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

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

Foley Work and Scouting

So today was a big day for the foley work on my upcoming short film Voicebox. I was up at a local sound studio [kp] mag, they do great work you should go check them out if you are in Maryland and need any help with foley work or sound recording. Nice little studio for sure! We got through the majority of it today and will officially finish up tomorrow sometime in the day. After all that I had to go down to Fort Howard Park to do some scouting on a music video coming up on Wednesday. Today we picked the filming spot in the park and tomorrow we will be testing lights for the shoot. Finally we will be filming the performance end of the video on Wednesday. After that we will work on the story part but that is later down the road. Keep in the loop and on the lookout for Voicebox!

Random Movie Fact: Marlon Brando reputedly suggested that his cameo role as Jor-El be by him in voice over only, with the character's image onscreen being a glowing, levitating green bagel. Unsure if Brando was joking or not, the film's producers formally rejected the suggestion.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

July is Going to be Crazy

So this just in, July is going to be crazy for sure. With a ton of gigs getting booked, I don't know if we are going to be able to keep up. I think so far there are going to be at least 3 music video productions this month as well as my freelance work at my part time job, a video promo, and possibly more music video work. I am excited and can't wait to work my butt off to make all these videos come to life. It is going to be an awesome month and something I have been working hard to see come true.

Random Movie Fact: In the 1997 film Seven Years in Tibet, In the scene where Heinrich confronts Ngawang, the director did not tell BD Wong the script called for Brad Pitt to throw him into the dirt; Wong's reaction is completely authentic.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

I Need to Shoot Something

Like a video shoot, it feels like forever since my last video shoot, even though it kinda was this month, but that was the bust of the 48 (which I am not here to discuss). Anyway yeah I feel like all I do these days is talk about negotiating with clients and talking over budgets which sucks, because that is all I have been doing. Lately all I do is talk things over with what I call "potentials," they email me, we talk and usually price is the main issue. I mean I don't want to turn clients down, it sucks, but making money is a big thing and not being able to make any sucks. I know there are a lot of talented people that deserve video work, but everyone is on a level playing field to me and fees for work are fees for work. Maybe I am just out of touch but I have to stick by my rates. We will see though, hopefully soon I can get back to shooting more stuff.

Random Movie Fact: In the original Godzilla film circa 1954, the sound department tried numerous animal roars for Godzilla but felt they were unsuitable for an animal of such immense size. Akira Ifukube came up with Godzilla's roars by rubbing a coarse, resin-coated leather glove up and down the strings of a contrabass (double bass), and reverberated the recorded sound. Also, Godzilla's thunderous footsteps were made by beating a kettle drum with a knotted rope.

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

Day 2 of the 48 Hour Film Festival

So today is day 2 for us at the 48 Hour Film Festival. Last night was the entire screenwriting process and we had to come up with a story for today. The genre we landed was Horror which was pretty sweet since I have tackled horror before but not in the way we have written it this time around. We are hoping to go super serious with it, something psychological yet still holding its roots in this well known genre. The story is good, after a lot of debate we have a script/outline ready for it so today it is all about translating that to film. We have a lot of great talent and being the director I am excited and nervous about how things are going to go today. The lone actor that was confirmed dropped out so on the fly I had to get another actor who I have worked with before but he can't be on set until 2pm today which sucks, I wish I could have a better idea of this situation earlier as I would have gotten a better handle on things. Otherwise it sounds like things are good with the rest of the talent for today. Hope it goes well and wish me luck.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Start of the 48 Hour Film Festival!

So this afternoon/evening is the start of the Baltimore 48 Hour Film Festival. This is the second year I am participating in this awesome event, this year under the group name Towson Avengers! This year I am working with a fresh group of completely different people from last year, from the talent to the crew it is all new faces. I am excitedly nervous for the competition since I have assumed the role of Director of the piece. I have not been able to dedicate as much time as I have wanted but I know we can still make something awesome this year. I am looking forward to not only finishing a film, but getting it in and seeing all the other great works that come out of the competition.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

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

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

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

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

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

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