A New Year with New Movie Developments

I finally figured out (or was rather, reminded) another reason why the script is so important when making a movie.....resources.

Yes, I know it's been a few months since my last post. I'll touch on that in a few but first, let's discuss good ol' filmmaking.

After trying to find the motivation and time to write the script for a short movie that I plan on making within the upcoming weeks, I finally got up in the middle of the night and completed a rough outline for it. What started as an idea to create my own personal 48 hour film challenge to help move myself into action and become more productive has resulted in an exciting story that will hopefully be done by the end of January.

While the script may not be hard to complete in enough time to actually start production once I start typing it up, I realized a bit of a challenge during the outlining process. No matter how simple I tried to make the story be (and I mean, it's really simple...you could probably count the entire cast of characters on one hand), I'm still lacking the resources necessary to complete the main scenes in this movie. These resources include tangible items such as a manly styled vehicle, diamond ring and most importantly.......a location! I wanted a free one but it looks like I may have to rent one by just paying someone to leave their home for a few hours.

If anyone has any suggestions on where I can get these items, preferably for free, by all means, leave a comment with these suggestions.

Also, I'm seeking three male actors and two female actors. I'll likely find them through a network of colleagues so maybe the casting thing can be resolved quicker than the props and location. Well, here's to an upcoming week of shooting on the fly!

Now that we've covered the short movie project, let's discuss my posting frequency (or lack thereof), the status of this blog as far as updates go and what's in store for 2011.

Real life has gotten in the way of my film and art aspirations and that includes this blog. Trying to work and pay bills has left me with not much energy to post anything. I requested some guest contributors during the fall of 2010 but there weren't tons of people lined up to keep the Madlab Post active on a weekly basis. With the new year of 2011 here, I'm taking a more proactive approach to getting some guest contributors to balance out my infrequent posting habits as well as posting many of the dozen or more drafts that I've had sitting around and just never finished.

As mentioned previously around the time of my Blog Action Day posts, if any of you have something that you want to know regarding independent films, or even mainstream films for that matter, just leave a comment of what that is and that'll surely get the posts coming on here.

Speaking of movies.....I so want to check out "Blue Valentine"!

I've been waiting since December 31st and then like January 4th and then it appeared that "Blue Valentine" wasn't going to be released in many theaters and then a really cool film festival buddy gave me the goods on it's release today in the Tri-State area, so it's pretty messed up that it took an extra few weeks to be released but it's finally out in more theaters so it's all good!

Technorati Tags: happy, new, year,, filmmaking, in, 2011,, filmmaking,, blue, valentine,, scriptwriting,, short, movies,, short, film,, short, film, script,, scripts,, independent, film, scripts

It's Hot with Eddie Monster: A 21 Questions interview

The Comedy short It's Hot! has attracted a wide audience on Myspace and even won the Comedy award at the 2007 Casablanca FutureVision Film Festival. This short video is very comical and many of us can relate, whether you live in a warm climate like Texas or if you have experienced a heat wave or two. I took some time out to interview Eddie "Monster" Evans about the funny short.

What is the name of the movie that you worked on and what is it about?
Well the name of the film is ITS HOT. It is about a guy that is dealing with hot temps.

What is your role in the movie?
I play the role of the hot guy.

How did you get to play this role ?Well me and my partner/homeboy wrote the script for me.

What did you enjoy most about making this movie?
It was fun bringing your own ideas to life. In other words i liked everything about making it!! 4REAL!!

What was one of the funniest moments that occured on set while making the movie?
I think it would be the scene were i was waking up out of bed. We had to do that scene over and over. But it was funny having to wake up yelling over and over again.

What is your favorite scene in the movie?
Thats a hard one for me. So i will go with what i got the most laughs at from other people. Which was the fan scene that had one blade on it. LOL

Are there any Similarities between you and the character you play in this movie?
YES! We wrote the script from true events.

Have you been to any film festivals where this movie has screened?No.

What kind of food did you eat while on set?
To be honest, I do not remember.

Explain the typical work day while working on this movie.
It was cold. We filmed in february. It was alot of fun and laughing going on. But we were able to get alot done at the same time. We were focused MAN!!

What was your favorite line of dialogue in the movie?
Now thats HOT!!

Is there anything else that you would like movie fans to know about this movie or your character?
Well, jus enjoy the film.

Did you have fun making this movie?
4sho!! I mean yea.

What was your worst movie theater experience?
I think it would be when I got kicked out of the movies cause the people I was with, kept talking during the movie.

Should parents be allowed to bring young children to movie theaters?
I don't see why not. they are the kids parents.

If you could have chosen any character to play in a previously released Hollywood film, who would it be and why?
Let me see...SPIDER MAN/Peter Parker in SPIDER MAN 3. Cause he was able to be two different personalities in one film. SPIDER MAN and BLACK SPIDER MAN. Now that I make movies myself, i should just creat a two dementional characture on my own.

Have you done crew work or in any other areas of filmmaking? If so, what were they and on what movies?
Man I have done it all like grip, lighting, sound, camera, casting, and everything else. This is independent work!! I have on LIFES LITTLE GAPS, TIMMY, PRANK, BEYOND THE GLASS, PAPAS GONE MISSING, THE VENDING MACHINE, and some other ones but i just cant think of them at the moment. Sorry to the ones I missed.

Do you act in independent films for the money, for fame, because you are bored or for mere pleasure?
well I would like to make some money, I just havent yet. I dont need fame, but it could help me get to the money. I do get bored easy and it gives me something to do that is positive. I also love doing this. Is that a good answer?

Do you prefer Hollywood films, Independent films or a combination of the two?
A combination of both.

Do you have any other jobs aside from acting?
I have a 9 to 5. That pays the bills until I get alittle fame and then I get casted for a paying role. I have a warehouse job.

and the 21st questions is.....What is the strangest name of a person that you have ever heard?
Its this dude that I work with named Na. 4REAL!!

Did you see It's Hot? What is your most memorable experience with Hot weather conditions? Leave your comments below.

Images Owned By: J and E Productions

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A short film that is too short?

Recently, I found out about the Treasure Coast International Film Festival and put it on my watch list since the fees are not expensive to submit films to this festival. However, it seems that some shorts are just too short in the case of Lighten Up.

A notification arrived about one week ago regarding an upcoming deadline for this festival. I checked out the website, went through my inventory of a few Lighten Up DVDs letfover from my initial batch and then proceeded to submit this into the short film category, only to find a warning that Lighten Up is too short based on the film submission requirements of the Treasure Coast International Film Festival. I knew that short films submitted in the shorts category MUST NOT be longer than 45 minutes (or 25 minutes for students, go figure). What I did not know was that shorts could not be shorter than 2 minutes. The comedy, Lighten Up comes in somewhere around one minute and 30 seconds.

So this short, although it falls into the general "short film" classification in the entertainment world is not long enough for all film festivals. Lighten Up falls *short* (how ironic and annoying) of having a chance to screen at a film festival by 30 seconds. It is times like this that I am grateful for all of the online video websites that screen shorts whether they are 2 minutes or 10 seconds. Granted, you have to get through a lot of useless and corny videos to find the good ones but it is still a way to get comedies like Lighten Up out to an audience. By not waiting for film festivals, Lighten Up has been seen on Myspace, YouTube and the IFC medialab.
Thanks to all who have watched it (and extra thanks to those who have left feedback).
Being too short for the Treasure Coast International Film Festival is not a big deal right now. I will just have to make a note that some future short films and videos should at least be 2 minutes in order to take advantage of the opportunities out there on the film festival circuit.

Within the last 2 years, I have learned that short films can actually be too long. Now, I have also learned that they can be too short.

Photo: I know that it is pixelated, so what! That is all that can be posted right now. The Movie is more clear. Watch Lighten Up here.

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