Moving Visuals

I am really excited these days, I see a lot of opportunity for video work coming up for To Tony Productions which is pretty awesome. It was fun to focus a lot on photography for a while and really helped me to expand my thoughts for unique video shots but it is time to get back in the drivers seat for some video projects. I see potential for two music videos, a promo video, and possibly even a video that will play out more like a commercial. I don't know a lot is on my mind so I hope that I can accomplish all I want to and not have anything fall to the wayside. Next month and this month for that matter I see good things, lets work together and make it all come true.

Random Movie Fact: In the 2004 film Taxi, almost all shots in which you see the taxi or other cars in the street, or car stunts performed in the streets, were really filmed in Los Angeles, not New York.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

So...Hey!

Long time no post from me, sorry on that. I have been drained trying to get myself caught up on all kinds of different projects. Currently I have been working a production company based in Towson, Md on Tuesdays and Thursdays so I am still getting used to that. Also I am getting the music video finished up for Wesley Spangler entitled Three Beers Later, I am all done the color correction and editing...as far as right now I am just waiting for final approval from him. Also I have another client who I did a big photo session for like two weeks ago and I am still waiting on the photos to edit from him. Also I did a shot with a local budding model last Sunday which I will start editing after I get a list of favorites from her. I have been fully immersed in all things video which is great in some ways and also not so great in others, but at the end of the day I am happy to be working.

Random Movie Fact: In the 2005 film Domino, thanks to Gusmano Cesaretti, Michael Mann's regular collaborator, Tony Scott managed to get on screen real-life gang bangers from 18th Street Gang in East Los Angeles.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Today's News

So now that I have sent Voicebox out to two festivals the anticipation builds to see what happens next. I hope that I get in but I won't know for a little bit I just hope good things happen.

Anyway today it has been confirmed that I will be getting back into filming high school football games again! My first gig is going to be September 8th at Navy Stadium, filming the Patriot Classic. I am excited since last years event was a lot of fun, and this year only one game is going to be live which takes a lot of pressure off of me, the rest of the games are just for highlights. I am glad to be doing football again and am excited to be getting more paid gigs.

I may have another group of gigs coming up but nothing has been confirmed yet, supposedly I will know by the end of the day so fingers crossed for everything to work out for it. Besides that it seems I will be filming a music video on the 9th of September and I am in the process of finishing up the Three Beers Later music video.

Random Movie Fact: In the 2001 film The Others, the disease the children have is an actual disease known as xeroderma pigmentosum. It is very rare with roughly a thousand people in the world that have it.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

This Week is Gonna Be BUSY!

This week coming up looks like it is going to be pretty busy! Tomorrow I have to head down to Virginia to fill out some paperwork for that company that is going to contract me out to do some gigs for them. That is in the morning then in the afternoon around 2pm I am going to be setting up for the final part of Wesley Spangler's video Three Beers Later and we are going to be doing that until we finish up which will probably be at the latest 8pm. On Tuesday I am going to be at [kp] mag recording studio doing some foley work for a project I got hired on to do post production for. After that around 6pm I am doing a volunteer photo gig for a city housing project which looks to be pretty cool it is just a little community get together. Then on Wednesday I have an eye doctor appointment lol, so that day and Thursday things look like they are going to settle down. Finally this weekend if all things work out I will be doing my first gig down in Virginia for a county fair just taking pictures to promote a city driving initiative in Arlington. So that will be the 10th-12th in the afternoon. Wish me luck on all of this I hope it all pans out and everything goes through.

Random Movie Fact: In the 1989 film Do the Right Thing, all of the scenes of the "Corner Men" Robin Harris, Paul Benjamin, and Frankie Faison were improvised.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Productive Day Ahead!

So today I have a business meeting in the morning to finalize the date for an upcoming music video for a local musician. This will be the first big paid video I have ever done and I as of right now things are moving together nicely with it. We have a location, people for crew, people for cast, and also a good mindset of which shots to use. But yeah it should be a short meeting, but to the point I am excited to have a firm date finally.

In addition to that I have a photoshoot today with Mary, the model from the Jill Valentine photoshoot. She has more costumes and locations to use so I am super excited. She is really cool and chill to work with, and we have a lot more shoots coming up in the future besides this one, which I can't wait for to be honest.

Random Movie Fact: In the 1994 movie, Chungking Express, since Chungking Express was filmed in sequence or "like a road movie" as Wong Kar-Wai has said, Wong wrote each scene either the night before or on the morning on the day of filming.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

July is Going to be Crazy

So this just in, July is going to be crazy for sure. With a ton of gigs getting booked, I don't know if we are going to be able to keep up. I think so far there are going to be at least 3 music video productions this month as well as my freelance work at my part time job, a video promo, and possibly more music video work. I am excited and can't wait to work my butt off to make all these videos come to life. It is going to be an awesome month and something I have been working hard to see come true.

Random Movie Fact: In the 1997 film Seven Years in Tibet, In the scene where Heinrich confronts Ngawang, the director did not tell BD Wong the script called for Brad Pitt to throw him into the dirt; Wong's reaction is completely authentic.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Hello!

So last night I did the photoshoot for my friend Mary and it went great! It was fun and interesting checking out new locations she had picked out for it, and they were really sweet places. A lot of times it is hard to trust the client when it comes to location scouting/picking but she hit it right on the nose last night. It was also the first time using strobes with my still work after a friend of mine convinced me to do it and boy did it make a world of difference. The pictures turned out awesome! Like I shocked myself with how well they turned out as far as quality...Mary was really great to work with and naturally knew how to pose which was great to see, she definetely has the right mindset for photography. I hope to be able to do more and can't wait to continue to work with strobes.

As far as today I am meeting with local country musician at Starbucks at about 11am in Towson. We are going to discuss the possibility of a music video and some of the details about it. Right now we are in ultra pre production since we are essentially working out a deal at the moment. After this step as long as nothing crazy happens I expect to move into pre production and to get the ball rolling on this video. Other than that however I am going to be chilling with a friend of mine today and apparently Hector is supposed to be getting back home today from Cali, but we will see how true that holds up.

Random Movie Fact: In the Japanese film Audition, the dog bowl of vomit fed to Asami's (Eihi Shiina) prisoner is in fact the actual vomit of actress Eihi. Takashi Miike claims that Eihi is a method actress and insisted on doing this.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Busy Season Starting

Well it seems as though the summer is starting to pick up over here at TTP. In the past two days I have been contacted by two different artists looking for music videos which is really exciting, especially considering that I have two other artists looking to make videos from a few weeks back. I think I am going to hold off on the two artists from weeks back though just because the price point for the videos just isn't right. I mean at this point I am trying to work with a crew of people who are all looking to get paid, including myself and sometimes I get low balled a little bit in the dollars range. I know when I talked to these artists I had a part time job but things change, so I am going to try to renegotiate with them to see what I can do.

Other than that I have to go in today to my part time production gig and I think pick up my check from the weekend shoot, and possibly do an editing test which hopefully does not make me look like an idiot. The system they use for editing is a Mac one which is like my worst enemy, I can use them I just chose to stay away, but hey you never know maybe all the rust will come off quickly. If it doesn't though I hope he doesn't get rid of me because I don't do great. Maybe I am just over thinking it but hey whatever.

Other than that it is a day to push the production company and maybe play some video games later in the day after heading up to the post house. We will see.

Random Movie Fact of the Day:
In the classic Forrest Gump with every transition of Forrest's age, one thing remains the same- in the first scene of each transition he wears a blue plaid shirt.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

November is Over

November what a truly strange and different month you were. It was a month for me to be on a film set which was a blast, I got to boom and help out with gear...it was fun. You were my transition from doing so much sports videography to getting back into the realm of making films. I finally finished up Love is Undead and was editing like a champ until my computer died (it is ok computer, you are in a better place and your upgrade will be truly incredible). I had my first interview for a film related job which was an amazing experience to gain (I may not have gotten the job but it is ok). As you have gone away the 1st of December is another interview for an internship, which I am praying I get. But thanks November for being there, to teach me so much more than I have learned in a long time. Thank you Everett Glovier for letting me on your set and teaching me so much, and continuing to help me despite the fact that at first I probably sounded like a dick. 

On that note yesterday my meeting with a local country artist went really well. It sounds like I got the job for doing album/promo photography and I am super excited. It will be a chance to get some more credit out there and a chance to work with more people subjects, which I don't get to do very often. I have a few ideas in mind and I can't wait to try them out.

Waiting to get my computer memory taken out so then I a friend of mine can build me a new awesome PC. Hopefully everything goes according to plan.

Thanks for the support,

Daniel Hess

Meeting Today

Today I am meeting with a local country musician who I went to middle school with about doing some photography for him. He is mainly after a good album cover and a bunch of promotional pictures leading up to his album. I use to hang out around school with him all the time in middle school but have not really seen him since, so it will be cool to catch up after such a long period of time.

Tomorrow at 2:30pm I have an interview with a local production company in Towson which is the internship I am really after. I hope after the interview I get offered the spot so I don't even have to go to my interview on Friday, which I really just don't want to do since I could find nothing but bad things about them online. I shouldn't have rescheduled in the first place, guess I just didn't want to be mean.

Still waiting to get my computer checked up on and hopefully will be able to get all my files off of it. Thankfully a friend at work is willing to build me a new system as long as I get all the parts and bring them to him. I have been working with him since I got there so I trust him a lot. Once that is settled I will be able to edit again!!!! Wish me a lot of luck with that one.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess