Indie Wednesday: Toast



Today we feature another film that was shot in Kentucky by a filmmaker born and raised in the Bluegrass State. We met Grayson Johnson at RiversEdge Film Fest two years ago and got the chance to watch his film, Raftbag. The film was genuinely funny, had a fresh voice and Grayson and his cohorts all seemed really nice in our brief interactions.

Now it seems that he is about to debut a new feature that I'd love to see, so let's all take a gander at the trailer for Toast together.

Filmspiration: Accomplish Anything


Hey! We make things!
Our friend Michael Startzman inspired us to inspire YOU with wisdom from our favorite films.

There is no better way to kick off our filmspiration with the master of motivation himself, Mr. Kesuke Miyagi. Now you'll never forget what a man who catches a fly with chopsticks can do.

We'll be selling professional prints of every poster, so get ready to order.
Anyone excited? Let us know in the comments.

Labor Day's News and Notes 9.2.13



Paranormous

Happy Labor Day everybody! I don't know how you're spending yours, but I'm trying to finish up the Paranormous edit, so you aren't going to get much out of me this morning.

The guys came up for an extremely productive edit party on Thursday and now I'm on the cusp of putting a cap on this thing. It's actually within the realm of possibility to finish up and get a DVD in the mail tomorrow.

Labor Day Melee

I'll also leave you with one short video of how we used to spend our Labor Days...


Ahhhh, the good old days.

See you back here for Indie Wednesday and any vital Paranormous updates. Enjoy your day, folks!

VMA's News and Notes 8.26.13

Wait...  I'm not the only one that can see this, right?

Sooo... the VMA's were last night. Apparently they still give out awards for music videos. Where exactly do people see these videos? And I'm not taking a snarky (albeit easy) shot at MTV. Seriously, where do people go to watch music videos?

And can someone please tell me what in the name of all that is (un)holy happened to Hannah Montana? Not to sound like a 90 year-old but, between Miley grinding on Alan Thicke's kid and Kanye being Kanye and all of the other debauched insanity that was going on last night, I'm not sure how the Earth didn't open up and swallow the Barclays Center.

 Miley's performance was an equal-parts mix of horrifying and horrifying and I can't in good conscience recommend that you go find it and watch it. (But do it anyway.) I believe if you took someone from the first century and dropped them in the Barclay's Center last night, they would go back and write the book of Revelation word for word. Somebody start searching for pictures of John the Apostle in last night's crowd.

The Week That Was

-  A quick recap of everything that happened here last week in case you missed it. Judging by the numbers, the Parnormous Intro got lost in the shuffle for a lot of people Saturday morning. If you're in that boat, don't fret because here it is again... (I have no shame.)



-  Our new Office Game got people stirred up pretty well on Friday and gave us a traffic spike.

-  And I also threw out some thoughts on our new Batman-elect, Ben Affleck.

WSF Updates

I spent most of Saturday working on the Paranormous edit and I am happy to announce that the day was well spent. I believe we may be able to put a cap on it this week if I get a couple good nights of work in and if Todd gets the chance to come up and smooth out the rough edges.

The assembly cut is basically all stitched together. Now we need to cut any fat, add some music and graphics and a few effects, and then we might be able to get this thing in the mail. Don't close the mailbox just yet, Paducah!

We'll see you back here for Indie Wednesday and any other goofiness we can come up with.

Paranormous Intro



Just a little taste of our ghost hunting "reality" project. SEE! We are working on stuff.

Opinion: Batfleck??


So, Affleck is the new Batman... Let's talk about it.

First of all, I'm not here to rip Ben Affleck. The guy is a huge talent who found his groove and has proven himself as a top-flight director.

My first thought when I heard the news was that this is a risky move for Warner Brothers. Affleck is a fine actor in the right part. But, in my opinion, he doesn't submerge himself in a character the way a Christian Bale might and you need to go in deep to play a convincing Batman. Ben Affleck the actor has a sweet spot and I think Batman falls outside that spot the same way Daredevil did. The further you diverge from his natural persona, the tougher it is for him. I think Affleck as Batman is similar to a choice like Clooney as Batman. However, I don't think he'll kill the film.

Now, after a day of thinking about it, I actually think Affleck is the one making the bigger mistake. After a roller coaster career of triumphs and embarrassments, this guy has been cruising on all cylinders lately. I can't remember the last mistake he made. Gigli is a long-gone memory and no one thinks of him as some goofy guy that wrote Good Will Hunting and was the less successful half of "Bennifer." Ben Affleck is now firmly established as the serious and highly-esteemed, academy award nominated director. No one in recent memory has done a better job of rebranding themselves. In my opinion, he puts that all in jeopardy by putting on a cowl and cape at this point. And let's face it, no one has any idea how this Superman/Batman thing is going to play; not even Warner Bros. The thing could be good (...maybe) or it could be a dumpster fire.

I'll sum it up by saying, I don't think it was the most inspired choice by the WB. I don't think he needs it. I think it's a risk. But, I hope he knocks it out of the park like all his recent efforts.

Office Games: Posterizing

Two weeks in a row with a new office game? You kids are lucky. So far, this one is possibly the simplest, the most childish and, consequently, the most fun. I'm a little disappointed I didn't post this a couple years ago because apparently this game is a thing now (as you can see by the more complicated example above). I know we aren't the only guys to "invent" it, but we didn't rip it off either. So, let's talk about Posterizing...

First, play at your own risk. I bruised a guy's spine at our office. Sorry, Harvey Couch. (Note:  Kids, if you see someone coming through the lane with a head of steam, clear out of there like an aging Patrick Ewing. Get out of that poster! Do NOT cower in fear and back into someone's flying knee.) I don't want any lawsuits flying around if dunk fests break out across the nation.

I'm not sure exactly how the game originated, but I know it started in Blanding Tower at the University of Kentucky (probably in 1997) with myself, J.R. Zinner and John Saylor. At that time, I think the game largely consisted of "dunking" on someone with an empty two-liter Sprite bottle. Today, the game has evolved and found its true element in the office environment. Are you ready to play?

The Rules

Okay, you see this?

1)  Pretend there's a basketball goal up there.

In fact there is a goal above every doorway/threshold in your building. Anytime someone is crossing that threshold, they are attempting to block your shot.

2)  Do what comes natural.

Ball, no ball, substitute ball... it doesn't matter. Dunk on their souls.

Dance parties never broke out after we did it, but there was definitely plenty of screaming and jubilation when someone got crammed on in spectacular fashion.

Indie Wednesday: Spike Jonze



In honor of Spike Jonze's new film "Her" (the trailer for which looks fantastic), I thought I'd share one of Spike's short films on this Indie Wednesday.

We've all seen lone shoes abandoned in the streets and this short has the answer if you've ever wondered... How They Get There. (That's the title, see. See what I did was... It was like I was finishing the sentence but also--)

Also, in a Batman-ing update, Michael Startzman is walking into his office about right now to discover I'll be at home editing Paranormous all day.

DJ Sweat's News and Notes 8.19.13


So, hey, have you heard how much money DJ's are making? For the top guys and gals, the cash flow is apparently astronomical. I ran into this last night and I'm still fairly baffled. David Guetta made 30 million dollars last year. That's Alex Rodriguez money. When did this happen exactly? And is there much, much more skill involved than I'm aware of?

Deadmau5 (somebody shoot me for knowing to use a 5 instead of an S) makes $200,000 per night. I'm now highly upset that I didn't continue my career as the replacement "DJ Sweat" after Derek Emerson retired from the GWA.

Paranormous

The one and only thing happening in the compound this week is the Paranormous edit. Wait... Scratch that. We have a quick final shoot tonight in Danville and THEN it's nothing but editing.

We made good progress last week. Hopefully we can wrap it up this week and get a DVD in the mail on its way to Paducah. I've always wondered if late-deadline submissions are ever actually accepted. Unfortunately we'll be conducting that experiment this year.

And so, I leave you with this...