I MADE IT!

So I have to say I am more than a little proud of myself after yesterday...I don't think things could have gone much smoother honestly. So I woke up at 4am to get myself all ready and collected to leave by 7am (I know I take forever to get ready). So Druid Hill Park was easy to get to but was packed due to the big marathon race they had there. Then it didn't help that once we got there we walked to the opposite side of the park and almost didn't make it to the spot on time, it was intense but we got there. The engagement was awesome and was really cool to capture video and photos from. After that I got back home and prepped for my 2pm gig which was all the way up at the studio I rent out in Forest Hill. The client got there on time and did her video all in one take which we ran through a few times to get different angles. It was cool for a promotional video and has a nice quirky feel to it which is what the client was after. Once I got back from that I wasn't feeling too hot and had quite the stomach ache for some reason and that persisted up until I left for the last gig which was at Pier Five. I have to say it was my toughest gig just because of the fact that I had stomach issues and my lack of sleep was catching up to me. However I pulled through and before I knew midnight had come and I was all done. I took over 500 photos last night which is about an average of 100 per hour and after reviewing a lot of them this morning I have to say the vast majority I like, unlike that last event I did, but I have improved dramatically since then.

Random Movie Fact: In the 2002 film The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, as the Orcs have black blood, it was only natural that the inside of their mouths should not be pink but black as well. To achieve this, the Orc actors had to swill a liquorice-based mouthwash prior to each of their scenes.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

M and T Bank Stadium

So while I was at the charity event back in October I decided to take two pictures of the stadium since that is where the event was being held. We were up pretty high in the stadium itself and the field was beautiful especially in the serenity of emptiness in which it was. Here are the two photos I got of it.

Random Movie Fact: In the 1995 film Hackers, the high school scenes were filmed at Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan, one of a few elite, exclusive high schools for students gifted in math, science and computers. Real school seniors were extras in many scenes. In the real school, the pool is on the first floor.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Believe in Tomorrow's Children Charity Auction Photos 1 of 2

As promised a while back here are photos from the Believe in Tomorrow's Children 30th Anniversary Charity Auction at M and T Bank Stadium. It was a great event to say the least. Great people, food, items for auction...it was a blast, I was very honored to be the official photographer for the event. So here are the first set of photos from the night.

Random Movie Fact: In the 2009 film The Ugly Truth, after wrestling with the Jell-O twins, Gerard Butler ad-libbed the line "I can still taste you. You know what I mean."

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Choice Neighborhoods Photos

On August 7th, I had a really crazy busy day. One of the many projects I tackled was doing some volunteer photography for a good cause. That night there was a big community walk throughout a small community in Baltimore City. The whole event was in support of the Choice Neighborhood initiative which is set to try to revatilize aging city neighborhoods. It was a fun evening and everyone was nice, plus they managed to give out free food! Posted below are my favorite photos from the night. Enjoy!

Random Movie Fact: In the 2011 film Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Gary Oldman went to Old Focals, an eyeglass store in Pasadena, to search for the right glasses to fit George Smiley: "Glasses are funny things. For Smiley, they're iconic. It's like Bond's Aston Martin or vodka martini." Oldman tried on hundreds of glasses frames before he found the appropriate spectacles.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Honfest Day 2

So today is the second day of shooting for Honfest 2012. Yesterday was long and filled with lots of sun exposure but overall a cool time. For me it was the longest I have ever been to Hampden and when the streets are all closed the day it was, it was pretty cool. Today I gotta get some of the interesting looking food they have to offer, I saw a crab pizza yesterday and it looked so good, hopefully I will have enough time to get one. Also yesterday was the start of the big Baltimore's Best Hon competition which was funny, and today they crown the winner so if you have time stop on down. There is food, beer, free stuff, and cool people so go on down and have a ball, if I wasn't helping film the event I know I would be.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

My Day Ahead

So yesterday for my interview things went great! I got a job which is essentially part time, like a thing where whenever they get a gig, I get a gig essentially. I got to take a look around at the studio which was small but cool, they have a nice setup filled with a lot of gear and editing equipment. So as quickly as I basically got offered part time status I was already offered a gig today and tomorrow covering Honfest which leads me to today.

Today I will be at Honfest from about 11am to 3 or 4pm covering the events of the day. My job will essentially be booming at the event, and monitoring sound coming in through the boom microphone. It is an easy day, not even a full 12 hours (thank goodness) and I am making a little bit of money off of it as well. I hope I look professional and do a good job today since I will be working alongside the owner of the place that just hired me. Wish me some luck out there and if you are free swing by, I don't think you could miss me...I am the guy with the giant boompole in my hands.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Day 2 of the 48 Hour Film Festival

So today is day 2 for us at the 48 Hour Film Festival. Last night was the entire screenwriting process and we had to come up with a story for today. The genre we landed was Horror which was pretty sweet since I have tackled horror before but not in the way we have written it this time around. We are hoping to go super serious with it, something psychological yet still holding its roots in this well known genre. The story is good, after a lot of debate we have a script/outline ready for it so today it is all about translating that to film. We have a lot of great talent and being the director I am excited and nervous about how things are going to go today. The lone actor that was confirmed dropped out so on the fly I had to get another actor who I have worked with before but he can't be on set until 2pm today which sucks, I wish I could have a better idea of this situation earlier as I would have gotten a better handle on things. Otherwise it sounds like things are good with the rest of the talent for today. Hope it goes well and wish me luck.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Start of the 48 Hour Film Festival!

So this afternoon/evening is the start of the Baltimore 48 Hour Film Festival. This is the second year I am participating in this awesome event, this year under the group name Towson Avengers! This year I am working with a fresh group of completely different people from last year, from the talent to the crew it is all new faces. I am excitedly nervous for the competition since I have assumed the role of Director of the piece. I have not been able to dedicate as much time as I have wanted but I know we can still make something awesome this year. I am looking forward to not only finishing a film, but getting it in and seeing all the other great works that come out of the competition.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Getting Back On Track

So today is my day to get everything back on track, slowly but surely. I am going to clean up my room, give my dog a bath, and later tonight possibly hang with my friend. I just want to start getting life straight to get back on track really. These past few days have been tough and now that the smoke is clearing I can see where I need to go in life.

That being said I will be crazy busy this weekend doing the 48 hour film festival which should prove to be pretty insane. So I mean today and tomorrow are going to be back on track days, but then this weekend is going to prove to just be insane again, so I don't know what I am going to do. Just endure as Alfred would say to Batman...it is in the trailer. Anyway, yeah that is how things are shaping up for me. Hope to have more less depressing stuff soon.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Finding Happiness

I think things are getting better and better right now for me. I am finally getting happier just because I know I only have another week of work left and I have a lot of things popping up that can be potential opportunities for me. Today I got the number of a guy who may be looking for an editor from a friend of a friend so I am going to call about that tomorrow. Plus I finally managed to sell my Redrock Micro adapter for a little bit of cash, I took a huge loss on it since I paid a lot more for it back in the day but it wasn't moving any time fast and I need the extra cash so it was worth it.

In other news it looks like I have a team for the 48 Hour Film Festival, I am just a boom operator but it will let me get more on set experience and you never know it could be another really good short film to have under my belt. At the very least things will get done and it is another credit to have on my resume. I hope to also start penning a potential feature length film script to do next summer, if I can get it done soon I can raise funds to make the film. We will see though this is very early in the stages. I have to make it through editing Voicebox still so that is my first priority.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Fortunate Day

So today has turned into quite the fortunate day for me. It is my first day back to school since spring break and I getting to ease into really easy for sure. Last night I got an email from my math teacher saying class was cancelled which was my 8am class so no waking up at 5:15 to get ready for me. I then realized I had a meeting at ten about my film but I managed to get that pushed back until Thursday. After all that I realized I had a midterm in my Film and Literature class but then got an email saying that was postponed until next week. So today has been an easy transition to get back into the swing of things for sure. I am having a pretty lucky day.

As far as plans for the film I am going to try to use Towson for my high school looking scene and then I am thinking of having a big yard sale on April 7th in order to save up more for my film. I mean I think I will have a good chunk of money from work and then taxes came back right in the nick of time but I could use that little bit more for things like food and drinks. I don't know for sure but I will see. If I do decide on that then I will post more details soon.

Also I think my DP and Sound guy get back from Europe today and I can't wait to talk to them to get everything straight for filming. I hope it all works out as far as their schedule because I can't do it without them. Finally the registration for the 48 hour film festival starts today this year and I am going to see if they want to have a group for it or not. I know I do for sure but that is just me.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Kane Mayfield - Hello!

Well here it is! My first ever music video! It is a great moment for myself because this is yet another part of film/video industry I was able to take on. I have been wanting to do something like this since I first started making videos and this was my time to do it. Let me know what you think.


Kane Mayfield - Hello! from Mania Music Group on Vimeo.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Finishing and Starting

So yesterday I finally buckled down and finished up the edit for my Baltimore Humane Society project in corporate video...ya know the one from last semester. Well I had it pushed back and back and back until I decided yesterday to take the whole day to get it done. It was worth it to finally get that big burden off my mind, it sucked knowing that whenever I had free time in the back of my head I would think I could be getting this project done. Well it is done! I am also almost done with Love is Undead I am hoping to somehow get it done before Friday but I don't think that will happen especially since I am going to be up all night tonight watching Start Wars in 3D with a friend of mine, so I won't be getting up early and I have work in the afternoon.

On a separate note I am officially starting the scriptwriting process for what is now titled Voicebox a film with what people have been telling me is a badass idea so I will see if I can turn a badass idea into a badass film or what will happen. I am hoping to have a DP and an Assistant Director out of two buddies of mine as well as a boom operator out of another friend of mine. If I can get those three and maybe a PA I would be set for this film. Also getting locations locked down will be kind of tricky since I really want a school setting, I will have to see. It is fun to get started on what is shaping up to be my biggest project yet but also scary at the same time.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Focus Time

Now that I am back from a pretty crazy/draining trip it is time to focus on the next project. This Thursday I am hoping to film to my Samurai short film if everything can go as planned. I still have to do storyboards and also meet with my DP before hand to go over all that I need to do. It looks like it is going to be a predominantly night shoot starting at either 4pm or 9pm depending on the way things work out. If my actor has to work it looks like 9pm but if now the 4 to 4:30 pm. It is a pretty easy shoot but I still think things will turn out pretty sweet, if all goes according to plan. I even have a title for the piece already The Silent Samurai which is used for a slot machine game but so far it does not seem to be taken.

Not only that but I have not forgotten Love is Undead which is still in the post production stage. I retrieved the files but it is still on my Hard Drive which my friend still has. Once I get it back I will start up editing and look to have it done before the late deadline for the Maryland Film Festival.

Speaking of computers I am dropping off my old computer and new parts to get my new system built tonight after work. My friend Dan is going to take everything out of the old and fill my first tower with all new hardware. When it is all said and done I will have an editing beast! If tonight is good for anything it will be a day when I get it all done.

Finished up my final final exam today, but still have to finish my Humane Society edit for school. Don't know how my grade for that class is going to look though.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Baltimore Humane Society - DogFest 2011 Pictures

I went to the BHS DogFest this year as part of a corporate video project I am doing with their company. I was only there for two hours on Saturday from about 9 to 11 am but still had a cool time and grabbed a bunch of awesome pictures. If you have a chance to go next year you should. There are cool stands with all kinds of information on helping dogs, dog food, toys, and even dog blood donations. If you own a dog and want to bring it, they have all kinds of fun things for them to do, like a dog obstacle course, swimming pool, etc. I had fun and it was awesome to see all the different animals. Here are a few that I liked the most and wanted to share with them.