Anomalous Data - Amateur Digital Film

Radio play test

Teresa Lhotka — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 02:14:08 GMT

Grasshopper has been getting into radio plays, BIG TIME. He's been listening to The Adventures of Ruby over and over again, for instance.

So he wanted to make a radio play, and he and Rocky are putting together some little tests to garner the skills needed. Here is the first test.

Some of you might recognize the voice of the "damsel in distress"...what can I say? A voice actor I'm not. :-)

Montreus.mp3 (353.1 KB)

Free Movie at the Riverview Theater!!! Just show up!!!! It's AWESOME!!!

Teresa Lhotka — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 03:23:56 GMT

Pray for Daylight will be playing at the Riverview Theater in Minneapolis, MN

Thursday, June 28th at 5:30 PM.

I admit, it isn't an easy day/time to get into Minneapolis...but it's FREE FREE FREE!

Featuring original music from local music phenomenon Jagged Spiral. (I just want to hear what Conrad Zero says about being called a "Phenomenon" chances are, something acerbic. Just guessin') Oh! and Conrad of Jagged Spiral also plays "The Vampire Most Likely to Freak You the Hell Out! In phonetic Serbian!"

And it's not every day you get to see Rockford Lhotka playing a menacing Serbian gypsy guard.

And I'm in it, playing the role of "Most Usless and Pathetic Vampire EVER!" (Tony thought it would be funny, since I was the fight choreographer)

So get your cookies down there and take a gander. I guarantee the quality will impress you much more on the big screen than it does on Google Video.

I'm going to be there, as are many of the cast/crew.

Come and see what a bunch of geeks can do with too much time on their hands and a digital camera.

I think the sequal should be called "Why does it always happen to me?"

Teresa Lhotka — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 19:22:43 GMT

Here is one of our very first films. It is called "The Thing That Happened". It is based on the experience one sometimes has when watching some pretentious foreign language Art Films that, as our website says "make you cry a little bit inside".

I did Kraft Services for this (make-your-own taco buffet...which I am told sounds dirty, but hey, it was a taco buffet I can't think of another way to say it. So there you are. Any dirtyness you percieve is purely the result of your filthy mind.) I also was part of the crowd beating up the guy at the end, and I am reflected in the window in one of the scenes...a shadowy figure holding a sword.

enjoy.

Oh yeah, and the "film flaws" were added digitally for artistic effect. The movie was filmed digitally.

Here is a link to our feature film on Goggle Video: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3432819586728848049&hl=en

Here's a link to the movie Trailer: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2766270342322118914&hl=en

Good review

Teresa Lhotka — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 17:00:05 GMT

Pray for Daylight got a good review from Rogue Cinema!

This is the movie in which I was the Fight Choreographer, Stunt Coordinator, bit player, and one of several Dolly-cam luggers (beasts of burdon affectionatly referred to as Dolly Llamas)

I also played cello in one of the bits of music.

This was such a fun piece to work on.

Pimpin' the goods

Teresa Lhotka — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 20:10:31 GMT

As some of you know, I am in a film group. We make films. They are usually short, silly, and occasionally dramatic. They are all the very best film that we could make at the time.

We (and by “we” I mean almost everyone involved with the project except for me and some extras) just finished up post-production of our first feature-length film.

I actually haven’t had anything to do with the film for quite some time, there being nobody who needed hittin’, no heavy camera dollys that needed totin’, and no inebriated Airborn Rangers who needed flirtin’ with in the post-production process (long story. We needed something to keep his attention away from his growing pile of empty beer bottles).

Well, that feature length film has apparently gained distribution. When I find out how you can go about purchasing it, I will let you know. See, up to this point, our budget has been based on what a middle-class suburban family with two kids can spare. In other words, Avindair and Spousalgoddess broke open the spare change jar and dug under the couch cushions, and we went wild.

I’m guessing that distribution of this film could mean some seed money for future projects. And that would mean, frankly, better projects.

But, in preparation for said promotion, I’d like to offer you a few teasers for free:

Steve the Vampire

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8986573989968129255

Originally conceived to answer the question “can we really do this?” This is the first in a series of three vampire movies featuring the Vampire Hunter, Cassie Banning.

Steve the Vampire was made by a handful of people with no professional equipment, no experience, and no idea what they were doing. They also didn’t have me as their fight choreographer, the poor bastards.

Much of the lighting was handled by two pre-teen children with flashlights.

The result was one of the most popular offerings of the Public Access channel in Savage, Minnesota for several months running.

The Thing That Happened

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2417304037882230904

Our second film. Still our funniest -- and shortest -- piece. Directed by an ex-member, and co-starring another ex-member.

It is a spoof of pretentious “Art” flicks.

It features our first film with Magic_Marmot doing the lighting.

I did Kraft Services for this film (brought ingredients and set up a Taco bar for cast and crew), and Catering (I made sure the coffee was steamy for the shots where it was of artistic importance that the coffee steam visibly.) I also appear as a piece of set dressing (reflected in a window holding a sword), and I am part of a mob that beats the crap out of the writer/director at the end.

Pray for Daylight: Hunter

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5520243947172601129

The fourth Stone Soup Film, and the second installment in the Cassie Banning story line.

Much bigger cast for this effort, much bigger crew. You’ll see a couple of new faces in this one, and they are fantastic. I did the fight choreography for this film, as well as for the next installment: Pray for Daylight. (Which is the film soon to be distributed). You can watch the trailer for that film here:

Pray for Daylight Feature Trailer

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2766270342322118914

So go ahead! Pop some popcorn. Revisit the films, rate them, even comment! You'll be glad you did. Or maybe you won't. Either way, at least then you'll know.

But wait a minute, you ask, what happened to your third film? You jumped right from the second to the fourth!!! How come you’re not pimping the third film?

That is a good question, with a complicated answer. The main reason is that it is very politically incorrect. It portrays two misogynistic male characters, one of which is afraid of women, and the other one fancies himself a “lady-killer” giving his friend sure-fire advice on how to “score”…and assuring him at every turn that there are women “checking him out”. The joke of the movie turns on the viewer realizing (only at the end) that it is taking place in a lesbian bar. This makes most of the viewing public uncomfortable and uncertain if they should laugh or not.

As an aside, I’ve shown this film to at least half a dozen lesbians, and THEY think it’s hysterical. Although one of them asked me (who was playing one of the bar patrons) “How come you are the only butch in the bar?” Which I don’t think is funny at all.

Add to this that our location wasn’t ideal, and it just asks the viewer to walk a little too far for the pay-off.

Free fun for all

Teresa Lhotka — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 18:31:55 GMT

Follow THIS LINK

See that devilish-looking guy sitting there at a desk with headphones on? That is my friend, Conrad.

Conrad, his bewitching S.O. X-tina, and a number of his friends (many of whom worked on the soon-to-be-available Pray For Daylight), entered the 48-hour film festival.

They created a fun sci-fi/suspense short entitled Conspiracy Hour.

Go ahead and watch it. Don't forget that it was made in 48 hours, start-to-finish. Amazing. It's short, it's cool, and it's finished. In 48 hours.

Did I say amazing already? Oh, did I mention the original score they created? In the same 48 hours that they were assigned their film requirements, wrote/shot/edited the film?

If you don't find that amazing, you have no wonder in your soul. Just give up. Join the Republican party, buy a Winnebago and a sweatsuit with words stamped on the ass. Let your soul sink comfortably into the great, somnolant multitude of shambling consumeristic zombie masses.

48 hour movie festival

Teresa Lhotka — Thu, 15 Jun 2006 17:40:07 GMT

A couple of people have asked me if I've heard of the 48-hour movie festival. I have, indeed.

In fact, I recently found out that Conrad Zero and some of his friends did a movie for the festival.

I can't wait to see it.

Below are the links to his entries about the exerience:

http://www.conradzero.com/2006_06_01_archive.html#115016411271808030

http://www.conradzero.com/2006_06_01_archive.html#115038820979560660

Oh. I'm supposed to be playing NOW?

Teresa Lhotka — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 16:17:01 GMT

Sunday I went to Conrad Zero's house and sawed away on the cello for a while. Four hours. I learned a lot that day. I learned that:

1) I am dependant on sheet music and conductors to a crippling degree.

2) Microphones make me just as nervous as cameras do.

3) Conrad and Colin are Very. Patient. People. Also, good at creating a safe, low pressure environment.

4) All other things being equal, it takes longer to drive a specific distance in a snow shower than it does when it is bright and clear.

5) I gt stupid when I am sleepy.

OK, those last two weren't exactly revelations...but there you are.

I think that Conrad and Colin may have learned one important thing:

1) There is nothing false about my modesty. When I say that I hadn't picked up the cello for years and have just recently worked my way up to elementry levels, I mean it.

Fortunatly, they did not require much of me, and I think they got what they needed.

It was fun, intimidating, well outside my comfort zone, and completely the sort of experiance that I like to have. I can't wait to do it again.

Here's a link to Conrad's entry:

http://www.conradzero.com/2006_01_01_archive.html#113869011666926472

Pray for Daylight.

Teresa Lhotka — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 20:27:51 GMT

The teaser trailer for the latest Stone Soup Films movie is up. You can also see production stills on the other side of this link. Everywhere that someone is hitting/kicking someone else? That's my work. :-) There's a whole lot of mayhem in this movie.

http://www.stonesoupfilms.net/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=2&meid=-1

Disco inferno? That's my WORK, sparky.

Sat, 29 Oct 2005 16:47:46 GMT

Lo, pictures from the final night of filming, over at TONY'S Blog

Bob Wagner, check out the snap they have of you looking all scary and pissed off.

Tony, that disco inferno comment was totally uncalled for. :-)

Because I would not stop for death...I didn't die.

Fri, 28 Oct 2005 14:02:48 GMT

We wrapped the movie last night, and I’m still not dead.

To borrow hyperbole from Harriet Meirs…

I am the lamest vampire, ever!

Lessee…first, I’m standing outside the lair of my vampy master, the evil and beautiful Lucritia, when the great, scary vampire hunter, Cassie Banning shows up and shoots my friend in the head.

I attack her and she dispatches me in three moves, knocking me out but not killing me.

Later, I drag my sorry ass into the club and attempt to prevent the great, scary vampire lord, Saveau from entering the lair of my master.

Saveau stares me down, and I back off in panic…completely overcome by his ability to project fear.

I back off and await my opportunity, attacking Saveau from behind with two other vamps (cowards run in packs). In the course of this cowardly, but more successful attempt to curry favor and be a hero…I get accidentally shot in the shoulder by two women squabbling over a gun. (Aforementioned scary lady Cassie Banning, and my master’s pet dhampier…Syierra.)

Finally, I stagger off, shot, beaten, and completely defeated while my master gets shot, and my vamp cohorts get slaughtered in the meat-grinder-wheel-of-death that Cassie and Syierra have become. I try to sneak out, but come face-to-face with Saveau…who gives me a choice; “It’s me, or them.” A glance back at the WoD re-affirms to me that I am NOT interested in the second option. I painfully gather my forces to strike, and Saveau pops me with a punch that lays me out…

…aside from Saveau, I’m the only vampire that survives the movie.

Since I finally knew how many extras we were going to have, and what their general condition was...I was able to begin choreographing the Wheel of Death fight scene just before the shoot. I did it in a half hour during Adventure Boy's tuba lesson. Boy, did I get a lot of weird looks from the other soccar moms. :-) First of all, I'm made up for movie lighting (can you say “tramp?“ I knew you could) Second, I'm wearing my vampy costume. More on that below. Third, I'm doing martial arts moves and scribbling in a notebook. Once again, one more step in my mission to confuse and frighten the complacent.

It was a lot of fun. I was stressed, tired, uncertain, and didn’t know where I was or what I was doing half the time, but it was fun. I can’t imagine what the principles on this project have been going through. Tony assures me that I don’t want to. I believe him.

I wore a costume that included a top that can only be described as “The blouse of infinite boobage”, and a face-load of make-up.

A very cute army Airborn Ranger singled me out for some very intense flirting, but he did it in a very charming, sweet and not creepy way. So it was sort of fun. He alternated between calling me “muscles” and “cutie”.

At one point, I realized that the five or six workers from the club who had surrounded me and were asking multitudes of questions about movies and martial arts and fight choreography had absolutely no interest at all in the subjects.

Very new experience. It was kind of fun, but I’m glad to get the make-up off and get back to my dumpy Kung Fu pants and over-sized tee-shirts. It’s more “me”. KWIM? It’s fun to be someone else for a couple of days, but we live where we live because that’s where we’re comfortable.

"Dear Diary, Still not dead."

Thu, 27 Oct 2005 15:36:48 GMT

I’m not dead yet…I think I’m getting better.

I didn’t die last night either. Tomorrow I get to have my ass kicked by Saveau. I got shot in the shoulder, though. It’s a cute little bullet hole. Especially considering that Cassie Banning seems like the type to pack hollow-point bullets…which flatten out on impact, and create exit wounds roughly the size of…oh, an average-sized woman’s shoulder.

As Bob Wagner said, “It would go in about twice that size, and blow a chunk the size of a barn door out the back.” As gifted with hyperbole as Bob is, that is not much of an exaggeration.

But this isn’t about reality.

Big thanks and kudos for gopher and scary vamp extraordinaire Conrad for calling around and wrangling us some vamps. Thanks to everyone who took the time and effort to turn us out 11 (count them) eleven! Gorgeous, vampy extras. Christina and Tarra, you looked marvelous. Everyone did. There was a couple there I’d never met before…PAINFULLY beautiful. The lady reminded me a little of Ianra.

Sasha, you did good too. Woman, you know how to bring the acting skillz…and you did good as vamp wrangler too. You and Kristi made those fight scenes WORK. The energy you two have developed together is incredible. I’ve never seen anyone master those moves so quickly, and with such a balance of grace and power.

I KNEW it would work out (no, I didn’t, but I should have). The Hand of God has been on us recently (in the good, wholesome way…not the creepy wrong way). Everything seems to have worked out for the best the last couple of weeks. Although God can be a bit of a drama queen, and doesn’t really let on that everything is A-OK until the last moment.

Example: The state of Minnesota holds a youth deer hunt the weekend before the season opens. Deer hunters under the age of 18 can get an extra weekend of hunting in to better ensure that they get a deer. We went out and bought Adventure Boy a license and planned to head up to my folk’s place on the border to make sure he got to do this hunt. We turned down, or compensated for several invitations for cool stuff to do this. Adventure Boy was really jazzed. My mom was fairly dancing at the thought of having us all come up…

…but…

We got up early, hustled to get everything packed into the car (Rocky and Adventure Boy spent the whole previous day getting things ready), and took off. I was driving so Rocky could work (cough* workaholic* cough).

Then, as often happens, Rocky had the urge to go over all of the licenses and paperwork and make sure we had EVERYTHING in order. As he was checking the licenses, he noticed for the first time, that Adventure Boy did not have the appropriate endorsement on his license to permit him to do the youth hunt. Apparently, there was a paperwork snafu, and Adventure Boy would be unable to hunt.

We turned around and drove back to the house, completely disbelieving our bad luck. Rocky was kicking himself for not checking THAT particular bit of data (he checked to make sure the information and zone designation were right)…it was a total bummer.

But then we got home and unpacked the truck, and sat down and RELAXED. I mean, for the first time in weeks. Adventure Boy pulled out the Serenity Role-playing handbook he and Grasshopper and Rocky had got at The Source a few weeks ago, and we started rolling up characters.

There were a million things we COULD have done. There were at least a half-dozen things I SHOULD have done. But we gamed instead, just us…just our family, and I think it was only then that we realized how much we NEEDED that. It fed something that had been starving, forgotten in the back rooms of our souls.

The universe knew what we needed better than we did, and hit us on the nose with a rolled-up newspaper and said “NO! Bad monkeys. No cookie”.

Example: The wonderful vamp turn-out we had when we thought we’d be lucky to get five extras. Although like I said, and I’m not complaining…just commenting…I wonder if it was REALLY necessary for the o-mighty to let us twist in fear right up to the last minute. But hey, he’s God, and he needs to have his fun too. Everything worked out.

Example: Last night I got home at 11:30 to find Rocky still hard at work. He was in a panic. He had lost some important pieces of paper. Really important. He was trying to remember where they were, and if he couldn’t find them it was a situation that come close to financial disaster.

He thought I might have done something with them. I had, but that was weeks before and he had been the guy with the ball since then…and he couldn’t remember what he did with them.

I walked him through the day the last time he remembered having them; nada. We strategize a number of scenarios for solving the problem if the papers were never found. We wracked our brains until about 12:30 and then I put my foot down.

“We’re going to bed. There’s nothing more we can do until tomorrow. It is time to sleep now.” Rocky adamantly insisted that he would not be able to sleep until said pieces of paper were found. I secretly vowed to bludgeon him into unconsciousness if I had to, because I get up at 6:30AM to get the kids ready for school, and I’ve been at shootings for VAMPIRE movies two nights running…and I was going to sleep.

So we brushed our teeth and checked on the kids, and as I walked down our hallway, I noticed Grasshopper’s Yoda costume lying on the floor. I picked it up, and moved it over by the bookcase, so it wouldn’t get walked on. After placing it carefully out of the way, I happened to look up, and there were the faintest hint of the edges of two pieces of paper peeking over the top of the bookcase.

Sure enough, they were the items in question. Rocky had been panicking for five hours about these pieces of paper. On a fluke, I just happen to catch sight of them in a place I would NEVER have thought of looking. Twice a year I dust the top of that bookshelf. That’s all the attention I pay to it. Hand of God, I tell you.

Sheesh. I think Depeche Mode was right. God DOES have a sick sense of humor.

Well, I didn't die.

Wed, 26 Oct 2005 15:21:23 GMT

Well, I didn't die last night. I was supposed to be killed by the heroic and slightly psychotic Cassie Banning as I attempted (lamely) to defend the lair of my vamp uber-lord, Lucritia. No joy, though. Because we have so few vampy extras, and fewer all the time it seems, Tony decided not to kill me so that I can haul my sorry carcas into the club just in time to get killed in the climactic fight scene we have affectionatly named “The Wheel of Death“.

I don’t know how many of you all live in the Twin Cities area, but we (Stone Soup Films) have had an unexpected derth of vamp extras. I had a handful lined up, and one by one most of them have fallen to work schedule demands, family obligations, you know, the horrible condition known as “having a life”. J A condition I hope to contract again sometime soon.

Sasha had half a dozen volunteers, and none of her people remain. It’s kind of a bummer.

Anyway, if any of you would like to be vampy extras, we are filming at a club in South St. Paul tonight from 7:00PM to 11:00PM Let me know here in the comments section if you are interested in helping out.

You will need vamp teeth(available at any costume shop. Medium–sized teeth recommended), fitted and ready to go as soon as you hit the set. You will need gothy-cluby-type clothing. You will need to eat before you arrive. And/or bring some cash for food from the kitchen. The club we are filming at has a restaurant, and they stipulated that all food consumed in the shoot should be ordered from the restaurant. Small price to pay for such a location. The food is not cheap.

You will need to sign a waiver and collect a dollar (compensation for contractual purposes) to protect us from liability and for permission to use your image. If you are under the age of 18, your parents will need to sign the forms as well.

The final requirement is that we would need you to come both tonight, and tomorrow….for continuity purposes.

If you have any physical injury or limitations that would prevent you from vigorous movement and/or falling to the ground repeatedly (you will all be “killed” in the course of the shoot), you shouldn’t do this. If you have any questions about whether or not you should do this, consult your doctor.

If we don’t get enough extras, we’ll just have to do some creative choreography.

So if you have time tonight and tomorrow night, let me know, and you can be in the movies. Oh yeah, and you can see my new outfit. I love it so very, very much.

Starting Fights...and finishing them.

Tue, 11 Oct 2005 13:34:12 GMT

Last night I went over to Tony and Kristi’s for some fight choreography. Sasha was there as well.

Escape velocity was very difficult to reach. Grasshopper needed to be picked up from orchestra about the same time I was supposed to be there. No problem I’ve got a neighbor who, for some reason, thinks she owes me a million favors (she doesn’t, but I’m not above exploiting that perception when necessary). Her son went and picked Grasshopper up, and hung out with the kids for the evening.

So I made dinner for the kids real quick (did you know they have dinners in bag you can throw in a casserole dish and pop in the microwave for 5-10 minutes and viola! Instant dinner?)

Normally I’m all about the big, many-item dinner made from scratch where the main ingredients are love and implied passive-aggressive guilt trip (you better enjoy this, I worked and slaved….yadda yadda yadda). But you gotta love a meal that almost cooks itself.

Anyway, grabbed a power bar for myself and it was off to Maple Grove . Once escape velocity is reached, I always like going to Tony and Kristi’s house. I think they welcome everyone with shouts of their name and big, wide-armed hugs and all…but you do feel special, anyway.

Their dog, codenamed, “nerd hound”, will not be dissuaded until he gets his doggy massage. There was the admiring of the new carpet in the basement and general improvements going on there due to recent flood caused by a previous owner who was an inept do-it-yourselfer. (Don’t ask).

And we got down to work. This movie has been really cool. I’ve worked almost exclusively with Sasha, Kristi and Tony on the fighting for this movie, and the energy is great. Sasha is physically a natural talent with movement. Kristi is a trained martial artist. Tony is vocally appreciative of beautiful women gifted in movement fighting with each other. Positive energy feedback loop ensues.

Don’t get me wrong, we have a lot of false starts. A lot of times I come up with stuff that just doesn’t work. Sasha and Kristi and Tony let me know when that happens. This great comic moment developed last night in the fight we were working on. I think it was Kristi that suggested what we actually went with…but it was building off and idea that Sasha had and Tony ran with it. Then I tweaked it a little by changing the height of the techniques, and viola! Unabashed cheesy Kung Fu movie homage done Stone Soup-style right in the middle of a semi-serious fight scene. It even worked with the dialogue as written.

We also sketched out some of Tony’s hopes and dreams for the big, climactic fight scene at the end…and one small fight where I get to be an extra and get dispatched summarily by Cassie Banning in just three moves.

It practically wrote itself, and was more about hanging out with friends than anything. Unfortunately, the basking in the glow of intense creative activity had to be short and sweet. I needed to reach escape velocity again, and get home.

Faking it.

Sat, 17 Sep 2005 13:48:58 GMT

Remember being a kid (assuming you aren’t for all I know, some of you might be…in which case, where are your parents and why are they letting you read this? This blog contains foul language and disturbing imagery…and other migratory brain goblins that occasionally escape through the keyboard.)

Wait. Let’s start this again.

Remember being a kid and thinking adults had it all together and fully expecting that when you grew up you’d have it all together too? Remember sitting through graduation, and the old guy who used to tell you how much detention you had THIS week waved his hands and said “Prest-o Chang-o Congratulations, you’re an adult, and you’re on your own”?

Remember how you ran home and splashed cold water on your face, looked in the mirror and came to terms with the fact that you were going to be this dumb kid in a grown-up’s body for the rest of you life…and decided right then an there to start faking it so nobody else would know?

Well, I’m a fight choreographer for a small independent film group in the Twin Cities. We make movies. I usually say that we’re amateur film makers…except that a growing number of our cast and crew are pro and semi-pro…and the amateurs are getting REALLY good.

And I’m faking it, making it up as I go along.

I didn’t feel a lot of pressure the first movie I worked on as Fight Choreographer. Tony looked around the night of the shoot and said “Hey! I need a fight! Trees! Make me a fight! Heres a couple swords.”

So I made a fight, and lo, it was good. Never mind that it was using Chinese Broadsword techniques with Katana, (Before Kung Fu, the only sword forms I’d studied were Iado…which would have been appropriate with Katana…but not very pretty.) Tony liked it and I was doing something cool when I’d shown up to lug lights around and be a go-pher.

During the filming of the fight, I noticed one of the actor’s flexing a wrist as a sign of fatigue, which can lead to errors and injury and I recommended a break. Then, I became the safety coordinator.

I was the most educated on how to fall without breaking your butt…so I became stunt director.

I’m having the time of my life. I’m loving it! It’s fun, and the people are all gems and great and interesting people to know and have fun with…and the film we are working on now is going to be cool…I just know it.

But every so often there’s this moment that I remember that I’m faking it and really, truly, have no idea what I’m doing…and I worry I’m going to let them all down. Especially now, when the cast and crew are so experienced, and everything looks so shiney.

Still, all in all it’s a lot of fun, and Tony likes what I’m doing. Plus, if what I create for him isn’t quite what he wants, he just tells me and I do something else and keep trying things until he likes it…so there’s no guesswork there and boy is THAT a load off my mind. So I’m just going to keep doing it, and trust it will work out. I’m grateful for the opportunity, and I’m learning soooo much. I can’t shake the feeling that eventually, I won’t be able to keep up with the dramatic expansion in polish and professionalism of this group.

I guess that would be OK too. Before I got all these fancy-sounding credits, I was just showing up to carry stuff around and hold boom mikes and occasionally be part of a crowd. And that was fun and cool as well.

Here are the latest production photo’s from Tony’s blog (as of this writing).

More production pics if you are interested.

And then there’s the headaches of being a director from Tony’s perspective; The exhaustive pace and draining nature of the work, getting good sound when your actors can barely be heard over the traffic noise at the location, and the limitations of the equipment...just to name a few.

There’s a lot more info on Tony’s blog, but if you aren’t hooked in enough by these links to read the rest of his blog on your own…that’s up to you. J

I am the Bride of Lugash!

Wed, 17 Aug 2005 16:16:03 GMT

Who's Lugash you ask? Well, I will tell you. In due time.

So I wrapped up my assistance with the kid’s Kung Fu class, said “good-bye” to everyone, and scampered back home to take off for shooting the first scene of Stone Soup Film’s new project.

I’m not sure how much I should say about it…but I WILL say that both Grasshopper and Rocky are in this scene.

Rocky’s playing Lugash, the gypsy guard. His job is to look menacing. Grasshopper’s job is to look scared and ooze vulnerability. They both do a good job.

Tony was ebullient when we arrived. Bouncy and effusive as only Tony’s can be, I feared a fearsome crash for him before the evening was out…even if everything went swimmingly.

We have a make-up artist for the first time ever. Everybody who was in this scene got professional make-up and boy does it look good! She also plays the schoolteacher who is trying (unsuccessfully) to protect the children.

There was some trouble with lighting in the tent, and while we were dinging around with that (growing farther behind the shooting schedule every minute…to Tony’s dismay) a thunderstorm rolled up and ended the shoot.

Those of us without make-up dashed around, moving some things into the garage, and attempting to re-create the outdoor set inside the garage. Not easy, as you can’t stake a tent in concrete. We ended up using concrete blocks to hold the stake-loops down.

I am not of much use in this scene. I am the fight choreographer, but I have already created the action for this scene, and rehearsed it to death with the actors involved. I’m supposed to watch for safety hazards (like placement of concrete blocks on the set, for instance). I spent my time thinking up stuff like “Hey, shouldn’t we have straws so the actors can stay hydrated without messing up their make-up?”

I also helped carry the tent into the garage, which was interesting, as I was shorter than the person on the other end…so I got all the ice-cold run-off…which soaked my pants. I was laughingly referred to as “wet-crotch woman” for the next hour or so. It’s OK, though because I crave attention, even if it’s negative.

I stood around in my wet pants and held the tent up while the problem of how to keep it up was worked out and the solution executed. Making movies is not for people who deal poorly with glamour.

Otherwise, I made many smart-assed comments and ate pizza and trail mix.

Tony was indeed somewhat crashed by the end of the evening, but making every effort to see the positive side of it. I imagine he will be his usual animated self by tonight, when we make a second run at it…this time inside the garage.

The plus side of the thunderstorm fiasco are:

1) We got in a little more rehearsal.

2) We got the bugs worked out of the costuming.

3) We know the make-up is FABULOUS.

4) The actors get a little more time to brush up on their phonetically-learned Serbian lines.

5) We can start earlier in the day today, making use of the artificial night of the garage rather than waiting for natural nightfall.