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

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

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

Video Portion Done

So the video portion of Voicebox is all done and it is almost exactly 14 minutes long before credits. I finally finished the first rough cut up and it looks pretty sweet and the prom scene which I thought may have been a total disaster didn't look half bad once it was all cut up. I think it has an emotional impact and it has a very compelling story that is simple yet complicated with each of the main characters lives being filled with large issues. To me it feels like a feature but plays as a short film which I think is what every short film strives for. It certainly doesn't look like a student film at all, it looks like a professional production! So I am excited I hope everyone else is excited, I can't wait to show it off to the world. I want to have a big screening for it!

Other news today, after going back to work yesterday for the first time in a while I think I came to a nice consensus with myself. I have decided to go with the route of only working three days a week at work (Mon., Tues., Weds.) and then having the rest of the week off to focus on film work and also booking other gigs. In the end I won't be working as much, but can still get something in the form of a steady paycheck and then at the same time commit enough energy to my film work. I am also selling all my video game stuff which I sold my Dreamcast + games today for $50 so I am happy.

Oh finally I wanted to say that I officially can not stand the way my immediate family (father and mother) view this film stuff. I was going into work yesterday and you would have thought that I was going off to my new job as a lawyer or something. My mom was so happy telling me to have fun and crap but when I tell her I am doing a film or even show her footage from this awesome project she shows no emotion and doesn't even seem to care. I mean I work a dead end job cleaning pots right now she shouldn't be cheering for me to even go to this craphole but yet she is.

Sorry I got off on a rant today but trust me I am in a great mood today!

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

Updates For the Masses

So today I was going to try and upload the second actors headshots from two saturdays ago but I saw that I am almost filled up on my storage space on here. I didn't even know that was an issue but apparently you only get a gig and I am 98% there so if I want 20gb I gotta pay 5 bucks for a year which I assume is a pretty fair deal; I am just not all uppity about paying for storage. I mean I probably will so it is whatever. This is my website so I need to have the storage space to back it up.

 In other news the premiere of Hello went great yesterday! It almost broke 1,000 plays in a single day, I think when  it was all said and done it was like 980 or something like that. That breaks all former records held by any of my video premieres, the most for a single day for me before I think was like 500 views in a day.  I got an outpouring of support which I didn't expect at all but so many people that I knew reposted the link and it got out there for people to see. Plus the artist Kane Mayfield himself knows so many people that they all checked it out as well. It was a great day to say the least. I am so happy with the video and I am so glad to have all this love and support from everyone.

Can't wait to put even more content out there for everyone...oh Love is Undead is 99% done, all I need to do is add the zombie sounds and clean up the bullet sounds and I am done! Can't wait to put it out there for everyone to see.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Working Overtime

Yesterday the photoshoot sessions went really well. The overcast skies made for an amazing look and it provided nice even lighting. The first session was a little rough since my client ended up at Eastpoint Mall somehow instead of Fort Howard. However we met up with him and he followed us over. The shoot went until 1:45 and my next client was pulling up as he was leaving. The second session I was a little tired to be honest and it started up a little rocky but I feel like I got very solid pictures. I think in the future I want to start having more control, maybe even having an indoor set up here in my room or something like that. This is when having a whole house would be nice so that way I could set up a studio in a whole room, which would be set aside. Then life would be a lot easier. For now though I think it is good to keep doing outside photography. I just have to find a very neutral background which I will have to do a little searching for.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Working Double

So for a while there I had a strong aversion to doing anything related to freelance work...I just wanted a break for a while because of the minimester and work. Now that I have had my week vacation I have gotten my mojo back so to speak and I am ready to work my butt off! This Saturday I am trying to set up 2 more photo sessions in addition to what should be 2 already, official booking my whole day. If all goes according to plan I would be doing engagement photos as well as 3 headshot sessions for local actors. We will see though, that is more of a best case scenario.

Not only that but getting off my butt and editing the video for Hello by Kane Mayfield really helped me to get a project done and feel good about it. All of my past independent projects have either turned into nightmares or just not happen at all and to finally finish one felt good; it made me feel something I haven't felt in a long time with filmmaking and reinspired me in a strange way. Hopefully before the 10th of February I can get Love is Undead finished up but I don't know considering that I have to still do a lot and the special fx required in this film are my biggest obstacle since I have yet to perfect the art of the blood splatter. I will do my best though.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Finishing Touches

So today I was adding some last minute touches on the music video and actually just a few minutes ago I sent out what I think should be the final cut of the video to the guys at the studio. At the request of the owner I added a few things that I was hesitant to at first but thanks to his encouragement I did which was the last little punch it needed to take it from average to awesome. I was glad to have made the final adjustments and can't wait to show it off, all anyone has been saying about the video is that they like it so I am very happy.

Also today I showed my cousin and aunt the final edits of the pictures I took of my little cousin back in August. It was a lot of work to get through so many pictures but they were happy with the end result and I was too which was great. After my cousins approval I am going to be uploading the final edit of those pictures tomorrow in my post so that everyone can see. I hope everyone likes what I have done and that it will help me to get future work with pictures. We will see.

My final piece of information is that I am talking with an actor concerning headshots and if all goes well I will have a paid gig and even more photography experience.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Changing Things Up

So today I am going to be changing my entire room layout, which is something I have been wanting to do for a very long time. I am just tired of my old set up and wanna make my room not only a bedroom, but a home office and also a space for people to come and enjoy themselves. What I am hoping to do is to move my bed to the other side of my room and my computer suite to the opposite side of where it is at too. I also want to get rid of two pieces of furniture completely, one being an old broken record recorder which used to be my grandmothers and the other being a big old dresser of mine which basically turned into a random storage spot for just plain old junk. Getting rid of that will free up a lot of space which in the long run I am hoping to add a flat screen LED tv and also a couch to the side with my computer so I can actually watch movies on something other than my bed. It will be nice to have some changes around my room and hopefully before the end of the year I will be moving out and also in a union!

In addition to that I feel as though I have a solid beginning for the Hello music video and that is always my biggest hurdle. I am going to let my girlfriend watch it and if I get her approval I will go on, she is a much harder critic than I am...plus I get clouded by my own edits so I can't really approve my own cuts, I like to get second or even third opinions before moving forward.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Working Things Out

Today I wasn't able to attend my lighting class which I thought would be no big deal but my teacher actually ended up calling my phone and asking where I was. I was shocked but it was something that couldn't be stopped since my car was driving so funky I didn't trust it going all that way. It turned out to just be transmission fluid and it is running much better right now. It was nice that things worked out that way though because it gave me more time to study for my quiz tonight and also get some much needed rest.

Also today I worked more on Love is Undead which has all the music set as of right now and the color correction is almost 100%. Now I am just working on the sound correction as well as the dreaded last step of adding the bullet/blood effects which I hope go a lot better than the last time I tried to do it, which looking pretty bad. The nice thing is that I am getting there and once the regular semester starts I will show it to some people/professors and once I get a final blessing I will send it out.

In other news I am trying to lock down this editing job which looks to be pretty basic but for each edit I do I get $100 which is pretty sweet since the work seems pretty constant. Once I get the ball rolling on that I hope to do at least one edit a week which after just a single month would be $400. We will see where it all goes but I hope it ends up somewhere nicely.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

200th Posting!

Well this is it the 200th post I have made on this blog which I started back in June of 2010 or maybe a little earlier I can't remember. I have been letting you guys in on what is going on at To Tony Productions and also in my life in general. I am so glad to have been sharing my thoughts with you guys for so long now and hope to continue doing so for a long while. I feel the support everyday and the constant positive thoughts I get from you guys really help me get through tough times here in the field.

As far as today however I am in postproduction mode really just getting my mojo back which had been lost for a while. I am tweaking Love is Undead and also a series of photos I took back in August of last year which has just been sitting forever so I finally decided to go back and give it a look back. Those things should be coming out shortly. Oh and I did find a festival for the zombie film since the Maryland Film Festival is all done accepting submissions which is the Sacramento Horror Film Festival, their submissions begin in February which gives me a month to finalize everything with the film.

I am so glad to share my thoughts with you and for you to listen is pretty amazing!

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Focus Time

Now that I am back from a pretty crazy/draining trip it is time to focus on the next project. This Thursday I am hoping to film to my Samurai short film if everything can go as planned. I still have to do storyboards and also meet with my DP before hand to go over all that I need to do. It looks like it is going to be a predominantly night shoot starting at either 4pm or 9pm depending on the way things work out. If my actor has to work it looks like 9pm but if now the 4 to 4:30 pm. It is a pretty easy shoot but I still think things will turn out pretty sweet, if all goes according to plan. I even have a title for the piece already The Silent Samurai which is used for a slot machine game but so far it does not seem to be taken.

Not only that but I have not forgotten Love is Undead which is still in the post production stage. I retrieved the files but it is still on my Hard Drive which my friend still has. Once I get it back I will start up editing and look to have it done before the late deadline for the Maryland Film Festival.

Speaking of computers I am dropping off my old computer and new parts to get my new system built tonight after work. My friend Dan is going to take everything out of the old and fill my first tower with all new hardware. When it is all said and done I will have an editing beast! If tonight is good for anything it will be a day when I get it all done.

Finished up my final final exam today, but still have to finish my Humane Society edit for school. Don't know how my grade for that class is going to look though.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Closing Door Opening Windows

So yesterday was a day dedicated to closing doors all around me. Today in the other hand I see small windows opening up which could lead to further things. I just got an email from a guy I met in one of my EMF classes who contacted me about a possible internship which would give me the possibility of professional experience either in a studio or on set...either of which would be a huge contribution to my future as a professional. I am again very excited to see what happens. That is only problem with this industry is that it is a constant rollercoaster where one day will be huge, another will be free fall, and long periods of waiting in between.

What is on tape for tonight? I had an opportunity to have two gigs tonight (a concert and a dj event) however I do not really see either one working out...not because I am trying to be a jerk I just need more time for me at this point, I am dead tired from the travel over these past few months and want to stay home for more than a small amount of time...that is what this week has been for. Plus tonight I am going to start editing Love is Undead finally, hopefully by the end of the night I will have a rough cut ready to go off of. I just want to churn it out in time for the Maryland Film Festival.

Class is starting in an hour then I am going to get the lead out.

Thanks for the love,
Daniel Hess