Music Video Shoot Tomorrow

So tomorrow is my first official shoot since the 48 hour film festival and it is a new rap music video for Kane Mayfield! I am excited to be working with him again and I am aiming to create something more cinematic than the last music video. So tomorrow starting around 1pm that is going to be the rest of my day!

Last night I went scouting on another upcoming music video with my DP Chris Hill, it was cool we got to check out a lot of the local bars around my way. After a couple of misses on bars we found the perfect one and we are in talks to lock it down for the video. I am excited for this one since it is a video for a genre I never thought I would get into, but it will be worth it for sure. So more to come on that, we are looking to actually film sometime between July 18th-20th.

Random Movie Fact: In the 1994 animated film The Lion King, one of the bugs that Timon pulls out of a knothole during Hakuna Matata is wearing Mickey Mouse ears.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Demo Reel!

Here is the official To Tony Productions demo reel for this year! It is all the best from TTP since starting back in 2009. Enjoy the reel and leave any feedback you can.



Demo Reel - To Tony Productions from Daniel Hess on Vimeo.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

June is Over

So every now and again I like to reflect back on a month and see what all I managed to accomplish over the course of it. This month was a time for moving forward with my life. June was when I finally officially graduated from Towson University and got my Bachelor's Degree from the Electronic Media and Film department. June I would say was also a rocky month, it was a time for a lot of talking and not a lot of results coming out of it. I mean I guess I could be that blunt about it but all this talking was necessary for building a foundation for professional relationships. June was when I made my second attempt at the 48 Hour Film Festival, to lackluster results. However for all the slow time that passed in this month it is vital to lead into July because now I am looking to the future and I see what is going to be the most busy month for video production I have ever had to deal with, and that is amazing! No matter what happens I know I will be learning and growing for the better.

Random Movie Fact: In the 1956 Science Fiction film Invasion of the Body Snatchers, the film originally ended with Miles J. Binnell on the highway shouting to the people driving by, "You're next, you're next!" However, the studio wanted a happier ending that would assure the audience that the hero's efforts were not in vain, so scenes were added to the opening to show Miles in a hospital recounting his story to two other doctors and to the end when the other doctors find out about the pods and one of them contacts the FBI.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

I Need to Shoot Something

Like a video shoot, it feels like forever since my last video shoot, even though it kinda was this month, but that was the bust of the 48 (which I am not here to discuss). Anyway yeah I feel like all I do these days is talk about negotiating with clients and talking over budgets which sucks, because that is all I have been doing. Lately all I do is talk things over with what I call "potentials," they email me, we talk and usually price is the main issue. I mean I don't want to turn clients down, it sucks, but making money is a big thing and not being able to make any sucks. I know there are a lot of talented people that deserve video work, but everyone is on a level playing field to me and fees for work are fees for work. Maybe I am just out of touch but I have to stick by my rates. We will see though, hopefully soon I can get back to shooting more stuff.

Random Movie Fact: In the original Godzilla film circa 1954, the sound department tried numerous animal roars for Godzilla but felt they were unsuitable for an animal of such immense size. Akira Ifukube came up with Godzilla's roars by rubbing a coarse, resin-coated leather glove up and down the strings of a contrabass (double bass), and reverberated the recorded sound. Also, Godzilla's thunderous footsteps were made by beating a kettle drum with a knotted rope.

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