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.
So, there’s this contest, you see, where people create ‘commercials’ on the subject of ‘What Would You Do For a Klondike Bar?’
My group and I did a couple of commercials, and one of them I’m wanting to share here, and hopefully, garner some more votes. So let’s get that out of the way first:
What did I do on this video? Well, I wrote, directed, shot, edited, color graded, sound designed and did the motion graphics work. Oh, I also sculpted/built the big, huge, stinkin Klondike bar, with the help of Lesley Sullivan and Angela Maldonado.
John Gholson does the amazing voice for the Klondike, and he initially had the concept of a ‘giant klondike bar.’ Jennifer Blair plays the lovely lady who is doing all the deeds, and Paul Gandersman plays the dumped fiance.
Lesley Sullivan and Peter Yoder produced this, which means they busted their ass making sure everything went well. Lesley made the ’skirt’ for the klondike, which looks so much like foil it blows my mind.
Angela oversaw the ADR session, giving me the CLEANEST audio I’ve ever gotten. It was amazing.
Alright. Go watch the video. And vote! OH, and if you want to see a higher quality version, just ask me. I’ve got one, I’m just keeping it on the downlow until the voting period is over
