TheatreGuy's "ID"

Ted. I am totally blown away by what you were able to accomplish. It would be very easy to say you got a really good movie considering... But there's no considering about it. You've got a really movie, period.

I had to watch it several times to figure out how you did it. And that simulated rackover at the 1:11 mark, very clever.

Now the whole ladder setup makes sense. You had a lot of great setups.

Right from the opening title you have something special. If you can do this by yourself, I'd hate to see what you could accomplish with a full cast and crew...

Unfuckingbelievable.
 
Okay dokey... some secrets revealed!

The following is an account of how I made the ceiling drip blood!

Basically, the technique is not too difficult... just a big mess! (I recommend that you do like I did and WAIT until your wife goes to bed telling her that this shot can ONLY be completed at night! Big Lie!)

First, before you destroy part of your ceiling... it helps to HAVE to do a repair job! My ceiling was damaged when my wife accidently over-flowed the toilet bowl upstairs one day.

Well, having put the bathroom in myself, I knew that water would be filling the ceiling and eventually come down. Thinking quickly, I grabbed a drill and began punching holes into my ceiling, knowing that I would rather repair a bunch of small holes than to redo the entire ceiling. So, we have had small holes in the ceiling which I never got around to repairing and THIS worked perfectly to make my ceiling drip.

No, I DID NOT pour blood into my ceiling and let it drip... I did BLOT a lot of blood onto the ceiling and create the look.

I THEN used a spray bottle filled with SLIGHTLY watered downed blood and began to spray my ceiling with the blood.

>>> basically, the blotting made a nice foundation and the spraying made for nice drips!

BEFORE I did any of this, I laid down plastic, readied my lights, my ladder (of course!) and my camera.

NOW THIS NEXT PART IS CONFIDENTIAL!!!!

(Right!)

I have created a contraption that I stumbled on while building my own fig rig. Wanting a device that can assist with handheld and be set down without a stand, I discovered the Camera Cube (TM).

The Camera Cube (TM) will not only assists with handheld but protects my camera due to it's design. I am not going to go into depth or show detailed photos of the Camera Cube (TM) at this time, but it won't take much imagination to figure it out.

For the Blood dripping sequence, I place glass over one end of the Camera Cube (TM) to provide a clear but protected view of the subject ( the ceiling) and applied Plexiglass covering to the other sides to provide protection from the blood splashing about.

Okay, pictures please....

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These are 2 photos from my first attempt. (YES!!!!! I HAD TO DO THE DAMN THING TWICE!!!!!!!!!!! DON'T ASK!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IF YOU MUST KNOW, PM ME!!!!!!!!!)

You will notice that I had to place a roll of gaff tape under one side of the glass to keep the camera from reflecting into itself off the glass. (I wasn't pleased about this, but it worked.)

I got smart on the second time and just "panned" the camera off-center to keep the reflection out of frame.

Next pictures!!!

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Notice the great image in the LCD???

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Notice the huge mess???

The good news about the 2nd attempt was that because I had protected the camera on ALL sides with the plexiglass, I was able to get the blood dripping and ROTATE The Camera Cube (TM) to create the effect that "Tim" was looking up! I was delighted to make the best of a bad scenerio. Also, being that this shot took a second try, the ceiling had begun to get a nice red base of color making the effect even nicer!

NOW!!! Mind you, this used a lot of tape because I kept that camera rolling the whole time!!! From the first bit of blood until I had cleaned-up enough to actually touch my camera!

Following is a brief set of photos showing how I was able to make the blood drip onto my hand in the film. (No, I did not have a second person around to do that. That would have been nice!)

After trying to figure this out for quite awhile, I realized that we had plastic straws in the house!!!

I framed my camera, turned it on, took a straw and sucked up some blood, placed myself in the frame by looking at the LCD and began to "act" and "spit" blood onto my hand!

There is some very funny blooper roll on this.

After I did this succesfully, I viewed the footage and noticed that the straw was in the frame like a bad boom!

REDO!!!! Cut the straw to a shorter length and re-shoot!

Success! And that is what you saw in the film!

What you didn't see was the following!!!

Pictures!!!
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This next sequence is from a take when the straw fell out of my mouth and splattered blood about and created the second "stain" on my sock. (There was originally doing to only be one stain!)
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There you have it! Edit and cut and you have a bloody ceiling effect!!!

I hope that you enjoyed a little BTS secret to Ted's One-Man Circus!!!

Thanks for viewing!!!

Ted
 
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Ted your commitment is overwhelming!

compared to you i feel like a right slacker!

What do you think you'll tackle next?
 
Damn, that was awesome. If there is a festival for one-man crew shorts you need to go win it. I love this kind of stuff. Fortunately for me, I drove my wife off years ago so I can play with my ceiling with impunity!
 
hahahaha mark, thats hilarious... ted, holy crap! i didnt even THINK about your shots being that difficult... i was just mesmerized and continued to watch. YOU ARE BRILLIANT.

i hope we can collaborate down the road... how about some of my film school projects? ****... i'll pay for plane tickets to your place. (or for you to get here...) i think this would be a dream come true. you are a genius... (sp?)

btw, impossible was able to view the file i compressed w/o h.264 -- cant wait to hear his thoughts...
 
I gotta agree with Blaine on this one, its a great film regardless of the fact that its a one man effort. Considering that it is, well that raises it to an even higher level for me.

If your ever in LA, let me know, I could use a crew member like you (hell, you could replace about four average ones without breaking a sweat).

Way cool film.
 
Wow, Ted! Love the BTS stuff! LOVE IT! Great, great great! You know you're really not shooting it right unless you make a HUGE mess!
 
I have to tell you all, you are making this experience so rewarding for me.

I appreciate the comments, feedback and constructive criticism that I am receiving. It is so beneficial to have this opportunity to watch so many films, critique and be critiqued.

I cannot wait to put what I've learned here into my next project. (Darkline, I don't know what project that will be... I guess it depends on what Jarred and the mods put forth!)

I hope that my next film will receive the attention and feedback that I have found here, if only to prove that I have listened to what was said and implement them.

I have and am learning a lot.

Thank you all so much for everything that you share with me.

I cannot tell you how much it means to be a part of this community.

Ted

(and khmuse, Blaine your input to this thread is so appreciated. Your words mean a lot. And I would LOVE to work on a project with you guys!)
 
Mark, Rezfactor, Kyle - you guys know how I feel about you! Thanks so much!!! You guys ROCK!!!

msconce - my pleasure! thanks!
 
Thanks B-man! You ROCK the most of anyone on this site. You are the pillar of hope, wisdom and resource for so many. Me the most!

Thanks for all that you do, man.

Ted
 
F*ck, f*ck, f*cking, f*ck! This one was pretty f*cking good. Another entry where I felt like I was actually watching a film. The ending felt a little abrupt and forced. I feel like you could have ended it with a little more ambiguity.

Pacing was good. Photography was excellent. Acting was good and it co-starred my favorite f*cking curse word! :)

I like the whole knocking from behind the basement door thing. Why in the hell would he grab a flashlight and go down there? WTF is he thinking? :huh:

Good f*cking job.


John G.
 
I think that what Ted's job here has is a theatrical essence that makes it such a lovely viewing experience. It is so simple to watch yet shows so many professional aspects in planning and delivering that makes it stand out.
I believe that if Ted had a few of the talented guys in here helping him with a bigger crew and some equipment he would deliver a possible winner. That is because he showed that telling a story is a piece of cake for this guy.
 
Oh and by the way, the intro in the cemetary is one of the most professional single sequences I've seen so far and possibly in the Top3 of intros in the fest.
Ted if you're listening, think about this. The planning and the shooting of the cemetary scene must have been so small in comparison to the rest of the film, yet you managed to make it look PROFESSIONAL LIKE HELL! So think about what you can do with just the camera and without all the ladders, ceilings and lights. In this intro you have showed that one dont need nothing more than a camera and his creativity (and an NLE of course...hehe).
 
cinealma said:
F*ck, f*ck, f*cking, f*ck! This one was pretty f*cking good. Another entry where I felt like I was actually watching a film. The ending felt a little abrupt and forced. I feel like you could have ended it with a little more ambiguity.

Pacing was good. Photography was excellent. Acting was good and it co-starred my favorite f*cking curse word! :)

I like the whole knocking from behind the basement door thing. Why in the hell would he grab a flashlight and go down there? WTF is he thinking? :huh:

Good f*cking job.


John G.
Hey John, Thanks a lot!!! The ending is abrupt in purpose and I would do that differently in the future.

The basement door thing is REALLY SPECTACULAR to see when you get the DVD. You really can't make out that the door is shaking off of it's hinges!!!

And the guy goes down there because he is "balls-of-steel butthole who doesn't believe the tricks his mind is playing on him." (unless, you were kidding.)

Thanks for viewing and commenting!

Ted
 
Wow Ted,

Cool contraption. Excellent film! The basement scene freaked me out. I was like what the hell are you going down there for? Dont you know you are in a horror flick? I enjoyed all the different angles you got on your shots in the house. And the depth of field used like the cellphone on the counter.
The hand in the bushes... nightmares for me!! I did not understand the "lying, cheating sack of sh**" line in the end and how that fit into him shooting himself. And ended a bit abruptly.
Overall, excellent. And that woman reminds me of carrie. Scary stuff!!
 
cinealma said:
Why in the hell would he grab a flashlight and go down there? WTF is he thinking? :huh:

Yes, I was making this statement as an audience member, shouting at the screen. :thumbsup:


John G.
 
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