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

July is Over

So it is official July is over and done with. It is now August and every so often I like to look back at a month and reflect on how things went. July was interesting as I feel it is every year, it was the month of my birthday and also I think it was the first true transitional month for me. It was the first time I feel like myself and To Tony Productions really stepped things up and started asking for a bit more from our clients, to run a business and provide quality products we had to start asking for decent pay. While at the beginning of July I had a lot of work opportunities and chances to make videos a lot of it just wasn't for the right price. I was getting kinda lowballed and no matter how much I tried to make it work at the end of the day there was really nothing in it for me as an artist or business man. Those that just weren't ready to pay for the quality were I guess left to their own devices, I am just not going to operate like that. It is hard and gigs get passed by a lot but I will take quality over quantity any day of the week. Yes July was a month for me to grow and I think I finally have a great foundation for the future.

Random Movie Fact: The 1994 film Clerks was filmed at the same store in which director Kevin Smith was working at the time. As he was only allowed to film outside of business hours, and because bright enough lights couldn't be afforded, the plot included an explanation for the shutters being always down.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Happy Independence Day!

Happy Fourth of July to everyone! I hope it is a good day for all of you and yours. May today bring fun filled joy, hot dog eating, and safe firework launching to all! Be careful and if you are somewhere hot like here in Maryland, make sure to stay hydrated. Our country is a great one and thanks to all those who have fought for freedom I can voice my opinions and thoughts on a blog such as this. I love this great country and hope our liberty can ring forever!

Random Movie Fact: In the 1972 film adaptation of the musical 1776, In the song Is Anybody There, sung by John Adams, the lyric "Yet, through all the gloom, I see the rays of ravishing light and glory" were from a letter by the real-life Adams to wife Abigail the day after the Declaration was adopted.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Summer Production

So today I woke up (late in the morning of course) and couldn't help but think back on the past productions I have tackled over the summer months...wonderful times. Way back when in 2010 I was working on my True Docs series of shot documentaries facing subjects from the importance of dog care to family to heroin addiction, it was an interesting time for sure and without knowing it I captured two of the most important documentaries of all. The first one being on the subject of Family, which my grandmother did for me, only a few months later she would pass away suddenly which was heartbreaking but the interview she gave became very important. The next one I did was on the subject of Heroin Addiction and my cousin gave the most honest interview I think I have ever seen and even to this day people are still watching that video and finding some hope/truth in it. It is up to over 15,000 views on youtube.

The other production I did was Gas Guzzlers in 2010 which was a huge project which took what seemed like forever to make. Facing days where it was almost 100 degrees out myself, Jordan, Joe, Ashley, and Chad all went out to either North Point State Park or Fort Howard to film. We would mainly film from 10 or 11am to 3 or 4pm since at the time everyone except Ash and Chad worked at the same place. It was a cool shoot and taught me even more about making a found footage style film, I even got to screen it at Towson University that same December.

In 2011 that was a much slower season but one which was filled with praise I guess is the word. I am cheating a bit and counting May in this season since that is when I participated in the 72 hour film festival and what we got out of that was Spiritus. This film was the first project that I was a part of that won best in show, it was amazing. Then later on in June was the 48 hour which we got Nina out of, it didn't win anything but was a finalist at the screening. It was promising season in 2011 but a series of fallouts with friends ruined that...however what was to follow helped to shape me into the semi professional that I consider myself now.

This summer is proving not to be a summer for my productions or making a new film, but a summer of building connections and relationships. I am excited to see where this season takes me and I am sure the place I will end up is going to be better than I could have ever imagined.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Random movie fact of the day: 
In the movie Silent Hill the strange stumbling movements of the Dark Nurses when they first "come alive" was created by filming them walking backwards, and then running the film in reverse.

Landyn Photoshoot

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

Pictures from the Minimester

Well last night I decided to edit the pictures I took for my final project in Aesthetics of Film further to make them more appropriate for my picture reel. I know it has been a while since the last time I put up pictures so I think now is the time to do so. From my perspective I feel like the middle three are the strongest one but the first and last look pretty sweet too.

With the project we had to redo a scene from any movie we wanted and I decided to do a scene from 500 Days of Summer when Summer and Tom were talking on his bed. In the film it is presented pretty innocently but I set up to do two things very different. One was make it a lot darker, the lighting, the actions everything. Two was to change the scene to reflect the style of the whole movie and how the relationship was always in flux. I feel like I did a good job of both but you be the judge and let me know what you think.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess