Classy Update # 2 (10-24-2010)

In Which Our Very First Film Shoot, More Muffintops with Muttonchops and Ghost-Rape Are Discussed.

Shot our first short film last night.

The original plan was to shoot a short titled Meal and it revolved around a wholesome married couple babysitting for a young nurse.  When the nurse comes to pick up her baby, the “wholesome couple” turn out to be quite twisted (AND old-fashioned).

Meal was to consist of only four characters (the husband and wife, the nurse/mother and one cop) and one setting (the husband and wife’s kitchen).  We had some ideas for some “cool shots” in an otherwise dialog-driven film.  When we went to shoot this (with rented equipment) on Friday night, we ran into some problems with the wireless microphones.  We tried to fix it, couldn’t, and so we put Meal on hold for another day.  Instead, we decided to shoot something where we could utilize the camera’s built-in microphone only.  We ended up doing two separate things…

The first “thing” was something K & I like to call Muffintops with Muttonchops, a sort of “web chronicle” of our faux-selves.  In Muffintops, K & I don’t really get along (at all) and every conversation turns into an over-the-top argument.  It’s actually quite funny.  We shot 4 “episodes” of this (the 4 being:  ”Monty”, “Bros”, “Spoilers” and “Sexy”).  It’s only me, Katie & Steven.  We did literally everything for the films:  lighting, acting, directing…and there was no writing; every line of dialog was improvised.  So when watching, bear in mind that this is the first “film project” we’ve embarked on (aside from a company training video), we’ve got no prior training or eduction in film, and we’ve never done improv.  We just never have.  But tonight, in desperation due to the fact that we couldn’t shoot Meal, we gave it a try and hoped it worked.  We’ll see.

The second “thing” we shot is a comedy/parody/ghost story that has an awesome title I don’t want to reveal quite yet.  But believe me, it’s Fucking awesome.  That’s right, with a capital F.  This one was also thought up on the spot and entirely improvised.

We will be editing soon and then I will share them with you.  It’s been a stressful weekend, but also extremely fun.  Fun.  There’s a word I don’t use a lot.  Hopefully if we continue this “hobby” of making amateur, public access film projects, I will continue to use the word “Fun”.  With a capital F.

-d

Classy Update # 1 (3-29-2010)

In Which the Second Draft of Con Artists, Muffintops with Muttonchops and a Possible Horror Flick Are Discussed.

K & I finally went back to our script Con Artists and wrote the second draft.  A lot of changes made this time around, which I think were for the better.  What’s next?  First, we’re going to have a “launch party” at an undisclosed restaurant, where we will invite the cast (12 people including ourselves) & crew (something around 4 people not including us) for food, drinks & serious film discussion.  No, we will not be paying for said “food” & “drink” although the serious film talk is free.  Besides that, we need to get Tyler into the Media Center orientation so we can rent their equipment and then a date will be set.  My guess is, a month, quite possibly 2 months from now.

What do we need to do before production?  Let’s see…we need to do some more table readings with the talent, we need to  record a song for the movie, and I imagine I’ll have to learn my lines.  Prof. Wright was a bit different, since we shot my whole part in a day’s time, so I was able to mess up, look at the script, & go back.  With Con, I’m not sure how many days of shooting it will take, but we want it to be the minimum amount.  You see, we’re not professionals, kids.  We have these distracting wastes of time called jobs we need to attend to, otherwise some of us can’t make the rent, and would most likely end up living in a dumpster, or worse, back home on the couch in the basement.  All 20 or so of us have jobs, families, lives & maybe even a bit of laziness in there somewhere, so it gets kind of hard to find the time to get us all in the same room.  All I’m saying is, we don’t have a lot of time, and the precious time we do have, we need to kick ass.  Not to say Con is going to be a rush job (Prof. Wright unfortunately kind of was due to a lack of money and resources), it’s just we need to use our time wisely, and not waste it doing 30 takes for each scene.  We need to know our lines and get it right by the 5th or 6th go.  Is that going to happen?  None of us are actors.  We’re just some friends who want to make a movie, tell a story.

I’m very excited about the rewrites for Con Artists, as I felt the original draft was lacking something.  I couldn’t tell you what it was lacking, just that it gave me a feeling, or a sense that it could be better.  With the second draft, we sort of started over, and now we’re telling a new story in a new way but with the same characters we created for that first draft.  We added a special, surprise element to the movie now (you’ll see).  We added some more comedy and some more tragedy.  To me, this draft reads like a Nick Cave song meets an episode of The Twilight Zone.  Now we have to work on turning this 2nd draft into the final & shooting script.

Not much else is going on in the world of Classy Moon, other than K & I getting prepared for the laid-back stylings of Muffintops with Muttonchops, our web-cam web-series about, well, about bitchy, whiny, pretentious and fictitious versions of ourselves.   We’re going to go with a “season” format, where we do 10 or 12 episodes, take a break, and go back.  Each season will have an arc.  We’ve plotted out the ten episodes of Season 1.  I’ve written a theme song for the show and K made the beat.  Now, we have to record it, make a little intro and the absurd fun will begin.

Recently, our cameraman Steven asked if I’d appear in a horror film he’s working on.  HELL YES, I’ll appear in a horror film you’re working on.  No details about the part.  I’d love to play the stoner or the black guy who dies first.

That wraps up this first edition of Classy Update.  Stay with us in the months that follow as it is a very exciting time in our lives and we can’t wait to share our movies/series with you.

-d

Right and Wrong According to Professor Wright

Well, we finished our very first film – the training exercise video, Right & Wrong According to Professor Wright, for work.  Yeah, it’s a movie for work so we can’t post it online, but it’s still very much ours, as I wrote and acted in it, and Katie directed.  We also got help from a co-worker, Steven, who supplied the camera, lights & audio.  He was an enormous help to the production of the film.  Our Mr. King held the boom mic (I did in a scene as well).

The movie is set up sort of like an old horror film – opening credits with a creepy score by Kevin McLeod and then cuts to the mad professor’s laboratory, complete with spider webs, a human skull and hamster.  What kind of weird experiments are going on here?  On the white board behind the professor reads the two most important words of the film:  Right or Wrong?

The rest of the movie explores behavior in certain capacities  as two examples – Johnny and Suzie – act out how, or how not, to behave at work.  A lot of it is specific to the employer it’s for so the common audience may be confused at points.  Nonetheless, it’s chock full of our sense of humor and interests, like mad professors and plot twists.  There’s also a little dance number at the end where Suzy, Johnny, the Professor & Mr. King get happy feet to the “Monster Mash”.

Right & Wrong… was filmed in two days.  We actually shot the entire movie in 4 hours but had to reshoot all of my scenes because the original audio was muffled.  For the reshoots, Steven was able to bring in a wireless mic, so the Professor’s scenes now have the clearest audio.  It makes sense, because he (or I) has the most dialog.

The movie was edited in just two sessions (about 4 hours each).  Editing was done by Steven (again, he supplied the software), with assistance from myself & K.  Steven also created the DVD menu for the film, which is quite brilliant.

That’s about it for now…just excited that we actually completed something.  Our narrative independent movies are next.  But even before those, K & I have some awesomeness in store for the internet.  More details coming soon…

-d

Goodbye!

First OFFICIAL Table Reading

Is happening TONIGHT. We have managed to wrangle up the main characters and make a plan to get this shit off the ground, and it is happening. Only setback is that the producer cannot make it this evening, but he has been with us with everything else so far and many mini-readings so I think it will be fine.

We will update you on the process more later, check back if you want in the LOOP.

CMP.

Its Coming!

WE’RE COMING!

Just be patient and when everything is ready, it will be brought to the world for all to see.

We are building it, so it will come.