Summer Production

So today I woke up (late in the morning of course) and couldn't help but think back on the past productions I have tackled over the summer months...wonderful times. Way back when in 2010 I was working on my True Docs series of shot documentaries facing subjects from the importance of dog care to family to heroin addiction, it was an interesting time for sure and without knowing it I captured two of the most important documentaries of all. The first one being on the subject of Family, which my grandmother did for me, only a few months later she would pass away suddenly which was heartbreaking but the interview she gave became very important. The next one I did was on the subject of Heroin Addiction and my cousin gave the most honest interview I think I have ever seen and even to this day people are still watching that video and finding some hope/truth in it. It is up to over 15,000 views on youtube.

The other production I did was Gas Guzzlers in 2010 which was a huge project which took what seemed like forever to make. Facing days where it was almost 100 degrees out myself, Jordan, Joe, Ashley, and Chad all went out to either North Point State Park or Fort Howard to film. We would mainly film from 10 or 11am to 3 or 4pm since at the time everyone except Ash and Chad worked at the same place. It was a cool shoot and taught me even more about making a found footage style film, I even got to screen it at Towson University that same December.

In 2011 that was a much slower season but one which was filled with praise I guess is the word. I am cheating a bit and counting May in this season since that is when I participated in the 72 hour film festival and what we got out of that was Spiritus. This film was the first project that I was a part of that won best in show, it was amazing. Then later on in June was the 48 hour which we got Nina out of, it didn't win anything but was a finalist at the screening. It was promising season in 2011 but a series of fallouts with friends ruined that...however what was to follow helped to shape me into the semi professional that I consider myself now.

This summer is proving not to be a summer for my productions or making a new film, but a summer of building connections and relationships. I am excited to see where this season takes me and I am sure the place I will end up is going to be better than I could have ever imagined.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Random movie fact of the day: 
In the movie Silent Hill the strange stumbling movements of the Dark Nurses when they first "come alive" was created by filming them walking backwards, and then running the film in reverse.

Martha Marcy May Marlene Review

Martha Marcy May Marlene is an intriguing look at the life of a woman who has just escaped a pretty bizarre and dangerous commune of people. The very start of the film she decides to leave and from there we see her interactions with her sister and fiancee. The story is consistently switching back between Martha's life on the commune and life as it is now. This style of film making can get very confusing but the audience is very politely eased in to the past as well as the present from visual or audio cues and occasionally a slow fade out. It is a simple story and a very simple way of making a film but yet it is very effective and the 70s style tint over the film is a pretty cool touch. The acting is great, the story is shocking yet very believable, and the interactions between characters add to the alarm of the film. The ending many people feel leave you wanting more but to me it ends at a great point where you could decide to debate as to what would happen or accept the fact that this is where the film ends.

As great as the story and film itself are again I am going to harp on the sound design which is very lacking. At points during the film I would have to turn the volume up insanely high then instants later turn it back down because everything would get ear piercingly loud. Many of the shots are long takes but it seems like they didn't even boom because the things closer to the camera are really loud and the things further away are very quiet which hints at the fact that they may have used an on camera microphone. I pray this is not the case but the way everything sounds certainly suggests that. Other than that though everything else is a solid package. I say it is worth a watch if you can deal with a slow paced dramatic film. Otherwise it is not really for you.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Landyn Photoshoot

So without further ado these are the photos I took of my little cousin Landyn back in August.

Happy New Year

So another year has gone by and for this first day in January 2012 I have decided to reflect back on all that I managed to accomplish this most wonderful of years 2011.

Well at the beginning of this year was right after I had my premiere for Gas Guzzlers at Towson University. At this point I was putting up my 15 minute clips from the film up on youtube. After that I was trying to think of something new to do video wise and while I was able to come up with something pretty awesome it was beyond my level of budget big time so I have to sit on it for a while. I then started putting up newly edited versions of my True Docs series including the Heroin Addiction, Fishing, and Graduation story videos. Almost all of these videos got ads put on them which was yet again an achievement of this past year.

Not too much longer from here was when we finally worked on Spiritus which to this day is still a crowning achievement for all the videos I have worked on (at least from the ones I have seen). This film was done in only 72 Hours for the Towson 72 Hour Film Festival. It was a pain and it isn't perfect but for the time we had I am very proud of it. We won both Audience Choice and Best Film of the Fest (my first ever award winning film!). It was definetely the highlight of my year so far.

Next up was the 48 Hour Film Festival which we mad Nina as a result of. This film is my biggest reminder of what not to do when making a short film. Make the beginning terrible...which is exactly the biggest draw back of this film. The beginning is unnecessary it doesn't really do anything except make the film slow and campy (not in a good way). At the time we all accepted it because we couldn't come up with anything better to do for the film so we went with it. On set the footage seemed funny but after editing it not so much anymore. In the end the meat and end were both excellent but that terrible intro killed us. However again I am proud of it for what it is.

After this is when big changes came for this year. Me and my close friend Hector stopped being friends since I "changed," apparently. Team Open Aperture was forever lost even after all the vein attempts to get it back together. So for the first time I was an island...lost at sea not knowing where to go and then I caught a break. An ad on craigslist looking for a videographer to do football games. I was hesitant at first and wasn't sure then they offered $250 a game and steady work for a whole season. I was ready to go! In only 3 months I made $3,950 plus what the $10.25 I was making an hour at work. I was in heaven, even though the payment got all messed up a few times I still got the money and it helped out a lot this year. I may have been alone but I was making money for the first time like ever.

The next step was working with people outside of my close friends and that opportunity came thanks to the 48 Hour and becoming friends with the winner Everett Glovier who I saw needed to crew for a film he was working on The Cat which I did so completely free. It was worth it though I learned so much from those guys and being on set was so much fun. It couldn't have gone any better and for the first time since the summer I felt like I wasn't on an island anymore and that I had video buddies again. I still feel that way and hope to work with Everett and Zach more in this coming year. Time will tell.

This year I may be able to be a crew member on my first feature length film if all goes well with the interview and in addition I may be pitching a full length film to a studio for the first time. We will see and if this year is better than last year well then it doesn't get much better than that.

Best wishes to all in the New Year,
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.