Burrow Log Up Now!!

Check it out HERE!

Written and Directed by Ryan Scott (staplesx2.com), and shot by myself.

Burrow Log This Saturday

Sorry for the lack of love this week. It's been crazy busy, and I just haven't had time lately.

I will have "The Burrow Log" up this weekend on my website, so check that out.

Here's a couple of stills from the shoot.

Burrow Log Set Stills

I got a chance to take a look at a rough cut of the short film "The Burrow Log" that we shot this weekend. And I have to say it looks fantastic. Ryan Scott, the filmmaker behind "Burrow Log" has done a great job. I can't wait to share that with you.

In the meantime, you'll have to settle with a couple of stills from the shoot this weekend.

Here's the cast and crew. Ryan Scott's hand is on the left. I'm hiding behind the tree. Scott Green with his hand on the grip stand. Tyler Roberd's (Ethan) and James Austin Kerr (James) chillin' on the tree. Ty McCarthy with his hands in his pockets, and Dustin Faust taking the photo.

We used a Canon XH-A1 with a Redrock Micro Lens Adapter and a 35mm, 50mm, and 85mm Zeiss SLR lenses.
The director (Ryan) and the DP (me). I had to throw this in here because Staples (Ryan) hated so much.

Here's Tyler and James rehearsing the scene.

Next time, I'll talk a little about what our lighting technique was and working with the Redrock Micro.

Free Sundance Shorts

Hey, just wanted you guys to know this if you haven't seen it yet.

itunes (http://itunes.com/sundance) has 10 short films from Sundance for free, but only until Jan. 25.

I know some are labeled "EXPLICIT" so if that is something that may offend you then just beware. I haven't gotten through them all so I can't vouch for the "EXPLICIT" rating.

I think it's always a good to take a look at other filmmakers work, especielly those that are getting excepted to festivals.

Weekend, Out

Alright... It was a long day on Saturday but we got it done, and from what I've seen, I think that the footage looks pretty good.

Ryan Scott, the writer/director/producer of the short, is already smashing away on the keyboard trying to get this thing edited. And I'll keep you updated on that.

I added a work page to my website, so you can also check there for the video, and others. I'm going to be loading old work up there as often as I can. I already have "Aspen Roots" up, featuring Ryan Scott and Brittany Joyner.

We shot "Aspen Roots" in one evening, with us and a couple of crew guys to hold the boom mic and a bounce card, which was a similar set up to the "Burrow Log." "Aspen Roots" was really just a test, so that Ryan and I could play with some new equipment, and we ended up sending it to a couple of short film festivals. And it actually got into a Denver Festival.

Ryan was able to go up there and "claims" to have had a good time, even though we walked away with nothing but a notch in our belt. Not bad though, for a something we shot in one afternoon and spent about $50 on.

Anyway, as soon as I have more on the "Burrow Log," I'll let you know.

Excuses, excuses...

Here they come...

So, I apologize for the lack of posting this week, it's been a busy week. We have had a lot of pre-production for a couple of projects at work, and we have been getting ready for a shoot this weekend, and I have been working on updating my website work page.

So... all that to say, I'm sorry. After today, I'll have more time to post some more stuff, and I'll get you guys some stills from the shoot today.

In the meantime, you can head over to IndieWire (<- that is a link) and check out the speech Ted Hope gave at the Art House Convergence. He has some really great points for all areas of the filmmaking process. Also, if you haven't yet, check out his blog Truly Free Film.(<- also a link)

Have a good weekend!

No Money... No Problem

Okay... An excuse I used to use was, "if I only had that expensive writing software, that helps me format a script correctly, than I would write more." Well... that's not a valid excuse anymore. A friend of mine recommended this software to me, a while back, and... what can I say? It's fantastic. And the best part is that it is totally free!

I know this sounds like a cheesy infomercial you might see during the day, but I don't know how else to put it. The software is called Celtx, apparently prounounced, (Kel-Tex.) You can find it here.

So what's the big deal? It's a screenwriting software, for free! "So I can do that in Word," you say. Well does word allow you to tag characters, props and locations, and then automatically load them into a production reports for you, huh? Can you automatically print call sheets from Word, huh? Huh? Well, can you? I didn't think so.

Here's a screenshot of the main window.I know that's kind of small but you really ought to head to celtx.com, and check it out. They've got several tutorial/videos so that you can see how helpful this can be. It's available to download for Mac, PC and Linux, so again, no excuses!

Being organized is an important aspect of production. By being organized, it allows you to be more creative and not have to worry about things, like missing shots, missing actors, missing props, missing coffee... what!? Where's my coffee?!

What I Want This to Be... or Why Should You Care

I think my overall goal for this is sharing. I'm not a guru, nor do I claim to be. I'm just wanting to create a place to share information that, I think, would have been helpful if someone had told me when I was starting out.

Don't count on getting useful tidbits every day, because, on occasion, I like to rant. (I also like commas, if that's grammatically incorrect, I'm sorry,,, I didn't study English.) But as this thing grows, I would like to share my knowledge in all areas of production with an emphasis on "No-Budget" because that's what I know.

For example, we just shot a short film, that premiered at a the Denver Festivus Festival, for less than $100. Of course we didn't have to buy equipment, mics and computers, because we already own them.

Speaking of projects, that's another area that I would like to share. I learn best from doing. It seems that I learn something new on every project. Not to mention, a little shameless promotion never hurt anybody.

Well, I've wasted enough of your time.

Blog...What Blog?

So, you expected to pop over here and find a blog in full bloom, with cool pictures, awesome videos and words of advice... but got this instead, right?

My bad... I just got this thing put together and am still in the process of getting it to look right. So, if you'll bare with me, I'll get it finished soon, and hopefully begin posting before the weekend is up.

Anyway, Thanks for stopping by and take it easy.