Hello 2012!!!!

Well it's been a few months since we have updated the blog. A lot of stuff has happened since then. So let me fill you in. 

Gas Mask

First off, we thank everyone for showing your support for the project. Unfortunately we could not find a location that was satisfactory to us and the window of opportunity was getting smaller and smaller to the point that I decided to postpone the production till the winter passes. I did not want to compromise the vision of the film. When we started the project, I felt that it was a way to showcase the talents of those involved. Some might say it is better to get it out there, but I felt if we were going to raise money for it through Kickstarter. I have an obligation to those that donated their hard earned money, to put our best foot forward and make something amazing. Why push through something mediocre?

But don't worry.  It will happen that much is for sure.  We are having a meeting next week with someone who is interested in helping produce the film.  More too come.....

So we took a few months off that project and turned our attention to the film we shot last summer.

Demons Cross: The Housesitter

After a 16 day shoot last summer, we hired ourselves an editor. Doug Plomitallo. Doug is a great filmmaker that has strong roots in the horror genre.  He runs a cool website over at www.scaredstiff.tv where he showcases his scary short films, so make sure you check it out!  He is a very talented individual and we are happy with the progress of the film so far.  We just watched a rough cut of the film and it is coming along just nicely.  There is still a lot of work to be done but the basic skeleton of the movie is laid out.




This weekend we will meeting with Jeff to discuss the music.  He has been eager to work on this and we are extremely happy that he has come aboard the project.  His work on the Gasmask score is just amazing and we can't wait to see what he comes up with for this film.

We ran a kickstarter campaign for the post production of the film and raised almost 5K.  Check it out here.   It's was an educational experience since we have never raised funds for a project.   It is definitely some thing we will be using for the Gasmask project in the coming months.   We want to thank everyone who gave a little to the project.  It really means a lot to us here and those at Greentown Pictures.

As you can see from some of the production stills it was a huge job.  We had a lot of people on the set.  If you want to learn more about the film. please make sure you check out the movie's website.  www.greentownpictures.com you can see more production stills there.

Well that is all for now.  I will try to post up a minute or two of the rough cut in the next couple of weeks if I can.  We are scheduled for a few pick up shots next week so I'll see what I can do.  Also We might have a guest blogger coming soon.  
See ya!

Gabriela Manrique: Set Photographer

Born in Perú, Gabriela’s parents moved to the United States in August 1988, looking to start a new life in hopes of new opportunities for their 2 children.

They settled in Jamaica Queens, New York.  With little English, Gabriela made friends, went to school and was able to adapt to her new environment easily.  The opportunity of seeing the world was through her friends, who all came from different parts of the world.

Making her parents proud, Gabriela finished with a Bachelors on Communications, focusing on Multi Media at Marymount Manhattan College in the upper east side of Manhattan.  She liked questioning and learning and so it was easy for her to graduate with honors, earning her to be part of the Communications Honor Society, Lambda Pi Eta.

Gabriela has an affinity for color and urban life.  She functions with a spontaneous spirit.  Most of her childhood she felt misunderstood, and because of it, she felt mostly confused of her randomness. But through time and circumstances, she was able to explore mediums in which she could express herself.  She is now a solid artist making a name for herself in the midst of the NYC grind.

Gabriela Manrique is currently self-employed and works as a Graphic Designer, Illustrator and Photographer.

 

Now I have had the pleasure of knowing Gabby for a long time, she is an extremely talented photographer and NYC artist.  She has a very unique eye and will be in charge of taking all the set production stills.  She will also be creating a beautiful production book as a reward for some of our backers on Kickstarter.  I can't wait to see the final product. I am sure it will be amazing!

A few of years ago I was invited to a gallery show called Bicycles NYC down in Brooklyn.   I saw this piece and instantly fell in love with it.   A couple of weeks later, she personally delivered it to the house and it's been hanging on the Humungoid Films studio wall ever since.  It is quite something to tell you the truth.  It's the first thing I see in the morning when I open the door and puts me in the right creative frame of mind, when I work.  I am extremely proud to have her on our team.

So please take a moment to check out some of her stuff.  She is artist that deserves a closer look!

Website:  http://www.gabrielamanrique.com

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/gabbymanrique

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/gabrielamanrique

Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/gabrielamanrique

Goose is aboard!

John "Goose" Siragusa has just joined the team for the "Gas Mask"  as Assistant Director.  His experience is going to be invaluable to this production.  We are so happy to have him aboard. 

John Siragusa has been in the film and television business since 2001.  He graduated from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts: Filmmaking Conservatory in 2009, with a focus in Producing.  He has attended countless workshops and given a few himself.  John has Produced, Directed and Written shorts, commercials, independent features and several viral pieces.  He currently lives in Connecticut with his Wife and two kittens.

Cat Torres is our Production Designer

 

From the beginning I knew that the world that these characters would be living in, would have to be believable for this story to come to life.  It needed to be rich and realistic.   I knew that I would have to find someone with the talent and the experience to do just that.  And guess what we did.




Cat Torres is an ambitious new york city based production designer for Monstar films in music videos, commercials, reality TV shows, and more.   She has worked with numerous music artists and has recently completed two short films.  Her work reflects her professionalism and innovation cultivated from more than production design but also her background in photography, graphic design, and journalism.  The work put into gas mask, between everyone at Humungoid Films and herself, is sure to be expressive and action packed.

Cat is a young and extremely talented and we are really lucky to have her on this project.  She has been hard at work combing through the script and using everything at her disposal to create a world that reflects each and every character.   She is filled with energy and is excited about bringing this world to life. 


Make sure you check out her website for and some of her work.

Here is the link.  www.cattorresny.com

We got ourselves a Director of Photography!

Victor Tadashi Suarez has agreed to come aboard the project. We are all so excited that he has joined us on this adventure in storytelling. One more piece of the puzzle has fallen into place. I am sure that his talented eye will really make "Gas Mask" shine.

Check out his reel below and see the the beauty of Victor's work...



Victor's work as cinematographer has won recognition in festivals all over the world, winning a SILVER PALM at the MEXICO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, Best of Festival at OPEN APPERTURE FILM FESTIVAL, BEST SHORT FILM at NAPERVILLE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, and BEST PICTURE at the CUNUFF, among other awards. His portfolio includes commercial work, narrative and documentary shorts and features, and music videos. He has worked for MTV INTERNATIONAL, KOCH RECORDS, SONY, and THE DEVELOPMENT PRODUCTIONS.

He has worked with Final Cut Pro creator Michael Wohl as his storytelling mentor.

Victor will be shooting the project on a brand new SONY NEX-FS100. It shoots 2k images at uncompressed 8-bit 422 RGB, with a film-like shallow depth of field.

The project keeps gathering talented individuals. It's so awesome. This is exactly what could have hoped for. Victor is overflowing with ideas on how to shoot this story.

Swing over to Victor's Vimeo page and check out of the other videos over there. You will not be disappointed, it really is some wonderful stuff.

Here is the link http://vimeo.com/victorsuarez/videos

Jeff is scoring "Gas Mask"

This is my good friend Jeff.  He is an incredible musician and has agreed to score my project.  I feel so lucky that so many talented people are coming together for this and I feel confident about the music now that he is involved.

Jeff and I have been talking about working on a project for a long time.  We discuss film on a regular basis.  The conversations we have had over the last few years has really taught me a lot about just how important sound is to a film.

Right before I had taken a break from this project, to produce "The Housesitter"  We had a meeting and talked about the script.  I loved the questions he had about everything.  I told him the emotions I wanted to get the audiences to have and what i wanted to accomplish.  We were on the same wavelength.  He has given me a rough sketch of a piece the he composed for a scene... It was absolutely incredible.  It was more than I had expected and is in tune with what I want it to be.  I will be using it for our Kickstarter campaign. 

Back on Gas Mask

Today got up early and got together at the Humungoid Film studio in White Plains with Thomas and Helio to record a little blurb for our kick starter video for The Housesitter movie, we shot last month to raise money for post production. That went really well, Thomas hit all his marks and we got it done quick. We should be posting that up soon.

We also went over some of the dialog changes that Thomas made in the Gas Mask script. Working with him is really making it shine. The response to the initial script has been awesome. It seems that the uncomfortableness and the visceral aspect of the script really is shining through. Later we went over some of the head shots of the actors that responded to my ad for the audition casting call. Yesterday we booked a room in the city of 36 Street Studios room B for casting call to be held so I sent out e-mails in the morning to the various actors that I thought would fit the part and that had an interesting look. Guess what, we got overwhelming response from all of them and all the time slots for the room completely booked within three hours of the original e-mail I sent out. That was completely awesome!

Last week John had made some sketches for the design of the gas mask that the main character James wears. A couple of days ago, he surprised us by making a sculpture of the of the design so we can look at it as reference and actually hold it. It was really really cool just to have somebody actually do that for us. Now that little model is sitting right on my desk looking at me everyday. I love it!

Also on Tuesday I have set up a meeting, after the auditions with a cinematographer that hopefully, will agree to be the director of photography on Gas Mask. So we are excited about that. So cross your fingers.

It's funny how everything is just rolling now.  We are all excited about the progress and the possibilities. Wish us luck on Tuesday.

Coming up....Kickstarter