Archives

So the eternal debate for people who love film, the debate of “Is film dead?”  Well I discovered this little device last year call the LOMOKINO and it definitely makes me believe that film is alive. It is essentially a little hand-crank film (keyword:FILM) camera.  It takes normal 36 exposure 35mm film that you would put into a film camera, and lets you shoot like back in the days of old. You get this great almost 2:55:1 aspect that gives you about 80-90 frames of joy. It is probably the most fun I have had in a while with a camera. There is no setting up the shot, you just kind of fine the place you want to shoot, or just have it with you at all times… and crank away!

Below is the first rolls of film that I shot and scanned. I used a combination of 400 /800 iso color negative and slide film. I have discovered I love the colors of slide film, but I appreciate the muteness of color negative. Just so I don’t waste film, I have to admit I do keep my t2i with me to essentially use as a light meter, because I don’t want to waste it!  The process definitely takes longer than anything digital you would do now, but there is something about it that is just so beautiful and majestic. Take a look and enjoy!

So today is UPDATE DAY!

First things first, I am going to give some insight to some projects that are already done.

As of yesterday, Captain Fin won BEST DRAMA at the Salute Your Shorts Film Festival. This film has been making its way through the festival circuit, and the conclusion of its run will be at this years 2012 Florida Film Festival for where it was selected as a winner of the Enzian Brouhaha Film Festival. It has been a great film that everyone that worked on is proud of, and I am looking forward to seeing it on the screen in April.

Actress is in Audio Post as of right now, as well as the titles and and credits that are being masterfully crafted. I am really excited to get this one out. I have already had the trailer in some film festivals to great response, as well as the internet community. Soon this film will be hitting the ground running in film festivals around the country, and hopefully we have another hit on our hands.

NOW for the projects in the works for this year.

So we are getting into full preproduction swing with FAUXTOGRAPHY. I have been collaborating with Story Producer/Writer Sean Kantrowitz who together, we are going to bring a comedic web series to life that we really think you will enjoy. I have read and reread the script Sean has written, and it makes me laugh every time so I really feel we have something special on our hands. We begin casting February 25th. Below is the info.

I am also working again with upcoming rap artist PlayWryte for a new video early march. We had a great experience last time, and he came to me with another track that I felt I could bring to life. More info and a BTS on this early March.

Now this is a fun one. I great friend of my Rev.Jay Leal – C.E.O of Rebel Rev Industries, wrote a script a while ago that I really enjoyed.  This one has always been a project that I have been wanting to get started but the chips just never fell into place until now. Leal has decided that he is going to Produce this film, because like myself… we really think this is something that people will enjoy.  Its a fantastic script that I will, if all goes according to plan, get to shoot on film. The feel is very southern goth macabre meets 1950′s style… and I believe getting back to the grainy film routes will really bring it to life. Casting information on this to come soon.

There is actually 2 more projects that I am eager to get out involving musicians…both done, but I cant talk to much about it yet. Believe me, when it comes out, you will know! Check back in next week when I give my thoughts on the under use of Canons more affordable T2i.

This is part one of the ACTRESS Behind the Scenes. This is a quick montage of stuff that was the shoot. I personally can say its nice to know Ive lost a ton of weight since then haha. This really shows a glimpse into all the hard work this crew put in. Thank you Adam Johns for the BTS

Well we are in April already for 2011. My 26th birthday is tomorrow and things are going great. I just recently redid the demo I did in January because, well… it needed it. I figured this time Id actually take the time to put my personality in it, and I feel like its really fun to watch! So please go check it out and see the hard work Ive done so far in my young career.

So Big things coming up in the next months. We have the finishing up of a great short film called CAPTAIN FIN directed by Kevin Oneill of Olive Ranch Road Films. I am editing the project and am in the last stage of audio and tweaking and that should be out soon. The movie is a fantastic display of the acting and directing talent of the people involved, and Id have to say its a pretty good edit as well . It has Spencer Locke in it, as well as Steve Dumouchel and they both do a amazing job in such a short time. I am also attached to be supervising editor of his newest film THE BOUT, about a young MMA fighter whos fight is as much on that mat as it is off. It truely has been a pleasure working with Kevin.

I was brought on to do some cleanup, color correction and add some comic book graphics for the music video for Beebs and Her Money Makers that was directed by Luke Leanord. I collaborated with a great motion graphics and 3d artist Miguel Reyes. Miguel is also a young up and comer as well and I have work with him on projects and he always finds a way to impress me more and more each time.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeL9vZYS9y4]

.
I also have been working on a feature film that I cant talk about due to… that paper I signed that says I cant talk about it. But It has been a great experience as well, and hopefully you’ll be seeing the work I did on it here in the future as well. I also shot/edited a reality tv pilot for a great company recently and I cant go into to much about that as well, BUT the team is amazing, the shoot went swimmingly and the results are pending!

Then there is my short film ACTRESS. I wrote this not too long ago right after I wrote a western that has gotten a ton of attention called REDEEM and and action script called DANGERCLOSE. I started writing it a year ago, and wasn’t until I saw THE BLACK SWAN that I realized how I could make it. I wanted to explore the inner turmoil that a young actress goes through, but still being tasked to perform like nothing is wrong. The script has also made its way around and has gotten great traction, with funding being provided by Alex Camman at Arconis Films and bringing on the talents of Luke Leanord as my Director of Photography. I have also been blessed with the presence and hard working ethic of Dantina Claire, who has been a great right hand through the whole project thus far. Due to schedule conflicts we are still in the audition process, you can visit http://actressshortfilm.wordpress.com for audition information.

So all in all Ive been busy busy busy…. and that’s not including my ACTUAL job I work on at during the day making awesome with the great peoples of Platinum Creative. 2011 is the beginning of a good era!

People always ask me ,” Where do I get my ideas from” or “Where do I draw my inspiration for either the projects that I have been a part of or created myself”. As of right now, I have my fingers in some many pies that I needed to remember myself what inspires me to keep the juices flowing. I need to remind myself what is it that drove me to make what I have done so far. I figured if I am going to go down this path, I might as well share the info with you, This is the collection of things that started me to where I am now.

(Bad Boys) poster Above

This is the film that changed it all.  I have watched this movie more than any other movies combined. I would watch it 4 and 5 times a day growing up. The music, the camera movements, the comedy, the action, everything about this film grabbed me. I had shot stupid things growing up on my HandiCam, even a short film called Vanish with my cousins, but this movie really made me love movies in a sense that I wanted to be a part of it.

Good Will Hunting (poster above)

This film has always been a personal favorite. Now as much as I love the film, the writing, and the characters… it was none of this that fueled me. Growing up I loved watching Behind the Scenes featurettes on TV or HBO, but the Commentary track with Matt Damon and Ben Affleck discussing all that they went through writing it, getting it made and finally getting an Oscar for really blew my mind. The amount of passion and the attitude that you can make your future, you just have to persevere and good things will come, changed me. I began watching ALL behind the scenes, listening to every commentary, I became obsessed with making movies.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6kCWNV1bs4]

I found this video online a long time ago. This video started my passion in editing. I have always loved music because it told a story. I always loved video game cut scenes, especially Final Fantasy, because they were so intense and epic. The combination of the two blew me away to the point that I began researching and editing on Windows Movie Maker. I don’t know the person responsible for this video, but whoever they were, inspired me.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nxv0VLPy2_o]

I am a trailer fanatic. I live for the creation of them, and am really critical of them. If a film has a horrible trailer, I wont be seeing it. Now note: This movie is not a favorite of most people. This trailer is not the best trailer I have ever seen. In saying that, this is the first trailer that made me love trailers. The pacing, the creative use of scenes that are in and not in the movie to tell a story that doesn’t give too much away, but still leaves you with a good feeling about the movie. The use of the song at the end uddle of Mud “Blurry”  just accentuated what was going on screen, and gave emotionality to the trailer. That emotionality is what I believe should be in ALL trailers, unless it’s a movie like EPIC MOVIE or anything like that. That being said, I believe that the Star Trek Trailer is one of the best examples of what a trailer can do for me. Star Trek released 3 trailers, the first being a great teaser, the 2nd being an expected action trailer and then they released trailer 3, which I believe to be one of the best movie trailers of all time. I believe this trailer made more people want to see this movie than had previously, and the music by Two Steps from Hell <- Probably the best company in the business, takes your emotions to a whole new level. That’s what editing is all about. Here is the trailers just so you can see. The fourth tv spot was good, It just was not as gripping as Trailer 3

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IptbC3p2lCk]

So in saying all this, there is plenty more that has inspired me through out time… but these videos and films are what really have had an impact on me in my path. I leave you now with the question, what inspires you in what you do. What drives you to be the best at what you do in life?

So it is Christmas 2009. I figured I would add a little something Ive been working on.  I am now the Editor at Platinum Creative and this is the new Branding Initiative for Full Sail University.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbJT4Besre0]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eenUWnwamXw]

Videos Below

Now much like the rest of the up and coming film making community, I hate to draw storyboards. Not because I think I am that bad, but because I know there are people out there who are that much better.  So when doing a production, and the time comes to set up storyboards, chances are you and me both are dreading it.  Normally it comes out to poorly made boxes with crude stick figures or our versions of people to hopefully help get across what our minds are trying to create. But what ends up happening is that you spend more time trying to explain what the actual shot is after you drew it. So after many of days trying get storyboards in any order so that people could understand the vision, I decided why not just do an animatic.

An animatic is pretty much a moving storyboard. You do all the things that a storyboard does, yet now, you can add the music and movements from both the characters and the camera to get across to your crew  your goal of your projects.  The best part about this is that you can pretty much have the idea edited down to a ‘T” so that you know exactly what you want to shoot, so your not spending time on shots you dont want or wont use later.

The Art Department perks are a given, you already have to show what your looking for.

When it comes to post production, youve already established your basic pacing as well as a test version of sound and music. So getting the project in is no more than a “putting the puzzle together with a guide”.

This was all created just hand drawing and finding pictures online that best matched what I wanted to show. I found the pictures and went back and drew the characters and whatever I needed to add as it came to my mind. After drawing, I just scanned the drawings into photoshop, colored and cut them out and then imported all my assets into After Effects.  There it is just the use of basic animation techniques that you can learn on any online tutorial. I would prefer you go to VIDEOCOPILOT.NET probably the best After Effects tutorials on the planet.

After animating the shots how I liked, I brought them all into Final Cut Pro. There I edited the project for pacing and sound. This whole process probably took me 2 days. Once done, the ability to show my Director of Photography Andrew Kurchinski and Camera Casey Chan provided both of them an excitement and full understanding of the project and made process of knowing what the final product would be that much better.

So all in all, this process can really add something to your project creation, and is really helpful for people like me who like to have everyone know what the goal is, so the work just becomes fun at that point.  Below is the Animatic/Commercial with the sounds from the animatic and the actual commercial is below that.  Naturally, youll notice they are exactly the same, because when on set you have to improvise a little, but the pacing and concept are still intact.  Let me know what you think and hope this helps any of you out.

Animatic/Commercial

[vimeo vimeo.com/7001171]

Commercial

[vimeo vimeo.com/5366248]

Special Thanks to Von Marie Donato, Dustin “Duck” Spain, John “Gunjack” Melancon, Andrew “AK” Kurchinski, Casey Chan, Thomas Mobley, and all the rest of the crew who came out and helped the day of the shoot.

“Jordan Prime”

Produced by Justin Connors/Lazan Banks

Directed/Edited by Justin Connors

Starring Lazan Banks as Jordan Prime

This was a project that Lazan Banks and I collaborated on. We wanted to work on something that really showed a new look on Blaxploitation. Funny thing is that Lazan came up with the name while we were working on creating another character for another project. Well something stuck with us after he said those words “Jordan Prime”. A vision, an idea that we had to do.  So on my trusty Salvador Dali notepad I storyboarded the opening for a tv pilot.  You couldnt ask for a better character actor than Lazan Banks. That is why you will see him in alot of my projects. The man is just talent. We shot this around Winter Park, FL. It was about 5 hours of shooting on a GY HD110U and about a day of editing and effects with Final Cut and After Effects/Photoshop. The song was created by mean in Garageband. Below is the opening we shot.

[vimeo vimeo.com/6097320]

Now we are looking towards completing the project and taking it to the next level. Lazan and I are collobarating to bring Jordan Prime to fruition. We are also going to be trying to market it to multiple mediums. Jordan Prime the video game?… who knows

Poster/Box Art by : Joe Siconolfi