TEST SHOTS

So we’re shooting this weekend. I’m running around picking up last minute props, making sure that no one has any dietary restrictions, and doing the set design for my basement.

Pic of masks at Olvera St., where I bought most of the props.

Here’s a skeleton made out of corn husks.

In the background, you see an indigenous painting and a dreamcatcher.

That’s Mira helping me with the basement set-up.

This is Jeff setting up the lighting.

(pics with camera vs. pics with phone)

This is how one of the opening shots for scene II will look like.

Last night Jeff came over and we did a few test shots, and I took some pictures of us working. I should archive them. Jeff is really talented with lighting and visual effects. Check out what he did with this, without using any gels:

This is the tone of the film.

I will upload more pics as I get them.

DEATH BY AUDITIONS

Yeah so apparently, Auditioning actors is like picking out a college. Sorry, bad analogy but hear me out. The process is great. It’s fun checking out the campuses and having all the people suck up to you so you can go to their college. They show you what their strengths are and you have to really try to stay focused on what you wanted because it’s so easy to be swayed by the green grass, the beautiful lake, the state of the art gym….

Somehow, though, you feel empowered in this position. Then you have to go home and review all the information over and over again. You even ask others for help. You hold sessions on the pro’s and con’s of each campus. You ask your parents. You think of all the worst-case scenario’s. What if the one college you choose doesn’t hold up on its image? What if it just can’t deliver?

You can’t sleep for days. What are you going to tell the other colleges? Should you write them an email explaining why you didn’t choose them? Then it dawns on you. Why did you want to go to college in the first place? What were you looking for? Then all of a sudden everything just clicks and you realize you just have to trust your gut sometimes.

Anyway, without being too vague, that’s what happened.

WEEKEND IN REVIEW

My Audition: Only four women ended up coming, and about nine men. The audition piece is pretty cool because it’s a lot like Edward Norton’s scene in fight club where he beats himself up. Haha. Sorting through the men will be hard.

I don’t care what anyone says. Snakes on a Plane is a really BAD movie. yeah, sometimes you want to go see a really bad movie…but I’d rather wait until it comes out on DVD to do it in my privacy so no one knows what horrible taste in movies I have. I would have rather suffered through the emotional suffering of watching world trade center. Boo Hiss on all the SoaP cult ppl. Come on. WTF. I admit I appreciate the humor in retarded movies like Final Destination 2 (same director) but again, I wouldn’t pay that in the theaters. Honestly, I didn’t have high expectations but I thought it would at least be on par with the rest of the animal attacks genre like Anaconda, Godzilla, even Outbreak. I had blindly assumed it would be a good movie because of the few people who I respect who have said it was THE BEST MOVIE OF THE YEAR. Uh, to that, I ask, what else have you seen this year?

So far, this is how I rate the summer movies that I’ve seen (since Beg of MAY, from best to worst):

1. Lady Vengeance (though I don’t remember if I saw this before April or not)
2. Little Miss Sunshine
3. Clean
4. The Descent
5. Akeelah and the Bee
6. Lake House
7. The Inconvenient Truth
8. Devil Wears Prada
9. X-men:The Last Stand
10. Fast and the Furious
11. The Break Up
12. Pirates 2
13. The Da Vinci Code
14. The Promise
15. Keeping up with The Steins
16. Snakes on a motherfucking plane
17. American Dreamz

Wow. I watched a lot of shitty movies. To my defense, all the ones I had wanted to watch came out at the same time, when I was too busy to go to the theaters, and I couldn’t find a companion. Here is a list of movies I had wanted to see but for some reason or another, I couldn’t make it. I hope this redeems me a bit (since beg of MAY, in chronological order):

1. Over The Hedge
2. Twelve and Holding
3. Typhoon
4. Peaceful Warrior
5. Cars
6. Wordplay
7. Who Killed the Electric Car?
8. Lady in the Water
9. Monster House
10. Scoop
11. Quinceanera

MAn…all these movies kind of suck. The only one I really want to see RIGHT NOW is Quinceanera.

Not like anyone reads this blog but…

Casting Notice for THE SHOOTER:

THE SHOOTER – THRILLER/DARK COMEDY- 5 MIN SHORT

No pay, credit only. Prefer non-union. UCLA Extension Student Film. Please send your headshot and resume to TheShooterFilm@gmail.com with subject line THE SHOOTER.

AUDITIONS HELD ON SUNDAY, AUGUST 20, 2006 from 3 PM to 6 PM

AUDITION LOCATION: Burbank Blvd, N. Hollywood, CA

SHOOTING LOCATION: La Crescenta, CA

Must be available for filming weekend of SEPT 2,3,4 (Sat – Mon), which is Labor Day Weekend, and the following weekend on SEPT 9, 10 (Sat, Sun).

Casting for the following roles:

Breakdowns:

• Male / 20-35 yrs / Asian American. Asian American man to play the role of a diabetic, about to be victimized by a terrifying and sadistic intruder. Sympathetic looking man, secretive, frightened, resolute, struggling, sick.
• Female / 20-35 yrs / Asian American. Asian American woman to play the role of the intruder. Androgynous looking woman, agile, natural, strong, swift, mischievous, secretive, exhausted. Prefer gender-less eyes, meaning shorter eyelashes.

This film has a lot of physical action shots so actors must be physically able and aware that we are looking for emotive faces. Background in martial arts, dance, and combat a plus.

********************************
LOOKING FOR CREW MEMBERS FOR SHORT FILM

THE SHOOTER -a DARK COMEDY- 5 MIN SHORT – is searching for Crew to shoot SEPT 2, 3, 4, 9,10 in La Crescenta (91214).
Please EMAIL resumes to: TheShooterFilm@gmail.com
Seeking crew members:

Set Designer, Hair&Makeup, Costume, Script Supervisor, Caterer, PA’s.

This is non-paying as it is a student film. At this time we can only afford credits, food, and copy as compensation.

Please email all inquiries to: TheShooterFilm@gmail.com

THE DESCENT – my review

I watched THE DESCENT last night. It’s a British thriller. It’s a Lions Gate movie. I always somehow know that if it’s dist by Lions Gate, it’s going to be good. So far, I have not been disappointed – not that I watched a lot of Lions Gate films…actually I think I may have been lucky to see just the good ones but ANYHOW, back to the review. I’ll try to remain vague enough so that you could still go watch it. No spoilers in here, so don’t worry.

The story is about 6 women who decide to go caving in the Appalachian mountains. The really cool thing about this movie is that it focuses on these female characters and though naturally sexy, it TRIES not to sexually objectify the women with the gratuitous naked shots that American horror flicks are so filled with. These women are daredevils, though for some, their courage comes out later on, when it’s tested. It highlights the bonds of loyalty and deception, and what people would do to set things straight. Eye for an eye? What would the stereotypical woman do for another woman? Forgive, right? These women are definitely not the same beautiful, vulnerable, and helpless victims that I’m so accustomed to seeing. There’s an inner strength and resolution that surpasses even the mighty force that they’re up against. This is about pride, vengeance, taking no bullshit from people or other things/forces/evildoers/external pressures. The film was dark and wet, and extremely claustrophobic. I was totally in a cave. There were also some really cool parts where it pays homage to historical horror movies but not in the childish SCARY MOVIE way. I definitely recognized references to CARRIE, VERTIGO, and BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, though I’m sure there was a lot more.

Apparently, the original British film had a different ending. I’m so curious to see it, since I was left a bit confused with the American ending (though the possibilities it provided was left open-ended for the audience). The scariest thing about this film is that the evil doers were not immortal nor ghosts…therefore, more real.

Could this happen in real life? Who knows but I sure as hell am never going to go caving.

Well…maybe if someone gave me an axe.

Casting Call

So now that I have a DP, who is awesome so far, a sound person/ AD, a few PA’s, I just need to get someone who will help out with craft services, I need to secure the actors, makeup artist, set designer, get the props and equipment, and we should be ready to rock and roll.

I’m going to check out East West Players this sat to check out the young and ripe talent. I’ll encourage them all to audition on the 20th. I have to send out this damn casting call but I haven’t secured the location yet. Now.. I must find descriptors for the requirements.

I’m so excited.. and so scared.

And so it starts

So I’m meeting with my DP tonight. I’m a little nervous and excited. Why? Because truth be told, I never worked with a DP before. I mean, I have, but not on my own project. He’s Asian American, which is a plus. I want the DP to believe in this film project and have a personal stake in it, too. Hopefully, he’ll show enthusiasm for the project and see it as a project where he can illustrate his creativity as well as make my film pretty to look at. We’re meeting at 9:30 at Buzz coffeehouse on Sunset, right below my gym, after I’m done with my cardio strip-tease and sexy abs class. I freakin’ love my gym but I will save that post for my xanga one day. This guy seems to be fluent in the language of cinematography, and he has some background with photography so hopefully, he will have a good sense of composition. I’m laying out all the shots since I want a lot of camera movements and not so much static shots. I want lots of long shots with deep focus and nice closed framed shots. If he can manipulate the timing of the shots, that would be so cool since I can’t seem to get it down right. I suck at pull focusing and manipulating the shutter speed. I must be such a novice at this. Anyway, this is why I need a DP. I think he’s requesting me to find him a small crew. Time to look through my Rolodex.

hahah. I always wanted to say that.

Rewrites

I don’t know how people do it. I understand cleaning up the first draft in order for it to be tighter, more crisp, to get to the point by cutting out the superfluous frills that don’t thrill. I get it. But…sometimes I have this feeling that there are so many stories to tell and I’m just not telling the right one. I know, I’m my worst critic.

Maybe I should just stop listening to others and do my own shit.

Stand on my own two feet.

Wow. That thought is exhilarating. Titillating. Ojala que moviera las montanas con mi pasion.

The Shooter

My next project is a 5 min short film called THE SHOOTER. It’s a fucked up story about the lengths people will go through for love. Or at least, to express that deep, emotional commotion people label as “love”. At first sight, it doesn’t read as a love story because of the underlying tension, fear, and violence. However, as far as love stories go, they’re all different, unique, and there is some common foundation that bring people together or drive people apart. To get to the essence of that understanding is worth the journey.

This film will be shot in 24p, in two 8 hour days, using two actors, three locations within one house, and stylistically, it will have a gritty feel that a lot of horror flicks exhibit. The sound and lighting will play a major role in this film since it’s suspenseful. Currently, my crew is quite lacking. I only secured a sound person and I’m still looking around for a DP, though I have a few interested players. I need to find a set designer and a person who is very good with lighting. I might have to call a few friends.

In terms of the actors, I’m looking for an actor who looks street-ridden (someone who could easily play a thug, a criminal, a spy, an evildoer) who can also transform to a loving and concerned domestic man. The actress will need to have an androgynous look who can easily transform to an extremely feminine pussycat. I said pussy, omg.

If I use the DP with the visual effects background, that will save me a lot of headache in post. =T

I’m going to make it rain. ooohhh….

Rejection

I just received an email from one of the festivals that I submitted my film to saying that they’re sorry but my film is not what they were looking for.

Before, this was the kind of thing I didn’t want to deal with, which is why it took about two years for me to even submit my work to any festivals. I have to admit, it still effin’ blows because I really wanted it to be screened at this particular festival because of the location and the fact that it’s starting to garner more interest (I think it’s their second or third year). Sigh… It’s not that bad, though. I guess in the end, I’ll just end up with a thick skin, and that’s way better than a soft heart.

Right?

I just wished that I got a different rejection letter. Something more personal that would soften the blow. I don’t want to know about the quality of my competition. How do artists deal with constant rejection?

I just have this innate tendency to internalize everything and this causes me to lose sight of my ultimate goal of world domination. Sigh…I hate the small stepping stones that are disguised as obstacles.

Honestly, now I’m just scared because IMHO, this festival was probably easier to get into than the rest of the ones I submitted to. I should stop submitting my films for a while…maybe I can save some money to work on a better film.

Shit.

THIS SUCKS. I want ice cream. Or a hug.