At All Cost - A Christian Rebel Productions Update

It's been awhile since I gave a proper update.

The past few months I have been in production on my latest project - a collaboration with St. Louis actress Vickie Kellerman-Doerr - titled "At All Cost". I can't talk about the plot at this point, but it is a modern day drama - and departs somewhat in style and tone from The Trigger and Resolve. It is written and Produced by Vickie, and Directed by me.

I've been shooting on the Panasonic GH3 - having finally retired my HV30 after its last hurrah on Resolve. The GH3 definitely is a different animal - designed primarily as a stills camera with a lot of robust video features as well.

With the HV30 I really had no control over Depth of Field unless I was zoomed all the way in to allow for a long focal length, given I had no control over the aperture. With the GH3 I have a lot of control over everything: aperture, ISO, shutter speed etc. While it is an interchangable lens camera I've been primarily using the 25mm Leica (50mm in 35mm terms) because we're shooting in enclosed spaces without enough light, and it allows me to open it up to f/1.4 if needed. I try not to shoot that wide open, as the depth of field is so incredibly shallow focus is tricky - but I generally am shooting at at least f/2.0.

The GH3 has required me to buy a rig to support it, as my handheld style creates a lot of jitter with the Leica lens - as neither the GH3 nor the lens have image stabilization.

Shooting has been delayed thanks to the large winter storm that's taken the US and put it under a layer of snow and ice. We are about 70% shot with a rough edit coming together. Given the uncertain shooting schedule no release date has been set.

"At All Cost" stars Vickie Doerr, Clayton Humburg, Nicole Gonnerman, Keith Ruck, Tim Butler, and Luis Perez.

2 Short Films I'm scripting

Currently, in addition to other scripts, my youtube presence, and job hunting I'm working on 2 short - short scripts. (Under 10 pages, hopefully around 5 -6 ) that can be shot in one or two days cheaply so I can be producing content and keeping engaged with film making, actors, and hopefully making connections with crew.

The first of these is currently titled Pretentious and in this stage follows the premiere night of a film maker and her encounters with very pretentious film critics and viewers. It's meant to be a satire of and examination of the way film critics actually are (based a fair bit on my own experience). I've got to figure out some logistics, because the concept potentially could involve a lot of extras. However, I think it's a great concept and I may be able to get a cast and crew interested in working on it.

The second is a horror short - inspired by a script I wrote way back when that was never produced, "Assault of the Mutants" (speaking of pretentious titles...). That said, it's nothing like that script. It follows a girl living in the foothills of the Ozarks as she runs away from her abusive father - but is watched by several mutant - "almost people" (yes I'm aware I'm stealing a Dr. Who episode title) as the lead character calls them. I want to test out some concepts and potentially find some locations for larger projects. In this version of the script it has some overtones of the Blair Witch (overtones, not the style or terrible lack of script), as well as inspiration from the Bloody Cuts UK horror short films series.

I'll leave you with links to the Blair Witch teaser and a Bloody Cuts UK short...for those of you who need some content to watch:

Blair Witch Teaser:

Bloody Cuts Short, Death Scenes:

Youtube

Youtube...the final frontier.

No, but for real, it's an interesting platform. I'm attempting to build up my monatization abilities over 3 separate accounts I've built up over the past few years. Anchorboy2 was my original account that has a lot of videos with copyrighted content that can't be monetized, but a few that can. CRebProductions has a lot of my more professional work and a few other sorts of videos - definitely now my main channel. And then there's BriansAnimalVideos, my newest channel where I'm attempting (so far with little success) to build up an audience by regular posting of fuzzy and scaly creatures. I'm learning a lot about metadata, tagging, networking, etc. I'm also watching a lot of other people's content and leaving comments and video responses, attempting to build up my audience that way.

I've also considered taking the anchorboy2 channel, and except for a few videos that are doing well view - wise, turning it into more of a vlog style channel where I talk about video production, scripts, random stuff and whatnot. Not sure how that would "sell" so to speak, but it might be worth a shot.

That's my latest venture in between writing scripts and sending my resume into the black abyss of "we have more qualified candidates for just about anything" land...haha.

I know for a good long while, making a decent buck...much less a living...off youtube isn't likely, but I'm going to push toward that goal. Sharing and putting my content out there helps a lot, so anyone who does that, I'm extremely grateful.

Well internet friends - to you I bid a good night. I'll have some blog posts (and perhaps vlogs) about new films I want to work on, that I've been scripting. I'm trying to find stuff that can be pretty nill budget... 'cause I'm still drained pretty darn dry from Resolve and being jobless for awhile.

Why do we fall, sir?

Well, no denying Saturday was a downer day in the film things department, BUT, as Michael Caine famously said as Alfred in Batman, "Why do we fall sir? So we might learn to pick ourselves up." So, being a big batman fan (at least of the Nolan batmans) I'm going to listen to Alfy.

I'm not going to let having a week of losing at video contents and not taking awards at film festivals get me down.

It's back to writing Choke Hold. I've finished Act I and am onto act 2.

Act 2...in true Dr. Who fashion...will have lots of running. Except, not really in Dr. Who fashion, 'cause he doesn't like guns. We leave the urban into the rural and forest for (hopefully) simpler and cheaper shooting...and hopefully story explanations that make reasonable sense. :D

I'm also working on a new youtube channel to see if I can build a following with animal videos. There's the market for it, and I can put out videos consistently no problem, so that's my latest experiment. To check it out go to: youtube.com/briansanimalvideos and be sure to subscribe!

Anyway, have a good night folks. More on Choke Hold and other films coming soon!

Random Thoughts, Frustration, and Festivals

I think, if there's a part of film making I really hate, it's that I have to compete with other film makers in festivals and contests. I'm a collaborative sort of person...but also fiercely competitive if I put myself in those situations.

Really though, the challenge is, when faced with defeat after defeat after defeat, is not to doubt the creative compass that I've got. I've never won a video contest or taken festival awards (I know, I'm 22... still got time), but in a world where technology is making everything so much more accessible... getting noticed is incredibly difficult, and there are more talented people - or at least people with more resources than me - able to put out some really good stuff.

Not, before I get sounding like I'm griping too much, I'm more saying, I just don't like dealing with the competitive side of things - as generally it seems judges and I don't get along. Film critics and I don't get along.

Not actually sure if I'm trying to say anything or make a point in this post, mostly just processing the frustration of within a week getting shut out of several Tongal.com idea phase contests and ICFF awards. And I process by writing. And I figure, why not give people an insight into what goes on in a crazy artist's head?

Part of me wonders if I've got it in me to be a filmmaker, because taking criticism (especially unspoken implied criticism) is a challenge - because I don't understand from an objective perspective what my films failed at. Was it just that I can't afford a crane and slider and someone else can, or I couldn't shoot 4K RAW and so my film wasn't as "cinematic", or was the cut not tight enough for an attention deprived generation? (I won't bring up acting, because pretty objectively I can say in all the entries I've watched in the festivals I've been a part of, my actors stand out as some of the best.) It's frustrating to not know what's turning people off my films. What am I missing? And can I even fix it in future projects?

I read in a handy dandy little book called something like "What they don't teach you at Film School" that the hardest part about being a director is you have to believe in your story on an incredible level - be passionate about it - and put that out there for people to see. You've got to be vulnerable and say "I care about this story - and I don't apologize for it". And that that's why a lot of people don't make it as, or realize that they in fact don't want to direct.

But the reality is I DO want to direct. I HAVE stories I'm passionate about, and I seem to at least be something enough to intrigue actors enough to deal with my lack of crew, pay, and high quality gear that they want to work with me and bring these stories to life.And hopefully, despite consistent shutdowns from any paying or awards sources they'll continue to see that - and a crew and equipment will follow, and we can make something that pays off for us.

I know one of my deepest frustrations as a film maker, is to not be able to pay actors in particular. They work incredibly hard on the projects I have - because I come up with demanding characters for them to get into. And not being able to make any money at film work essentially means I'm stuck not paying them right now - or not doing any film work period.

Anyway, I've totally degenerated off topic. If you've read this whole thing through, I'm impressed. If you've made sense out of it, I'm even more impressed.

Anyway, have a good night and a good Sunday tomorrow folks!

International Christian Film Festival

Both "The Trigger" and "Resolve" were accepted into the International Christian Film Festival! This is exciting news, as it'll get them seen by a much wider audience than they've been seen by. Quality wise, I'm not surprised they got in. The dedication of the actors to top notch performances, as well as the solid work of everyone behind the camera (including the long, long hours I spent from scripting to the final post production of both films) made them work very well.

Content wise - the ICFF is less staunch than I thought they'd be in terms of violence and (given a couple other entries I've watched) language, which works for me.

I've seen all the short film entries I'm competing against, and my honest opinion is there are 2 or 3 that clearly had big budgets and have strong production value and I actually really enjoyed. A lot of them were lacking in some way - usually acting and story. Most people who know me, know I hate the cheesy, pull the bible out and there's a metaphoric glowing light (or literal) and people magically change scenes - which there are a lot of here. That's my personal taste, and I'm guessing the judges may feel differently.

Unfortunately several entries weren't uploaded properly and their sound wasn't synced or the video shorted out (this isn't the case for either Resolve or Trigger) but I was bummed that those few I couldn't finish. 

But rather Resolve and Trigger take home any awards, it's been an enjoyable experience seeing the many different films. People have a lot of different ideas and views and seeing them expressed is interesting.

I'll know on Saturday for sure if any awards are handed out. There are cash prizes, software, and a Black Magic Cinema camera, as well as airtime on some different Christian networks. All things that would be cool and helpful (especially the cash prize or BMC Camera. I'll definitely be buying its little brother come July.

Titling Films: Working on "Drug Syndicate"

I'll be honest, I hate coming up with names for films. From the very beginning it's been a challenge. Five Hitmen was... a story about 5 hitmen. Blood Running was a title that one of my actors came up with and I latched onto for what at the time of production was just called "The Zombie Movie." "Dust" was a movie about the Dust Bowl. "Middle East Poverty Movie" - my worst title to date, is exactly what it sounds like.

More recently, "The Trigger" was actually intended just as a working title for the project, but I called it The Trigger through pre production and into production and it just became the title.

Resolve was a lot of brainstorming between my mother and I, and in the end she actually came up with it and much like Blood Running, I just embraced it.

Now I'm working on coming up with a title for "Drug Syndicate."

My ideas and why are as follows:


No Way Out (the idea presented by characters in the script that there is no escaping the Syndicate or the past.  The title sounds kind of pretentious to me, even though I admit I like it and I like pretentious titles.)

Death Grip (same sort of idea, that addiction and violence creates a death grip on you.)

Choke Hold (similar to death grip, but Hold is slang for a drug dealer, so there's a double meaning I rather like)

Break the Dice (dice is slang for cocaine)

When it Rane's (rane being a slang term for cocaine)

Dice in the Dark (a title representing both the cocaine and the darkness that is in the story)


Those are the best ones...none of them feel quite "it" yet.  Some are definitely a little pretentious...but I'll keep playing with it. A title is incredibly important, because it's usually the first thing potential audiences and investors will hear about a film. Anyway, that's my latest news.