Martha Marcy May Marlene Review

Martha Marcy May Marlene is an intriguing look at the life of a woman who has just escaped a pretty bizarre and dangerous commune of people. The very start of the film she decides to leave and from there we see her interactions with her sister and fiancee. The story is consistently switching back between Martha's life on the commune and life as it is now. This style of film making can get very confusing but the audience is very politely eased in to the past as well as the present from visual or audio cues and occasionally a slow fade out. It is a simple story and a very simple way of making a film but yet it is very effective and the 70s style tint over the film is a pretty cool touch. The acting is great, the story is shocking yet very believable, and the interactions between characters add to the alarm of the film. The ending many people feel leave you wanting more but to me it ends at a great point where you could decide to debate as to what would happen or accept the fact that this is where the film ends.

As great as the story and film itself are again I am going to harp on the sound design which is very lacking. At points during the film I would have to turn the volume up insanely high then instants later turn it back down because everything would get ear piercingly loud. Many of the shots are long takes but it seems like they didn't even boom because the things closer to the camera are really loud and the things further away are very quiet which hints at the fact that they may have used an on camera microphone. I pray this is not the case but the way everything sounds certainly suggests that. Other than that though everything else is a solid package. I say it is worth a watch if you can deal with a slow paced dramatic film. Otherwise it is not really for you.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Preordered The Canon 5D Mark III

So last night I got home and made the leap to preorder the new Canon 5D Mark III. After seeing the test videos and pictures online I couldn't wait to get my hands on this awesome new camera. This will be the first camera I have ever had that is equipped with a full frame sensor meaning much better quality looking videos. In addition the fact that now you can film for 29 minutes is amazing, and makes it a much easier sell in the world of videography. It will not get me a job like last fall filming football games but it will be able to at least get me some small jobs here and there. However the main point of getting this camera is to improve the overall quality of my films which will look even better than they did using the Canon T3I (and this camera blew me away so imagine the 5D).

The internet is ablaze for this camera and I am too, I can't wait until the day it ships and I am able to film/photograph with it. I am so excited!

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Submarine and Bellflower

I have been putting off two movie reviews for some strange reason, but without further ado here are reviews for Submarine and Bellflower.

Submarine: This film can best be described as a coming of age story that is not exactly coming of age...if that makes any sense. The film centers around a young school boy who doesn't exactly have a great life (in essence he is a loser). His home life is boring but not bad, it is just school that sucks from being bullied to the butt of all jokes. He soon falls in love with a strange girl named Jordana and in order to impress her he picks on a heavyset girl. His strategy works and he gets to "date," Jordana. Throughout most of the film we follow their relationship and at the same time the relationship of Oliver's parents who seem nothing short of his mom cheating on his dad. So while in his relationship he is trying to watch over his parents. After Jordana's mom gets diagnosed with cancer she wants Oliver to visit her mom in the hospital and when he does not show up or answer her calls she breaks up with him. The story goes from there but I don't want to spoil the rest.

The visuals in the film are quite good short of a few unnecessary zoom in and outs which I almost want to feel good about but I just hate zooms (personal nitpick of mine). There are some cool effects done such as the frame staying still while the camera pans around the screen. Overall the cinematography is pretty spot on and quite beautiful (especially the beach scenes between Oliver and Jordana). The acting is well done across the board and the dialogue is great. This film captures the awkwardness of young love and of discovering sexuality for the first time amazingly; the fast talking dialogue only enhances the great effect. The story is really well put together and keeps pace throughout. I even wanted to mention the typography used which was very French New Wave, so I do love that. The ending to me though was very poetic but it left me wanting a little bit more but it is a fun watch that is not hilarious or laugh a minute but I think you will get something out of it. Rent it sometime.

Bellflower: This is a film that is both great and flawed at the same time. The story centers around a guy named Woodrow and his best bud Aiden who want nothing more than to live in a post apocalyptic wasteland much like the one envisioned in Mad Max. Woodrow ends up finding love at a bar during a cricket eating competition with a girl named Milly. Their first date Milly wants to go to the worst restaurant Woodrow knows of which he claims is out in Texas, so from California they go all the way to Texas to eat at this terrible place. On the way back they decide to trade in a car for a home built motorcycle and everything is great. Fast forward to months later things aren't as great as they were, Woodrow seems suspicious of Milly who is keeping her phone away from him. He lies and tells her that he is going to be away for a few days and then hours later comes back home to discover her having sex with another man. Things blow up and Woodrow speeds off where he is hit by a car on his motorcycle (which he is wearing no protection on). Now Woodrow has to deal with a terrible injury and the fact that Milly was cheating on him. From there comes some pretty shocking elements of the film which simmer down to a very almost silent style ending.

As far as the film goes the style and storytelling I both love! The story is great and is filled with the whole emotions of being a young adult, finding yourself in the world, and the downfalls of relationships. The way in which everything comes to a close is a very almost Fight Club kind of ending where you question all of what happened at the end, for me it was a great moment of realization that is a metaphor to me for the uncertainty of life as a young adult. The biggest issue and flaw of this film to me was sound design which I felt was really badly done, I don't know if it was a boom issue or microphone issue or even a post issue but the sound was like listening into a tin can at times. I had 150 dollar headphones in, the nice ones and it sounded bad which is a shame because the visuals and storytelling are awesome. The acting is good throughout except almost at the very end which felt like the actors didn't know what to do (maybe it was the first day of shooting). That being said it is still a great movie to watch especially if you are a young adult. Find it somewhere online and give it a look see.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Canon 5D Mark III

So today it has been announced...the new Canon 5D Mark III! I looks amazing and it has a lot of great new features on it that should make video recording even better! This is exactly what I have been waiting for and the whole reason behind me selling my Sony HXR NX5U. I am going to talk more with a film friend of mine tonight and if he says it is worth all the money I am going to pre order it tonight...assuming it is not all sold out by then. This is going to be an awesome camera to have not only for my stills but also for shooting sweet video. The ultimate goal is to be able to shoot Voicebox using this camera if I can have it by then and if that all works out I will be one happy camper! I just hope everything goes well.

Find out more about the Canon 5D Mark III here!

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

February is Over

So the month of February has finally come to a close and I think this past month held many ups and downs for To Tony Productions. It was a busy month from the beginning since I was focusing very heavily on the photography side of things and got to do two actors headshots and even semi booked a third one which I have to follow up on tomorrow to make sure it is still happening. In addition I made more headway in my zombie film Love is Undead which has been slow and steady for the most part (that is something that I would for sure like to have done by the end of March). Also I finished up my first script since the summer for my upcoming short film Voicebox which I am still in the pre production phases of it. My first ever music video was released this month to a lot of positive feedback and I must say I couldn't be happier about that. With that being said the music video lead to my first write up in The Towerlight since 2009 which was huge for me. Just yesterday I booked two more music videos in May which is very exciting.

All in all February was a good month to me and I hope in March to release my zombie short film and to be 100% ready for the production of Voicebox. Other than that I also hope to get more photography gigs and to work better on the technical side of the camera.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Accomplishments of the Day

So today was a good mix of both relaxation and getting business done. All day was basically spent with my girlfriend Ashley, just lounging around and what not but in the evening I had two meeting with local musicians about upcoming music videos. Both meetings boiled down to shooting after I graduate which would be in May, so about mid May to Early June trying to knock it all out of the way. So that means potentially by the end of this year (as far as from now until June) I would have made 3 music videos and 2 short films which would be a new record for content created for myself. Things are really looking bright and hopeful and as long as this track stays true for me it will be a great year.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Gearing Up

So I finally worked out things on my script and I have an official official final script done for Voicebox a film that I think can achieve greatness as long as it done well. I am very excited and watching the Oscars got me all thinking about the day that maybe I could go to the awards! That would be amazing. However I think they should totally have an award for best experimental film or short film at the Oscars but maybe that would make them too mainstream or something. I don't know.

Anyway I am very happy to have been featured in the Towerlight newspaper yesterday and it has been the first time since my first short film Abuse that I have had a story in the newspaper. So I have been having a lot of good fortune lately which I am very grateful for, I just hope it can keep going for a little bit.

Anything else...oh yeah I also sent the music video for Hello! to The Other Venice Film Festival out in California which has a category for judging music videos and I submitted it just for the hell of it. I think I may have mentioned it before but here it is again I guess. Otherwise things are just slowly building up to April when I hope to shoot the film.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Newspaper Feature!

I was featured in today's issue of The Towerlight, Towon University's school newspaper. Check out the article!

Student directs music video

26 February 2012 By Eva Niessner, Staff Writer No Comments

 

Daniel Hess is no stranger to the world of filmmaking. His short “Spiritus” won the 2011 72-hour Film Festival, sponsored by the University Residence Government and Lambda Kappa Tau; his film “Gas Guzzlers” screened at Towson in December 2010, and his film “Nina” was a finalist in the Baltimore 48-Hour Film Project competition.
But until now, music videos were unexplored territory for Hess. The Towson University senior made the video for rapper Kane Mayfield’s song “Hello!”
Hess made contact with Mayfield through his audio production class.
“My professor was Brandon Lackey, who was a co-owner and producer at Mania Music Group,” Hess said. “I thought it was awesome that he made beats and worked with rappers, so I started coming to the studio and filming their recording sessions, then live shows, and now music videos. Kane was always there and even though he seemed intimidating at first, he is a really cool guy and fun to work with.”
Hess said shooting the film was grueling.
“We shot in New York, D.C., Virginia and Federal Hill,” he said. “The New York trip was the craziest, since we stayed up there all day going from Manhattan, to Brooklyn, to Times Square. That same night, we had to go up to a party where a bunch of famous producers were sampling never-before-heard beats, and we were there until about 3 a.m.”
The video also has a deeper meaning, Hess said.
“I wanted to dedicate this video, and in fact all of my videos, to my cousin Anthony Ranocchia III, who I named my production company [To Tony Productions] after,” Hess said. “He passed away from cystic fibrosis at age 14, when I was 10, and he was my best friend. He is the one who motivates me to keep working hard, because I know if he were alive today, he would be making a difference in the world. That is all he ever wanted to do.”
Though Hess says he could see himself making music videos professionally, it wouldn’t be his dream career.
“It would difficult for me, because to me, video production is an art I take very seriously and I love to tell deep and intricate stories,” said Hess. “It is a tough field to get into and I have worked in nearly every aspect of video production, because in this industry you can’t be picky. You have to take the jobs that are offered, and if right now it is my time to make music videos, I am more than happy to do so.”
“Hello!” is now available on Vimeo and YouTube.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Film Festival Time

So today when I woke up I was really checking out film festivals again for submitting Love is Undead which I am still just about done and for some reason I really wanted to submit some of my work to a festival. After a little while of debating I decided to send off my music video for Hello! by Kane Mayfield, just because I don't want to regret not doing it. I still regret not sending out Gas Guzzlers to any festivals to this day and I didn't want to do it again. I figured even if I don't get accepted at least I tried, no harm no foul. That was my morning.

After that I worked all day and tried to figure out more details for my short film but didn't accomplish much beyond that. Hoping tomorrow goes better in the afternoon but I fear thanks to this crappy work schedule I won't get back on track until Monday which sucks.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Exciting News

So last night I got an email from a certain reporter from The Towerlight asking me if I would like to answer a few questions about my experience creating the video for Hello by Kane Mayfield. I was more than willing to and I am super excited to find out if this is going to make newspaper pages, because if so that would be amazing! I can't wait to find out more!

In other news I met with my professor about my upcoming short Voicebox and he really enjoyed the script and think that it will make for a great short film. I need to add a few little details to the script but otherwise things are going right on schedule with production. I can't wait to get past all the pre production and get into actually shooting the film!

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Searching for our Journey

We sat blind that night,

The past behind us,

But nothing in front of us,

We had no direction,

Our parents didn't care,

They moved on without us,

We thought it wasn't fair,

But that lack of knowledge,

Made the adventure that much more fun,

And in the end we all found the path that lead to happiness,

The worst thing we could do was sit down and stare,

After we stopped looking and just followed our hearts,

Things were much better,

I think I owe the ones who left me behind an apology,

For they were leading me the entire time.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Finishing Script

So after a few days of disgust at the fact that I had to finish a script and also a treatment I finally got back to work today. After about an hour and a half of writing I finished up the first draft of my script for Voicebox which I think has a nice blend of drama, humor, and action. It isn't too fast paced and doesn't take itself too seriously at least to me. Thursday I am meeting with my directed study professor to go over it and any possible changes that need to be made. I am hoping to get the script done before the end of February and then March is all for preplanning out the movie itself. Things are right on track and so far I am very happy.

In other news I have to finalize the treatment for my next music video and also meet with another band about a future music video which seems pretty promising.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Chronicle Review

This Saturday I saw the film Chronicle with my girlfriend Ashley and I was very impressed. Going in to the film I was very nervous because of the way it was filmed (in the style of found footage). I was nervous by this because it is very easy for filmmakers to take the easy route with this style that being the typical ending of breaking the camera, footage stopping, wtf, the end. That drives me nuts and I am happy to report this does not happen in the film Chronicle thankfully. What does happen is a pretty fast paced film that seems to make all the right turns in storytelling. Introducing us to the correct characters at the best points and even taking a step out of the found footage realm and into what I think is an amazing first step for this type of filmmaking. In the film not only do we see the footage captured from out protagonist's camera but also the cameras of everyone involved in the story or watching the story unfold. For instance at a party scene a young girl is recording the main character Andrew and we switch between his recording and her recording of the conversation. This is a genius way of getting a two shot in a movie made like this. The most genius moment is towards the end where there is a big showdown so Andrew grabs the phones, ipads, and cameras of everyone recording the big battle and now we see about 8 or 9 different angles of what is going on. This is something many will watch and enjoy but the fact that the filmmakers took advantage of a world where everyone has a camera is quite amazing. This film is clever, funny, dramatic, and inspirational all at once and so far this year it is the best film to go see. If you haven't already you should go out and watch Chronicle!

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Side Work

This weekend was all about side work. On Saturday I filmed 2 monologues for a local actor from the DMV area. He did a great job and the monologues turned out awesome for what he was looking for. I finished up the DVD menus and all just a few minutes ago and tomorrow will be shipping it out to him. It was great to work on a small project like this and to get to know another local actor. It is great that I have been able to work with so many actors on something other than a film set, a lot more relaxed.

I am still on the verge of completion of Love is Undead and now that I got my Tascam DR-100 field recorder I can record the zombie vocals for the film. After that it is just a matter of making them work and then getting it all done. I am very excited to have it all finished up!

In a final bit of news tomorrow I am going to try to record a little short clip to promote donations for my upcoming film Voicebox. My goal is to get $3,000 to $3,500 dollars but I would be just happy with anything over $1,000 just to be able to pay crew. I don't know how things are going to go and I am very nervous so we will see.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

First Experimental Film

This is my very first experimental film. It had to involve no camera and tell no story. What do you get out of this video?



Insert User Experience from Daniel Hess on Vimeo.