The second and third days of shooting Roth Rind's new short film, entitled "Grace," were an experience in themselves. We came up late Friday night to a secluded ranch 10 miles away from the observatory on Mt. Hamilton. Mohammad Harirsaz, Brent Franklin, Daniel Szymski, Roth Rind, Boran Vukajlovic, Sean Siwajek, and Sheldon Steere spent the first night until about 4:00 AM building the tunnel on the hillside, building a sniper's nest for the character Dae-Hyun, as well as burying the cable to run the explosions we would be firing during the shooting. The next morning, we had a 7AM wakeup call (some people were to be up at 5AM) and ate breakfast, paid for by Roth Rind. We started shooting and then ran into our first snag when the squibs we had made for the gunshots wouldn't fire. We decided to just shoot what we could that didn't use the squibs and then figure out how to get them to work that night. We filmed everything up until the first shot that would need a real explosion in the background, which was supposed to work on the same general principle that the squibs were working on, so when it didn't work the first couple times, no one was really surprised. That was when Daniel Szymski came up with an idea that saved the production, all we had to do to insure the explosions/squibs would go off was to just coil the wire. It was that simple. After that, the explosions fired on time, the squibs were fixable, and we could carry on with production. We wrapped that night and everyone relaxed for a few hours, and then at about 9PM, Christianna Gunn, Peter Kim, Brent Franklin, Daniel Szymski, Boran Vukajlovic, and Sheldon Steere spent the next 4 - 5 hours working on re-doing the squibs with the new coiled wires inside so that they would be ready for the next day. The next day, with another wakeup of 7AM we woke up to a beautiful fog settled over the valley. We spent the next couple hours waiting for the fog to dissipate. We did a few tests of the new squibs, which worked perfectly, and then waited for the final bit of fog to burn up. Finally we started shooting, and just as the first shot started, the squibs stopped working. We spent the next half an hour trying to figure it out, when Daniel came up with another amazing idea, instead of using the firing system, he would wire it up straight to our on-site generator and zap the squibs. Again, it worked, and we were able to get back into production.Production went relatively smoothly until we got to a complicated shot where the squib was supposed to burst a packet of blood inside the American Soldier's helmet that Marek Haiba was supposed to be wearing.We couldn't get the squib to fire in a way that would burst the packet of blood in the right way. Once again, Daniel came to the rescue and was able to get it to work, however the helmet was the wrong helmet, and it wouldn't fit on Marek's head, which meant we needed to fire a bullet through another helmet in order to get the shot, and set up the squibs again. All this took the better part of an hour, and when it finally was finished, it was already too late to shoot the final part of the scene, and since the tunnel didn't so much blow up as catch on fire, we decided we would go out for another day of shooting next Saturday. So stay tuned for another epic story of shooting next weekend.
In the mean time, check out these shots from the shoot, as well as some pictures from the shoot taken by expert photographer Stephen Abbas, the on-set photographer, on his blog:http://www.stephenabbas.blogspot.com
All in all, the shoot was impressively professional, and everyone's positive attitudes, attention to detail, hardworking work ethic, and good vibes helped it be one of the funnest professional sets I've ever been on.Despite the few errors that came up, which were met with a positive problem-solving attitude instead of slowing everything down, everything went smoothly, and almost everyone's expectations of what it would be like were more than exceeded. I'd like to thank Silicon Valley Film Studios, and everyone who made the shoot this weekend possible:
Mohammad Harirsaz, Brent Franklin, Daniel Szymski, Roth Rind, Boran Vukajlovic, Sean Siwajek, Sheldon Steere, Christianna Gunn, Amani Marie, Stephanie Emerson, Peter Kim, Stephen Abbas, Donn Bradley, Marek Haiba, Zak Migurski, Jennifer Gonzalez, Danielle Baker, Stuart Rind, Ashley Elieff, Marco Onton, and Jerry Pang.
Greg Danger: Industrial Espionage, along with the characters, names, and stories are the copyrighted intellectual property of Sheldon Steere and Salty Samurai Studios.
Matt Cross and the Garage Boys are back! Salty Samurai Studios' own Sheldon Steere, along with Producer / Director Roth Rind, and Director of Photography Matt Cross will be working on the new K-57 Music Video "We Here to Party." During the summer, Matt Cross and Sheldon Steere filmed the music video "Hustla" for K-57, Mi$$ Ri$$, Rizwan the Akkie, and The Jacka. Editing is finally almost done, (look below for screenshots!) and K-57 liked it and has commissioned us to do the next project, "We Here to Party." We're very excited to work with K-57 again, and now that we'll have a budget to work with, this next music video looks like it will go off with a bang!
If you would like to hear music by K-57, go to http://www.myspace.com/k57ishere
Summary: "It's the Korean War and John, a United States soldier, finds himself trapped in a collapsed underground tunnel with a North Korean foot soldier, Dae-Hyun. What would you do if you were trapped with your worst enemy?"
The most amazing thing about this production is that it will be the first time we have worked with live explosions and squibs, and there will also need to be a fake tunnel set that has been rigged to collapse. All of this will make, for a very difficult shoot, but more importantly it should make for a very interesting film. Shooting is planned to begin in March, and I will give updates as the shooting progresses.
Hollywood North is Co-hosted by De Anza's Film & TV Department Chair Zaki Lisha and screenwriter and De Anza screenwriting instructor Barak Goldman, and is produced by De Anza film school students. It probes and explores all matters pertaining to the education and business of film, television, and other media. To listen to their podcasts, search for Hollywood North on iTunes.
The exciting thing about filming this event, was having 3 HD cameras linked to a monitor, where Director Roth Rind sat and communicated to everyone filming through Clear-Com microphones. This was our second attempt at filming a live stage performance, after filming the Rock on the Mount back in August, and overall the filming went very well. Having the Clear-Com system allowed all of the camera operators to communicate fluidly and simultaneously with each other and with Roth Rind who was watching and organizing from the monitors; which saved us from problems like duplicating shots with multiple cameras, and allowed us to get things like a wide and closeup on the interviewee as well as a reverse on the interviewer all at the same time with little to no hassle.
In other news, due to scheduling conflicts and filming delays, Sheldon Steere will no longer be working on the picture "Who is Brandon Horn?" but wishes the production the best of luck with the rest of it's filming. Look for it on the West Valley College's website for the movie showing times. It should be completed and ready for viewing by about February, and shown that month.
For anyone who doesn't know what San Jose Bike Party is, it is a free community Bicycle ride every 3rd Friday of every month at 8:00PM. There is a monthly theme, and every month is a different ride. (the ride is announced the day of) The ride can be anywhere from 20-40 miles, but it is usually all flat, and you are usually accompanied by wild riders blasting music and screaming "Bike Paaaarty!!!" to keep you as pumped as possible, so it's surprisingly easier to get to the end than you'd think. Whether or not you want to follow the theme, or even ride the route is completely up to you, and people often will go their own way after the first or second pit stop, but riding to the end is encouraged, as it is really great exercise. All ages and types are invited, and I have seen everyone from casual riders to families on tandem bikes with small children to people on unicycles to people carting an entire couch and surround speakers behind them! It really is the most diverse group you will see partying together, and I would say it is a once in a lifetime event except that it happens EVERY MONTH! And each month gets even better!
Also, come September 8th, once the submission window opens, we are going to submit our video to the Rooftop Comedy's National College Funnyfilm Competition. Wish us luck in this one as well, as the prize includes a paid vacation to Aspen, and national exposure in the video competition.
Edited together a rough 5 minute edit to comply with the Sketchfest’s 5-Minute Video Requirement for their Video Contest. If we make the selection, Sketchfest Seattle will be the first film festival submission for the giant spider skit.
Check out our submitted video, and the first cut of the spider movie (Please note that half the scenes are missing due to the time restriction) here:
