our latest short, "DON'T LOOK IN THE FRIDGE" is finished!
story by: james mcelyea
screenplay by: val
directed by: val
"FRIDGE" was a test in lighting and VFX for us. i'm pleased with the outcome, as it was a good learning experience. craig did an awesome job helping me learn and kudos go out to him for the VFX also. and a big thanks goes out to james and jake. they both did a great job!
watching the footage, i already know of several things i can improve upon. one of the biggest things is camera movement. i want more movement so that the scene transitions will have more energy. even if it is simply peaceful, flowing energy, it would be an improvement over plain cuts. that's just one of many things i hope to 'do better next time'.
i appreciate everyone's help with this project and cannot wait to make another movie! i'm very eager to use what i learned on something new.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
"FRIDGE" is in the can!
our shoot sunday went really well. everyone was prepared which helped us move along quite nicely. our nephew, jake, was a joy to direct. he hit his mark every time, followed my suggestions to the letter, and gave a great performance. james did great, too. his interaction with jake was very believable.
i'm also happy to report that we had no lighting or blocking issues, which is good considering how much preparation went into filming. since we filmed at our house we had ample time to prepare.
craig has already built the end sequence with the f/x and it looks good. i'm very pleased with how it turned out! we will work on editing this week and hope to have the timeline ready for music and foley soon.
stay tuned!
i'm also happy to report that we had no lighting or blocking issues, which is good considering how much preparation went into filming. since we filmed at our house we had ample time to prepare.
craig has already built the end sequence with the f/x and it looks good. i'm very pleased with how it turned out! we will work on editing this week and hope to have the timeline ready for music and foley soon.
stay tuned!
"FRIDGE" special f/x and visual f/x
how does an old married couple spend their friday nights? making movies, of course! hahaha
craig and i spent last friday evening working on the special f/x and visual f/x for "Don't Look in the Fridge". Without giving anything away - because I'm NOT! - it turned out well. Muahahahahahahahaha!
craig and i spent last friday evening working on the special f/x and visual f/x for "Don't Look in the Fridge". Without giving anything away - because I'm NOT! - it turned out well. Muahahahahahahahaha!
Monday, February 16, 2009
Review: Friday the 13th (2009)
Let me start off by saying, I didn't hate it. I can appreciate "dumb fun" that pays homage to previous entries in a franchise. However, there are so many things wrong with this movie that it makes it difficult to say I like it, either.
First off, there was no suspense. Jason is only Jason when he is stalking his prey slowly through the woods. We rarely ever got that with this remake. Jason would simply appear behind the person. Zero tension. Secondly, other than one death in the opening sequence and one death later on in the lake, the deaths were lame. L.A.M.E. I realize this isn't Saw, but surely that wasn't the best they could do. The death of Mr. Grade A Douchebag was so unfulfilling. A character like that deserves an extended demise where we can root for the bad guy just once.
Which brings me to my third point, and I'm really about to go off on a tangent here, so bare with me. I don't know if it is an MPAA thing or poor judgment on the filmmakers' part (I'm sure the MPAA would have a cow if graphic violence and sex were mixed), but it's unfortunate that they had to sacrifice clearer death scenes for extended sex scenes so we could get more ridiculous dialog. Seriously, stupendous? The shaky-cam that shows up in so many horror movies today is as tired now as the first time I ever saw it. Why is this popular? Does the shakiness really add tension? It only gives me a headache and brings me out of the action. It's as if using that effect is to make up for the fact that the filmmakers don't know how to build real tension and are too scared to show the special f/x in the death scene. Honestly, I would prefer to see CG or even bad f/x than to deal with the camera mimicking a Mexican jumping bean.
And finally, one of the golden rules of horror movies was broken multiple times and that simply won't do. You cannot, cannot, show power tools or unique death bringers and not freaking use them! That is inexcusable and disappointing. I thought for sure the power saw in the tool shed would allow us a good crimson bath, or the wood chipper actually, oh I don't know... get to rip through flesh. Is that too much to ask? Again, see my third point.
On a side note, I have dreaded a remake of "A Nightmare on Elm Street" ever since it was first announced and after seeing what Michael Bay has done with "Friday" (not to mention the disgrace, "The Unborn"), I'm down right scared to death.
I won't even bother with what I feel about the new Jason. Derek Mears did his job fine, but it almost feels like his talents were wasted. The lack of Manfredini's original score was also a let down. Again, I didn't hate the remake; this movie could easily fall into place in a "Friday the 13th" home viewing marathon. But it fails on so many levels that it's easy to rip it to shreds. Basically, I'm making up for the misused wood chipper.
First off, there was no suspense. Jason is only Jason when he is stalking his prey slowly through the woods. We rarely ever got that with this remake. Jason would simply appear behind the person. Zero tension. Secondly, other than one death in the opening sequence and one death later on in the lake, the deaths were lame. L.A.M.E. I realize this isn't Saw, but surely that wasn't the best they could do. The death of Mr. Grade A Douchebag was so unfulfilling. A character like that deserves an extended demise where we can root for the bad guy just once.
Which brings me to my third point, and I'm really about to go off on a tangent here, so bare with me. I don't know if it is an MPAA thing or poor judgment on the filmmakers' part (I'm sure the MPAA would have a cow if graphic violence and sex were mixed), but it's unfortunate that they had to sacrifice clearer death scenes for extended sex scenes so we could get more ridiculous dialog. Seriously, stupendous? The shaky-cam that shows up in so many horror movies today is as tired now as the first time I ever saw it. Why is this popular? Does the shakiness really add tension? It only gives me a headache and brings me out of the action. It's as if using that effect is to make up for the fact that the filmmakers don't know how to build real tension and are too scared to show the special f/x in the death scene. Honestly, I would prefer to see CG or even bad f/x than to deal with the camera mimicking a Mexican jumping bean.
And finally, one of the golden rules of horror movies was broken multiple times and that simply won't do. You cannot, cannot, show power tools or unique death bringers and not freaking use them! That is inexcusable and disappointing. I thought for sure the power saw in the tool shed would allow us a good crimson bath, or the wood chipper actually, oh I don't know... get to rip through flesh. Is that too much to ask? Again, see my third point.
On a side note, I have dreaded a remake of "A Nightmare on Elm Street" ever since it was first announced and after seeing what Michael Bay has done with "Friday" (not to mention the disgrace, "The Unborn"), I'm down right scared to death.
I won't even bother with what I feel about the new Jason. Derek Mears did his job fine, but it almost feels like his talents were wasted. The lack of Manfredini's original score was also a let down. Again, I didn't hate the remake; this movie could easily fall into place in a "Friday the 13th" home viewing marathon. But it fails on so many levels that it's easy to rip it to shreds. Basically, I'm making up for the misused wood chipper.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
psst... don't look in the fridge!
filming for "DON'T LOOK IN THE FRIDGE" will commence on sunday! woohoo! my friend james came up with a story idea a few months ago that i agreed to write the screenplay for and direct. it's going to be really short, but i'm using this as a test for myself to learn more about all the aspects of filmmaking. i plan to be as hands-on as possible, as i'll take care of the lighting and camera operation during filming and even handle most of the editing and post production. craig will of course assist in this endeavor; i wouldn't want to do it without him. but i figure the only way i'll learn more is to do more.
james will also star in "fridge" along with my nephew as a horror-movie-loving kid. sunday we'll shoot about 90% of the principle photography with the main actors. after that, craig and i will handle a couple of special f/x on our own in the following days.
even though it'll be a quickie, it should be a fun little ditty. any excuse to shoot something is fine by me. can you tell i'm excited?
james will also star in "fridge" along with my nephew as a horror-movie-loving kid. sunday we'll shoot about 90% of the principle photography with the main actors. after that, craig and i will handle a couple of special f/x on our own in the following days.
even though it'll be a quickie, it should be a fun little ditty. any excuse to shoot something is fine by me. can you tell i'm excited?
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
music lessons v.4 and v.5
Mon, Feb 2 and 9, 2009
i'm combining last week's and last night's lessons into one blog. partly because i was lazy and didn't write one last week, but also because these two lessons go hand in hand.
ok, so i'm making some progress. moving along in my lesson book. i've started on a couple of new songs (one of which is a blues tune!!!), and we also talked about chords and chord progressions. thanks to this music theory book i read about a year ago, i was already familiar with the concept. but understanding what theory is and using it are two very different animals.
along with practicing songs from my book, this week i'll be playing around with making up a melody to put over the top of a simple chord progression. ahh... the first steps in possibly writing my first song!
until next time....
i'm combining last week's and last night's lessons into one blog. partly because i was lazy and didn't write one last week, but also because these two lessons go hand in hand.
ok, so i'm making some progress. moving along in my lesson book. i've started on a couple of new songs (one of which is a blues tune!!!), and we also talked about chords and chord progressions. thanks to this music theory book i read about a year ago, i was already familiar with the concept. but understanding what theory is and using it are two very different animals.
along with practicing songs from my book, this week i'll be playing around with making up a melody to put over the top of a simple chord progression. ahh... the first steps in possibly writing my first song!
until next time....
storyboarding can suck it
first off, i can't draw. i've no artistic ability whatsoever. my stick figures even look like rejects. secondly, since i can't draw, transferring what is in my mind to paper in a discernible form is next to impossible. one can imagine how awful my storyboards look.
so, i'm done. no more storyboarding for me. i gave it a shot and it is time to move on.
what i am doing instead is writing out a shot list. and i can be as detailed with this info as i need to be. like labeling whether a shot is day/night, characters, props, or any info i need to remind myself of what the heck i'm doing.
adieu, storyboards!
so, i'm done. no more storyboarding for me. i gave it a shot and it is time to move on.
what i am doing instead is writing out a shot list. and i can be as detailed with this info as i need to be. like labeling whether a shot is day/night, characters, props, or any info i need to remind myself of what the heck i'm doing.
adieu, storyboards!
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
macs + age = still awesome
yay! i got my powerbook back! i traded my 15" widescreen macbook pro to craig for the 12" powerbook g4. the powerbook is 3 years old and was originally mine. it was completely my idea. i freakin' love the 12" screen and really missed its portability. it really says something about the stability of a computer to *want* a 3 year old, "slower" machine. gotta love the power pcs.
we put a 250GB harddrive in it and maxed out the RAM to 1.25MB. its processor is just barely slower than the macbook pro's, but for what it's worth.... the power pc's are more stable than the intel macs. at least right now.
this thing is a rock. the only reason i ever upgraded to the macbook pro in the first place was because i started using Logic Express and needed the screen space. it's a big application! it takes up a lot of screen real estate. well, Logic is the most illogical thing i have ever tried to use in my entire life. so my main reason for having the macbook pro was null and void.
craig will make better use of it than i will since it's got an intel chip. although, it does pain me to know Windows is about to be installed on it. that's just blasphemy any way you look at it! oh well, i don't have to use it. heh
i really, really like the 12" screen. i know that sounds crazy to some, what with everything going widescreen these days, but 12" is nice and portable. even craig lusts after it.
Update: 1-26-11
I finally added this entry to my blog. It's been in draft form for years. Anyway, I wanted to add that the Powerbook still lives! It spent about a year with my stepmom before she upgraded, and I'm happy to report it's back in my possession and still ticking!
we put a 250GB harddrive in it and maxed out the RAM to 1.25MB. its processor is just barely slower than the macbook pro's, but for what it's worth.... the power pc's are more stable than the intel macs. at least right now.
this thing is a rock. the only reason i ever upgraded to the macbook pro in the first place was because i started using Logic Express and needed the screen space. it's a big application! it takes up a lot of screen real estate. well, Logic is the most illogical thing i have ever tried to use in my entire life. so my main reason for having the macbook pro was null and void.
craig will make better use of it than i will since it's got an intel chip. although, it does pain me to know Windows is about to be installed on it. that's just blasphemy any way you look at it! oh well, i don't have to use it. heh
i really, really like the 12" screen. i know that sounds crazy to some, what with everything going widescreen these days, but 12" is nice and portable. even craig lusts after it.
Update: 1-26-11
I finally added this entry to my blog. It's been in draft form for years. Anyway, I wanted to add that the Powerbook still lives! It spent about a year with my stepmom before she upgraded, and I'm happy to report it's back in my possession and still ticking!
Monday, February 2, 2009
for the writers out there
do you ever get writers block?
sometimes i get it because i feel overwhelmed with too many ideas, not because i have nothing to write about. right now i have a list of ideas that i can't seem to do anything with. lately it seems that all i do is just that.... jot down quick notes. before i can outline one idea i'm already having another.
i don't want to cut off my reception to new and cool stuff (i'm really an alien with antennae on my head), i just want to complete a story! dammit!
maybe i need to invent a cranium answering service. "....so and so is busy writing... please leave idea and i will make sure she receives it in a timely manner...."
sometimes i get it because i feel overwhelmed with too many ideas, not because i have nothing to write about. right now i have a list of ideas that i can't seem to do anything with. lately it seems that all i do is just that.... jot down quick notes. before i can outline one idea i'm already having another.
i don't want to cut off my reception to new and cool stuff (i'm really an alien with antennae on my head), i just want to complete a story! dammit!
maybe i need to invent a cranium answering service. "....so and so is busy writing... please leave idea and i will make sure she receives it in a timely manner...."
music lesson v.3
I've got a lesson tonight but I'm just now getting around to writing about last week's lesson. Basically, I've been familiarizing myself with chord inversions. And practicing Braham's Lullaby over and over and over. I think I am finally close to nailing that song, lol. It has given me fits for a while. There is a lot of hand movement (up and down the keys) in that song. Thanks to my instructor, I'm learning to move around more freely and not be so worried about staying in C position.
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