Made It Back

Well I just got back from my New York trip about two hours ago with my man Kane Mayfield. We were up there shooting some video content for an upcoming song he has which was a lot of fun. We hit a lot of big spots around New York including Times Square, PNC radio, Fader magazine, and Penn Station. It was a lot of fun but mad mad draining on the body. I got to take my first subway ride which at first was a little nerve wracking since I never did if before but after a few times I got the hang of it. Also I got to take my first New York taxi cab ride through the city which was fun because cabs have a cool little tv in the back with trivia questions and cool things like that. You can also pay by credit now which was pretty sweet.

We got up there at a little after noon because the bus was some crappy thing from way back when and the driver kept having to pull to the side to let it reset itself. The way back was a breeze but we had to wait from about 3 am to 6:30 am before we got the next Megabus back home. We spent the time in Dunkin Donuts which is a very interesting place at night in New York. We were at a party before that for some big name producers at PNC radio which was cool because I got to here their beats and that went on from about 8:30pm to 1:30am. I was really tired at that point so I just laid down as much as could in the other rooms away from the party.

I didn't even mention the most amazing meal of my life in New York. After hours of shooting at around 3 or 4pm we finally went to get something to eat at this pizza place. It was $10.30 for two slices of pepperoni pizza and a big water, but it was so worth it because I was starving. The whole thing was like eating a little bit of heaven and I haven't felt that good about a meal since after like MayhemFest 3 years ago or however long that was. I had a blast in New York and it was just as much of a vacation as it was work but I was glad I worked up the courage to go. Thanks again to Kane Mayfield for showing me all the hot spots and making this video run real smooth so far.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Today is the Trip

So as of right now it is almost 6 am and I am getting everything ready for my trip up to New York. I am catching the megabus at 8:15 and will be there at around 11:35am. It is a video shoot day as well as a big meeting day for the artist I am riding up with. It is sure to be an exciting time just hate that is the middle of winter, it is going to be freezing up there. I just gotta bundle up and shoot some video content. Got more packing to do so I will update you guys on how the trip went tomorrow. Short and sweet today.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

New York Trip

As I type I am planning out tomorrows trip up to New York which would involve me and two good friends leaving Baltimore at 8:15am getting there at 11:45am and then we wouldn't depart until 1:15 am that morning. I just hope I can get everything ready before then. It is going to be a fun trip but the mix of cold weather and camera gear never like to mix well. We should be able to get good footage still.

This will be my first trip to the heart of New York, as my last trip was only to the Statue of Liberty. I am equal parts nervous and excited as with all my trips. On the drive up I am going to try to finish up my take home final for school and then on the way back...maybe...try and edit this corporate video project which has been a thorn in my side. That is pretty much my weekend in a nutshell. Sunday I am just going to sleep to recover and Monday I might edit some more.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

School is Almost Out

School is almost over and I am very happy. Tomorrow is my last kinda full day of the semester since I have a final from 12:30 to 2 and 3:30 to 6. However the second of the two is just a presentation so it is all good. I still have to edit my corporate video project which I am totally wayyyy behind on but it is all good. Also I have to complete a take at home final due by Monday at 5pm. I should be able to breeze by all that soon though.

This Saturday was supposed to be the day for the samurai video shoot, but that had to be pushed back since my DP and myself are very busy; AND I didn't get all the props in yet from Amazon. I got some today, not fully what I expected but it is cool, I am going to try to put it all together and I think it will still look good.

Instead of going out and shooting this video Saturday I am instead going up to New York with a musical artist/good friend of mine Mr. Mayfield and we are going to get some footage for a certain upcoming music video. This will be my first time in New York so it is sure to be a fun time plus there are going to be some big things going down up there as well, so I am excited.

Other than that really not a whole lot going down, just focusing on school and seeing things coming up on the horizon.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Social Experiment Over

Last night after all that time working in my Craigslist social experiment I decided to walk away...I entered into a dark world that I didn't know I would be getting into. I began to get used to the world of my computer and it became a new reality. Instead of just leaving it at one post I kept posting to the m4w section in casual encounters. Not because I was looking to actually hook up but because I guess I wanted people to be interested  in me or something like that. I just kept it up until craigslist wouldn't even let me post anymore, it was ridiculous. Then all the other sites I got dragged to because of the emails I did get, which all turned out to be scams. I ended up at this strange adult webcam site too which turned out better for my research project because I interviewed one of the girls on there about why she does it.

After all that time online I finally had enough and asked my girlfriend Ashley to come down so that I could get myself away from it. It was a dark time that I would never repeat again.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Social Experiment Day 2

Into the second day of my social experiment and last night I posted up as a man looking for women on craigslist, which was very different than what I expected. At first I got almost no responses actually overall I get little to no responses from the post. The main issue is every 5 seconds there are million more posts that go up, so at the end of the day it gets lost in the shuffle. When I did get responses they were just teasing style messages that were from girls (at least it seemed that way to me), however I took it a step further by responding to see where it went  and I found that most of these things led to websites where I would need to give my credit card information. Once I got to this step for a second it didn't seem that bad but I caught myself and was like no this is a scam...I can be pretty dumb sometimes. I have tried it a few times and have only really gotten a response from one woman who was actually looking and then all she wanted was a d*ck pic which I was like noooooooo way. This is a research project for school but I am not putting it out there like that. I can get into my role well but that was a step too far for me.

So that has been my experience so far with the casual encounters section of craigslist, it is a strange strange place on the internet.

Writing a paper but this was my pause from it. Back to film related things soon, now it is time to end this semester of school.

Thanks for the support,
Dan 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

Could Barely Wait

I almost couldn't wait to post this before midnight, but I held it back until now.

So today I had my interview which went great, it was about an hour long but after it was all done we came to the conclusion that I should wait until February to try and start due to the crazy schedule of the minimester. So when February comes around I will hit him back up and start the internship.

After that I went to the premiere of Fang a horror comedy film directed by Jonathan Boushell. It was a very funny cheesetastic picture that had a definite life of its own which is hard to find in a student film. I hope Mr. Boushell continues making pictures and growing as an artist he has a lot of talent. Everything was great about it, and I was glad to have been invited.

Tonight I ordered all the items to decorate the set for my samurai film which has transformed from a music video to a standalone story which will be super short but hopefully come out pretty bad ass. I just hope for post I can find a voice actor who can speak Japanese, that would be great. I am happy it is all coming together and by the end of the year I should have two solid short films which is an awesome accomplishment. I think with these last two it will make 4 short films in one year! 2011 has been great to To Tony Productions.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Premieres and Fears

Tonight I am going to go up to the premiere of the film Fang which everyone should try to make it up to. It is being held at Towson University in Van Bokkelen Hall at 7:30pm tonight. I am sure it will be good and anything I can do to support local Maryland artists/filmmakers I try and do. I am sure it is going to be a great film and a few of the actors I have worked with in the past will be in it.

It is happening around the same time as the Gas Guzzlers premiere last year which was held on 12-10-10.

Also in about an hour and a half I have an interview for an internship, the one I was supposed to have last week until I went to the wrong building without realizing it. However I am not too worried about it since I think I have strong chance of getting it, but ya never know. I am debating whether to take it because I gotta call a guy who is looking for an extra photographer at his studio, which would be paid, I think I will take that over the two.

We will see though what happens, with the way my life works what seems to be a solid deal never ever ever is, but at least I can say there is never a dull moment.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Head Shot Special

I have noticed that a lot of places charge a pretty good chunk of change to do actors headshots, which I think is pretty ridiculous. I have always been one to think of art as something more of an exchange but in some ways I have to abandon that notion if I do wanna actually make a living, so I thought of a pretty good in between. The answer for me was to only charge $50 to do head shots and edit the photos. The only part I am leaving to you the people is printing, but I will cover pretty much everything else. For $50 you are getting professional level photos which I can promise you will be happy with.

I have professional camera gear and lenses (the gem being the 35mm L lens I have). If you are interested you can email me at mind_confided@yahoo.com or give me a call at 443-683-1185. If I don't pick up just feel free to leave a voicemail and I will get back to you.

Thank you for the support,
Daniel Hess

A Day For Editing

Today is a day reserved for editing a corporate video for my Corporate Video class, at least up until I have to go to work in the afternoon. I have not been able to start editing until now because of all the set backs of losing my computer and other projects going on at once. I hope I can get done a solid rough cut today that I can show the professor tomorrow because a final copy is due either the 13th or the 19th, can't really remember which one. I know I have been nothing but frustrating to work with from my partners perspective because at the beginning of the semester I had such a severe work injury I couldn't really help with the filming side, then when it comes my time to edit my computer dies. It has been that kind of semester.

In addition to that my ninja costume and sword comes in today, I hope the sword is big but I am worried it is not going to be because it was only 25 bucks, but it is so bad ass looking I think that may make up for it. We will see though.

I got a lot of things due over the next week, got a final coming up, this video, and I think two term papers. Just taking it one day at a time, and waiting until the last minute to do it all.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Feeling Better

Well this weekend and last night have made me feel much, much, much, much better. I went over to my friends house last night and within five seconds he was able to retrieve the memory off of my hard drive which has been my biggest worry all this time since my computer crashed out. I am so thankful that he was able to help me even though it kept him up late and he had to get up early today. If he missed class then my apologies to him.

Now that I got that out of the way I can go back to concentrating on my samurai video, which is still coming together. The crazy sword for it as well as the ninja costume should be shipping in tomorrow, as far as the samurai costume it hasn't even been processed yet which is worrying me since I ordered it on Friday. I emailed the company and hopefully it will all be resolved soon. Other than that I have principal photography coming up on the 14th and then the shoot on the 17th. I hope to have a fitting day for both actors sometime this week coming up if I can get all the costumes in.

Also after Friday I should be able to give my friend all the computer and have a new build sometime early next week, depending on how fast he can put it all together. Either way all the loose ends that seemed to be impossible to fix are getting fixed, thanks to good friends.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Getting Ready

Well tonight is going to be the night where I drop off my computer for evaluation by a good friend of mine. Hopefully he will have good news and be able to get all he can off of the hard drive for me. If not though, it will hurt but I feel as though I will be able to move forward with everything I need to do. For the most part I have all the documents I need so I am fortunate to say the least.

Right now I am worried that the costumes/props I bought will not get here in time for the video shoot, it is about 12 days away and I have not gotten any updates in shipping, so I hope by the end of this business day or the next they ship the items out so they get here on time. I am sticking with the samurai theme for this video and while I am getting a little bit of flack from the guys at the studio I think I can make something good, as long as the schedule works out well for my DP/Cameraman since I am counting on him big time.

We will see how it all goes.

Thanks for the love,
Daniel Hess

Updating...Finally

Well this week has been all about updating my set up, thanks to my computer dying last Sunday. Last night with the help of a friend from work I ordered parts for a new computer setup, which he is willing to build for me which is awesome. This includes:

Intel i 720 2600k sandybridge
Western Digital Caviar Green 2 TB
OCZ Vertex 3 120gb
MSI P67AGD53
Nvidia Quadro FX 1800
Corsair XMS3 2x4gb 2 sets
Antec 750w

Total is about $1,450 which is about what I paid for my last build but I get a lot more power for editing in this one. The flaw in my last build was that is was made for more like an all around machine to do both editing and gaming. My interests have obviously changed so I am going with purely editing, not gaming machine what so ever.

In addition to that last night I also purchased Adobe Production Premium CS5 from the Academic Superstore for only $395 which is awesome, because I was trying out the demo on this labtop not optimized for editing at all and it runs great so it will be spectacular on my new build. Now to just get the memory off my old build which I hope that my friend is able to do and then on to the new one.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

November is Over

November what a truly strange and different month you were. It was a month for me to be on a film set which was a blast, I got to boom and help out with gear...it was fun. You were my transition from doing so much sports videography to getting back into the realm of making films. I finally finished up Love is Undead and was editing like a champ until my computer died (it is ok computer, you are in a better place and your upgrade will be truly incredible). I had my first interview for a film related job which was an amazing experience to gain (I may not have gotten the job but it is ok). As you have gone away the 1st of December is another interview for an internship, which I am praying I get. But thanks November for being there, to teach me so much more than I have learned in a long time. Thank you Everett Glovier for letting me on your set and teaching me so much, and continuing to help me despite the fact that at first I probably sounded like a dick. 

On that note yesterday my meeting with a local country artist went really well. It sounds like I got the job for doing album/promo photography and I am super excited. It will be a chance to get some more credit out there and a chance to work with more people subjects, which I don't get to do very often. I have a few ideas in mind and I can't wait to try them out.

Waiting to get my computer memory taken out so then I a friend of mine can build me a new awesome PC. Hopefully everything goes according to plan.

Thanks for the support,

Daniel Hess