(Not) 100 Movies

So I was watching Die Hard a few weeks ago -- about two days after I announced the whole 100 Movies thing, and I realized, "This movie easily makes my top 100." And then I thought about how many movies I don't have on my list yet, and the fact that it would probably take me over a year to post all 100 entries. By then, my list will have changed. Movies I post about one week may not even be on the list six weeks later, and by the end, I'll probably have added a lot of additional movies to the list.

Not to mention I have other projects going that are more important. So I'm going to put "100 Movies" on hold for now.

What have I been doing on this month-long hiatus? Editing. If you've been following Disposing Dwight, you'll be glad to hear that in the past week I've edited over three minutes, and it's turning out a lot better than I originally hoped. I still need to shoot the additional scenes I missed in June, and I'm also compiling a list of extra shots I need for the scenes I already have. Right now the list is about a page long, ranging from "Timmy smiles, eyes twinkling" to "the head explodes on the pavement, blood and brain splattering everywhere (in slow-motion)".

I'm also writing a few more things -- I finally got around to putting ACMD on paper. It's a script my friend and I have been developing for about four months. We finally finished a pretty solid outline and now we're moving on to writing the actual story. I'm just barely into it so far, but once I get rolling I should be able to knock out the first draft in a couple weeks. It's something I hope to film someday, but we'll see... it all comes down to the budget.

Anyway, I'm trying to get Disposing Dwight wrapped so I can move on to another project. I hope to shoot another film this June, the same month we shot Dwight. I'm not sure what it'll be yet, but it'll be much more ambitious, which means I'll need all previous films totally finished so I can give more attention to my new film.

That's all for now... Couple reviews coming soon, maybe, among other things. I'll post a rough scene from Disposing Dwight soon so you guys can see my progress so far.

Time Flies Like an Arrow

So much for new years resolutions, huh? But everybody says that. I said I'd update this blog weekly, but... Yeah... I figured I had to post something, so here's a rambling mishmash of what's been going on lately.

Honestly there isn't much to say. I know I've made a lot of these kinds of posts lately, but really... there's not much to tell. The new top-secret screenplay is, uh... making some progress, I guess. It's gone through a lot of plot changes lately, but we're still not ready to get it on paper.

It takes time to get dialogue this good!

On a somewhat related note, Malcolm is definitely moving forward. After pretty much shelving the idea completely, I recently revisited the script and found it was much better than I thought. It still need a lot of work though... rewrites, some big changes... and I'm even considering changing the whole direction of the story. But I'm planning on shooting whenever Disposing Dwight is done.

Editing on Disposing Dwight is... coming along. I was making some progress originally (the first two scenes were pretty much done) but I recently upgraded to Mac (Christmas) which means I'll have to re-edit the film on my new software.

If you're wondering (probably not), I was originally using Avid Studio on HP with Windows 7. Now I'm trying to decide on Adobe Premiere Pro or Final Cut Pro X. Either way, I'll have to re-edit those few completed scenes.

Swaaaag

Also, an html-programming-tech-magic-wizard-guru friend of mine is developing an official site for Screenriff Productions (if that's the name we stick with). Now I just need some completed films!

The site isn't online yet, but it's gonna be cool when it is. I'll probably keep this blog for updates/reviews/life (everything I normally do) and use the other site for posting my work and contact info.

Lotta work ahead... but hey, the sooner Disposing Dwight is in the can, the sooner I can start on whatever next project I decide on. I've got some ideas, but nothing close to completion. Lots of really promising beginnings of stories, if I do say so myself. Now I just need to get around to finishing one.

I'm planning on shooting whatever it is by June (Disposing Dwight's one-year anniversary! Dang!!), as well as another short by fall. That'll be three "real" short films under my belt, which means I'll be ready to move on to bigger projects (I hope). I'm not promising anything, but 2014 will (hopefully) bring a feature film. Yeah, man!!

Disposing Dwight update, part deux

Just an update on Disposing Dwight. I'm editing as I write this, and so far I'm about 3 minutes in. I know, not much progress, but I'm liking how it's turning out so far.

For now, here's a teaser trailer for the film. It started with me throwing a bunch of clips together to play around with color correction, then I found it had this interesting rhythm to it. Thus was born the greatest trailer of all time!

Please spread the word and tell everyone you know who might or might not be interested. (Basically, give me free advertising.)

On a related note, I started writing The Making of Disposing Dwight last night. It's a short book chronicling the story of Disposing Dwight, from when our first script fell through and we were forced to make Dwight instead, to completion of the film... or at least, as complete as it is right now. I'll also include the complete 28-page screenplay in the back of the book, for those of you who are just dying to read it.

I'm planning on self-publishing some copies and including a disc of the finished film. I'll give them out to family and friends who are interested, but you'll probably have to chance to order copies online as well.

Also, I'm currently co-developing a feature film, currently titled Adan Cobos Must Die until Mr. Coauthor and I can agree on a final title. (I'm actually kind of digging the current title. What's not to like?)

ACMD is best described as an all-out horror/thriller, with a healthy dose of old school camp, abundant slasher movie tropes, and aliens. Check out the first poster!

We really went all out with it.

Anyway, I don't want to get ahead of myself. We probably won't make much progress on this project until Dwight is complete, but I wanted to bring it up anyway. This is an update, after all.

More to come. I think I might make an effort to update this blog weekly, whether it be a review or  just me rambling about my numerous writing projects.

(Continue to) stay tuned!