FLOWER a flyin' monkey films production

[DarkElastic]

and he smells of gooberberries!!!

[Rodney V. Smith]

Flower is a movie about monsters. The blossoming and growth of one monster under the tutelage of another. Kinda of like a Monster's apprentice. When the mob shows up of course it all goes horribly wrong.

Tentacles might be involved.

[jessicalsin]

Flower is a movie about monsters. The blossoming and growth of one monster under the tutelage of another. Kinda of like a Monster's apprentice. When the mob shows up of course it all goes horribly wrong.

Tentacles might be involved.

MORE LIES!!!!
I thought this was a demon space adventure?....I'm confused....:huh:

[AmyO]

Take a break for a few days and look how much I miss. Glad to see you're getting right back to it. Looking forward to this, Rodney!

[Troy Ruff]

sounds good! I cant wait to see how it all turns out. :)

[Rodney V. Smith]

sounds good! I cant wait to see how it all turns out. :)

These guys won't let me rest. they just keep pushing and pushing...

Okay one rough draft complete, time for a rewrite.

[Tom Marshall]

MORE LIES!!!!
I thought this was a demon space adventure?....I'm confused....:huh:

I vote for demon space adventure... :thumbsup:

[Rodney V. Smith]

No voting. And the being referred to as "Jessica" will be punished. Severely. For her insolence. And because we feel like it.

[DarkElastic]

Yes, she deserves it. She has shown you so little repect so far and you don't want that to project onto set... Give her one under the ribs!!!

[Rodney V. Smith]

Yes, she deserves it. She has shown you so little repect so far and you don't want that to project onto set... Give her one under the ribs!!!

Such a fervent outcry for punishment! Indeed if I WERE doing a Demon Space adventure (which I'm not) then I would have a character give her one "under the ribs" as punishment... but since i'm NOT doing a demon space adventure (most assuredly not, I assure you) then I'll have to find some other means to discipline this mere mortal.

Suggestions are now open....

[DarkElastic]

Slap her around the chops with a wet salmon or trout!!!

[Tom Marshall]

More jello is a suitable punishment...

[~jai~]

Naked flogging with wet whole wheat noodles! (because it's healthier) :happy:!

[Rodney V. Smith]

First draft off to Andrew today. We can start shaping the 6 minute version a lot more clearly now. Working on monster drawings tomorrow for makeup to have references.

[Rodney V. Smith]

More jello... hmmm... I have now written the "Jello Monster" into the script. I was going to do a sculpture of said monster tonight, but I ate him instead.

What a sad little thing. Would have been a good vignette for Zaza.. GREEN JELLO monster rages from his bowl, teeth gnashing wildly like razor blades... and then a spoon appears and decimates him... Jello monster no more...

Maybe it's time I laid off the moonshine...

[jessicalsin]

Guys! What the Hell?! I go away for 24 hours and I'm beaing beaten to apulp by fish, jello and various pasta?...yeesh...seriously guys...get a grip! And no you dorks I don't mean the kind that does the behind the camera shenanigans kind of grip...don't be smarty pantses...and yes 'pantses' is my word....along with goober and various others in my repertoire.

:P

[Rodney V. Smith]

God you're cranky today. It was only ONE fish. Geez!

[DarkElastic]

I might come to the set and throw dried rice crispies at her from behind something and watch her decimate the set in rage!!!

[Rodney V. Smith]

I might come to the set and throw dried rice crispies at her from behind something and watch her decimate the set in rage!!!

Please: Jessica has her rage fully under control. Just don't poke her with a sharp stick or she turns green and bad things happen...

I must admit: saves on VFX for monsters... (that's the clue to how I can shoot this cheap)

I like Rice Crispies though

[Tom Marshall]

Guys! What the Hell?! I go away for 24 hours and I'm beaing beaten to apulp by fish, jello and various pasta?...yeesh...seriously guys...get a grip! And no you dorks I don't mean the kind that does the behind the camera shenanigans kind of grip...don't be smarty pantses...and yes 'pantses' is my word....along with goober and various others in my repertoire.

:P

What, suddenly you don't like jello?? :huh:

[Rodney V. Smith]

Synopsis updated. The cat is out of the bag...

[ZazaCast]

Cool. Sounds like a ghoul story.

...now, if you're going to change your username, you should at least change you avatar too. Everytime I look at it, I think PUCK!

[ZazaCast]

V-8 badass! Love the new photo.

[Rodney V. Smith]

I'm gonna miss the old avatar... gonna have to get me a CEEGAR!

[Richard J. Johnson]

Cool pic. Can't wait to see what you cook up next. I have a 30 day 6 day a week feature that starts August 13th I am hoping I can get my zombie flick rolling as soon as I get finished with that.

congrats on making the 2nd round last fest. Get in that top 3 for this one. I'm wit' cha.

[jessicalsin]

I give up. You guys and your crazies win.

And yes...i still like jell-o.

:D

[Rodney V. Smith]

Cool pic. Can't wait to see what you cook up next. I have a 30 day 6 day a week feature that starts August 13th I am hoping I can get my zombie flick rolling as soon as I get finished with that.

congrats on making the 2nd round last fest. Get in that top 3 for this one. I'm wit' cha.


Thanks dude. Second round was a LOT more work too. Talk about stressing for the screening. Yowza! Anyway, good to hear you're working on a feature. That's something I've been planning for a while, but it's about getting all of the right pieces together... and a little more practice.

Good luck making it into Monsterfest.

[Puckthesane]

This movie is going to suck!

[Rodney V. Smith]

This movie is going to suck!


***Sigh*** Don't make me give you cigarette burns now. i would.. but I don;t smoke anymore.... silly wabbit.

[DarkElastic]

Someone is playing silly beggars, Rodders!!!

[Rodney V. Smith]

I'm thinking its possibly Zaza shaped.

[DarkElastic]

Shaped like what, a big turd?

[ZazaCast]

I'm thinking its possibly Zaza shaped.

???? I'm not following this one...????

[Rodney V. Smith]

Come now. Don't be so hard on Zaza. He's definitely not turd shaped. I don't know what kind of shape you'd call it though...

[ZazaCast]

WTF? Don't make me send the zombies after your ass!

[Puckthesane]

Yeah, Zombies who feed on retardation!

Tag: "They're coming to Tard Town...and they ain't looking to teach special ed."

[Rodney V. Smith]

WTF? Don't make me send the zombies after your ass!

Hey I was the one defending you!

[ZazaCast]

Hey I was the one defending you!

Thanks! Sorry....posts must have crossed...note to self, send zombies after DarkElastic...lots of zombies!

[Rodney V. Smith]

REWARD: nifty looking post and a bowl of green jello, the same kind used by Jessica in the movie "Flower", to anyone who will annihilate this "Puckthesane" character.

Total and complete annihiliation is required in order to claim your prize.

[DarkElastic]

Hahahahaha, Rodders did blame you for the Evil Puck, not me... I did say you were a turd, so I deserve a little bite!

[~jai~]

REWARD: nifty looking post and a bowl of green jello, the same kind used by Jessica in the movie "Flower", to anyone who will annihilate this "Puckthesane" character.

Total and complete annihiliation is required in order to claim your prize.

Does Jessica come with the Jello? Might make the prize more worthwhile! :happy:

[jessicalsin]

You guys...all of you...completely silly. Heheh...

[Rodney V. Smith]

Got the steadicam back from Dave today (otherwise known as storage) and did a quick run through of the action for the movie. My big dilemna now is do I use the steadicam since the movie was specifically designed for steadicam... or do I go the more traditional route?

I really think I developed my own style starting with "Keeper of the Lost", and that style fully blossomed on "Strange Days of Joey Davis". To do a whole movie with steadicam now would either be a departure of that style of shooting... or it could add to the style. I just know that steadicam moves on their own are very demanding and I'm planning something very ambitious with this move. So far Andrew thinks I'm crazy, Jessica is with-holding judgement (she thinks I'm crazy) and I'm not too sure...

Opinions anyone?

EDIT: by Steadicam I mean my modded Glidecam V-8

[ZazaCast]

Couldn't you just work a bit of the steadicam in there? I like motion....you should also build a ZazaSlider, it will make your life much easier. :happy:

[Rodney V. Smith]

It's designed to be shot ALL on the steadicam. I suppose I could use some nudging in the direction of the all famous Zazaslider though...

[ZazaCast]

Then I say go for it! Go with your gut... and a *ZazaSlider.



*use of the ZazaSlider in no way guarantees a place in the top 10 of any fest, but
it can't hurt. Any injuries incurred while attempting a dolly, zolly, pan/zoom/slide or
upside-down ground slide are the express responsibility of owner. There is no coverage
for failure to get 'The Shot' due to defects in materials or workmanship which occur during normal use.

[Rodney V. Smith]

I need a stamp of a approval! You've convinced me: This move will be made ONLY with the ZazaSlider (TM).

Seriously. I'm going to get the slider and test out a few moves to work the full dynamic range of the ZazaSlider. Any tips you wanna share, I'll be glad to utilize. Building it is one thing... using it like you did in "Miss Laid" was sheer artistry. I want to take those moves you did in the opening sequence and have most utilize those. Keep it dynamic. Keep it groovy.

[ZazaCast]

I need a stamp of a approval! You've convinced me: This move will be made ONLY with the ZazaSlider (TM).

Seriously. I'm going to get the slider and test out a few moves to work the full dynamic range of the ZazaSlider. Any tips you wanna share, I'll be glad to utilize. Building it is one thing... using it like you did in "Miss Laid" was sheer artistry. I want to take those moves you did in the opening sequence and have most utilize those. Keep it dynamic. Keep it groovy.

We'll talk. PM me with any questions, I'm more than glad to share. The trickest move is the slide, pan, tilt, zoom and requires a bit of practice. Another cool thing that would be good in a monster movie is to drop one leg of the tripod and get a "DutchSlide"... very cool!:2vrolijk_08:
I've also mounted the tripod with the slider on a dolly with flextrack (opening shot in "Miss Laid" as I dolly/slide up her body). There's SO much you can do with one of these things.

[Rodney V. Smith]

We'll talk. PM me with any questions, I'm more than glad to share. The trickest move is the slide, pan, tilt, zoom and requires a bit of practice. Another cool thing that would be good in a monster movie is to drop one leg of the tripod and get a "DutchSlide"... very cool!:2vrolijk_08:
I've also mounted the tripod with the slider on a dolly with flextrack (opening shot in "Miss Laid" as I dolly/slide up her body). There's SO much you can do with one of these things.

AHA!! Flextrack! I knew it had to be something funky going on there, cuz you kept on moving and moving and I was like "wtf? how is he doing that?" cuz I knew you utilized the slider greatly.

I don't do zooms so that particular trick is out for me. Only time I ever zoom is to get a tighter frame.

[~jai~]

So far Andrew thinks I'm crazy, Jessica is with-holding judgement (she thinks I'm crazy) and I'm not too sure...

Opinions anyone?

I agree with Andrew, you're crazy! But, you're also very talented (damn you!), so whatever you're planning, I'm sure it will be awesome!

[ZazaCast]

AHA!! Flextrack! I knew it had to be something funky going on there, cuz you kept on moving and moving and I was like "wtf? how is he doing that?" cuz I knew you utilized the slider greatly.

I don't do zooms so that particular trick is out for me. Only time I ever zoom is to get a tighter frame.

Yeah... all you have to do is ask.:laugh: ...and zooms, I only use them for the "Zolly" shot. (dolly in,zoom out)

[~jai~]

Hmmm... not a single peep outta ole Rodney for an entire day... he must've fallen off the face of the earth... now who's going to feed all these damn winged monkeys and pick up all their poop?!

[Tom Marshall]

Yeah, where is Rodney??

[jessicalsin]

I was forced to kill him and feed him to the rabid dogs I keep in my yard. He pissed me off. Said somehitng about Jello and pudding...couldn't really understand him with the gag in his mouth....

[Tom Marshall]

Said somehitng about Jello and pudding...

So he turned into Bill Cosby? What?

[ZazaCast]

Rodney? You mean Vic? Victor is the perfect MonsterFest name.....

[MOVIE MASTER]

rodney do you need my embalming service?

[~jai~]

I was forced to kill him and feed him to the rabid dogs I keep in my yard. He pissed me off. Said somehitng about Jello and pudding...couldn't really understand him with the gag in his mouth....

My, my... what a temper. I can't believe you got pissed off over jello and pudding... we've been discussing those this whole time... go on, you can tell us what he REALLY said! :happy:

[Jeff Anderson]

you know I could totally go for some pudding right now - the swirl stuff. damn that sounds good...

[~jai~]

you know I could totally go for some pudding right now - the swirl stuff. damn that sounds good...

Everyone likes the swirl! :Drogar-Happy(DBG):

[jessicalsin]

Okay you turkeys...enough with the jello/pudding situation! Crazy boys!

Thought i'd put in a little update: Rodney is currently out of Toronto so he has Damien getting myself and Robert in line. We are organizing to meet up either tonight or early next week to get our first read through. Since I was told that the last revision of the script hasn't been quite tweaked yet...it should be interesting reading a script...without a script...haha!

[Marlon Ladd]

Nice avatar. We finally get to see the man behind the mask. LOL! No more Puck, huh? Good choice though.

[Rodney V. Smith]

And I'm baaaaaack!

The drive from Atlanta to Brooklyn is a long one especially with a 15 month old. Wow. Stopped through Washington, DC though and missed the perfect shot of a lifetime. I was standing at the bottom of the hill heading up to the monument (the big fricking obelisk), taking pictures of the White House with my wife... when one helicopter flies by... fine, no big deal. Showed my son (his first chopper) and I hear more copters appraoching. Turned around and this is when the perfect shot begins:

From behind the hill and the Obelisk comes one CHINOOK HELICOPTER, sun in the background. It flies fast and low at about 100ft from the ground... and right OVERHEAD of me. I could have drawn a line right down the center of the helicopter I was so perfectly placed.

Then a sound... I turn back and TWO MORE CHINOOKS follow the same path directly overhead... and heading for the White House Lawn. The President of the United States was returning to the White House.

Flew directly overhead of me... and my HVX was in the car, 1 mile away.

Anyway, that was one hell of a hot day. And it was yesterday. Today I'm in Brooklyn and wishing that I had a great story to go with this great house of my dad's. Flower takes place in a warehouse on the outskirts of town, PLUS we're filming in Toronto. Too much in motion right now to even consider a rewrite or a location move. But it's such a great location I'm kind of upset that I didn't write anything for it.

Oh well.

Got an email from Meredith a few minutes ago (she's the artist doing the monster illustrations for me) and within contained the first conceptual drawing of my monsters. SWEET! Gotta get some things tweaked, but looking pretty good!

[~jai~]

And I'm baaaaaack!!

I knew Jessica didn't feed you to her dog!:Drogar-Happy(DBG):

[Rodney V. Smith]

I knew Jessica didn't feed you to her dog!:Drogar-Happy(DBG):

i think that might have been nicer than that drive. i now have a reason to hate New Jersey.

[Tom Marshall]

And I'm baaaaaack!

The drive from Atlanta to Brooklyn is a long one especially with a 15 month old. Wow. Stopped through Washington, DC though and missed the perfect shot of a lifetime. I was standing at the bottom of the hill heading up to the monument (the big fricking obelisk), taking pictures of the White House with my wife... when one helicopter flies by... fine, no big deal. Showed my son (his first chopper) and I hear more copters appraoching. Turned around and this is when the perfect shot begins:

From behind the hill and the Obelisk comes one CHINOOK HELICOPTER, sun in the background. It flies fast and low at about 100ft from the ground... and right OVERHEAD of me. I could have drawn a line right down the center of the helicopter I was so perfectly placed.

Then a sound... I turn back and TWO MORE CHINOOKS follow the same path directly overhead... and heading for the White House Lawn. The President of the United States was returning to the White House.

Flew directly overhead of me... and my HVX was in the car, 1 mile away.

Anyway, that was one hell of a hot day. And it was yesterday. Today I'm in Brooklyn and wishing that I had a great story to go with this great house of my dad's. Flower takes place in a warehouse on the outskirts of town, PLUS we're filming in Toronto. Too much in motion right now to even consider a rewrite or a location move. But it's such a great location I'm kind of upset that I didn't write anything for it.

Oh well.

Got an email from Meredith a few minutes ago (she's the artist doing the monster illustrations for me) and within contained the first conceptual drawing of my monsters. SWEET! Gotta get some things tweaked, but looking pretty good!

Wow, NICE! Did you at least take a few shots with your cell phone??

[~jai~]

i now have a reason to hate New Jersey.

Do you really need a reason?

[Rodney V. Smith]

Wow, NICE! Did you at least take a few shots with your cell phone??

I got a shot of the chopper leaving... with my crappy little digital camera.. i really need a DSLR...

[Mike Manning]

Rodney you inspired me to change my user name as well... so much better!

[Brian Parker]

Jeez, now I want to jump on the bandwagon...how does one go about changing their username?

[Tom Marshall]

Send Jason Ramsey a PM and he'll change it for you.

[Brian Parker]

Thanks Tom.

[ZazaCast]

...and how can we get the weather report for Ogden, UT this Sunday?

[Rodney V. Smith]

Damien is going to be in NYC this weekend, so we're going to meet up and try to solidify some details and my requests. I'll definitely work out a recording of the read through and maybe a "meet the actors" podcast.

[Rodney V. Smith]

Planning some promotional material that I'll have to coordinate with Damien on next week. Jessica has some great ideas on looks for costuming so we're going to use this as a chance to get the costumes all done and in place, set characters so they can build on them even more.

Robert has a very distinctive way of character building and applies himself to his art very seriously, so I know little details are very important to him. He shoudl get a kick out of this character design. I already know Jessica has been waiting on this for a while, so her ideas on her character are very well formed. You guys are gonna love the look she's bringing to the project.

Damien's look is a little different as well and we're definitely trying out new things with him, especially given all of the changes he's going to have to go through, so this is a costume that's going to have to take a beating and still look good. But we should have some cool stuff going on.

More later.

[pauly_the_hitman]

Stay away from the purple shrooms man stay away...Looking forward to seeing this one Rodney..Top of my list man.
Pauly

[TMerry]

Nice poster/Graphics Rodney!
Same with the actors graphics. Are you doing these
yourself?

[Rodney V. Smith]

Yeah I do most of my graphics and artwork myself as well as some elementd of production design. I occasionally work with other artists and photographers, but most is handled by myself.

[TMerry]

Yeah I do most of my graphics and artwork myself as well as some elementd of production design. I occasionally work with other artists and photographers, but most is handled by myself.


Sweeet! :thumbsup:

[jessicalsin]

Hellooooooo kiddies!
So I've been told by Rodney that he will get part of my costume in the coming weeks....this includes a very long black gothic type coat....we're hoping to get it sooner rather than later so we can have it for promo shots and character shots....but what are the odds of finding a floor length winter coat in the middle of August?....Ummmm....not sure...so if anyone has a heads up about something like that shoot me a message!

Thanks!

*HUGS*

[Larry Rutledge]

check thrift stores ... a couple years back I needed a men's full length coat in the dead of summer (for a shoot) and found several at the local thrift store. They looked brand new and I only paid a few bucks for one of them.

[Rodney V. Smith]

I'm going to be doing a LOT of thrifting looking for THIS coat..

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/picture.php?albumid=223&pictureid=1569

With a hood.... deep sigh. But at least Jess will look totally kick ass in it.

Luckily (I think) I'm in America's thrift capital NYC, and will be making the rounds over the next week or so. Time to hit the Village...

[Christian Vincent Jung]

Love the cast layout as well! :D

[DarkElastic]

I'm going to be doing a LOT of thrifting looking for THIS coat..

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/picture.php?albumid=223&pictureid=1569

With a hood.... deep sigh. But at least Jess will look totally kick ass in it.

Luckily (I think) I'm in America's thrift capital NYC, and will be making the rounds over the next week or so. Time to hit the Village...

The Gay Village?

[Rodney V. Smith]

The Gay Village?

Not the village YOU'RE from. the one in NYC with all the cool stuff and the funky people.

[DarkElastic]

Shame, I would have like to say "Hi"

[Rodney V. Smith]

So we just did the equivalent of a "LEVEL UP" on the script in the light of a few new toys being made available to us for production, and the script is going through a major overhaul. A lot of the original things remain the same, but quite a few others have changed.

Jessica is going to be a major badass in this film and she's quite looking forward to it.

We have a couple of really cool action sequences that I know I have to pull off exceptionallly well, even if it means we're going to have to spend all day shooting the one sequence.

Oh and I may be going to the dark side since I'm now in talks with a friend about using his RED on the production. I really need to sit with him and go through the RED workflow to see how much more of a pain this is going to be or if I should stick with the tried and true and keep using my trusty HVX, but rent some nice Cineglass this time around.

More to come as I work details out...

[ZazaCast]

No updates since the 10th???? What's up with that?
So, is it the RED or what? (traitor!...did I say that out loud? LOL)

[DarkElastic]

He got stuck in 'The Village'

[Rodney V. Smith]

Planning to hit "The Village" this weekend, possibly sunday. Have some family obligations to take care of, plus I have to get a new passport, since my old one ended up in the wash. Don't ask. In any case Andrew has suggested a new revision to the script and we've been working steadily on those up to last night. Just 2 more scenes to round out and polish and we're good to go.

Still have to send Andre (the special FX guy in Atlanta) some drawings. You can check his stuff out in the meantime while I go do family stuff ie: 3 weeks worth of laundry.

http://www.afxstudios.com/
http://www.afxstudios.com/images/SpecialFX.jpg
IMDB (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0293920/)

More later.

[Alan H. Chang]

Mr. Flyin' Monkey, this looks cute. I hope those monsters doesn't live under my bed.

[Rodney V. Smith]

Cute? MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Sure they're cute. Well at least Jessica is... but I can't vouch for the others. I assure you the level of cute in this is at about the same level of Jason going to town on the Ewoks...

[Alan H. Chang]

Lol!

[ZazaCast]

I'm counting on hotness (boob)...vampires are sexual beings and it would be an epic failure without a little T&A.:thumbsup:
(if there are vampires in this...)

[jessicalsin]

I'm counting on hotness (boob)...vampires are sexual beings and it would be an epic failure without a little T&A.:thumbsup:
(if there are vampires in this...)






HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAH! What in your twisted little mind would ever make you think I would allow myself to be exposed in such a manner?!


Unless you were talking about man-boobs...I'm sure I could talk to Robert or Damien.....

:grin:

[ZazaCast]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAH! What in your twisted little mind would ever make you think I would allow myself to be exposed in such a manner?!


Just putting it out there....although, a dedicated actress would do whatever it takes to...nevermind...I love "G-Rated" vampire flicks.:D:thumbsup::D

[Rodney V. Smith]

Don't you know Zaza? We're doing a Yeti-Vampire-Demon combo who is summoned when blondes wrestle in Lime Jello!

[ZazaCast]

Don't you know Zaza? We're doing a Yeti-Vampire-Demon combo who is summoned when blondes wrestle in Lime Jello!

Purrrrrrfect!:thumbsup:

[jessicalsin]

Seriously with the jello?....You guys...I swear.

[Tom Marshall]

Don't you know Zaza? We're doing a Yeti-Vampire-Demon combo who is summoned when blondes wrestle in Lime Jello!

You've got too much time on your hands...

[Rodney V. Smith]

You've got too much time on your hands...

But Tom: Yeti-Vampire-Demon-Chick!

[ZazaCast]

But Tom: Yeti-Vampire-Demon-Chick!

Yeti-Vampire-Demon-Chick....in JELLO! :evil:

[Rodney V. Smith]

Jessica turned me on to this school in Toronto who may have some students to help us out on the project. I'll be contacting them on Monday but in the meantime, check em out for yourself.

Here's a sample page of some of the work of the students there. Looks like a great program!
http://www.complectionsmake-up.com/gallery-prostheticsandcreatures.shtml

[ZazaCast]

That's GREAT! I wish there was a school offering that around here....I'd take one of those 6-week courses. Great find.

[Rodney V. Smith]

We'll see what happens and how much supplies I'll have to get. Jessica already talked to them and they requested more info... lets see how open they are to the amount of practical FX makeup we're going to have to use.

[ZazaCast]

We'll see what happens and how much supplies I'll have to get. Jessica already talked to them and they requested more info... lets see how open they are to the amount of practical FX makeup we're going to have to use.

Best of luck! Pull this off & out of the park it goes!!!:thumbsup:

[Rodney V. Smith]

Talking to a makeup artist right now.. she's a 10 year working professional in the Toronto scene and all of her tips have been spot on. When I told her about getting the students from the school she responded rather enthusiastically that it's literally the "CREME DE LA CREME" of makeup schools.

I'm buzzed now. Woo!

[Rodney V. Smith]

I've decided to follow Rod Thompson's sanguine advice and just "Ed Wood" this entire film. It seems to be the way to go and will surely provoke a reaction out of everyone, so it should be a sure fire it. I may forgo the dress, but that's up for discussion....

[jessicalsin]

I vote for the dress.

[Tom Marshall]

I've decided to follow Rod Thompson's sanguine advice and just "Ed Wood" this entire film. It seems to be the way to go and will surely provoke a reaction out of everyone, so it should be a sure fire it. I may forgo the dress, but that's up for discussion....

Hey, going "Ed Wood" would be cool... :beer:

[lawriejaffa]

What exactly is going all 'Ed Wood!'

Are you meaning to do cheesy effects? Give it an intention B Movie 50's vibe. Personally I don't think thats a very good idea (if that is the case.) Heres my reasoning!

The Ed Woods films, or any of those cheesy B Movies are amusing now, and probably then hehe, because of their attempts to be... well a 'good' sci fi film or hororr movie etc. To make spoof of a widely accepted parody would just look utterly superficial really.

The style that one might term Ed Wood then hehe, or take another example say Grindhouse, are not things you can 'work in' as a visual aesthetic or style to make a story 'right.'

Those styles are themselves the results of certain styles of storytelling, technical circumstances and popular cultures relevant to that time in place.

Tarantino did his Grindhouse film by evocating that time and place in which these films were made - trying to contemporise it. Rod (bless him) just stuck the style onto his last film quite randomly - and you saw how that worked.

So Rodney... your not talking about what colour of t-shirt ur gonna stick on ur film, its really the other way around. Your story should in its own way, be telling you how it looks.

Even your last film Joey got distracted with 'style, visuals' at the cost of other elements. So think about it carefully bro!

[Rodney V. Smith]

I'm going Ed Wood dammit! I'm going to do it and do it as cheesy as anything! This will be the the WORST MOVIE EVER in human history!

[Rodney V. Smith]

First podcast up.
PODCAST #1
7a9bd6bb1919e2c2f5
http://www.motionbox.com/video/player/7a9bd6bb1919e2c2f5/

[Rodney V. Smith]

By the way: I was totally kidding about the Ed Wood thing. Nice to see that it DID provoke a reaction though... **cough cough Lawrie cough cough** :grin:

[lawriejaffa]

Jeez i was expressing an opinion not a provoked reaction lol.

Make an artistic masterpiece and you'll provoke a reaction!

[Rodney V. Smith]

lies Lawrie! all lies!

[TMerry]

By the way: I was totally kidding about the Ed Wood thing. Nice to see that it DID provoke a reaction though... **cough cough Lawrie cough cough** :grin:

I think it's a cool idea (not the worst movie ever part) but doing the woods approach. It would probably mean shooting too seperate films at once, using the same set :-)

[Rodney V. Smith]

Rewrote the ending for the movie and it's a fairly solid lock. Once we get into rehearsals, the monologue might definitely take a hit to make it more realistic, but I'm feeling pretty good about it. Instead of going on an on, I think I found the right beats of where THIS particular story actually ENDS.

Gotta go call back the Make Up School and a couple of these BTS photographers and videographers. Damien apparently has a good lead on a warehouse location so gotta get some pics from him and see where we're at.

Fun times!

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

Rewrote the ending for the movie and it's a fairly solid lock. Once we get into rehearsals, the monologue might definitely take a hit to make it more realistic, but I'm feeling pretty good about it. Instead of going on an on, I think I found the right beats of where THIS particular story actually ENDS.

Gotta go call back the Make Up School and a couple of these BTS photographers and videographers. Damien apparently has a good lead on a warehouse location so gotta get some pics from him and see where we're at.

Fun times!Sounds promising. Good luck!
Can't wait to see the location grabs.

[Rodney V. Smith]

Contact has been made with the makeup school. I've sent them the list of requirements and they'll get back to me about which students can be made available... if any at all.

Some of the quotes I've been getting, range anywhere from $300/day to $300/HOUR. And from the assessment freely and fairly given of the script, we're going to need a minimum of 4 Makeup Artists working on Jessica, especially the initial makeup, and one specifically doing nothing else but airbrush work.

I'm going to have to learn how to work around the makeup team, especially when they have to tweak. In the past makeup has always slowed the production down to a crawl, and that was just with ONE makeup artist doing regular makeup.

I'm beginning to wonder what I've gotten myself into. Maybe my original 3 day estimate was actually a very accurate timeline for production.

[DarkElastic]

It all sounds exciting Rodders, when are you looking to film?

[Rodney V. Smith]

Production is set for September 25, 26, 27th in Toronto. Wanna come down and help?

[DarkElastic]

I would love to mate, but I won't be set up and settled until next year now. We are getting their slowly. The kids will be older and less of a handful for one of us next year as well.

[Rodney V. Smith]

This makes me sad. Oh well. Wonder if I could snag any Toronto DVXUsers into helping out on crew. We'll see in due course.

[armisiano]

Hmmm... moving to Toronto.... tempting...

[Rodney V. Smith]

I'll have Jessica shake a little leg your way. Tempt you some more. :grin:

[jessicalsin]

I'll have Jessica shake a little leg your way. Tempt you some more. :grin:


'Scuse me?! Are you trying to pimp me out? That's TOM'S job!...

But seriously Armisano, you should come out...I'm going to LA in October! It's only fair!

[Rodney V. Smith]

Let's do an exchange program!! I'll trade one Jessica for 2 of you guys. Howzabout it?

Sorry Jess, Tom is an amateur pimp. Trying to hustle into my territory. Last time he did that I gave him ~Jai~. Muhahahahahaha!

[jessicalsin]

Let's do an exchange program!! I'll trade one Jessica for 2 of you guys. Howzabout it?

Sorry Jess, Tom is an amateur pimp. Trying to hustle into my territory. Last time he did that I gave him ~Jai~. Muhahahahahaha!


Is this like a hockey draft? (I'm Canadian, deal with the Hockey references).

[Tom Marshall]

Hey, Jai has made me about 5 grand so far, so he's doing something right... :thumbsup:

[Rodney V. Smith]

Getting submissions from the students. Getting excited to meet them all now. This is a picture of one of their work:

http://sites.google.com/site/cameronefx/_/rsrc/1246591799206/burn-effects/Facial%20burn.JPG?height=420&width=315

[ZazaCast]

I'd comment....but it seems the Fat Monster thread is THE place to be!


Oh... and that chick should see a doctor.

[Rodney V. Smith]

I'd comment....but it seems the Fat Monster thread is THE place to be!


Oh... and that chick should see a doctor.

traitorous wretch.

[ZazaCast]

traitorous wretch.

That would be "Thread Whore" to you!:laugh:


...have to run... BIG news on the Fat Monster thread!:2vrolijk_08:

[Rodney V. Smith]

Man i LOVE these students!!

Another one's work.
http://img1.purerave.com/4/09/4428109_.jpg

[jessicalsin]

Muhahahahahaahah!!!!!!

[DarkElastic]

Nice. Shame I can't be there to see it live...

So close and yet so far!!!

[Rodney V. Smith]

Just got a commitment from my 3D Modeler/VFX guy, Mike Watkins to do the VFX work on the movie. I went to college with this dude and he does phenomenal work. I'll link to some examples of his work soon.

[ZazaCast]

To show my loyalty I give you my 3001st post! Here's to a roaring success.
Cheers.

[Rodney V. Smith]

To show my loyalty I give you my 3001st post! Here's to a roaring success.
Cheers.

Dammit I wanted your 3000th AND your 3001st! You;ve gone and ruined everything!

[~jai~]

Hey, Jai has made me about 5 grand so far, so he's doing something right... :thumbsup:

I believe it's up to 7 grand now! Don't forget that traveling party of cougars! :Drogar-SunGlass(DBG

[Rodney V. Smith]

Storyboards... I really miss having Andrew's Rebel XTi around to shoot with. Gave me a good sense of the actual LOOK I'll be dealing with. I'll have to look into borrowing one later on once e secure the location.

Sent out new scripts and instructions to the cast and crew and I'm talking to Tony about his friend who is a producer in Toronto. Trying to gauge his interest on coming on full time as a producer on this. He's got resources and time that I simply don't have so hopefully I can get him on board the project. More on that later.

Did a calculation on cost of food for the crew for the 3 days of shooting and I'm still shaking my head in horror. With vegetarians on board the average meal cost goes quantum since they can't be lumped in with the regular meat eaters, so the Costco option, while viable for nice hot lunches... well it's looking less attractive. I have to see what restaurants are in the area and if they'll offer some kind of discount or even donate food to the cause. If I can get 3 to commit so there's variety and no cold-cuts for lunch or dinner, I'll be happy, the crew will be happy and we'll all be well fed. Food is fuel, and good food is like rocket fuel.

Time to get my schmoozing face on.

[jessicalsin]

Did a calculation on cost of food for the crew for the 3 days of shooting and I'm still shaking my head in horror. With vegetarians on board the average meal cost goes quantum since they can't be lumped in with the regular meat eaters, so the Costco option, while viable for nice hot lunches... well it's looking less attractive. I have to see what restaurants are in the area and if they'll offer some kind of discount or even donate food to the cause. If I can get 3 to commit so there's variety and no cold-cuts for lunch or dinner, I'll be happy, the crew will be happy and we'll all be well fed. Food is fuel, and good food is like rocket fuel.

Time to get my schmoozing face on.


I told you i'd bring my own food! People like me (I also don't eat dairy or eggs...vegan shenanigans and all that!) have to assume that people won't be able to accomodate them! I'm totally fine with bringing my own snacks! Worry about everyone else!
You know me, I'm a trooper!

[Rodney V. Smith]

I told you i'd bring my own food! People like me (I also don't eat dairy or eggs...vegan shenanigans and all that!) have to assume that people won't be able to accomodate them! I'm totally fine with bringing my own snacks! Worry about everyone else!
You know me, I'm a trooper!

Feh: 2 of the makeup people are vegetarians.

[ZazaCast]

Give her a bottle of water & call it a day!

[Rodney V. Smith]

Give her a bottle of water & call it a day!

I'll be nice to my star: I'll give her 2 bottles.

[jessicalsin]

Give her a bottle of water & call it a day!

Listen you! Don't make me come down there and beat the living snot out of you....I'll do it....ask Rodney...I'm pretty scrappy.

[Rodney V. Smith]

Listen you! Don't make me come down there and beat the living snot out of you....I'll do it....ask Rodney...I'm pretty scrappy.

She is fairly scrappy. And the martial arts training she's been taking for this movie isn;t helping either.

[ZazaCast]

Listen you! Don't make me come down there and beat the living snot out of you....I'll do it....ask Rodney...I'm pretty scrappy.

I normally pay EXTRA for that Ms. Scrappy! :thumbsup:

:)

[Rodney V. Smith]

UPDATE: Looks like Tony is going to be out of town for the dates of the shoot. He's heading out to Montreal for some personal business or the other, so I'll have to make some other arrangements. We're going to hit the location once we get it confirmed and take photos of it as well as do the basic lighting design with diagrams and the like. Hopefully we can get the place for an hour or two so we can see how certain light setups look... and not have to pay anything for it. But all depends on where we get the location and how cool the owner is.

At least it's just one main lighting setup, so we'll try to design for mood and then focus on some soft light for fill light. We'll see how it looks.

Wonder if we'll get any windows...

[jessicalsin]

I normally pay EXTRA for that Ms. Scrappy! :thumbsup:

:)


Well now we know what you do with all your spare change....

[ZazaCast]

Well now we know what you do with all your spare change....

Oh it's not spare... I save for it! :happy:

So... Vic... what's the word? Lets jump-start this thread...feed us some more exciting details.

[Rodney V. Smith]

Signed on musician The Stace (http://www.new.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1266177959) to record an original song for the movie soundtrack.

Also have some BIG news to reveal to everyone...

[Rodney V. Smith]

So here's the official news from me to you: We're doing a werewolf movie.

Yes you heard it: "Flower" is a werewolf flick.

That's one of the reasons the makeup department has been of such huge importance, and the 50 naked men (and now women) are all werewolves.

I've signed on Elf Productions to do the CGI Werewolf as well as one transformation scene and work has been going quite well.

So there you have it. We're doing werewolves.

[jessicalsin]

Awwww.......you spoiled the surprise! Fine....I'm going to go pout somewhere now.

[ZazaCast]

So... you take a beautiful woman like Jessica and make her a dog? WOOF!

[Rodney V. Smith]

So... you take a beautiful woman like Jessica and make her a dog? WOOF!

The word is "Badass". We take a beautiful woman and make her into a badass. And she doesn't need a gun to do it either.

[jessicalsin]

So... you take a beautiful woman like Jessica and make her a dog? WOOF!


Stop it. Flattery wins you no extra point mister!:grin:

Okay so we wanted to jump start the thread again huh?...
Well I'm meeting up with Damien and Robert tonight to go through the script and all those shenanigans.
We'll hopefully be able to get a podcast from those two turkeys.

So STAY TUNED!!!

[DarkElastic]

Mmmmmmmmm, turkey....

[ZazaCast]

....and shenanigans!

[Rodney V. Smith]

Jessica and Robert are currently meeting. Damien is on his way. Hopefully they're taking this time to catch up and take those photos I asked for, as well as a little introductory video about their characters.

Sucks being so far away and not being there, but we've really gotta get the ball rolling. I;ve already had a couple of discussions about character, so they've been doing their character building exercises. By the time I get back we can go through the line line by line and do a breakdown for subtext and state of mind so we can build the best and most honest scene possible.

Never thought I;d say this: but I can't wait to get back to Toronto.

Besides, Brooklyn is damned hot right now. Just one more week...

[jessicalsin]

Never thought I;d say this: but I can't wait to get back to Toronto.

Besides, Brooklyn is damned hot right now. Just one more week...

Yeah...ummm...do you think that Toronto is like Alaska or something? Have you been gone THAT long?! You do know that the weather here is pretty much the same as it is in Brooklyn...sheesh.

[Tom Marshall]

No... sleep... till Brooklyn!

[Rodney V. Smith]

No... sleep... till Brooklyn!

No sleep cuz it's so damned hot! Yowza!

[ZazaCast]

No... sleep... till Brooklyn!

Get to work on your script!:happy:

[TMerry]

No... sleep... till Brooklyn!

You gotta fight / / for your right / / to filmmmm me! :violin:

[Rodney V. Smith]

Slight delay with my passport. Looks like I won't be travelling back to Toronto until after September 6th. Instead now I'll have to go through some very intense back and forth travelling, driving my wife and 15 month old up to the border in Buffalo, flying back to Brooklyn, waiting for my passport to arrive... until I can finally fly out of country again.

Moral of this story: if you're travelling with your passport, do not leave it in your pants when you do the laundry.

Now I have to ramp up production, but I need to get a Toronto based producer onboard. Only so much I can do from a distance, and rehearsals for this is so important... Maybe I can Skype the rehearsal, but it just feels so impersonal.

Argh.

[Lawsuit_Boy]

Slight delay with my passport. Looks like I won't be travelling back to Toronto until after September 6th. Instead now I'll have to go through some very intense back and forth travelling, driving my wife and 15 month old up to the border in Buffalo, flying back to Brooklyn, waiting for my passport to arrive... until I can finally fly out of country again.

Moral of this story: if you're travelling with your passport, do not leave it in your pants when you do the laundry.

Now I have to ramp up production, but I need to get a Toronto based producer onboard. Only so much I can do from a distance, and rehearsals for this is so important... Maybe I can Skype the rehearsal, but it just feels so impersonal.

Argh.

:shocked: That is one heck of a pre-production adventure! I hope things smooth out and you get good rehearsals in. The passport situation here is getting pretty ridiculous lately.

[Sprocketboy]

I thought I had the weight of the world was on my shoulders. You are in Passport hell! And for the love of Peter, Paul and Mary - - don't skype rehearsals.

[Rodney V. Smith]

Awww come on: skyping rehearsals is the way of the FUTURE! Everyone is doing it these days!

Actually it's the last thing I want to do. Usually I trust my actors to develop their characters,but rehearsal is so important to direct them and rein them in from going too hog-wild. I really hope to resolve this situation very soon so I can be there in the flesh to terrorize the actors properly.

[ZazaCast]

"Passport to HELL" coming to a theatre near you.... That has a nice ring to it.

[jessicalsin]

Terrorize?...Lovely....

[ZazaCast]

This isn't like you Puck...I mean Vic... I mean Rodney. Where are all the updates? I'm worried, ever since you changed your name...you're...different somehow? You seem to have grown more hair & your breath smells of kibble?

...or wait a minute...was that you or Jessica?

[MOVIE MASTER]

Uhm kibble!

[Dustin R. Rogan]

I have made my return to the madness...bring me a brew my minions!!!

And I'm slightly disturbed by all the bobbleheads...

Rogan

[Rodney V. Smith]

This is the response from one warehouse advertizing for movies to rent his space. He refuses to consider going lower at all. Micro-Budget films do not exist in his universe. If we're making a movie then there's got to be money somewhere and he wants his.


Are you a small feature? If not your fees are $1500.00 prep days and $3000.00 shoot days.
If you are a small budget . I will want $1000.00 prep and $2000.00 shoot days.

This kind of mentality is actually quite endemic of my movie making experience in Toronto. They say Toronto is a great city for movies, but they really mean for STUDIO movies. So many people depend on the whole studio structure it's astounding when anybody wants to get anything done. Most of the response is to throw money at the problem and it will fix it. A lot of the DIY Independent spirit is dead, extinct, gone the way of the dodo... ground under the heel of the studios.

It's to the point where when you hire an "indie gaffer" he doesnt even own any gear but comes along with a $350 fee and a list of equipment you need to rent. Oh you're not a studio picture? You don't have all of this money for a 1 Ton Grip truck (as low as $700/day!). 1 Ton Grip Truck in ATL is $200/day.

One year later and I'm still reeling from these costs when in most cities I've worked in Stateside, there actually is a sense of a true independent community and you can get a gaffer plus equipment for anywhere from $350/day to $650/day. But that's the guys who own their gear and they make more from it working for 2-3 days straight than sitting there all week gathering dust. In Toronto, nobody owns anything.

Moving there I was actually really glad for the first time that I did own my own gear. That way I could get out and shoot things instead of sitting around talking about what we COULD be doing.

</rant>

Robert has a location guy. Lets see what he comes up with.

[Marlon Ladd]

Man, that's ridiculous! I think you're right about when they say it's cheap to film there for "studio" films. That's the one thing I really like about Oklahoma (though I will have to leave here soon) is that it is so inexpensive to film here. People are so nice and definitely don't see movies shot everyday, which means most of the time you can get the location for free. If they do charge, it will be little or nothing and well worth the money. Here you just have to get out and go ask. It's not like other places where people film at some of their locations so much, they already have a set fee. I always try and write (for the time being) based on locations I already have in mind (that I've seen or can easily find) and have a pretty good possiblity of getting before I even start. I've written in (in my scripts) some very nice locals before, only to be stuck, because I couldn't find the type of location I had written. Don't worry though - something will come up and it'll be better than what'd you'd hoped for. Things have a funny way of working themselves out for us indies.

[Sprocketboy]

Toronto is nuts. That's way overpriced. In NYC, I can get a white cyc or a green screen sound stage (38 x 34 feet) for $1000/day flat with lighting and grip equip.

[jessicalsin]

Wow.
You guys think that's a pain in the ass?....Try showing auditioning 3 times for some guy. Then you show up for the shoot and all he's got is a bunch of his lacky friends and a camcorder...Gotta learn to screen these jackasses properly...yeesh. It gets worse...try rehearsing for 3 months for a film then you shoot one day and he decides he doesn't like any of the footage, so he scraps the 3 months worth of rehearsing 14 hours of shooting, didn't pay anyone, then I show up for the second day of shooting, he decides he doesn't want to shoot anymore, then I find the exact same ad on Craigslist for the part that I previously had, with no phone call, no email, no explanation as to what happened and never heard from the guy again....Toronto is NO cup of tea. Everyone here fancies themselves 'filmmakers' but very few have any idea how to conduct themselves...it's infuriating for actors.

The industry here has become (as Rodney said) good for studio movies. If you have the cash it's great, but if you are just starting out...it's damn near impossible.

Thats my rant...thanks for comin' out.

[ZazaCast]

I know there are some GREAT strip clubs in Toronto....that's got to count for something?

[jessicalsin]

Uh huh...strip clubs...that's where the 'real' talent is.....

[ZazaCast]

Uh huh...strip clubs...that's where the 'real' talent is.....

:grin::grin::grin: :beer:

You know it!:)

[DarkElastic]

I have to say, I came to Northern Ontario with my profession, but filmmaking is my hobby, and I was looking forward to starting something here, in the semi-pro to professional level, depending on the talent I found for crew... I havn't really heard of anything up here, just what's down in Toronto. It is a major shock, as filmmaking is everywhere in Britain, especially at amateur level. I am going to have to step up my search and really scour the area.

[Rodney V. Smith]

I don't know what it's like in Northern Ontario. I know Cinevate is based there and they work with Still Motion, so there's got to be some kind of independent scene going on somewhere. Maybe out there far away from the studio money and ways of thinking, filmmakers have been able to foster some kind of goodwill in the community and work together. That far out from all of the big rental houses maybe people own more gear and believe it or that fact they they own their gear helps the independent film spirit. A lot more tit for tat and relationship building going on.

[Rodney V. Smith]

Uh huh...strip clubs...that's where the 'real' talent is.....

I actually worked with some decent talent who were strippers in Toronto. Talented girls and definitely eye candy but still missing an essential spark...

[ZazaCast]

Talented girls and definitely eye candy but still missing an essential spark...

You just didn't tip them enough! :)

[Rodney V. Smith]

You just didn't tip them enough! :)

not allowed to tip anymore. perils of marriage. **sigh**

[Tom Marshall]

not allowed to tip anymore. perils of marriage. **sigh**

But you're still allowed to go, right? RIGHT??!?

[Rodney V. Smith]

I admit nothing. I deny everything.

[Sprocketboy]

I admit nothing. I deny everything.

Spoken like a good politician.

[ZazaCast]

Spoken like a good politician.

...or a whipped husband!:grin:

[Tom Marshall]

If you aren't allowed to go, then what am I going to do with this other free admission ticket to Spearmint Rhino?

[jessicalsin]

So, a little story....
Since getting this script waaaaayyyy back a couple months ago...thought it was the first rough version...I have been really excited for this project.
It meant I got to work with my favorite director again (gratuitous ass-kissing is allowed) and also I was required to get myself into serious shape.
The results shall be revealed once everyone sees the movie!

So stay tuned!

[Rodney V. Smith]

Modified the synopsis:
Synopsis: A serial killer bites off more than he can chew when his newest victim turns out to be a werewolf.

[ZazaCast]

...... I was required to get myself into serious shape.
The results shall be revealed once everyone sees the movie!

So stay tuned!

Jello diet?:huh:

[jessicalsin]

Jello diet?:huh:


What is the matter with you?!

Yeesh...friggin Jello.

[ZazaCast]

What is the matter with you?!



Believe me, you're not the first one to ask that question! (see Ex-Wife) I actually ask MYSELF the same thing everyday.:huh:

[jessicalsin]

Believe me, you're not the first one to ask that question! (see Ex-Wife) I actually ask MYSELF the same thing everyday.:huh:



BWHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAh AhAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!1!

[Rodney V. Smith]

I think I'm going to be stuck in NYC for a bit... looking at the best case scenario right now and hoping it happens, but worst case is I'll have to reorg for New York...

Dammit: means I have to find new makeup people.

[ZazaCast]

Oh man! Tuff break...those damn passport people (then again, you DO look like a thug in that new avatar ;-) ). I guess you'll be sure to check your pockets from now on BEFORE doing the laundry.

Have faith and get this movie made!

[Rodney V. Smith]

Location change is just a minor setback. Just have to fly Jessica in, recast and do a new advert for makeup people. rebuild the team.

[ZazaCast]

...yeah... minor.

[Rodney V. Smith]

...yeah... minor.

Well I already have half of a crew for New York so I'm looking pretty good, and there's a location here that will work great. Biggest obstable will be the makeup team once again.

[Marlon Ladd]

Rod, where are you actually filming? I know you were talking about Canada, but then you mention New York.

[ZazaCast]

Cool... so it's not that bad after all. Great. I wish there was something I could do to help. Since you're right there in Mark Harris's backyard, maybe he could set you up?

[Rodney V. Smith]

supposed to film in Toronto. But having passport issues. Passport may now be delayed 10 weeks. So i have to prepare for the worst and film where I am currently located, which is Brooklyn NY.

[Marlon Ladd]

Oh, so no more ATL, huh? I gotcha'. Too bad about the passport stuff (woes of filmmaking), but it'll work out and you'll make another great one.

[Rodney V. Smith]

Already got a line on a flight for Jessica. We're sticking to the original schedule. From here I'll actually be able to go location scouting and get some pre-production meetings done, so I gotta get my ass in gear. September 25th here we come!

[jpsheets]

Rodney,
You still working on that poster or are you slammed?

cheers,
Jon

[ZazaCast]

Updates please...it's been a long weekend!

[jessicalsin]

Updates...hmmm...well lets see...Rodeny annoyed me with his grumpiness so I was forced to disembowel, dismember and discard his cranky ass.......hehe
But seriously...we are still awaiting news as to Mr.Director man's passport predicament...should he not be able to come back in time I'll be heading to Brooklyn to film there. So I have bags packed just in case...heh

[ZazaCast]

Oh... I see... it's nice of you to give him a break, it's tough being 'Mr. Director Man'. Knowing how the gov't works, I'd plan on taking that trip, so pack extra jello!

[jessicalsin]

Oh... I see... it's nice of you to give him a break, it's tough being 'Mr. Director Man'. Knowing how the gov't works, I'd plan on taking that trip, so pack extra jello!


Got an update from Rodney. They told him 4 weeks...so it looks like I'm heading to NYC. Good thing my passport isn't due for renewal until 2011! Heheh...

Hey Zaz! You should come down to NY and help out! :2vrolijk_08:

[ZazaCast]

Hey Zaz! You should come down to NY and help out! :2vrolijk_08:

When is the shoot again?

...or maybe you should fly out of Albany and be in MY film too! (I have a second idea that's about two vegan lesbian vampire mummy's)

[DarkElastic]

(I have a second idea that's about two vegan lesbian vampire mummy's)

Are you playing the second vegan lesbian vampire mummy, Zaza?

[ZazaCast]

Are you playing the second vegan lesbian vampire mummy, Zaza?

...although I am a lesbian (love the women), it would be too difficult to 'pull focus', if you know what I mean? :Drogar-Shock(DBG):

[armisiano]

...although I am a lesbian (love the women), it would be too difficult to 'pull focus', if you know what I mean? :Drogar-Shock(DBG):

Exuding class, as always. :huh:

[ZazaCast]

Exuding class, as always. :huh:

Thanks Anthony! ...and right back at ya'. :thumbsup:

[Rodney V. Smith]

Reconfiguring. Big announcements coming. Have the location set, taking pictures today and trying to figure out how to get Jessica down.

Jake is gonna drive down so we can take all the gear back up to TO, so now trying to figure out accomodations for them.

More to come later as regarding the new crew and cast.

[ZazaCast]

Good work! Looking forward to the announcements.... and the film.

[Rodney V. Smith]

new poster.. still tweaking:
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/picture.php?albumid=223&pictureid=1699

[Marlon Ladd]

We're pulling for you guys. Y'all are having such a time. Short films shouldn't ever have to be this hard. Keep doin' the damn thing.

[jessicalsin]

Uh huh...okay...so I'm going to NY.
Zaza is crazy, and a little bit of a perv.
I'll do your movie too if ya want...there's not a snowballs chance in hell I'm driving there though....unless you're paying for flight?

[jessicalsin]

We're pulling for you guys. Y'all are having such a time. Short films shouldn't ever have to be this hard. Keep doin' the damn thing.


We're troopers what can I say?

[ZazaCast]

Uh huh...okay...so I'm going to NY.
Zaza is crazy, and a little bit of a perv.
I'll do your movie too if ya want...there's not a snowballs chance in hell I'm driving there though....unless you're paying for flight?

Ha... yeah, I think you'll have enough on your hands with THIS film. You guys have a lot to rearrange and I'm sure you'll create a masterpiece! I'm looking forward to it. Next fest maybe...I'd like to see about trying a multi-location flick where we each shoot scenes in our respective cities...could be fun?

[jessicalsin]

That could be very fun! Maybe if there's a Christmas type fest...we could do something...?

[Rodney V. Smith]

We're pulling for you guys. Y'all are having such a time. Short films shouldn't ever have to be this hard. Keep doin' the damn thing.

Thanks Marlon. Good words to hear. I'll be doing a casting session this weekend and meeting the rest of our players, so I'll know what kind of shape we'll be in.

I actually did a realistic look at what we could pull off given the time and changes of circumstance and as a result I've done a complete overhaul of the project. There's too much going on with the werewolf movie and that's being made. No need to rush that film for monsterfest. So we've pushed back production on the Werewolf movie to October/November. I have some relationship building that I've been doing and need to keep that up with the people I've already contacted, and this isn't something I want to do half-assed.

SO with that in mind, Andrew and myself came up with a concept last night, slept on it and then wrote the script this morning. It's freshly minted and fully formed, with us realistically writing for the location we do have and actors we have access to (including props, and makeup needs). This new project is indeed called "Flower" and the title is a hell of a lot more appropriate since it is so crucial to the plot.

We're going to be playing with some greenscreen shots for our monster and I have some really cool things planned on how we're going to pull off these effects.

The feel I'm going for is a little rougher around the edges, so while there will be some dolly work, for some shots I'm planning on going handheld. I've been beefing up my rig so I kind of wrote around that fact.

We're going to be dealing with some specialized Tattoo-Makeup, so that's going to be interesting. Still trying to nail down the look for the monster but doing some test shooting this weekend. Should be awesome.

Anyway, gotta go put out my casting calls and scour through these headshots.

[Rodney V. Smith]

That could be very fun! Maybe if there's a Christmas type fest...we could do something...?

There's never been a Christmas fest before. It's usually the big three:
Halloween (horror, darker themes), spring (love and drama themes) and Summer (action, blockbuster type fare). But a Christmas fest would be mad fun. Or just pure madness since everyone is busy around that time with family and whatnot.

[ZazaCast]

Goodwill Fest! I can see it now...bless us all, everyone. I'm in!

[Rodney V. Smith]

Santa goes on Strike! The Elves have pissed him off for the last time... would be interesting there... We can create our own crop of family movies.

Family Fest!

[jessicalsin]

Great merciful crap....what have I started?! Again....and NO Zaza...there will be no jello, pudding, pie, cake, parfaits, frozen yogurt, ice cream, cupcakes, muffins or any other type of thing you can think of having me wrestle in...dag nabbit.

[Rodney V. Smith]

Great merciful crap....what have I started?! Again....and NO Zaza...there will be no jello, pudding, pie, cake, parfaits, frozen yogurt, ice cream, cupcakes, muffins or any other type of thing you can think of having me wrestle in...dag nabbit.

But Jess.. didn't you see the maple syrup wrestling scene at the end of the script? When you and the monster tussle? It's gonna be huge!

[ZazaCast]

...and what about oatmeal? It's really good for the skin!


(and don't yell at me...Rodney started it!)

[Rodney V. Smith]

First set of location photos. Rooftop scene
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_yWXQNkzQas0/SqgDCWdZUKI/AAAAAAAAAGg/Y54U-zoGyoI/GEDC0130.JPG

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_yWXQNkzQas0/SqgDFKcPNdI/AAAAAAAAAGk/7OM1s9rkSPA/GEDC0131.JPG

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_yWXQNkzQas0/SqgDLTJpj6I/AAAAAAAAAHc/mt30EL764ZU/s720/GEDC0134.JPG

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_yWXQNkzQas0/SqgDNwBXqSI/AAAAAAAAAHk/C-N7VSS76zE/s720/GEDC0135.JPG

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_yWXQNkzQas0/SqgDPg5Tl3I/AAAAAAAAAHs/Q_9W7GnoM64/s720/GEDC0136.JPG

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_yWXQNkzQas0/SqgDVSA8FsI/AAAAAAAAAH0/pYMY3crp4YQ/s720/GEDC0138.JPG

[Matt Sconce]

Cool Location. I just finished reading the thread. Good stuff. Sorry to hear about the delay of the werewolf movie as they are friggin cool, but I am sure this will turn out great anyway! -Matt

[ZazaCast]

NICE location!

[Rodney V. Smith]

If I can schedule this properly I may be able to get Jaimyon to come out to shoot with us. I;d definitely consider that a score, but the house is getting full. Time to break out the sleeping bags.

[Marlon Ladd]

Man, that location is sah-weeeeeet. Very good find, sir. Very good find.

[Rodney V. Smith]

Thanks Zaza, Matt and Marlon. All it took was for me to finally take a walk around to see the potential of the place. Climbing out your window can sometimes give you great insight...

I gotta get more AA batteries and take pictures of the rest of the house.

[ZazaCast]

Climbing out your window can sometimes give you great insight...

Oh yeah...depending on what floor your on! :grin:

[Rodney V. Smith]

Oh yeah...depending on what floor your on! :grin:

I suppose. Having something out there to walk on certainly helps. But no I'm eying higher rooftops and balconies for the elusive angle... I'm thinking of askign the neighbours permission to shoot on their roofs to get one articular angle. Thankfully I can walk all the way across the other 9 roofs on this block.

Got batteries now. Taking pictures tomorrow.

[ZazaCast]

I LOVE rooftops, there's something about being above a city, looking down on humanity.
That's why we go cliff climbing in these parts! It puts things in perspective.

[Rodney V. Smith]

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_yWXQNkzQas0/SqkX0O5xquI/AAAAAAAAAIg/a1yeag4-w-I/s720/GEDC0145.JPG

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_yWXQNkzQas0/SqkYbT-Ry8I/AAAAAAAAAI4/LPD6fDEVLkQ/s720/GEDC0140.JPG

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_yWXQNkzQas0/SqkYj6mEaYI/AAAAAAAAAJQ/2Sc30lxyhO8/s720/GEDC0146.JPG

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_yWXQNkzQas0/SqkYd8-XX-I/AAAAAAAAAJA/ixMUYFZh1hM/s720/GEDC0152.JPG

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_yWXQNkzQas0/SqkYToUhb9I/AAAAAAAAAI0/FseZrJm_t_M/s720/GEDC0147.JPG

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_yWXQNkzQas0/SqkYKzsZWlI/AAAAAAAAAIo/Q3O6pox8EZQ/s720/GEDC0148.JPG

[Rodney V. Smith]

Now I gotta go take a walk in the park and see how quickly the cops crack down on me and my camera. I know the rules have changed recently which give provision for small groups, but still some cops like to give film crews a hard time.

[Sprocketboy]

Avoid using a tripod and having more than 4 people in your group. Try not to stay in any one place for longer than 30mins to an hour. If you need a shot on sticks, shoot from inside a parked vehicle. The smaller your rig -- the better. Follow these simple rules and you will be good to go in the Big Apple.

[Rodney V. Smith]

Avoid using a tripod and having more than 4 people in your group. Try not to stay in any one place for longer than 30mins to an hour. If you need a shot on sticks, shoot from inside a parked vehicle. The smaller your rig -- the better. Follow these simple rules and you will be good to go in the Big Apple.

Thanks dude. That's what I kind of figured from what I've been reading. Thankfully all of the shots in the park are handheld and are designed to be a one shot deal. I have my steadicam shipping up from ATL so might end up using that, but methinks that's a big attention grabber... as for small rigs... well...

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_yWXQNkzQas0/SqkfxY_4_FI/AAAAAAAAAKU/dKCeBmJ5QRo/s720/GEDC0153.JPG

[Sprocketboy]

Thanks dude. That's what I kind of figured from what I've been reading. Thankfully all of the shots in the park are handheld and are designed to be a one shot deal. I have my steadicam shipping up from ATL so might end up using that, but methinks that's a big attention grabber... as for small rigs... well... Yup. That's big, but I think you can still get away with it. Don't go in the subways or on train platforms. The MTA police will confiscate your camera if it looks like you are shooting instead of transporting it. The steadicam rig is definitely an attention getter... I wouldn't use it in the streets unless its used in a more closed neighborhood within the city. DSLRs are sounding better and better everyday. I have my eye on the Panasonic GH1. That cam would be great in the city.

[Rodney V. Smith]

I've been eyeing the GH1 ever since Solomon introduced me to his in LA (and got such great results on "Night Light"), but purchasing is so low on my priority list right now... **sigh**, I do wish I could buy a GH1 right now. It would make some of this shooting in NYC a lot easier.. especially in terms of carrying equipment.

That reminds me: need to pick up that equipment dolly for the shoot in the park...

[DarkElastic]

No where to rent, Rodders?

[Sprocketboy]

The only issue with the GH1 is recording your sound on a separate sound recorder and syncing it up to the footage later. In many cases, I would prefer that approach to sound recording (film cam and nagra), besides, the camera has more freedom to move around without having a sound mixer tethered to it.

Anyway... don't forget to use this while you are at it...

http://www.panavision.com.au/Images/News/June_2008_News/MovieBird.jpg