Too Busy

So this weekend turned out to be pretty intense to say the least, I think in all four years of my college experience this week/weekend was my busiest in history. Friday I helped out a friend finish up his short film for a screening that night around 7pm, we got the film in during intermission. Then Saturday me and my friend worked on my film with color grading, picture lock, and adding effects in. Sunday I wrote my final paper for English class which ended up being 6.5 pages. Today I am going to foley and get all the sound effects and music score placed in my movie. Then tomorrow from the way things are sounding right now I am going to be on set for a feature film shooting here (preliminary information as far as right now). Then Wedenesday I could be doing a photoshoot for a friend of mine that I met while at Towson (or hanging with my girl...depends). Finally after all that I gotta start work on two separate music videos, a spec commercial, and a possible third music video.

Sorry to vent but that is how things are shaping up in my world right now. I hope life is easier for you guys out there and if not that isn't a bad thing you are busy, just means you are working hard. I hope to keep working hard and finally finish my film today. Wish me luck with everything!

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Racing Towards the Finish

As of right now I am working on my friends final student film project. It is freaking intense and crazy. They have only a few minutes to get the project done and then turn it in, after all that the screening of the film is tonight. I am going to it and can't wait to see the finished film since I have not seen much of anything from it. I am excited and hoping they can get it all done.

Besides that I have to finish up my own film project Voicebox and turn that in by next Tuesday and also turn in a final paper for my English class. After that I am all free and ready to go! I am so excited to graduate and get everything done!

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Four Things To Go

Well there are only four more tasks for me to tackle before I am all done with school, I shall list them below:

1.) Finish up my Experimental Film Class final project which is due today
2.) Take my Film and Literature final which is today at 3
3.) Write a 6-8 page paper which is due Tuesday for my Fiction since WWII class
4.) Finish up Voicebox which is due Tuesday for my Independent Film Study class

After all of these steps are taken I will be all done with college and moving on to either full time freelance (a good possibility) or getting my masters which I will more than likely start in about a year. It all depends on the cash flow situation as well as how much in financial support I can get for my masters degree program.

It has been a hectic week so sorry for not blogging more after next Tuesday things will be much better.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Last Day of Classes....Last Day of Work

Well today is the last day of classes here at Towson University. I have already gotten my first grade back which was in my Math class and I got an A- which was way way higher than I expected. I have two English classes then finals begin which is a scattered bag of times. On Thursday I have to do a final for Film and Literature which is the only true final I have...also I have to finish my Experimental final project by Thursday at the same time as well (the finals both overlap). After that I have a paper due for Fiction since WW2 and I have to turn in my final cut for Voicebox by Tuesday May 22nd which is the last day of finals. Then if things go well I graduate...

In other news last night was my last night at work which was less than climactic...it really just plain sucked. It was the usual affair of being stupidly stressful and almost everyone that said they would be there didn't come because things got switched around and those people that tried to act sincere in the past didn't even say anything to me, they just left. It was kind of sad and now things get real but I am excited to be moving forward with life. I have enough video work to fill a page and a half of paper so I will keep busy.


Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Media Arts Festival '12

Well I just got back from the 2012 Towson University Media Arts Festival with a pair of Second Place videos! Both Love is Undead and Hello! by Kane Mayfield got Second place in their respective categories (music video and shorts). Not only is this a nice step up from getting Third place last year with Spiritus it is also an accomplishment to submit two separate works and then have them both become finalists...then have them both place second. I feel strong about these videos and I am glad to see them get the recognition they deserve. I have to give an even bigger shout out to the two videos that beat me out this year I Tell 'Em Towson University in the music video category was a well put together video that they somehow got a ton of people to be in which is amazing (I know how hard that can be to pull off). Also to Do Not Duplicate in the shorts category was great too, a pretty sweet opening credit sequence and also some cool shots added in the mix as well.

Overall this year was much better than last and I hope to keep submitting as many years in the future as I can especially if some friends of mine end up going there next year...I can just have them submit works for me lol. Great night...lots of fun...can't wait for more festivals.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Updates!

Well I wanted to share with you the latest on what is going on here on my end of things. My latest short film Voicebox is coming together nicely, me and a friend of mine made the opening title sequence for it last night and it looks nice for the film. Also I tweaked more of the visual element of the film and it is tight like a tiger...now just the nightmare of sound work which I am hoping to do a lot of tonight since it will be a nice quiet environment to work in. Otherwise I am on track to have it all done by this coming Tuesday for school...then releasing it out to the masses.

In other news I have officially only two more days of work left before I am out for good and it feels nice! I am so glad to be done with that kiddie job cleaning pots and pans to move on to a more adult friendly environment. I am keeping my options open and I hope to find a job in the video field soon or maybe pen a script or something for money. Anything to avoid getting another day job is fine by me.

Tomorrow is the Media Arts Festival at Towson University and I hope that Love is Undead and Hello! can place high...I am not getting my hopes up that they will win but lets just see how things go. Whatever place they get I am glad that they were both selected as finalists because what that means to me is that I have a good talent for this. Obviously I am strong enough in the craft of making a music video and a short film to be considered as a finalist and trust me doing one or the other is very hard...I know this sounds cocky and I don't mean for it to, I just am blessed to have two works in two separate categories as finalists. If they win awesome if they don't I still have something to put on the resume.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Back to Voicebox

After a few days of being swamped with applying places as well as going out for interviews things have slowed down again and now I am getting back to finishing up with Voicebox. I started fixing some of the edits yesterday and have been working on things to make the film visually more polished. I am also getting score done for the film right now and tomorrow I am going to try to do the foley work for the film. As I was sitting with a friend of mine yesterday I was commenting on how my professor said every scene has an emotional arc and he said...yeah every scene should or it is not needed. After I thought about that I was very happy with myself because I had accomplished a short where every scene is completely needed in that it had purpose. Other shorts I have done where I watch them and realize that some scenes are just filler or not needed but with this one it is not like that. I was proud of the film before but I am even more proud now.

In other news I have a funny feeling that Love is Undead and Kane Mayfield - Hello! will not place first at the Towson Media Arts Festival. Call it a hunch but I think the language and violent content will scare everyone off from picking it just because if it were to get first it would get screened and that means a film with language and violence will be shown. If that happens then anyone who brings their family will be offended and thus will lower the odds of high attendance for next year and I don't think the program wants to alienate any age group. I am also thinking this because in years past they just go for the film that is fun in a stupid way because that is just what they go for...especially in the shorts category and Music Video I just think Hello! is just too adult for them. So we will see but I have a bad gut feeling for this...don't get me wrong I am honored to just be a finalist.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Hey

I got into the finals of the Towson University Media Arts Festival for both my short film Love is Undead and my music video Kane Mayfield - Hello! so if I make it to the next round I will place in the top 3 of these two categories. If I am really lucky then I will make it into the top three for best of fest for one of these videos. We will have to see but either way I am really happy! In other news I got through another week of editing Voicebox and I am a good chunk of the way through doing foley work for the audio end of things. From here I have to add a musical score and then from there it is titles and then color correction...then I am all done, I can't wait to show everyone.

I saw The Cabin in the Woods today and it is great and weird and funny so go out to see it for sure! Also yesterday I saw Drive which is incredible so if you get a chance please watch that too!!!!! It is amazing!

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

I am Gone!

Well last night I made the brash decision to finally put in my two weeks at work. I was hating going back and dealing with that craphole place as it was, but I was willing to make a compromise and just work three days a week or whatever. However last night I get pulled into the office to get bitched at for having too many call outs, mind you this is the first time I have ever been pulled into the office at all for such a thing in 5 years I have been working there. So they are talking to me about that and then they start to bring up the 20 days I had off for making my movie (yes they kept count of the exact number of days) which I had people either cover for me or I just plain had off for so there is no reason to be bitched at for it. But alas they still decided to get on my case about it. They were acting like my career was at this dead end job and I should take it so seriously so after that I was really pissed, but ok whatever...then my supervisor informed me that they were actually trying to get me in some kind of trouble for it, yes get me in trouble for taking too many days off? What kind of bullshit is that, all I did was take off time to make a movie which is my career, the thing I love to do. So I was like screw it, so I got a blank piece of paper filled out my two weeks and handed it to my supervisor at the end of the night.

I know as of right now I have no other job lined up but I am hoping to kick back on some freelance work for a while and start looking for a full time day job somewhere. I don't know really what will happen at this point. All I know it is time to restart my life and start fresh somewhere. Film makes me so happy I just wish I could do it all the time somewhere...but the problem is finding that place.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

More Information

So I feel like I have been talking your ears off about production and post production of Voicebox but I have not really given you any information on what this film is even about. Well the short of the film is this is a coming of age/love story between a high school couple. This isn't a typical boy + girl couple it is a story of two young women who find love and also they are in a world where no one can talk. I don't want to give away the whole movie but it is a strong drama that involves the interactions and lives these two girls have.

Originally the film was designed to be a story of a boy and a girl stuck in this world without voices but after my casted male actor dropped out I looked to my backup which was my girlfriend Ashley. After letting everyone know the changes and whether they were comfortable or not we moved on with the film. However, after the first day of filming my other female lead dropped out and so we were fortunate enough to cast another actress (Ashley Golden) and keep the film alive. After the obstacles and changes I think what has come out actually is stronger than my original envisionment. Sometimes even the worst problems sprout the best changes and the case of this film that is 100% true.

I hope this helps you to understand the film and to be even more excited to check it out when it is all done.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Rough Cut 1

Well I got through an initial rough cut of Voicebox and showed it to my professor yesterday and he really liked it. He felt like the pacing was on spot and it looked very professional which is what I have been striving for with this film. I did not get a whole rough cut just the first 9 minutes of the film but so far it is coming together nicely.

Today I cleaned up some of the rough spots in the initial edit and also changed a few things around to make it make more sense. In addition I almost got to be a DP today on a set but apparently the client backed out last minute so I wasn't able to go (it would have been paid too). Anyway, I talked a guy about the possibility of doing some commercial work which would be paid and I hope that can work out. Also, I am going to try to go up to the flea market tomorrow to start selling all my junk, I am hoping to clean up house to have room for my growing film supplies. I am also working with my cousin to try to get some inexpensive shirts made so I can start handing them out/selling them to people.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Editing Has Begun

Well now that everything is all done on Voicebox the process of editing the film together is underway. Last night I officially started the editing and things are coming together rather nicely. The film I would say is about halfway done and it is a little over 7 minutes long so far, which is great. I hope the final product will be around 15 minutes but that is a lot to shoot for. If it ends up over 10 minutes I will be happy though. The shots all look amazing and that is before color grading so I am very happy, it is usually the other way around at this point which is a nice change of pace. The biggest obstacle with this film is going to be sound, I can already say it is going to a be a beast just because I need to foley the majority of it, then mix the sound in evenly. I am not saying I am lazy but I tend to start taking liberties with sound when it becomes too difficult, just saying. However things are right on track.

In other news I submitted Kane Mayfield - Hello! and Love is Undead to the Towson Media Arts Festival this year and hopefully I will be able to place with one of these videos. I wish I could submit Voicebox but the limit is 10 minutes for submission and also it will not be done in time to submit by noon tomorrow it is safe to say. It is ok though I have plans for this short that reach beyond the University so that is where my aim is. Wish me luck though in the festival this year, it always gets me so nervous.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Voicebox Final Day Photos

These are the behind the scenes photos from Voicebox filming day 3 (final day of filming). It was a great shoot that had some ups and downs but I think for what it is worth it could not have gone any better. Thanks again to Scott Loraditch for taking these great photos. Enjoy!

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess