Model and Miniature Makers Talk Shop

I stumbled upon this treasure trove of interviews on Youtube that is a who's who of model making and miniatures in filmmaking which includes films of varying budget and genre ranges.  This includes cheapies like Carnoaur all the way to Total Recall and more.  Well worth a look.

Click here for more.

Help Support CURSE OF THE PHANTOM SHADOW

CURSE OF THE PHANTOM SHADOW is a nifty film project which is a throwback homage to the serials and pulps of the 1940's.  The film is over 75% completed but is need of completion funds and you can help out by donating a few bucks through the film's Kickstarter page  and getting some cool rewards back in return.
By donating you help keep the pulp and serial genre alive and get some cool swag.  It's win-win!

Synopsis snipped from the Kickstarter page:
There is only one man to call, Agent 236, an elite government agent. Agent 236 has been dispatched to launch a rescue.

Along the way, Agent 236 is befriended by a spunky, sarcastic, gas station attendant who just happens to have pinup girl good looks. She also just happens to be looking for a little action,and excitement. Luckily, Agent 236 is the man of her dreams. Agent 236 puts the station attendant and her tow truck into service in pursuit of the Phantom Shadow.

Pics and more details here.

The Cicada Princess

It's been a long time since I have mentioned any puppet related items here and this is too good not to share.  For years I have been kicking around the idea of meshing puppeteering with stop motion so I am glad to have discovered THE CICADA PRINCESS which does all of that and more.

Watch the vid:

Cicada Princess from Mauricio Baiocchi on Vimeo.

Go to the official site for more details in this amazing project and even help out by donating to it.

(h/t to Puppetvision)

Videos to Watch: Direct Your Own Damn Movie

Here is something cool to watch over the weekend; Troma president and filmmaker Lloyd Kauffman is streaming his how-to documentary called Direct Your Own Damn Movie over at Hulu for free!  How awesome is that!?  If anyone knows how to direct and produce a movie for the cheap and make it sell it's Lloyd Kauffman.

 As a bit of warning since this is Troma the vid is gonna be NSFW.

Watch the vid here. 

(h/t to Slash Film)

Viewfinder: The Black List that You Must See

Most moviemakers and geeks of the cinema already know of the existence of the Black List which details
each year's top ten unproduced screenplays.  However, a new black list of sorts has popped up on the internet: Viewfinder.

Viewfinder is a list of the top ten short film, music videos and commercials chosen for their originality and for being able to inspire all moviemakers out there.  Some of the short films have already received larger studio support and will find themselves as expanded versions in theaters next year.

Go here and watch the entire list and take lots of notes.

(via /Film)

Jim Henson's Red Book Now Online

Jim Henson, the creator of the Muppets et al, was obviously a prolific creator and he would often jot down notes and ideas into a notebook which was later nicknamed "The Red Book".  It was a book that he kept updating with ideas and whatnot up to his death.  

Now after all of these years, The Henson Company has been kind enough to start posting segments of The Red Book in a blog format for all of us to see, not to mention learn from.  The best part is that it's all for free! 

Go here to see The Red Book.

(hat tip to Puppetvision)

How to Make a $15,000 Dollar Monster Movie

Recently at the SXSW film fest, filmmaker Gareth Edwards, screened his latest film Monsters.  One of the coolest things about this film was that it was completely made for less than $15,000.  It was all done with a two-man production crew, edited in a hotel room, and with visual effects done in Edwards bedroom. 

Go here for the full details and scroll to the bottom to see a behind-the-scenes video on a inside look at how this film was made.

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Behind-The-Scenes: Critters 1 and 2

Here are some brief behind-the-scenes vids on the puppets for Critters 1 and 2 featuring the Chiodo Brothers.

Chris Sharpe Explains How to Make a Web Show

Filmmaker and rising new media guru Chris Sharpe (Sex Machine) has posted a great behind-the-scenes look at producing the Hilah Cooking! At this time he has posted the first half of the article which discusses the gear that is used which includes several great no-budget filmmaking tips and tricks.  Go here to learn something today.

Also if you're into cooking or food in general be sure to check out Hilah Cooking! It's the bee's knees, I tells ya.

WATCH ZOMBIE GIRL FOR FREE

ZOMBIE GIRL: THE MOVIE, a the documentary on a 12-yr old girl who takes on the challenge of making a full length zombie flick is now online for free. Watch it before it goes offline on 8/20. Go here for more.

From Wikipedia:

Zombie Girl: The Movie (2008) is an award-winning documentary about the making of the 2006 film Pathogen which was directed by Emily Hagins, twelve years-old at the time. The film chronicles young Emily's two year struggle to get her feature-length zombie film, Pathogen made. In 2009 the film won the Spirit of Slamdance Award at the Slamdance Film Festival. And received largely positive reviews when it was screened at various film festivals.

DOWNLOAD DROIDMAKER FOR FREE

Author Michael Rubin is allowing us to download his book DROIDMAKER absolutely free straight from his blog. For those who are wondering, the book is a extensive history on Lucasfilm and the history of Pixar.

The book is available in split chapters and in pdf format but only for a short time. So get your butt over there and grab the book and don't forget your manners by saying thanks to the writer.

INSIDE CHIODO BROS. STUDIO

(via Scars Magazine)

AMERICAN ROBOTS IN AMERISPACE -TEASER

Here is a teaser for the upcoming Drawless Animated flick AMERICAN ROBOTS IN AMERISPACE.

Production video journals can be found here and the the AK5000 Commercial can be seen here. Also for more Drawless Animation grooviness check out these past posts on the topic.

WARNING: THE TRAILER DOES CONTAIN SOME LANGUAGE THAT MAY BE CONSIDERED Not Safe For Squares or NSFS or NSFW.



P.S. I swear I'm not trying to turn this into a all Youtube blog. I'm in the middle of tons of project related stuff and I promise to get some real DIY articles back online soon. Stay weird!

EDITING TRICKS YOU MUST KNOW

I found some cool video tutorials on video editing that for anyone even remotely interested in making a film should learn and place in their toolkit of skills. These vids are from a filmmaker Peter John Ross and John Whitney's newest flick HORRORS OF WAR.

Sorry there was no way to embed these tutorials, but just go ahead and click on the links and let your noggin absorb some editing know-how.

• Tutorial #1: Cutting on Motion and Crunching Time
• Tutorial #2: L-Cuts aka Split Cut

MONSTER MOVIE TRAILER

This made me smile when I saw this over the weekend. The dino puppet is what makes the awesome sauce. Dig it!

MORE JOHN POLONIA TRIBUTES

UPDATE #1: A few more tributes can be found at these links:

Wicked Pixel Cinema's Tribute to John Polonia written by Eric Stanze
A fan's tribute
Cinema Slave's tribute

UPDATE #2: John Polonia's last film is MONSTER MOVIE which will have a special tribute feature added to the DVD disc. The flick is expected to hit storeshelves sometime in August from Tempe Video.

The tributes in honor of John Polonia and his untimely passing seem to keep coming in. John Oak Dalton has posted some links. So I am in turn sharing them here for all of you to read and hopefully discover how great of a guy he was.

(clip via Coolduder)


Doug Waltz Tribute
DVD Maniacs Forum Thread on John Polonia
Fangoria Magazine's article concerning John's death
John's Obit
Time and Cigarettes post

JOHN POLONIA 1968-2008

This week I was hit with some shocking news. John Polonia who is better known to most indie cult fans as one half of the duo the Polonia Brothers has passed away. He died suddenly of a heart aneurysm on the morning of February 25th at the very young age of 39. He leaves behind him a wife, a young son, his brother Mark, and family members and friends who will greatly miss him.

As a superfan of the Polonia Brothers I was struck hard by the news. I had spoken to him a month or so ago and he had mentioned several projects that he wanted to do including a homage to the old school Hercules flicks. And even though I did not know him on a personal level he was always a kind, outgoing, and very supportive guy. A true friend.

He was also a hero in my eyes, a champion of indie filmmaking, a true lover of genre films - a schlockhead. He alongside his brother could crank out a film on a weekend and despite the ridicule and rants that film would receive on this world wide web, he never once quit.

When others in his shoes would write retorts in the comments section of a blog defending their flicks, or even worse, just surrendering and never returning. He just kept writing and planning on the next project with his brother. In fact he and Mark would be the first to laugh at their films before critics could. For John to be able to do all of that just makes him one even more of a hero in my book.

I pity those who never knew him or the work he did with Mark, never once knowing how brilliant of a person he was or the long list of films made. Not to mention loss of the fantastic pulp he would've created. As far as I am concern the indie microcinema world has lost a large amount of it's heart. If there is one thing that we can do to honor him that would be to finally get off our asses and do the things we want to do whether that be make a movie, draw for a living, or whatever our heart desires.

My thoughts and prayers go out to his wife, son, Mark, and family and friends. He will be greatly missed but never forgotten as the friend, hero, and one of the best damn schlockheads out there that the world has to offer.

There are other numerous websites that are now offering their memories and parting words concerning John Polonia's passing. Please take a moment to check them out to get a better understanding of who he was and how much of a loss this is to all of us schlockheads out there.

John Oak Dalton's Blog
Brett Kelly's tribute website
The Cult of Polonia
Microcinemascene
Camp Motion Pictures
Rue Morgue
Pulp 2.0
B-Independent
Retromedia Forums
Pretty-Scary
Dread Central

BLOOD, BOOBS, BEAST

I'm still on holiday vacation of sorts. In fact I have a serious head cold, so don't expect much this week. However I felt that I had to share this:

As you may recall, 2006 was the year that filmmaker/producer and former Cinemagic founder Don Dohler had left the building to the great beyond. It's a absence that I believe is still felt throughout the indie filmmaking world. But guess what? It turns out that there is a documentary based on Dohler and the old adage, "blood, boob, beast." Check out the trailer below and the Myspace page for the full scoop. (Who knew that J.J. Abrams was part of Dohler history?) Stay weird!