Welcome To Kernville

BACK ON WNET 13!

2012-01-28T22:51:00.000-08:00

God it's amazing to see seeing Justin and Tipper intercut with Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway!

Watch Reel 13 Preview: January 28, 2012 on PBS. See more from THIRTEEN Previews.

What an honor!

I'm sort of at Sundance!

2012-01-23T10:00:00.000-08:00

Maybe not physically, but I was lucky enough to be Mark Duplass' dead brother and Emily Blunt's ex-boyfriend in Lynn Shelton's Your Sister's Sister. That's right, I may not have any lines, and I might not have ever even been on set, but I'm the catalyst for all the juicy shenanigans that follow. I even get a bitchin' eulogy by Mike Birbiglia!

Listen to Lynn and Mark discuss the movie here (Not sure why they don't mention me. I guess in the heat of the moment it's easy to forget the most important part (me). But that's okay, no hard feelings guys!)

Wait a minute, you mean to say you missed it at Toronto and Sundance? Well, lucky for you, Your Sister's Sister is opening Seattle's very own Seattle International Film Festival this year! Get your tickets while you can!

Go Your Sister's Sister and go Lynn!

OT - Holiday Spirit!

2011-11-27T10:45:00.000-08:00

Sorry to get off topic, but my mind is a fucking mess! I'm sort of worrying about festival submissions and when Lauren is actually gonna get done and did I forget to do something for MRR and by the way fuck that asshole who wrote that shitty review that, eh has a few good points. But really, since it is the season, I'm worrying about lightning deals on Amazon because maybe that movie I don't really need is gonna be on sale super cheap and what kind of shit should I try to get people to buy me?!

This is generally what's going through my head right now. It's raining outside... Seattle sucks right now. I need some rain shoes. Some cool looking rain shoes that work in the snow too and will keep me warm. That's what I need to get through this winter! Me! Me! Me!

And since it is supposed to be a time about giving, suddenly the guilt strikes. I'm spending too much time thinking about me. What about Kirsten? What about my family?

...maybe Kirsten would like that new Star Wars blu ray set with all the deleted scenes even though Vader now screams "No!" at the end of Return of the Jedi.

God help me!

MRR in the UK!

2011-11-04T07:34:00.000-07:00

Great news to our friends overseas! The Mountain, The River and The Road is now viewable via LoveFilm in the UK, which in addition to having an adorable name, is also a great way to stream movies (ahem...like The Mountain, The River and The Road!)!

Would love to hear from anyone who is able to catch it this way!

THE MOUNTAIN, THE RIVER AND THE ROAD - Any Way You Want It!!!

2011-06-17T09:53:00.000-07:00

The Mountain, The River and The Road is now available on iTunes, Amazon, Xbox Live and The Playstation Network! Whatever your preference, you can now have The Mountain, The River and The Road on your favorite platform!

iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/movie/the-mountain-river-road/id441435158

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Mountain-River-Road/dp/B005061EEK

For Playstation and Xbox, just search in the movie sections.

Hope you all enjoy it!

Watch THE MOUNTAIN, THE RIVER AND THE ROAD - Wherever You Are!!!

2011-05-26T09:29:00.000-07:00

UPDATE 06/06/12 - More ways to watch! In addition to Amazon, we're not on Xbox Live!!!

----------------------------------------------------------

Finally! I'm so excited to announce that for all (both) of you who were unable to make it out to our festival screenings, or weren’t lucky enough to be in France or New York during the international and national Television premier, but are still interested in watching The Mountain, The River and The Road...

THE WAIT IS OVER!!!

Gotta love this new digital age we live in, because you can now get The Mountain, The River and The Road beamed directly into your computer to rent or own through Amazon.com. It’s very reasonably priced at $2.99 for a three day rental and $9.99 to own and cherish forever.

I hope to have further platforms to announce soon, but in the mean time this is another great goal I've had for the movie - that it be available and viewable to anyone who wants to see it (at least in the US...).

With out further fuss, check out the movie HERE AT AMAZON.

Still not sure if you're interested? Why not check out the preview below...

THE MOUNTAIN, THE RIVER AND THE ROAD - Trailer from Michael Harring on Vimeo.

Trailer for THE MOUNTAIN, THE RIVER AND THE ROAD starring Justin Rice, Tipper Newton and Joe Swanberg.

Deep Dasgupta's video for Grand Hallway's "Fourths"

2011-05-10T16:09:00.000-07:00

My good friend, Deep Dasgupta directed this great video for our friends, Grand Hallway. Check it out below or read about it at Sound On The Sound.

WNET Reel 13 Preview

2011-04-04T14:58:00.000-07:00

Sure he said the name a little weirdly, but hey, we're on a double feature with SIR LAURENCE OLIVIER! Now how cool is that?!

If the embed isn't working try this LINK.

Oh, and HERE'S the listing for the movie on their page.

The Mountain, The River and The Road hits the East Coast!

2011-03-31T10:55:00.000-07:00

More exciting news! If you live in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, or Pennsylvania you're in luck! The Mountain, The River and The Road is making it's East Coast Premier on WNET Reel 13 on April 9th. Set your VCR and mark your calendar!

For more info go to WNET. Or you can get right to the schedule HERE.

Flashback to Indie Memphis 2009

2011-03-30T16:53:00.000-07:00

This seems appropriate since I just wrapped up authoring the final DVD for The Mountain, The River and The Road yesterday! With any luck it'll be out soon. The movie looks better than ever and there will even be some cool special features.

Thanks to Kirsten for finding this! From left to right: Kirsten, Me, Tipper, Joe. Photo by Robin Salant.

Sleepy Eyes of Death - Kickstarter Video

2011-03-18T16:58:00.000-07:00

Can't believe I haven't posted this yet! With one week to go, my friends in Sleepy Eyes of Death are trying to raise funds for their dream vinyl release.

To help the cause I made this video:

Check out their Kickstarter page and consider grabbing yourself a copy of this limited release HERE.

Parts + Labor = Short Film

2011-03-16T09:04:00.000-07:00

Tipper Newton, from The Mountain, The River and The Road, made this great short co-starring Barak Hardly and directed by Sean O'Malley.

Enjoy!

Parts + Labor from Sean O'Malley on Vimeo.

a short film by Sean O'Malley starring Barak Hardley and Tipper Newton

Music by Tandemoro

Soundtrack Pro Woes!

2011-02-28T16:29:00.001-08:00

File Under Tech Talk:

I'm finishing up my latest film, "Pets" which will be part of an an anthology called SOURCE UNKNOWN.

We're in the final stretch and I'm really excited for you guys to see this thing. Unfortunately, there seems to be one huge obstacle standing in the way: Soundtrack Pro!

The present issue I'm having is that with or without video (a hangup I found out about online), the AAF file output by Soundtrack Pro 2 does nothing but crash Pro Tools, where we're finishing the audio.

And this is just the latest issue I'm having with the program...

Past issues:

-Soundtrack Pro 2 does not like mono. If you try to do certain things with mono you end up with an ear splitting squeal that is somehow able to bypass any kind of volume preset. Apple supposedly fixed this, but only with the release of STP 3. STP 2 remained ignored throughout it's entire release. This can be fixed by converting to stereo, but until you figured out that little trick you lived in fear.

-Soundtrack Pro does not like feature films. As far as I know this is still the case. Although Apple doesn't mention it, STP can not handle a large project without first breaking it into smaller parts.

-While it may have been my doing, I ran into a strange problem where I lost and could not reconnect the video in several Soundtrack Pro projects. I don't know what I did to sever the connection, but I had to re-export the project and connect the video from the new project to the old.

-Soundtrack Pro 2 does not like Final Cut Pro. Tracks converted from mono to stereo in FCP remained mono in STP 2. Which means if you didn't know that ahead of time you get to convert everything twice!

Ugh! What's especially depressing is that if STP worked as smoothly and reliably as FCP it would be an amazing program. As it is, I'm keeping my next feature as far away from it as possible. The headaches just aren't worth it!

Watch The Mountain, The River and The Road - In France!

2011-02-10T11:48:00.000-08:00

Wish I could tell you more, but I was surprised to find a Google alert for the first television screening of The Mountain, The River and The Road on Sundance Channel, France.

Here's the LINK.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it looks like we played today at 12:30am! To all my French followers - mark your calendars! Haha!

What's particularly cool is that I've been working hard to get the film deliverable for this, but I wasn't sure if it was actually going to be accepted or where exactly it would end up playing.

More info when I get it...

Scaling Back

2011-01-28T09:55:00.001-08:00

Just had to close the Cardinal Pictures bank account because there isn't enough money or activity and now they want to charge me just to keep it open. Sigh. Doesn't that seem a little passive aggressive? "We don't want your business so we're just gonna take what you have until you get the point and leave."

The glamor of filmmaking!

Anyway, Louis CK said it best:

Go Joe, Go!

2011-01-26T17:43:00.001-08:00

Don't know how I missed this, but including Uncle Kent at Sundance, Joe Swanberg has a total of three movies coming out right now! His other two movies are Silver Bullets and Art History, both of which are premiering in Berlin.

You can check out Joe's press materials on the two films over at his WEB PAGE.

While Silver Bullets doesn't seem to be about werewolves exactly (sad), it does involve a werewolf film within a film (rad)!

The synopsis:
An actress and her filmmaker boyfriend experience turbulence in their relationship when she accepts a role in a werewolf film. Her relationship with her new director blossoms while her boyfriend spirals into a dangerous depression.

The synopsis for Art History:
Tension mounts between a director and his lead actress on the set of a sexually explicit low-budget film. As the actress and her co-star develop real feelings for each other, the director's jealousy erupts and he begins sabotaging his own film.

Uncle Kent is available to watch RIGHT NOW (or not, if you're like me and don't have cable) thanks to Sundance On Demand. And IndieWire has a nice review of it HERE.

"Special Sequence" Preview Capture

2011-01-10T16:44:00.001-08:00

Here's a capture from the "Special Sequence" I'm creating for Lauren Is Missing. Since it's part of a mock up right now, it might not make it into the final film, but something similar probably will. I'd give you more context, but I think it's more fun without it!

Hmmm... Looks a little Appetite for Destruction...

See "PETS" own Manoli Tramountanas with School of Rock on January 6th!

2011-01-03T09:40:00.000-08:00

Manoli's rocking out with School of Rock on January 6th at Neumo's! It's a benefit for Teen Feed:

BEST OF THE NORTHWEST Volume II
Neumo's - 925 East Pike Street
7:00pm Doors, 8:00pm Show
$12 at the door

Trailer for THE OREGONIAN!

2010-12-28T08:40:00.000-08:00

The trailer for Calvin Reeder's The Oregonian is up!

I was fortunate to meet Calvin way back when I screened my short "Driving Around, Following Strangers" at the Northwest Film Forum and he was screening "Pile Driver." I fell in love with his work and have been an admirer ever since!

The DP and producer is Ryan K Adams, who spent tons of time working on The Mountain, The River and The Road color timing and advising through post production. He also shot "Little Farm" and "The Rambler" for Calvin and together they've created one of the most fun and engaging visual styles I've seen in a long time. Think the colors of Argento or Bava with the grittiness of early Tobe Hooper, especially Eaten Alive.

Finally, our very own "Cat," Tipper Newton, is in the film and even makes an appearance in the trailer!

Oh yeah, and it's premiering at Sundance!

Congratulations everyone!

http://twitchfilm.com/news/2010/12/sundance-2011-the-oregonian-trailer-premiere.php

Shorts Screening Tomorrow

2010-11-10T12:06:00.001-08:00

Open Five - Free Right Now!

2010-10-22T21:34:00.000-07:00

May not be around very long, but here's Kentucker Audley's new movie streaming free for a limited time:

Open Five from Paper Moon Films on Vimeo.

OPEN FIVE is a blend of reality and fiction that follows the story of a struggling musician and his sidekick (a maker of “poor” films), and what happens when two NYC girls venture down to Memphis for a long weekend visit.

A Couple Plugs for a Couple Friends...

2010-10-15T09:29:00.000-07:00

First off, a very talented writer and friend, SHOME DASGUPTA is releasing his latest chapbook at the end of the month, i am here And You Are Gone. It's available for pre-order from amazon or directly from the publisher, Outside Writers Collective.

“From the start, I fell in love with this book. Shome Dasgupta takes on perhaps the most common of all subjects—love—and makes it somehow fresh and new. Stunning in its use of form, language and character, i am here And You Are Gone is a delight. The book and its author are remarkable. This is the first you may be hearing from Shome Dasgupta, but I can’t imagine it will be the last.”

---Rob Roberge, author of Working Backwards from the Worst Moment of My Life (Ren Hen Press)

You can find out more about Shome and his writing at his blog... HERE.

Next up, CHANCE SHIRLEY, the generous man who lent us the camera package to shoot The Mountain, The River and The Road has a video release date coming up for his movie, Interplanetary. Shot around the same time as MRR and on the same camera, I can't help but think of Interplanetary as family. It's the funny, gory tale of space slackers and bureaucrats up against killer monsters. Think Office Space meets Aliens. It'll be out on March 15th!

INTERPLANETARY Teaser Trailer from Chance Shirley on Vimeo.

Teaser trailer for INTERPLANETARY, coming to home video later this year.

Chris Cunningham, Gil Scott-Heron: New York Is Killing Me

2010-09-29T15:25:00.000-07:00

I'm waiting for a file to compress for the new The Mountain, The River and The Road DVD, so I have some free time which I've partially squandered online (part was unsquandered and involved a much needed grocery run - we now have bread and jelly!)

First, the video (sorry bout the ad, make it fullscreen after the plug):

For some reason a lot of the posts with this video seem to be "temporarily unavailable." Fortunately, this one still works.

It's a great example of a video that makes it appear as though the music is creating the images. It's my favorite approach to music videos and I've always wanted to try making one. Gondry used to do this a lot and Cunningham has also done this a few times in the past.

Star Guitar - The Chemical Brothers from Chen VM on Vimeo.

(In an interview I read a few years ago, Cunningham mentioned how he loved use of the train POV in the "Star Guitar" video and wished he'd thought of it. "New York Is Killing Me" seems to be his go at it)

I prefer these organic videos to the narrative videos (which I'm totally guilty of). I feel like they lend themselves better to multiple viewings and are more symbiotic with the music. Many people may feel differently, my wonderful girlfriend for one, but I don't like watching narratives over and over and over. It can be powerful for a few runs, but after that I'd rather just hear the song (unless, of course, the video is better than the song, which honestly isn't all that rare). A good abstract video that draws inspiration from the music but abandons narrative can actually be an extension of the song. It lets the mind wander and explore and consider the sound and images. The result can never be independent of the song and allows more viewer interpretation.

Cle Elum Teaser - A Film by Jaideep Dasgupta

2010-09-27T11:18:00.000-07:00

Here's a teaser for Cle Elum, a feature film from my good friend Jaideep Dasgupta. I've been helping him with the shoot for the last few weeks and can tell you that this teaser is just a taste of the beautiful photography to come once the movie is complete. Hope you enjoy it!

cle elum (the sun teaser) from deep dasgupta on Vimeo.

excerpt from "cle elum"
a feature film by deep dasgupta

Thanks For Coming Out!

2010-09-27T08:46:00.001-07:00

The screening at the Northwest Film Forum on Saturday went even better than expected! Thanks so much to everyone who came out, it was so great to see you - I hope you all enjoyed the film!

Thanks also go to everyone who helped get the word out - where would I be without friends like you?

-Mike

TRAILER - The Mountain, The River and The Road

2010-09-16T16:05:00.000-07:00

THE MOUNTAIN, THE RIVER AND THE ROAD - Trailer from Michael Harring on Vimeo.

THE MOUNTAIN, THE RIVER AND THE ROAD at the Northwest Film Forum

2010-09-13T08:47:00.000-07:00

Mark your calendar for the next screening of The Mountain, The River and The Road at The Northwest Film Forum on SEPTEMBER 25th at 9pm!!!

We're playing as part of the Arboring Film Program which presents a great selection of local films that the Film Forum had a part in bringing into the world (think "harboring film," not "abhorring film" and definitely not "a boring film"). In addition to a few grants from the Film Forum, I actually met Joe Swanberg (Tom) at the their Local Sightings party. Read about it at the calendar page for the film HERE.

And buy your tickets HERE.

If you haven’t seen it yet, this is a perfect opportunity to fill in that MRR sized gap in your life.

Looking for a reason to see it again? This is the final final (for now) version of The Mountain, The River and The Road. It’s been re-color timed by the talented Ryan Adams, and Ryan McMackin's cinematography looks better than ever! It includes two new (and previously unreleased) tracks from Federation X and Trophy Hunter. And best of all, it’s two minutes shorter, which gets you out of the theater and into the bar that much sooner to stave off the DTs!

What's that? Not in Seattle but dying to get your eyes on this great film? Well I may have some exciting news for you in the very near future, but in the mean time, if you have a local art house or venue you’d like to see it play, bug 'em about it and send me their info so I can bug ‘em a little too (my email is mikeharring-AT-hotmail-dot-com).

Hope to see you on the 25th!

Rabbit Island

2010-07-08T10:36:00.000-07:00

Just got this photo from my Aunt Sue, who was location manager for The Mountain, The River and The Road (and is actually in the movie playing cards with Cat).

When we filmed, it wasn't so much Rabbit Island as much as it was Rabbit Rock. We were able to drive right up to it and shoot the scene. If you remember the first shot where Jeff and Cat (Justin and Tipper) start climbing, the camera would be in the water.

Manoli's Blog!

2010-06-21T09:02:00.000-07:00

Manoli, one of the stars of "Pets" started a blog of his own!

Check it out!

http://ninjapenguinmonkey.blogspot.com/

Don vs. Devo!

2010-06-19T12:34:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdcmpt3xAIo

"PETS" Day Three

2010-05-02T09:08:00.001-07:00

(Dave learns a little about his boundaries)

Today was divided between shooting at Jason and Betty's house and a new condo complex in the Central District - our version of a future neighborhood.

We only had a short time with all of the clones together for a dinner scene and ended up having to put off most of Don's shots from the scene for another day. This ended up being the most difficult day of the shoot regarding what we needed to get versus what we were able to get and we had to leave a few scenes unfinished in hopes to pick them up either Thursday or Friday when our schedule wouldn't be so crammed.

It's usually best to shoot out a scene in it's entirety. It makes things a little easier to put together and from a morale standpoint it's nice to keep moving on instead of having to return to the same scene over and over again. It also helps keep the performance and directing consistent. Unfortunately, it isn't always a possibility - you're always strategizing and trying to make the most out of your resources and in cases like this you have to give up the way you'd like to do something in exchange for getting things done. In the end, if you don't have a movie, you don't have anything.

We grabbed what we could and moved on to the C.D. for the rest of the days shooting.

(Clone Dad and son keep an eye on Dave)

The location change helped lift the mood, but that was quickly tempered by loud airplanes (everywhere in Seattle!) and more frustrating, lawn service. We shot a few MOS versions of scenes, but luckily there wasn't much grass to tend to and the landscapers moved on before long. We were able to complete the scenes more or less as planned. And in fact, once things settled down noise wise we began kicking ass until we shot a traveling shot that left George (who filled in on sound for Deep on days two and three while Deep was at work) tumbling over a concrete railing and busting up Deep's zoom recorder. The recorder still worked, but Deep had it less than a month before the tumble and had never gotten the chance to use it on his own production.

The down side of not having production insurance is that stuff like this isn't covered. The positive side is that it's actually much cheaper to replace a single zoom player than get production insurance. We were lucky not to be using something way more expensive. In the end I called Deep to level with him about what had happened and told him that I'd replace the recorder for him. He still wasn't all that stoked, but I think he was glad to know he wouldn't be stuck with a busted piece of equipment.

With that taken care of we quickly drove to George's place to shoot Manoli putting funny outfits on Don. It was a last minute scene grab and despite the rush, Don and Manoli brought the goods and the scene played out great. Without any lights I used the fading daylight to light the scene from behind and George found us some wrapping paper with a blank white side which we used as a bounce. Whether it matches or not is yet to be seen, but I thought it looked pretty damn cool. It's my wannabe Gordon Willis moment.

Another good thing about shooting a project yourself is being able to take risks like this at a moment's notice. The bad part is that there isn't anyone to say "dude that isn't a very good idea." You'll have to tell me if you think it works in the finished film.

Throughout the day, Manoli conducted interviews with the cast and crew about their duties making the movie, which should make an appearance on the blog soon!

In all, despite some rocky moments, we still got what we needed and the day ended with picture wrap for Manoli, Tyler and George. Until pick ups anyway...

(Daisy, Dave and the little clone take a nap)

"PETS" Day Two

2010-05-02T08:40:00.000-07:00

The second day was our first at our friends' Jason and Betty's house. Most of the picture takes place there and they were extremely generous and patient with us. Deep was back at Easy Street today, so the sound duties went to my buddy George Tramountanas, who I've known since we worked together at Atom Films. It all worked out since this was also the first day for George's son, Manoli, who played Clone Kid. Actually, it was another big day of firsts. Emily Laue (Clone Mom), Amanda Stoddard (Daisy) and Kirsten Barber (Clone Friend) also had their first days in front of the camera.

(Dave is not welcome at the clones' dinner table)

Tyler was technically the first clone on set, but this was the first time we had the clones for the entire day. Tiffany did an amazing job on the makeup and Emily instantly inhabited the character. It was a real joy to see her at work.

Working with Manoli, who is probably second only to Don for screen time, was great. Since he had to do homework when he wasn't acting he was especially anxious to get to his scenes. Kids can sometimes get impatient during long days of shooting and while I'm sure he felt fidgety at times he was a real trooper and stuck out the long days and multiple takes (read what George has to say about it on his BLOG).

(A little clone (Manoli) gets an eye full)

The highlight of the day may have been the makeout scene between Don and Amanda. Aside from Don's diaper scene it was the most buzzed about with the cast and crew and I know I was a little nervous about it. Don and Amanda came up with the business of getting his sweater vest off and when it came time to do the scene, and it went off without a hitch (although the room temp may have gone up a few degrees).

(Clone Friend (Kirsten) and Clone Mom (Emily) are shocked to see what their pets are up to.)

Kirsten, played Daisy's owner, and in classic fashion, she didn't know she'd be in the movie until the last minute when a friend had to drop out because of some urgent developments at work. Sorry Kirsten, I promise next time we'll give you at least a week's notice! ;) Despite juggling all her many responsibilities and the last minute casting, she was great.

Since we were shooting weekdays, we only had Manoli for two days - George was good enough to pull him from class so he could be in the movie - so we had to cram a lot in those two days. Our ambitious schedule proved a little too ambitious and we were forced to delay a couple shots that we'll need to grab later on in pick ups.

More to come...

(Dave, Daisy (Amanda Stoddard) and the little clone play with slinkys)

And before I forget, Chance has posted a few great stills from his segment, "Overtime," on his blog HERE.

"Pets" Day One

2010-05-01T17:42:00.002-07:00

April 26th...

The first day turned out to be the most difficult day of the shoot, which is a little ironic because it was supposed to be the easiest. We shot mostly on location at Carkeek Park and didn't have to start until noon.

(Don Black as Dave before rolling the first shot)

The night before, our lead actor, Don Black (star of the great movie Bicycle Lane), got into town. Don and I picked up Deep Dasgupta (sound guy, brilliant filmmaker in his own right) and Chris Caballero who would be playing one of the forest thugs.

(Tyler Harkey and Chris Cab as Forest Thugs)

At the park we met up with the talented Tiffany Lowry who did makeup for us and Tyler Harkey who played the second forest thug and would later help us out on the last day of shooting. Tabby McKinney (producer) and Kirsten Barber (production design and wardrobe) came by once they got off work.

(Dave tries to convince the Forest Thugs not to kick his ass)

Aside from wading in what we would latter learn was bacteria infested water, sound and rain were the biggest issues. Airplanes seem to be all over the place whenever you shoot in Seattle and today was no exception. Even worse though was the rain, which made it extremely uncomfortable and really slowed us down. I had to sacrifice some shots I wanted to get and I was a little concerned about the camera short circuiting, but the mighty T2i held out and I think we got everything we needed if not everything I wanted.

After a quick dinner, we got to work shooting the dumpster set in our apartment. Kirsten made an amazing set out of a cut piece of masonite. Using some spray paint, acrylics and coffee grounds it looked great and I don't think you'd notice that it wasn't real on screen except that now you'll be looking for it. ;)

This was also the first day Tyler Bromley donned the clone makeup. Tiffany did an amazing job designing and applying the makeup. With Kirsten's wardrobe and the actors' performances, I think we've created some really unique and memorable characters on a low, low budget.

(Tyler Bromley as Clone Dad)

Note: All images are frame grabs without any grading.

"Pets"

2010-04-15T08:51:00.000-07:00

Lauren is Missing, the new feature, is on hiatus while I work on yet another new project: "Pets."

It's my portion of a sci-fi / horror anthology feature featuring five directors (Chance Shirley, Chuck Hartsell, Robert Rugan, myself and perhaps one or two more) and produced by Arik Sokol.

"Pets" reunites a good portion of the Lauren crew and stars Don Black, a new friend I met at the Oxford Film Festival. The background is a future world in which clones have become the dominant social force and humans live on the periphery of society. We're shooting in two weeks on the T2i.

More to come...

MRR This Friday at NW PROJECTIONS - tickets still available!

2010-04-12T08:04:00.000-07:00

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/107036

SCREENING - The Mountain, The River and The Road - Northwest Projections 2010!

2010-03-29T13:22:00.001-07:00

I’m proud to say that The Mountain, The River and The Road has been chosen to be the Opening Night Film of Northwest Projections at the Pickford Center in Bellingham, WA on April 16th at 7:30pm (address)!

For more info about the fest, go HERE!

And don’t forget that admission to the fest also gets you access to the Opening Night Party at Chuckanut Brewery!

Hope to see you all there and please pass the word to anyone who might not get these mailings but might be interested in seeing the movie!

Happy last week of March!

-Mike

Post Screening Q and A at the Oxford Film Festival!

2010-02-15T09:12:00.000-08:00

Kyle and I talk a little about the movie.

Oxford Film Festival Wrap Up!

2010-02-13T16:45:00.000-08:00

My God, what an amazing time we had at the Oxford Film Festival!

What a warm and welcoming staff (my good luck with festivals continues)! Great films and filmmakers. It was a wonderful time all around.

It's not a party 'till the cops are called out and we were happy to oblige (sorry Melanie)!

If you have a chance to attend this festival I couldn't recommend it highly enough. With the focus on fewer smaller films that aren't necessarily surfing on buzz, there's a great sense of discovery, and thanks to the amazing job of the programmers, you feel like you're discovering movies that really are outstanding. It's criminal how some of these films aren't screening more!

In order to do my part to help out here are some of my favorites...

Bicycle Lane

Ruggies and Don have promised to move to Seattle where we're all going to live together!

D-tour

I don't want to say too much about this movie, I'm including the trailer, but it's bigger than the trailer might lead you to believe. Extremely powerful, you won't be able to watch without being moved. PBS picked it up for Independent Lens, it's worth your time!

Dive!

Fun and informative this doc will open your eyes while putting a smile on your face. While most docs might feel content just asking some of the questions put forth in the movie, it's extremely satisfying to see the filmmaker and his friends taking action and making change instead of idly standing by and asking someone else to do it.

Trailer...HERE!

Wheedle's Groove

Our Seattle partners in crime, director Jennifer Maas and editor Michelle Whitten decided to have a small get together in their hotel room after the awards ceremony. Word got out like wild fire and it became the official afterparty. Their magnetism is equally applicable to their film, Wheedle's Groove, which is about the little known Seattle Soul scene of the 60s and 70s.

More info...HERE!

Somewhere out there are photos of Jennifer and Michelle doing some wicked keg stands from the last night of the festival...

"I Am A Man - From Memphis, A Lesson In Life"

Finally, our friend John Hubble, who we met in Memphis, has taken his movie about the 1968 Sanitation Worker's strike all over the US, but that doesn't mean you should take it for granted.

http://www.iamamanthemovie.com/

I'm leaving quite a bit out so you should check out Todd Gilcrest's great write up of the fest for Cinematical, which you can read HERE.

You can see more festival photos HERE.

Also, just found THIS recap on Melanie's Site: Oxford Film Freak.

I miss you Oxford!!!

Take 5 With The Mountain, The River and The Road!

2010-01-25T09:14:00.000-08:00

Ten questions for the Oxford Film Festival!

http://oxfordfilmfest.blogspot.com/2010/01/take-5-with-mountain-river-and-road.html

Oxford Screening Times And Schedule!

2010-01-11T13:36:00.000-08:00

Screening times for The Mountain, The River and The Road at the OXFORD FILM FESTIVAL are...

Friday, Feb 5th @ 2:45pm and Sunday, Feb 7th at 1pm.

Both screenings are at the Malco Theater:

1111 Jackson Ave. W, Oxford, MS 38655

You can check out our B-Side Festival page here:
http://oxford.bside.com/2010/films/themountaintheriverandtheroad_michaelharring_oxford2010

Stocking Stuffers

2009-12-21T12:33:00.000-08:00

In case there's anyone else out there trolling around for stuff to do online this holiday season, here are a few things I thought I'd share:

-X-Entertainment Christmas Countdown or just surf the site and relive your favorite 80s memories.

-Holiday Specials!

-Episode 1 review. You've probably already seen this, but just in case here you go again. The real question is... did you watch all 70 minutes of it?!

-Misfits of Science.

-MAMEs and ROMs. I'm about ten years too late to this party, but I'm putting THIS up for anyone who, like me, was daunted by the many different formats but was compelled by a sudden need to play the arcade version of Splatterhouse.

-Egg City Radio - Fill in the blanks of your Post Punk library.

-Face Can't Be Felt - mixtape. Lil Wayne and Juelz Santana. What else do you need to know.

-1001 Books - Fill in your literary blanks and follow the evolution of the novel.

-Rolling Stone 500 Albums - Get angry at what was left out. Nod in agreement at a few surprise listings. Learn about a few albums you never quite got around to checking out.

-Wishbook Web - Didn't get what you wanted for Christmas...in 1985? What about 1966? This place has several wishbooks from 1933-1988. Great for revisiting the pangs of Christmas disappointment of years past. Or for raw material for a late night eBay binge.

Happy Holidays!

-Mike

Top Twenty 2001-2010

2009-12-20T12:51:00.000-08:00

I should be editing, but I decided to make a top ten (or twenty or more) list instead.

The Top Ten...

Ali - Michael Mann's best movies of the decade (Ali and Miami Vice) are the ones that got the least love. Maybe they're too arty to be commercial and too commercial to be arty? I prefer the theatrical version to the director's cut. If the first ten minutes, a cinematic catapult that propels you into the film, doesn't grab you, you don't have a pulse. Intercutting gorgeous 35mm footage with grainy video, Mann makes it seem so effortless.

25th Hour - Spike Lee is still one our most amazing directors. 25th Hour is my third favorite of his, after He Got Game and Do The Right Thing. And to think I had to turn it off the first time I tried to watch it!

The New World - Terrence Malick and Emmanuel Lubiezki blow my mind. I couldn't have been less interested in another story of John Smith and Pocahontas. Malick's cinema transcends story and plot - his is a cinema of mood and experience unlike any other.

Kill Bill V.1 - Made me feel like a ten year old boy walking out of the theater giddy and excited and with a big stupid grin on my face.

Elephant - Gus Van Sant and Harris Savides eulogy to high school. Modeled after the Columbine shootings, a societal loss of innocence. Van Sant and Savides' photography lingers ghost like on high school teens. What might get lost with the eventual mass tragedy is the way that body issues, sexual identity issues and social ostracization is tearing many of these kids apart figuratively before the bullets do it literally. One of the best depictions of high school put to screen (or at least that I can remember).

Mulholland Drive - Fresh off the Straight Story, David Lynch returns to form. The movie may be confusing as typical narrative, but it is wholly satisfying as an emotional narrative. Even if you can't explain what's going on, you feel what's going on. The film is heartbreaking.

Royal Tenenbaums - My favorite Wes Andersen film. Amazing cast. Perfect intersection of story and style. The people who damage us the most are the ones we care most about. Kindness can be followed or preceded by cruelty. Humans are confused and confusing.

Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford - An examination of celebrity? Maybe. Better: An examination of idolatry and failure. Our heroes, famous or not will fail us and let us down. The people we look up do will do dubious things that we won't understand. The lowest coward can be capable of more kindness and understanding than the strong willed who influence our values and raise our aspirations. If we are lucky we will somehow escape self exhaltation and dissappointment that comes when others realize we aren't perfect. And also we will avoid being the coward who aims for the superficial glory.

Spirited Away - Hayao Miyazaki makes the best fantasy film of the decade. Peter Jackson comes in a close second. Animation that takes you into a scary and exciting world without dumbing it down for adults or children.

Time Out - A man drops out of life, building a lie that has no option but to shatter and ultimately implicate him. The traps we build for ourselves in order to preserve the impression we want others to have of us.

LOL/Mutual Appreciation (tie) - Finally, a new wave of American Independent Cinema made on low budgets striking out with bold and unique voices. Despite the odds against (and an unfair backlash), they found an audience and prove that there is still room for intelligent and unique work in cinema.

11-20
Shotgun Stories
Brown Bunny
Little Miss Sunshine
Birth
All The Real Girls
Spiderman 2
Cache
Science of Sleep
Hero

And because I couldn't resist, some of my other favorites of the decade:

George Washington, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Miami Vice, Lost in Translation, Where The Wild Things Are, Watchmen, Dark Water, Ichi The Killer, Broken Flowers, 40 Year Old Virgin, Zodiac, Squid and The Whale, Munich, Gangs of New York, The Intruder, Trouble Every Day, Black Dahlia, The Two Towers, Talk To Her.

Oxford Film Festival!

2009-12-15T15:09:00.000-08:00

Great news! MRR was just accepted to The Oxford Film Festival in Oxford, Mississippi! Not sure about the day or time yet, but you can learn more about the festival (which runs Feb 4th-7th) HERE.

This is especially significant as Memphis was the last screening I expected for MRR. Melanie Addington, Co-Director and Programmer for OFF, was kind enough to complement the movie after its screening which, along with the kind words of other filmmakers, spurred me to continue submitting to a few more festivals. When I got home I realized that I’d missed the deadline for OFF, and after initially deciding to let it go I ultimately got in touch with Melanie, who urged me to submit and even waived the submission fee.

Thanks again Melanie!

MRR Press Roundup!

2009-10-14T18:20:00.000-07:00

I'm back from the MRR mini-tour. I'll try to write something more substantial about my amazing experiences in Memphis, Birmingham and right here in Seattle in the near future, but until then I thought I would share some of the great press we got for our Seattle premier at Local Sightings.

I've got lots of Thank You letters to get writing!

Seattle Weekly’s feature article:

http://www.seattleweekly.com/2009-09-30/film/life-in-the-slow-lane/

The Stranger:

http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Search?search=movietimes&film=2356248&date=2009-10-30

Seattle Times:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/movies/2009975964_sightings01.html

Seattle Post Globe:

http://www.seattlepostglobe.org/2009/10/01/the-art-house-beat-three-from-the-local-sightings-film-festival-at-nwff

Scarecrow Video Blog

2009-10-02T07:56:00.000-07:00

Jen Koogler at Scarecrow asked me to write something for the Scarecrow Video Blog - some thoughts about The Mountain, The River and The Road.

http://www.scarecrow.com/2009/09/30/director-michael-harring-on-the-mountain-the-river-and-the-road/

Seattle Weekly on MRR and Local Sightings!

2009-10-02T07:45:00.000-07:00

Brian Miller interviewed me for the Weekly! Here's the article:

http://www.seattleweekly.com/2009-09-30/film/life-in-the-slow-lane/

Local Sightings spotlight: The Mountain, the River and the Road

2009-09-30T11:04:00.000-07:00

A quick story I wrote about meeting Joe at Local Sightings 2007 and how that played into completing an amazing cast is up on Hot Splice, the Northwest Film Forum's blog!

Sidewalk Pics!

2009-09-30T10:54:00.001-07:00

Just got back from an awesome time at Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival in Birmingham, AL. Reunited with some old friends and made many new friends. Just an amazing experience. I'd love to write more about it, but I'm busy getting ready for the Local Sightings premier here in Seattle on FRIDAY!

Here are some pics from the trip (posted to facebook, let me know if you have trouble seeing the pics).

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30739488&id=1306824658&saved#/album.php?aid=2038735&id=1306824658

-Mike

Quick Updates.

2009-09-23T16:50:00.000-07:00

I'm packing for tomorrow, when I leave for Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival in Birmingham, AL.

Just a reminder, that screening is just three days away on Saturday, September 26th at 11am @ Alabama Power.

The Local Sightings schedule is up - check it out at www.localsightings.org Tickets do not seem to be available yet, but should be in the next couple days.

Also, Indie Memphis has posted their schedule. We'll be screening on Friday, October, 9th at 5:45pm at Studio on the Square.

I'll have more info on Indie Memphis soon!

Also at local sightings, my video for Sleepy Eyes of Death is showing as part of the shorts block titled "Abstractions" on Tuesday, October 6th at 9pm. I'll also be part of a music video film saloon on Sunday, October 4th at 7pm (this one's FREE!).

Finally, while I may not be able to do much blog updating I plan on sending out mini-updates via facebook. If you're interested feel free to say hi and friend me.

Have a happy weekend everyone!

-Mike

More Local Sightings News!

2009-09-15T18:46:00.000-07:00

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=134068727443&ref=nf

Thanks for catching this, Deep!

Seattle Premier - The Mountain, The River and The Road

2009-09-09T10:17:00.000-07:00

Just got news on the Seattle Screening and it's exciting!

Mark your calendar for OCTOBER 2nd, 7pm

For the SEATTLE PREMIER of THE MOUNTAIN, THE RIVER AND THE ROAD at THE NORTHWEST FILM FORUM'S LOCAL SIGHTINGS!

Best of all...We're the OPENING NIGHT FILM!!!

The screening will be followed by the opening night party and it should be a blast!

Pass the word, I hope to see you there!

In case you've forgotten...

The Mountain, The River and The Road is the denial of responsibility, a failed road trip, a dead bear and a brush with love. It stars Justin Rice (Mutual Appreciation, Alexander The Last), Tipper Newton (LOL, Hannah Takes The Stairs) and Joe Swanberg (Nights and Weekends, LOL).

For more info check out http://www.nwfilmforum.org/go/localsightings/

And of course, check back here for more updates!

Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival screening time for THE MOUNTAIN, THE RIVER AND THE ROAD!

2009-08-25T14:34:00.001-07:00

We're playing at Sidewalk on Saturday, September 26th at 11am at Alabama Power. Click for more info about the films, to see the schedule grid, or to learn more about Sidewalk.

MRR Poster!

2009-08-10T14:33:00.000-07:00

MRR gets into Sidewalk!

2009-08-07T09:39:00.000-07:00

Just heard that MRR is playing at Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival in Birmingham, AL! The fest runs September 25-27 if you can make it you won't be disappointed, Sidewalk is an amazing fest!

More info as it comes...

Lauren Is Missing!

2009-07-31T16:58:00.000-07:00

(Clockwise: Me, Kirsten Barber, Deep Dasgupta, Tabitha McKinney, Allison Bohl, Tyler Bromley - last still from the very last day of shooting. Photo by Allison Bohl.)

If you don't already know, I spent the better part of this month (July) with a group of amazing people making my second feature, Lauren is Missing.

It's about a woman who comes home to find her roommate missing but doesn't really care. You could say it's a thriller, but I'd use that term loosely. Beyond that it's about identity and the relationship between two women, Mia and Millie (played by Maya Lawson and Erin Jorgensen). It also involves taxidermy and lots of drinking. Kirsten Barber and I came up with the story together, but she took the initiative and wrote the screenplay while I was editing MRR.

Without letting this post get ridiculously long, the 16 day shoot really was great. It gave me more of a chance to focus on being a director (Tabitha McKinney was my producer extraordinaire) than I was able to on MRR, where I had to balance directing and producing responsibilities and didn't feel like I was able to give either as much attention as it deserved. Our crew was 5 members strong, Tabitha produced; Allison Bohl was Director of Photography and camera operator; Deep Dasgupta took a break from editing his feature, People of Earth, to run sound; Kirsten supplemented her writing duties with production design and wardrobe; and I directed and operated the second camera.

(Mia (Maya Lawson) in pursuit of The Blind Man)

No movie is anything without it's cast, and ours was headed by Brand Upon The Brain's Maya Lawson (that's her in the still above) I was fortunate enough to have worked with her several years ago on my second short film, "Driving Around, Following Strangers," and it was a lot of fun to finally work together again. If that wasn't enough, we got the amazing Erin Jorgensen to play Millie. Erin comes from a performance background, but hadn't done much acting, the process of finding her and getting her on board relied on so many coincidences and so much good luck that it borders on miracle. I guess you could say the same about the way most of this movie came together! Last but certainly not least, my former band-mate and Scarecrow co-worker, Tyler Bromley stepped up to don a suit and some fogged contact lenses to play The Blind Man to creepy effect.

Some tech specs... We shot on video with two HVR-V1U cameras. Initially we were gonna shoot with two HVXs, but I couldn't find a cheap enough pair. The HVR was a pretty badass camera though. It handles low light extremely well and it records a compressed 1080 to HDV. I rented the cameras and sound equipment from my buddy Ryan Adams (colorist for MRR) and also managed to shave off another crew member in the process (we didn't need anyone to offload the footage as we went). The only drawbacks that I can think of are the lack of variable frame rate and the occasional need to recapture footage. The variable frame rate is really just a matter of the camera's price point. The occasional capture glitches seem to be a universal problem with HDV (though I could be wrong). I'm sure P2 cards present their own issues.

I'll try to post more pics and behind the scenes stories soon, but it's time for me to get back to work. The footage is captured and logged and I'm one day into editing. Can't wait to see this movie come together!

(Clockwise: Me, Kirsten Barber, Maya Lawson, Tabitha McKinney, Roger Hamel, Jaideep Dasgupta, Erin Jorgensen, Allison Bohl - after our last big day of shooting at Roger's Taxidermy. Photo by Allison Bohl.)

MRR Screenings In October

2009-06-18T13:58:00.000-07:00

If you haven't heard already, The Mountain, The River and The Road will play at Indie Memphis in October! Indie Memphis is run by festival director Erik Jambor, who used to run Sidewalk, one of the first festivals to play my short films. It’s a real pleasure to play Indie Memphis, I’ve heard nothing but great things since Erik took the reigns.

Also in October, MRR will be playing as part of the Northwest Film Forum’s Local Sightings in Seattle. I hope I’m not letting the cat out of the bag on this one, but I figure I’ve been telling everyone else about it, I may as well make it official! The NWFF has supported me ever since “Cardinal,” my first short. They’ve awarded me grants for most of my locally produced films since, making it possible for me to continue making movies on a tight budget. I look forward to screening MRR in its hometown!

While exact dates and times are not yet available, make sure to mark your calendars. Local Sightings runs from October 2nd – 7th and Indie Memphis runs from October 8th -15th.

Look here for more info as it becomes available!

Coolness! Breaking 1000!

2009-06-03T17:53:00.001-07:00

The Sleepy Eyes Video just went over 1000 views! I know this because I am a dork and I check. What can I say, I'm just a fiend for the attention. Thanks again to all the Sleepy Dudes for letting me make their video. It was tons of fun, truly rewarding and artistically reinvigorating.

If you haven't seen it yet, why don't you help us get to 2000 and click HERE.

Thanks to everyone who already did!

So What's New With MRR?

2009-05-27T10:44:00.000-07:00

Good question, thanks for asking. Sorry to anyone who regularly checks the blog for the long period of… nothing. Honestly, I wasn’t quite sure what to say, I don’t know much more than you do.

As far as MRR goes, it’ll be screening in October at the Northwest Film Forum as part of Local Sightings. If you’re in Seattle, you’ll have a chance to see it in a theater! After that, I don’t really know what’s gonna happen with it. There are still two more festivals I’m waiting to hear back from, so you never know, there may be another screening or two after Local Sightings. (Cross your fingers!)

Right now I’m turning my energy to another feature film. This one’s called Lauren is Missing and we’re shooting in July. I’m really excited about it.

One way or another though, I’ll make MRR available. I’m not quite sure what the best way is to do that or when it’ll happen, but one idea I have is to serialize the film and post it on YouTube (or an equivalent). What I like about that idea is that I can explore the best way to make episodes out of the film and I can probably include some deleted scenes that didn’t make the final cut. After that, I could make DVDs available of the feature version.

I still have some problems and issues with putting the movie out that way – Would the tone fit the format? Would anyone watch it? How do you let people know that the movie’s out there? How do you get them to care? Some of these questions apply to independent movies in general. But it does take care of the largest concern I have, making it available. A movie does no good sitting on a shelf. If anyone reading this has any ideas, I’d love to hear them.

Other than that, if you’d like the big screen experience and you don’t live in Seattle, please consider contacting your local film festival and asking them to request a screener from me. I may be putting submissions, and by submissions I mean submission fees, on hold until I finish Lauren is Missing, but I’d be happy to send off a copy to any interested programmers out there.

Sleepy Eyes of Death - "Final Heart Beats Black" Video

2009-04-29T09:48:00.000-07:00

So it isn't exactly MRR related, but I just yesterday finished a video for local band, Sleepy Eyes of Death. Andrew Toms wrote music for THREE of my films, including MRR. Joel Harmon was the star of my short film, "Driving Around, Following Strangers." It was about time I did something to repay them!

Or check it out on YouTube to see it in nifty HD!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zL6q7VFqsRg

You should also make a point of seeing these guys live!

They play FRIDAY at CHOP SUEY. And are playing the Capitol Hill Block Party on July 24th!

Crew Screening Tonight!

2009-04-10T13:17:00.000-07:00

Getting some food and drinks together for an intimate little date with the film and some of the people involved. Should be lots of fun!

By the way...

2009-03-27T21:43:00.000-07:00

Bandaids are in Braille!

Sarasota Fringe Film Fest - Our First Screening!

2009-03-27T16:42:00.000-07:00

Be the first person on your block to watch MRR! We're showing for the first time at the Sarasota Fringe Film Festival on Thursday, April 2nd at 10pm at the Rustic Grill!

For more info on how the festival came to be click here.

For the official home of the festival and to see a schedule of other films playing, click here.

Oh man!

2009-03-24T21:57:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to squeeze in another project between waiting for MRR's fest results and starting the next feature. Final Cut Pro loads so quickly when you aren't trying to open a feature! So awesome!

I know, I know.

2009-03-19T10:27:00.001-07:00

And I'm sorry. Apologies to everyone who finds this blog through cardinalpictures.com. It needs an update and bad. Unfortunately, all knowledge of flash and therefore my entire capacity to update that page has completely abandoned me. I am humbled before it. One day...

One Shot Wonder!

2009-03-18T11:22:00.000-07:00

The Northwest Film Forum just posted Joe Swanberg's one shot film from when he visited Seattle. He shot this right after I met him, a few days later he would agree to be in MRR. The short stars Lynn Shelton and Kirsten Barber and was shot by Ben Kasulke.

Joe's latest, Alexander The Last, should actually be available RIGHT NOW on IFC's pay-per-view, just after its premier at SXSW. See it now, before they take it off and you have to wait months or years to pick it up on DVD!

More exciting news for you soon...

I wasn't going to mention it, but...

2009-03-03T00:08:00.000-08:00

The rejection from The Sarasota Film Festival came in yesterday. I wasn't going to mention it, because frankly, I don't want this blog to degenerate into a depressing list of festival rejections (then again, at least that keeps this blog updated every once in a while ; ) ).

What changed my mind was that because of some intern mistake, all the names and email addresses of the rejected filmmakers were included in the body of the rejection email. All 550 of 'em. Immediately following the rejection email was an apology from the intern who made the goof. I realize this isn't all that exciting so far, but what makes it more than just an interesting little hicup is that people started to reply.

To the festival, to each other, they started replying to the mass email. Some a bit snarky, some wishing to rally together an alternate festival, others simply voicing their pain at being rejected.

There are plenty of bulletin boards where festival rejects can commiserate and mourn another $40 flushed down the drain, but this is a little more special, a little more anarchic. Kind of like when the teacher leaves the room and the students go crazy with the chalk board. Nothing crazy, nothing diabolical, just a small expression of deviance. I think the crowning moment of this exchange is the graphic I'm using for this post, thanks to a mister Josh Lowman.

Because most of the replies also CCed the festival, the people in Sarasota have been able to follow along and have issued at least two apologies. For what it's worth, I don't need one. This is beyond the festival, this tiny error in email etiquette was a highlight in an otherwise unremarkable and drudging day and I look forward to following it as it runs its course.

On a totally unrelated note, I promise to follow this post with at least two non-rejection related posts. Or at least I'll do my best... : )

Notes from a Bridesmaid.

2009-02-05T11:34:00.000-08:00

So we didn’t make it into SXSW. According to the rejection letter, we just didn’t make the final cut. This may be a simple case of creative wording, but I like to take it at face value, that we didn’t make the FINAL cut. I also like to think that it was between us and Spike Lee and that we really gave Spike a run for his money. Little known fact: Spike Lee is a whiz with a Kitchen Aid and convection oven and he makes a mean éclair. Me, I squeeze a tube with a smiling Quaker on the side and cookie dough comes out. Coincidence? I think there are bigger things at work here.

Now we wait and see how things go with the next round of submissions.

Either way, MRR is picture locked (for now) and aside from adjusting a few levels and inserting a few cues (when they’re done) audio is nearly complete too.

It’s about time too. I’m trying to ease the transition from MRR to my next film. Won’t say much now, but I’m really excited about it. Kirsten and I are working on the script and doing some research. Tabby, producer of People Of Earth, is coming to Seattle to produce, and she’s even bringing her assistant, Deep.

Anyone have an HVX that they’re willing to rent for cheap?

Progress Report...

2009-01-28T14:04:00.000-08:00

My computer just spat out the latest version of MRR. Over the last few weeks I've been working on the audio mix, taking what Jason did for a previous version of the film and making changes for the new cut and a few other things here and there. It's been an interesting change from editing, but I'm glad to be done with it. It sounds good on the computer speakers, but I still haven't plugged it into a TV yet, so there's still that trial to face.

Also, while going through the audio I made a few more changes to the picture mostly based on some notes I got from our very own Tom, Joe Swanberg. Nothing too crazy, just a few more cuts that might improve the flow. Actually, now that I think of it, they are hefty little chunks of scenes, but I don't think anyone will miss them - which, you know, is why I cut 'em! Again, I need to watch it through all the way, but I think this is it! And just in time! I'm so ready to move on to festival submissions and planning the next film!

Speaking of festivals, we're waiting with white knuckle anticipation for the results from SXSW. So far we haven't gotten our rejection, which is supposed to be a good thing. Cross your fingers and knock on wood.

After collecting rejections from so many festivals for my shorts, you'd think I'd be used to it by now. And while I like to think I'm handling it pretty well, not letting my expectations get too high, I've got to admit... I'm really nervous! One way or another we should know by Feb 2nd.

One year ago...

2009-01-07T09:03:00.000-08:00

...we were filming in Curtin, OR three days in on the shoot. Later on our little Tercel, the picture car would break down. One year ago, today was a very rough day. Happy Anniversary to the Cast and Crew!

Happy New Year! New Photos!

2008-12-31T12:35:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year Everyone! Here's a few more photos from the shoot. If you like you can see even more on our Facebook Page.

Hope you enjoy them, and I hope you all have an amazing and cathartic New Years!

Dutchess and the Duke...

2008-12-30T15:05:00.000-08:00

In case you missed it, Ryan Adams, our Post Supervisor / Colorist, was DP for that rad new Dutchess and the Duke video. Awesome work Ryan!

The Dutchess & The Duke - New Music - More Music Videos

Holiday Picture Posting

2008-12-23T17:31:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted many behind the scenes photos from the shoot, mainly because I just haven't had the time. Today I decided to take some time off and pick out some photos from the first days of the shoot to share. All photos are by Katie Izak. If I don't see you before, have a Happy Holiday and an Amazing New Year! Hope you enjoy the photos.

2nd rejection!

2008-12-06T18:53:00.000-08:00

Slamdance rejection came in too.

In other news my laptop is still not working. Replacing the hard drive didn't work and now I'm afraid it's the logic board. Wondering whether to take it on myself or get help or throw it at the next asshole who I find without any pants in our apartment hallway.

It's official!

2008-12-03T08:47:00.000-08:00

We've finally gotten our Sundance rejection! Let the festival season begin for MRR!

I'll try to post something about what I've been up to for the last month soon (Deep and Tabby's first feature film!). Needless to say I'm still doing some picture tweaking and Jason Harris-Talley is tirelessly wailing away on the sound.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

The Trailer - Redux

2008-10-28T14:49:00.000-07:00

If you haven't seen it yet, here is the "official" version of the trailer which differs from the previous version only in that it looks WAY better (and it has a new shot in it). Hope you enjoy it!

The Mountain, The River and The Road - Trailer

And if you haven't already, why not take a moment to be MySpace friends with The Mountain, The River and The Road.

Or if Facebook is more your thing, you can add our nifty little movie page.

The Latest "Final Cut"

2008-10-25T16:23:00.000-07:00

Boy does time fly, I watched the latest cut all the way through for the first time just a couple days ago. I've shaved 14 min off the total running time from the "First Final Cut" and I think the movie greatly benefits from it.

Today I sent off the screener to SXSW. Cross those fingers! I'm sending it in early-early because I'm flying back down to Louisiana tomorrow. I'm meeting up with Kirsten, who is there right now on business, then we're going to go see my family in Texas and finally I'm going back to Lafayette to help Deep and Tabby with their first feature.

November will be an exciting month. I'm really looking forward to being on a set where I'm not directing. If I get a chance maybe I'll make a few posts about the shoot!

Post Production Workflow

2008-10-22T16:16:00.000-07:00

Taking a break from another minor edit of the film (I've trimmed 13 min from the First Final Cut) I thought I'd share a little about our post production workflow.

Ryan Adams at Alpha Cine is the mastermind of our workflow. I made it difficult on him by not nailing everything down before hand. But then again, I didn't even meet Ryan until after the shoot, so I guess you can cut us a little slack.

Based on the workflow he used on Calvin Reeder's brilliant Little Farm and The Rambler (which Ryan shot - did I mention that he's also an amazing DP?), Ryan is an expert at upresing Digibeta to HD-CAM. I had to see it to believe it, but when I did I was completely impressed with the sample results he showed me, so was Ryan McMackin, the DP. If you're shooting film and don't want to spend $35,000 on an HD workflow it's worth looking into. This is how it breaks down:

1) Shoot on film - aprox. 13hrs of footage.
2) Telecine onto Digibeta (Alpha Cine)
3) Transfer to Hard Drives (Alpha Cine)-The project lives on three external hard drives, a total of 2.5 terabites.
4) Edit with Final Cut Pro 5.1.4 on a G5.
5) Output Uncompressed to Hard Drive.
6) Color Timing with Ryan.
7) Upres to HD-CAM.

We're still on step 4 so I'm a little vague on the final steps but that's it to the best of my knowledge.

I've left out a few of my missteps and one step not listed that you may want to take between #s 3 and 4 is to de-interlace the footage. Ryan thought it might look even better. I know for certain that it'll look better when you export video for the web, but other than that I really don't know.

If you have the money you'll probably just do an HD-CAM or D5 workflow. My buddy Deep is currently trying to figure out the post for his first feature and was tipped off by Chance Shirley to a company called Cinelicious which offers a workflow that isn't quite HD-CAM quality, but so close that you shouldn't be able to tell. They're a new company and the quote he got was really good (tho not quite as amazing as we first thought). It would still have been beyond the MRR budget, but it sounds like a great option if your funds put you in the middle of the two workflows.

If you have questions or think I left something out, let me know. If you decide to pursue this workflow yourself, I highly recommend you seek out Ryan at Alpha Cine. Through trial and error on his own films, he's picked up little tricks to the process that can get you a better result than if you go to with a company that just dumps your DigiBeta onto HD-CAM.

Finally, it probably goes without saying, but figure this out before shooting if at all possible. Unless you don't want to see any footage before the end of your shoot.

Local Sightings Panel at the NWFF.

2008-10-17T12:12:00.000-07:00

So I'm trying to find the best settings to export the new color timed version of the trailer (Will we even be able to tell the difference after it's gone through the YouTube grinder?) and thought that it would be a good time to post about the great time I had talking about MRR at the Film Forum.

Before I forget, the panel was called "Works In Progress," part of the In Conversation series of panels at the Local Sightings Festival that the Northwest Film Forum puts on every year. I have to admit, I was really nervous going into it. I tried not to think about it too much except to take comfort in the fact that alcohol would available. Before things got underway Adam Sekuler, Programing Director for the Film Forum and moderator of the panel, introduced himself and greatly put me at ease, giving me a chance to ease into the Q and A exchange. Once we were in the lounge where the panel was to take place everything came together.

The footage, which consisted of a truncated version of one of the film's central scenes and the freshly color timed trailer (by extraordinary filmmaker Ryan Adams, our Post Production Supervisor, Color Timer and Guardian Angel) looked fantastic on the big screen even though it was just projected off of a DVD. People seemed genuine interested in the project and had a lot of good questions. There wasn't the awkward silence I had feared.

Of course, it also helped that my outstanding panel mates, Lynn Shelton and Jason Ryan were sharing footage from their films. Jason showed a clip from Ugly (Is a Movie), which he is currently seeking finishing funds for. Lynn showed a clip from her latest, the eagerly anticipated Hump Day which looks like it will be just as much fun as her previous films. All three of us had different approaches and stories and on my end it was fascinating to just to listen to Lynn and Jason talk about their adventures. In short, it was a blast, I had an amazing time and the exhilaration of the whole thing left me high for days afterwards propelling me head first and newly energized into the last round of edits to the film.

As far as first introductions go, introducing The Mountain, The River and The Road to the public for the first time, it was a great experience.

Finally, I want to thank Dave Hanagan for thinking of me and this film while assembling this panel, it was an honor to be a part of it and I had a blast! Also, a big thanks to Lynn Shelton and Jason Ryan for being delightful panel-mates. Last but not least, thanks to everyone who came out in support of local filmmakers - especially those who helped out on MRR! ; )

OT: My New Favorite Thing.

2008-10-08T12:23:00.000-07:00

So I still owe you that post production workflow, and also a run down of the amazing time I had on the Local Sightings Works in Progress Panel at the Northwest Film Forum. But right now I just had to share this. Courtesy of aintitcool, I may be a late comer but even if you've already seen these they're worth watching again.

The New Beverly is always a reoccurring temptation to return to LA.

CARS

CARS II: "ALL OUT CARS"

CARS III TRAILER

Luckily, Cars III should be also be hitting Seattle and Portland. Guess I can stay in the Northwest after all!

Local Sightings: Works in Progress Panel

2008-10-01T09:14:00.000-07:00

If you haven't heard already, I'll be attending the In Conversation: Works In Progress panel at the Northwest Film Forum this Sunday, October 5th at 7pm. It's part of this year's Local Sightings festival which you can read more about HERE.

Make sure to get your tickets NOW (pssst, they're FREE)!

Also involved in the panel is our very own Jason Ryan with his film Ugly (Is a Movie) and Seattle's very own resident film genius (even before she got the award) Lynn Shelton, who will be there with her latest film Hump Day! We'll be answering questions and showing clips from our films. See an exclusive clip of The Mountain, The River and The Road!

Opening Night Party for Local Sightings is this Friday, October 3rd at 9pm at the Film Forum. C'mon, all the cool kids will be there!

Update 9/17/08

2008-09-17T10:02:00.000-07:00

I've spent the last couple weeks helping my parents pack and prep for their move to Texas. On Monday the moving truck showed up and we did the last of the packing and yesterday (Tuesday) they were off. It's a bit of shock to be back to "normal."

Of course that means getting back to business on the film. Specifically, it's time to go through and disconnect all the Mini-DV footage that I've been editing and reconnect a new DigiBeta Transfer of the film. Since it's an imperfect process I need to go through and check the synch of every scene in the film. Actually, it's less that I need to check synch as much as I have to flat out re-synch everything. Fun. That's probably why it wasn't very hard to put off.

But there's a light at the end of the tunnel - we should be finishing the film around November or December.

It's worth pointing out that a lot of the extra work I'm doing now is because I left a lot of our post production questions unanswered going into production. With the constant changes in the post production world it's an easy thing to do, especially when you're aiming at just getting the thing in the can. But you'll save yourself a lot of extra work and money if you figure this stuff out before you start shooting (although I will say that I lucked out somehow and managed to avoid much overspending). As promised I'll try to write more about our specific workflow in a future post.

Until then, wish me luck!

RE: Film Financing

2008-08-27T13:02:00.000-07:00

To follow up on the topic of financing, the current issue of MovieMaker (Issue 76, Vol. 15) has a good article on the subject. The author, Cole Drumb, outlines a strategy for using credit cards. Basically he says that with a lot of discipline and vigilance you can use credit cards to finance a film without ruining your life in the process. My friend Chance is a big fan of credit cards, but I do want to stress that if you aren't on top of things (like Chance) you can really screw yourself over. For the few credit card success stories, I've also heard of failed marriages and haunting debt.

In the second half of the article, Drumb comes up with a simple strategy for using your immediate network of friends and acquaintances to find potential investors beyond your immediate network of friends and acquaintances.

It's a short and practical look at two methods of financing that your average aspiring filmmaker can actually employ.

Unfortunately I can't find the article on line, but this just gives you another excuse to buy the issue with that gorgeous photo of Ben Stiller on the cover.

Little Bits of Progress.

2008-08-21T11:02:00.000-07:00

Just a few updates:

Finally arrived at the First Final Cut. Don't be surprised if I start talking about a second and a third and so on. I figure it's fair game 'till it hits the screen! Next step is sound editing, mixing and color timing. Oh, and reconstructing the film with some newer higher quality transfers. I'll try to write about our post production workflow in a future blog. Just as soon as I get a handle on it myself!

Since we're at a final cut and since the festival submission season has started we just sent out our first submissions to Sundance and Slamdance. It'll be several months before we hear anything, but it's crazy to think that end of things has already started. Cross your fingers!

In the shoulda said something sooner category, I posted my last short, "Small Little Thing" on imdb. Still not crazy about the quality, but I'm too lazy and frustrated with the uploading process to try and improve it. I guess it's pretty standard for web video that you don't host yourself, so I really shouldn't complain.

That's it in a nutshell!

The Myth of Film Financing

2008-07-28T11:28:00.000-07:00

Every once in a while people make the mistake of asking me for advice, which I freely and longwindedly give. A question I've been asked through making my shorts and especially while making this feature is about money, namely, where do you get it?

Unfortunately, my answer is the one you already know. To my knowledge, there is no secret to it. The money you have to make your film is the money you are able to get from family and friends, money that they should never expect to see again. Depending on the people you know, your connections, or your family's financial situation you're in better or worse shape.

The best advice I could offer anyone is to take whatever amount of money you're able to get from your loved ones and make the movie as cheaply as humanly possible but with talented people who will perform above and beyond their meager pay (which will probably be nothing).

It helps if you've created an honest and detailed budget aimed at your ideal shooting circumstances. Are you going to shoot the film yourself using your camera phone or do you see yourself leading an army of skilled technicians? No one likes it when the answer to the question "How much do you need?" is "How much you got?"! A budget will force you to consider the reality of the production and will also give people the opportunity to challenge you on the necessity of shutting down twenty blocks downtown during rush hour to get your tour-de-force steadycam/helicopter combo shot the likes of which have never been seen before. Maybe your parents are right, maybe the scene would be just as effective if you did it in the living room. Besides, your mom will bake everyone cookies.

If you have people outside of your circle of loved ones who you think may be interested, you should seriously consider creating a business plan. I've never actually had one, but once people start looking at your film as an investment you need to have something to show them just how and when they can expect to see the money coming back, if ever. I understand many investors are willing to do it just for the tax breaks. I have no idea why.

Finally, if you don't know enough of the right people to finance the dream version of your project you should seriously consider scaling the project back to a scale that you can accomplish on your own dime. It's always better to make a movie than not, even if it isn't everything you ever dreamed of. I don't know if it's true or not, but I remember hearing that William Faulkner, when he was starting out, was frustrated that nothing came out as he imagined. He would start over and over throwing out page after page of disappointing text. Eventually a mentor of his told him just to write, not to worry if it was perfect or not, but to just let it out. And he did. And he improved. And eventually he reached the point where he felt he was able to accomplish EXACTLY what he set out to accomplish.

Don't let your immediate limitations prevent you from being what you want to be: a filmmaker. If you http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifdo something small and you're talented and it's good, people will want to see more. Eventually you may find yourself in the position where you have the experience, talent and recognition to do your next movie EXACTLY the way you wanted to. But until then work hard and use what you can.

The most honest account of film financing I've read is in the Polish Brothers book, The Declaration of Independent Filmmaking. Before a producer - who they had an existing connection to through Jon Gries (the actor), who happened to be a neighbor, who they happened to strike up a conversation with while walking down the street with a print of their short film in hand - magically swooped in at the last minute to finance and produce their film, they had planned to self-finance. They didn't have any money to put up themselves, so in a prior fit of luck, their friend randomly won a free car, sold it and put up the $20,000 that was to be the entire original budget for Twin Falls Idaho. The money that came with the producer was significantly more, but still, I can't think of a bigger chain of chance that better illustrates the illusiveness of film financing.

If there's a moral to their story, it's that you should leave the door open so that a miracle can walk right in if it chooses to, but until it does plan to do what you can with what you got. And stick to it! You can't depend on others to make your dreams a reality.

Now, if you're still actually reading this, and you're still thinking, "there must be SOME way," there are plenty of film markets, like Independent Film Week and AFM. Just fill out the application, write the best project description, pay the application fee and wait. Repeat as necessary.

There are also mentorship labs like those at IFP and FIND (Film Independent). They may not directly involve financing, but if they believe in your project enough to accept you, they'll do their best to get you in touch with people who could make your film a reality.

I've actually applied to the FIND mentorship programs a few times with two different screenplays. The first time (with The Mountain, The River and The Road, actually) I was rejected, but the application fee was well worth the coverage they provided on the screenplay (not every organization does this). It was insightful to read the thoughts and opinions of the reader. Remember they're reading a shit load of screenplays, so they see the patterns of trends and themes that we thought were uniquely our own. They can be jaded and at times overly critical, but it's good to hear early on. If you don't hear it now you'll hear it later. Even if you don't agree with it. Just as importantly they'll zero in on what makes your script unique. The part that you're taking for granted, but they found to be a breath of fresh air. On my second application, on a completely different screenplay, I made it to the final round and was invited to an interview. Again, I didn't get in the program, but it did give me a little glimmer of hope - someone, somewhere along the line, thought this script was promising and worth considering. A small, but significant step in the right direction.

And that's it. That's what I know. There are certainly more organizations of interest, and if you know of any I'd love to hear of them, I'll add them to the list. Also, if you think I'm full of shit and that there really is some secret to the whole fundraising thing, let me know! I'd LOVE to hear it!

Stan Winston...

2008-06-25T09:42:00.000-07:00

He passed away on June 15th. Maybe I missed the huge media coverage, but I wouldn’t have even know about it if it weren’t for Aint It Cool News.

Reading more and more personal accounts of him, I can’t help but remember how much Stan Winston, Rick Baker and of course, Dick Smith meant to me as a high school kid dreaming not of being a filmmaker, but a makeup artist. I bought all the books I could afford, and even had a subscription to Make-Up Artist Magazine. Every Halloween I’d have some kind of gory creation to show off at school.

At some point, I remember reading about how Stan Winston was unable to make a life cast of Arnold Schwarzenegger for the original Terminator so he simply sculpted a likeness from scratch – I believe this is the mask you see torn up with the metal exo-skeleton showing through. Frustrated with my own sculpting skills and hearing that, I felt there was no way I would ever be in the league of the greats. The idea of being able to sculpt the face of your lead actor to be used next to the real face just seemed to be a feat of super-human talent. Better to be a writer and director (obviously requiring much less talent) and hire the greats to work for me.

It was creature creators like Stan Winston that originally made me want to make movies. That’s something I lose track of while buried in my own character driven drama so proudly devoid of anything so sensational as special effects. But it was the sense of wonder and awe that I got from seeing impossible creations like The Terminator, The Predator, the queen alien, and dinosaurs for REAL that made me want to make movies in the first place. My tastes may have expanded, and my fascination with creature may have been (partially) replaced with a fascination in character, images, sound and film form, but those creatures, those creations, from Stan Winston and the rest of them, that’s where it started. Another childhood hero has gone.
Effects will be a little less special without him.

A few good articles remembering Stan Winston:

For the curious:
LA Times’ nice overview…

For the fans:
Aint It Cool News’ ever-growing list of recollections by friends and collaborators.

THE TRAILER!!!

2008-06-05T16:42:00.000-07:00

I've put off posting this but what the hell. Hope you enjoy it!

A Return To Following Strangers

2008-06-02T12:04:00.000-07:00

Slightly off this blog’s usual topic, I thought it was worth mentioning that “Driving Around, Following Strangers” can now be viewed in its entirety on imdb. It’s free, it’s only 13min long and it’s a great way to kill time at your lame ass job. Afterwards you can send me hate mail.

http://www.imdb.com/video/wabclip/vi1256522009/

In other news, my car was broken into again. It might be time to look into security options. At least the car remains urine and turd free. Cross your fingers, knock on wood.

Don't Call it a Come Back!

2008-04-18T10:24:00.000-07:00

So I’m back in Seattle. Actually, I’ve been back for about two weeks now, but it sure doesn’t seem like it. I’ve been GO since I’ve been back, struggling to catch up with one thing or the other.

Fun fact, when I got back my car wouldn’t start. When I finally got around to finding some jumper cables and gettin’ it revved, I found out someone broke into it! This is the fourth time my car’s been broken into, including the time it was flat out stolen (it turned up in Enumclaw). The worst part of having a ’94 Accord is how easy it is to break into. Now that I’ve had a few lessons, I can probably break into any ’94 Accord. Handy info if times get hard.

Of course, it sounds like a bigger deal than it was. As long as they don’t break anything I can get along just fine (last time they broke the window, stole the radio, and busted the little change holder). Also, no bodily fluids please.

Back to things MRR, Deep and I got the film to a ROUGH CUT. By rough, I do mean rough, there’s plenty more work to be done. We spent most of our time on the key scenes to make sure we had the moments that make it all worthwhile. We do.

For your entertainment, here’s a few pics from Louisiana.

A brush with fame...

2008-04-11T18:26:00.000-07:00

Not that anyone really cares...

But I just found out that parts of The Godfather was filmed in Kernville because of its geological similarity to Italy. Pretty cool.

Rally Day!

2008-03-28T12:53:00.000-07:00

While Deep tackles a particularly tricky scene, I thought I’d take a moment to share a great bit ‘o news with you all.

Yesterday we got the okay from Bill Badgley of Federation X to use the song Rally Day (from the same titled album) by Federation X in the film! It means a lot to me, Federation X is an awesome band and ever since it occurred to me to use this song in this movie I’d been hoping we would get permission (way to go, Andrew!)!

It’s nice to know that while some things (this scene for example) can be a real pain in the ass, other things can come together like a dream.

If you haven’t heard Federation X yet, you should! Go HERE and listen to "The Hatchetman" first (not the song that will be in the movie but still a classic). It’s from the great album, “American Folk Horror,” an album which I used to play real loud in my Honda Accord with the windows rolled down so that everyone would think I was a bad ass. It didn’t work, but that wasn’t the fault of the record!

In related news, Bill shared with us that he’s working on his own film. It’s a doc on another legendary NW band, Karp. Check out the preview below!

Deep (and Mike) in the Dirty, Dirty!

2008-03-19T14:00:00.000-07:00

Just over a year since moving back to Washington to work on the movie, I’m in Lafayette, Louisiana with Deep, the editor. Already I’ve enjoyed catfish, crawfish, and gumbo, seen a live Cajun band, and last night I even survived a true Southern Thunderstorm!

Since I’ve known Deep and his girlfriend Tabby (who did some casting in Los Angeles for us), I’ve heard lots of stories about Lafayette. In some ways it’s like checking out a live scrap book, where all around are landmarks that I’ve heard about in their stories but have only seen in my head – this is where Deep and Tabby met, this is where they used to hang out, this is where Deep hit his boss and got fired.

It may not sound like it, but we’re getting a lot of work done as well. As I type this we're working on the river scene. Editing was a bit overwhelming when we started out, but now that we’ve found a good rhythm and established a bit of a working schedule, it’s moving along nicely. If it weren’t for missing Kirsten back home, I’d be tempted to put off my return for a month or so just to hang out. I could get used to this!

Clip Tease!

2008-02-28T18:03:00.000-08:00

Here's a little clip for ya! Enjoy!

The Mountain, The River and The Road - Teaser 01

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I’ve been keeping a post production journal...

2008-02-12T13:57:00.000-08:00

Because of the pace of post production it usually feels like nothing’s happening, so I decided to keep a little journal to help keep track of my goals for the day and to allow me to look back on what (if anything) was accomplished.

I thought it might be of some interest to post some of the journal entries to give you an idea of what I’ve been up to…

2/4/08-
Backing up computer, prepping for log and capture, booking flight to Lafayette, Louisiana.

Backing Up:
Like most people, I’m terrible at backing up my computer. Finally, after losing everything on my laptop after a hard drive failure, I decided I needed to buy drives to back up everything on my computers. I took care of the laptop right away. I dawdled on the other.

Until Now! Today, I finally, finally back up my big computer. The one with all the valuable, irreplaceable shit on it. To make this happen I ended up buying four 500GB drives. Two externals that were on sale and two internals which I bought enclosures for and can easily swap with the drives in my computer should they fail. I’m using the program Super Duper! to clone the original drives so that my back up drives can immediately take over if any of the originals fail. Most of the back up drives are also larger than the original drives, so that when my 150GB "Macintosh HD" fails, I’ll replace it with the old 250GB "Media" drive (now "Macintosh HD (backup)"). "Media" was cloned to a new 500GB hard drive which has its own 500GB back up. The last two drives are project only drives for The Mountain, The River and The Road (which I'll just call MRR from now on).

If you’re not totally bored to death by this computer stuff I can get into more detail. I figure I lost most of you at the first instance of GB. Also, since I’m no expert, feel free to ridicule and correct me if you have a better way of doing things.

Prep for Log and Capture:
I’ve never worked on such a huge project before so I figured this time I’d do it right. On shorts, the time you waste looking for poorly organized footage can be a pain in the ass. Multiply that little pain in the ass to the size of a feature and you have one epic sized pain in the ass. So I’m doing it right.

First step – Ken Stone’s FCP page. Good info and a nifty Excel template for logging footage that’s much easier than the clunky logging feature of FCP.

Once that’s all done I’ll need to synch up sound and determine my “selects” before sending it all to Louisiana where my buddy Deep will be handling the editing proper.

Deep (full name Jaideep Dasgupta). He shot my short “Driving Around, Following Strangers” and will be editing MRR. Because of his location (he just moved back to Lafayette, Louisiana where he plans to make his first feature) and his schedule I’ll be logging and capturing footage here and will ship it to him there. It’s shit work, the part that every editor hates, but it’s gotta be done and when you can’t afford to pay people there’s a lot of shit work (and shit eating) that you have to do yourself. But oddly enough, I’m looking forward to it [It's a nice change from the chaos of production - 2/12/08].

In the past, Deep has gone through version after version of my films with me, including “Driving Around” and “Small Little Thing,” offering feedback and advice and the always valuable 2nd pair of eyes. He’s also helped me out on some work-for-hire stuff I did in LA, and for a short time he made good money cutting wedding videos until the total brain sucking mundaneity of it finally got to him and he quit, still lasting far longer than I ever could have. His editing instincts are much like my own, but even better. Just what you want from a collaborator.

Plus it’ll be fun to kick it in the dirty dirty for a few weeks.

Do you have the bug now?

2008-02-06T16:03:00.000-08:00

It isn't about fame or fortune or f**king movie stars!!!

Making films is about having an addiction to collective creativity.

Working, eating, sleeping, partying and -- above all else -- experiencing a group of kindred spirits of all different backgrounds and personalities who have come together, either by luck or design or both, to create something truthfully organic.

It's as primal as early man inventing the first drum and showing it off to the rest of his tribe.

And in a day-and-age when cellphones and computers coldly disconnect us from each other, it's nice to know the arts is one haven where the human spirit still exists and thrives and will continue to do so.

So, do you have the bug now?... I think I can honestly say the whole cast and crew of "The Mountain, the River and the Road" does. (Or maybe it was just forgotten and revived?)

Cheers!

See ya all in prison (or the next shoot)...

“Fuck me, he cleared it!”

2008-02-06T09:40:00.000-08:00

So says Christian Slater in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and so says I after completion of principal photography for The Mountain, The River and The Road. Except I says “Fuck me, WE cleared it!” Somehow, we all survived this shoot and managed to capture some really great stuff in the process.

Sure, we’re not out of the woods yet. Just as Robin Hood still had to face Alan Rickman and his creepy witch, so do we have additional photography, editing, and quite a bit of “cross your fingers that nothing’s wrong with the film negative” in front of us. But we made that leap of faith, we made it to the other side. We faced our own sneering guy from The Crow, got a little battered and then we jumped into Christian Slater’s catapult and went back for more, muttering witty things along the way.

We’ve got our war stories: broken down vehicles, questionable planning, clashing of egos, unsleepable beds soaked with urine, frozen toes, and broken flashlights. But it wasn’t any Filmmaker’s Apocalypse. In the end, to me at least, everyone seemed happy and proud of what we had managed to accomplish. Or maybe they were just drunk. Either way it doesn’t matter. We made a road movie under extremely trying conditions. We shot it on film with a relatively tiny budget. And we kept it together.

This cast and crew braved long hours, long drives, hands crushed in car doors, involuntary vomiting, crippling allergies, the freezing cold Kern River, driving to and from LA with just my dad for company and still they came out smiling. Mostly. I’m extremely grateful for their hard work and dedication and unfailing spirit. Those smiles, persistent through the toughest of times, helped keep me going. I kept waiting for the floor to drop out from under us as it so often threatened to do. But it never did. Sitting here at home writing this, I’m just as amazed as I am relieved.

A huge thanks goes out to the cast and crew of The Mountain, The River and The Road. It was a difficult journey, but I think we were all participants in something special. Your hard work made this adventure possible. I really could not have done it without you, my band of merry men and women.

[Photo by Kirsten Barber]

remember when...

2008-02-01T10:20:00.000-08:00

Having a film baby...

2008-01-31T10:12:00.000-08:00

I've mentioned this to friends before, but it bears repeating: Making a film is like having a baby.

Now, women who have had children might be saying, "You don't know what you're talking about!" But when I explained my comparisons, even my wife (who I somehow convinced to bear my children) even admitted I could be right.

Let's see what it feels like to make a movie:

--You get stressed

--You ask yourself why you're doing this

--You can't sleep comfortably

--Your emotions are a roller coaster

--Your stomach hurts

--Certain foods seem unappealing

--You get constipated

--You get a bit afraid

--You say lots of prayers

--You privately cry

--You tell yourself you're never doing this again

--You try to convince yourself that the end result is going to be worth all this pain

--You start to question the meaning of life

--You get lots of opinions from people who have no idea what they're talking about

--The pain and discomfort ebbs and flows for nine months, and then...

You give birth to a bouncy baby film. And you love that film - the good and not-so-good parts. And you recollect all that you went through, and smile at the craziness of it. And then, one day, you contemplate doing the whole thing again.

Does that sound about right to all you mothers out there?

Oh yeah, and that last part I said at the end might be moot if your baby is born with colic. ;)

Keep it up, Daddy Mikey!

Homeward bound, wrap party imminent...

2008-01-24T12:48:00.000-08:00

I'm here at the lodge...it's about ten minutes 'til 1 pm Pacific. Mike, Ryan and assorted other crew members are out shooting b-roll, packing suitcases, exploring Kernville and Lake Isabella, makin' time with our last few hours here.

I've had an excellent time working with this crew! I have done what I hoped to do on this shoot: I have captured the performances of the actors, and learned plenty about what I will and won't do next time. I have made new friends and have seen and heard things I would likely not have experienced otherwise. Some personal firsts on this trip include:

tracking audio in a moving car,

tracking dialogue in a moving car

visiting the Sierra Nevadas

rolling a scene without telling the extras

having a dedicated audio log crew member (thanks so much Kirsten Barber!)

There are other firsts to add to the list...I will probably recollect them while travelling home to Columbia City tomorrow.

I'm glad I came along for this production, and I look forward to working with Mike et al. on the post-production phase of the film. Mike has stated that he's going for Final Picture within the next nine months...between you and me I think the months are going to fly by! My job will be to bring as much of the timbre, inflection, whispers and laughs of Jeff, Tom, the Scotts, the staff of the Kern Lodge and Cat to the audience as possible. Mike and I will work out a post-production schedule that will work with everyone's busy lives (mine included...this Monday I'm back at CRAB, 9-6, rebuilding PTO and working my tail off). We will work to get The Mountain, The River and The Road to Final Picture status as quickly as possible.

Stay tuned, true believers...

no time to talk, just pictures

2008-01-24T08:51:00.000-08:00

"Where you at right now, soldier?!"

2008-01-23T20:43:00.000-08:00

.I'm in San Francisco.
.I'm at the Grand Canyon.
.I'm in a cabin on the Oregon Coast.
.I'm at the Getty Center.
.I'm at home brushing my teeth at home with my electric toothbrush.
.I'm watching 'Project Runway', then 'Arrested Development', then '30 Rock', then 'It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia' at Megaen's house. It's getting late.
.I'm riding my bike to work.
.I'm at the College Inn on a Monday night. Nachos are half-price.
.I'm on the bus into Denali National Park. (And the Mountain is out!)
.I'm at The Decemberists show with Marian.
.I'm at Trudy's in Austin, TX.
.I'm in a dark movie theatre, re-watching THERE WILL BE BLOOD.
.I'm at Disneyland.
.I'm driving to Savannah, GA.
.I'm on a train from Savannah to DC.
.I'm on the Chinatown bus from DC to NYC.
.I'm in the photo booth at the Cha Cha lounge.
.I'm on the ferry to Victoria, BC.
.I'm walking around Stanley Park in Vancouver, BC.
.I'm at the Varsity enjoying a BCC club meeting (special guest: Danielle!)
.I'm listening to music in my basement bedroom.
.I'm driving aimlessly around Seattle in the middle of the night.
.I'm out to dinner with my mom.
.I'm at Chipotle, eating a burrito with my dad.
.I'm watching flawless prints of BLUE, WHITE, and RED in Theatre #1 at the Varisty.
.I'm camping at Glacier National Park.
.I'm in Room 104.