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

Feels Like Photo Week

So I was going back over some of my old photos today and I came across some old photos me and my girlfriend took the day before we started filming Voicebox which was back in May. For some reason I kept thinking to myself that the pictures were not good enough to be used or something...I hadn't forgotten that I took them, just overlooked them. Anyway I found three of my favorite photos and did some touch ups and here they are. Enjoy!

Random Movie Fact: In the 2004 film Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, the Mexican restaurant Veronica visits with the girls from the station is named "Escupimos en su Alimento". In Spanish, that means, "We spit in your food".

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Free Photography Weekend!

This weekend To Tony Productions is happy to announce we are giving away two free photography sessions! This is a first come first serve basis so hurry quick and email us at totonyproductions@gmail.com to set up a session time. Not to worry though because even after we book our two free sessions we are going to be offering a half price discount on all sessions booked this weekend. So if you are in need of portraits, headshots, action photos, car photography, etc...then email us asap to set up a time! Have a great rest of the week and hopefully we can do some amazing photos for you!

Random Movie Fact: In the 1971 film 10 Rillington Place; filmed in the real Rillington Place, which had changed its name to Ruston Close after the notorious killings. Filming took place both in no. 10 Rillington Place itself as well as no.6. The street was demolished at the end of 1970 and the area was later redeveloped, with completion in 1977, as Bartle Road and St Andrew's Square.

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

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

Photoshoot Today

So today or rather tonight I have a photoshoot with a friend of mine Mary who does a lot of cool cosplay style costumes from different video games. She makes her own costumes and in my opinion does a great job on them, she gets the style down just right. So we are planning to do a photoshoot around an old church and a cemetery setting. We were trying for an old asylum but so far it has been a no go on that, but perhaps down the road we can swing it. Other than that though today is pretty wide open.

I am still hoping to get Voicebox done soon, I hate to have it in limbo but when it is just you at this point in a project it gets hard to get anything done. That is why it is nice to have a partner in crime so to speak because when you are tapped out they can step up to the plate and finish things for you. However, once Hec gets back from California and Everett is able to find some time to give me a hand I am confident to have it all done, then it is festival time!

Random Movie Fact: The movie Frailty starring Bill Paxton is loosely based on the case of American serial killer Joseph Kallinger who murdered three people and tortured four families. He committed these crimes with his 13-year-old son Michael between 1974-1975 in New Jersey. Kallinger pleaded insanity, claiming God had told him to kill.

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

Oh Irony...You Suck!

So I got home today from a long day at school where I realized everything is happening on Tuesday which just so happens to be the day after the 72 hour film festival which I know will kill me! I have a test (in math of all things), another midterm test (in film and literature of all things), and a paper due (in Fiction since WWII of all things lol). Anyway I got the paper mostly done today even though I had to "borrow" a lot of ideas for it. The film and lit test I am kind of prepared for and the math test I am not prepared for at all. I should have off all day tomorrow but so does my girl so I don't know how much I will actually get done since I kind of want to spend time with her (maybe some studying for the math thing).

Anyway, back to the ironic thing in the title...which is the fact that B and H Photo/Video decided to ship my 5D Mark III today with like no warning at all, and then the camera came here to my house...I repeat was here in the FedEx guys hands...here. But since I wasn't here and couldn't sign he didn't leave it which means try again tomorrow! In addition to that I put out 235 bucks renting a Mark III this weekend for the 72 hour film festival, which means I will have my 5D and a rental 5D, which sucks! I am happy I rented the Glidecam but not so happy about the whole 5D thing, but oh well win some, lose some. I am happy to get it nonetheless because that means I will have it for Voicebox which kicks ass!

Busy weekend, followed by busy/stressful week...if the tests don't get to me then preparing for the film certainly will.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

2 Photoshots 1 Day

So in a few hours I will be attending to the first photoshoot of the day and the first photo session since August of last year...it has been a while. I am doing headshots for an actor making the trip all the way up from VA which is pretty awesome for me. I am going to be working with him for about an hour or maybe even two at noon until the next actor has his session at 2pm which will go until 3:30 at the very latest...I hope thanks to work today. The second session wants headshots as well as doing a monologue reading which makes things a little more complicated but in both circumstances I am getting paid so I will work diligently for both actors. I hope after getting through these two actors I can have more photo work so I can do more headshots, because I am just trying to offer quality work for a price that is insanely cheap ($75 for unlimited photos/touch up). It is not because I suck or at least I hope I don't it is just because actors are hard working and money is hard to come by. I am not trying to run a scam on them, I am trying to help them out by providing an essential service at a low price.

As long as it all goes well today things should be picking up soon on the photography end of things. That would be awesome!

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Landyn Photoshoot

So without further ado these are the photos I took of my little cousin Landyn back in August.

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

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween to everyone out there today! I hope this Halloween proves to be a good one. Out here on the East Coast it is cold and sunny but still a pretty good day to go out trick or treating/party. I myself am going to make tonight low key and enjoy some Buffalo Wild Wings with an old friend.

So some news for everyone, today I am expecting a call in regards to my first ever photo gig. This Saturday I believe I am going out to a lacrosse game to take some photos for about three hours. All the details are not worked out yet but it should be about 200 for 3 hours of work which isn't bad especially considering I am still getting my feet wet in the photo world.

In addition to that I am still talking to a friend of mine who has a cool new project coming up entitled The Cat in which I am still working out what I am going to be doing for crew but it should prove to be fun. This will be the first time in like 2 years I have been on a set other than my own; which should help me learn more from other filmmakers. I am hoping this leads into a lot more work with the director.

Finally today I leave you with a few pictures from the Funky Formal gig I did two weeks ago...so enjoy!

Have a safe Halloween,
Daniel Hess