Today's Forecast

It has been a beautiful couple of days here in Edgemere, Md, the high is 63 degrees and for December 5th that is pretty amazing. I got up extra early today, in part due to a possible meeting with a model which I may push back due to a few things coming up the next few days...but also just to get an early start to the day. Lately I have been sleeping in a lot, due to the lack of motivation (not really depressed but it has been a rough patch for me) to really get moving in the morning. Today I wanted to change all that and come 7am I was up and moving around. So today looks like it is going to be a much better day.

So yesterday was back on the photo edit work load, which I had stepped away from just because I have been editing so many photos lately I got a little tired of it. However I got back on the horse and finished edits for a long standing client I have on hold since September (it was a free gig so it kind of got put on a backburner due to the number of paid photo gigs that came after). I also started edits for a client I did a studio shoot for on Saturday...I also have to get to the headshots I did for Ashley and the birthday party I did last Saturday night. So in short a lot of photo editing.

Random Movie Fact: In the 2002 film Big Fat Liar, the blue dye was tattoo ink that was sprayed in several layers on his body occasionally throughout the day to keep it topped up. According to Paul Giamatti (Marty Wolf), it was fairly easy to apply, but was a bit more difficult to get off, particularly his feet, for some reason. They stayed blue for several months.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Happy Thanksgiving!

So today I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! I hope everyone has a great day with their family, friends, and loved ones. Enjoy the time you have together and eat lots of food.

Random Movie Fact: In the 1977 film Jabberwocky, originally erroneously promoted and released in some countries as "Monty Python's Jabberwocky" against the wishes of Terry Gilliam. Threats of legal action resulted in the Python reference being removed from the title on all subsequent reissues.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Defender's Day

So yesterday I took a bunch of pictures of Defender's Day at Fort Howard State Park. It was my first year going and it was a cool experience. I hope next year I can stay until the actual battle but this year was still a lot of fun. Posted below are the pictures from the event for you consideration, let me know what you think.

Random Movie Fact: In the 2005 film The Squid and the Whale, Noah Baumbach originally wanted Wes Anderson to direct but Anderson convinced Baumbach to direct it himself, due to the film being very personal to Baumbach.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Photo Day!

So today was officially photo day to say the least. In the morning I went to Defender's Day at Fort Howard Park which is an annual reenactment of the Battle of North Point during the war of 1812. I went up to take cool photos and see the sights. It was a lot of fun and the costumes were amazing, the actors really made everything look authentic...if it was just them there I would have thought I just went into a time machine. It was a fun time for sure, kinda stinks I couldn't stay to see the whole battle reenactment but I had to go off to another photoshoot. The second shoot today was originally supposed to be headshots for an actor but they ended up cancelling due to an emergency. So I was left with a studio I reserved but no photos so I frantically hit up everyone on my phone to take photos. Finally two old friends who are dating now took me up on my free photo offer so I managed to get them to swing by and take photos of just him, and them together as a couple. It was a win win win for everyone, they got free photos, I got to use a studio setting for the first time, and also got to take portrait/couple photos for the first time so I got a lot of experience out of it. Today was a good day with lots to do, tiring but rewarding.

Random Movie Fact: In the 1992 film Dead Alive or Braindead, 300 liters of fake blood was used in the final scene of the film.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Free Photography Weekend!

This weekend To Tony Productions is happy to announce we are giving away two free photography sessions! This is a first come first serve basis so hurry quick and email us at totonyproductions@gmail.com to set up a session time. Not to worry though because even after we book our two free sessions we are going to be offering a half price discount on all sessions booked this weekend. So if you are in need of portraits, headshots, action photos, car photography, etc...then email us asap to set up a time! Have a great rest of the week and hopefully we can do some amazing photos for you!

Random Movie Fact: In the 1971 film 10 Rillington Place; filmed in the real Rillington Place, which had changed its name to Ruston Close after the notorious killings. Filming took place both in no. 10 Rillington Place itself as well as no.6. The street was demolished at the end of 1970 and the area was later redeveloped, with completion in 1977, as Bartle Road and St Andrew's Square.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Voicebox Complete!

So after a long summer of finalizing and working on Voicebox it is finally all done! I couldn't be happier and I am so glad to have it all finished, it is an awesome feeling. Yesterday I spent all day fixing up last minute things and getting a press kit organized for the Elgin Short Film Festival and managed to get it postmarked on the last day of submissions, which is amazing since I have been wanting to submit work to that festival for about two years now. In addition I woke up early today to run out and ship the film over to the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. I had to get rush shipping because I failed to realize that the 27th of September is their received by date not the postmarked date, which means that early today was the last chance I had to send it out. So for now I have Voicebox sent out to two festivals so we will see what happens. I will be putting the film online soon but not until after everyone in my crew has had a chance to watch it and send any final critique (sometimes I feel like I am just not ready to call it a final cut lol).

Random Movie Fact: In the 1993 film Groundhog Day, early drafts of the script explained the cause of Phil Connors' weird experience: a disaffected ex-lover called Stephanie cast a spell on him to teach him a lesson.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Prosumer Camera Help

So yesterday night I got a call from a guy looking for me to film some lacrosse games over the next few days. I immediately called him back and everything was going great until I mentioned my only camcorder was a Canon Vixia HG20 which is a typical consumer camera. After I told him this he told me he would keep me on the short list of candidates, which I can not blame him, he wanted someone with a prosumer grade camera.

However this is why I take to the blog, as of right now I have no prosumer camera to my name (I sold my Sony HXR NX5U to trade up to a Canon 5D Mark III.) So I am looking for anyone out there to let me rent their camera. If anyone has a prosumer camera whether it takes HDV tapes or P2 cards or the Sony Cards let me know. You can email me at totonyproductions@gmail.com and please include rates for hourly rental as well as daily rental. I am just trying to find a good new connection to get access to a prosumer camera. Thanks so much in advance!

Random Movie Fact: In the 2010 film Monsters, the film was shot entirely on location: any settings featured in the film were real locations often used without permission, asked in advance, and all the films extras were just people who happened to be there at the time.

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

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

Rough

It has been a rough past few days, I was supposed to go on set today again for the film I am interning on but it is my grandfather's funeral today so I am not going to miss that. I haven't been blogging much either which I apologize for. I should be back into my old routine of things again soon and I apologize for not being around much.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Another Day of Filming

Today is the second day of filming for Voicebox and again I couldn't be more nervous for everything to go down. I just can't wait to get the ball rolling and make it through this tough day. After this just one more day and we should be all done. Wish me luck on today everyone.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Filming Day One

Well we got through with everything we needed to get done yesterday and under perfect timing which makes me a hugely happy camper! This was the first time we were able to get BTS stuff done and it was super cool. A friend of mine Scott Loraditch snapped some great photos from filming tomorrow and I have to give everyone a shout out for making yesterday so great!

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess