AGTC, Part II

AGTC to screen Monday, March 7, 2005, 6:30 pm, at the Icehouse, 429 W Jackson St in downtown Phoenix.

AGTC, Part I

Congratulate ourselves! We finished the Almost Famous Film Festival 48 Hour Film Challenge just in time. Our film, Applied Genomics Technologies Corporation (AGTC), came together with no time for intermediate blogging, and barely time for sleep, or other human necessities, like food and water.

The idea for AGTC came to me a few weeks ago while scouting locations for Intense Math. Though I had visited the Burton Barr Branch of the Phoenix Public Library before, this was the first time the clouded glass and stainless steel decor caught my cinematic eye. The idea for a futuristic corporate espionage thriller was immediately apparant.

This was one of a dozen or so concepts we had brainstormed in the days leading up to the challenge. It was only a matter of what best fit the surprise challenge parameters, and minor details like plot, characters, and screenplay. When the requirements were announced (theme: missed opportunities, prop: bench, dialog: "Excuse me, but did you drop this?"), the most obvious fit was a lilting unrequited love story involved filming on the city buses.

However, that idea was almost too easy, so we began to develop the futuristic thriller concept. By midnight, we took a break, got some fresh air, and reeled at how out of control the idea has gotten--fourteen characters; just as many slick locations; complex techno-speak dialog; wardrobe for everyone; badges; memory cards; computer graphics; ambitious shots as crowded public locales. This was impossible! We were very ready to scrap the idea for yet another story idea that had been brewing for over six months, perhaps more ambitious, yet more streamlined to execute. Quickly, Brock convinced me that this was worth doing. Recommited, we cranked out the screenplay in the next hour.

Saturday I was up early, editing the screenplay, calling friends and family, designing art, buying costumes and audio gear. To the location, getting people dressed, makeup and hair. Picking up shots here and there, working around the crowds, feeling edgy and close to being ejected from the building, more phone calls, people falling through, improvising, protecting for crazy aspect ratios, and shooting until the moment the location closed.

After dinner, it was back home and on to capturing. Frantically sorting the footage into scene buckets, then bed. Up early again Sunday morning, rough edit, fine edit, audio edit, master edit, scoring, more edits, back to tape, and in the car at 5:25 and a long way from the downtown drop-off location. Traffic snarls, too many people in the car, near misses, and downtown with a minute or two to spare.

Does it sound frantic? It was, and is. I'm on an adrenaline rush that will take does to come down from.

Notes: Brock, Angie, Micah, John, Larry, Ken, Allison, superb performances all. The dialog was not easy. Taking chances on cinematic aspect ratios paid off nicely. It's my first 2.35:1 project. We must be getting better with practice, since we got everything in 3:40 shooting time, 1:30 raw footage, 7.5 minutes final cut. Total time on the project during the 48 hour window: 32 hours.

My Brothers!

Congratulations, boys! You are officially in print in the Phoenix New Times. Jeremy wielding the camera, Carl folding like a fiend. Matter of Chance Productions is on the map. All we have to do now is deliver the goods!

Huh?

That's right. I'm back.

I thought this was interesting: http://movies.yahoo.com/boxoffice/latest/rank.html.

When you get there do a search on that page for "Days of Being Wild" and be amazed at the results. Did I miss something? When did this warrant a re-release? Where can I see it on the big screen? All questions that need to be answered.

Have a good day.

Intense Math, Part I

Today we shot Intense Math, our submission to the Phoenix Film Project Screen Wars comedy challenge. Brock H. Brown and I co-directed, I DoP'd, Angie did hair and wardrobe, and Bryan Brantingham did Grip work. Gabriel Loyer stars in the 3-minute short film, with support from Brad Brantingham and Chris Dean.

Our location was the Pulliam Auditorium at the Burton Barr branch of the Phoenix Public Library. We had the location confirmed from noon to four. However, when we arrived, we had difficulty, as usual. Security had no record of the confirmation. After we ironed that out and headed into the auditorium, we found a carpet cleaning crew. The chairs were not set up and the guys had another hour and half of cleaning to do from a wedding that was held the night before. So, we toured the library, grabbed a bite to eat and headed back to start at two.

The lighting and gels worked out well, but the dolly did not work as well as expected. However, I think the footage is workable. The ambitious overhead shot was not framed right, it may not make the cut. Otherwise, the setups and choice of lenses worked great.

Rebecca Kinkead 2005

I just put the finishing touches on an update to Boston-area artsist Rebecca Kinkead's web site. Now featured are her Lineage and Microscopy series of new works. The web site can't do justice to the detail of these latest arylic and ink on panel pieces. However, we may have one to see up close very soon. Becky is my aunt Mary Beth's sister, and continues to take her art to new heights with each passing year. An older work, The Wait, graces the cover of the ever-soon-to-be-released The Moon Is No More album.