Finishing up...Starting up

Things are really rolling along nicely over here. I am so close to finishing Voicebox I can taste it and that feeling is amazing! Also this Sunday coming up is my first official music video since finishing up Hello by Kane Mayfield back in January. The video is for a song called Three Beers Later by Wesley Spangler. It is a fun country song that will make for a cool little video. I am excited to be filming a video which is more light hearted in nature as compared to my past work. The song and video are intended to not take themself too seriously which is great to say the least. We will be filming at Pop's Tavern in Dundalk, Maryland on Sunday starting at 5pm. If you want to come out to the bar and be an extra in the video you are more than welcome to stop down. Everyone is welcome to be in the video! Thanks guys!

Random Movie Fact: In the 1989 film Road House, the car that Dalton buys at the used car dealership was a 1965 Buick Riviera - the only year that Buick used the "clamshell" headlight covers for the Riviera. The other car that he drives near the beginning of the movie before picking up his Mercedes Benz and leaving for Missouri is a 1964 Buick Riviera.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Interview Today

So I had an interview today for a part time photo/video assistant job and it went pretty awesome! It was a very informal occasion since I met the guy at a Starbucks up in Ellicott City but it was a great experience. I am not sure if I got the job or not but that doesn't really matter because I got handed out a lot of great advice that I think is amazingly invaluable to say the least. I mean we talked for about an hour and a half so it is a lot of ground that we managed to cover. He told me about the industry, where I should go for career choices, what I should do from here, all kinds of awesome stuff. I am so happy to just have had this experience getting the job would just be icing on an already delicious cake.

In other news both my music video for Kane Mayfield and Love is Undead are guranteed to place in the top three of their categories in the Towson Media Arts Festival so at the very least I placed in individual categories. Where things go from here is completely different but I am so proud that two pieces of my work made it so far in the competition. I will know exactly where things end up from here come May 12th but until then I am eagerly awaiting results.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Newspaper Feature!

I was featured in today's issue of The Towerlight, Towon University's school newspaper. Check out the article!

Student directs music video

26 February 2012 By Eva Niessner, Staff Writer No Comments

 

Daniel Hess is no stranger to the world of filmmaking. His short “Spiritus” won the 2011 72-hour Film Festival, sponsored by the University Residence Government and Lambda Kappa Tau; his film “Gas Guzzlers” screened at Towson in December 2010, and his film “Nina” was a finalist in the Baltimore 48-Hour Film Project competition.
But until now, music videos were unexplored territory for Hess. The Towson University senior made the video for rapper Kane Mayfield’s song “Hello!”
Hess made contact with Mayfield through his audio production class.
“My professor was Brandon Lackey, who was a co-owner and producer at Mania Music Group,” Hess said. “I thought it was awesome that he made beats and worked with rappers, so I started coming to the studio and filming their recording sessions, then live shows, and now music videos. Kane was always there and even though he seemed intimidating at first, he is a really cool guy and fun to work with.”
Hess said shooting the film was grueling.
“We shot in New York, D.C., Virginia and Federal Hill,” he said. “The New York trip was the craziest, since we stayed up there all day going from Manhattan, to Brooklyn, to Times Square. That same night, we had to go up to a party where a bunch of famous producers were sampling never-before-heard beats, and we were there until about 3 a.m.”
The video also has a deeper meaning, Hess said.
“I wanted to dedicate this video, and in fact all of my videos, to my cousin Anthony Ranocchia III, who I named my production company [To Tony Productions] after,” Hess said. “He passed away from cystic fibrosis at age 14, when I was 10, and he was my best friend. He is the one who motivates me to keep working hard, because I know if he were alive today, he would be making a difference in the world. That is all he ever wanted to do.”
Though Hess says he could see himself making music videos professionally, it wouldn’t be his dream career.
“It would difficult for me, because to me, video production is an art I take very seriously and I love to tell deep and intricate stories,” said Hess. “It is a tough field to get into and I have worked in nearly every aspect of video production, because in this industry you can’t be picky. You have to take the jobs that are offered, and if right now it is my time to make music videos, I am more than happy to do so.”
“Hello!” is now available on Vimeo and YouTube.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Film Festival Time

So today when I woke up I was really checking out film festivals again for submitting Love is Undead which I am still just about done and for some reason I really wanted to submit some of my work to a festival. After a little while of debating I decided to send off my music video for Hello! by Kane Mayfield, just because I don't want to regret not doing it. I still regret not sending out Gas Guzzlers to any festivals to this day and I didn't want to do it again. I figured even if I don't get accepted at least I tried, no harm no foul. That was my morning.

After that I worked all day and tried to figure out more details for my short film but didn't accomplish much beyond that. Hoping tomorrow goes better in the afternoon but I fear thanks to this crappy work schedule I won't get back on track until Monday which sucks.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Exciting News

So last night I got an email from a certain reporter from The Towerlight asking me if I would like to answer a few questions about my experience creating the video for Hello by Kane Mayfield. I was more than willing to and I am super excited to find out if this is going to make newspaper pages, because if so that would be amazing! I can't wait to find out more!

In other news I met with my professor about my upcoming short Voicebox and he really enjoyed the script and think that it will make for a great short film. I need to add a few little details to the script but otherwise things are going right on schedule with production. I can't wait to get past all the pre production and get into actually shooting the film!

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Kane Mayfield - Hello!

Well here it is! My first ever music video! It is a great moment for myself because this is yet another part of film/video industry I was able to take on. I have been wanting to do something like this since I first started making videos and this was my time to do it. Let me know what you think.


Kane Mayfield - Hello! from Mania Music Group on Vimeo.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Editing Nearly Complete

Well last night I was cleaning and finishing up the last touches on my newly redone room and after a long day of cleaning I sat down to my computer and decided to edit. The project I finished up was the music video for Kane Mayfield the song of course being Hello which is really a tribute song to a lot of different locations that Kane himself has been at and lived at. The way I had to edit it was basically create 9 video tracks for B-roll and 8 video tracks of different spots we recorded him performing at. After that I would listen to the flow of the song and depending on how each few bars went or maybe one bar after the other went I would select one of the 8 locations we shot at and go with that. Then the ones I didn't want I would just cut and discard. It took a long time because I had to go with the very best shot for those few bars because I was getting rid of all other options once I cut out a video track. It was time consuming and probably not the most practical way to get the job done, it took about 2 and a half hours; but I got the job done. Later today Ashley is coming over and she will watch it, let me know what she thinks, then maybe I will ask Zach to come down and see what he thinks. If I can get approval from both then I will send it on to the label owner and get his approval. After all that we should have a final cut to be sent out.

I hope it gets there and I don't have to do a whole new cut...that would be very disheartening.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Music Video Is Over

Well yesterday afternoon we officially wrapped on the Hello music video for Kane Mayfield. It was a tough and grueling shoot considering all the places we had to travel but it I feel as though something unique will come out of it. The last spot we filmed at was Federal Hill here in Baltimore since it was a shot to me that summed up the entire city in one location. So at the end of the day we got footage from DC, New York, Baltimore, and Virginia, pretty crazy.

I started editing it last night and just a smidge this morning but I am hung up on the introduction and what it should look like. This is always the hardest part of editing for me because for me that is the most important part of the video. Without a good introduction no one will keep watching because nothing grabs the audience. It is even harder for me because I have such a slanted view of what makes a good introduction since I love the New Wave so much I am hung up on wanting to do a Godard style introduction but I don't think anyone else will like that. Once I get over that hump though I think I will be good to go.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Setting Up

Ok so today is a long work day, pretty much just a throw away day if you ask me. However I am finally getting everything finalized for the rest of the month pretty much. So the samurai film is looking like it is getting filmed on January 15th which is a Sunday. It is going to be an all night shoot but totally worth it for a kick ass little short film. On January 17th I have to work on my final project for my lighting class so we again are going to be pulling an all nighter getting that done for class (it is due by the 19th). Before all the that on the 12th we have to do a lighting day for night short video for class which is due on the 17th.

In addition to that tomorrow I am going out to Federal Hill park to film the Baltimore portion of Hello by Kane Mayfield which should be simple and fast. Sunday is going to be another chill day even though work is all day again. Monday I am going up to DC in the morning to finish up shooting of Hello and also I am meeting with a local director in the DMV area for an Assistant Director job on his senior film. Then that night I have class at 5:30pm and in between I have to study since we have our first quiz that day.

Not only all that but I still want to find time to get to the reviewing of movies. If all goes well tonight I will be getting my computer back and can finally get back to the finishing up of these videos. I still have to edit Love is Undead and the Baltimore Humane Society video. Needless to say after the 23rd when the semester is over I will be taking off of work from the 23rd to the 30th for a much deserved break.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess