Haunting Ground

Without further ado here are the photos from my latest photoshoot with Mary. This shoot she did cosplay as Fiona, the title character from the survival horror game Haunting Ground. Not many people do cosplay from this game and to her knowledge she is the only one she knows of that has done it, so it was awesome to be able to do photography for such a unique character.

Random Movie Fact: The 2007 film Hot Rod, shares almost the exact same basic plot line as Dirty Work, which also starred then-current cast members of "Saturday Night Live". Both films are centered around an unsuccessful young man attempting to raise $50,000 for his father, a cranky ex-boxer, to have a heart transplant.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Demo Reel!

Here is the official To Tony Productions demo reel for this year! It is all the best from TTP since starting back in 2009. Enjoy the reel and leave any feedback you can.



Demo Reel - To Tony Productions from Daniel Hess on Vimeo.

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

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

A lot on the Horizon

So as I look out today I see a lot places I can go for a long term freelance goal. Today I made a call to a company a friend of a friend said might be hiring, I called today and the owner is on vacation but tomorrow he is going to look at my email and set up a time to meet with me, hopefully this can work out. I have re negotiated things on two of my three upcoming music videos to get enough money to not lose money on everything, so essentially I am just breaking even which is still ok at this point. In addition I have this job editing which gets me a cool hundred per video I complete which is a nice thing to have as well. Also I am really trying to push the concert filming/music video production end of things here which I hope picks up soon. Finally, I got approached by a guy who does high end concert filming that I hope I can work with soon on some gigs as well.

There are also some other things that are just in talks right now so I don't want to give out too much before I know more. However I think things are moving along nicely and with the money I have gotten selling stuff plus my last two paychecks at my job I think I will be safe at least for a little bit. I just have to spend like no money for a while.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Time is Coming Near

The time is coming near where I will not have an ordinary day job anymore and will have to rely on my freelance work to support me and that time would be May 14th to be exact. I am excited to be leaving my day job but at the same time almost extremely scared just because I have no idea what the future holds for me and the bills don't stop rolling in. Lucky for me I have some things in the works like a few music videos which I am hoping to get a little bit of money out of and I have an editing job which looks like I can make about a hundred a vid on which is kinda low but I will take what I can get right now to be honest. In the long term I am hoping to be able to get another day job that is either full time or offers just more to it. I mean I love video work but I also need to have a reliable pay check...but who knows maybe I will get enough video work in music videos or weddings or concerts to make a living off of. We will have to wait and see.

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

Video Portion Done

So the video portion of Voicebox is all done and it is almost exactly 14 minutes long before credits. I finally finished the first rough cut up and it looks pretty sweet and the prom scene which I thought may have been a total disaster didn't look half bad once it was all cut up. I think it has an emotional impact and it has a very compelling story that is simple yet complicated with each of the main characters lives being filled with large issues. To me it feels like a feature but plays as a short film which I think is what every short film strives for. It certainly doesn't look like a student film at all, it looks like a professional production! So I am excited I hope everyone else is excited, I can't wait to show it off to the world. I want to have a big screening for it!

Other news today, after going back to work yesterday for the first time in a while I think I came to a nice consensus with myself. I have decided to go with the route of only working three days a week at work (Mon., Tues., Weds.) and then having the rest of the week off to focus on film work and also booking other gigs. In the end I won't be working as much, but can still get something in the form of a steady paycheck and then at the same time commit enough energy to my film work. I am also selling all my video game stuff which I sold my Dreamcast + games today for $50 so I am happy.

Oh finally I wanted to say that I officially can not stand the way my immediate family (father and mother) view this film stuff. I was going into work yesterday and you would have thought that I was going off to my new job as a lawyer or something. My mom was so happy telling me to have fun and crap but when I tell her I am doing a film or even show her footage from this awesome project she shows no emotion and doesn't even seem to care. I mean I work a dead end job cleaning pots right now she shouldn't be cheering for me to even go to this craphole but yet she is.

Sorry I got off on a rant today but trust me I am in a great mood today!

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

I Have Been Giving it a Lot of Thought

Well I have been thinking about it a lot and I think  I am going to put my two weeks in at work on May 4th. I have been working there since about 2007 I think and in that time have gained a lot of experience and skills that will serve me well in life. However, I just can't see myself moving forward with this job after I graduate, I mean I clean dishes/pots/pans for hours on end, that is pathetic. I am someone who is trying to become a director, I need something better to do with my time. Eventually I would like to become a professor of film but for now I just want to find something else to do with my time. I am going to push a lot harder to work on this freelance stuff but other than that I may just have to find a new day job (one that is not anywhere near a kitchen). After taking all this time off from work I see the true love for film I have, I mean even a shitty day filming still beats a great day at work because at work nothing is truly a great day. My work just is filled with kids and that is the way they treat everyone, I am not a kid anymore so it is my turn to grow up and be an adult. I don't know where to go from here but it is time for me to take that plunge.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

So Happy

So happy to finally have the cast all picked out and on board for this film. I now officially have everyone down and set to go. Now all I have left to do is to finalize all the locations and make a schedule for shooting. After that I have to get on my director grind and then storyboard all the shots out. Making that leap is going to be hard...from producer to director. If I screw up then that is going to make the film disastrous, which I don't think is going to happen but I have to stay confident and calm in my abilities. Otherwise it looks like another long weekend for me at work 12 hour shift tomorrow then 8 to 3 Sunday, I might try to stay a little bit later to get some more money but who knows. I hate working so much but I have to do it in order to be ready for the heavy financial burden of this film. It is crazy how all these hours at work will be washed away in a manner of two weekends of filming. But it is going to worth it when I am all done...you will see. Sorry if I have not been putting up the greatest of content on here, I will have an experimental film and a ton of pictures once my Canon 5D Mark III comes in, just a matter of days.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Sorry for the Wait

So the past few days have just turned into a blur so my apologies for not posting up any new updates on the things going on over here. Well I am meeting with the facility supervisor on March 27th to talk about using the Center for the Arts building at Towson University so with a mix of good luck I will be able to use the lockers there to have it look like a high school. If all goes amazing then I will be able to use that building for the hallway shots, classroom, and perhaps even the cafeteria scenes in my film. I am very excited and the lady I am talking to sounds pretty optimistic about making it happen.

Also I have been working a ton all weekend again, Saturday I worked a 12 hour shift and today I worked from 8 to 3 so back to back early morning days which is tough especially working such a physical job (Not complaining...just saying). Also it was me and my girlfriends 4 year anniversary on Friday so we were out and about all day. It has been four long years but years I would never trade for the world. I love her so much and wouldn't trade her for the world.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Worked Too Much

This weekend was too much work for me. No time to do anything since I worked a 12 hour shift Saturday and a 6 hour shift today. Then when I got home I ran like 3 miles just to get my aggression out from the weekend. It has been frustrating so far trying to get cast together for this Voicebox film. I seem to make headway and then things seem to backfire everytime. I mean slowly but surely things will get there I know it but the series of highs and lows sucks big time. I know it will work out.

In other news I watched Hesher today and it was totally sad, review for it coming up tomorrow or tuesday.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Loading Up On Work

Now that school has started and my schedule is completely set I am really trying to give myself a lot of work which is turning out to not be a hard thing at all. As of right now I am still applying finishing touched to Love is Undead; which has the music set, 95% of the audio is done, color correction is great, now all I need is the blood/bullet fx, some foley work, and end credits. Also I am getting a little push from my friend over at Mania Music Group to try and do his next music video before SXSW in March. This would normally be possible but the song in which he wants to do a video for is a bit tricky and I am trying to come up with a way to do it without it being cliche. Also still booking as always for Headshot packages so anyone out there looking please hit me up whenever either on here or by email at mind_confided@yahoo.com

In other news the music video for Hello by Kane Mayfield is dropping this Monday on either youtube or vimeo. I can't wait for everyone to see it and let me know what they think of it. It is my first video content dropping in a long long time.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Trying to Keep Track

It has been pretty hard to keep track of everything these past few days. Really just about scheduling everything and staying on top of everyone. For Saturday things have changed around a ton and they are still changing constantly, it seems like everytime I get online the way the photo sessions keep happening are different. I don't even know if everyone is going to be there, it is tough and I am just always sending messages like "Are you still down?" Then I get asked more questions about everything and then pause...ask it again...back to more questions lol. I just need straight answers from people.

Enough about that though, as far as other work I found out that I gotta turn in this corporate video to my teacher before the end of the first four weeks of the semester or I fail the class. That would suck so I gotta get on top of that. Plus I really gotta get Love is Undead finished up before the 10th if I want to get it into the Sacramento Horror Film Festival. Also after all those photo sessions I have to edit the pictures quickly because the actors need them for auditions that are right around the corner. So again I am going from a dull period to a busy one...I also have to see about doing my second music video which I wanna be able to shoot in February and get done by early March at the latest. Again...we will see.

A lot of work is coming my way again which is strange because I guess the whole semester starting and making me wanna work hard again is why I am booking all of this freelance stuff. Over break I didn't want to do anything but then again my mojo was gone then as well. Thanks mojo for coming back when the semester is here and I totally scheduled way too many hard classes lol. Nah I love it!

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

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

Last Day of the Minimester

Well today is the last day of the minimester for me here at Towson University and I couldn't be anymore excited to be honest. After today I have all week off of work and school which it seems is already getting booked up with film jobs and hang out times lol. It is crazy that I have to schedule hang out times even if I have been doing it for a while it is still pretty crazy to me. I remember when I could get outta school and everyone would just hang out and do their thing. Now it is like hey what you doing tonight followed by either oh working or nothing lets chill or we figure it out days ahead of time. It sucks and it is irritating at the same time that our lives are dictated by such a thing as a job. I guess these are the questions everyone asks around this time in life. I think we question and question until due to lack of responses we just accept everything.

Sorry for that side conversation with myself. Yeah today in about 20 minutes I am going to turn in my final project which was the same thing as the last one but I had to create stills instead of finding them. Then after that I take the final quiz which will be 20 questions, maybe hear some lecturing in between or after and that is the end of that. From there it is a week of freedom! I can't wait.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Social Experiment

So yesterday I was mainly just working all day, nothing really crazy going on until last night really.

For class I decided to go on craigslist and post something on the casual encounters not as myself but as someone completely different just to see what kind of responses I would get. The results were pretty amazing so far, I still have a few more posts to go but last night blew me away. It was crazy just to see the extreme people were willing to go just for the slim chance of certain things. The speed in which it was all received and the shear volume of responses was insane. In the end it is turning out to be a great end of year project to say the least but a little disturbing at the same time.

Other than that it was a typical long work day where I just thought about nothing more than quitting, but who doesn't have that fantasy sometimes. Ordered all the props for the samurai video shoot, but shipping could be anywhere from the 15th to the 20th, which worries me because I planned the shoot all around the 17th...

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess