"Suffering Fools" Premiere

"SUFFERING FOOLS" premiered at On Location: Memphis on April 21, 2012. While I'm always eager to get the crew back together again, I wasn't really impressed with this festival. I felt very disconnected from everything. And maybe that's because the block of shorts we were screening with wasn't the fest's idea of "top tier," but I expected a little more attention given to the filmmakers. 

Full disclosure: I can say that because I did not direct "SUFFERING FOOLS," Craig did, and I was hoping he would have a similar awesome experience like I did when "BLOOD THERAPY" premiered. We went to a friend's premiere the night before and they had a full Q&A session after the movie. Again, perhaps that was because it was a feature and ours was a short. Still, it was nice to see so many friends again. And I'm glad the cast and crew met for dinner before hand.

Our First Oxford Film Fest

Friday, Feb 11 - Tonight we head down to Oxford for their annual Oxford Film Fest. "Blood Therapy" is screening along with several other horror short films at the Malco. This will be the second time I've watched my movie on the big screen. I could get used to this.

We were put up in an inn on the square. It was a nice place with a touch of old Southern charm. We arrived with just enough time to check in and head to the theater. We met up with Christian Walker, our lead actor, and a couple of his friends before the screening. I felt good about our showing. The audience laughed at the appropriate spot and a few even jumped at the end. Yes! A man and woman were sitting to my right who I did not know that appeared to enjoy our film. That was neat to see them reacting to it.

Sunday, Feb 13 - The fest has come and gone. It went by way too fast. My only regret regarding the festival is not staying longer. Our schedules weren't jiving with the festival dates this year. But I so could have hung around all weekend making new friends, watching movies, and eating good food. I'm a southerner... we have the BEST food!

Oxford, MS is a beautiful place. Its gorgeous architecture on the square and rolling hills make for a perfect setting for a film festival. My only minor suggestion for improvement would be to hold the festival during warmer months. Oxford screams photo opportunities and with the landscapes in bloom, it's my guess that the city would be picture perfect.

"Blood Therapy" played in the late night block of films along with other genre fare from all over the country. That was really cool seeing our film amongst films from all over and not just from our own city. The stand out short for me was "Night of the Punks", a fun and funny journey into the world of rock n' roll and demons. The performances were spot-on and the standout element for me was the special f/x. If this gets made into a feature (it's a possibility), horror fans like myself will be in for a fun treat. To see our little short play alongside something as polished as "Punks" was exciting! And it gives me a higher standard to strive for.

I've only been making films for a few years. And even fewer have I participated in festivals. I would wager that the Oxford Film Fest will be one of the better fests I ever experience. The directors of OFF really make us filmmakers feel like royalty. But they're the royalty. They've done a fantastic job bringing in movies from all over the country. Coupled with the beautiful setting of Oxford, it made for an inviting experience. It has been an honor to participate in such a well organized event that was clearly designed by people who love movies as much as us filmmakers. It is my hope to have the opportunity to be involved with many more OFFs.

Thank you again to Oxford Film Fest. I hope to see you again soon!

Suffering Fools - A Note from the Director

As I sit and edit the footage from Suffering Fools, I can't help but laugh. The outtakes make me giggle constantly. Our actors are pure entertainers, not only for the viewers of the finished film, but for the crew as well. Allow me to recount a few things I learned during principle photography:

1. It's a bit awkward to be 3 feet away from 2 actors filming them making out, especially when they start before I even say "Action" and then having to hear the boom guy laugh at me when I clumsily whisper, "Umm, action" instead of saying "Cut!".
2. Designing creepy costumes can give me nightmares, even when I'm the one who wrote the script and designed it. The actress scared me then. She scares me now. lol (Teresa, you rock!)
3. I saw more girls touching each other during this shoot than I have in my entire life. The DVD extras will be interesting!
4. What happened to all the cookies?? Wait, what's that crunching sound I hear in the headphones? Oh, it's Rodney...and the cookies!!
5. Speaking of Rodney, he is unable to eat pizza while watching 2 girls make out. And I can't aim a camera either.
6. Christian's pants are too tight, but not all the time.
7. Never, EVER, buy a disco light that only responds well to the sound of "Around the World" by Daft Punk. Your cast and crew may start to hate you.
8. Get bigger breakers and upgrade the wiring in a house before using tons of high-wattage lights.
9. "Thumper" is a mysterious figure. He's kinda like Quato from Total Recall. *giggle*
10. No matter how many times you practice and perfect practical FXs, they never work when the camera is rolling.
11. Irish Spring soap is EXCELLENT at removing fake blood stains from skin. Highly recommended!
12. And finally, take the time to light properly and never rush. I'll eventually learn this.

Filmmaking is a lot of work, but it is worth it when you see the footage come to life for the first time. Last night, I burned the first test DVD to check out the sound mix and color correction in the home theater setup. At that moment, I knew we had accomplished what I wanted. It looked and sounded great. I think I'm getting better at mixing 5.1 surround.

Thank you to all who were involved in this project. You will see the fruits of your labor soon. And a HUGE thank you to my precious wife. Her encouragement, enthusiasm, and support is what keeps me going.

~ Craig

Ours goes to '11

Last year was a good year. We shot 2 shorts that each played in festivals, prepped another short which we filmed in early Jan '11, and shot a commercial for local tv. Our goal every year is to top the previous year's accomplishments and to go further with this mad passion.

2011 is shaping up to be a good one! "Blood Therapy" is set to screen at the Oxford Film Fest on February 11th, and our latest project, "Suffering Fools" is in post-production now. Plus, we've got some very cool new things planned that guess what.... I can't spoil yet! I will give one hint: We are working on ways to get our movies to more people. We are honored that people have asked for this.

As for more movies.... We've got some projects in the works that we cannot wait to reveal. From teaming up with some film friends to making our own movies, we are really excited about the stories we get to tell in 2011!

Which brings me to an important point. We want to take a moment to say "thank you" to all those who have helped us over the past 3 1/2 years (wow, has it been that long?). We could not do this without our awesome Cinegore cast and crew, and are very appreciative of their hard work and enthusiasm. Your enthusiasm and excitement make filmmaking fun!

Break out the ear buds baby, because ours goes to '11!!!!!

all Roped up

While writing my current feature script I am also watching movies that take place in one location. Hey, when I get to use the excuse of "research" to watch MORE movies, you better believe I'll take it! Last night I watched Alfred Hitchcock's gem, "Rope". Now, if you don't know anything about this movie, stop right here and either go read about how it was shot, or rent it. Better yet, do both.

"Rope" is a remarkable piece of cinema. "Rope" was originally a stage play, and when Hitchcock decided to adapt it, he was adamant about making his film "look" like it was unfolding just like a play would - in real time and as one single continuous shot. While dialog heavy (like a play), it is quite engaging thanks to the remarkable cast.

But the real beauty comes in how it was filmed - how the filmmakers pulled off this "continuous shot". Sir Alfred employed a mobile camera setup that would allow it to freely follow the action on a studio set. Since a reel of film only holds 10 minutes of footage, Hitchcock hid his cuts by pushing in on the darkness of an actor's back or furniture in order to mask any cuts. I can only imagine what pre-production planning was like!

This unique approach to photographing movies isn't very efficient by traditional standards, but I think it's important as a filmmaker to study different techniques. I employed the traditional "coverage" shooting for my first 3 shorts with fairly short takes, but I hope to move into more lengthy shots in my first feature. Longer shots, while requiring extra rehearsal and time, add to the overall cinematic feel to movies. "Rope" is an excellent reference tool for any filmmaker.

~ val

Banned From TV! - Hauntedweb Commercial 2010

In a previous blog I told the story of how we got hooked up with Hauntedweb of Memphis to shoot their commercial. And I teased how that commercial got banned from TV. Yup, the first commercial we ever had to play on local TV and it lasted maybe 2 days. 

Remember the "infamous face rub" moment I mentioned before? Well see, once the commercial started running, someone called the sponsor and complained that it was depicting violence against women. Now I agree that scene was unsettling. I was there when we shot it and I can tell you, it was pretty fucking creepy. So I do understand and empathize with any complaints. I even remember watching Craig edit the commercial and saying to him, "That's gonna air on TV?" Even I knew then it was a little too risqué. But, as a horror fan I can also appreciate the story/vibe we were telling with that scene. 

What I don't get is why they (whoever the "they" is that made this decision) decided to run a haunted house commercial at 9 o'clock in the MORNING during the local news program. Marketing 101 tells me that's not exactly the target audience for such a thing. My guess is that it was the most affordable air time. 

But it was a fun and interesting experience and I certainly don't regret any decision. After all, we gave the client what he wanted in this commercial, so we did our part. I hate it for him that he had to pull the commercial. However, there is a silver lining. They continued to run the commercial on the Hauntedweb.com website and wound up raising $78,000 for Youth Villages! 

Hauntedweb Commercial 2010

You know the saying, "if you want something done, give it to a busy person"? Wow, is that ever true. I get so much more done when I'm in the thick of things, going with the flow, moving from task to task than I ever do sitting on my ass. Such is the case with this past August and September. 

Fresh off of shooting "BLOOD THERAPY," we get asked to shoot a commercial for a local haunted attraction. It's called Hauntedweb of Memphis and it benefits Youth Villages. On a side note, isn't it cool how horror people are the nicest people in the world? Most of them are family guys/gals, and enjoy donating their time to benefit others and have a little fun doing it. That's the atmosphere we walked into at Hauntedweb. 

First, a little backstory. In 2009 when I was co-producing "A Disjointed Proposal" (directed by Derek Steiner), it was my job to find an F/X person. I asked around the few film contacts I had made by that time and was referred to Duane P. Craig. After getting in touch with him we agreed to meet at the haunt one afternoon since he was already there prepping for the haunt season. This was probably early Sept 2009 if I had to guess, because we made "Proposal" in Oct. Anyway, we meet and agree that Duane is the guy for the job. While we were there, he introduced us to Patrick and the haunt crew and then we got the grand tour. Wow! The amount of talent drifting through that place at that moment was astonishing. The haunt was and is still housed in an old movie theatre. The scary scenarios change every year or two, and at that time we got to walk through an asylum, a creepy shack complete with creepy cannibal family (played by real actors), and a dark vortex of neon paint and 3D clown effects. Holy shit I was in heaven!! Craig put it best. It's like a horror fan's Chuck E. Cheese. 

Fast forward to the following May (2010) and we're downtown at the annual zombie walk. By this time we had become friends with Duane so we stopped in to say hello. He and Patrick from Hauntedweb had a makeup stand set up for attendees to come by and get a zombie makeover before the walk. We didn't hang around long. They were very busy. But after the walk was over we ran into them again. Patrick immediately came up to us and started chatting. 

Cut to July and he asks us if we'd like to shoot their next commercial for the haunt. Hell yeah! But we were deep into pre-production on "BLOOD THERAPY" and if we could fit it in we definitely wanted to. Fortunately it did work out and we finished "BLOOD THERAPY" on time. But there was one catch. 

The deadline for the Indie Memphis Film Fest had passed and the start date for the fest was fast approaching. I was gonna do whatever it took to get our short in that fest. I contacted the director and pled my case and he agreed as long as I could deliver a screener within a very short amount of time. I mean, he needed it like soon. The thing that saved us is, Craig edits as we're shooting so by the time we wrapped production, we were already close to picture lock. Now all that was left (I say "all" like it's no big deal, heh) was color correction, sound, and all the zillion other things that goes into post-production. But at least we were close to picture lock. It gave us the confidence we needed to put "Blood Therapy" on hold to shoot the commercial for Hauntedweb. Now keep in mind that the commercial also had a deadline. I don't remember the exact date, but it had to be delivered *before* the screener for "BLOOD THERAPY". Whew!

So we shot the commercial at the end of August (we shot "BLOOD THERAPY" in early August!). What a great, great time we had! We met some amazingly talented people at the haunt. Many of whom I'm proud to call friends today. Here's a quick little story about one of the moments of filming - and this moment is in the final edit. It involved the character of the girl who gets taken captive and the character of the henchman. The actress is lying on the table and Craig (director) gives the henchman actor direction to hold her down as she's squirming and then gently rub her face as if he's admiring her. Oh my God! Let me tell you! It was a genuinely creepy moment to witness and I'm thrilled to say it also came through on camera. I (and everyone else there) got chills. There was a literal gasp heard after Craig called cut from everyone exhaling. And then the room burst into applause. In another blog entry I'll tell the story about how this "infamous face rub" moment got our commercial banned from local TV!

In the end it all worked out. We shot and edited the commercial, and delivered it to the TV station on time. And we worked on "BLOOD THERAPY" at every opportunity and delivered it on time to play in Indie Memphis. Everybody got what they needed and we were of course extremely happy for the opportunities!