Voicebox

Please take the time to watch my latest short film Voicebox on Vimeo! It was a huge project with a lot of talented people involved. Any and all feedback is welcome and please everyone share this video, it would mean the world to all the great people involved in this project.

Voicebox

Thanks for all the support!
Daniel Hess

Almost Certain Unplugged Pt. 3

Here is the third entry in the Almost Certain unplugged video series. This next entry is the song Slide by the Goo Goo Dolls. We had the pleasure of helping to film these videos alongside [kp] mag studios. Enjoy!


Random Movie Fact: In the 2005 film Asylum, when Paramount Pictures secured film rights to the book in 1997, the original plan was to bring Stephen King and Jonathan Demme on board as, respectively, screenwriter and director.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Almost Certain Unplugged

So the first video in a short unplugged video series came out for local indie band Almost Certain. The song is a cover of I Miss You by Blink 182. I had the pleasure of coming with Everett Glovier and Hamid Praya Ali of [kp] mag studios to film the performance. Check it out and let us all know what you think of the performance and the video.


Random Movie Fact: In the 1984 film Splash, before Tom Hanks accepted the role of Allen Bauer, it had already been turned down by John Travolta and Michael Keaton.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Nervous

Well today is the last full day before my triple booked Saturday. The hard part is not going to be the gigs themselves it is literally everything before the gigs that has been stressful. I almost lost one yesterday due to some issues with what the plan for filming was but after some back and forth things are back on. The first gig is proving to be my most stressful since the area which it takes place is the same spot they are doing a big once a year marathon at Druid Hill Park. I have only been to the park once before for a film I worked on and it is big so as long as I can find the spot to park I will be ok, just trying to avoid getting towed. So there is that and then my last gig is at Pier Five which I thought that was going to be easy but the spot at which it is taking place doesn't seem to be the same spot which I thought I was going to have to go to since it is located at the building next to it. I know super confusing but no matter I will get through it. In between I will be up at my buddy's studio so I will at least be in a familiar spot in between my first and last gigs. All I know is come tomorrow around 1am once I get back home I will be feeling a lot better that is for sure!

Random Movie Fact: In the 1978 film The Swarm, Michael Caine stated in an interview that during filming he thought the little yellow spots left by the bees on his clothing was honey so he began to eat it, unaware he was eating bee poop.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Preparing

So right now I am preparing for a triple booked day this coming Saturday. Starting at 8am until Midnight I will be working on different photo/video gigs. The most confusing seems to be the first one on Saturday at Druid Hill Park, maybe it is just because I haven't had a good chance to look over the directions but it seems like a big race is going on there or something, I don't know I am not familiar with the park so that doesn't help matters but we shall see. The next gig is around 2pm and is a promotional video spot for a self help company, it is contained to being only at the studio so it will not take too long. Finally, I have a christmas party I am doing photos for at 8pm for a car sales place to end the day. All three are totally confirmed which is a rarity and is really nice but the more I think about it the more the first gig scares me with the confusing nature of it.

Random Movie Fact: In the 1961 film West Side Story, the actors in the rival gangs were instructed to play pranks on each other off the set to keep tensions high.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Last night...and today

So yesterday definetly took a number out on me but was a lot of fun. I had two photography gigs, one sort of last minute and the other I was booked for a while in advance. The first was promotional pictures for a DJ which were taken at my friends studio. The DJ brought in his gear and a few different outfits so it was cool to do those photos, a good experience. After that I had to head back home and gear up (literally) for the next event which was a birthday party at The Great Blacks in Wax Museum in Baltimore City. I ran a two camera system for this event, my 5D Mark III with my 24-105 f4 L lens, and the other my parents T3I camera with an 85 usm lens. It was a familiar area of the city and parking was a breeze so the trip wasn't too bad and when I arrived around 8:30pm I had plenty of time to get prepared. It was a cool party with good music, people, and food so what more can you ask for?

I will say the one thing that bugged me had nothing to do with the people, it had a lot to do with my camera. Once the party started the lighting was dim, I mean as dim as it gets, it felt like a degree away from pitch black. I accounted for this by having a flash on both my cameras, however with the 24-105 the biggest issue was focusing...Since it was so dark the lens had nothing to grab focus to and the flash I was using is an older one that probably has been eclipsed several times over by newer flashes. I think in the future I will look for something that can provide continuous light for me to focus from and then flash, or hopefully the recent purchase of a 50mm usm lens will do the trick because that 85mm was just way too tight in on people to get really great photos from. I love the 85 lens but I saw last night that it just does not work in a tight room. I still got some great photos though, just rambling about lenses.

Random Movie Fact: In the 1997 film The Game, David Fincher claimed in an interview in UK film magazine Empire, that there is a can of haggis in every scene of the movie. This was done as a joke, because "Haggis" is the nickname of cinematographer Harris Savides.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Apologies

My apologies, I was gonna be on a serious roll there for posts for a while but things got a little screwed up when my picasa photo album reached its maximum capacity. So now I am stuck at a crossroads which is either start paying for extra data to post photos up or get a separate Smug Mug account just for my photography, or my third option get a full time website (which I have to do). I think what I may do is get a Smug Mug to put my photos up on, get my website up which will be able to direct everyone to my blogspot, vimeo, smug mug, and facebook all rolled into one nice package. That way people can have a one stop destination to few all of my content and if they want to get deeper immersed into one or the other just go to those pages. Now just to have some money to do it all and maintain the websites. That is where I have been on the matter, now just time to execute.

Otherwise it looks like today I have two gigs, both photo related: a birthday part and a studio photoshoot. It will be nice to be double booked again and I am looking forward to both. I also have a lot more photo stuff going on including what looks be my first triple booked day in a while. Wish me luck.

Random Movie Fact: In the 2012 film Wreck-It Ralph, Disney first began developing an animated film about the world of video game characters in the 1980s. At that time the project was called "High Score" and in the 1990s was titled "Joe Jump." In the 2000s, when the movie was finally pushed forward, the first two months of story development focused on Fix-It Felix Jr. as the main character.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Believe in Tomorrow's Children Charity Auction Photos 2 of 2

So here is the second round of photos from the Believe in Tomorrow's Children Charity Auction. Enjoy and check out yesterday's post for the rest of the photos.

Random Movie Fact: In the 2007 film Hitman, during the restaurant sequence, the scene in which Nika (Olga Kurylenko) talks about owning a squirrel/chipmunk when she was young was actually true for the actress, and the scene was improvised during filming.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Huge Meeting

Today is going to be a big day for us at TTP. We have a huge business meeting with what could be our first big corporate client. Corporate video is usually something that I tend to stay more away from, not because I can't do it just because it doesn't have much appeal to me. However this client proves to be an exception to that case by actually having some really cool stuff going on as a business. It is a unique opportunity for us as a production company and I just hope everyone will be thinking good thoughts today for us. Wish us luck...knock on wood!

I will posting up photos from the charity event we did on October 27th as long as the company receives the raw photos today, if not I will wait for them to get the materials.

Random Movie Fact: In the 2012 film Moonrise Kingdom, Laura Bishop shouts at various family members through a bullhorn. The idea came from co-writer Roman Coppola's childhood, as his mother Eleanor Coppola used a bullhorn in a similar fashion.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

La Cakerie Grand Opening

Today I was with my friend Zach (not the one from the pictures put up yesterday), shooting some footage of the grand opening of the new bakery, La Cakerie in Towson. Zach has contact with the owners and investors of the company and he was asked to film the grand opening today and asked me to tag along, so since I had another client postpone on me, I was able to come and work as a second shooter. It was cool, I got to get all the smooth artsy cut in shots while he focused primarily on getting the wide angle stuff so it was a great pair. The place is in a nice little part of Towson and if you have the time it is worth checking out, the food is delicious and they have great prices on everything. La Cakerie!

In addition to that, I am working on some photo edits for the charity event I did last weekend, I am sorting through a lot of them and if it wasn't for the hurricane I would have had them done a lot sooner but Sandy kind of slowed things down since I didn't have power...however here we are and they should be finished soon. Got some other things coming down the pipeline right now but I am waiting for things to flesh out before I go too deep in discussion with them.

Random Movie Fact: In the 1987 film Masters of the Universe, the reptilian henchman Saurod's throat was made to expand and contract by having the performer, Pons Maar, blow into a tube that ran from his mouth to the throat of his costume.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Zach

So I have been sitting on these two photos I took of my friend Zach for a while now, I put them up on our facebook page but I kept forgetting to put them up on the blog until tonight. I like the nice use of black and white in them and that is thanks in part to the fact that he was wearing a white shirt. He was on the computer at the time rapping away so that is why his mouth is open, on the one which to me is the only issue with the photos. Otherwise I think they are very solid photos. Also it is or at least was his facebook profile picture which always makes me feel more confident in my work. Check it out and enjoy! More photos soon to come.

Random Movie Fact: In the 1995 film Friday, the neighborhood where the film takes place is the same street where the film's director, F. Gary Gray, grew up in South Central, Los Angeles. Principal houses that were used for filming were houses of old friends of the director. The scene where Deebo punches Red into the air is the house that F. Gary Gray grew up in.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

October is Over

I hope everyone had a safe and productive Halloween yesterday! Halloween has to be one of my favorite holidays and this year I got to spend it with my girlfriend Ashley and I watched Evil Dead 2, what more could you ask for. October was our biggest month to date for To Tony Productions, no questions. We got to do a lot of great stuff, including coordinating a film shoot with Travis Pastrana, do photography at a huge gala event at M&T Bank Stadium, go on several film shoots with a fellow production company in Towson, start planning for our next music video, being the official photographer for the 3rd Annual Dundalk Zombie Walk, and working with a Los Angeles based crew at the Virgin Mobile Free Fest. It was a lot of traveling, hard work and dedication but now that this month is over I look back with a big smile knowing that TTP is moving forward at a great pace. We may not be moving at breakneck speed but slow and steady win the race.

So what is in store with November? Well we hope to start and finish filming for our next music video before the end of the month. I have perhaps one photo gig this weekend but as of right now it is up in the air. We will be working with a company based out of Seattle to do an intimate poem reading video, hard to explain but it will be pretty cool. Finally we will continue to work alongside [kp] mag studios and I will be doing my part time work over at Render Perfect Productions in Towson. It should be a fun and productive month, probably not as big as October but we will be constantly booking more work as the month progresses.

Random Movie Fact: In the 2010 film Easy A, Olive's family members are all named after foods: her parents' names are Dill and Rosemary, both herbs; her younger brother's name is Chip, and the one at college is named Kale, and the fact that her name, Olive, is also something edible is the subject of a joke in the movie.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

This Saturday

Everyone should come on down to Dundalk Heritage Park this Saturday at 2pm to join in on the fun of the Dundalk Zombie Walk. We will be there taking pictures as well as at our booth giving away free goody bags! It will be fun for the whole family so stop down anytime from 2-6pm.

Phew...I am exhausted but still moving from the past few days. This weekend was pretty much the biggest weekend ever in terms of work/importance. All this past week I was helping a studio based out of California to get ready for a documentary shoot here in Maryland. Throughout the week we found grips, an AC, makeup people, and a DIT (myself). Then they needed black wood frames to hang bike parts in to have as the backdrop to the interview, so with the assistance of my father, all Friday night I was painting wood. I got it all done the frames were put together and we were in business. Saturday night comes around and they asked if we could make four more, there was no way to make them but we were able to paint the materials for four more. Sunday comes we take the frames and got to set on time. Then all day Sunday we were filming two interviews one with Debbie Pastrana and the other with the legend Travis Pastrana himself. It was great, stressful at times, but awesome to be in that environment. The next day we came back again at 10:30am and cleaned up the mess from Sunday.

That is why I haven't really been able to update and with the Zombie Walk coming up it is another week of dealing with crunch time.

Random Movie Fact: In the 2008 film Frost/Nixon, Both Frank Langella and Michael Sheen repeat the roles they created on stage. Ron Howard would only agree to direct if the studio would allow both actors to appear in the film version.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Looking Forward

So since today is the last day of September I find myself looking forward to new gigs coming up over the next few months. The couple of video jobs I have on tap right now I am very excited to start. The first coming gig is a promotional video I will be doing for a local musician which is awesome for a few reasons. The first being that it is a promo video which I am familiar with how to do but have not done one yet, so great reel material. The second being the look this musician has is perfect vintage style which is exactly how the final video is gonna look which gives me a great bit of artistic range for the promo.

Another upcoming gig is a music video project I am doing in conjunction with a local studio which I have worked with before; [kp] mag. It is a free music video that we are doing for a local band which has a crazy unique sound. We are basically getting close to totally free artistic range on this video as well which is letting me really soar with ideas. It is a nice change of pace for me and will be the first time I really have control over content in the video.

Final gig on tap as of today is a wedding coming up in January which should prove to for a third time in this post be awesome. The wedding will be taking place at the church where Edgar Allen Poe is buried and the theme of the wedding is a masquerade ball. This content on video should look outstanding and be great for a wedding reel. It is not a paid gig but an excellent opportunity for experience filming a wedding. I am actually meeting with the couple today which is very exciting.

As you can see some cool stuff on tap, hopefully more still to come for TTP, but for now at least we will be able to let creativity take control which is what I am most excited for.

Random Movie Fact: In the 2007 film Shoot 'Em Up, the budget for squibs alone was $70,000. On average, you can get 50 squibs for $1,000.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Support Local Art!

Today I am making a plea to anyone visiting this page to support a local film director Shawn Anthony and his upcoming film project The American Werewolf Project by donating. Feel free to donate any amount big or small to help get some great local art made. As an artist I feel the need to support other great artists work and as fellow artists I hope you find it in your hearts to support this cause as well. Follow the link below and at least check it out. Thanks!



Random Movie Fact: In the 2004 film The Passion of the Christ, Jim Caviezel experienced a shoulder separation when the 150lb cross dropped on his shoulder. The scene is still in the movie.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Random Photos of the Day

Today I went around my yard and took some random photos, I hope you enjoy them. Let me know what you think.

Random Movie Fact: In the 1999 film Anna and the King, 3 months into filming an outbreak of Japanese encephalitis hampered the filming. Some sets had to be relocated because they were too close to pig farms (the main source, transmitted by mosquitoes). All the cast and crew were given a vaccine by the set doctor, and some sets were sprayed with insecticide before crew turned up to start filming.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Three Beers Later!

So without any further delay may I present to you the official music video for Three Beers Later by Wesley Spangler. Check it out and let me know what you think.

Three Beers Later from Daniel Hess on Vimeo.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

The Latest

I feel so empty handed today, I don't have any pictures to upload or any other kind of content to show off. Sorry for that. However I have been working my butt off at my part time job up in Towson. I have been working with editing/video production/logging footage. It has been cool and the hours aren't bad either. That being said on my end TTP is going kind of slow but this weekend is the return of football! Well high school football at least, yes again this year I am recording football games for IBN sports based out of California. This weekend is the Patriot Classic at Navy Stadium so I have four games to film in one day...fun fun. In addition the next day I will be up at the Baltimore Humane Society filming some event they have going on, I just contracted it about an hour ago so more details coming my way soon. Other than that not much else to talk about here, going to relax the rest of the evening.

Random Movie Fact: In the 1970 film Five Easy Pieces, when Dupea goes to quit his oil-rigging job, the loud whirring of machines can be heard in the background. This identical sound effect was used seven years later by George Lucas, for the trash compacter scene in Star Wars.

Thanks for the Support,
Daniel Hess

Defender's Day

So yesterday I took a bunch of pictures of Defender's Day at Fort Howard State Park. It was my first year going and it was a cool experience. I hope next year I can stay until the actual battle but this year was still a lot of fun. Posted below are the pictures from the event for you consideration, let me know what you think.

Random Movie Fact: In the 2005 film The Squid and the Whale, Noah Baumbach originally wanted Wes Anderson to direct but Anderson convinced Baumbach to direct it himself, due to the film being very personal to Baumbach.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Changes...

So I have been talking an awful lot about changes coming to To Tony Productions, but haven't really been vocal about what that means. Well I am here to say that TTP will no longer be doing any commercial style video. This means from now on you won't see any music videos or corporate pieces or promos with the TTP logo on it. The one...possibly two music videos I have already started the process with will still bear the TTP name on it but after that no more. Now that does not mean I am giving up on the commercial end, no...I am instead starting a new venture with a few friends of mine which will be set up just for commercial video production. This means all that we do for clients will be under that name. Where does that leave To Tony? Well I am switching my focus to where I have wanted it to be for a while now for one we are doing photography which is to say we will be doing photo work based around clients as well as selling prints of past work to people and the second thing is focusing on only cinema production. With photography as the everyday business and true movie production To Tony Productions I think will do better than ever. My mindset is best served in cinematic production, not commercial based production. TTP isn't going anywhere it is just back to its roots and with a new direction and focus things are going to be better than ever.

Random Movie Fact: In the 2012 film The Dictator, the always lifted point finger of Aladeen was inspired on Cuban dictator 'Fidel Castro' who is always pointing in his speeches.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess