No Monster yet.

We planned to do our first Monster filming last Saturday, but it was not to be. Jonathan, our special effects man, ended up stuck in Montgomery with car trouble. So we're going to try again this Saturday. Hopefully, the automobile deities will smile on us...

Bang.

It was a glorious weekend at Atrox. We got some shooting (on film) done, then we got some shooting (with a gun) done. Mike Wade (along with Lisa Mason, Mike's wife and Interplanetary actress) stopped by on Sunday afternoon to fire off a few test rounds. Mike and fellow gun-smith Daniel had mixed up a variety of different blank loads, some flashier than others.

We ran video to approximate how the guns firing would look on film -- here are a few frame grabs...

Birmingham Magazine article now online.

A few weeks ago, I mentioned the filmmaking article in the recent issue of Birmingham Magazine. It's now available online for your reading pleasure.

A new set.

Here are a few photos from last weekend, including some shots of a set that isn't Master Control!

First off, another insane camera rig, courtesy of Jimbo and Hilleke...



Hilleke stands in for a lighting test...



Jimbo takes a turn modeling for the lights...



Melissa and a mysterious spaceman (and a mysterious Stacey)...



John strikes a pose. It's Miller... er, Bud Light time.

State of the feature.

"So... how's the movie coming." I've been hearing this a lot lately. In fact, "KidAt40" just asked that question in the form of a blog comment. Which means I'm probably not doing my job as a blogger. Anyway...

The short answer is "good, but slow." Like I said yesterday, you really do have to fight for every shot when you're making a nearly-no-budget movie. I'd say Interplanetary is tougher than usual, because it's a nearly-no-budget-slightly-epic-sci-fi-horror movie.

At this point, I have about 15 minutes (17%) of the movie cut together. I've shown the cut footage to a few cast and crew folks, and the reactions have been very positive so far. One of the big things we're waiting for, our Monster, will hopefully be ready and in front of the camera next weekend. I'm really excited about this -- I've seen the sculpts that Jonathan is using as the basis for the Monster "suit," and they're really unbelievable. As in "I can't believe something that cool is going to be in our movie."

Also, as we're running behind schedule, we're under the gun to get our "studio" stuff finished so the good folks at Atrox can get back to their bread and butter business of hosting a scary Halloween attraction. We're going to try to get done there around the end of June. After that, we plan to do some location shooting at DeSoto Caverns, Sloss Furnaces, Wade Sand and Gravel...

But that's a ways off. This weekend, it's back to Atrox...

Thank you, gentle readers.

I've received several positive emails and blog comments since I posted the response-to-a-Hide and Creep-hater item on Monday. I wasn't fishing for compliments, but I'll sure as heck take 'em.

Jimbo and I were talking tonight about how you have to fight for every little shot, even the ones that look easy, when you're making a nearly-no-budget movie. Knowing that there are people out there who appreciate that fact means a lot.

Another unsatisfied customer.

"Why did Hide and Creep suck?" This is the subject of one of the emails waiting for me when I checked my inbox this morning. If you're interested, here is my reply.

I'm gonna be honest with you, E (I hope you don't mind if I call you E -- the only name I see on your email is "ecdc1@msn.com"). I was about to send you a very brief reply. I was going to type "Why are you such an asshole?", hit the "send" button, and be done with you. But that would be rude. And even though I'm kinda tired, sore, and grumpy this morning (I spent most of the weekend shooting a new movie), there's no excuse for rudeness.

My next idea was to plead my case to you, sending you links to a few of the many glowing reviews of Hide and Creep (one Web site called it the best DTV movie of 2005!), reviews written by critics who most likely know a great deal more about movies than you do, E. But, even if you aren't a knowledgeable movie critic, you are entitled to your opinion, and I won't try to make you change your mind.

I think the only honorable thing I can do at this point is refund your money. I am disappointed that you did not enjoy Hide and Creep, but I appreciate the fact you were willing to rent it, to gamble on an indie flick. My hope is that, if I return your money, your faith in indie films will be renewed, and you'll rent another one sometime, hopefully one you'll enjoy.

So please send me your proper name and mailing address (along with a scan of your Blockbuster receipt, if available) and let me know how much I owe you. I'll cut you a check and get it to you ASAP.

Sincerely...

-Chance (co-director, Hide and Creep)

Mars re-colored.

Chuck took one of our behind-the-scenes "Mars" photos and re-colored it based on some NASA pics of the real thing. If we can get the actual 16mm footage looking like this, I think we'll be in pretty good shape.