Obligatory Gun Post

I'm still taking college classes, albeit in the Digital Photography realm instead of Film/Animation.  Even so, I keep my finger on the pulse of the film scene by making movies (shorts) with friends and classmates and by hanging around in the Digital Arts/Film lab with my homies.  My class meets the same night as the Advanced Cinematography class (which I've taken twice), so I found out after the first night of class that my script wasn't the one chosen for the Western they're shooting this year.  Turns out the other rejected student script was written by a guy I met on a student set last year who just happened to have been stationed at my old intelligence unit in Korea.  Small world!

Anyway, Derek is a fellow firearms enthusiast and managed to get himself assigned as Armorer for the film (I was Armorer for all three Pima productions I helped make).  First thing he asked me after Night One was whether I had any guns capable of firing blanks the school could use.  If you'll recall an old post of mine, purpose-built blank-firing guns are good for theater, but suck royally on film because they look fake and in the case of Westerns, don't generate the pleasant cloud of gunsmoke we all expect.

So I said, "Yeah, a .38 (pictured, top) and a .44 Ruger."  I knew that wasn't optimal, because we'd have to manage two different calibers of blanks and since they come in lots of 50, we'd have to buy lots more than we'd use.  I say "we" as the Production, as I had 50 smoke blanks on hand, but they were full-power... not what you want to use around a bunch of actors, crew, and a horse or two.    

We toyed with the idea of using black powder cap-and-ball revolvers without the "ball," but since we'd never done it before, decided to go the safe route by using commercially made low-power smoke blanks.

Since there were two separate guns slated to be shot shooting in the movie, I decided I needed to pad my inventory.  These (pictured, middle and bottom) arrived today.  I also ordered a rubber gun replica from blueguns.com because, "Pima, you're not dropping, sliding, or throwing my FUSKING GUNS!!"  Yeah, all of those were called for in the script. 

BTW, the new guns are Uberti.  With these and all the cap-and-ball revolvers I have, I should be knighted in Italy for keeping their industry alive.

Back to Work, Slave!

My DigiPhoto II class was canx'd due to low enrollment, so I guess I'll just have to make photos and movies elsewhere!

During my winter road trip, I penned a couple of movie scripts, one of which I'll submit for the college's Advanced Cine. class this fall.  They're doing a Western (!!!) so I might even take the class again, not at least just to play with the school's new RED camera. 

Got back to the Ole Pueblo just in time to mic Nine Buddhas' "Abnormal Psychology," a comedy starring the awesome Mark Klugheit.  Mark was featured in Pima College's 2011 film noir "By Line" and is a regular 9B player.  If I was a big Tucson theater fan, I'd know what plays he's done....

For the past few years, I've been the 9B Sound Director in several 48-Hour Film Challenges, but for the Almost Famous Film Festival challenge next month, I've formed a team with some of my college chums and volunteered (or appointed myself) to be Director of Photography as a welcome break from the mic.  We've prepared a few scripts to adapt for the Challenge, but until H-Hour, we don't know the theme, prop, or line of dialog required by the contest, so we might have to write, cast, and schedule something on the fly that Friday night.

At least I won't have to hang an all-nighter during the Sunday editing... instead I'll take my truck full of movie gear to the Flight in the Eye Productions' trailer shoot for their Western "Lonesome Town."  Hopefully, they'll like my work well enough to let me shoot their whole movie.

With any luck, we'll all have fun and make plans to shoot some of the other scripts in the ensuing months.

Last Batch

Then it's Digi-Photo II next semester!  Beats workin'.

Furniture

Wonder if I'll get in trouble for printing this in the college photo lab?  Naw, this is Arizona!

Two more classes left!

Top to bottom, 1945 Springfield M-1 Garand, 1918 Springfield 1903, 1919 Enfield SMLE III*.

Rags and a Ragtop

I'm mighty thankful for friends who're willing to make a dozen U-turns on a sparsely traveled road or go all ninja on produce in their front yards.

We had our second Digital Photography critique last night and I've discovered the secret to avoiding the long silence until someone in class finally pops up with an awkward "I like the colors in that one." I just kept talking and outside of a few comments from the perfessor, was met with amused silence (I even had a joke to start my presentation).

I wonder how much of that silence was Camera Envy... here I am in a beginning photography class where half of my classmates are using the school's basic Canons -- and the Pentax from which I upgraded would be considered an upgrade for the instructor. Several of my classmates had great frozen motion action shots taken with a single snap of the shutter; I know some of their cameras have burst modes, but maybe they were waiting for the instructor to teach that? I made myself learn how to shoot Continuous Mode when I found out the requirements of the assignment (the feature was in no way a factor in my buying the 7D, which I knew to be a great HD movie camera).

Since the next assignment is going to feature the Quality of Lighting, maybe I'll use the Pentax instead.

Lisa the Biker Chick

My bestie Lisa the Biker Chick has endured some tough times since her motorcycle accident a few years ago.  Her injuries and the medications to treat them led to weight gain, a dependency on the narcotics to cope with the pain, and a bout of pneumonia, Now, after several surgeries and a determination to free herself from prescription painkillers, Lisa has bounced back.

I was surprised when she agreed to a photo shoot for my DigiPhoto class assignment... even more surprised when I saw she was back down to her Hot Biker Chick Figure.

I'm sure her Boyfriend is even happier for her.

Her girlfriend Sascha, too.

New Banner, Maybe?

Really digging the Digital Photography class!  It's forced me out of the Auto mode and has me balancing aperture, speed, and ISO on the fly.  I still haven't bothered to get a gray card yet (don't tell my professor).  Pretty soon, it'll probably force me out of the house so I'd actually have to interact with people and photograph them.

Break a Leg!

Several of my Advanced Video homies have lost footage from their capstone projects on Pima's video lab computers this week, including a few projects on which I'd helped capture audio. If Pima can't recover them, it looks like we'll have to scramble to reshoot a few days scenes. Imagine the frustration of these film makers and their on-screen talent scrambling to save their projects from this immense suckitude.

Meet the Boyds

Final project for Illustration Techniques...

I didn't draw the background.

I'm no Chris Muir

But I do have a web comic! Or web graphic novelette. Or six pics and a story that busted my ass for a few weeks.

Gives me a greater appreciation for folks like Mr. Muir who can meet a daily deadline providing such great content.

Don't bother picking technical nits; I know nothing about IAF operations, computer virii, or Iran that the average Tom Clancy reader doesn't know. I actually wrote this wondering what kind of graphic novel would Clancy write? (So, it's long on exposition and short on action... at least I didn't model it after a W.E.B. Griffin novel.)

Illustrator: Graphic Novel

The final for Adobe Illustrator CS5 class requires us to illustrate a graphic novel. I didn't know we didn't have to write one ourselves, but why waste the opportunity?

No SFX Here

The hardest-working men on a movie set are usually the Grips, who'll haul and erect lights, lay dolly track, install car mounts, and strap everything down with gaffers tape or weigh it down with heavy sandbags -- all for a shot that might get two seconds of screen time. On a Action Movie set like ours, the talent gives them a run for their money. The protagonist of Ninja Quest, Ryan Amstutz (right) not only ran and jumped his butt off through many takes of Parkour action Friday, but sparred tirelessly on the mat with his antagonist every chance he got, preparing to do movie battle on the concrete warehouse floor.


Once on the concrete Sunday, Ryan and Jamal Alexander continued to get their choreography down perfectly. After all that and many, many takes from multiple camera angles, Ryan had bounced his elbows off the floor a few too many times and they'd begun to swell with fluid. Ryan soldiered on and delivered a great performance.

As I was helping unload the production truck, carrying heavy equipment on sore, aching feet, I thought back to Ryan's feat of endurance, gritted my teeth, and finished the job. If only I could've looked as cool as Ryan doing it.

Cowboy Blob: Special FX to the Stars

Robyn was a real trooper when I made her up for her death scene. She even asked for a dose of stage blood in her mouth (minty Ben Nye variety) and reloads between takes. The shooter, PJ Peavy, playing a veteran police detective, was coached by the director to "Mozambique" her target, though it's kinda obvious that Sonny, the drug lab cook, wasn't wearing a vest. Hey, you try pausing while someone's shooting a shotgun at you.

I was equally impressed when Robyn drove home from the set without washing off the make up. I can imagine the expression of someone pulling up next to her in traffic.

As much as I would have loved to try some explosive blood squibs, we didn't have to time or money to do it right (plus, shots were comped for frontal shots, and despite what you see on YouTube and bad Hollywood FX, entry wounds don't explode out of your chest... exit wounds explode out the back.







Young Dylan was gunned down off-screen in his pajamas by a stray bullet.













Jamal's bad guy character "Loki" got beat up by the hero and left behind in a burning drug lab. It just wasn't his day.

Eye bruising was done by our conventional Make-up Crew.

Ninja Quest: In the Can

After four long days on the set, I can almost forget I ever wanted to choke out any of my crewmates/classmates during the grueling production. This pic was taken on Wrap Day, when we could finally see the light at the end of the warehouse/tunnel.

In the interest of my blog content, the young lady is holding my Winchester 1300 Lady Defender 20 gauge. Robyn was kind enough to fall with it onto the rubber mat during her death scene. Besides armorer/props, I did her special FX make-up later.

Sorry

A little short on time and energy this week to blog. Jennifer and I and 20 others are making a movie.

Not Quite Hallmark, is it?

But it got some giggles in class.

Behold my Adobe Illustrator Mid-Term. Rather than have an in-class evaluation, our new instructor decided we should demonstrate the stuff we learned by making a get-well card for our previous instructor, who's out for the rest of the semester recovering from quintuple bypass surgery.

Speedy Recovery, Steve!

Hey Blogger, Wanna Review a Movie?

My next Illustrator assignment will be to create a movie poster. I intended to make one for "Top Shot Audition" anyway, but one of the requirements is that I have to work in two movie reviews. There is a chance that Jean Jessup might have her November "First Friday Shorts "reviews up in time for me to squeeze it in, but that's only one review... and I might miss submitting in November if I have to work that night. Good thing I have all of you friends in the New Media!

Could you watch and post a review of Top Shot Audition on your blog? I value your feedback and want to get more than just the three YouTube comments, the first of which was mellow-harshingly negative.

You do not have to write a positive review. You do not have to link me or the video. You do not have to even mention the title, but if you're gonna be that vague, please let me know how to recognize the post as a review of my work. A link to your post in my comments will help my readers and me find your review.

What's in it for you? If I use an excerpt of your review on the poster, I'll post a Blog Ad for your blog on my side bar and keep it there for the rest of the year! Thanx in advanx!

(Of course, in it for me besides the feedback is greater audience reach and hopefully a growing number of folks who want to see a Cowboy Blob Production. Besides the dozens who only know them as shooting match videos.)

Sigh... Another Movie!

This was last year's Adv. Cine./Location Audio work, a film noir.

Small Pond

Met up with some fellow film-makers tonight, both retired LEOs. They're looking for cheap (free) and reliable movie labor/expertise. It's easy to find acting and film school grads in this town, but not so easy getting one to your shoot on a weekend, as most of them are asking whether their customer would wish to upgrade the portion size of yon side-dish and beverage. While I'm full up til the end of the year, I'll probably only take one or two classes in the Spring.

After I lamented the weak turnout to the school's casting call, Al showed me the casting book for a movie he wants to shoot soon. I was like, "Wow! She starred in my Advanced Video movie last year. I think she's working at Old Tucson Studios now." "Hey, he was in this year's movie!" And of course, "Linda's been in every other Pima movie ever made and about a third of the individual movies." Sure, there were lots of faces I didn't recognize, but I was amazed I knew so many of the talents of Tucson after two years in school and the occasional indie short.

I think these guys are going to keep me busy next year.

Look Where a Whole Week Went!

At least I got my new iPhone working!

Been a busy week... might be a busy weekend too, with Casting Calls.