. I even had an excuse when certain key members of my team dropped out, who could really blame me?
I DID NOT QUIT.
I'd like to think I was noble, but (as Guy quickly pointed out) quitting would require me to take and own a decision. Just slogging away like a condemned man is sometimes easier than quitting. Thank you Guy for stripping me of that conceit (and excuse) you bastard :)
It was like a sweat lodge in that garage. We banged out "Mean Tony"'s bits in little more than 2 hours. Basically the movie is overlapping dialogue from different personalities of a serial killer, and yes I know I didn't invent that!
We stopped for Tony to change, I was a bit nervous because "Friendly Tony" is supposed to appear calm and composed (and not too sweaty). However I didn't have the luxury of air-conditioning or time, so I was willing to accept that all Tony's personalities would have sweaty armpits. However, Tony was not. He explained that he was really drained from the heat, worse for him because he was in front of the lights, and really close. He told me that he didn't want to jump right back in there and try to pick it up.
WHY I HATE THE WHO (kinda).
Tony had tickets to see The Who play at the Hollywood Bowl that night. With their recent track record, it might be his last chance to see any of them alive again, so I knew better than to ask him to consider skipping the pinball wizards until another time. The new plan was this:
Go see The Who (have a nice time)
Come back afterwards (I know it'll be late)
SHOOT ALL NIGHT
This gave me a large break in the middle of the day, a large break that turned into almost 12 hours of downtime. Anyone who has ever been on a set, or a shoot will tell you that the loss of momentum (usually after lunch) is the killer. 12 hours equals big loss of momentum.
I tried to take a nap, or at least get some rest (no luck there). Guy called with the latest soap-opera goings on with "The Project", so my stomach was a little upset. Then Tony H called with some feedback on the revised Time-Warner scripts. The feedback proved to be not particularly helpful, but certainly upped the pH on the stomach acid jacuzzi in my belly. I ended up spending a lot of the afternoon and evening sitting in Kate & Andy's garage, which was by now a real dungeon.
GO HOME, STAY, GO HOME, STAY...
It took Tony a lot longer to get done at the concert than I had hoped. I had shot Kate's dialogue, and the abduction sequence (Tony was not required for those bits). I had started thinking about how the film might cut together with just one personality (short answer: it wouldn't) and as time dragged on, I began to think that there might not be a movie after all. In fact Tony's return was a mixture of relief tinged with disappointment, another excuse quashed.
We shot all night. It wasn't fun, it was work. We were tired, Tony was rough about the lines. I hadn't blocked everything fully and now I was running scared. It wasn't fair that I wanted Tony to do the lines as they were written while I was improvising all the direction. Life is not fair and Tony didn't complain at all. By 'at all' I mean not very much.
I got home around dawn, and in one of life's little ironic kicks to the crotch. I couldn't sleep.
5. The Battle After The Battle.
Since we had such a small crew (none) we certainly did not have the luxury of a slate (or clapperboard) and there was nobody doing the thankless task of the script-supervisor. The script-supervisor basically makes sure that the actors did the lines correctly and marks down which take the director likes best. They do some other things too, but that's the big stuff. I had shot almost 2 hours of footage for an 8 page script, and my movie can't be more than 10 minutes. There is a lot of chaff to separate from the wheat. That was what I did Tuesday, I captured the footage but had to look for what (and where) the good stuff was. It took all day to log and capture the footage. On Wednesday I began dropping the clips together and seeing what happens. It's Friday now and I'm still cutting things up. We have to shrink it from 12 minutes to under 10 and the audio (never my strong suit) had barely been touched. We have less than 24 hours, but barring anything horrendous (pun intended)...
IS IT A HORROR MOVIE? - Let me get back to you on that!
You tell me...
It probably comes as no surprise that the story behind the story is the best story. True or not it's a good cliché and I'm running with it. If you'd like to know how to make a 'scary' movie from scratch in just 2 weeks, then read on...
First of all, why would you want to make a 'scary' movie from scratch in just 2 weeks? Sorry, it's an old Dov Simens trick. Hook the mark (that's you, gentle reader) with an impossible, or at the very least unwise premise and keep running til they stop following you. Using this simple principal (and by drinking the blood of would be filmmakers) Dov has eluded the authorities for over 200 years.
BUT I DIGRESS...
I entered a contest. The bottom line is that I thought I could 'catch-up' with my personal goal ghost by banging out a quickie movie. Also I am unable to perform without deadlines (and often I am unable to perform even with deadlines) so like any other idiot that I would usually criticize, I attempted to 'trick' myself into actually doing something. Fool!
1. The Rules.
NYC Midnight Movie Making Madness is a contest (and a mouthful) where the participants are given a genre (comedy, drama, sci-fi, musical) and a log line (that TV Guide style one sentence description of the story, ie - "B.A. loses his memory and thinks he's still back in Vietnam"). Then the participants (teams really, no one does it all by themselves) have 2 weeks to write, shoot edit and mail their submission back to New York City for consideration. It was almost 2 weeks ago that I got my notification, and the cursed log line.
HORROR - SOMEONE IS BEING WATCHED
Horror is right! I don't know horror, I don't do horror (although laundry day is pretty bad). So by assigning me this wretched genre, the organizers of the soiree did something they didn't expect. They challenged me.
I figured out that I could spend just under a week coming up with something cool, and yet do-able. I didn't want to cop out and go for gore, or schlock. I've never tried to scare anyone, and I decided I wanted to.
2. The Plan.
If you know me, then you know that I do not plan well. This was no exception. Apart from figuring out that I could use my friend's ample garage as a set/dungeon and relying on the kindness of friends for crew and actors (and the basis for the idea in the first place), I didn't have any of my sh1t together. Bear in mind, this is standard operating procedure for me, so I was not nervous. Fool!
3. The Catch(es).
Things went wrong. How could they not? I'm not naming names, I don't want to point fingers, suffice it to say that I was let down by a couple of people. I accept responsibility for that, I was relying on others to do things for me, and after all, it was ME who entered the stupid contest, my desperate need to 'catch-up' so as much as I would like to rant, I can't. After all, things went right too.
4. Things Go Right.
Brushing over the details, I had a cast and crew of exactly... one. Stand up Tony, I'm talking about you. originally I wanted Tony to only be concerned with his acting. The story rests entirely on his shoulders and I needed a lot from him. As my crack production team dwindled to zero, Tony stepped up to the plate. In case I forget to thank him again, thanks again Tony. The day we were supposed to shoot (Sunday) found us completely un-prepared, so we spent that day setting up the dungeon and working on making our limited resources work. Tony would know better than I the details, but we were under-equipped in the grip and electric department. We overcame adversity (kinda) and postponed the shoot until Monday. That night I did the work I was going to do on Monday, so technically I was ahead of the game.
I WANTED TO QUIT.
I had been pretty smart. Only a few people even knew I was supposed to be doing this anyway, I could call it off and who would know? I would be out $100 entry fee, but I would be able to sleep-in for a few days instead of sweat like a dog in a dungeon of my own construction. I even had an excuse when certain key members of my team dropped out, who could really blame me?
I DID NOT QUIT.
I'd like to think I was noble, but (as Guy quickly pointed out) quitting would require me to take and own a decision. Just slogging away like a condemned man is sometimes easier than quitting. Thank you Guy for stripping me of that conceit (and excuse) you bastard :)
It was like a sweat lodge in that garage. We banged out "Mean Tony"'s bits in little more than 2 hours. Basically the movie is overlapping dialogue from different personalities of a serial killer, and yes I know I didn't invent that!
We stopped for Tony to change, I was a bit nervous because "Friendly Tony" is supposed to appear calm and composed (and not too sweaty). However I didn't have the luxury of air-conditioning or time, so I was willing to accept that all Tony's personalities would have sweaty armpits. However, Tony was not. He explained that he was really drained from the heat, worse for him because he was in front of the lights, and really close. He told me that he didn't want to jump right back in there and try to pick it up.
WHY I HATE THE WHO (kinda).
Tony had tickets to see The Who play at the Hollywood Bowl that night. With their recent track record, it might be his last chance to see any of them alive again, so I knew better than to ask him to consider skipping the pinball wizards until another time. The new plan was this:
Go see The Who (have a nice time)
Come back afterwards (I know it'll be late)
SHOOT ALL NIGHT
This gave me a large break in the middle of the day, a large break that turned into almost 12 hours of downtime. Anyone who has ever been on a set, or a shoot will tell you that the loss of momentum (usually after lunch) is the killer. 12 hours equals big loss of momentum.
I tried to take a nap, or at least get some rest (no luck there). Guy called with the latest soap-opera goings on with "The Project", so my stomach was a little upset. Then Tony H called with some feedback on the revised Time-Warner scripts. The feedback proved to be not particularly helpful, but certainly upped the pH on the stomach acid jacuzzi in my belly. I ended up spending a lot of the afternoon and evening sitting in Kate & Andy's garage, which was by now a real dungeon.
GO HOME, STAY, GO HOME, STAY...
It took Tony a lot longer to get done at the concert than I had hoped. I had shot Kate's dialogue, and the abduction sequence (Tony was not required for those bits). I had started thinking about how the film might cut together with just one personality (short answer: it wouldn't) and as time dragged on, I began to think that there might not be a movie after all. In fact Tony's return was a mixture of relief tinged with disappointment, another excuse quashed.
We shot all night. It wasn't fun, it was work. We were tired, Tony was rough about the lines. I hadn't blocked everything fully and now I was running scared. It wasn't fair that I wanted Tony to do the lines as they were written while I was improvising all the direction. Life is not fair and Tony didn't complain at all. By 'at all' I mean not very much.
I got home around dawn, and in one of life's little ironic kicks to the crotch. I couldn't sleep.
5. The Battle After The Battle.
Since we had such a small crew (none) we certainly did not have the luxury of a slate (or clapperboard) and there was nobody doing the thankless task of the script-supervisor. The script-supervisor basically makes sure that the actors did the lines correctly and marks down which take the director likes best. They do some other things too, but that's the big stuff. I had shot almost 2 hours of footage for an 8 page script, and my movie can't be more than 10 minutes. There is a lot of chaff to separate from the wheat. That was what I did Tuesday, I captured the footage but had to look for what (and where) the good stuff was. It took all day to log and capture the footage. On Wednesday I began dropping the clips together and seeing what happens. It's Friday now and I'm still cutting things up. We have to shrink it from 12 minutes to under 10 and the audio (never my strong suit) had barely been touched. We have less than 24 hours, but barring anything horrendous (pun intended)...
IS IT A HORROR MOVIE? - Let me get back to you on that!
You tell me...
Thursday, August 12, 2004
Wednesday, August 11, 2004
Monday, August 09, 2004
Sunday, August 08, 2004
Saturday, August 07, 2004
Friday, August 06, 2004
Tuesday, August 03, 2004
Happy Anniversary: Adam & Lisa
| Has it been two years already? Amazing how quickly time flies. The Smart Patrol is overjoyed to congratulate the happy couple on this most auspcious occasion. Incidentally, Adam received a new iPod for his anniversary, so we wish him much happiness. However, since I actually performed the stinking ceremony and everything, you'd think I would've scored an iPod or something too. ThePrisoner |  Ceramic Phone Call Tossed up by numbersix. |
Sunday, August 01, 2004
Shawn & Marisa - Congratulations!!
Photos to follow, but for now. Here is the transcipt.
After the ceremony, if you can wait that long, I invite you to mingle around the reception and meet your new friends because a wedding is a new beginning, a new start, for eveyone in attendance.unfortunately, not everyone who we would like to see here today couls be here. Shawn and Marisa would like to mention Grandpa Vlasak, and Grandma Tomlinson who are at home in Wisconsin and couldn't make the trip. They would also like to mention Nana and Paka Tomaselli, and Grandpa Tomlinson who are no longer with us, but I'm sure that they are all here in spirit, if not in person.
This is of course all the more reason why those of you here today, Those of US who are here today, should feel very lucky, very special to be here. After all WE are the people that shawn and marisa have chosen to witness this special event, this very special day in their lives. Our invitations are the gifts that THEY give US. An invitation to share with them the beginning of a journey. We thank them for this gift and it is customary to respond with gifts ourselves. Now if you brought a gift for them today, thats great, I'm sure that they will appreciate it and send along a thank you card very soon. However, I'd like to suggest another gift, and extra gift that many of you can give this couple.
The dictionary has several definitions for the word 'marriage' and while they were all... pretty good "Marriage is properly the act which unites the two parties, and matrimony the state into which they enter. Marriage is, however, often used for the state as well as the act. Wedlock is the old Anglo-Saxon term for matrimony." which as we can all agree is... confusing. it is easy to see why marriage is a scary undertaking, there is a lack of really useful reference information. Except of course, right here today. here we have a library of information, each couple here today has forged their own definition of marriage, what it means and what is doesn't mean, and for every married couple here today, I'll bet the definitions are different and unique. The extra gift that I would ask from you all here today is that you share your definition with the bride and groom. and because this is a special day for them... they have to listen to you, hopefully after today they will be smart enough to listen to you, but for today at least, they have to.Think of this an oppotunity to share all the "if I knew then what I know nows..." with shawn and marisa, I know that they will appreciate it down the road. and one day they will share their definition of marriage with others, keeping the tradition alive.There are many traditions in the ceremony of a wedding, at this time i'd like to ask the best man and the maid of honor to present the rings to the bride and groom.
(bride and groom take rings and put them on)
The ring has been used in wedding ceremonies as far back as ancient egypt. back then it was often a ring made of bone, leather or even papyrus that grew by the shores of the nile. the ring was symbolic to the ancient egyptians, as it is today, a symbol of eternity, without a beginning or an end, and worn on the third finger of the left hand because it was believed that the finger contained a vein that ran straight to the heart. It is not difficult therefore, to see how the ring and the gift of a ring began to be associated with love, in the hope that this most worthy of emotions could take on the characteristics of the circle and capture eternity.along with the exchanging of rings it is traditional to exchange vows. and that is where we are now. The vows are a public declaration of devotion and the contract that these two people have agreed to undertake.
(to Marisa)
do you Marisa take Shawn to be your lawfully wedded husband, to stand at his side as his partner through life, giving him your support,strength, guidance, and love. accepting support, strength, guidance and love from him, even when you know you're right and he's wrong?
(i do)
(to Shawn)
do you Shawn take Marisa to be your lawfully wedded wife, to stand at her side as her partner through life, giving her your support,strength, guidance, and love. accepting support, strength, guidance and love from her, even when you know you're right and she's wrong?(i do)
well, okay - you guys promised, everyone heard you.ladies and gentlemen, it is my extreme pleasure to be the first person to introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Shawn and Marisa Tomlinson...Shawn, you may NOW kiss the bride.
(lead applause if necessary)
ladies and gentlemen, please join the bride and groom inside for cocktails and hors d'oevres.
After the ceremony, if you can wait that long, I invite you to mingle around the reception and meet your new friends because a wedding is a new beginning, a new start, for eveyone in attendance.unfortunately, not everyone who we would like to see here today couls be here. Shawn and Marisa would like to mention Grandpa Vlasak, and Grandma Tomlinson who are at home in Wisconsin and couldn't make the trip. They would also like to mention Nana and Paka Tomaselli, and Grandpa Tomlinson who are no longer with us, but I'm sure that they are all here in spirit, if not in person.
This is of course all the more reason why those of you here today, Those of US who are here today, should feel very lucky, very special to be here. After all WE are the people that shawn and marisa have chosen to witness this special event, this very special day in their lives. Our invitations are the gifts that THEY give US. An invitation to share with them the beginning of a journey. We thank them for this gift and it is customary to respond with gifts ourselves. Now if you brought a gift for them today, thats great, I'm sure that they will appreciate it and send along a thank you card very soon. However, I'd like to suggest another gift, and extra gift that many of you can give this couple.
The dictionary has several definitions for the word 'marriage' and while they were all... pretty good "Marriage is properly the act which unites the two parties, and matrimony the state into which they enter. Marriage is, however, often used for the state as well as the act. Wedlock is the old Anglo-Saxon term for matrimony." which as we can all agree is... confusing. it is easy to see why marriage is a scary undertaking, there is a lack of really useful reference information. Except of course, right here today. here we have a library of information, each couple here today has forged their own definition of marriage, what it means and what is doesn't mean, and for every married couple here today, I'll bet the definitions are different and unique. The extra gift that I would ask from you all here today is that you share your definition with the bride and groom. and because this is a special day for them... they have to listen to you, hopefully after today they will be smart enough to listen to you, but for today at least, they have to.Think of this an oppotunity to share all the "if I knew then what I know nows..." with shawn and marisa, I know that they will appreciate it down the road. and one day they will share their definition of marriage with others, keeping the tradition alive.There are many traditions in the ceremony of a wedding, at this time i'd like to ask the best man and the maid of honor to present the rings to the bride and groom.
(bride and groom take rings and put them on)
The ring has been used in wedding ceremonies as far back as ancient egypt. back then it was often a ring made of bone, leather or even papyrus that grew by the shores of the nile. the ring was symbolic to the ancient egyptians, as it is today, a symbol of eternity, without a beginning or an end, and worn on the third finger of the left hand because it was believed that the finger contained a vein that ran straight to the heart. It is not difficult therefore, to see how the ring and the gift of a ring began to be associated with love, in the hope that this most worthy of emotions could take on the characteristics of the circle and capture eternity.along with the exchanging of rings it is traditional to exchange vows. and that is where we are now. The vows are a public declaration of devotion and the contract that these two people have agreed to undertake.
(to Marisa)
do you Marisa take Shawn to be your lawfully wedded husband, to stand at his side as his partner through life, giving him your support,strength, guidance, and love. accepting support, strength, guidance and love from him, even when you know you're right and he's wrong?
(i do)
(to Shawn)
do you Shawn take Marisa to be your lawfully wedded wife, to stand at her side as her partner through life, giving her your support,strength, guidance, and love. accepting support, strength, guidance and love from her, even when you know you're right and she's wrong?(i do)
well, okay - you guys promised, everyone heard you.ladies and gentlemen, it is my extreme pleasure to be the first person to introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Shawn and Marisa Tomlinson...Shawn, you may NOW kiss the bride.
(lead applause if necessary)
ladies and gentlemen, please join the bride and groom inside for cocktails and hors d'oevres.
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