Yearly Archives: 2006

Kettle Kittens

videos

In answer to “Luppie”, the log and a puppy, I present Kettle Kittens. While both find common ground with their nod to domestic pets, they are also starkly different. Like electrum, a Luppie is a kind of alloy, an alloy of a log and puppy (not a dog-log or a log-dog). However, Kettle Kittens is not an alloy, but rather a divide, or even the divide, like space and time, realism and naturalism, or Chloë Sevigny and Kate Beckinsale. In total, Kettle Kittens is a very short DV film about a kettle cut off from irresistible kittens. I pray that Kettle Kittens wins Sundance. If it doesn’t, all I can say is what do they know of kettles and kittens or the magnifco “Luppie”?

Nada 
el 
gato 
woof 
woof.

For Kettle Kittens, Tim manned the camera and did the editing, and I wrote the music and the story/plot line. The film was shot on the same camera we will be shooting The Green Machine on.

The Green Machine – Cast

the mindlab

I’m happy to announce that we have cast Ameviathan: The Green Machine. Matt Folker will be playing Jonathan, Jen Friedman will be playing Cecily and Stephen Young will be playing Roy. Not only are the actors perfect for the parts, but judging from the auditions, we’ve been afforded an incredible opportunity to work with some real talent. I can’t wait to film.

I would also like to extend special thanks to John Schratwieser, Executive Director of the the Prince Threatre in Chestertown, Maryland, who allowed us to hold our auditions in the historic Prince Threatre. Originally a vaudeville theatre and movie house, the theatre was a beautiful place in which to hold our auditions. I would also like to thank the staff of the Prince Threatre for toughing out the blizzard, and Matt Folker for recommending we hold our auditions there. Next time I’m in Chestertown, I’m catching a show and scrutinizing that Zebra-man at the door.

And of course, where would the auditions have been without Dick and DJWebb, ‘crew’? Nowhere. Thanks for driving, eating subs and talking about lighting and the ‘Bury.

Harness the Wind

songs

When Mike and I first moved into the house we currently live, we were recording a lot of music. Most of the tracks we haven’t put up on the site yet. A lot of them were for an aborted project called “Night Caller.” It originally started out as one song, then it grew a sequel, and in true “Mike” fashion it spiraled out of control into a 12 song concept album. Needless to say, that fell apart.

That however is not the story of this post. This post is about the song that ruined music recording for me. I haven’t recorded a song since this albatross of a song landed 9 months ago.

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Casting and Crew Call -Independent Film

the mindlab

From the Director-

We are shooting a short independent film entitled “The Green Machine.” The film is narrative-driven and will be in the style of a children’s live-action television show. Similar shows include any of the Sid and Marty Krofft television shows (“Land of the Lost,” “Electra Woman and Dyna Girl,” “Sigmund and the Sea Monsters,” “Bugaloos,” “Far Out Space Nuts,” etc.) and “Dr. Who.”

The film will be shot on location at Camp Fairlee Manor in Chestertown, MD from March 17th-19th, 2006. While we cannot pay actors or crew, we can provide them with comfortable sleeping accommodations and meals.

Currently we are looking to cast 3 parts:

  1. a male lead,
  2. a female lead, and
  3. a male or female supporting character.

Because of our tight pre-production schedule, we would like to hold auditions for the roles as soon as possible, either this weekend (February 4th and 5th) or next (February 11th and 12th).

Any interested parties should feel free to leave a comment if interested.

Its in the mail

the mindlab

Camp Agreement

Its a done deal – the check and the contract are in the mail. Protozoic Film’s has the camp for March 17@10am until March 19 @ 7pm. We are staying in a cabin that holds 12 people. Get out your sleeping bags bitches.

Location: Camp Fairlee Manor

the mindlab

Thanks to the efforts of DJWebb we have a location to shoot “Ameviathan: The Green Machine”. Not only is it a location, but it is a location that reaches far beyond my wildest dreams.

Tentatively, on March 17th, 18th and 19th we will be shooting at Camp Fairlee Manor. I’ll be posting a schedule Sunday or Monday of what will be happening leading up to the shoot. Stay tuned.

Thanks again Thom.

Faking Boxes

the mindlab

The past weekend was a good weekend and a simultaneously frustrating one. Rather than ending on a sour note however, I’m going to get the bad out of the way first.

The bad is that the Thompson-Neely Gristmill is a no go for a location. After weeks of phoning the people at Washington’s Crossing, they’ve finally gotten back to me and told me that filming there will be impossible due to recent flooding. So it is back to the drawing board with locations.

Without harping on about it, this means my initial plans to start on the construction of the Green Machine this weekend will be postponed at least until next so that I can scout for locations this weekend.

This, however, brings me to the good news, the Green Machine itself. Previously I lacked any real plans by which to build the machine. Thanks to meticulous efforts of Peter Kisner (Dragon) and his recent post, I now have an excellent set of plans to work from. I can’t begin to express just how excited I am to build the Green Machine. I hope I don’t hammer any nails into my feet.

The other good news is that the boxes are done. Currently there are about 45 green boxes in total. While I’d like to paint more, at this point I doubt I will because of transportation and manageability considerations. About the only thing I’ll probably do to them is give them a second coat of paint at some point in the future.

The movie, however, calls for more than 45 boxes. Tim’s suggestion to address this issue was to try digitally compositing some extra boxes into a shot. So over the past weekend, we filmed some boxes and did some tests. You can view our tests here.

In the first part of the clip there are some boxes that aren’t really there (on the left side), while the second half of the clip shows the original shot without the composited boxes.

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