Bleutuna, thanks to Paul Gandersman, has a new camera! The Panasonic Lumix GH-1! This joker is great and actually provides a much better image than the Panasonic HVX-200 that we’ve been using for years, and most imporatantly, allows us to easily use real lenses in the process!
Thasright! No more crazy rotating glass adapters with their own batteries, making everything hard to move and pan without dealing with a ridiculous amount of shakiness!
Paul and I will be headed downtown to shoot some footage for a couple of projects we’re doing right now, one being the feature film Conflict of Interest! So note to our actors who we contacted last week – get ready, cause we’re gonna’ shoot with you pretty damn quick!
We’ll be back with some nice new footage here soon – so stay tuned!
We’ve done a test screening and have more on the way. The feedback has been pretty good so far, but the work still continues. Today Paul and I will be going out and shooting some various insert shots that we think need to be there to really sell the whole thing. Its funny how the shot of a coffeeshop can add so much clarity.
For Conflict of Interest, the main character is the author of a ridiculously popular blog that begins to make big waves in the political world. So if you’re going to have a movie that is about a blog, you should probably at least have a blog design. And shots of people surfing it.
I wanted it to feel a little militaristic – representative of the grass-roots sort of revolutionary mindset that Outraged influences within his readers. It also had to have a sense of Mombaire. The logo features the Mombarian “star” prominently, the star that’s seen on both the Mombarian flag and the Kimaiyo flag during the film.
To view a “live” version of the design, Go here! Otherwise, just look at the design below:
I just finished directing my first feature film. The movie’s called Conflict of Interest and for a self-professed political junkie like myself, it was right up my alley.
The film was initially the brain-child of David Cuddy, owner of Ranch Studios in Kyle, Texas, a place where filmmakers can go, work, foster their ideas by utilizing the numerous set-houses by day and the hot-tubs (6ft deep) for relaxation at night. Elements that can help inspire some seriously creative ideas.
David brought me onto the project to help fill in some of the gaps and the organic process of creation spurned the Case of Katie Douglas.
What’s in a Name
Katie Douglas (Danielle Rene) was previously named Katie Combs, a name that caused me much chagrin due to it’s similarity to the name Katie Holmes. Within the course of the film, Katie witnesses a major crime and serves as the sole witness to the incident. The only one that took time to pay attention instead of just taking information at face value. But this brings her to the attention of some heavy people, in particular crooked Senator John Mordire (Michael Madsen).
Originally she was handled a little haphazardly. I nearly made the same mistake, but realized that an integral scene with her needed to be rethought. As often happens, the best things lie in the execution and not in the conception. Once the scene was shot, it was clear that its emotion resonance and significance were much stronger.
As a result, other planned scenes were modified to match the gravity of the reborn Katie Douglas scene, creating a strong seeming sub-plot which directly changes everything. One can sit down, plan out, think they know the ultimate outcome of a situation, but once the collaborative process of film starts to work its magic, greater things are born.
Only in filmmaking is it okay for artists to so heavily rely on each other in a primordial bath of ideas.
