A Nice Review of the Sealed Fates Score

Randall D. Larson at Buysoundtrax.com has reviewed Ronnie Doyles "compelling" score for Sealed Fates. Here are some quotes:

SEALED FATES is quite a good score that evokes and maintains a cool atmosphere of fatalism as it progresses.

The score conveys an interesting texture throughout...[b]ut above all is the dominating pattern of Doyle’s primary theme, which propels the score along with a slow yet relentless cadence.

You can find the full review here.

And you can find the score at bandcamp.com.

Congratulations, Ronnie!

Related articles

• Sealed Fates Gets an IMDB Page (talesfromthecellar.com)

Theme Song for The Fixer

The ever-prolific Lee Doll has a new series about to debut called The Fixer. In addition to the usual production team of Lee himself, Rob Long, and Jeff Herberger, one of my oldest friends, Steve Rifkin, wrote the screenplay (and also has a cameo). It stars Brian St. August and Sealed Fates alum Al Guy (who also did stunt choreography). As usual, I'm doing some visual effects. Looking forward to it.

Sealed Fates Gets an IMDB Page

Joe Ripple, our director, announced this week that the page is up. You can find the link here. I guess that means I'm officially a produced screenwriter. Yay!

It's also great to now formally be listed as a film editor and cinematographer. We all wear a lot of hats.

There are still more credits that need to be added, and a lot more detail about the film, but it'll get there. Plus I'm hoping we get promotion going in 2011.

imdb, filmmaking, screenwriting

Related articles

• Introducing Less IMDb (johnaugust.com)


• Should IMDB Show Actors' Ages? (thefrisky.com)


• IMDb Relents And Allows BitTorrent Movie The Tunnel a Listing (torrentfreak.com)


• IMDb Launches Android App and Announces "IMDb Everywhere" Initiative (eon.businesswire.com)

The Artful Writer Takes Screenwriting Consultants to Task

Craig Mazin, a working screenwriter, had some interesting comments about paying for a screenwriting consultant, or buying a book written by one of the so-called screenwriting gurus. He makes some good points, and I think his heart is in the right place. But not every reader agrees. There's a heated discussion in the comments section. Whether you agree with him or with one of the readers, that post is well worth checking out.

Personally, I've read quite a few screenwriting books, and I believe there is some value in them, but you can't expect to read books and become a career screenwriter. And Mazin is definitely right when he says,

"You’re far better off reading screenplays (lots of places on the internet to do that) and watching movies."

But I do like to read books, and as Terry Rossio put it in comment #22, 

"You might have overlooked one of the main reason why many people buy screenwriting books, from authors who don’t actually write screenplays.

Procrastination."

Read the post here.

screenwriting

Related articles

• Those who can't write, teach seminars (johnaugust.com)


• Reader Question: What is the best way to learn screenwriting? (gointothestory.com)


• Tips for Revising Action in Your Screenplay (brighthub.com)

DIY Follow Focus Solutions

Image via Wikipedia

theBlackandBlue Web site posted an article, with a lot of photos, about building your own follow focus for your DSLR camera. Some of them look really nice. Check it out here.

dslr, filmmaking, cinematography, diy

Related articles

• DIY DLSR follow focus with K'nex (makezine.com)


• Camera Hacks: A Follow Focus Rig For a Few Bucks (pcworld.com)

Off-Beat Review of Dohler Documentary

Here's a fun review of Blood, Boobs, and Beast, the documentary about cult filmmaker Don Dohler. Also, visit the site of the documentary filmmaker John Kinhart.

Related articles

• Nightbeast (1982) (horror-movie-a-day.blogspot.com)

Testing Simple Twitter Connect

Image via CrunchBase

I found yet another Wordpress to Twitter plugin. This one seems really well constructed, so I'm giving it a shot.  This is my first try. Click here for the plugin site.

Related articles

• Simple Twitter Connect WordPress plugin: Twitterize your Site (shoutmeloud.com)


• WordPress Plugins Wishlist - Plugins I Would Like To See Created & Working (digitalvegetarian.com)

Timewarp's Juggling Act

My buddy Rob at Smash or Trash posted a very nice write-up about the projects we at Timewarp have going on. Check it out here.

timewarp films, filmmaking, horror

60 Best Blogs for Aspiring Screenwriters

Image via Wikipedia

http://www.bachelorsdegree.org has posted links to some great screenwriting and filmmaking sites. Check it out here.

Related articles

• Screenwriting 101 -- Alex Garland (gointothestory.com)


• The Business of Screenwriting: Never send out a script before it's ready (gointothestory.com)

Sintel Now Available Online

Image via Wikipedia

The wait is over. The Blender Foundation's 3rd open movie is done! It premiered,  and is ready for download here. The DVD should be available soon. I pre-ordered that, and am really excited to watch all the extras.

Congrats to the team of artists and developers who made it happen. I know from experience how hard it is to put together a film project -- of any size.

And my heartfelt thanks for the hard work on Blender 2.5. It's getting closer to 2.6 and it's looking great!

blender cgi sintel

Related articles by Zemanta

• Blender made film 'Sintel' released online (omgubuntu.co.uk)


• Blender Foundation release stunning independent short film Sintel (geek.com)


• Sintel released (slangkamp.wordpress.com)


• Blender as an animation editor (wolfire.com)

Support Garden of Hedon on IndieGoGo

Kangas Kahn Films, LLC, is going back into production this fall with its latest feature "Garden of Hedon." I don't have many details, but I did hear the director say it's a mystery/horror with some elements like "the best ten minutes of Eyes Wide Shut." So, I guess anything goes in this one.

They're looking for some extra financing, so please check out the site and consider a donation. There are come cool perks, including exclusive production updates and your name in the credits. From the IndieGoGo site:

“Gardon of Hedon” is a mystery/horror about a detective who wakes up in a surreal house where every pleasure is indulged. Drugs. Sex. Gambling.

It’s all there and more…including murder.

It’s going to be a mix of giallo and fantastique, with a healthy does of American mystery.

People ask us all the time how they can get involved in our movies—well, here’s the chance!

We’ll be shooting it in November, and we need help securing the final funds! (total budget is $20K, of which we have 75%)

Check out the perks! We’ve come up with what we think are some great incentives to donate! Want your name in the credits of a flick? There’s TONS of ways to do it here!

Kangas does have a good track record so far, with his first three films (Hunting Humans and Fear of Clowns 1&2) distributed-- the latter two by Lionsgate.

This film will be shot on with a Red. That should be cool!

filmmaking, horror, mystery, financing, indie

So, you think filmmaking is easy?

Only if you're clowning around.

Yeah, the lead-in is a bad pun for a link to a great log about how hard it is to complete a feature film and get distribution. Kangas Kahn Films, owned and operated by a friend of mine, has had some success making features. Kangas is most known for the Fear of Clowns films (see... bad pun). The first one was distributed by Lions Gate, and he's working on a deal for the second.

The logs really drive home how hard it is to make a feature-length film without studio backing. I've been reading for a while, and I can soooo relate to a lot of what he says. Sometimes I just laugh hysterically, and sometimes want to strangle the nimrod(s) doing to him what I've had done to me.

If you're interested in making your own movie, read these blogs. If you still want to make a movie, you're one of us, and have some sort of mental defect -- like all us low-budget filmmakers. :lol:

Fear of Clowns log

Fear of Clowns 2 log

Hunting Humans saga

filmmaking, distribution, low-budget

References for the New Crawler

A while ago, an artist posted what he called a "mood map" along with his latest creation. It was filled with images that served as references, but also as inspiration. I thought that was a great idea. So, I decided to do the same for the redesign of the Crawler. This is what I came up with.

FX Explosion for "Louanna Lee"

FX Text Explosion from DarkCellar on Vimeo.

Last year, producer Lee Doll started filming a pilot series call "The Adventures of Louanna Lee" (sort of like the old Nancy Drew mysteries) with his teenage daughter in the title role. Talk about a great way to stay close to your kids.

Since then, he's completed and release episode 1, and episode 2 is due out this month. He's also produced a slew of music videos as well.

I came out to grip a couple of times for the first 2 episodes. It was a lot of fun--especially since I know most of the cast and crew. Among them are Timewarp regulars Leanna Chamish and George Stover, who play Louanna's mother and grandfather respectively, as well as my buddy Rob Long (production design) and Jeff Herberger (director/dp).

For episode 3, Lee asked if I could do some FX to help spice things up. I was happy to get involved. He asked what I could do--they hadn't locked the script yet, and wanted to see if I could suggest something I could pull off convincingly. I said, "how about blowing up a building." He and Jeff liked that idea and they wrote something to that effect into the story. As a proof of concept, they asked if I could do a test shot for them. Jeff sent me footage of what they use as the family house in the show, and the above video is what I came up with. They seemed to like it, so we're going to do the real shot for the show--though Lee said we might be able to use this shot as well.

filmmaking, vfx, after effects

Photo Gallery from the Sealed Fates Premiere

Rob at Smash or Trash Indie Filmmaking has published a slew of photos from the premiere. I like this one the best :)

Click here for the rest.

indie, filmmaking, horror

Back to Work on Crawler Starting in May

I know a lot of folks--cast and crew, as well as Timewarp fans--have been wondering when (and if) it would ever be finished. Well, the FX will be completed, and I'm shooting for the end of this year.

A lot of work has has already been done, and some FX are in the can. But one thing I plan to do is rework the look of the creature. While Don and Joe were okay with it, I was never completely satisfied. And I think now that my skills have improved and the tools available are simply amazing (I'll be using the current version of ZBrush--check out the mind-blowing gallery), I want to go for something that will WOW people. Don always said that the creature would make of break the movie, and I don't want to let him down.

Over the last few months, in addition to finishing Sealed Fates, I've been ramping up my CG skills to get ready. I hope to have the new Crawler ready by sometime in June, then fully rigged to animate by August. That leaves several months to do the rest.

I plan to post updates as much as possible with stills, clips, etc. So, stay tuned.

vfx, don dohler, crawler, zbrush, cgi

SEALED FATES World Premiere at the Carroll Arts Center

My buddy Rob Long had some nice things to say about our premiere of Sealed Fates as he sums up the evening. Here's an excerpt:

All three stories (Brick By Brick, Collections, Man’s Best Friend) had terrific acting across the board; probably the strongest cast that Timewarp Films has had to date – and also one of the largest casts as well.

Click here for the full article.

indie, filmmaking, horror, timewarp

Poster Art for Sealed Fates

[caption id="attachment_212" align="aligncenter" width="240" caption="Created by Robert B. Long II"][/caption]

Check out the great artwork my buddy Rob created for the film. We also corrected a grammatical error from the previous version. Is there such a thing as a claustrophobic trilogy? I didn't know trilogies had feelings. ;)

Premiere date set for Sealed Fates

 

After a three-year run, we at Timewarp Films are  finally wrapping up production on or latest feature Sealed Fates. It's been a long road with many interesting stories, which I'll save for another post. But we're finally ready to show this thing. Here's the official release from our Producer/Director Joe Ripple:

The time is upon us. I'm proud to announce the official premiere for "Sealed Fates."

We will be having the Premiere on Saturday, April 3rd, 2010. The time will be 7:00, although we have the theater space from 7:00 p.m. until 11:00 p.m. - which means we may show the film around 8:00. This gives everyone a bit of time to catch up, chat a bit, and so forth.

The location will be the "Carroll Arts Center," located at:   91 W. Main Street, Westminster, Maryland, 21157

Tickets for guests will be $10.00 per person!

The theater will be serving concessions...including alcohol (cash bar) for those choosing to drink. We have the space for four hours, so there will be plenty of time for the showing and general partying! People will be able to buy tickets online in advance with a credit card, and pay by cash or check at the door.

We are asking that you PLEASE spread the word, however, so we can fill this 270 seat theater! (The film is rated "R," so no one under 17 without supervision, please!!!)

Visit the Sealed Fates fan page on Facebook:

Related articles by Zemanta

• Sealed Fates Teaser Now Online (talesfromthecellar.com)

New Creative Cow Forum for Blender 3D

Image via Wikipedia

I'd say this is a huge step forward for Blender 3D. Creative Cow forums are for production-worthy tools. This truly signifies Blender has opened some eyes in "the industry".

Here's the link: Blender - NEW ! Forum.

50 Best Blogs for Moviemakers | MovieMaker Magazine

Movie Maker magazine online posted a list of their choices of the 50 best blogs for movie making. I'm not on the list, :lol: , but there are some other great sites listed. Most I've never even heard of. Take a look, and here's the link to the original article: 50 Best Blogs for Moviemakers | MovieMaker Magazine.

50 Best Blogs for Moviemakers

• Adventures in Self-Releasing
• All About Indie Filmmaking
• All These Wonderful Things
• The Anonymous Production Assistant’s Blog
• The Art of the Title Sequence
• Ben’s Blog
• The Big Picture
• Blog Stage
• Bright Lights After Dark
• Cinema Tech
• Cinematical
• The Documentary Blog
• The Edit Foundry
• The Editblog
• Fast, Cheap Movie Thoughts
• Film Dailies
• Film School Rejects
• The Film Sensei
• Filmmaker Blog
• Filmmaking Stuff
• FilmSound.org
• FreshDV
• GreenCine Daily
• Hammer to Nail
• HD for Indies
• Hollywood Elsewhere
• The House Next Door
• In Contention
• The Independent Eye
• JohnAugust.com
• The Joy of Film Editing
• Just F*ing Entertain Me
• Living Your Dream: An Acting & Film School Blog
• Making the Movie
• A Moon Brothers Film
• The Movie Blog
• MovingPictureBlog
• OnSuper8.org
• Persistence of Vision
• Projector Films
• /Film
• Some Came Running
• StudioDaily
• Thompson on Hollywood
• Totally Unauthorized
• Travel Day
• Truly Free Film
• Twitch
• The Unknown Screenwriter
• Workbook Project

Trying out Zemanta

Image via CrunchBase

I've been using Google Chrome for a couple of weeks now and stumbled on this Zemanta plugin. It's an add-on to help bloggers find interesting content to match what they're posting about. It allows you to connect to your friends at the various social networking sites and pull from your RSS feed reader. Might be interesting.

By the way, I'm dangerously close to changing Chrome to my default browser. Sorry Firefox. :(

Related articles by Zemanta

• What Is Zemanta? (yearn2blog.com)

A nice discussion of independent film distribution

Screenwriter John August posted about a low-budget film (One Too Many Mornings) that will be showing at Sundance, and it spawned a very informative discussion on independent film distribution and how it is changing. Well worth a read. Here's the link.

Artbeats Offering Free Daily Stock Clip

Artbeats, a well respected site for stock footage, is now offering a daily clip for free download. They are offering the clips in HD and SD (both NTSC and PAL). Free registration is required. I've downloaded a few and they are nice. These clips usually sell for about $200-300.

Socialite, a WordPress/Facebook connection plugin

I want to start posting more this year, and I thought a "write once, post everywhere" approach might help. This plugin will supposedly post to the FaceBook news feed whenever I add a post to this blog. I'm starting with FB,  but may add MySpace and possibly...gulp, Twitter at some point.

Here's the link to the plugin: http://www.gilfether.com/socialite/

Update: link didn't show up. Let's see if that's fixed...