indie wednesday: consignment



It seems that Vimeo is on the fritz this morning (at least for me). So this is a good time to share a trailer I've had in my back pocket. Consignment was one of the shorts featured at the Short Film Night at Natasha's and was created by the 'founder of the feast,' Justin Hannah and Manic Baby Films. Consignment is quite the mindbender and, as you can see, looks gorgeous. I hope you get to see the full length version and we'll be sure to let you know of any opportunities that arise.

inadvertent racism's news and notes 3.4.13

There are no two ways about it; you're getting gypped this morning. (By the way, gypped is the very odd spelling of what I thought would be 'jipped'. But, literally as I type this, I'm realizing that the word probably comes from gypsy, so it's actually quite a racist term. So, I apologize for offending the gypsy segment of our audience right off the bat this morning.) I'm going to add some kind of picture now.

Unfortunately, this picture is probably even more racist.

Back to the topic at hand; I'm on the go this morning, doing something you may or may not hear about at a later date. Mysterious! But, I promise to make it up to you in the days ahead this week. Meanwhile, you can check out a couple of fun things you missed out on this weekend like a Marty McFly spotting and doodle time from Saturday. Just scroll down the page on the blog proper.

I do have one bit of news this morning. Apparently my voice will be making an appearance on the Surreel Film podcast this Tuesday. Surreel Film is a Louisville based show that covers all the latest movie news, discussion and reviews. You can catch it Mondays at 8:30pm or past episodes at any time via podcast. Just follow @CT_Smash on Twitter for all the updates and podcast links and whatnot. From what I've heard, I'll be doing a 15-20 interview on all the latest Walk Softly goings on.

hello, mcfly!


Check out what somebody spotted in the Epcot parking lot last night. In the regular visitor's parking lot... Just sitting there...

I highly approve.

I can't even tell you how happy it makes me to know Marty is still out there... doing his thing. I can only assume 2013 is a better year for Epcot than 1985.

Good to see you, Marty. Keep it up.

wonder woman: what's that about?

Actress / performer Nina Bergman & director Jesse V. Johnson wanted to shoot a fan trailer for their favorite super hero. Facebook fanpage - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Wonder-Woman-Fan-Trailer/148064368690752 Director: Jesse V. Johnson: https://www.facebook.com/jesse.johnson.942 http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-package-capsule-20130215,0,7843640.story WW: Nina Bergman: http://www.n-i-n-a.com/ Representation: Deborah Del Prete - deborah@coronetent.com Peter Stormare https://www.facebook.com/pages/Peter-Stormare/11096889471 Timothy V. Murphy https://www.facebook.com/Tadhgomurchu?fref=ts Matthias Hues https://www.facebook.com/mathias.hues.3?fref=ts Crew: Cinematography - Van Urfalian http://www.urfalian.com/URFALIAN.COM/HOME_PAGE.html Producer - Hugh Daly https://www.facebook.com/Hugh.Daly?fref=ts Stunt Coordinator + fight choreographer - Luke Lafontaine https://www.facebook.com/luke.lafontaine.7?fref=ts Composer Sean Murray http://www.seanmurraymusic.com/ Effects supervisor David Kenneth http://www.ieeffects.com/ Editorial Harry Frishberg http://www.harryproductions.com/ Sound design Dan Newman http://www.newmagicentertainment.com/ DISCLAIMER: Wonder Woman is a non-profit film for private use only, and is not for sale or resale. It is strictly for the promotional use of the filmmaker. It is in NO way endorsed by Warner Brothers or DC Comics nor is it intended to undermine or compete with any existing or forthcoming material. Wonder Woman is created for fun and should not be sold, rented or used for anything of the sort. Jesse V. Johnson make no claim to any of the characters, locations, storyline, props, costume designs, logos, names or situations that are trademarked, copyrighted or otherwise protected by the federal, state, international or other intellectual property law. This film is produced solely for the personal enjoyment of the cast, crew and any other Wonder Woman fans. No copyright infringement is intended or implied.

Hey, it's Wonder Woman! Again. This time in the form of a "fan film." I'll be honest, I'm kind of amazed at how good this thing is, but obviously Jesse V. Johnson isn't your average fan. The guy has a ton of high quality experience and it shows. Also, it certainly doesn't hurt to have very recognizable faces like Peter Stormare involved.

Why Wonder Woman?

Here's the thing:  The trailer raises a perplexing question in my mind...  What's the deal with Wonder Woman? What's the fascination? Why is there an undying compulsion by so many creators to put her on the silver screen or bring her back to television?

Let's think about this for a minute... Her traditional costume is almost impossible to deal with. No matter how you try to modernize it or dumb it down, it's a nightmare and fans lose their minds either way. Her powers include the speed and strength of an amazon (and apparently that's a lot), bracelets that deflect bullets, and the coup de grace: a rope that forces people to obey and tell the truth. I'm not even going to mention two words that start with invisible and end with jet. How are you supposed to take a live-action version of this woman seriously? Some people obviously have a love for the character.

But, no matter what your obsession is with the woman *cough*bondage fetish*cough*, why would anyone disillusion themselves into thinking they can make Wonder Woman translate well off the page? Why would you think, "I'm the one that can pull this off." I mean, I'd rather take another crack at Howard the Duck before I got on board the flaming zeppelin that is Wonder Woman development.

Just look at all the failed projects in recent history. A 1967 rejected pilot script, a 1974 TV movie that starred Cathy Lee Crosby and wasn't picked up to be a series, the Lynda Carter series that ran three seasons and barely got renewed after the first... and that series is your zenith! The height of Wonder Woman on screen is three seasons of mediocre ratings and a catchy theme song. There is no doubt that the image of Lynda in her star-spangled outfit had iconic lasting power, but there weren't enough people actually watching the show. Since then, Joss Whedon and David E. Kelley have both taken a shot at the character for movies and TV respectively and neither one could get her off the ground. The new TV pilot was dead the instant pictures of Adrianne Palicki's shiny costume hit the internet. And can't we agree, if Whedon couldn't get this female hero to work, no one can?

So you're saying there's a chance...

Hokey. Campy. Call it what you will; in my opinion comedy is your only chance. I honestly don't believe it's possible to make a truly good, sincere Wonder Woman movie. There are simply too many factors working against you if you attempt to stay close to the source material whatsoever. No, if there is any hope for a small bit of success (likely on television) it would have to come through a very tongue-in-cheek comedy. Wink wink, nudge nudge, etc, etc. Make it fresh, make it smart, and maybe...  MAYBE....  eh, probably not.

Please everybody, let's allow Diana the Amazon Princess to rest peacefully in cartoons and the pages of her comics. Wonder Woman having a chuckle with Superman when Gleek the Space Monkey tries to eat his tale:  yes. A real live Wonder Woman running on top of Los Angeles traffic in her very shiny outfit:  no.

indie wednesday: pixels



Remember when I said some egg-heads at the University of Bath may have killed the pixel? Apparently the pixels aren't taking it well.

Check out this incredible short by Patrick Jean; certainly worth some smiles on a Wednesday. Things have worked out pretty well for Patrick since he produced Pixels. Adam Sandler's production company forked over a pretty penny to develop it into a feature film.

What's the lesson, boys and girls? Just keep producing and just keep putting it out there. All it takes is the right pair of eyes to find it.

oscar news and notes 2.25.13


Another Oscar night has come and gone. And, to no one's surprise, Kentucky decided to show up and dominate. Hollywood's darling and Louisville native, Jennifer Lawrence, walked away with Best Actress while George Clooney got a statuette for Best Picture, as a producer on Argo. Not bad. Not bad at all. I fully expect this to be the beginning of the Bluegrass Dynasty in Hollywood. Everybody else, you can take your things and go home.

Seriously though, if I've got Clooney, Depp, and Lawrence... who you got? Can any other State match that trio of natives right now? Let us know in the comments section.

Tweet It Up


We decided to live-tweet the proceedings with little to no advanced warning. Like most of you, we got to turn up our nose at Seth McFarlane's never-ending monologue and to be thoroughly frightened by Kristin Chenoweth's red-carpet interviews. Here's a taste if you missed it. (And you can see the rest on our Twitter feed.)




Speaking of Twitter, we want to send out a big thank you to all the Twitter peoples that have pushed us over 2,000 followers. We're really hoping the momentum pays off and we can get Space Cops 4 in front of as many eyes as possible.

Dino Rivera


This guy looks friendlier than the one we ran into.
Michael Startzman is a good friend and participant in WSF shenanigans. Saturday, he wrote up a nice blog piece that included a shoutout for Cannonball. And it featured this digital painting of none other than Bigsquatch. He hits on two key points in his post: 1) Bigfoot Country is an absolutely painful movie to watch.  2) If you've seen it, you can still cleanse your mental palate by watching Cannonball free on Vimeo! Michael is a very talented artist who is currently featured in Red Bull's Collective Art project that exhibits his work all over the world. Be sure to make MichaelStartzman.com a regular stop in your internet travels.

It's late and I'm hitting the sheets, but we do have good stuff planned for you this week. So check back in and everybody have a great Monday.

indie wednesday: supralude


(Be sure to turn on the HD setting and fullscreen it.)

Recently, there's been so much talk about the latest and greatest camera advancements, I wanted to use this Indie Wednesday to point out what someone did with a good old Canon 5D MKII. The 5D started the DSLR indie film movement and it was still well-represented this year at festivals like Sundance. However, it is quickly becoming forgotten and overshadowed by all the new kids on the block, like the Black Magic Cinema Camera, the Red Epic, and Scarlet, etc, etc.

I think TNIW [That Night In Williamsburg] proves that the old man still produces great images. I just wanted to remind everyone out there (including myself) what a great and economical filmmaking tool the 5D is. And, as attentions turn elsewhere, you can pick up a 5D on eBay for under $1500. With that camera you can produce images like these. You don't need to mortgage your house for whatever new gear came out today. And you definitely shouldn't keep waiting to start your film due to fear of missing out on a camera that might be released tomorrow.

Add in some clever After Effects work, and you've got a very cool piece like the one made by Supralude. Supralude is a graphic designer and director who has been working in motion design for twelve years. Well done. We salute you, Supralude.

presidents' day news and notes 2.18.13

Lebowski fans can appreciate this.

So, who is your favorite fictional movie President? There are so many to choose from, but I'm going to have to go with Peter Sellers in Dr. Strangelove or Bill Pullman in Independence Day. Pullman always comes to mind for some reason doesn't he? Tell us yours in the comments section at the bottom of the post.

 Last week actually ended up being one of the most exciting and potentially newsworthy weeks that I can remember. ....Annnd I can't say a word about it. Hopefully if everything keeps going well on that front, I'll be able to explain in the future. So, take that for what it's worth. (Not much.)

Last night I watched the film that will be the subject of our next VHessay. Your first clue: it's yet another classic from 1986 and I hinted at it in our Space Camp essay. What was the deal with '86 anyway? 83-86 might deserve an essay all to itself when you think about how many defining films for our generation came out of that short window.

I don't have much more to report on our own ventures this week apart from those meaningless and cryptic tidbits. Remember everything I talked about last Monday? Well, it's basically the same stuff happening this week. I can, however, comment on a few things going on in the world outside the WSF Compound.

For example, it seems that Dan Lebental, go-to editor for Jon Favreau, has developed a touch-based editing app for the iPad. It looks nice and my mind is already grinding those gears, wondering how we could put it to use. It's a potentially great way to crank out material on the fly. Shooting and editing, all right within the iPad. Talk about a streamlined workflow. This seems like a perfect application for vloggers or even creative, budding filmmakers out there. It seems a bit pricey to me at $49.99. I'd rather see it at around 30-40. However, if the app performs as well as they promise, it could easily be worth it for the right customer.

Also, I just have to acknowledge that I enjoyed SNL this week, thanks largely to my newest acting man-crush, Christoph Waltz. The guy is just incredible and moves around in comedy as well as he does in drama. I'd put his Hans Landa, from Inglourious Basterds, up against any villain in cinematic history. This season of SNL has been up and down (to put it as kindly as possible) and the hosting duties have been all over the spectrum, but Christoph represented.

Keep checking in this week for Indie Wednesday and all the other regular goodness.

fix it in post



A little something extra for you today. I just saw this short Jeremy Hunt created to show off the capabilities of Autodesk's Smoke program and thought I'd share. Just something fun for your Friday. It's clever, has great timing, and gives a little peek into some of the compositing work that goes into most productions these days, so enjoy.

We'll see you back here for News and Notes on Monday (unless I can find something special to post tomorrow). Keep your eyes open.